Solstice Presents: Plots and Schemes Vol. 1 Giveaway

Enter to win! That’s all you have to do. Solstice Publishing is celebrating Plots & Schemes Vol. 1 becoming a best seller in Germany during its release by giving away three autographed copies of the print edition of this fabulous anthology.

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/237966-plots-schemes-vol-1

All you have to do is click on the Goodreads link between May 26 and June 9 and enter. It’s that simple. Once the contest ends, Goodreads will notify us of the winners names and you will receive your copy.

Her child vanishes in a puff of smoke.

When Murder is on the Itinerary

An eavesdropped comment leads to an impossible scheme!

Mysterious events pull Dana into danger.

A rock star’s murder leaves Emlyn Goode questioning everything she knows about herself.

Murder most foul puts this cop to the test

One murder, one plan, two possible outcomes.

Losing your mind is scary...

If you're not at the beach, the Tough Luck stories will take you there.

Trail Town Texas leans heavily on their sheriff

Murder, kidnapping, mysterious events, and more are our treat to you in this wonderful anthology from Solstice Publishing. Discover the talents of K.C. Sprayberry, Debbie De Louise, Donna Alice Patton, E.B. Sullivan, Susan Lynn Solomon, Johnny Gunn, K.A. Meng, Leah Hamrick, Lois Crockett, and Stephy Smith.

https://bookgoodies.com/a/B072L7KZ6K

Here’s a little taste of what you’ll find inside this intriguing book!

A smile was on his face. Despite the fact that he was supposed to connect with the egg donor of this lovely child, he had no thoughts of doing that or returning the kid at the appointed time. His timing was perfect. The child—Lanie is such an idiotic name; I’ll have to come up with another one—would be five in a few days. In time, she would forget there had been his loser ex in her life. She—Sheila will regret divorcing me—had battered through his training, all he’d gone through to make her a compliant and complacent wife. She’d run away after he ordered her to get an abortion.

Good thing the bitch ignored me. I wouldn’t have this gorgeous child to raise to be like me.

Granted the child was weak now, but he would fix that, as soon as he made sure they vanished forever. No one would stop him from raising his daughter as he saw fit, and that meant keeping her away from her weakling of a mother.

Quietly, Mark Jannson, scion of the globally famous Jannson family, whose assets numbered in the billions, removed anything he considered important from his lavishly furnished thirty room mansion located in the mountains above Denver. His mother’s jewels were carefully packed into a leather satchel, to be given to his daughter, if she remained true to the Jannson name. The woman who called herself his mother had been consigned to a hovel in the southeast somewhere, once she showed her true colors by attempting to take him from his father.

“Let the bitch live in poverty the rest of her life,” he whispered.

https://youtu.be/3xUn1SZZrF8

Starting May 26, 2017, simply click on the link provided and enter. If you aren’t a member of Goodreads, you can join easily. This is a great place to discover books by new and exciting authors and be in on the fun of all sorts of entertainment!

Frank Fontaine Stops By: Seth Rich Conspiracy

Seth Rich was a 27 year old Democratic Clinton staffer who was shot down dead last summer during the presidential election.  He was scheduled to talk or maybe even testify about the Democratic Primaries.  Some believe he was going to talk about how Clinton screwed Bernie out of rightfully winning.  The police reported the crime as a robbery and then the story went away.  Clinton briefly used it as an example for gun control, the end.  In recent days, the story is making a comeback. 

 Apparently, there is much, much, much more to it.  Conspiracy buffs like me are glued to the news.  Although I have seen a few news shows bring up the crime and have read a few articles on the Internet, OAN really spelled it out yesterday on their news program.  Most of the odd details that I am listing comes from that news show.  The show's host flashed a disclaimer and some other legalese before reporting the story. In summary, I'd like to share some of the mind-blowing points what I watched on OAN.

1) Seth was robbed on the street, but nothing was taken-no money, no jewelry, nothing.  He was shot twice in the back.  His laptop in his home was missing.  He reportedly talked to his girlfriend for two hours starting from 2:05AM.  That would place the murder after 4:00AM.

2) Seth left a nearby bar.  The police never contacted the bar for video surveillance tape.

3) Julian Assange from Wikileaks had hinted that Seth was his source for the email dump that might have influenced the election.  Kim Dotcom, a friend of Assange, also claimed that Rich was leaking Clinton emails.

4) Seth was having problems with another Democrat, Donna Brazille-to refresh your memories, she is the one who fed Hillary the questions before a debate and then had to step down from her DNC post.

5) The policeman on the scene went to Georgetown while Podesta taught there.  His wife works for the democratic party in a high position.  

6) Somehow Donna Brazille was involved.  She had a phone call in to the police after it happened.

7) The original emergency physician said that Rich was shot in the back in a non-life-threatening manner.  The young man's care was turned over to another physician.

8) Seth's family had initially wanted the case solved, but now they have hired a professional democrat crisis manager who refuses to make any democratic connections.  No one knows who is paying him to be the family's mouthpiece.  They have told the conservative media to back off of the case.

9) FYI: The last physician to treat Seth had visited the Obama Whitehouse numerous times.  He was heavily involved with the Democratic party.  Capone, the owner of the bar, also had visited the Obama Whitehouse.

Is your head spinning?  Mine was when I watched this.  If it's true and the Democrats or Clinton herself had Seth killed, then that opens up quite a can of worms.  If Seth gave Wikileaks all of the emails, how would Russia still be part of throwing the U.S. election?  Obviously, Russia hacking into Clinton's emails would no longer make sense.  If Seth was killed for whistle blowing, how many others faced the same destiny?

I am not a Republican, just a skeptic on all politicians.  Although there is no "real" proof, the coincidences keep adding up to some real connections that the police who want all of this to go away just can't.  Dina, thanks again for letting me rant.  

Frank Fontaine

XPresso Presents: Darkest Days by N.W. Harris

Darkest Days
N W Harris
(The Last Orphans, #4)
Publication date: May 22nd 2017
Genres: Post-Apocalyptic, Science Fiction, Young Adult

The ancient slave mongers who killed the adults and enslaved the children have angered a more advanced species of aliens. Composed of pure energy, this superior race has attacked the Anunnaki home world and is now setting a course for Earth.
The energy-based aliens believe in a system of trial by battle. They seek to push Shane and his friends into the arena with the ones who killed their parents. The results will determine if humans deserve to live, or if they should be made extinct as well. It’s up to Shane to keep his friends—and an army of kids who look up to him—alive. They’ll be fighting not just for their own lives, but for the fate of the entire human race. Can the enemy of Shane’s enemy be his friend, or is this just another species determined to exploit and destroy them?

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Smashwords

—

GUEST POST BY N.W. HARRIS:

What would I tell a new author?

What to tell a new author, hmmm… There is so much to tell, though every writer’s journey is different. First off, I’d tell them to write for themselves. If one writes just to get published and make money, I think they’ll go mad and/or quit before they ever get close. Why? It takes years to polish one’s craft enough to be published by a creditable publisher. I think writing has to be looked at as a hobby that could become a career. A writer has to want to write because there is something that is inside them that needs to get out. Write for a creative outlet. Write like it doesn’t matter if anyone besides you ever reads it. Write almost everyday, but it is important to take days off too.
Much of the education for the profession comes from practical experience. Sure, a writer draws from their experiences and traditional education. My educational background is mostly based in science, biology and anthropology, and it provides a volume of information to draw upon. But, I had to learn the craft of writing by trial and error. Every writer has to find his or her voice. That can take years, and it can only be discovered by hard work.
I’d tell them to persist. It’s my favorite word. You have to write a novel. Destroy it. Rewrite it. Invest countless hours and sometimes even years. Then you have to be willing to let all that work go because it was just the classroom where you polished your craft. You have to swallow rejection after rejection and keep fighting. When you get criticism, you have to listen to it. I’m not saying a budding writer should try to oblige every critic, but growth is critical and growth comes from taking in criticism. Deal with any pain it might cause quickly, and then get into the game again by applying what you’ve learned.

Author Bio:
Born at the end of the Vietnam war and raised on a horse farm near small town north Georgia, his imagination evolved under the swaying pines surrounding his family’s log home. On summer days that were too hot, winter days that were too cold, and every night into the wee morning hours, he read books. He lives in sunny southern California with his beautiful wife and two perfect children.

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Goddess Fish Presents: Debra Holt Books by Debra Holt

Debra Holt Books

by Debra Holt

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GENRE: Contemporary Romance

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BLURB:

Mercy’s Rescue  

Fighting for his life after an ambush, Sheriff Josh Wellman awakes to find himself looking into the eyes of a real-life angel of mercy. Despite his groggy condition, he knows his life has changed the instant their hands touch. Devastating heartbreak has left Mercy Smith's faith in tatters, her heart guarded against more loss. Her dedication to the air evac trauma team she leads has insulated her from the realities of the earth below, so now Josh faces the biggest challenge of his life. Can he find a way around the walls that fortify her heart and convince this angel to stay on the ground with him? Can Mercy open herself to life again and find a way to restore her faith in God ... as well as love?

Love Beneath the Blue Texas Sky  

J.D. Sterling shook the dirt of the small Texas town from his boot heels a dozen years before. Now, he’s returned… not as the poor country boy who left to follow his dream, but as country music’s sexy superstar. He has everything he always wanted except for the girl who holds his heart. Mandy.

Years come and go and people change. Amanda Lawson has grown up. From heartbreak and struggling to survive to becoming a successful businesswoman, she has taught herself to never look back. Once before, she had survived the wild, green-eyed cowboy with only a guitar to his name and a pocketful of dreams. Then he left her behind with nothing but his hollow vows and a shattered heart.

Mandy was his muse. J.D. was her dream. But tragedy and broken vows can be insurmountable obstacles. Can they find their way home to each other again… or is it too late?

His Country Bride 

"Sheriff's Department! Raise your hands above your head and don't move."

She’s a runaway bride who left her two-timing fiance at the altar. He’s a county sheriff determined to keep the peace in his country and leave city girls alone after his own fiance left him for the bright lights of the city. Neither of them planned on running straight into each other...over a burning wedding dress.

Ellie and Lucas planned on never trusting their hearts to love again. When danger follows her from the city, the sheriff must do his duty to protect her. However, it isn’t long before he discovers the real danger may be to his heart. Ellie just might teach him that even a city girl can be a country girl at heart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Excerpt

Mercy’s Rescue 

She ventured a quick look but didn’t see a wedding ring. That meant nothing—many men didn’t wear rings. Her David would not have worn one either. He’d often said a ring would only get lost when he removed it to do surgery. The dark cloud of remembrance jolted her back to reality. Her job was done; she passed her patient over to the trauma team. There was no need for her to stay. With a last look at the man currently the focus of everyone’s attention, Mercy stepped outside the room. Her steps faltered as she realized that she’d automatically send a brief request on his behalf to whatever power the man might believe in; a request that the trauma specialists behind her would be able to use their combined expertise to keep him in this world for those who loved and needed him.

“Three minutes out. Descent begins in one.” The pilot’s voice crackled through the headset as he tossed a look over his shoulder to Mercy, strapped into the jump sear. She responded with a quick thumbs-up. “They’ve secured the scene,” he added. “We’re in and out fast. There’s only one to transport.” A dull, leaden weight sank to the pit of her stomach. Mercy Smith knew his words meant the other injured person had died before their arrival. “We can’t save them all, Mercy.” Paul Robards, the second medic onboard and seated across from her, responded to the shadowed look that crossed her face. “Some things are out of our control.”

  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Born and raised in the Lone Star state of Texas, Debra grew up among horses, cowboys, wide open spaces, and real Texas Rangers.  Pride in her state and ancestry knows no bounds and it is these heroes and heroines she loves to write about the most.  She also draws upon a variety of life experiences including working with abused children, caring for baby animals at a major zoo, and planning high-end weddings (ah, romance!).

   

When she isn’t busy writing about tall Texans and feisty heroines, she can be found cheering on her Texas Tech Red Raiders, or heading off on another cruise adventure.  She read her first romance...Janet Dailey's Fiesta San Antonio, over thirty years ago and became hooked on the genre. Writing contemporary romances, is both her passion and dream come true, and she hopes her books will bring smiles...and sighs...to all who believe in happily-ever-after’s. 

     

Debra invites you to visit her website at www.debraholtbooks.com.  She loves to hear from other aspiring authors or readers via email at debraholtbooks@gmail.com.  Twitter is https://twitter.com/DebraHoltBooks and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DebraHoltBooks. 

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/debra+holt

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=debra+holt

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Ms. Holt will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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The Third Reich Continues

While writing my newest novel, The Best Seller (May 31st, 2016, Solstice Publishers), my Nazi research led me to Operation Paperclip.  This American covert operation smuggled somewhere between five hundred to five thousand men who were at the top of their fields in technology, weaponry, and science into the United States to continue their work.  

https://www.amazon.com/Best-Seller-Dina-Rae-ebook/dp/B01G2AKGMS/ref=sr_1_1_twi_kin_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494803427&sr=8-1&keywords=dina+rae
FREE TODAY THRU THURSDAY!

This operation was originally called Operation Overcast.  Most of it is still classified today.  The names of many of these Nazi engineers and scientists were written on a special list called Osenberg's list.  A Polish tech found part of the list on a toilet seat at Bonn University.   
Government officials found these men and recruited them to the United States.  Neither the state department nor those in charge of prosecuting war criminals were informed.  All of this was done in the name of power and progress.  
These scientists worked at secret bases in New Mexico, Texas, and Alabama.  Many feared that if the U.S. didn't take advantage of these great minds, the Soviets would.  Both sides knew Germany was the most advanced country in the world when it came to weapons of mass destruction.  America caught a glimpse of the marvelous German advancements after capturing a German sub that held V-1 glide bombs and V-2 rockets. 
Wernher von Braun, perhaps the most famous Nazi rocket scientist, was part of the program.  He led the U.S. air and space program. One of his most prestigious engineering feats was the Saturn V.  Many rumors circulated on how and where he got his information.  Some claimed he communicated with aliens about space travel.  One of his proteges, Doctor Carol Rosin, stated otherwise.  She announced to the world that Braun feared Eisenhower's ultimate political warning-the military-industrial complex.  On Braun's deathbed, he supposedly said that America was playing the alien card.  In other words, when the time came, America would claim that aliens were a threat and all kinds of weaponry and related space gadgets would be needed to defend the world against these advanced beings from other galaxies.  According to Rosin, Braun called aliens the ultimate lie.

Many believe America's superpower status was largely due to their World War II victory and the Germans they embraced. Some even call America's power the Fourth Reich.  This conspiracy might very well be reality.
The Best Seller uses Operation Paperclip as part of the story line when explaining the progression of genetics.  The book is free today through Thursday, May 18th.

The Best Seller (Solstice Publishing, May 31^st, 2016)

When Maya Smock writes her first novel, everything seems to go her way. Her book practically writes itself. She marries her gorgeous agent. Her name is on all of the best seller lists. Billionaire author Jay McCallister takes an interest in her meteoric rise to fame and invites her into his world of alien-believing celebrities. Her life changes forever when he tells her that they were both created inside of a laboratory. These authors are embedding an alien genetic code within the pages of their novels that originated from Nazi Germany because…
The time has come. They are here.

http://dinaraeswritestuff.blogspot.com/

@HalooftheDamned

FB: https://www.facebook.com/DinaRaeBooks/

Goddess Fish Presents: Stay After Class by A.C. Rose

Stay After Class

by A.C. Rose

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GENRE: Contemporary Romance

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BLURB:

A passionate professor. A smitten student. An attraction that cannot be denied.

Amanda Slade has a major crush on her sexy art professor and wants his help with an important extracurricular activity: Project VirgEnd.

Professor Jem Nichols knows falling for his beautiful student is a bad idea but he just can't say goodbye as the semester ends. But the professor refuses to hastily take her virtue. Instead, he wants to slowly teach her the most important lessons of lovemaking. As she experiences first-time pleasures and passions, love blooms.

By the time they're done, he'll know every inch of her body. But as her deadline for deflowerment looms, will the professor be the one to take Amanda all the way? This is a sweet yet steamy love story.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Excerpt:

Amanda’s First Experience with an Art Model

By A.C. Rose ©2017

I was in the front row of the class in my usual seat, when a gorgeous, robed man walked into the art classroom, stood on a small platform, untied the sash to his robe and let it fall on the floor. He was naked. 

Turning to take an innocent glance at the model, I nearly gasped out loud when I found myself eyeball to eyeball with his penis. He seemed so unashamed, so unaffected, as he stood there gazing out at all who studied his naked form.

I looked at my friend Tara and she looked at me. It was the tenth week of the semester in our Basic Art course, but we had no clue what was going on until the professor stepped in front of the room.

“Today we’ll be working with a live nude model so we can learn to translate the human form to paper,” he announced. “We’ll be working with charcoal, so remember, we’re looking for the essence of the human body—the shape, not details.”    

With that, Professor Jem Nichols passed around the box of charcoal crayons and handed out huge sheets of drawing paper. As he got closer to me, a rush of warmth flowed through my body and ended in a nervous tingle in my stomach.

Maybe it was wishful thinking, but when he reached my desk to distribute the supplies, I could swear his hand lingered an extra moment near mine as I claimed my two pieces of charcoal from the box. And that he looked at me a certain way.

When he moved on to the next student, I breathed a sigh of relief, only because I worried my physical reactions to his presence would reveal I had a crush—a big one—on my teacher.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

A.C. Rose is a sex and love journalist who also loves to write very steamy romance books.

As a former editor of an iconic women’s magazine, sexy stories and beautiful men have long been her beat.

She has written extensively on sexuality, relationships, female desire, and the “kissing book” industry.

Has real life provided fodder for her fictional worlds? She’ll never tell.

She is a member of the Romance Writers of America (RWA), Passionate Ink (PI), and the Author’s Guild (AG).

Connect with A.C. Rose here:

Website: http://www.acroseauthor.net/

Blog: http://acroseauthor.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorACRose

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ACRoseAuthor

E-mail: acrose@acroseauthor.net

Subscribe to my newsletter here and join my VIP list.

http://www.acroseauthor.net/

https://acroseauthor.com/2017/04/19/why-i-wrote-a-book-about-a-virgin-student-and-a-hot-professor/

THE BOOK IS $0.99 DURING THE TOUR

https://www.amazon.com/Stay-After-Class-C-Rose-ebook/dp/B06Y65CLS8

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The author will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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XPresso Tours Presents: Bad Bloods by July Lightning

July Lightning
Shannon A. Thompson
(Bad Bloods #4)
Published by: Clean Teen Publishing
Publication date: May 1st 2017
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

From best-selling author Shannon A. Thompson comes an exciting new duology in the Bad Bloods universe.
Sixteen-year-old Caleb has been called many things: a patient, a musician, even a prostitute…now he has a new name—son. After his identity is uncovered, Caleb bands together with the family he once rejected in order to save the city of Vendona. But it won’t be easy. Enemies wait around every corner—and so do harsh realities. With Violet and Kuthun by his side though, nothing seems impossible. As Vendona sits on the verge of an economic collapse and a massive hurricane threatens the city, Violet and Caleb must show its citizens how to overcome decades of hostility and division to save themselves.
Standing or not, a sea will rage, a wall may fall, and all will depend on immortal pain and sacrifice.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

—

EXCERPT:

Everyone in the Pits called the fifteen-year-old Skeleton, for obvious reasons. Supposedly, the bad blood had been born a normal, healthy baby boy, but, over time, his skin unraveled and revealed pieces of bone. Somehow, defying all science, the boy continued to live. The last time I’d seen him, his right arm and chin showed bone, but now, half his face and all his fingers had contorted to the haunting shape. Even Adam cringed.

“You here to fight?” Skeleton asked, eyeing both Adam and me.
I attempted to answer, but Adam shouted over me. “You work here?”
The betrayal Adam felt was one I would never comprehend, even if I wanted to. Adam was a bad blood. To see a fellow bad blood protect the Pits that killed his kind went beyond my human pain. I volunteered to fight. Bad bloods often didn’t. Moments like this reminded me why Kuthun slapped me when I told him I wished I was a bad blood. Just because I sympathized with them and loved them, lived with them and listened to them, did not mean I would ever be one. I could never feel the same emotions Adam did, and Adam couldn’t comprehend mine.
“The humans aren’t the only ones who see value in bad blood.” Skeleton egged Adam on, and Adam fell for it.
“You mean, your blood.”
The boy’s bony fingers rattled against the door. “Of course,” he said, then smiled. The addition of teeth only made the bony boy look worse.
“You’re one of us,” Adam snapped. “How could you—”
I stepped in front of my cousin. Thankfully, my actions stopped him. “We’re here to talk to Connelly,” I said.
The lanky, crass kid looked me over and stepped aside, but as we passed, he gave in to temptation. “If you need a tag for the bad blood, let me know.”
Adam knocked the boy out cold before I could stop him. That was how fast his powers worked. And, for once, I didn’t feel the need to reprimand him.
“You know you have to fight if you hurt the workers,” I said.
“No one will know,” Adam said as he strode past me. “You’re good at keeping secrets, right?”

AUTHOR BIO:

Shannon A. Thompson is a young adult author, avid reader, and a habitual chatterbox.

As a novelist, poet, and blogger, Thompson spends her free time writing and sharing ideas with her black cat, Bogart, named after her favorite actor, Humphrey Bogart. Her other two cats bring her coffee. Between writing and befriending cats, Thompson graduated from the University of Kansas with a bachelor’s degree in English with an emphasis on creative writing, and her work has appeared in numerous poetry collections and anthologies. Represented by Clean Teen Publishing, Thompson is the best-selling author of The Timely Death Trilogy and the Bad Bloods duology. When she is not writing, she is climbing rooftops, baking cookies, or watching murder shows in the middle of the night, often done with her cats by her side.

Visit her blog for writers and readers at www.ShannonAThompson.com.

Author links:

https://shannonathompson.com/

https://twitter.com/AuthorSAT

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorShannonAThompson/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6880615.Shannon_A_Thompson

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XPresso Tours Presents: Mason Dixon-Monster Hunter by Eric R. Asher

Mason Dixon – Monster Hunter Episode 1
Eric R. Asher
Publication date: April 21st 2017
Genres: Adult, Urban Fantasy

They are the first line of defense against the things that go bump in the night.
They are the keepers of a centuries-old legacy of The Church defending the world against the forces of darkness.
They are a bunch of highly armed rednecks, internet video celebrities, soccer moms, and assorted broken nutjobs.
They are the new Templars, and things are about to get weird.
From the pages of Bubba the Monster Hunter comes a new series featuring the Hunters from around the United States hunting down monsters, fighting off supernatural baddies, and making life really, really bad for the things that hunt people.
He’s Mason Dixon, and he’s a bona fide internet celebrity. He has his own video series, a pistol that deserves its own area code, and a high definition video camera, and he’s not afraid to use any of them.
In this introductory urban fantasy novella, we meet Mason, his right hand Emma, his “handler” Noah, his anime-styled hacker friend Himari, and more monsters than you can shake a stick at. Unless it’s a really big stick.
With Mason, it’s always a big stick. This first novella in the series follows Mason through the wilds of Missouri as he hunts down monsters that hunt men, monsters that eat chewing tobacco, and monsters that make pancakes. And there’s moonshine.
And then Bubba the Monster Hunter shows up.
The New Templars novella series is a new series of short novels, similar to BookShots. Mason Dixon – Monster Hunter is the first in the series by popular urban fantasy and steampunk author Eric R. Asher.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

—

EXCERPT:

“Out,” I said. “Get out of the pit. Safeties off.” I raised the stock to my shoulder and swept the area around us again.

Emma slipped and crashed into the pit, sending a cascade of stained white bones over the edge to clatter down into the limestone depression. We waited, and I could hear my own heartbeat pounding in my ears.
Boom.
We both froze. I don’t care how many times you’ve encountered something in the wild, you still freeze for a split second.
Boom.
“Move!” I hissed, backpedaling while keeping my tranquilizer aimed around Emma. She was almost out. We could get back on the ATVs and come back with bigger guns. 10cc darts? I should have brought the 50cc cannon. This was a mistake. The old man wasn’t crazy at all.
Boom. Boom. Boom. BoomBoomBoom.
The gowrow erupted from its lair like it had been spit forth by an angry god. Its stubby, bulbous body might have been humorous paired with its long scaly neck if not for the tusks fit for a mammoth gleaming in the dying sun. It would take that creature zero effort to kill us in one charge.
Its movements seemed awkward, but its attacks were practiced. The gowrow swiped at Emma with a four-toed webbed foot, a lethal claw extending from each digit. She fell backwards and rolled away, barely avoiding the attack.
Any doubt this gowrow was a maneater fled in a heartbeat.
I cranked the air pressure as high as it would go on the tranquilizer gun and fired. The dart rose slightly in a wind disturbance created by the massive creature and pinged harmlessly off the field of spiky scales lining its back. I cursed, flipped the butt of the rifle open, and loaded another dart.

Author Bio:
Eric is a former bookseller, cellist, and comic seller currently living in Saint Louis, Missouri. A lifelong enthusiast of books, music, toys, and games, he discovered a love for the written word after being dragged to the library by his parents at a young age. When he is not writing, you can usually find him reading, gaming, or buried beneath a small avalanche of Transformers.

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