New Releases: 3/9-3/15

Tue Mar 11th

 The Mirk and Midnight Hour by Jane Nickerson

 Night Broken (Mercy Thompson #8) by Patricia Briggs 

 Promise of Shadows by Justina Ireland 

 Resistance (Replica Trilogy #2) by Jenna Black 

 Ruins (Partials Sequence #3) by Dan Wells 

 The Shadow Prince (Into the Dark #1) by Bree Despain

 Strange Sweet Song by Adi Rule

Happy Reading!

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Guest Blog & Giveaway: Witch's Bounty by Ann Gimpel

UFI welcomes Ann Gimpel Author of Witch's Bounty. Thanks for Joining us!!

Musings on the Paranormal Genre
 
I believe in paranormal phenomena. I actually believe it’s a prerequisite for anyone writing fiction with paranormal elements.

Let me kick this off by sharing one of my experiences. About twenty years ago, I was living in Shingletown, California, a small community a few miles east of Redding.  I took a shortcut one morning on back mountain roads to drive to Burney where I was scheduled to do a radio broadcast. Coming down Highway 44, the steering wheel of my Volkswagen Rabbit ripped its way to the stops. My car spun a few times and slammed into a snow bank leaving me shaken. I looked at the clock: 7:58 A.M. I hadn’t been speeding. The pavement was bare and dry. I was worried I’d developed a mechanical problem in the steering mechanism, but when I fired up the car and drove the rest of the way to my destination, it didn’t misbehave. I found out later that day a very, very close friend of mine—basically the brother I never had—died at exactly 7:56 that morning. I figured Don was trying to take me with him.

I’ve had other experiences over the years that defy rational explanations. I’ve also had many, many patients over my long years as a therapist relate fantastic events. One of the reasons I was drawn to Jungian dream work is its emphasis on the paranormal. It’s not widely known, but Jung was a mystic. Before he’d accept a patient, he insisted they have their astrological chart done. He’d look at his chart next to theirs (synastry) and decide whether he could work with them.

Dreams speak to us in symbols. But it goes far deeper than that. Symbols have archetypal value; they’re also unique to the dreamer. So, for example, snakes in my dreams might mean something entirely different than snakes in yours. This is why “kitchen table” dream books that list symbols and their meanings are less than useless.

I had a bad climbing fall once. Fortunately, I wasn’t injured beyond contusions that started with my forehead, extended to a very black eye, and covered one arm and both legs. It took a couple of months for the bruising to totally resolve. At one point, I dreamed I was standing by myself in the middle of an empty plain. It was twilight. A phalanx of snakes slithered toward me from every direction. They crawled up my body and wound around me. In the morning, I felt like I’d turned a corner and was well on the way to having my body mend.  In my dream, snakes were a positive factor. In many of my clients’ dreams, they’ve been portents of disaster. That’s what I mean by symbolism in dreams being unique to the dreamer. Interestingly, when I told my own analyst the dream, he clucked at me, went to a closet, and drew out a painting. It was an almost exact depiction of my dream, except instead of snakes, it was sea serpents swimming toward the central figure. One of his other patients had painted it years before. That would be a good launching point for a discussion of the Collective Unconscious, but this blog post isn’t the place for that.

If you pay attention to your dreams, over time you learn the language unique to your psyche. Years ago, Marie Louise Von Franz and Fraser Boa made a movie called the Way of the Dream. It’s available on You Tube. If you’re truly interested in Jungian dream work, this is a must see. It’s clearly dated since it was made in 1995, but Von Franz was Jung’s primary disciple. She joined Jung an analysand when she was 18 and never left. Oh, she attended college and graduate school, but she lived all her life at Bollingen, Jung’s retreat in Switzerland.

This blog post is long enough. I usually like to cap them at 500 words. If you have any questions about Jung or dream analysis, I’d be glad to try to answer them. I’d also love to hear about your paranormal experiences. Really, I would.

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Ann Gimpel is a mountaineer at heart. Recently retired from a long career as a psychologist, she remembers many hours at her desk where her body may have been stuck inside four walls, but her soul was planning yet one more trip to the backcountry. Around the turn of the last century (that would be 2000, not 1900!), she managed to finagle moving to the Eastern Sierra, a mecca for those in love with the mountains. It was during long backcountry treks that Ann’s writing evolved. Unlike some who see the backcountry as an excuse to drag friends and relatives along, Ann prefers solitude. Stories always ran around in her head on those journeys, sometimes as a hedge against abject terror when challenging conditions made her fear for her life, sometimes for company. Eventually, she returned from a trip and sat down at the computer. Three months later, a five hundred page novel emerged. Oh, it wasn’t very good, but it was a beginning. And, she learned a lot between writing that novel and its sequel.

Around that time, a friend of hers suggested she try her hand at short stories. It didn’t take long before that first story found its way into print and they’ve been accepted pretty regularly since then. One of Ann’s passions has always been ecology, so her tales often have a green twist.

In addition to writing, Ann enjoys wilderness photography. She lugs pounds of camera equipment in her backpack to distant locales every year. A standing joke is that over ten percent of her pack weight is camera gear which means someone else has to carry the food! That someone is her husband. They’ve shared a life together for a very long time. Children, grandchildren and three wolf hybrids round out their family.

Find Ann and her books

Website / Goodreads / Blog

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 Witch's Bounty
The Witch Chronicles #1

One of only three remaining demon-stalking witches, Colleen is almost the last of her kind. Along with her familiar, a changeling spirit, she was hoping for a few months of quiet, running a small magicians’ supply store in Fairbanks, Alaska. Peace isn’t in the cards, though. Demons are raising hell in Seattle. She’s on her way out the door to help, when a Sidhe shows up and demands she accompany him to northern England to quell a demon uprising there.

Duncan swallowed uneasy feelings when the Sidhe foisted demon containment off onto the witches two hundred years before. He’s annoyed when the Sidhe leader sends him to haul a witch across the Atlantic to bail them out. Until he sees the witch in question. Colleen is unquestionably the most beautiful woman he’s ever laid eyes on. Strong and gutsy, too. When she refuses to come with him, because she’s needed in Seattle, he immediately offers his assistance. Anything to remain in her presence.

Colleen can’t believe how gorgeous the Sidhe is, but she doesn’t have time for such nonsense. She, Jenna, and Roz are the only hedge Earth has against being overrun by Hell’s minions. Even with help from a powerful magic wielder like Duncan, the odds aren’t good and the demons know it. Sensing victory is within their grasp, they close in for the kill.

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 Tour Wide

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Week in Review: 3/2-3/8

Books I've Bought/received

* Nightmare Ink by Marcella Burnard- eARC- Netgalley/Publisher

* Sex and the Single Vamp by Robin Covington- eARC- Netgalley

Books I've Read

Half-Off Ragnarok by Seanan McGuire
Darkside Sun by Jocelyn Adams
Nightmare Ink by Marcella Burnard
Sex and the Single Vamp by Robin Covington
Luck of the Dragon by Susannah Scott

Reviews Posted

Half-Off Ragnarok by Seanan McGuire
Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop

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* New Releases for the week. Was there anything you were looking forward to reading?

* Monday: Guest Blog & Giveaway for Quicksilver Dreams by Danube Adele

* Tuesday: Interview with Mary Behre for Spirited 

* Wednesday: Guest blog & Giveaway for Elixir by Anna Abner

 * Thursday: Double Feature Promo and giveaway by Nina Croft

* Friday:  Guest blog & Giveaway for Pan's Conquest by Aubrie Dionne

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* Did you know you can follow UFI on these other sites?

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You can also add me (as in Stacy) to your friends on these sites if you're on them.

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 * I love comments so if you see something you like (or not) please comment away and let me know.

Review: Half-Off Ragnarok by Seanan McGuire

Half-Off Ragnarok

Author: Seanan McGuire

Release Date: March 4, 2014

Publisher: DAW

InCryptid Book #3

ISBN:   0756408113

ISBN13: 9780756408114

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Review Copy Source: Publisher

When Alex Price agreed to go to Ohio to oversee a basilisk breeding program and assist in the recovery of his psychic cousin, he didn't expect people to start dropping dead. But bodies are cropping up at the zoo where he works, and his girlfriend—Shelby Tanner, an Australian zoologist with a fondness for big cats—is starting to get suspicious.

Worse yet, the bodies have all been turned partially to stone...

The third book in the InCryptid series takes us to a new location and a new member of the family, as Alex tries to balance life, work, and the strong desire not to become a piece of garden statuary. Old friends and new are on the scene, and danger lurks around every corner.

Of course, so do the talking mice.

No Verity? WAHHHH. That was my first reaction when I saw the blurb for HALF-OFF RAGNAROK. Don't be alarmed though, we get to meet Alex her brother and his love interest Shelby who ends up being way more than expected. We also have a new set of Aeslin mice! They are not in the book as much as Verity's but they are still fun. Sarah also happens to be a secondary character in HALF-OFF RAGNAROK. She is still not the same Sarah but she is starting to heal and I have hope she will be back to normal in future books.

Alex comes off as a bit of a (ok a big) nerd. He is more of a scientist and he talks like one. He is working in the Reptile House at the zoo, he's studying the local frogs, and trying to keep his girlfriend around even though he has to keep canceling dates on her and now people are showing up dead and he needs to find out who or what is responsible before more are lost.

I didn't find Alex AS exciting as Verity but he was still entertaining and fun to learn about. Shelby ended up really surprising me. She came out of left field and rolled with every punch thrown her way. Dee, Alex's assistant happens to be a Gorgon and let me tell ya! They are pretty darn cool. Alex's Grandparents were also great secondary characters. There is nothing like watching Granny pull a gun on someone, even if she is a Johrlac.

The great thing about Seanan McGuire is that she can change characters but still keep the story smooth and consistent with the series. She did great with continuing to teach us about the InCryptid world and the different species involved. Everything with Alex and Shelby felt wrapped up by the end of book 3 so now the only question I have left after reading HALF-OFF RAGNAROK is who will be the main character in POCKET APOCALYPSE? Will we meet the third sibling maybe?

I gave it 4/5 stars

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Guest Blog & Giveaway: Pan's Conquest by Aubrie Dionne

UFI welcomes Aubrie Dionne Author of Pan's Conquest. Thanks for Joining us!!

Five Television Show/Movies that I’d Love to Change the End

Today I’m writing about changing the end of stories. Why? Because that’s exactly what I did in my new release Pan’s Conquest. As the story goes, Syrinx runs away from Pan because she doesn’t want him. She turns herself into a reed, and Pan cuts the reed and makes his flute. Not a very happy ending. It didn’t sit right with me all these years, and so I decided to make it my own. What if Syrinx didn’t die as a reed, but only tricked him into thinking she did? What if, given a second chance, they fall in love? A much better ending I’d have to say.

So here are five television shows/movies where I’d change the end. Don’t read ahead if you don’t want spoilers!

#1. Titanic

The Real Ending: Jack freezes to death and sinks in the middle of the ocean.

My Ending: They find a bigger thing to float on and they both live and get married. (Much better. Don’t you think? I don’t want to take away from the tragedy of the real life event, and I know Jack had to die to show us all what happened to those poor people- but still I sometimes fantasize about what would have happened had he lived.)

#2. Valkyrie with Tom Cruise

The Real Ending: They fail at their plan to stop Hitler, and they are all shot to death.

My Ending: They stop Hitler before he kills more people and they are all heroes. Too bad it couldn’t have ended this way in real life. Why’d it take so long to bring Hitler down?

#3. Merlin

The Ending: Mordred succeeds and kills Arthur with a piece of a magical sword. Merlin cries as he pushes Arthur’s dead body away in a boat. Very sad.

My Ending: Mordred fails, and Arthur lives to rule over Camelot with Guinevere. Merlin and Arthur become best friends forever.

#4. Game of Thrones

The Ending of The Red Wedding in season three: Everyone dies.

My Ending: The older guy forgives Rob for not marrying his daughter and they all celebrate the wedding and go home happy. Arya finds her mom. The direwolf gets a slab of meat for dinner. End of story.

#5. Star Trek Nemesis

The Ending: Data dies defending the Enterprise from Shinzon (A clone of Captain Picard intent on getting revenge) Noooooo!!!!! I screamed as it happened.

My Ending: Data lives and goes on to serve on the Enterprise forever along with having many pet cats all named Spot. Maybe he gets married. J

So let me ask you, if you could change the ending to anything you want, what would it be?

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Author and flutist in New England. I teach flute at a university and a community music school. Represented by Dawn Dowdle of Blue Ridge Literary Agency. Writes for Entangled Publishing, Inkspell Publishing, Spencer Hill, Lyrical Press, and GSP. My short stories have been featured in Mindflights, Niteblade, Silver Blade, Emerald Tales, Aurora Wolf, A Fly in Amer, Moon Drenched Fables and various anthologies.

Find Aubrie and her books

Website / Goodreads / Twitter

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Pan's Conquest
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Syrinx pulled a fast one on Pan to escape his raging lust. The God of Chastity wasn't about to break her vows and succumb to his temptations. Transported to the twenty-first century, she runs a florist shop—fulfilling her fake, mortal life. Until the breathtaking Parker Thomas hires her to decorate his grand estate for a gala. Five hundred roses? Easy enough. Except Parker makes her feel things she can't ignore...

As the God of Fertility, Pan is used to maidens flocking in droves to his pastures. So when Syrinx denies him, he's determined to win the one that got away. He poses as a mortal to get close to her, but he doesn't count on falling hard for his conquest—hard enough to make a life and stay.

But Syrinx is falling in love with a man that doesn't exist. Can Pan hide his identity forever, or will the truth tear them apart?

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule

 

Week One:

2/24/2014- book's blog- Guest Post

2/24/2014- Pretty in Preloved- Review

2/25/2014- RhiReading- Guest Post

2/26/2014- Fade Into Fantasy- Guest Post

2/26/2014- Toot's Book Reviews- Interview

2/27/2014- Romance for Every World-  Guest Post

2/28/2014- BookHounds- Interview

Week Two:

3/3/2014- Cassandra Lost in Books- Spotlight

3/4/2014- Fantasy Book Addict- Guest Post

3/5/2014- Romantic Reads and Such- Guest Post

3/6/2014- Books, Movies, Reviews. Oh my!- Interview

3/7/2014- Urban Fantasy Investigations- Guest Post

3/7/2014- Manga Maniac Café- Interview

3/7/2014- Talking Books Blog- Yes

Promo & Giveaway: Nina Croft Double Feature Tour

Death Defying Excerpt #3 

3

“Kill him,” Christian said, his tone soft and deadly.

Ash stepped up to the prone man. Faith held her breath. He wouldn’t kill an injured man in cold blood. Would he? The others had been different. That had been in a fight and they still had to free Tara. Now Tara was safe. Faith opened her mouth to speak, but Carl rested a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. She glanced at his face, and he gave a small, almost imperceptible, shake of his head. He was warning her not to bring attention to herself or she might suffer the same fate.

It didn’t matter. She couldn’t stand by while they killed him.

But the hesitation was too long. Ash leaned down and took the colonel’s head between his hands. Faith saw his expression of terror, and then Ash twisted and the colonel’s neck snapped.

She took a step forward but stopped. There was nothing she could do. The colonel was dead.

The act shocked her more than anything else that night. The ease with which the execution had been carried out told her that this wasn’t the first time Ash had killed. He released his grip on the colonel and the body slumped to the floor. Raising his head, Ash met her gaze for the first time that night. His eyes were dark, expressionless. Then he turned away.

What was he that he could kill so casually?

Maybe it was just as well he hated her now. She didn’t think she would ever forget seeing him kill.

Beside her, Carl was speaking softly onto a cell phone. He pushed it back into his pocket and spoke to the rest of the room. “That’s the cleanup team. They’ve arrived.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Christian said. He scooped Tara up in his arms and she snuggled against his chest. Faith had a brief stab of jealousy. She had never had anyone hold her like that. Now, she never would.

“What do we do with her?” Carl asked, nodding in Faith’s direction.

Christian’s silver gaze crawled over her skin, his expression cold as he considered her.

Faith knew her life hung in the balance her and suddenly, she didn’t care anymore. It was all too much. They could kill her here like they’d done the colonel. It would be over so quickly.

“Ryan will be pissed if you kill her without even giving her a hearing,” Carl pointed out. “And she did tell us where to find Tara.”

She glanced at where Ash stood impassive beside the body. Would he take her life as easily? Would he feel any regrets? His face told her nothing. Finally, Christian shrugged. “Take her back to the Order. But if she set this up, she dies.”

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Nina Croft grew up in the north of England. After training as an accountant, she spent four years working as a volunteer in Zambia which left her with a love of the sun and a dislike of 9-5 work. She then spent a number of years mixing travel (whenever possible) with work (whenever necessary) but has now settled down to a life of writing and picking almonds on a remote farm in the mountains of southern Spain.

Nina's writing mixes romance with elements of the paranormal and science fiction.

If you'd like to find out about new releases then sign up for my New Release Newsletter at: http://eepurl.com/rZ5rz

Find Nina and her books

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

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Bittersweet Darkness
The Order #3
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

 There are no monsters, only good guys and bad guys. That’s the creed by which Detective Inspector Faith Connolly has always lived.

When Faith discovers that she has a time bomb counting down in her head, she has one goal; to solve the murder case she’s working on—a young girl who was found drained of blood—and in doing so gain closure for a long ago murder never solved. Her investigation brings her in contact with Ash Delacourt. Ash is all black leather, big guns and sexy bad attitude—definitely not one of the good guys.

As payment for a debt, Asmodai AKA Ash Delacourt, finds himself working with the Order of the Shadow Accords. He’s the demon representative on the newly formed Committee for the Integration of Mankind and well…everything else. It’s a chance to be near his daughter, make a new start, and—once he’s met the delectable detective—maybe have a little fun.

There are no monsters. But as Faith’s investigation deepens, her beliefs are eroded and for the first time, she is falling in love—with one of the bad guys. But how can she ever let Ash close when her time is running out…?

Death Defying
Blood Hunter #3
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble
 

Part snake, part human, and—some would say all bitch—Captain Tannis of the starship El Cazador has one goal in life—to earn enough credits to pay for the Meridian treatment to achieve the immortality she craves. And one last job will get her there. The assignment: protecting the most powerful man in the Universe.

Being leader of the known universe isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. In fact, it sucks big time. And after five hundred years, Callum Meridian, founding member of the Collective, is bored out of his mind. But as things are changing, he’s changing—into what, though, he isn’t sure. Callum is determined to discover the truth, and he’s employed the crew of El Cazador to help him do it.

Not everyone agrees with his plan, though. His own people will stop at nothing to prevent the truth coming out, the Church is taking advantage of the confusion and attempting a coup, and even the crew of El Cazador seem close to tossing him out the airlock without a space suit. But defying death has never been more dangerous, sexier, or more fun.

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule

 
Week One:
2/24/2014- The Gal in the Blue Mask- Review/Interview
2/24/2014- Dear Brighton- Excerpt Bittersweet Darkness #1
2/25/2014- Simply ali- Spotlight
2/25/2014- Dawn's Reading Nook- Interview
2/26/2014- The Book Swarm- Review
2/26/2014- Books & Bells- Review
2/27/2014- Bea's Book Nook- Review
2/27/2014- Toot's Book Reviews- Excerpt Bittersweet Darkness #2
2/28/2014- Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile- Review
2/28/2014- Books, Movies, Reviews. Oh my!- Excerpt Bittersweet Darkness #3

Week Two:
3/3/2014- Reading Reality- Review
3/3/2014- Bibliophile Mystery- Excerpt Death Defying #1
3/4/2014- Fab Fantasy Fiction- Review
3/4/2014- kate george – author- Excerpt Death Defying #2
3/5/2014- Picked by Poison- Review
3/5/2014- Fantasy Book Addict- Guest Post
3/6/2014- All Things Romance- Review
3/6/2014- Urban Fantasy Investigations- Excerpt Death Defying #3
3/7/2014- Romantic Reads and Such- Interview
3/7/2014- Imaginary Reads- Guest Post