LOVE IN A TIME OF MONSTERS IS OUT!

This is the post I’ve been waiting to write for years. YEARS! My fantasy novel, LOVE IN A TIME OF MONSTERS, is on sale!

He has a monster problem

Scotland, 1867. When Rob Stevenson’s brother is killed—and eaten—in the forest outside their estate, Rob’s sheltered world is shattered by a monster infestation. Determined to keep his village safe, Rob’s first duty as laird involves hiring a professional hunter.

She kills monsters

The sole survivor of a massacre in the Congo, Catriona Mornay is rumored to have lost her mind in the jungle. In Edinburgh’s gas-lit streets, Cat’s skill as a hunter is unmatched. Her reputation as a killer of unnatural creatures, legendary.

Two worlds collide

Faced with a rising body count, Rob takes a chance on Cat, hoping that somewhere inside this tortured yet charismatic girl is the hero he’s been searching for. But in this shadow realm of secrets, lies, and underworld crime, their lives overlap in more ways than one. And in an age where harpies flock the sky and serpents rule the sea, it’s even possible for a boy and his hunter to fall in love.

But can their love survive in a time of monsters?

You can buy it here:

Amazon

Barnes & Nobles

Kobo

iBooks

Google Play

The ebook is cheaper than the price of popcorn chicken (or Girl Scout cookies for those of you who do not gorge yourself on popcorn chicken) and will net you hours of entertainment. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll feel a little scared and perhaps… a little sexy? I have a dirty mind, and while that’s no secret, aren’t you curious about my dirty mind when applied to a fantasy setting?

As an added bonus, if you buy the paperback version on Amazon, you’ll get the kindle version for $0.99.

I’m thrilled to share this book with you and hope you enjoy it! And once you’ve enjoyed it… please consider leaving a review (I won’t direct you to where, but allow me to point in Amazon’s general direction) to help others find my work and spread my dirty mind around… rather like herpes but in a more pleasant way.

 

 

A Great and Terrible Beauty

I had reservations about reading A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray because I remember reading some not so faltering reviews on Amazon. So for the past few years, I’ve been going through some internal struggle between wanting to read the book (because the cover art is so enticing!) and heeding the advice of noted Amazon reviewers. This week, I gave in and approached A Great and Terrible Beauty with an open-mind. Verdict: I love it!

Granted, I don’t love everything about it (the otherworldy realm scenes being the problem area), but what this book has going for it is pages and pages of gothic Victorian atmosphere. In a previous post, I mentioned that there are certain things associated with the Victorian Era that really creeps me out: old photographs with dour, unsmiling subjects, faces illuminated by gaslights, crumbling old castles, etc… And Libba Bray, with her attention to detail, succeeded in unnerving me. I read this book late at night, and just the thought of Gemma Doyle strolling down hallways dotted with black and white Victorian photographs…shudder. In many ways, the atmosphere reminds me of Jane Eyre; is that a recommendation or what?

That being said, it’s time for some casting fun! Here are my picks for the principle characters. Do you concur? Or beg to differ? Comment away!

Gemma Doyle (Rachel Hurd-Wood)

Felicity Worthington (Romola Garai)

Pippa Cross (Alexis Bledel)

Ann Bradshaw (Ann Maxwell Martin)

Kartik (Steven Strait)

If that isn’t enough visual stimuli for ya, here’s A Great and Terrible Beauty reinactment from the Teen Book Awards. It reminds me of those high school English projects we had to do back in the day without benefit of digital cameras and high tech video editors, except this video is leagues above the crap I made for English class. A video like this back in say, 2000, would have blown my English class away.

Sleepless Night

Is this ironic or what? My post yesterday of things that freak me out ended up freaking me out even more and, to make a long story short, I couldn’t sleep at all last night! Not a wink. Around 1 am-ish, I got thirsty but I kept thinking about that scene in The Others where Nicole Kidman stumbles upon the big book of Victorian corpse pictures and I was too chicken to get up and get a glass of water.

Oh, and did I mention I also thought about clowns and finding a big book of clowns in different clown apparel: high fashion clowns, J. Crew clowns, little French clowns, Victoria Secret clowns, clowns for Target. It’s Clown Vogue! I watched America’s Next Top Model last night, hence this beyond freaky image. And no, it’s not funny…

So I just hid under my blanket: parched and spineless.

On the bright side, I was productive during my 8 hours of terror and composed a book review in my head, thought about high school and prom (product of my recent YA readings), and squeezed in a little mental creative writing on the side. I should have just gotten up and written everything down, but that would involve emerging from my blanket and venturing into the dark. Not likely! Now, I’m way too exhausted to transcribe my book review into comprehensible words so expect that in a few days.

For now, my goal is to get a peaceful night’s sleep. The only remedy I can think of to counter disturbing images is to think happy thoughts…

Maybe it’s more effective if I recite it like a mantra.

Think happy thoughts

Think happy thoughts

Think happy thoughts

Think happy thoughts

 

I feel better now.

Apparently, my happy thoughts involve men flashing blue steel. Why am I not surprised?

Pictures from top to bottom: Gaspard Ulliel, Mark Paul Gosselaar, Gerard Butler, and Colin Firth.