Morgan Straughan Comnick: Author Interview & Spotlight

Spirit Vision is a YA paranormal romance.

Blurb: 

If God gave you a mission, would you answer His call?
The Lord has given Stary, a high school freshman, a mission: extinguish the evil residing in the murderer of two teens—Maren and Umbra. Stary never imagined that her strange visions meant that she was the Spirit Warrior for God and now with her powers activated, she must train to use them and try not to get caught by the murderer who has the ability to hide and conjure up the dark powers from the fallen angel himself—Lucifer. If Stary fails, not only will she lose her life, but Maren and Umbra will lose their entry into heaven and the world will be exposed to the madness of the murderer for the next forty years until the new Spirit Warrior is born.

Buy Links:

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Smashwords
iTunes

Bio: 

Educator of young minds by day, super nerdy savior of justice and cute things by night, Morgan Straughan Comnick has a love for turning the normal into something special without losing its essence. Morgan draws from real life experiences and her ongoing imagination to spark her writing. In her spare time, she enjoys doing goofy voices, traveling to new worlds by turning pages, humming child-like songs, and forcing people to smile with her "bubbliness." It is Morgan's mission in life to spread the amazement of otaku/Japanese culture to the world and to stop bullying; she knows everyone shines brightly.

Interview:

1. I see your book is classified as Young Adult Christian Fantasy and I also noticed you are a teacher. Have any of your kids read your book? What age levels would you recommend read your books?

I classify my book as a YA paranormal/romance, but it has been noted as Christian Fantasy and I have been in top lists in that category! Ha!

Yes, I have had a good number of my middle school students and family and co-workers read it. I would recommend it for ages 14 to 18, but I have elements from many different genres and nods to my hometown in there, so older audiences can find something to enjoy about it. Adults have told me they like it as well.

2. What books or authors influenced you growing up?

I struggled with phonics when I was younger, having to take special classes in elementary school for two years. I liked the American Girls series a lot growing up. Lurlene McDaniels was the author who hooked me into reading and Stephanie Meyer made me see how magical storytelling can be when you are no longer a child. Now, I'm a good and avid reader.

3. What inspires you to write and what messages are you trying to impart in your books. 

I was a shy child, naturally and due to bullying, so writing was my way to express my emotions. And, over time and thanks to my 9th grade language arts teacher's motivation, I saw the art in words, stories fueled by my over active imagination. I had a story to be told, characters to share with the world. I will be the link to their tale. I want to also inspire others to never give up on theirs dreams, especially my students. It took me a while to find a publishing company, but I kept trying. With passion, determination, and hard work, you can make your dreams come true.

4.  Is there a third book planned?  Tell us about what you are working on now.

The third book is finished and called, "The Power of Mortals." It will be out at the end of this year. 

I just started edits on my second poetry and short story collection, "Fallen Star Dust." I am also working on some independent short stories, website/blog updating, and writing the manuscript for "Spirit Vision 4."

5.  For those reading this today, what would you say to them in order to convince them to give your books a try?

Stary wants to welcome you to the start of the encounter that will change her destiny forever; becoming God's Spirit Warrior. Spirits, supernatural powers, murder mystery, genetic experiments, school life, teenage drama, friendship, self-discovery, humor, and nerd references. Share her story!

Check out all of Morgan's books on her Amazon Author Page

You can follow Morgan at these links

Facebook

Twitter

Website

Youtube

Pinterest

Excerpt from Book Two: Ghost School

Coming in September, Norma Jean's School of Witchery, Book Two: Ghost School

This is an unedited excerpt..  Copyright © 2015 Rose Montague

 My sword, the Magic one given me by Mister Hiruto started vibrating, humming ever so 

slightly in my hands.  For the first time I could feel my fire awaken within me, this time not 

constrained by me but by the spell laid over the town.  My fire was not happy.  I could feel 

my sword trying to connect with my fire.  I could only hope it would be successful.  The slight 

humming was loud in the silence around, joined only by our footsteps as we walked to the 

church.

   “What's that sound,” Misty said as we approached the church.

   “It's my sword,” I responded.  “It's magic seems to be working.  I'm not sure exactly what 

it does,” I added. 

    A large raven buzzed us overhead, heading towards that church.  Shaman was here. 

Hopefully he would give the rest of the team our status and they would head our way.  As I 

debated filling the others in on my backup plan I was interrupted by Misty stopping abruptly.

   “The dead are moving,” she announced. “Behind us now,” she added, turning around to 

look.

    We all looked.  Rows and rows of Zombies now stood blocking our retreat.  More 

streamed out of the homes we had passed.  Hundreds of Zombies now filled the streets 

behind us.  Silent and slowly approaching our position, they were obviously controlled.  Most 

necromancers could control a single Zombie, sometimes even two or three.  With the aid of 

the BFM device, L.O.T.D. had control of a whole town full of them.  I saw Shaman flying off 

to our right.  Hopefully he would let our team know quickly.  I hoped he would do the other 

thing I had asked of him as well.

   We had no choice but to continue forward. Misty took the lead, walking up the steps to the 

church and opening up one of the big double doors so we could enter.  The little church 

graveyard we had just passed was also full of empty graves.  Ghost whispered to me that he 

was behind me.  I hoped he was as invisible to the Zombies as he was to us.  His talent hid 

him from all senses, only my ability to sense auras made him visible to me.  As my magic was 

down, I had no idea where he was if he had not told me.

    Misty entered and I followed.  The pews were full of Zombies, sitting silent and unmoving, 

staring forward.  Ahead of us a four deep wall of Zombies stood silently between us and the 

altar where we were to retrieve the demands. As we continued down the aisle, the Zombies 

behind us left the pews and massed in a crowd.  The ones in front of us showed no sign of 

parting to let us through.

    Misty had two military knives out, one in each hand.  That was not going to be very 

effective in getting through.  Ghost tapped me on the shoulder as he passed me and then I 

saw Misty start as he did the same with her.  He had a Fae sword and was invisible as well.  

He would try and get us through.  What we would do after that I had no idea, our options 

were extremely limited at this point.

You can get Norma Jean's School of Witchery, Book One: Jewel here..

Buy Link Amazon

K.K. Allen: Author Interview & Spotlight

K.K. Allen has been a long time Facebook & Twitter buddy and I am very pleased to feature her on my blog. Her support of other writers is outstanding and her energy and positive attitude is contagious.

She is the author of the Summer Solstice Series.

Teaser for Book One: Enchanted

After the death of her mother, Katrina Summer is hurled into life at Apollo Beach where she learns of her Ancient Greek ancestors from which the Summer family descends. Kat’s world unravels as secrets from her heritage are exposed. Leading to her birthday, the day of the Summer Solstice, she becomes frightened when enigmatic visions and disturbing dreams start to become reality. Amidst the turmoil, Kat meets Alec Stone, her gorgeous neighbor, who becomes her sole solace in an evocative world of mythological enchantment and evil prophecies that lurk around every corner …

Teaser for Book Two: The Equinox

Katrina Summer finally comes to terms with her enchanted skin as she is challenged with an evil that threatens the Solstice settlement of Apollo Beach. At a private gathering on Summer Island Kat meets the gorgeous Valli sisters, mythological descendants of a different breed, who encourage her to take a deeper look into her new existence. To escape the lurking dangers of the Equinox, which brings outrage and heartbreak to the entire town, Kat accepts a job at the Island Grille where more trouble brews as her handsome, yet brooding co-worker, Johnny, makes life even more challenging. Meanwhile, Kat struggles between her lingering and undeniable attraction for Alec, the secrets that she is forced to keep from him, and a betrayal that sends them on separate paths . . .

The Summer Solstice series is a coming of age, contemporary fantasy with elements of mythology, paranormal, and the supernatural.

Buy Links:

Book One
Book Two

Bio:

K.K. Allen is the author of the Contemporary Fantasy author of stories inspired by nature, magic and love. She loves manatees, learned to swim for the mere purpose of pretending she was a mermaid, and adores the beach so much she promises to one day live in a tent on a Hawaiian beach and serve snow cones on the side of the road. K.K.'s first two books, The Summer Solstice Enchanted and The Equinox are available now.

Interview:

1. Fantasy, mythology, & fairy tales. Tell us about your reading experiences growing up and what influenced you to become an author.

Since as young as I can remember I was reading, and then writing not long after. Just like most little girls, I dreamt of being a princess, a rockstar, a dancer, a writer, a mermaid, popular among my peers, you name it. At some point I began taking those fantasies to another level and writing about them. I was 12 when I found my love for writing and wrote my first novel. I continued to write this way until I got my first laptop at the age of 21. That was also the year I spent a summer in New York City attending NYU film and dance classes, experiencing every bit of culture I could soak up in three short months. All around me, I was inspired by those who were living their dreams, doing the things they probably dreamt of doing when they were little, just like me. I realized that sometimes dreams do come true, and one day, I could be living out my own dreams, just like them. One year ago I published my first novel, The Summer Solstice Enchanted, and it was obvious to me that this is my dream that I need to pursue, because I've been working toward it my entire life.

2. What made you decide to self publish? Did you try to find an agent/publisher first or was that always your plan?

A great friend told me to publish my book. He had no clue what I wrote, or how I wrote, it was just obvious to him that I loved it. He was impressed that I wrote an entire book and told me to just publish it. Just like that, like he was telling what to order for lunch. It took me about three years to actually listen to him. At that point I had every intention of keeping my pseudenum completely private, terrified my friends would shun me or consider me ridiculous for following a dream. I wrote a query letter and sent it to four very well known literary agents, and then before they even had a chance to respond, I uploaded my book. It wasn't that I was impatient, I simply didn't want their rejections to weigh on my decision to publish or not. It was something I needed to try, and I'm so glad that I did!

3. You have a lot of reviews and some really good ones as well. I would love to know the secret of getting reviews.

Thank you! Let me start out by saying that those who actually take the time to leave a review are superstars in my book. It takes time, thought, and energy to write an honest review. I'm not really sure if there's a secret to getting reviews. If I get emails from readers gushing about my books, or if someone mentions they are interested in reading my book, I always ask for a review. I have no shame! I want to encourage everyone to leave one because it could help someone else determine whether or not my book is for them. Believe it or not, I don't want everyone reading my book, only those who might enjoy it. I also have a section after the last page in my book which encourages readers to leave a review when they are done. It's truly the best gift you can give an author. In turn, I review everything I read because I know how important it is.

4. Is there a book three in the works? What are you currently working on?

I am currently working on the third book in the Summer Solstice series, titled The Descendants. This will be the last book in the series, except for some novellas I'm planning on writing to give some close-up looks into certain relationships within the story. I'm anxious to get this book out to my readers! They've been so patient with me this year.

5. What have you learned as an author/self-publisher that you wished you knew when you first started?

Find a great editor or three and let them tear up your work. I made the typical detrimental mistakes at the beginning of my publishing career which I hope I'll one day forgive myself for. Also, making solid connections with other authors in a similar genre as you is key to having a support system in what could be a very long and lonely journey. It's safe to say that my indie author friends are some of my biggest supporters.

6. For those reading this, what would you say to them to convince them to buy your book?

The Summer Solstice series is more than a Contemporary Fantasy; it's a journey through heartbreak, recovery, first love, relationships, and respect for all things nature. Readers are transported into a relatable world with fantasy elements that are somehow believable. The best part—it's fun, magical, and surprising . . .

You can follow K.K. Allen here:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Goodreads

Amazon

T. Anthony Bland: Author Interview and Spotlight

Please join me in welcoming T. Anthony Bland, author of In The Apartments Next To Mine

Teaser:

       How well do you know your neighbor? Do you know the shoes they wear..? Their struggles, strength...their story? 

       In The Apartments Next To Mine: The College Collection, is a collection of short stories about families and individuals, living with Schizophrenia, Autism,Assimilation and Racism. But there are also stories of lost love, forgiveness and even a first trip to the dentist. Some stories are humorous, others are tearjerkers, some were written as college papers, others were written while riding the 6 train in NYC. But all are people who may live next door.

Buy Links:

Amazon

Createspace

Bio:

     T.Anthony Bland was born and raised in the Bronx N.Y. He graduated from the College of New Rochelle in 2012 with a masters in Communication Studies. Before entering college at mid-life, he worked many jobs that took him all around New York City and upstate N.Y. He was a messenger, janitor, construction worker, carpenter, bus driver, Sunday school teacher, camp counselor and a teacher to children with Autism and varies disabilities such Spina Bifida and Cerebral Parsley. He's traveled to San Francisco, Oregon, Boston, New Hampshire, New Orleans,Pennsylvania, Florida, Jamaica...and Ohio, by mistake. It's this life, that helps him craft the stories like those in his book In The Apartments Next Mine...  

Interview:

1. When did you decide to be a writer and what books influenced you growing up?

I have probably always been a writer, well, at least a storyteller but I just didn’t write anything down. I decided to write for a living mid-life after graduating from grad school. As an undergrad, I was a literature major so my final projects most often were short stories. My professors were the ones to encourage to Write. After 2 years of writing academic research papers and a year of job hunting, I decided it was time…actually my wife helped. We agreed to just write, write and write for a year and see what happens.

Books that influenced me…? I didn’t read books growing up. I watched a lot of TV and read a few magazines, whatever my sister or mother bought. I had trouble reading as a kid so books weren’t my thing. Now movies! That’s a different story, I loved musicals and westerns and Star Trek. In fact, I’d say it was Star Trek the Next Generation that influenced me most. I was fascinated by the story telling that was created with all the restrictions of television networks. They tapped into a wide variety of subjects over the years. When I write, I don’t see words, I see moving pictures…cinema.

2. Tell us about the inspiration behind the first story you ever wrote?

My first full length story is Going Home but technically the very first is Chamber of Horrors. My assignment was to write a descriptive essay, I thought I went over the top with the picture I painted but I got an “A” and my professor loved it. It was birth out of writer’s block! I carried pen and paper for days…nothing. Then we were taking our 2 year old to her first dental appointment, while we waited I started looking around the clinic. It was horrible, I just starting writing what I saw. The word poured out like water. I even missed my daughter going in…I include that in the story.

3. Are you currently writing? Tell us what you are working on now. 

Yes, I’m in the middle of two projects. I’m writing 2 new stories for “In The Apartments Next To Mine” I plan to re-release the book this July hopefully. One story is about a family that has a child with Autism and the struggle of their morning route. You see it from the family’s point of view and the caregiver’s point of view.

I’m also in the middle of a follow-up novel to my short story Going Home. I was doing fine then got stuck so I put the book aside about 2 months ago. Then Spectrum, one of the new stories, came pouring out of me. The novel was titled The Book of James, as it was going to following up on what happened to Caleb James and his brother Jedidiah…however, it includes the whole James. Each member’s faith will be tested, the book spans a number of years. It opens 2 years after Caleb walks away from a successful career and his brother turns down the NFL. The story that features the sister is many years later. We find her in high school preparing for college. That story also introduces us a new character, a serial killer. He will have his own book…my wife has been waiting 3 years for me to write that one. Lol.

4. Tell us about your publishing experience. Did you try to find an agent or publisher first or did you always want to self-publish?

I did not try very hard to get an agent though really wish I had one. It would help with all the leg work. My former professor suggested that I get one.

I did reach out to publishing companies I was told I needed “a following first” or “we’re not accepting manuscripts right now”. If I were 20 years old, perhaps I would have stay around for years of rejections, but I’m not. My thinking was… If it came down to it, I would publish just so that my children and grandchildren would have a record of my achievement on their bookshelf. Self-publishing is a perfect fit for us right now, low over-head cost and not a huge financial investment to start. When we have more money we can put in more.

5. My son has cerebral palsy and there are a few teachers he had growing up that he truly loved. Tell us about teaching kids with disabilities.

Wow. Stressful, painful, fun, exciting and tear-jerking! But I loved it. I worked with kids and adults in a wide range of disabilities. Cerebral Palsy (CP), Down syndrome, MR, Blind/visibly impaired and of course Autism and a few others.

The stress is in, communicating to them as well as learning their communicating language and style. I worked with a guy with CP whose speech was so bad that he was frustrated; I took over for my counselor and apologized if I need him to repeat to me…he was fine with that. It took a couple of days but we got. We chatted a lot, while I was showering him! Lol. I had a girl that wouldn’t sit still and work she would fight the teachers, call them names and throw things. We worked well together though. I would start by letting her play for 5 mins, then do reading for 5. Her tough subject was math so I made sure that her favorite snack or thing to do was the reward for math. After a mouth her behavior changed. She looked forward to working with me more than other teaches. Let me tell you this kids that a wicked sense of humor. The tears flow as you joyfully sit back and watch someone learn a new skill or even do something that they hadn’t done before. They’re learning. The ones that people thought couldn’t learn.

6. For those reading this what would you say to them to convince them to give your book a read?

Here is a link to an excerpt http://tanthonybland.com/2015/02/11/in-the-apartments-next-to-mine-book-excerpt-1/ from my website. There are 3 in total…look pass all your misgivings and think of the first time you tried something for the first time, how you fell in love with it and how you still use it, have it around, purchasing it etc. These are short stories of ordinary people with extraordinary stories that you will relate to, cry with, giggle at and fall in love with or at least with the writer. Lol

 You can follow T. Anthony Bland at the following places:

Amazon Author Page

Website

Facebook

Goodreads

Twitter

Cover Reveal: Breaking Faith by Joy Eileen

Pretty awesome cover!!!

Faith made the mistake of giving her heart to someone who didn’t deserve her. After making the decision to leave, she sought refuge at a bar full of misfits. They accepted Faith without question, and now they protect her as if she's family. While putting the pieces of her life back together, she fights to keep her broken heart from falling for the moody lead singer of the JackholeS. A man named Kill. Killian has his own demons to battle, yet Faith brings out his protective side: a side he thought he’d buried long ago. Can Faith and Kill trust each other long enough to leave their pasts behind and find love? Or is the past too overpowering to allow anyone a chance at happiness?

WARNING: This book contains explicit non-consensual sex scenes. It contains strong language and adult situations. This book is not intended for anyone under 18. This is a series so this book does not end with resolution. Don't worry the second book is already done and the third is being created.

I have already pre-ordered my copy and you can do the same at the following link...

Pre-Order Breaking Faith

About the author

Joy Eileen is a born bibliophile who becomes deeply engaged with her characters, and has devoured more books than she would like to admit. She becomes obsessed with happily-ever-afters, and will read any genre that fulfills that requirement. Evading the library is something she has been known to do, because after befriending the characters returning them would be a heartbreaking event. Books are held hostage on her bookshelf, and any author that makes her ugly cry becomes her sworn enemy. Nicholas Sparks is one of the many on the list of villains.

As a massage therapist, most of Joy's stories come to her while working. With the sound of classical music, and snoring from a half covered hostage, characters are created. The victim (massage patient)  has no idea that while their body is being manipulated, Joy has traveled into distant lands creating landscapes and inhabitants as she goes. Her patients should be wary as sometimes they are pulled into her stories and turned into characters. Hero or Foe? Well, that depends on how they tip.