The GHOST HEART Kickstarter is here!

Happy, happy Tuesday, everyone! Today, I have a very special post for you all. If you remember, back a few weeks ago, I had author Ripley Patton on the blog for an interview in which she talked about Kickstarter. Well, she's launched a campaign for her new book, Ghost Heart. Read on and help this lady out if you can!

The PSS Chronicles is the acclaimed young adult paranormal thriller series written and self-published by award-winning author Ripley Patton.

If you're already familiar with the series, you know how great these books are. They are true paranormal thrillers and almost impossible to put down.

Book One, GHOST HAND, was a semi-finalist for the 2013 Kindle Book Review Best Indie Book Awards and it was a 2013 Cybil Award Nominee. It has over 200 reviews on Amazon with a 4.4 overall rating.

GHOST HOLD has been just as well received with over 40 reviews, only one under 3-stars. Readers often comment that is is even more compelling than the first book.

And NOW, Ripley Patton is gearing up for the release of the third book in this series, GHOST HEART, by running a Kickstrater Project HERE.

All Ripley's books have been funded successfully through Kickstarter, which allows readers to pre-order the books in e-book and paperback format, in addition to ensuring she can publish them to the highest quality. Plus, its just fun to be a part of the amazing process of making a book a reality.

This time around, Ripley has something special going on. Backers of the project will actually be helping unveil the GHOST HEART cover, one piece at a time, as the funds for the book are raised. To whet your appetite, she's already let one little corner show here. Just a hint. Just a tease. The rest is up to you and all the backers of the GHOST HEART KICKSTARTER PROJECT. But I really hope it doesn't take too long because I'm dying to see that cover.

NEW TO THE SERIES?

If you're new to The PSS Chronicles, never fear. The GHOST HEART Kickstarter Project has reward options to purchase all the books, both in e-book and signed paperback format for some amazing prices.

Not only that, but if you want to test drive the series before committing, Ripley is currently offering the first book of the series, GHOST HAND, FREE on Amazon and Kobo, and for only 99 cents on B&N.

SO, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

Run over to Ripley's Project now and back GHOST HEART. Tell your friends and family and fellow booklovers. Share the project on social media and help Ripley unveil that cover and blow this Kickstarter Project up.

And to find out even more about Ripley, you can check her out on her WEBSITE, on FACEBOOK, on TWITTER, on GOODREADS, and on GOOGLE +. She'd love to connect with you and talk about books, writing, movies, or whatever strikes your fancy.

I hope you enjoyed that! What a creative way to get your book out to the masses!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

A Guest Post by Ripley Patton

Happy Monday, good people of the blogosphere! As with every Monday from now until June, and UtopYA Con 2014, I'm featuring one of the authors attending the event. Today I have a guest post from my featured author, Ripley Patton. She's gonna talk with you all about what it's like to become a novelist. I did an interview with Ripley last week. If you missed it, you can find the post here. If you don't have your tickets to join us yet, get on it. Prices go up in two weeks! Just click the name of the con to be taken to their page. Enough of my yapping, grab your pens and notebooks and let's get going!

Five Things I Learned by Becoming a Novelist

by Ripley Patton

1. Writing is Hard. 

I was in a conversation with a friend recently who wants to become a writer. He was asking me questions about how to produce and market his first book, so I asked him when he had finished it. "Oh, I haven't even started it yet," he said, "but writing's the easy part."

Nope. Writing is not the easy part. Writing a book, any book, is really hard. Writing a good one that other people will want to buy and read? Even harder. In fact, in my experience, there is NO EASY PART. Every aspect of the writing process is difficult, and challenging, and rewarding. Easy is not a word anyone who has actually done it would ever employ to describe it.

2. We don't write for the money, but it sure helps.

Most writers and artists don't pursue their passion because they want to get rich quick. Art is not a fast track to wealth. Even the rags to riches stories we hear, like J.K. Rowling's, don't happen overnight. It was seven years after Rowling first conceived the Harry Potter series that it finally saw publication. During the time she was writing the first book, her mother died, she got divorced, and she found herself living in abject poverty. And during that time her book was rejected over and over again by publishers. J.K. Rowling didn't know if she would ever make a single penny on her books. But she wrote them anyway.

We writers write because we love to. Because we have stories inside of us yammering to get out. Because writing helps make sense of the world and the turmoil inside of us. We write because we must. And, I know for myself, I would continue to write for the rest of my life without pay.

But I also have two teenagers who like to eat.

3. Books connect people.

I'm not just a writer. I'm also an avid reader, as all good writers are. And one of the things
I've always loved about books is how they connect people.

First, there is the connection between the writer and the reader, that magical moment you enter someone else's internal world of story. Then there is the connection between the reader and the characters in the book, how they become like old friends or dear family members – people you've met in your mind, and traveled with, and now know intimately. And finally, there is the connection between you and all the readers who have loved that book before you and who will love it after you. You are connected to them through story, a story you've all shared. You've been to the same places and loved the same characters. When you meet someone who loves the same books you do, you are meeting an old friend.

4. There is no such thing as a perfect book.

When I wrote my first book, I wanted it to be perfect. I wanted the plot to be intricately woven. I wanted the cover to look exactly liked I'd imagined it. I wanted to comb the text over and over again until I'd rooted out every typo and misplaced comma. I was determined not to push the publish button until I had produced a flawless book.

However, when I was still finding small mistakes in the manuscript after seven revisions, three full edits (two by professional editors), and five different copy edits, I realized something - I have never read a perfect book.

I have read good books. I have even read great books. But I have never read a book without some kind of mistake in it. And yet, that has never prevented me from reading or enjoying books as long as the story was compelling.

So, I had to ask myself if I really wanted a perfect book, or if I wanted a book that people would get to read.

The answer seemed obvious.

There is no such thing as a perfect book. But there are millions of wonderfully-told stories.

5. The most important story is your own.

People often ask me why I became a writer. Why didn't I stay with the career I went to college for, or choose something easier or more lucrative? And there are lots of different answers for that question but the simplest is this; I became a writer because I want to read the stories only I can write.

Sometimes, I'll pick up a book, or two, or five or six in a row, and put them aside with a sigh because they simply aren't the story I want and need to read. My heart is hankering for a very specific story – a story that resonates deep inside me and says, "Yes, this is true. This is about you. These are the words you were looking for."

And sometimes, if you can't find that book, you want it so badly you write it yourself.

~ Ripley Patton

Okay, Ms. Patton, you've officially blown me away with that post. What a lot of great information and advice for Indie authors!

If you guys would like to know more about Ripley, why not give her a follow on the web?

Goodreads
Website


Again, if you want to know more about Ripley, check out the interview I did with her last Monday!

Do you have questions for this awesome lady? Pop them into the comments.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Ripley Patton Author Interview

Happy flippin' Monday, good people of the blogosphere! What a great weekend, huh? Besides being cold as all get out, it was actually rather nice outside. As you all know, today I'll be doing another author interview. These fun spots of Monday fun will continue through June when I attend UtopYA Con 2014 at the Millennium Maxwell House in Nashville, TN (get your tickets by clicking on the name). Let's just say it's my way of getting to know some of these authors before the big event takes place and I'm inviting you to join me in the fun. I do hope you've been having a good time reading about authors you may never have heard of. With us today is Ms. Ripley Patton, author of Ghost Hand, Ghost Hold, and a number of shorts we'll talk about in a moment. Now sit back, grab a cup of Joe, and join me as we get to know this lovely lady!


Jo: Howdy, Ripley, great to have you on the blog!
Ripley: Jo, thanks for having me. I'm thrilled to be here.

Jo: I’m not really one to dally around and ask cut and paste questions. I like the gritty, awesome stuff and my readers crave it. So let’s get our hands dirty. I saw you used a crowdfunding program (Kickstarter) to back Ghost Hand. What led you to that decision and what did you learn over the course of the project?
Ripley: What led me to that decision was a need for money. I knew I had written a good book, but I didn't have the finances to produce it to the standard I wanted. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so when I decided to go the self-publish route, I knew I had to produce a book that would stand up against traditionally published books. And that was going to take some cash. Since I already had a fan base from my short story writing, I thought I might be able to pull off a Kickstarter campaign. Besides, I had nothing to lose.

What I learned from the campaign is that promotion is hard, constant work. I often refer to that first Kickstarter project as my Indie Boot Camp. I also learned that a lot of people believe in my writing. Not only did I reach my funding goal and go over by 10%, I also had professional editing and formatting donated by several of my backers.

Less than a year later, I did another Kickstarter for book two of my series, Ghost Hold, and again exceeded my funding goal. I'm kind of proud of the fact that I crowd sourced my own author advances.

Jo: That’s really awesome. Promotion is hard work and never goes away. You’re cracking me up with the Indie Boot Camp reference. Love it! Tell me about SpecFicNZ. What started it, what did you get out of it, and where did it go?
Ripley: Well, I had moved to New Zealand in 2006 after my husband convinced me it would be a grand adventure (which it was). My short story writing was just beginning to take off when we moved, and I was disappointed to discover that New Zealand didn't have any writer's group or association for writers of genre fiction. I made a few friends in the writing community, and I kept asking them and myself, "Wouldn't it be great to have a writer's collective or association for mutual support?" The answer was almost always "Yes. It would be great if someone else would do that."

So after two years, I decided if no one else was going to do it, I would. I didn't do it alone though. I spent eighteen months building a team and planning. I'd never started anything, let alone a national association for writers, so I did a lot of research. And in 2010 we launched the org at New Zealand's 31st Sci-fi/Fantasy Con, Au Contraire, in Wellington. SpecFicNZ has been growing strong for three years now, and I stepped down as President last year when my family and I moved back to the States. SpecFicNZ now runs the writing track of the annual NatCon, has local meet-ups in all major cities of New Zealand, and holds regular writerly events. I'm very proud to have left that legacy in a country I came to love as my own.

Jo: That’s quite an accomplishment! There aren’t many people who would step up and create something they wanted when no one else would. I saw you have two teens. Are they girls or boys and what are their ages?
Ripley: My daughter (shown left) just turned sixteen, and she is one of the most strong-willed, kick-ass females I have ever met. I am very proud of her, but it makes for challenging parenting sometimes. My son will be eighteen in March. Both of my kids are extremely supportive of my writing. They both beta read for me and help me keep my teen characters current and real. My son also does production work for me (like my Kickstarter videos) and I've just recently hired him to be my promotion assistant. They are awesome teens and are going to make even better adults.

Jo: Aren’t kids awesome? I dunno what I’d do without my daughter and sons. What’s been your biggest challenge with raising them?
Ripley: Not taking their adolescence personally. I can sometimes be oversensitive to their comments and actions, and I have to step back and remind myself that they are just exploring they're independence. Plus, I'm a big rule follower and they aren't- especially my daughter. She is a risk-taker and I never have been. That scares me sometimes, but she is also smart and strong and usually comes out the other side of her adventures relatively unscathed.

Jo: It’s hard, huh? I have the same problem sometimes. It’s a thing to balance and I feel for you. Happy late anniversary! I read that you and your hubby have been married 23 years. WOW. Congratulations to you. How does your husband support your writing endeavors?
Ripley: Thanks. Marriage is awesome hard work, much like writing. I am happy to say that my husband supports my writing in every way humanly possible. He has covered us finically for years, often working very difficult jobs as a social worker/therapist to keep me home writing. He believes in me and my work whole-heartedly. He always introduces me as a writer first and his wife second, talking up my books any chance he gets. And when I doubt myself or start to feel afraid, he is the first one to say, "Just keep writing. The money will come. This is what you were made to do." He is both my best friend and my biggest fan.

Jo: Sounds like a great guy. You’re very lucky, lady! You’re kind of known for your PSS Chronicles series. Would you be so kind as to talk about Traveling by Petroglyph and Over the Rim? Tell us a little about them, what spawned the ideas, and what your long-term hopes for them are.
Ripley: Well, before I wrote The PSS Chronicles, I was actually fairly well known for my short stories. I've had over twenty-five short stories published in various print and on-line magazines and anthologies. Traveling by Petroglyph was the first flash fiction piece I wrote and also the first pro sale I made. It was inspired by a family vacation we took in 2005 up along the Inside Passage of Alaska on the public ferry system.

Over the Rim is a YA fantasy novella that was first published in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine and was later nominated for a Sir Julius Vogel Award in 2010. That story was actually inspired years ago by a sign I saw at Crater Lake National Park here in Oregon when my husband and I were there celebrating our anniversary. Later, we went back to take a picture of that sign and we couldn't find it. Maybe it was never even there. But I know I saw it and the story was born.

Six or seven of my published short stories can still be read for FREE and links to them can be found on my website.

As for my plans for all of them, I hope to publish a collection of my short stories toward the end of 2014.

Jo: That would rock! You must let me know when it goes out. In your best writerly voice, tell me how you felt when you won the Sir Julius Vogel Award.
Ripley: In New Zealand there is a small creek that leads to a large pool at the bottom of a secluded waterfall. In that pool mother seals leave their babies while they go out to fish in the deep dark sea. I have been to that pool and sat at its edge, the water teaming with doe-eyed newborn seals, frolicking until the water broils with their boundless unfettered joy. I have had one swim up, and hop on the rock next to me, and put his wet flipper right on my hand. Winning a writing award was something very much like that.

Jo: How sweet! It sounds thrilling and unreal. I read you’ve lived in Georgia (that’s where I’m from). What was your favorite part about living there or your favorite part about the state in general?
Ripley: I lived in Georgia when I was twelve and we lived on a very large farm (an ex-plantation). The farm mainly produced nuts and had a candy factory on the premises for making chocolate/nut confections and peanut brittle. My fondest memory is going out every Sunday afternoon with my parents and little brother to collect windfall pecans to take back home and crack and eat. Plus, the smell of the candy factory was divine.

Jo: I love pecans and old Georgia plantations. LOL! Speed question! What’s your favorite M&M color?
Ripley: Green. When I was a teen that was the color that was supposed to make you horny.

Jo: *snort* I totally remember that! Oh, man, I can’t stop laughing right now. Favorite reality show (I know you love them)?
Ripley: Survivor by far. I have watched and own every season on DVD. I once worked up an application video for the show, but that was the year we decided to move to New Zelaand and you have to be residing in the US to apply so I didn't send it in. My son is a huge fan too. He has been watching with me since he was six. Right now we are re-watching all the seasons together from the beginning to study strategy because he plans to apply for the show as soon as he turns eighteen. If he makes it and doesn't invite me for the family challenge, I will disown him. Yes, I am a hard core Survivor fan.

Jo: I have a feeling you guys will kick arse! Time for the alien question of the interview. These are kinda fun. Haha! I see there’s a whole alien museum in Portland, your hometown. Have you been there and what’s it like? If not, do you have plans to go there?
Ripley: Unfortunately, I think the alien museum here has closed. I never got a chance to go because it opened and closed while I lived overseas. However, I'm very proud to be connected with aliens in several other ways. First, I share a name with Ellen Ripley, the most kick-ass alien fighter ever to grace the big screen. Second, I've written about aliens, most directly in my award-nominated short story The Derby which can be read or listened to in audio HERE.

Jo: Alien was such a freaking cool movie (took this pic at the EMP museum in Seattle)! What’s the title of the anthology you were in with Juliet Marillier (give us a link, too!) and what was it like to meet an author you admired so much?
Ripley: The anthology is called A Foreign Country: New Zealand Speculative Fiction and it can be found HERE. It is a really amazing book full of talented people and stories. Meeting Juliet as a fellow author was one of the highlights of my career. I do have a funny story about that. The first time I met her at the Con, I fan-girled a little and told her how much I had loved her Seven Waters Series, the first series she ever wrote and one I had read as a teen. She looked at me a little grumpily and said, "Well, you do know I've written books since then, don't you?"

Later that weekend, we were on a panel together on Fairy Tales and Myth in Fiction and something I said about everyone having their own personal mythos resonated with her. I know this because when I attended her reading later that day, she mentioned me and what I'd said and told the audience she had changed her reading material because of it to a story that was more her personal mythos.

If that wasn’t enough, the next morning she sought me out and told me she had read my story from the anthology, which was being launched at the Con, and that she had really liked it.

Since that Con, we've kept in touch and Juliet is very supportive of my work, which means more than I can say. I just recently read her new YA fantasy series, Shadowfell and Raven Flight, and I'm eagerly awaiting the third book. She is such an amazing writer.

Jo: Wow. That’s kind of like me being put in an anthology with Fern Michaels. *grin* I’d be going bananas! Congrats on being chosen and getting to meet Ms. Marillier! I read that you began writing because you lost your mother to cancer when you were thirteen (SO sorry to hear that). I can’t even begin to imagine how hard that was to deal with. Though it began your writing career, can you tell us how you believed that incident may have shaped you as a writer?
Ripley: A writer friend of mine, Ken Scholes, once described loss as a giant irreparable hole in the middle of your living room floor. You learn to move the furniture out of its way and avoid falling into it, but it's always there forcing you to step around it. All of my writing is a desperate attempt to make sense of the world. Grief, loss, and death inform every story I write. All three are things all human beings grapple with eventually. As far as shaping me as a writer, I learned at a very tender age that writing and story could provide me great comfort. I know some people find it hard to write when life gets difficult, but I find it all the more necessary during tough times.

Jo: Ken sounds like a wise man. That’s a perfect analogy. Sounds like you did a lot of growing from the situation. I’m happy to hear writing provides for you. Isn’t it odd how that works? Time to talk about your featured book of the week. Why did you write it?
Ripley: I wrote Ghost Hand and Ghost Hold for the same reason I write almost anything. I write the stories I need to read. The ones no can write but me. I also write to find out what happens. I'm not a planner or outliner so when I get the beginning of a story in my head, I have to write it to find out the end.

Jo: Ha! I don’t plan either. When I do, I end up throwing the whole plan in the trash after the first chapter or two. Freedom is refreshing, huh? Anything I didn’t ask that you wish I would’ve?
Ripley: What? No, these were the awesomest interview question EVER. But just a reminder that Book one of The PSS Chronicles, Ghost Hand, is currently FREE for Kindle and Kobo.

Jo: I’m glad you enjoyed that. I’ve learned a lot about you! *grin* Thanks for joining me here on the blog, Ripley! It was lovely digging through your world. I can’t wait to meet you at UtopYA Con in just a few months!
Ripley: Me too. I'm so excited about UtopYA. This is my first one.

Jo: Mine too! Eep! Okay, people! Here’s where you get the skinny on Ripley’s featured book of the week.

Title: Ghost Hold, Book Two of The PSS Chronicles.
Author: Ripley Patton
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal Thriller
Length (print): 376 pages
Buy Links: Amazon  ~  B&N  ~  Kobo  Price: $3.99 for e-book.

Synopsis:
Olivia Black is back.

And so is her ghost hand.

Only this time she's not the one in need of rescue.

Samantha James, rich, popular, and an award-winning composer at age seventeen, is the next target on the CAMFers' list. In order to convince Samantha to come with them, Olivia and Passion must pose as cousins, blend into the most affluent high school in Indianapolis, and infiltrate a mysterious cult known as The Hold.

Olivia doesn't expect it to be easy. But what she discovers over the course of the mission will call into question everything she ever believed about herself, her family, and especially about Marcus, the guy she is undoubtedly falling in love with.

While you’re clicking, why not give Ms. Patton a follow on social media?

Facebook: WriterRipleyPatton
Twitter: @rippatton
Goodreads: Ripley Patton

Got a question for Ripley? Leave it in the comments!

Well, that’s all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Fall into UtopYA Party Weekend Post Three

Happy Friday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I give you something to peruse over the weekend. Those lovely ladies from the Fall into UtopYA Party have, once again, brought you some awesome new releases you must check out and a great giveaway! Without further ado:

 Twisted by N.L. Greene

***Attention***

This book is recommended for mature readers.

It contains underage drinking, drug use and sexual content.

Synopsis:

Growing up isn’t always easy. But for most teenage girls, they can rely on their best friend to help them get through the process. A BFF is something that is truly treasured and completely irreplaceable. You share all of your secrets, and are loyal and honest with each other, even when you’re acting just a little bit crazy. You have each other’s backs no matter what and you form a bond that is virtually unbreakable.

At least that’s what normal teenage girls experience.

Nat and Mel have been bestie’s since childhood and Nat has followed her blindly ever since. But as Nat’s friendship with Mel begins to lead her down the wrong path, she starts to question the sincerity of their relationship. Nat starts to see Mel’s manipulative, deceitful ways become more focused on her. Will Natalie hold on tight to the friendship she’s had her entire life, no matter what it cost her? Or will she let her heart lead her to a relationship that’s not so twisted. 

Add Twisted to your Goodreads shelf. Buy on Kindle for $2.99, in Paperback for $12.99 

About this author

N.L. Greene, who is 1/2 of the author duo Riana Lucas, has decided to venture outside of the Fantasy world that she and her best friend created with Poppy and The Deadly Flowers Series to write a few books on her own. While she loves working with her best friend, writing solo has allowed her to explore interest that had solely been her own. She spends a lot of time reading her favorite authors which range all over the place and in every genre, but spends just as much time with her husband and two daughters, traveling, shopping, and playing video games. Nichole was born in Pennsylvania but grew up in Florida, where she and her high school sweetheart live with their two children.

Author Contact Links: 

Facebook ~ Goodreads ~ Website ~ Twitter ~ Amazon  

Supernova by Elizabeth Sharp

Blurb:

On Cleo’s first day at St.
Aloysius Gonzaga Academy, things get pretty weird pretty fast. After being confronted by a strangely hostile boy, she meets two girls and instantly bonds with them. Before long danger threatens the entire student body, in the form of a soul eating possessor fae. When her brother is savagely beaten and left in a coma, the girls decide to use their fae powers to become superheroes and stop the possessions.

They quickly learn things are a lot more complicated than they had ever imagined. A government plot that had begun when they were infants endangers them all, and a demented former soldier bent on revenge is after them. The line between friend and foe has become so blurry, Cleo has no idea who she can trust. Will their superhero plot help them save the day, or just get them killed?

Buy Links

Amazon B&N Smashwords

About the Author:

Elizabeth has a near crippling Facebook addiction, dwarfed only by her need for Dr. Pepper. A self-proclaimed techno geek, she loves  cell phones, computers, tablets and all things technological. The internet has to be the greatest invention since the wheel, in her opinion. She lives in a quiet subdivision with her husband, one-year-old son, three cats, and far too many electronics. It’s quite possible she has some raccoon in her DNA, because she loves glitter and anything that
sparkles. She enjoys making jewelry and costumes. Halloween is her favorite holiday since it’s the one day of the year that you can be whatever you want.

But her first love will always be writing. Otherwise, hearing voices in her head would make her feel schizophrenic.

Website Facebook Twitter Goodreads

Ghost Hold by Ripley Patton

The long-awaited second book of The PSS Chronicles is finally HERE! GHOST HOLD by Ripley Patton is now LIVE ON KINDLE, and will be coming out in paperback in late-October. If you've read GHOSTHAND, the first book in the series, you know why this is so exciting. If you haven't read it, what are you waiting for? Go grab it now (available on Kindle, Nook, Kobo and in paperback), so you can dive right into the second book as soon as you're done.

Blurb:

Olivia Black is back.

Only this time she's not the one in need of rescue.

Samantha James, rich, popular, and an award-winning composer at age seventeen, is the next target on the CAMFers' list. In order to convince Samantha to come with them, Olivia and Passion must pose as cousins, blend into the most affluent high school in Indianapolis, and infiltrate a mysterious cult known as The Hold.

Olivia doesn't expect it to be easy, even with the PSS guys backing them up. But what she discovers over the course of the mission will call into question everything she ever believed about her ghost hand, her family, and especially about Marcus, the guy she is undoubtedly falling in love with. 

Steamy Excerpt: 

Marcus crossed back to the faucet of the now-full tub and turned it off. He bent over and turned on the jets, which kicked up a lot more steam and a lot more noise. I was starting to melt inside my own clothes, and he must have been too, because when he turned back to me he was slipping his t-shirt over his head.

"What are you doing?" I asked, my voice coming out a little strangled.

"You and I need to talk," he said, letting the shirt drop to the floor.

"Yes," I said, trying not to gawk at his chest and the way the steam swirled into it, his PSS shining back and coloring the mist a soft blue hue. "But can't we do that with our clothes on?"

"We need to talk where I'm sure no one can hear us," he said, his hands going to the snap of his jeans. "They don't put bugs in bathrooms because the moisture corrodes them." The snap was undone. The zipper was next. He had on red tartan boxers. "Plus, not many people plot and plan in the john." He slid the jeans down his legs, turned, slipped off the boxers, and stepped into the tub, sinking down into it with an audible moan.

I stood there stunned. I had just seen Marcus naked. He'd just stripped to his beautiful bare ass right in front of me as if it were nothing. Yes, we'd been sleeping in a tent together for weeks, and making out, but when one of us changed clothes, the other still looked away. Marcus and I had not gotten naked together. We hadn't even come close, because I always held back. I couldn’t even bring myself to reach my hands inside his shirt. What if my flesh hand accidentally went into his chest and disrupted his PSS? Even worse, what if my ghost hand reached into him and pulled something horrible out? I was pretty sure either of those scenarios would be a serious buzz kill to our intimacy.

"Do you have any idea how long it's been since I've had a bath?" he said, almost a purr, laying his head back on the edge of the tub and closing his eyes.

"I—no—I haven't had one for like a month," I stammered, looking down at the tile floor, completely flustered.

"Olivia," he said softly, and I looked up to find his eyes boring into me, dewy drops captured on those thick dark lashes. "Come here."

I crossed obediently to the side of the bath, both relieved and a bit disappointed to find that the burbling of the jets obscured most of what was in it. Except his PSS chest. It glowed and pulsed like some half-submerged, cerulean, underwater treasure.

Marcus put his hand out for mine. The invitation was obvious.

This was crazy. There was no way we were going to be able to talk, coherently, in a bathtub together.

"It's a big tub," he said, nodding at the other end, "and I promise to be good."

Yeah, but it wasn't just him I was worried about. If I got in the tub with Marcus, I would be in the tub with Marcus. "But I—" I looked down at myself. I had on my sleeping tank with no bra underneath, my sweatpants, and underwear.

"You have no idea how relaxing this is," he said, slipping his hand back into the water and closing his eyes. Either he was taunting me, or giving me a chance to undress without him watching. Probably both.

"You bastard," I muttered under my breath. I slipped off my shoes and sweatpants and padding barefoot to the far end of the tub. I was not going in completely naked. I wasn’t that much of a fool. I kept my tank and underwear on and stepped into the hot swirling water. As I slid down into it, jets pounding my butt and back, the wet heat rising up and swallowing all my aches and pains in its pure liquid magic, I couldn't keep the moan from escaping my lips either.

And I didn't miss the effect that sound had on my bath mate.

One of his lean, muscular legs brushed mine, trembling. And his eyes widened. And his breath came a little faster across the water, far less relaxed then it had been only a moment before.

What are people saying about Ghost Hold?

5 Luminous, Vibrant Stars!
A Thrilling, Wild Adventure with Danger, Intrigue and Excitement. And A Chilling End Sure To Haunt You!  - Hazel G fromCraves the Angst Reviews

I can promise you, I will read as many books in this series as Ripley can create because it truly is a stand out series with stand out characters. – Ghost Hand and Ghost both chosen as Indie Book of The Week by Ali at My Guilty Obsession.

Ripley Patton is a master storyteller! She creates a world that is not only harsh and unforgiving but most importantly, unforgettable. Jess from Inside the Pages of a Book

"BRAVO. A GREAT book! Better even than the first. I abso-fucking-lutely LOVED IT!" – Former librarian and bookseller extraordinaire, Angie Chute

To find out more about Ripley and The PSS Chronicles, be sure to check her out on

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From Gods by Mary Ting

Synopsis:
Did you just see a flash of lightning across the sky on a clear sunny day? It’s not from Mother Nature. It is most likely from Mason Grand, swoon-worthy demigod, one of Zeus’s descendants.

Skylar Rome is supposed to be having the best summer ever before she heads off to college. Little did she know, her whole life was about to change while visiting her cousin. Nearly drowning at the beach due to unknown forces, one of the Grand brothers she’d just met, Mason, saves her life. Cool, collected, mysterious, and dangerously good-looking, Skylar is drawn to him from the start. Though she knows he is the type of guy good girls stayed away from, it seems he is always saving her life, and the attraction was inevitable.

Upon meeting the brothers, strange things begin to happen. When she accidentally kills one of the brothers, it throws her life into turmoil, as they search to find the answers. Implausibly, she gets caught up in a world of the descendants of ancient gods, all who have super powers. Not only is her discovery difficult to accept, evil beings are after her. Running out of time and running for her life, she must unravel a mystery. What do they want from her? Forced into a battle set into motion long before she was born, will she find the answers, or will she die trying?

From Gods purchase links~

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TEASER:

“You’re wet. You should take off your clothes.”

What a way to avoid a question! Skylar blinked her eyes in disbelief. Did she hear him correctly? “Excuse me?” Not wanting to assume he was really asking her to strip off her clothes, she didn’t move a muscle, but the way his piercing eyes laid on her, she might as well have already been naked. Then she inwardly gasped when he started to unbutton his shirt. Her eyes shot to the floor, then back to him, and then to the floor, wondering what she was supposed to do in this awkward moment.

“Here. Go change in the restroom. You don’t want to catch a cold.” He placed his shirt in front of her.

She looked up to see him shirtless for the very first time. With all the right curves and tightness, he looked like a statue of a god. He was beautiful and perfectly toned, with satin-like skin, which looked like it would be smooth to the touch. And there was a small tattoo shaped like a lightning bolt on his upper right arm, toward his shoulder. Way too sexy!

As warmth flushed her face, she tried not to stare, but there was no way around it. “Umm…you won’t have a shirt,” Skylar said, thinking that was the most idiotic thing she had said so far, but she couldn’t think when he was half-naked in front of her.

“I’m not cold, but you will be.”

Mason was right. Skylar didn’t realize she was shivering until she placed her hand out to take his shirt. The adrenaline from the initial shock had kept her warm, and now it was wearing away. The blasting air conditioner didn’t help either. “Thanks.”

Just as she pivoted right toward the restroom, even though she was deathly scared to go back, Mason gripped her arm. “Wait. Don’t go in there without me.”

His sudden protectiveness surprised Skylar, but then again, he had saved her.

Bio: Mary Ting resides in Southern California with her husband and two children. She enjoys oil painting and making jewelry. Writing her first novel, Crossroads Saga, happened by chance. It was a way to grieve the death of her beloved grandmother, and inspired by a dream she once had as a young girl. When she started reading new adult novels, she fell in love with the genre. It was the reason she had to write one-Something Great. Why the pen name, M Clarke? She tours with Magic Johnson Foundation to promote literacy and her children's chapter book-No Bullies Allowed.

Mary's Social Contact Links:

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Meant for Her by Raine Thomas

Blurb:
Photographer Sierra Stratton views the world through a lens all her own. She has an uncanny sense about people, something that often causes her trouble. When she meets the sexy and brooding Evan Dorsey, her intuition tells her he’s suffering, and she wants to be the one to help him.

Evan isn’t open to help from anyone, however. His focus is on his Major League career and making himself as marketable as possible for his upcoming free agency. He plans to ride out the season in Atlanta and then sign with another team, away from the painful memories that haunt him.

Someone’s eager to send him on his way, too. Between anonymous threats and equipment sabotage, it’s clear he’s earned himself an enemy along the way. To him, it’s one more sign that he’s right to move on.

But Sierra threatens his conviction. Her contagious smile proves hard to resist, as does her kiss. She tempts him in ways he never anticipated, making him question his plans for the first time. If he’s not careful, she might just convince him that he’s meant for her.

Add Meant for Her to your Goodreads shelf.

Meant For Her can be purchased at Amazon.com

About Raine Thomas:

Raine Thomas is the award-winning author of best-selling YA and NA fiction. She followed her life-long passion for all things literary and earned her bachelor's degree in English with a focus in Creative Writing from Georgia State University, then her master's degree in Humanities from Central Michigan University. Having grown up in places such as Chicago, Atlanta and Orlando, much of her writing reflects these settings.

Raine is a hopeless romantic with a background in the fields of mental health and wedding planning...two areas that intersect far more than one would think. Her years working with children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral challenges inspired her to create young protagonists who overcome their own conflicts. When she isn't writing or glued to e-mail or social networking sites, Raine can usually be found vacationing with her husband and daughter on one of Florida's beautiful beaches or crossing the border to visit with her Canadian friends and relatives.

Raine Thomas Contact Links:

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Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo