Far Away In Time

Our lives are a series of stories, and we are the characters with the starring roles. The memories, regrets, secrets, and struggles that fill these pages are at once unique and relatable. These stories  belong to us all. Eight unforgettable tales reaching out to a place Far Away In Time.

Far Away In Time

Why short stories?

Well... I work full time and it’s easier to find little chunks of time when I can write short stories rather than having to commit to writing a novel, which requires a lot more time and concentration. Also, I have lots of ideas for stories and could never live long enough to write a novel about each of those ideas, so short stories serve a great purpose.

I think short stories are fun to write because you work for a couple of hours and have a finished product (more or less, I mean there is always lots of re-reading and editing involved after). It’s nice to have a complete story in a few pages.

Some people think that it’s not possible to really get to know a character in a short story, you only glimpse a bit of their life. For me, that’s the magic of short stories, you get to see one small part, maybe an hour, a day, a couple of weeks, of a person’s life and the rest is a mystery that the reader’s imagination can wonder about.

I like reading short stories these days as I have less time for reading and it’s nice to be able to finish a story in one sitting rather than having to start reading a novel and maybe forgetting what happened by the time I get a chance to continue reading it. I think there is a place in the world for both short stories and novels.

Maria Savva

Am I going to write another novel?

Yes, well I hope so! I have already started one, but had to abandon it in December 2012. I am looking forward to finding time to finish it. It’s not the first time I’ve abandoned my writing and then gone back to it years later. The same thing happened with Second Chances. I wrote 7 chapters of that, then found it in a drawer at home a few years later. I think about 8 years had elapsed before I was able to get back to writing it! Sometimes, I think the delays happen for a reason... we need more life experience before we can write a particular book as well as possible.

Far Away in Time is available on Amazon US & Amazon UK

Find Maria here: Website, Facebook Page: , Twitter

The Spiral Revealed

What secrets will the Spiral reveal? #2 Spiral Defenders series by  Erin Danzer

After Ronnie follows Gavin into the Spiral, she finds out getting the answers she is looking for isn’t as easy as she thought.

Some secrets are kept. A secret love affair comes to light. New abilities are revealed. Ronnie finds she has enemies before she makes new friends. She falls harder for Gavin, but is betrothed to another, a betrothal that will not be broken even after she and Gavin form a sacred bond.

As turmoil rises within the Spiral, Ronnie learns the truth about her enemy. She must fight to become a Spiral Defender and queen of her new home—or risk that home spiraling into nothing.

Excerpt:

Ronnie screamed. The monster had to be at least seven feet tall and was made up entirely of swirling shadows. Its form was vaguely human and where its eyes should have been, bright white lights shone out into the darkness. A long, scaly tail swished behind it as it came right for them. Gavin pushed Ronnie behind him as he readied his sword and Ronnie knew they were going to have to fight this thing together. She pushed down the panic that tried to overcome her and raised her sword as well. She wasn’t about to let Gavin face this thing alone.

“Stay back,” Gavin yelled when he saw her sword raised. Ronnie glared at him.

“You can’t fight that thing on your own,” she argued.

“No, you can’t fight that thing, period. Let me take care of it.”

“No.” She raised the sword over her head and ran towards the monster, calling out the sword’s name like a battle cry as she ran. She vaguely realized Gavin was next to her again as her sword, the blade now glowing with a bright whiteness, carved through the shadow demon’s chest. Smoke sizzled where the cut had formed and the demon screamed as it reached out for her, only to have its arm taken off by Gavin’s sword. Ronnie blinked in the brightness of her sword’s blade and felt a little guilty at the reprimanding glare Gavin spared her before he faced the demon again. He swung his sword around at its neck and shouted “Vitae Luminae!” as he dispatched its head from its shoulders. The thing reached out blindly, still trying to fight even as it dissolved in front of them. Gavin held out his arm to keep Ronnie back until it was completely gone. He rounded on her the minute it disappeared, his dark eyes blazing as he reached out and grabbed Ronnie’s sword out of her hand.

“Hey,” she protested indignantly. “It’s not like I didn’t do any damage with that. I took care of a shadow hound all on my own.”

He continued to glare at her, apparently too upset for words. Finally, he ground out, “No more swords until you learn to listen.” 

Purchase Links:

Smashwords:  http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/415188

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IROPS1W

Amazon UK:  http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Spiral-Revealed-Defenders-Series-ebook/dp/B00IROPS1W

Barnes and Noble:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-spiral-revealed-erin-danzer/1118856761?ean=2940149449064

About Erin Danzer:

Erin Danzer wrote her first book at 10-years-old for a Young Authors competition, where she was awarded an Honorable Mention and discovered a passion for the written word. She’s written several novels and short stories since that spark ignited. Into the Spiral is the first of a four book series. In addition to her novels, Erin writes a monthly short story serial, The Cassandra Serafin Chronicles, posting alternately on her blog and in Literary Lunes bi-monthly online magazine. Erin resides in Racine, Wisconsin, with her husband, two children, and their cat.

Contact links: Website - Facebook Fan Page - Twitter - Goodreads

Contest details: a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hunters' Assessment

Vampire hunters are as much a part of cultural folklore as are the vampires themselves. From these tales many fiction novels have derived their roots, and developed into creations of the imagination as lively as any human you may encounter. The folklore stems from many cultural references. Unlike the Vampires themselves, the lore around the hunters is often shrouded in deeper mystery. While many villages would participate in a full scale hunt for a believed vampire, much as they would a witch, it was not uncommon for a village to find themselves unable to eliminate the perceived threat. This is where they would enlist the help of someone who was considered to be a professional vampire hunter. Some of these hunters would travel great distances to assist a town in need of their services.

Among the limited we know about these vampire hunters includes what a vampire hunter’s tool kit would have looked like during the 1800s. This often resembles the things of fiction. A cross, a stake, various liquid vials or bottles that include holy water.  In many of the folklore stories the hunters would not only carry such a kit, but some would display a level of supernatural ability as well. Fighting the undead was no easy task. Being able to view an invisible creature seeking blood appears to be the most common supernatural skill a hunter has in the folklore from many countries. There are no references to training, or how one came to be a professional vampire hunter. While such things remain unknown in history, you can often find those possible answers filled in by fiction.

Hunters’ Assessment is a short story that introduces you to Arcturian Bloodlines. This unique and lively series is full of action, adventure, excitement and well crafted characters. In Hunters’ Assessment you are introduced to the Hunter’s Society, and their training methods of today. It is a year's long process that is briefly examined in this story as it follows one team from inception to their final exam. In this case, the exam is more than any could have expected.

Hunters’ Assessment by Karyn Pearson: 
In the Arcturian Bloodlines series you find dual societies coexisting with normal humans. On one side you have Vampires and all that is involved with them and on the other are those who hunt them. The Vampire Hunter’s society educates, trains, and prepares young hunter teams for what they will face
when it is time for them to seek out the feral and criminals among the Vampire Society. In the story of Hunters’ Assessment you will meet three of the four jobs a potential hunter will have.

Karyn Pearson

The four possible jobs a Vampire Hunter will have to choose from are:
• Dancer is someone who is a melee-specialized fighter
• Marksman is someone who is a mid-to-long-range fighter and expert at all arms
• Predictor is special hunter class able to see the future (amount of time ahead that can be seen varies from person to person)
• Mender is field medic, also the class of hunters that studies vampire blood and reverse engineered anti-virus from vampire viruses

The Arcturian Bloodlines series will go into great depth about this and the opposing society and the impact it has on the world around them. In the story of Hunters’ Assessment you meet Dancer, Shane
Kantor and his team. His Predictor is Sophie Pineda, and his Marksman is Troy Weston. This team develops their skills over the course of their training but comes together before their first assessment. Together they face trails, and grow to become a strong team. Upon the final assessment they are sent to do their job, and face the unthinkable. Each character is alive with energy, and uniquely designed with emotions you can feel. Without question, you will find the first page as captivating as the last.

Buy the book here:

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/377948

Amazon USA: http://www.amazon.com/Hunters-Assessment-Arcturian-Bloodlines-Pearson-ebook/dp/B00GOAMAT4/

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hunters-Assessment-Arcturian-Bloodlines-Pearson-ebook/dp/B00GOAMAT4/

Do you write everyday?

Am always curious how other authors, balance the work-write routine. Here's how Charles O'Keefe, author of The Newfoundland Vampire series, gets around it:  
"For me I guess it’s not so complicated, I’m married but with no kids I still have a lot of free time. With that said my hobbies do distract me and all kinds of promotional activities involved with writing do as well. I find the best way to do this is to make a little schedule, set aside some time every day for writing. I have a routine, I try to get up between 6:30-7am (Monday to Friday) and start writing by 7:30 am or so. I don’t try to overdo it (I do have to go work eventually ;), just 30-45 minutes in the morning and then if I’m on a roll maybe another 30-45 minutes at night. I also just try to do 1-2 (single spaced) pages a day. Surprising if you stick with this after 4-5 months you have the rough draft of your book done! (at least I do). I find also that my day job isn’t very mentally demanding (most of the year anyway) and it gives me time to think on what I’ve written that day and where I’ll go next. If you imagine a scene and work out the details it’s a lot easier when you sit down to write it. Also I find a big help is do an outline for your whole book (or at least 2 or 3 chapters ahead). With an outline I always know where the story will go next (not that it can’t be changed). In fact I do two outlines, one is vague and just summarizes each chapter while the other breaks down every event in each chapter in numerical order. 

The second outline is more for use with my editor but I have on occasion used it myself.Of course there are times when real life gets in the way but I find once you get into the writing groove it’s something I enjoy and it’s nice to see progress. Be realistic and don’t try to write for hours on end, at  least that’s what works for me. Thanks again and happy writing everyone!"

Genre: Horror / Paranormal / Romance / Vampire

Publisher: Penumbra Publishing

Formats Available In: All eBook formats and Print

Release Date: January, 2011

Blurb: Joseph O’Reily is still adjusting to the lifestyle and the dangers that come with being a new vampire. He and Cassandra recently fought to the death with Cassandra’s estranged husband John Snow, and now Joseph has experienced his first ménage a trios, as only a vampire can. As if all of this was not complicated enough, he and Cassandra have been tasked with hunting down and killing a rogue vampire, Donald Rathmore. Another of John Snow’s creations, Donald is an evil misogynistic killer in his own right. Donald has no interest in avenging his creator’s death, but killing 

Cassandra is at the top of his list.While Donald continues his murderous spree, Joseph and Cassandra always seem to be one step behind him. The chase is further complicated as they encounter other vampires and learn more about the mysterious nature of the Vampire Council and the coming war between good and evil. Joseph is only now beginning to trust Cassandra, and this trust will be shaken when he discovers she has even more secrets than he imagined. Her idea of justice and morality is at complete odds with his own. Despite all his powers and growing skill, Joseph is tested physically as a vampire and emotionally by Cassandra. This time the answers and challenges may be too much for the young vampire to handle.

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Editing while you write, makes you wise? Almost!

This is a guest post from fellow author Jack Eason:

When I first began seriously writing back in 1995, I wish I had adopted what I like to refer to as the constant editing technique at the time. But back then I was yet to be published.

What can I tell you – after almost eighteen years of writing I have finally found a process that works for me. Each and every word is not only spelt correctly, but its particular version is also carefully selected via the process of working through the Oxford English Dictionary, plus utilizing the process of synonyms by right clicking on a word, which offers you a choice of alternatives. As an example of which form is correct for a given circumstance within any sentence, I give you  earth as opposed to Earth. Both forms are correct according to the OED, but earth is the usually accepted form.

I finally decided to adopt the technique last year while writing my last eBook novella The Forgotten Age. I’m glad I did. Apart from reducing the errors to an absolute minimum, bearing in mind that no book is ever totally error free, it also ensures that the darned Goodreads and Amazon trolls, plus the odd one or two individuals who just love to find fault, tend to refrain from voicing their opinion in the form of a one star review on either site.

But no matter how meticulous your approach may be, you have to be prepared for those people who absolutely hate your work.Face it folks, you cannot please everyone, no matter how hard you try.

Returning to the main thrust of this post about adopting the constant editing technique, It would not suit most writers as it drastically slows down the whole writing process, particularly the prolific in our ranks. By using it you can forget about any form of daily word count target, something that many new and seasoned writers think is the be all and end all to get that next book out there into book land.

These days since adopting the technique, I’m lucky if I write a paragraph each day before editing. Back in 1995, I would have been thoroughly disappointed. No longer…

Jack's latest book The Next Age is a new pure science fiction eBook novella set in the thirty-second century.

 

Download to your Kindle

Prepare yourselves for a wild ride as you read about an apocalyptic possible alternative future for mankind. The Next Age follows our fight for survival in the thirty-second century. It's not too late. We still have time to change our ways. This story need not become a reality... 

For countless millennia we swallowed the myth perpetrated by the world’s many religions that we were the only sentient species in the cosmos made by an all-powerful God. As it turned out it was an arrogant belief. In the twentieth century, during the period known as the Cold War, between America and its allies versus the former Soviet Union and its acolytes, we revealed our existence to the universe by launching two probes into deep space. The whole event passed into history and was completely forgotten until the thirty-second century, when mankind got a wake-up call that none of us were prepared for...  

 

About the author

Jack Eason lived in New Zealand for forty-two years until 2000 when he returned to his birthplace in England. As far as he is concerned he will always consider himself to be a Kiwi. After military service in the 1960′s, he travelled the world, visiting exotic lands and making many friends. Now in his mid-sixties he is content to write and travel via the Internet. Besides writing novels and short stories, he contributes to his own blog “Have We Had Help?” Some of his short stories and numerous articles appear in the No: 1 online E-zine Angie’s Diary 

His literary interests include science fiction, history, both ancient and modern, and humorous tales like those written by his fellow writer Derek Haines, such as HAL. Now retired, he lives in his home town surrounded by his favourite books, ranging from historical fact to science fiction. His literary icons are J.R.R Tolkien, George Orwell, Arthur C Clarke and John Wyndham. 

In the US you can find his books here

If you live in the UK, you can find his books here

3 - a trio of Short Stories

Maria Savva's, new release, 3 is a trio of short stories following the theme of how memories from the past can haunt the present. 

3 - a trio of short stories

The stories are as follows:

1. Never To Be Told - Tom and Amber are on a romantic date... but the past is always present.

2. The Bride - In this paranormal short, Olivia makes a chilling discovery.

3. What The Girl Heard - Victoria revisits a place that holds a dark reminder of an incident from her childhood. She had vowed she would never return.

About Maria Savva:

A writer of short stories and novels, Maria has always been a storyteller, and an avid reader, and is now having a lot of fun in her adventure with the creative art of writing. She has published 5 novels, including a psychological thriller, a family saga, and a fantasy/paranormal/time travel book. She also has 5 collections of short stories, the latest “3” has been described as an “Innovative showcase” of her short stories. If you like stories that will take you deep inside the characters’ hearts and minds, and you like twists in the tale, you will probably want to try these stories.

As well as writing, Maria is a lawyer (not currently practising law). During her career, she worked in family law, criminal law, immigration, residential property law, and wills & probate, among other things. Many of her stories are inspired from her own experiences and the experiences of those she knows or has known. Chances are, if you get to know this author it won’t be long before you are changed forever into a fictional character and appear in one of her books. If she likes you, you may become a romantic hero/heroine; if she doesn’t... well, she writes a good thriller I hear.

Maria currently divides her time between working as an administrator in a university, and writing/reading/editing/blogging. She maintains the BestsellerBound Recommends blog helping to promote fellow indie authors. She’s also a music blogger for UK Arts Directory where she helps promote independent musicians.

3 Book Trailer:

Connect:

Official website: http:www.mariasavva.com

Goodreads Blog: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1418272.Maria_Savva/blog

BestsellerBound Recommends: http://quietfurybooks.com/bestsellerboundrecommends/

UK Arts Directory Blog: http://ukartsdirectory.com/category/blog/maria-savva/

Twitter: http://Twitter.com/Maria_Savva

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Maria-Savva/171466979781

Buy links:

“3” is Currently available in Kindle format (Can be read on a Mac, PC, iPad, Smartphone etc., with the free downloadable apps from Amazon). Look out for the paperback coming soon.
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/3-ebook/dp/B00EUM59XM/

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/3-ebook/dp/B00EUM59XM/

Delusions and Dreams

Maria Savva is one of those amazing Indie authors, who just keeps going. She is already the author of nine books and a lawyer by profession who followed her dream to become an author.I met her last year when I was promoting my first book. Here Maria talks a little more about her new release, Delusion and Dreams, a short story collection.

Delusions and Dreams by Maria Savva

1. Who will like (or need) this book? Why?

Anyone who likes short stories will like Delusion and Dreams, and those who thought they didn't like short stories will also like it! Or so I have been told. At least two people have told me that after reading my short stories they have been seeking out more short stories to read, when in the past they may have avoided reading them. That makes me very happy because I've always loved the short story form and it is often neglected in favour of longer works.

2. What have readers most enjoyed in your book so far?

From the feedback, many readers have enjoyed the fact that two of the stories have more than one part. Delusions and Dreams, the short story, is told in four parts; and Friends and Neighbours is told in two parts. The different parts of the stories examine different characters' perspectives. This helps to show that sometimes people have reasons/motives for doing things that other people may be unaware of or judge incorrectly.

3. What do you hope your readers will get out of this book?

I hope they'll be entertained by the stories, but I also hope the stories will make them stop and think a bit about the reasons why people may behave in a certain way.

4. Are any of the characters like you or someone you know?

The characters in my stories are always inspired by people I have known, or by my own life experiences, whether consciously or subconsciously. Some of the characters are like me, some are like people I have met or heard about. Most are a combination of those elements

5. How can we find out more about you and your books?

I have a website that lists all my books; there are also excerpts, book trailers, and links to my social networking sites and blog. http://www.mariasavva.com

Maria Savva lives and works in London. She is a lawyer, although not currently practising law. She writes novels and short stories in different genres, including drama, psychological thriller, and family saga. Her books and stories are inspired by life and the people she meets. 

Laxmi Hariharan is a content branding strateguist and a writer of epic fantasy. More at LAXMIwrites