Sabrina's Paranormal Palace

C.S. Yelle was born and raised in Grand Rapids, MN, the "almost" middle child of six. He attended Grand Rapids Senior High School where he enjoyed music and sports. He received his BS in Chemistry from Mayville State University, Mayville, ND in 1987. He taught 7-12 Science and coached for six years in several North Dakota schools and currently works as an Executive Account Manager in the Water Treatment Industry where he has been for nearly seventeen years. He is the father of four and grandfather of one. He writes novels, screenplays, and an occasional short story. He has been writing seriously for over ten years and plans to continue until his fingers are unable, maybe longer. He currently resides in a Minneapolis, MN suburb with his wife Jennifer

Interview:

When did you know you wanted to become a writer?

When I finished reading a book and felt let down by the ending. I thought, “I can do better than that” and started writing the next day.

How did the idea of Taking Angels come to you?

After reading a paranormal novel I felt motivated to write paranormal with more of an edge to it and a stronger story. I ended up with Taking Angels.

Are any of your characters based off people you know?

My characters are based on pieces of real people put together with other pieces of real people so they are a combination of characteristics of real people to form a new person.

How many books will be in the series?

Three..at this point.

How do you overcome writer’s block?

I am working the story and character development in my mind constantly so the only block is the time to sit down and write it out. Book 2 is currently in progress in my mind with book 3 popping up every so often.

What is your writing process?

I get an idea for a character and then put them in a situation. Then I let that brew in my head until pretty much of the story is complete. I then sit down and write like a madman until I have a first draft. Once I have the first draft, it is off to my Beta Reader and then when that comes back it is reworked and then sent to at least six proof readers. From there it goes to the editor and so on until it is complete.

What is your favorite paranormal being?

I really like shape-shifters. They intrigue me. That is until I developed a soulless Eternal who is addicted to Guardian Angels. Now that is my favorite being.

What was the first paranormal book you read?

Twilight

Who are some of your favorite authors?

JK Rowling, Terry Brooks, Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind, HK Savage, Jacinta Maree, Kendare Blake

Can you give us any hints about future books?

The Angel Crusades will develop to encompass more than our own reality and Britt is the key.

Britt’s love will be tested, but not in the way you might think.

Is there a writer or writers that inspire you?

I have two incredible writers groups that energize me every time I get together with them. HK Savage inspires me.

What paranormal being would you like to be?

Being an Eternal would be intriguing. Being able to heal people and shimmer from one place to another would be incredible.

If you were stranded on a deserted island what character would you want with you and why?

Angelina – she is strong and resourceful plus is very easy on the eyes.

What would you do in a zombie apocalypse?

Retreat to northern MN and live off the land with all my loved ones with me.

What 3 people would you like to have dinner with and why?

Stephen King – because I think he is hilarious.

JK Rowling – because I want to feel her creative energy.

HK Savage – because if she wasn’t there with me she would never believe me that I had dinner with Stephen King and JK Rowling.

Favorites:

Pets: Dogs

Food: Pizza

Drink: Chocolate Milk

Holiday: Christmas

Music: All Kinds

Movie: Long Kiss Goodnight

This or That:

Night or Day? Day

Theater or Rent? Theater

Fall or Summer? Fall

Music or Reading? Reading

Pet Dragon or Pet Gargoyle? Pet Dragon

Stalker Links:

Thank you to CS for letting me review your book and Thank you to TTC & B2B for letting me participate in this blog tour. Make sure you enter the giveaway.

~Sabrina

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Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Once Upon A Zombie Apocalypse Blog Tour

I am so excited to be participating in this blog tour. I love both K.B. and Jennifer so much that when I got asked I jumped at the chance to review both novellas and be in this tour. So let's get started and learn about these two novellas.

Once Upon A Zombie Apocalypse or (OUAZA) as the fans call it, is a short story episodic saga written by K.B. Miller and Jennifer Malone Wright. The first episode is from both Jade and Kylee's perspective and is two separate novella's. The same story, but from two different characters. It is done this way with the first episode only, so that you can meet our girls and really get to know and love them like we do.

Each following episode will be written solely by one of the authors and available through their links.

Novella 1. KB. Miller and Jennifer Malone Wright

Novella 2. Jennifer Malone Wright

Novella 3. K.B. Miller

Novella 4. Jennifer Malone Wright

Novella 5. K.B Miller

and so on...

Chemical Warfare has turned most of the world’s population into flesh eating Zombies. These are the accounts of two survivors.

Kylee and Jade are on their way from one author convention to another. After saying goodbye to all their friends, they never dreamed the plane would land with them fighting for their lives.

Kylee Mahafferty lived a life of luxury, jet setting to big cities around the globe, high dollar shopping sprees, and downing copious amounts of her favorite fu-fu-non-fat lattes'. But, that life's suddenly been replaced by one with a simple objective, survival. Kylee's best friend, Jade is the only thing holding together the slippery tendrils of her unraveling mind.

With their first mission being to find their families, will the girls manage to save their families while trying to save each other?

Excerpt:

August 2, 2013

Just a few days ago, my biggest worries in life were whether, or not I was spending enough time with my family, and if my doctor was going to shit a brick again because of my caffeine habit. Sweet Jesus, what a difference a day makes.

I'd never fed into all of that end-of-the-world doomsday nonsense my best friend, and co-author, Jade used to go on about. I mean, it was all just fodder for the fantasy stories that we wrote; Aliens raining down from the skies to take over the world, beautiful creatures lurking in the shadows of the night to suck the very life from you, or my personal favorite... gorgeous, shirtless angels falling from grace to save the damsel in distresses soul from an eternity in purgatory. None of that was real though, right? Yeah... that's what I thought up until two days ago when all hell broke loose.

Thankfully she and I were together, headed to another book convention when it all started. Unfortunately, we were separated from our families by hundreds and thousands of miles. Getting home is our first priority. Killing as many of those "things" as we can is just a bonus.

Jade and I made an agreement, because we earned our living telling stories, we're going to document our journey by putting pen to paper. That way, if the unthinkable happens and we don't survive this insane new world─ our stories will. They'll be timeless... gross and graphic, but timeless.

Our nightmare has only just begun, and we've already been through the mill, but I have no doubt that the road ahead will be paved in endless fear, terrifying anguish, mind-shattering pain, and more of those creatures... those zombies. I'm petrified at how this could end.

May God be with all of us and keep us safe.

P.S. Coffee sucks during the apocalypse!

Kylee Mahafferty

My Review:

I loved this book so much and when K.B. asked me to review it for her I was so honored and excited since she had told me a little about what it was about.

Kylee and Jade are leaving from one book convention to go to another in support of their book they co-wrote. While on the plane things don’t go as planned because who plans for a zombie apocalypse to happen 30,000 feet in the air and no where to run.

This novella is told from Kylee’s point of view who is a diva but who can kick butt and hold her own. I don’t want to say to much as it’s a novella and I don’t want to give any spoilers but I have a new appreciation for high heels and keeping my clothes on while trying to run from zombies and keep myself and my best friend alive.

I was laughing so much from all the great lines Kylee kept saying through this book. I know when you think zombie book you don’t think funny but let me tell you Kylee and Jade will have you laughing out loud. I think my favorite part about both novellas is that if you know both K.B. and Jennifer then you will get to see so much of their own personalities in Kylee and Jade. 5/5 Bloody Fangs

Buy Links:

Smashwords

K.B. Miller and Jennifer Malone Wright are both authors of the paranormal and urban genres. Once Upon A Zombie Apocalypse came about after many discussions on how they would survive the zombie apocalypse. Their survival strategies were so different from each other on some accounts; they decided it would be fun to see the two differences trying to survive together. K.B. and Jennifer met as mere acquaintances and have now formed a life-long friendship.

K.B. Miller is best known for her best selling series The Moon Coven. She has several other works in progress which will release in 2013. At home, K.B is a full time writer with a very supportive husband and son who is too smart for his own good. In her free time K.B. likes to read, dabble in graphic design, watch her favorite shows, and spend time with her other love … coffee! She is also an owl enthusiast and swears she will someday ride a unicorn.

Stalker Links:

Website

Goodreads

Amazon Author Page

Chemical Warfare has turned most of the world’s population into flesh eating Zombies. These are the accounts of two survivors.

Kylee and Jade are on their way from one author convention to another. After saying goodbye to all their friends, they never dreamed the plane would land with them fighting for their lives.

Jade Warwick has been preparing for the end of the world for years, but she never thought the world would end with zombies. The only thing salvaging her almost lost sanity is the fact that she is with her best friend, Kylee

With their first mission being to find their families, will the girls manage to save their families while trying to save each other?

Excerpt:

I always knew the world was going to go to shit, I just never thought it would be this way.

The part that pisses me off the most is that people like me aren’t supposed to be surprised when the shit hits the fan. I have been preparing for the next world war or natural disaster to happen. But never, ever in my wildest dreams did I actually think that mankind would end with zombies.

It’s so ironic. As writers, we create these horror stories for others to read about. All of it is simply fiction, stories that rot our minds and entertain us, but are never really a possibility.

When it happened, Kylee and I were together, thank God, and we managed to survive the first day. We promised each other that we would document the days of our journey so that our words would become immortal … because we are not. No one is safe now. Anybody can turn if they aren’t careful. The zombies aren’t our only fear either. The people have become something just as bad, maybe even worse. When disasters happen, people lose their humanity as the will to live drives them into survival mode. I’ve seen enough TV shows and read enough books to know what happens to people, but that is something to worry about later. Right now, my only purpose is to find my family. Well, we kind of have to find Kylee’s family first because they are closer, but still, the mission remains the same.

I don’t have a clue how we are going to do this. My preparations included shelter, food, water, and weapons. They never included my being on a freaking airplane and landing on a side of the country that I’ve never even been to. I have nothing, nothing that I expected to have when this happened.

Our journey has only begun. I’m just glad that I’m not alone.

My Review:

I loved this novella so much. When I got asked to review Jade’s part I jumped at the chance as I didn’t know much about her character. And I wasn’t disappointed at all.

This novella is told from Jade’s point of view. She is a tough, tell it how it is women, who has been preparing for the end of the world. Although I don’t think she was even ready for how it comes about. I really loved Jade when things started turning for the worse she took charge so quick to protect everyone including herself and best friend Kylee. The first zombie Jade had to kill had me laughing so hard cause I know who they were talking about and I know you will to once you read this book.

Even though this is only a novella I kept laughing and enjoying the friendship between Jade and Kylee. I know zombies are suppose to be scary and gross which trust me they are in both novellas but the way both authors spin their stories will have you laughing out loud. 5/5 Bloody Fangs

Buy Links:

Jennifer Malone Wright is best known her YA paranormal series The Vampire Hunter’s Daughter. Her other works include the follow up to The Vampire Hunter’s Daughter called The Arcadia Falls Chronicles and her other vampire novel The Birth of Jaiden. Jennifer is the mother of five crazy kids and wife of a soldier. Jennifer also loves coffee, talking on the phone with her equally crazy friends and has a passionate affair with Red Bull.

Stalker Links:

Website

Goodreads

Amazon Author Page

Stalker Links for OUAZA:

I wanna say Thank you to both K.B. and Jennifer for letting me review their books and participate in this blog tour. I hope you all enjoy OUAZA with Kylee and Jade as much as I did. Don't forget to enter the awesome giveaway.

~Sabrina

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Friday, April 5, 2013

Author Spotlight for Stacey Rourke

I am so excited to have Stacey as the spotlight author today. I have heard such great things about her books and I have been wanting to read them for awhile. So when Stacey agreed to be on my blog and let me interview her I jumped at the chance. So let's get started with getting to know more about Stacey and her books. Oh and Stacey has offered up some ebooks for you all to try and win.

Stacey Rourke is the author of the Gryphon Series. She lives in Michigan with her husband, two beautiful daughters, and two giant, drooly dogs. Stacey loves to travel, has an unhealthy shoe addiction and considers herself blessed to make a career out of talking to the imaginary people that live in her head. She is currently hard at work on the continuations of this series as well as other literary projects.

Stalker Links:

Website

Blog

All 18-year-old Celeste Garrett wants is to head off to college and make those fun, yet ill-advised, choices college kids are known for. And maybe to spend some time with the hot cameraman she just met. Instead, because of a pact her ancestors made in the 17th century with a mythical creature, she has to save the world.

While normal kids are slamming energy drinks and cramming for exams, Celeste will get her adrenaline rush fighting a fire breathing dragon. She wants to meet friends in the quad to exchange lecture notes, but first she must exchange blows with a shapeshifting demon on the rooftop. Life isn’t always fair for a superhero, but at least she doesn’t have to do it alone. With her brother and sister as sidekicks, they alternate between saving lives and getting on each others’ nerves. Together the trio encounters unspeakable odds, mystical forces and comes face-to-face with an image that will haunt them forever—their grandmother in a leopard print bikini.

"Okay, little side note here. If a psychopathic killer asks if you want to see a trick, say no. That’s the smart thing to do. I, on the other hand, responded, 'Bring it'."

-excerpt from THE CONDUIT

Teaser:

“Wow.” Gabe’s eyes widened in mock awe. “You must really feel like crap right now.”

“Yes. Yes I do. Can we go now, please?” As much as I wished he would leave this alone, I knew he wouldn’t.

“Sure.” A smile played at the corners of his lips, as he motioned for me to lead the way. We made it all of fifteen paces before he started in. “I mean, you just made an angel cry. I can’t say for sure that you’ll go to hell for that kind of thing, but it doesn’t look good.”

“Shut up, Gabe. And she’s not really an angel.”

“Keep telling yourself that. I’m sure you’ll find it very reassuring while you’re burning in the eternal hell fires, right next to the puppy kickers.”

I muttered a few expletives under my breath, but kept walking.

Gabe matched me stride for stride. “I gotta ask, Cee, is it out of your system now? Or do you need to track down good ole’ Saint Nick and kick him in the crotch?”

“Leave her alone, Gabe.” Kendall said as she trailed us. “She’s got a lot on her mind right now!”

“Thank you, Kendall.”

“Yeah. She’s busy trying to find the Easter Bunny, so she can rip his fuzzy, little tail off.”

I glared over my shoulder at her. “Et tu, Brute’?”

Their tittering laughter echoed through the forest.

I thought I had gained a good distance on them when Gabe jumped in front of me. With his back to me, he kept his gaze locked to the north of us.

“What now? Oh, ha, ha, ha. Is the Gryphon coming to settle the score for me making his BFF cry?” I tried to push past him, but he blocked the way with one enormous arm.

A hand locked onto my shoulder and pulled me back. I turned. Kendall silently motioned me to come to her. A low, rumbling growl escaped from my brother’s chest. All the hair on the back of my neck stood at attention.

“What is it?” I whispered.

“We’re not alone.” Gabe’s voice came out a deep, disturbing rumble.

“The panther?” Kendall asked, her tone surprisingly calm.

Another menacing growl confirmed it.

“We’ve got to go! We aren’t ready yet for him to report us to Barnabus!” I grabbed Gabe’s arm and tried to yank him toward the parking lot.

Gabe’s head snapped around. To my astonishment, yellow slit cat eyes bore down on me. “Do you think you can outrun a panther?” He snarled.

I’m kind of worried about outrunning you right now.

Instinct made me release his arm. Despite my trembling voice I tried to reason with him. “Gabe, you’re getting ready to change. That’s pretty obvious. If he sees that, he’s gonna know. I am asking you, please, calm down and come with us. Now!”

Buy Links:

Book 2:

Whether she likes it or not, eighteen year old Celeste Garrett has come to terms with being the Chosen One. She knew having a “normal life” would be tricky, between intense training sessions and epic demonic battles, but she didn’t know at what cost it would come. That is, until a dear friend is harmed by the malicious forces hunting her.

Now, she’d like nothing more than to retreat into a hermit lifestyle to prevent anyone else from getting hurt. But startling revelations, amazing new abilities, and mortifying moments in front of insanely hot guys won’t allow time for that. Soon, Celeste finds herself surrounded by darkness and wondering who she can trust—if anyone.

Teaser:

My head snapped up and my cheeks burned. “Wha…?!” Picture of eloquence, that’s me.

“Saturday. A date. You, me, dinner? Yah’ve heard of this concept, yeah?”

“Yes, the concept is somewhat foreign to me, but I’ve heard of it,” I answered. Still fearing this was some kind of joke, I couldn’t help but ask, “Why? Why are you asking me out?”

His expression was equal parts amusement and confusion. “Because if I don’t ask ya the chance of ya actually showin’ up on the date is highly unlikely, isn’t it?”

An abrupt—and incredibly loud—laugh erupted out of me. “True. But why? Why would you ask out the freaky purring girl?”

“Yar laugh is amazin’.” He grinned. Another wave of heat rushed through me. “And because from the moment I laid eyes on ya I knew there was somethin’ different about ya. The purrin’ just supported the theory. So, would ya like to go out with me?”

“Yes, I’d like to. Go on a date. With you. Please.” Smooth, huh?

On her way to another table, Sophia passed behind me. “Give him your number.”

“My what? Oh! My number! I have a number!” I scribbled it on my order pad and tore off the page to hand to him.

His chin jerked up slightly. “Who do I ask for when I call?”

I agreed to go on a date with a guy before I even knew his name, or told him mine. Please, don’t tell my mother.

“Celeste.” I chewed on my lower lip and I brushed a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

He caught my raised hand and drew it gently to him. His emerald eyes stayed locked on mine, as he bowed his head to brush his lips across the back of my hand. Tingles of excitement tracked up my arm and down my spine. I clamped my teeth together to stifle the purr that threatened to escape.

“It’s nice to formally meet ya, Celeste. The name’s Caleb.”

Buy Links:

Novella in the Gryphon Series:

Celeste isn't the only member of the Garrett family whose life changed when destiny called. Every sidekick has their tale and in this Gryphon Series short the spotlight is turned on Kendall, Grams and even Gabe. Get an inside look at the hilarious stress that goes along with being a...sidekick.

Sidekicks...ya can't live with 'em and you'd probably die horribly without 'em.

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Book 3:

Celeste Garrett has finally found a happy balance in her life as the Chosen One, thanks in large part to a certain hunky Irishman. But if there's any lesson she should heed since receiving her calling it's that everything can change in the blink of an eye. Soon a terrible new threat, unlike anything she's ever encountered, causes her to make a gut-wrenching choice that will strip her of someone she holds dear. As much as she'd like to have a pity party for one, there's no time for that now because wedding bells are ringing in Gainesboro! In between dress fittings and rehearsal dinners Celeste will have to fend off attacking demons and leering pirates. As if the Dark Army wasn't scary enough our heroine is faced with the horrifying trauma of attending a bachelorette party with her mom and watching Grams do Jello shots. Is a walk down the aisle even possible for a member of the Garrett family when the Dark Army is out to destroy them? More importantly, will the Dark Army Glee Club sing at the reception? Raise your glass to the happy couple, and get ready for a wedding...Conduit-style.

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