Blitz

Cowboy Town Book Blitz! Romance & Cowboys! Plus a Giveaway!
Ever since her parents passed away in a tragic car accident, Eden Cross has been living a quiet, stable and predictable life in inner Sydney – the total opposite of her carefree, relaxed, happy-go-lucky past. Her parents passing and the fact she’s an only child meant Eden was left with her best friend, Jules and Matt, her boyfriend of three years as her only family. That was until she discovered something about Matt that would turn her life upside down. Eden leaves Sydney in a hurry and begins an adventure that takes her across four Australian states before she lands in Pine Creek, Northern Territory.Jackson Henley has lived in Pine Creek his entire life. He runs a massive cattle and cropping station with his twin brother, Jeremy, which they inherited when their parents retired. He’s had a bad experience with relationships courtesy of The Bitch – Dannika, so lately he’s preferred to play the field. That is, until he comes face to face with the stunning brunette beauty who’s behind the bar at the Cow and Calf. The problem is, she won’t tell him her name, she won’t give him the time of day, and she won’t give him a chance to prove himself.

What’s it going to take for Eden to give Jackson a chance? Does he have the patience to even bother fighting for her? How will he handle the competition?

In the end, will Jackson have what it takes to convince Eden to start living again, instead of just existing?

“Hey, gorgeous, can I get another
beer?”  I turn my attention from the
one-man show and spot Luke, the guy who was here yesterday, and he’s waving an
empty glass at me.

“Sure thing,” I reply.  I grab a glass and pull his beer, hand it to
him, take his money and return his change. 
“So, Dory’s put ya to work, has she?”
“Just helping her out for tonight,” I
smile, then sweep my gaze along the bar checking that no one needs
refills.  It’s during this exercise that
I spot the man who has just walked in.
My breath gets caught in my throat as I watch him take a seat at the
bar.  I see his lips move and he’s
smiling at people but it’s too loud to hear what he’s saying.  I’m captivated.  He’s utterly gorgeous.  The epitome of Cowboy Hot.  His hair is dark and his jaw is square.  His body is built – broad across the
shoulders and narrowing slightly at his hips.
He spots someone across the bar and hands them a fully-fledged, bright
white, straight-toothed smile.  My breath
leaves me in a whoosh, and then
catches again as what has to be his twin slides onto the stool beside him.  Oh my
fucking god. 
I’ve got a job to do.  I have to pull it together.  It’s not like I’ve never been in contact with
good looking guys before.  I worked in
one of Sydney’s hottest bars for four years for fuck’s sake.  I mentally slap myself across the face and
tell myself to pull it together.  Then I
walk across to where they’re sitting and set about getting their order.
“What’ll it be, boys?” I ask in my most
relaxed I’m-not-affected-by-you-at-all voice.
Hotty One unashamedly rakes his gaze over
my body.  Slowly.  So slowly, I feel my blood start to heat –
just from him looking at me.  I must be going mad.  Perhaps it’s the heat up here.  I’m not used to it all.  I really should have worn some linen shorts
instead of jeans.
“You, later,” he winks suggestively when he
finally pulls his eyes to mine.  Now,
don’t get me wrong – the wink was hot.
Fucking hot.  It was the way he
said it that turned me off.  You know
those guys that can get anyone they want?
Yeah, they’re not so bad.  It’s
the ones who can get anyone they want, and
they know it, and they show it –
that’s the turn off.  Just with that
line, Hotty One has shown me he’s a player, unfaithful, untrustworthy and most
definitely not the kind of guy I want to get involved with – in bed, or out
of.  But, as a woman, I’d rather die than
have him know how he affected me, so I tilt my head to the side, smile my
cheeky smile and say, “Not tonight, handsome. Or ever.  Drink?”

* I’m 29 years old

* I’ve been married to my husband Troy for 10 years and together we have 4 children – Zach, Jovi, Demi & Cruz.

* I live in a small country town in NSW, Australia

* I LOVE to read and write

* I LOVE to bake

* I LOVE socializing

* My friends laugh at me because I will talk to anyone, anywhere.  It’s funny now but it wasn’t so funny for my mum when she had to drag me away from strange homeless people at the train station when I was little, and I may or may not have been going to go in crop dusting plane with a man I’d just met when I was about 4!!

* I read fiction until I was 11 years old.  After that I read non-fiction, true crime, bio’s etc.  When my son Jovi drowned in 2011, I found I couldn’t bring myself to read non fiction anymore – it was too “real”.  Fifty Shades was dominating the media so I got myself a copy and I’m not ashamed to say I read all three of those books at least ten times each.  They allowed me to forget my reality for a little while.  Then I decided that I was going to follow my dreams and write.  I wanted to show my children that just because their brother died, didn’t mean they did or our family did.  I want them to reach for the stars and chase their dreams, and the best way to do that is to lead by example!

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Fractured Legacy by Skye Callahan Blitz – Excerpt, Guest Post, Giveaway and more! :) Hosted by Xpresso Book Tours

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Fractured Legacy by Skye Callahan

(Darkness Bound #1)
Publication date: October 22nd, 2013
Genres: New Adult, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy

Cover

FracturedLegacy

Synopsis:

Kaylyn Anderson’s fascination with abandoned places and dark creatures kindled her work as a paranormal investigator. But when dreams begin to distort reality, she questions what is real and pulls away from everyone she trusts. The opportunity to investigate the Teague Hotel–a long-abandoned landmark that has always piqued her curiosity–provides a chance to redeem herself. Unraveling the hotel’s secrets won’t be easy, but Kaylyn soon finds herself the target of a dark entity that has been trapped in the building for decades.
If Kaylyn stands any hope of defeating the spirit, she’ll have to accept that her fears are real and convince fellow investigators that she hasn’t lost her mind.

Guest Post – Building Paranormal Ideas from Legends

Skye Callahan

Paranormal stories rely on the author’s ability to create a world that encourages the reader’s suspension of belief.

I don’t do a lot of plotting, but making sure your characters paranormal abilities (and inabilities) are clear and consistent requires some planning. You don’t want to get halfway through the book and have to explain how/why a character suddenly gains a new ability or inability (unless of course you have a good reason to do so). That’s like knowing that the character has a cell phone in his/her pocket, but when they are locked in a room, they can’t figure out how to call out for help. Likewise, a vampire who can suddenly “glamour” a victim two-thirds of the way through the book when he’s never had/used/mentioned that ability is equally problematic.

When I need inspiration for paranormal or supernatural characters, I look for old myths and legends to see where the creatures originated. Creating a basis for supernatural occurrences within historical beliefs creates credibility with the reader. There is a reason certain stories survive, and a reason why certain supernatural elements – ghosts, vampires, werewolves – are so widespread. And understanding when and why legends originated may give you hints into how you can adapt the legend for your own purposes.

The paranormal entities in Fractured Legacy aren’t derived from one particular legend. But there were some old myths that influenced the decisions I made while writing. For example, there are a number of legends that reference the vengeful spirit of a mother who lost her child. In Japanese folklore, the Mu-onna has been known to protect children, but she may also try to merge with them—to do so she must put the child’s soul to sleep. You’ll have to read Fractured Legacy to see what aspects of the legend made it into the story.

Don’t just set out to be original or do something different—give your mind a few pieces of kindling and let it do the rest as it tries to make sense of the legends and stories. The originality will follow as your imagination fills in the gaps.

Excerpt

Kaylyn pulled the covers over her head as if they could block out the ruckus threatening her sleep. After another series of knocks on the front door, she was left in silence again. That wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

She held her breath.

Sure enough, a floorboard creaked, then her sister’s voice rang out. “Come on Kay. You can’t avoid me when I have a key. We’re going to be late.”

“Go away, Cole. I’m sick.”

“Bull shit. If anything you’re hung over.”

“I haven’t had a drink in weeks.” Although at the moment, she thought, I’d kill for one…or several. “We’ve worked for Carlisle for more than three years, he won’t—”

“We have a meeting. Mr. Edwards. Historical Society. Wooden box engraved with occult symbols. Ring a bell?”

Oh yeah. Kaylyn groaned as she flipped the covers off her head. Her younger sister stood over the side table, leaning against the inside of the doorway. A crisp pink collar peeked out from the top of her dark grey pea coat, paired with matching grey slacks.

Always overdressed, Kaylyn thought, especially for a job that often had them crawling in dank and dusty places. She pulled herself up, balancing precariously on the edge of the bed before forcing her body to move toward the closet.

“If you don’t hurry up, the cappuccinos will get cold.”

“You know I prefer it that way.” Kaylyn said as she pulled some moderately business-casual clothes out of the clean clothes pile and headed into the bathroom.

“Weirdo,” Cole called after her.

Kaylyn was thankful for the brief moment of silence as she pulled on a pair of black jeans and a blue long-sleeved V-neck. She smoothed out the wrinkles in the shirt then focused on her matted hair, sweeping it up into a low ponytail.

“Come on, sis, we’re supposed to be there at 9:30,” Cole yelled, smacking the bathroom door.

Three days until the weekend, she promised her reflection. Then nothing is stopping me from sleeping as long as I want.

Nothing except the dreams.

AUTHOR BIO

AuthorPhoto

Skye Callahan was born and raised in Ohio and has seen enough unbelievable stuff to feed a lifetime of paranormal stories. When not writing or working at the dayjob, she hangs out with her ethnomusicologist husband and pet ferrets, reads, and takes long walks through the cemetery.

Giveaway

For a chance to win a ecopy of this amazing book, comment on this post. Let me know if you’d read this book, what you thought of excerpt or Skye’s guest post. Comment on here with something related to the content and I’ll pick one winner (Open internationally) to win a copy! Prize received after Oct 14th.