Author First Look

(Remember – all First Look chapters are drafts. Contents subject to change;)

January 22, 2013

Introducing Jessica Schaub’s Circle of Pride. Jessica is a homeschooling mom of 4. “Time to write is as precious as gold. My goal with any story is to make it entertaining, slightly educational, and appropriate for young hearts and minds.” Circle of Pride is a potential series of books about two foster brothers who must overcome their past to defeat Pride, the deadliest sin, who has come to town with the other 6 sins in search of souls.

Circle of Pride by Jessica Schaub

January 20, 2013

Introducing Joleene Naylor’s Heart of the Raven. This is the fifth book in the Amaranthine Vampire Series so be warned, the chapter has spoilers for those who have not yet read the first four. Read at your own risk. If you want to catch up, Joleene just published two Special Editions with all four earlier novels in paperback and Ebook. (The Ebooks are a steal! All four novels in two books at $2.99 each currently found at the usual online retailers.)

Here’s a series synopsis:

Pulled into a world of darkness, Katelina’s fate becomes intertwined with that of Jorick, a dark, enigmatic vampire. To stay by his side, she must navigate fields of intrigue, terror and bloodshed as they are drawn from one vampire war to another. Dreams of peace seem elusive, and complications abound in the form of mysterious vampires, old relics, and an ancient master. Join Katelina and Jorick in a world where vampires don’t sparkle and night is eternal. 

“A dark PNR with “let me catch my breath” action, a dark and violent vampire world and the “be still my heart” vampire Jorick…. Joleene is a gifted writer. Her tight and vivid prose is a joy to read and the dialogue and situations the characters deal with are full of emotion.” – Sharon S., reviewer for I Smell Sheep

“What I like about [Joleene Naylor’s] books… they are for adults…both the violence and the sex are not teenage stuff…and lurking behind the storyline is an adult theme.” – Steve Evans, author of Demented

Joleene Naylor grew up in southwest Iowa surrounded by corn and very little entertainment – so she made her own. She’s been writing and drawing since she was a child, with a leaning towards fantasy, horror and paranormal. It’s this love of all that goes bump in the night that lead her to write the Amaranthine vampire series. In her spare time she’s a freelance artist and photographer. Joleene does freelance book cover art, maintains blogs full of odd ramblings, illustrates a webcomic and hopes to win the lottery. However, unless she starts buying tickets she may never actually win anything.

And now, Joleen Naylor’s Heart of the Raven, Chapter One.

Photo by Joleene Naylor.

January 20, 2013

Starting out is The Republic, a novel in process by Vicki Hudson.

Every officer has sworn to defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic – foreign is easy, domestic, not so much. 

Vicki Hudson writes poetry, narrative essay and flash fiction. This is her first novel. Her recent work published in 2012 at Bay Laurel online. Forthcoming work will publish at Bluestem, Adanna and American Athenaeum literary magazines. Comments welcome. Find her also on twitter @vickigeist.

The Republic, a novel in progress by Vicki Hudson.