New Releases: 11/26-12/2

Tue. Nov. 28th

 The Brightest Embers (Broken Destiny #3) by Jeaniene Frost
 Dangerously Divine (Broken Riders #2) by Deborah Blake

 Shadow Sun Seven (Starfire #2) by Spencer Ellsworth
 Weave a Circle Round by Kari Maaren

Happy Reading!!

Guest Blog: For Whom The Reap Tolls by Jack Wallen

UFI welcomes Author Jack Wallen. Thanks for Joining us!!

Top ten reasons writers write horror

“Hello, my name is Jack and I’m a horror writer.”

“Hi Jack.”

“Never say that on an airplane!”

That’s right, I’ll be here all evening. Tip your wait staff and blah blah blah.

Horror and dark, twisty fiction are my jam. I’ve been a fan since childhood and I do not see that changing before my time of dying. Be it straight up horror, urban fantasy, paranormal romance … I’m there. I write it, I read it, I watch it, I love it.

Unfortunately, the public at large doesn’t always have the same fascination for the genre as do I (and many others). This can lead to those of us who enjoy the genre, to feel as if we’re in need of some 12 step program to help shoo the monkey from our backs.

Or not. Truth be told, that monkey happens to feed our soul a great many metaphorical bananas. But why do we writers opt to take on that back-dwelling primate … especially when there are other, more popular and profitable genres to be had?

I’ll give you ten reasons why.

Ready? OK!

1.     All in the family. Many of us come from broken, dysfunctional families, such that we find it necessary to fly within horror’s orbit. Dealing with such flawed characters is like coming home, only without having to sleep on the couch or deal with creepy uncle Bob.

2.     Catharsis. I’ve been of the opinion that horror is one of the single most cathartic genres on the market. Writing something horrific (or even subtle) allows us to purge those demons that would otherwise take us down. We kill (on paper only, of course) those who would cause us pain in real life. Remember, if you were in my novel, you’d be dead by now.

3.     It’s sexy. Look at Kate Beckensail in Underworld...or Morticia Addams, the Bride of Frankenstein, Pinhead, Julie Walker (Return of the Living Dead 3), Marybeth Hutchinson (from The Faculty) … Buffy and/or Willow (or both). Come on! The list goes on and on. Horror is dead sexy. See what I did there?

4.     No safer fright. Let’s face it, sometimes the daily grind can get really boring. To that end, we might need a bit of a jolt to jump start our lives. That doesn’t mean we should all conjure demons, chase down serial killers, or become vampire slayers (see above). Horror allows us to take on such dangerous under the safety of our covers. Your heart may race, but you know you’re safe (under said covers). Scare those doldrums away with a good fright.

5.     Escape, escape, escape! Let’s face it, the world isn’t such a great place at the moment. When political, social, or personal unrest has you down, why not make the escape into a world that might serve to remind you that life isn’t really that bad. After all, you’re not being flensed by a beast with melting eyes, six hundred sixty-six teeth, and lava-red flesh.

6.     Testing the boundaries. Some of us just like to see how far we can bend and twist sanity and fear. It’s like creating your own world that will not only bow to your will, but serve as a testing ground for the human (or inhuman) condition. As we play God with these characters, we shout to the heavens, “Mu Ha Ha!” All in good fun … right?

7.     Yin with the yang. There are times we just need something to be used for comparison. It’s pretty easy to get wrapped up in a life of utter purity and perfection—until you’ve completely lost sight of the purpose. Writing/reading/watching horror gives us the perfect comparison to help remind us how good and evil fit into the world (and that life is not black and white).

8.     Mirror mirror on the wall. One of the main reasons why I write horror is to hold the mirror up to humanity and say, “Humanity, not only do you need to pluck your brows, you are the monster!” It’s a great way to remind ourselves how imperfect we are (see above).

9.     Your never alone. Many of us who dwell in horror’s shadows have felt alone for a very long time. We were outcasts in high school and never really managed to shed the trenchcoat mafia tag. If there’s one warm and fuzzy that horror offers it’s that fans stick together—like an extended family of freaks that love one another with an unconditional acceptance.

10.  Speaking of fans. One thing I have always found with horror fans is that they are, in most cases, some of the most loyal of any genre. When a horror fan finds a writer they like, they stick with them through thick and thin. Even when you’ve donned skis and a leather jack (to jump a shark or two), they’ll be there with you, along for the bumpy ride.

That monkey is now looking pretty sweet. And these reasons really only scratch the surface of nits on that furry monkey’s back. There’s so much more to love about the horror genre.

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Jack Wallen is what happens when a Gen Xer mind-melds with present day snark. Jack is a seeker of truth and a writer of words with a quantum mechanical pencil and a disjointed beat of sound and soul. Although he resides in the unlikely city of Louisville, Kentucky, Jack likes to think of himself more as an interplanetary traveler, on the lookout for the Satellite of Love and a perpetual movie sign...or so he tells the reflection in the mirror (some times in 3rd person). Jack is the author of numerous tales of dark, twisty fiction including the I Zombie series, the Klockwerk Movement, the Fringe Killer series, Shero, The Nameless Saga, and much more.

Find Jack and his books

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

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For Whom The Reap Tolls
Reapers #3
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A Reaper’s job is never done!

The Scythe has been eradicated. Now it’s time for Grim and company to enjoy much-needed rest, pizza, and romance. Thing is, Death has darker plans and deep-seated secrets to reveal.

With the help of a bookstore dedicated to all things occult, Grim uncovers a truth that could very well set him at odds with Fate and send the natural order spiraling into chaos.

The soul-reaping Scooby Gang is back to help the spirits of humanity return to the Universal Pool and challenge the Eternal status quo.

For whom will the bell toll? Inquiring minds want to know.

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Week in Review: 11/19-11/25

Books Received for Review

Nothing this week!

Books I've Read

The Single Undead Moms Club by Molly Harper
Flashtide by Jenny Moyer
Street Magic by Caitlin Kittredge

Reviews Posted

Lure of Oblivion by Suzanne Wright

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

* Wednesday- Guest Blog for Maid of Ice by Shona Husk

* Thursday- Happy Thanksgiving....

* Friday- Promo + Giveaway for Flame in the Dark by Faith Hunter

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

BlogLovin

Networked Blogs

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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.

Promo + Giveaway: Flame in the Dark by Faith Hunter

Flame in the Dark
Soulwood #3

Set in the same world as Faith Hunter’s New York Times bestselling Jane Yellowrock novels, the third, thrilling Soulwood novel stars Nell Ingram, who draws her powers from deep within the earth.

Nell Ingram has always known she was different. Since she was a child, she’s been able to feel and channel ancient powers from deep within the earth. When she met Jane Yellowrock, her entire life changed, and she was recruited into PsyLED—the Homeland Security division that polices paranormals. But now her newly formed unit is about to take on its toughest case yet.

A powerful senator barely survives an assassination attempt that leaves many others dead—and the house he was visiting burns to the ground. Invisible to security cameras, the assassin literally disappears, and Nell’s team is called in. As they track a killer they know is more—or less—than human, they unravel a web of dark intrigue and malevolent motives that tests them to their limits and beyond.

Excerpt Part 4:

“Can you prove he—it— wasn’t human?” Soul asked.

“Empirical evidence in a few days,” I said, speaking in my work accent. “Maybe. But not scientifically.”

Soul heaved a sigh she might really need. I wasn’t sure if her species needed air the same way humans did. Maybe they breathed through their pores or had holes in their rib cages or something. “I’d like you to speak with Ming of Glass and her bodyguard. See what you can get out of them. When you are done, they may leave, with our thanks.”

I stood, flatfooted, meeting Soul’s gorgeous and slightly amused eyes. At her side, Rick looked as surprised as I felt.

“Ummm. Don’t you think there might be someone better than me to talk to a vampire?”

“No,” Soul said. “You are precisely the right person to address the issue of paranormal beings who’ve committed first- degree murder and/or hate crimes with the highest -ranked vampire in Knoxville. And it will be an opportunity to rebuild bridges that you set fire to when you referred to all Mithrans as smelling ‘maggoty,’ I believe?”

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New York Times and USAToday bestselling fantasy author Faith Hunter was born in Louisiana and raised all over the south. Altogether she has 40+ books in print under the names Gary Hunter, Gwen Hunter, and Faith Hunter. As Faith, she writes two contemporary Urban Fantasy series: the Jane Yellowrock series, featuring a Cherokee skinwalker who hunts rogue vampires, and the Soulwood series, featuring earth magic user Nell Ingram. Her Rogue Mage novels are a dark, post-apocalyptic, fantasy series featuring Thorn St. Croix, a stone mage. The role playing game based on the series, is ROGUE MAGE, RPG.

Find Faith and her books

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

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Tour Wide

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Thanksgiving....

Gobble Gobble US Readers!!

Here is something that everyone can answer no matter where you live.... 

What book have you been thankful to read in 2017?

Guest Blog: Maid of Ice by Shona Husk

UFI welcomes Author Shona Husk. Thanks for Joining us!!

I like to try new things as new experiences provide new fodder for my imagination. In 2013 I did Tough Mudder (I thought it would be fun and challenging and it was). For me it was a way to experience a range of things that I wouldn’t normally get to do. I jumped into the ice bath. I leaped from a 5 meter high platform into cold muddy water. I climbed a mountain made of hay bales (those things are prickly, so a roll in the hay would be most uncomfortable). I also go to experience what it was like to be cold and wet and exhausted (it was a 20 kilometer course—I completed it in 4hrs). All things that I can use later to draw in when I write.

More recently hubby gave me a gift voucher to do some hot laps at a local track. So I suited up watched the safety lecture and got into the race car. My first few laps weren’t that fast as I had to learn when to brake and when to accelerate around the turns. By the end I was hurtling around at 180km/hr…at the speed it looks like the track is going to run out before it’s time to brake.

The hot laps were useful when I came to write the first scene for Maid of Ice as the hero plays a racecar driver on a soap opera. The only way he can save himself is to use magic…but how many people will notice? 

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Shona Husk is the author of over forty books that range from sensual to scorching, and cover the contemporary, paranormal, fantasy and sci-fi romance genres. Her most recent series are Face the Music, Blood and Silver and Annwyn. As well as writing romance she also writes sci-fi for the Takamo Universe game and urban fantasy under anther pen name.

She lives in Western Australia and when she isn’t writing or reading she loves to cook, cross stitch and research places she’d one day like to travel.

Find Shona and her books

Website / Goodreads / Twitter / Facebook

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Maid of Ice
Blood and Silver #3
Amazon  BN  Kobo  iTunes

Stalkers and death threats . . .
For Finlay Ryder, danger means playing a racecar driver on a daytime soap. That is, until he’s forced to reckon with his true identity as an Albah, a magical ancient race, by one of his own kind. Someone wants him dead. And worse, an ancient vampire is on the prowl, drawing blood left and right. Now, Finlay has no choice but to hunt enemies with unspeakable powers—or risk being hunted himself . . .

. . . and that’s just the first date
Ice skater Alina Nyx is using her broken wrist as an excuse for a career change. And when she falls for handsome Finlay, Albah drama feels like her new full-time job. Learning about magic and vampires is exciting, until her life is threatened. Now, as she begins to uncover her own mysterious powers, she must combine forces with Finlay to eradicate their foes for good, or all Albah will suffer . . . 

Excerpt:

The steering was heavy, which wasn’t a good thing at racetrack speeds. Finley Ryder didn’t know enough about cars to determine what was wrong and keep the race car on the track while it hurtled around the corner at over one hundred miles an hour. He eased off the accelerator and tried to remember all the lessons he’d had before being allowed to drive the car himself.

    Nothing came to mind that would save his life. The steering was getting harder. He wasn’t going to make the next corner and it was coming up way too fast.

    “Car’s not responding.” Finley said into the microphone in his helmet. The microphone wasn’t there for his team to call out tips. It was there for the film crew to give him instructions and for him to spout any lines they needed said.

    “What do you mean?”

    What he meant was he was jelly in under ten seconds. “No steering.”

    He pressed the brake, to slow the car so he didn’t hit the wall as fast. He swore. It wasn’t going to stop in time, that much was clear. “Make sure you get the accident. You might need it for a later episode.”

    When they’d have to kill off his character.

    Finley didn’t like his chances of walking out of this. Panicked voices filled his headset. They were never going to let him do his own stunts again after this, no matter how qualified he was.

His heart beat fast, pumping fear into his body. This was not how he’d planned on dying—he hadn’t made those plans yet. He didn’t give a shit how expensive the gearbox was. He tore his way down through the gears trying to slow the race car. There were sirens, emergency vehicles were already on the track. He didn’t take his eyes off the concrete wall to find out where they were. He knew what they were doing.

    They were coming for him.

    The car slowed, but not enough.

    He drew in a breath to calm the rising panic. This counted as dire situation, and he didn’t care who saw or what questions they asked. He drew the air around him into a shield. He’d tested his magical abilities before, but not like this. He wasn’t sure any Albah had.

    He was making history.

    With an exhale, he pushed every bit of will he had into cushioning himself, and the car, from the impact. If he’d been able to access some skin under all the safety gear, he’d have added blood into the mix.

    His eyes closed as everything collapsed around him.

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New Releases: 11/19-11/25

Tue. Nov. 21st

 Lure of Oblivion (The Mercury Pack #3) by Suzanne Wright
 The Passion of Cleopatra (Ramses the Damned #2) by Anne Rice, Christopher Rice

 Siege of Shadows (Effigies #2) by Sarah Raughley

Happy Reading!!