Amazing Authors

An Absence of Light by Meradeth Houston

Leah’s always seen the shadow creatures. She thought she was immune to their evil—until now.

She’s walked into a massacre, stolen a BMW, and is running from the law for a crime she didn’t commit. Nineteen-year-old Leah’s life just went from mildly abnormal to totally crazy at lightning speed. But no one will believe that the shadow creatures are framing her for the murder, because she’s the only one that can see them. At least that’s what she thought.

When Leah stumbled across a group who share her ability, she discovers they have something she doesn’t: a way to fight back. When the group offers to teach her how to kill the shadow creatures, Leah jumps at the chance. But something is brewing with the creatures. They’re tracking down the hunters like there’s no tomorrow. Leah suspects that maybe there won’t be, and it’s up to her to make sure tomorrow comes. Because she’ll do anything to stop the shadows, including risking her life—and the life of the one she loves—to keep the world from being lost to darkness forever.

You can find An Absence of Light at these online retailers…

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Kobo | Smashwords

Here’s the scoop on Meradeth!

I’ve never been a big fan of talking about myself, but if you really want to know, here are some random tidbits about me:
~I’m a California girl. This generally means I talk too fast and use “like” a lot.
~I have my doctorate in molecular anthropology. Translation: I sequence dead people’s DNA and spend a whole lot of time in a lab, which I love.
~I’ve been writing since I was 11 years old. It’s my hobby, my passion, and I’m so happy to get to share my work!
~My other passion is teaching. There’s nothing more fun than getting a classroom of college kids fired up about anthropology!
~If I could have a super-power, it would totally be flying. Which is a little strange, because I’m terrified of heights.

You can stay in touch with Meradeth here…

This is a scene where Leah and Adam go Shadow hunting for the first time and I have to admit it was pretty fun to write. Here’s a little taste:

“There!” I pointed and Adam glanced at me, startled. I hadn’t meant to shout, but we had their attention now anyhow.
Taking aim, I flicked back the safety on my cylinder. A moment later, the blinding green light slammed into the Shadow. In the darkness of the alley, the thin green line traced across the space, far too bright. I squinted against it, focusing all my attention on keeping the beam locked on the wriggling mass.
Thank heavens the thing didn’t do what the other had in the garage. Instead, the beam caught against its oily surface, dark, sizzling clouds rising from where it cut.
The thing made no noise. Somehow, I wanted it to scream. Instead it dissolved, leaving a burned smudge against the brick wall behind it.
“Nice,” Adam said.
I sputtered something that was supposed to be ‘thanks’, too shocked by his praise to be coherent.
“Three more coming.”
My words snatched away the brief moment of mutual relief. Adam turned, searching the darkness. He caught the lead Shadow, hurtling toward us through the air, a slick bullet of black that bore the same strange determination as the Shadow in the garage.
Adam’s beam sliced it like bread, forming four separate pieces that took their time falling apart. I didn’t have a chance to appreciate his ability with the laser. The next two appeared behind the leader, both locked onto me like I was a beacon in the dark.
Time slowed to a crawl. This time I was less freaked and let myself kind of enjoy it. I flicked on the beam, the cylinder seeming to vibrate as the batteries kicked in to support the powerful light.
My cuts were nothing like Adam’s. The second Shadow got too close, sneaking in past the first. Adam killed it inches from my face.
Breathing my thanks, I turned back to the nest that erupted from the back of the alley.

A Reaper Made by Liz Long

By Margery Walshaw

Grace had finally gotten used to her new afterlife as a “Made” – a Reaper who used to be human. When Made Reapers and souls begin disappearing, however, Grace and her mentor Tully suspect demons. Grace’s worst fears are confirmed when her living family is threatened.

She’ll have to break every rule in the Reaper book to save them, including using a little magic to become temporarily human. With the help of Tully and her witchy friend Tessa, Grace goes undercover to save the fates of kidnapped souls – only to discover that demons aren’t working alone. Betrayal and distrust runs deep and Grace discovers that sometimes even Reapers are prone to humanity.

Get your copy today!

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes

Read an excerpt of A Reaper Made…

Death created Reapers to collect souls. My mentor told me most of these Reapers have been around since the dawn of time, watching over humans and ensuring their souls are appropriately handled. As the population increased, the number of souls needing help to pass over became too great. Because Reapers can’t procreate, however, Death gave his first Reapers – “the Trues” – the ability to create new Reapers. We were called “the Mades,” and originally began as humans. We are born, then we live, and when we die, some of us are chosen (offered, really) to carry on with these immortal duties.
I was still relatively new to the whole Reaper gig, so I’d been assigned the older souls at a retirement home. In life, I’d been in nursing school and spent most of my free time volunteering at the hospital, so working with those who were already expecting death was easier than say, those who fought against leaving this earth. In time, I would learn how to calm those souls and help them pass over, but until then, I was happy to help with the souls who already had their bags packed.
I’ve always felt I was one of the lucky ones, being asked to be a Reaper – I think being chosen for such an important duty says that I did well in my short human life. It’s not to say Mades were unusual, because we’re not. My mentor said the increasing population in the last few centuries had led Reapers to regain control and bring Mades to our world. Mades and Trues alike could select humans who would be worthy of helping with their purpose. With more of us around, we could be sure souls were cared for and passed on rather than left to hang around the earth – or worse.
I was nineteen when I died; a drunk driver hit me while I headed home one evening after a volunteer shift. The drunk driver walked away without a scratch. I, on the other hand, died instantly upon impact, my soul jerked from my body to wander around the scene and wonder what the hell happened. I screamed for help, trying to reason with every deity I knew as I watched the blood trickle down my still face.
“No one can hear you screaming, child,” a voice had sounded from behind me.
I’d whirled around to see a strange looking man standing there. He was stout, with a boxer’s build, but his gentle expression gave no hint of aggression. His attire, while not unusual, still seemed from a different era: his shoes worn, pants that stopped short at the ankles, thin white shirt, and black suspenders. Perhaps in his mid-thirties, he had a shock of messy ginger hair and a thick, wiry beard to match. His bright blue eyes popped against a ruddy complexion.
I couldn’t hide the waver of fear in my voice when I asked, “Who are you?”
He took another step toward me, a slow, fluid movement that I hardly noticed. “My name is Tully.”
“I don’t want to die, Tully.”
“You weren’t supposed to go this soon,” he’d said. His voice had an Irish lilt that almost sang to me as he spoke. “But I’ve seen you at the hospital, watched you with the patients. You have a way about you.”
“Doesn’t help me much now, I’m afraid,” I’d responded. His calm demeanor somehow put me at ease despite the situation.
“Oh, but it does, child. You have a gift. Do you know what I am?”
“I was sort of hoping you were an angel.”
He had shaken his head, an amused smile on his face. “No, I am what’s called a Reaper.”
“You’re Death?”
“Reapers are not Death, nor do we carry it wherever we go, according to certain tales. We appear to the dead and take their souls home.”
“To Heaven?”
“That I cannot say; only they will know once they pass into the afterlife. We are, however, allowed to make certain…offers to those we deem worthy.”
I’d crossed my arms over my chest and given my body another stricken glance. “You can bring me back to life?”
“No, child, you are no longer meant for that life. Do you want to continue helping others?”
“How?”
“You could be a Reaper, like me.”
I’d scoffed. “How does that even work?”
“There’s a whole world out there you don’t know about, child. I can show you, teach you how to be one of us.”
“What’s the other option?”
He shrugged. “To move on.”

Meet Liz Long…

Liz Long is a ridiculously proud graduate of Longwood University with a BA in English. Her inspiration comes from action and thriller genres and she spends entirely too much time watching superhero movies. Her fabulous day job as a social media strategist includes writing for a publishing company in Roanoke, VA.

Her first book, Gifted, is the first book in the Donovan Circus series. Burned is the second adventure. (Best described as “X-Men meets the circus with murder mysteries.”) Her standalone book Witch Hearts is a story about a serial killer hunting witches for their powers. Her newest release, A Reaper Made, follows a Reaper as she tries to save her family’s souls from demons. All titles are available at Amazon on Kindle and paperback.

You can be the first to learn about Liz’s new releases here…

Seven Days and Six Worst-Case Scenarios by Leslie Huggans

By Margery Walshaw

Mix dry wit with a juicy corpse and let it simmer over a red hot romance to serve up a wicked comedy.

Curious, quirky, crisis consultant Victoria Douglas needs a vacation, and to learn to keep her sassy mouth shut. Instead, she’s gunning a stolen SUV up a mountain with beer cans and bug spray as her only weapons in a fight for survival. She and her investigative reporter friend, Julie Tran, have landed in a Caribbean vacation crap-sandwich bursting with murder, narcotics, and one gorgeous piece of man-flesh.

College flame, Alex Marshall, professed his love and disappeared without a trace. Twelve years later he materializes at Victoria’s resort on St. Kitts and he’s got more charm and sex appeal than ever. Tingling lady bits and long-buried feelings aside, Victoria discovers she and Julie are at the center of a criminal conspiracy that stretches across two continents. They’ve got one chance to prove their innocence before competing nefarious factions feed them to the fish…or worse. Victoria has to decide just how far she is willing to go to save her life and mend her heart.

Get your copy of this humorous, romantic mystery on Amazon.

A little bit about Leslie Huggans…

Leslie enjoys a dry wit and a juicy crime and she excels at misadventure. While she has never been a murder suspect, many of the events in her books have actually happened to her. She has two jobs. The first is wearing pantyhose every day while toiling for a global corporation. The second is catering to the whims of her feline companions. She lives to travel all over the globe. Leslie visits the Caribbean every winter for a sun holiday, but has yet to encounter a dashing CIA agent. One must live in hope.

Stay in touch with Leslie.

Facebook | Twitter

Read an excerpt of “Seven Days and Six Worst Case Scenarios”

If I hadn’t been fighting for my life with beer cans, bug spray, and pent-up aggression as my only weapons, you probably wouldn’t want to read about me. After all, a thirty-something woman with two cats and a boss who can’t keep his hands off his crotch is rarely worth noticing. But, this woman was gunning a stolen SUV up a mountain goat path with a monkey in the back seat screeching “Kek-kek-kek.” His owner was screaming something about his own head colliding with the roof. My friend Julie was in the passenger’s seat ordering me to slow down. Good thing I was accustomed to people complaining about my driving because we had much larger issues than my dislike for the brake pedal.

The order for this Caribbean vacation crap-sandwich was placed when a travel magazine addressed to me, Miss Victoria Douglas, landed on my desk during a particularly bad day. I looked at the cover and called the only person I knew I could count on. Julie Tran had been a loyal friend since middle school. One feature story about St. Kitts, a short conversation with Julie, and a few Internet clicks had me vomiting in the toilet at work. I’d just spent my mortgage payment on a plane ticket.

That ticket transported me from our nation’s capital to a magical kingdom of smiling people, cool ocean breezes, and sand between my toes. Said toes were currently crammed into wedge sandals that my body had not yet mastered. Even with the sandals, my white linen pants skimmed the floor. I am that awkward height that is too tall for petites, but too short for everything else. I wobbled my way to the arrival hall to claim my luggage and wait for Julie to arrive from Houston. My wobbling was so impressive that a couple of obnoxious guys in a rowdy Canadian bachelor party thought I was as drunk as they were. The scent of their tequila eau de toilette stung my nostrils.

“Hey baby,” one yelled out. “Want to come back to our hotel and party with us, eh?” He added a vulgar pelvic thrust as punctuation.

“Not even in your wettest dreams, buddy,” I yelled back and rolled my eyes.

“Another win for U.S. diplomatic relations I see,” a familiar droll voice called out from nearby. “Twenty years as your friend and I still never know what is going to erupt from your mouth.”

In my excitement to follow the voice, I spun on my heels, lost my balance, and landed face down on my big straw purse. I looked up expecting to see the long black hair that came with Julie’s Asian heritage. Instead, I was confronted with a very curious mop of bleach blonde hair. It was so shocking that I forgot to be embarrassed about my collision with the airport floor. Nor did I notice the raucous laughter of my former admirers. Julie tugged me into a standing position. We hugged and emitted the high-pitched noises that instinctually occur when female friends reunite or smoke alarms go off.

Dancing with the Devil by R.K. Ryals

By Margery Walshaw

Dancing with the Devil by R.K. Ryals

Blurb:

Falling ash. Subservient Hellhounds. Dark mirrors and ticking clocks. Such is the life of a daughter of Hecate living in Hell …

Monroe Jacobs isn’t your typical witch. She is strong, her powers growing with each passing day. They are powers that beckon, powers coveted by many, including the man she loves.

Luther Craig is a remorseless Demon ruler in Hell. Governing a kingdom once presided over by his mother, the she-demon Lilith, Luther has everything he’s ever wanted. Power. But his kingdom is at risk, his newfound strength a challenge to the Princes of Hell.

Theirs is a strange relationship, the witch and the Demon, full of passion and need. It’s a relationship that will be tested by the worst kind of obstacles–pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, and sloth.

For in the ash-filled shadows of Hell, the Princes are preparing for war. Luther isn’t the only one who wants power and a blonde-haired witch. He’ll have to face the Seven Deadly Sins to keep both.

***Due to language, violence, and sexual content, this book is suggested for older readers***

Dancing with the Devil is available from:

Amazon | B&N

R.K. Ryals is the author of emotional and gripping young adult and new adult paranormal romance, contemporary romance, and fantasy. Among her works are: the Redemption series, The Acropolis series, The Thorne Trilogy, The Scribes of Medeisia series, and The Singing River. “Dancing with the Devil,” is her newest release.

You can find R.K. here…

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest

Spirit Warriors: The Concealing by D.E.L. Connor

By Margery Walshaw

Spirit Warriors: The Concealing by D.E.L. Connor is a tale that is both suspenseful and romantic with a back drop of great Native American lore.

Sixteen-year-old Emme Belrose has it all: four best friends, a horse of her own, a hidden tepee hangout, and a blossoming romance with tall and handsome Charlie. These friends also have a secret. They can move their spirits into animal bodies: an osprey, a mustang, a grizzly, a mountain lion and a coyote. But when Charlie, who has a gift for seeing the future, has a vision of Emme drowning in the icy Yellowstone River, the Spirit Warriors must train their animal bodies to kill an enemy they know is coming…but know nothing about. Suspenseful, romantic, and awash in Native American magic, Spirit Warriors captures the tragic enchantment of the American West—and confirms the power of friendship.

Available on…

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About Della Connor…

Della (D.E.L.) was born in South Dakota and raised in the vastness and beauty of Montana on a farm. When she longed for the big city life, she moved to Texas where she attended college and received a PhD in nursing. When not nursing people back to health you can find Della huddled over her Mac writing the stories that have occupied her mind for so many years, or traveling with her best friends, the NOLA’s, riding bikes across the Golden Gate bridge or exploring botanical gardens. She is the proud mother of a champion triathlete, two aging dogs and 1 grand-cat. Della has admittedly confessed to her coffee addiction and swears that her two hour coffee crawl while on vacation in Seattle –was the best two hours of her life!

Connect with Della…

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | Pinterest

Especially for Evatopia readers, an exciting excerpt…

Bets and Lilly had their first cheerleading practice on Saturday, and Ollie had to go to his grandparents’ wedding anniversary party. That left Charlie and me with nothing to do. We decided to go to the clearing and do some much-needed repairs on the tepees. We left Charlie’s house in the morning and rode Duke and Gus out to the clearing. After a while, we stopped working on the repairs, had lunch, and settled down eating huckleberries, lying on our backs in the clearing, identifying shapes in the clouds.

Charlie turned and stared at me. “Do you ever think of me as more than a friend?” he asked. My heart jumped and my face turned red.

“Mostly at night,” I answered honestly. “I lie awake and dream that you are in love with me.”

Charlie sat up and stared down at me. “Really? Do you want me to be in love with you?”

Charlie seemed surprised. I smiled. “Of course I do. Since that day at school when we first met, it is all I have thought about.”

Charlie laughed. “We were what, nine years old? Em, you were so skinny and tall.”

“And you were huge like a bear.” I laughed. I knew he was thinking about that day because I was thinking about it.

“Do you think that we were destined to be together?” Charlie asked.

I nodded. “Yes. You can’t deny what happened when we first saw each other.” I rolled over and put my arm under my head.

“You know lately, I think about you every day in a different way,” Charlie confessed. “I used to think of you like a sister, someone I needed to protect, but now when I’m with you I just want to kiss you.”

I stared into his eyes. “Then do it.” I sat up and stared at my hands in my lap. Charlie leaned toward me. I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted to taste his lips on mine and feel him hold me close. He leaned forward and softly kissed me on the lips. His mouth was warm and tender and tasted sweetly of huckleberries. He ran his hands through my hair and I put my arms around his neck. I felt a shock of electricity go through me. I felt weak and dizzy, but alive, all at the same time.

As we were kissing, I felt his neck stiffen. He pushed me away and fell backward to the ground with his right arm flopping uselessly and his body contorted. I dropped to my knees and touched his face, telling him he would be okay. Finally, after what seemed like hours, he sat up and wrapped his arms around his knees and rested his chin on his knees.

“What happened?” I asked gingerly.

“It is time to begin,” he said.

My heart raced and I felt sick. “Is it time for me to die?” I asked.

Charlie nodded “It is getting closer,” he said, and I felt a wave of sadness. I always dreamed I would have a family with Charlie. What would my parents do without me? What would happen to Ben? What would happen to my friends? How could I be strong enough to die with dignity and did it matter?

I threw myself in Charlie’s arms. “I don’t want to die,” I said.

He kissed me hungrily, but I felt his resistance. “We have some time, Emme, I promise you that,” he whispered.

We saddled back up and in silence rode back. Even Gus was subdued. When we got in cell phone range, we texted the others and told them we needed to meet in Bets’s parents’ basement tonight. Charlie said we must tell them now. We would need them for the battle.

Bets’s parents had redone their basement for us to use in the winter when it was too cold to go to the clearing. They felt bad that we spent so much time at Ollie’s and wanted to shoulder some of the “teenager time” with Ollie’s parents. When we were younger, Ollie’s parents had hired my Aunt Laura, who was in junior college at that time, to take Ollie to school and pick him up. After school in the winter, we would all hang out at his house and play video games. Aunt Laura taught us to play poker and made us chocolate chip cookies.

We all felt like one of the family at Bets’s house, and we had keys to the basement and were welcome to come and go. The basement had two old plaid sofas with sagging cushions, a scratched coffee table and a TV. There was a tiny bathroom with a shower, and a small cabinet with a microwave and tiny refrigerator. We had snacks and drinks there.

Bets was making microwave popcorn and the others were crashed out on the sofa watching TV and drinking hot chocolate. Lilly was lying with her thin legs draped over Ollie’s legs on one of the sofas. When we walked in, the others knew right away that something had happened. Lilly figured it out first. Sweet Lilly, always the first to sense when things weren’t right, and always wanting to try and fix them.

We told them the whole story and included the kiss. They smiled at each other when we told that part, and at the same time said they weren’t surprised. I guess we didn’t hide our feelings as well as we thought. Ollie joked that he wouldn’t want to kiss me if it caused seizures. We sat in a circle on the plaid braided rug, eating popcorn and drinking hot chocolate as Charlie told us the story of the ancestor’s curse.

“Many years ago,” Charlie began, “a machayiwiw or evil spirit was thrust into the spirit world. Up to that point, the spirit world was made up of honorable warriors who had died bravely. This evil spirit was once a powerful medicine man. He was a vengeful man and he had a score to settle with another tribe. He had wanted to take the daughter of the chief of this tribe in order to possess her power and beauty, but he was first driven out and then humiliated by the chief. The chief’s daughter’s name was Golden Flower, and she was light skinned with light hair. Her mother had been captured during a wagon raid and was a white, blue-eyed woman.”

Charlie went on to explain that he was a seer. During his seizures, he could see where the evil spirit was and where he was headed, so the Spirit Warriors could finally find him and destroy him. That was where we five came into the picture.

What Charlie could see was that the machayiwiw was coming after me. He couldn’t see whose body or animal shape he was in. He saw me in the car under the water, and he saw that it would take all the rest of them to vanquish the machayiwiw.

Charlie also knew that we would not be able to win the fight in the bodies we had; we would have to take animal forms. Charlie had the knowledge of how to get our spirits in these animals, but did not know how to move the ancient Spirit Warriors into human bodies as other medicine men in the past did. He and Archie thought it was possible that each seer had unique abilities. If so, Charlie might only be able to move us into animal forms, and as such, we would have to fight the machayiwiw.

Ollie, Bets, and Lilly looked incredulously at Charlie. Bets said, “Come again?” Charlie started to repeat the story. Bets held up her hand. “No, I heard what you said. I just don’t believe you. There is no physical way to move anyone’s spirit. When a spirit is moved out of a body, it is called death.” Bets looked at Charlie with her left eyebrow lifted and a sarcastic look on her face.

Lilly glanced at Charlie and then at Bets. “I believe you. What do we need to do?”

Bets looked at Lilly. “Why do you always believe Charlie? Can’t you ever have a thought in your head that Charlie didn’t think of first?”

Lilly looked at Bets. “Because I know that Charlie is doing what he needs to do to save Emme, and I will do whatever it takes to save her. She’s our best friend, Bets. You have to help us.”

Bets stared back at Lilly and Charlie. “Count me out. I have listened to Archie tell your ancestors’ stories my entire life. They were garbage then and they are garbage now.”

Charlie flinched. He grabbed Bets’s hand. “Bets, look at me. Have I ever lied to you? Have I ever told you anything that wasn’t the truth or that didn’t happen?” Bets shook her head no. Charlie went on, “We need you, Bets. We need all of us. Trust me.”

Bets looked at their hands. “I just can’t.”

Charlie breathed in deeply. “Think of one thing that has happened in your life, Bets, that no one in this room could possibly know. Think of your deepest, darkest secret. Have you thought of it?” Bets nodded. Charlie sat still for several moments with his eyes closed and his back straight. He opened his eyes and whispered in Bets’s ear.

Bets’s face turned white and then red. She turned to Charlie and hugged him. Charlie held her as she buried her face in his chest. She turned around and looked at the rest of us. “He knew. There was no possible way he could have known it. Charlie’s legit.”

I smiled, “I already knew he was legit.” Lilly chimed in, “Me too.” Ollie looked around at us. “I didn’t know he was legit, but I would give anything to be a tiger, or a bear!” Ollie jumped up and started chasing us around, crawling on all fours and growling like a bear.

Charlie stopped us. “I want all of you to know that this is not without risk. It’s not like a video game where you get killed and get a million more chances to come back and win. We will probably just have one good chance to kill the machayiwiw, and it will take all of us to do it.”

Ollie asked if I would live, and I held my breath as Charlie said he didn’t know. “So we could do all of this and Emme could still die?” Bets asked. Charlie nodded and lowered his head. “We could do all this and all of us could die,” he said.

It was silent as we looked around at each other. Lilly spoke first. “I am not afraid to die,” she said. “This life hasn’t been so great anyway.”

“I can’t ask you to do this, Lilly,” I said. But she wasn’t listening to me; none of them were. They were looking at Charlie, and he was having another seizure.

When Charlie roused after the seizure, he looked tired and unfocused. It seemed like the more often he had these visions, the weaker he became. It took over an hour before he could talk coherently, and then his speech sounded like his tongue was too big in his mouth. “We must meet tomorrow and spend Sunday and Monday at the tepees,” he said. “The change will happen then and we need time to practice.” Luckily, we had Monday and Tuesday off for teacher conferences.

Ollie helped Charlie to his pickup and drove him down the gravel road to Archie’s house. It hurt me to see Charlie like that. I was used to his strength and stability. If this could happen to him, what would happen to the rest of us?

Lilly and I headed back to my house, and Bets went upstairs to her room to go to bed. That night Lilly cried out, and when I reached for her she asked me if I was afraid to die. I knew the answer and it came so easily.

“Yes, Lilly, I am scared.”

“I’m not,” she whispered. “I think death would be a relief for me.”

“Oh, Lilly,” I said.

I climbed under the covers with her and stroked her hair until she fell asleep.

« Previous Page

Related articles across the web

Related articles across the web