* Today I'm here to share my story Open World which is now available at Evernight Publishing. The world of C.O.V.E.N. (Clans of Vegas – Endless Night) first appeared in Evernight Publishing’s anthology Keyboards & Kink (available here: Evernight Publishing & at other fine e-tailers) in Casey’s story, AFK. In AFK, we saw a peek into I-D-8 Entertainment’s in-production MMORPG: Clans of Vegas – Endless Night, also known as C.O.V.E.N. when Beth and another gamer got sucked into the game for real. Now, in Open World, the employees have joined together for a LAN party to test the game.
How'd you/your muse come up with this story?
* Like I mentioned above, the world of C.O.V.E.N. was introduced in an anthology. The call for that anth was about on-line relationships and since I'd been into MMORPGs I went that route when creating the story - what if gamers got sucked into a game and hooked up? Open World consists of two novellas that had been previously published, and they'd been repurposed to fit this theme. I'm so excited they found new life and a new home with Evernight Publishing!
Who's your favorite character in the book & why?
* There are multiple characters in the story. The bad guy Cor, the parents, the two couples Den & Hope and Faith & Tavis. There's also the cousin, Cassandra. Beth from the first story along with Rick make an appearance, along with some other new characters one of which is JT. JT will be one of the main characters in the next book. Love my JT. But when it comes to Open World, my favorite character is Cassandra. She, too, will be a featured character in the book that comes after JT's story.
What's your favorite line in the story?
* There are a lot of great lines in the book & I have several favorites. Here's one of them:
* “Hey, if you want to be bit by the CWU that’s coming up on you, feel free to continue standing there with your thumb up your ass.”
A look into the story
~ Blurb ~
* The world has broken out in wars. Las Vegas has been ravaged by chemical warfare and is now home to several clans and creatures.
* Welcome to I-D-8 Entertainment’s newest game: Clans of Vegas—Endless Night.
* Friends and family have gathered for a crunch time playtest of C.O.V.E.N.. When a horrible thunderstorm hits, everyone’s sucked into the game for real. In the MMORPG, Hope Collins is kidnapped by Buzz and forced to submit to his whims. Her boyfriend, Alden, has to delay his quest of defeating a clan’s prince to save her, but time and circumstance don’t seem to be on his side. Faith Collins is bombarded by strange dreams brought on by Buzz. Her boyfriend, Tavis, learns to dream walk, but can he help break the spell she’s under and save her before she’s lost to him?
* C.O.V.E.N. is more than just a game. It’s a whole other world.
~ Excerpt ~
* Her quiet statements almost rattled him. “Not again what?” he inquired with an edge of caution.
* She tried to move a couple strands of hair that had escaped her ponytail to behind her ear. “Might be something. Might be nothing. Don’t mind me. With all the computers, crystals, wires and such around me I get antsy when it comes to power surges and storms.” Beth glanced at the doorway, the monitor, the entrance again. She rubbed the back of her neck and repeated the actions of her darting gaze.
* “Seems like you’re more than just being antsy about a rain storm or Nevada Energy doing a rolling black out. What’s troubling you?”
* Beth drew in a long breath and then let it out in puff. “Well, it’s a bit of a story, but another player and I had some very unusual issues during a smaller test run when there was a storm going on. Very unsettling stuff.”
* Could Beth have been one of the testers online when I’d been on, too, during that storm? Den couldn’t recall anything out of the ordinary happening. Just the normal quirks a game in development had. But then again… Could what happened that night be part of what happened to me today? What I need to figure out? “Who knows about those issues you had?”
* “No one does.” She shifted her stance, looked toward the door again. “Except for a couple of programmers who needed to know. I just made sure to make it like there were lots of bugs that had to be fixed. Hopefully they have been. Maybe I’ll tell you about it all after the party gets started.”
* “That’d be great.” Every piece of information counted if he were to make headway with his issue.
Buy Open World here...
Evernight Publishing | Amazon | All Romance eBooks | BookStrand
Casey Moss is touring! There's a unique excerpt at every spot. :)
May 15: C.R. Moss | May 15: Beth D. Carter | May 16: Iyana Jenna | May 17: Ela Stein | May 18: Elodie Parkes | May 19: Nicola Cameron | May 20: Leigh Ellwood | May 26: Carlene Love Flores | May 27: S.J. Maylee | May 28/29: Evie Jayne | May 29: Doris O'Connor | May 30: Jessica Coulter Smith | June 4: Kastil Eavenshade | June 6: London St James
Like I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, those who know me know I'm an eclectic writer and reader, and along with romance, I love a dark, gritty read whether it comes in the form of horror, mystery, suspense, etc. I'm sure I'm not the only reader/writer like this, and it's one of the reasons I have guests of varying subjects visit my corner of the web. Today I'm happy to welcome back, Hawk MacKinney.
What would you like to tell readers about yourself?
* With postgraduate degrees and faculty appointments in several medical universities, Hawk MacKinney has taught graduate courses in both the United States and Jerusalem. In addition to professional articles and texts on chordate neuroembryology, Hawk has authored several works of fiction.
* Hawk began writing mysteries for his school newspaper. His works of fiction, historical love stories, science fiction and mystery-thrillers are not genre-centered, but plot-character driven, and reflect his southwest upbringing in Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma. Moccasin Trace, a historical novel nominated for the prestigious Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes Book Award, details the family bloodlines of his serial protagonist in the Craige Ingram Mystery Series… murder and mayhem with a touch of romance. Vault of Secrets, the first book in the Ingram series, was followed by Nymrod Resurrection, Blood and Gold, and The Lady of Corpsewood Manor. All have received national attention. Hawk’s latest release in the Ingram series is due out this fall with another mystery-thriller work out in 2014. The Bleikovat Event, the first volume in The Cairns of Sainctuarie science fiction series, was released in 2012.
* "Without question, Hawk is one of the most gifted and imaginative writers I have had the pleasure to represent. His reading fans have something special to look forward to in the Craige Ingram Mystery Series. Intrigue, murder, deception and conspiracy--these are the things that take Hawk's main character, Navy ex-SEAL/part-time private investigator Craige Ingram, from his South Carolina ancestral home of Moccasin Hollow to the dirty backrooms of the nation's capital and across Europe and the Middle East." ~ Barbara Casey, President of Barbara Casey Literary Agency
What book are you sharing with us today?
~ Blurb ~
* In the spacious den of Moccasin Hollow, his ancestral South Carolina home, part-time PI, exNavy SEAL Craige Ingram examines a platinum brooch designed like a dragonfly inside a jeweler’s box that he has discovered at the crime scene of Corpsewood Manor. It is a remarkable piece of art…its wings and body worked in exceptional detail. Focusing toward the expected bulbous round eyes, his suspicions jar full throttle. Instead of a head, the empty sockets of a skull leer at him. His gut feelin’s tell him his SEAL buddy Grayson MacGerald’s investigation is considerably more than arson and a double murder trying to hide the theft of classic automobiles. The smoldering rubble of secluded Corpsewood Manor leads Ingram and another of their SEAL Team, Colorado Aspen ski buddy Spinner Krespinak, into a seedy tangle of smuggling crisscrossed and an unexpected encounter with a dead assassin from one of Spinner’s “closed” cases.
~ Excerpt ~
* “You been told to stay away from Corpsewood.”
* Kenyon said, “Ain’t got no other place ‘cept them leaky sheds out behind the garage. They don’t leak much. Least before the fire I had a place to sleep. Got kicked out of my other place. They let me sleep here.”
* “I’ll just bet they let your sweet cheeks sleep-over. You’re just the kind of meat they liked to sucker in.”
* “Now I got no place, an’ nights are gettin’ colder.”
* “They the ones that hooked you on crystal?”
* “I told you. I don’t do drugs.”
* “Cut the crap…I heard all the stories. Nothing out’a your mouth ever made sense—only a bunch of your twisted whining.” Somewhere between a snarl and a chuckle, “I’m suppose to believe you never done meth,” raven-black stab of a look. “Sure…you’re clean all right except for pushing crank or whatever up your nose or stoking it in your arms,” glanced at the needle tracks on both arms. “Got a problem? Run out’a veins in your arms? Using the ones in your ankles? Clean yourself up. Wash your greasy stringy hair and get it cut. Stop acting like some fool animal that needs to be caged. Take a bath. Get a job. Quit blowing your money, you’d have a place of your own.”
* “I don’t snort crystal or Nazi dope,” Kenyon griped. “You’re like ever’body else, judging someone by the way we live.”
* “I don’t care what you’re on, but anyone fool enough to supply you is askin’ for trouble. We got enough trouble with the Corpsewood fire and that goddamn homicide Lieutenant MacGerald nosing around with his friggin’ PI SEALmate Ingram helpin’ him dig.”
Buy The Lady of Corpsewood Manor here...
Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Find Hawk MacKinney here...
Website
Thank you for joining us here today, Hawk MacKinney! It was a pleasure getting to know you and your story.
ANNOUNCEMENT! One randomly drawn commenter will win a $20 Amazon Gift Card! Comments on this blog do not count toward the contest. So be sure to visit the official tour stops (find them here: goddessfishpromotions-book-tour-lady) to comment for a chance of winning!
Hi all! Time's sure flying, isn't it? Another week's come and gone, and we're back to Hump Day Hook where authors share snippets from their stories. :)
Since my alter ego's blog (C.R. Moss blog) is currently occupied with another post, I decided to share a bit from this pen name and my book Tracked. The snippet that follows, like last week, is from the beginning of the story, setting the tone for what's to come with the main characters. Next week we'll be back at my other blog. Enjoy!
* What displeases me, though, is there are people who would conspire against me, hinder my plans to be with him. Why should anyone but him have a say in who he loves and does not love? Why should they keep him from me? He should be the only one to make the choice who he wants to be with (me) and who he loves (me, of course). No one else should do it for him or interfere in our relationship. The fact they do hinder my plans to be with him makes me angry.
Please don't forget to stop by and read the other authors participating in this week's HDH ~ http://humpdayhook.blogspot.co.uk
For more on Tracked, visit: Tracked at caseymoss.com
Hi all! Time's sure flying. Another week's come and gone, and we're back to Hump Day Hook where authors share snippets from their stories. :)
Since my alter ego's blog (C.R. Moss blog) is currently occupied with a blog hop, I decided to share a bit from this pen name and my book Tracked. The snippet that follows is from the beginning of the story, setting the tone for what's to come with the main characters. Next week we'll be back here, too. Then in April I'm hoping I'll be out of edits on my third 1NightStand story, Sunset Temptations, back at my other blog and will be able to share a bit from that story. Enjoy!
* Just thinking of everyone and their troublesome ways has my blood pressure spiking, the rage roiling within me. The so-called experts say that journaling one's thought process and feelings is supposed to be therapeutic. It's bullshit. I'm more riled now than when I started this stupid entry.
* Anyone who interferes will pay. They'll pay dearly.
Please don't forget to stop by and read the other authors participating in this week's HDH ~ http://humpdayhook.blogspot.co.uk
For more on Tracked, visit: Tracked at caseymoss.com
I'm here to talk about my other pen name's current release ~ Wild West Hauntings which is now available at Evernight Publishing! In celebration, C.R. Moss is participating in this year's Halloween "Howloween Blog Hop" over on her blog.
* Here's how the blog hop works... The more blogs you hop to (find the participants here: Howloween Blog Hop) the more chances you have of winning prizes. Each author on the hop is offering a prize!
* For a chance of winning C.R.'s author prize, which is one PDF copy of Wild West Hauntings, please visit C.R.'s blog HERE comment on the Day 1 post there, leaving your first name and email address with the comment, and follow the blog. For even more chances at the prize, following her Facebook page will earn you an extra entry as will following her Twitter profile. And for chances at a special surprise prize (could be a print book or two or a gift certificate or maybe even a goody box!) in addition to doing the above, comment and follow this blog and then visit C.R.'s other blog HERE, comment and follow there, too, for an extra entry for the PDF and entry into the special drawing. Wait! There's more! For two more entries follow Casey at her Facebook Page and Twitter Profile. That'd be seven chances to win Wild West Hauntings! Please note, to be entered in the special drawing you have to at least comment & follow all three blogs. Everything else earns you extra entries. :)
* Check back each day for the continuation of the spooky excerpt. Good luck and happy hopping!
~ A look into Wild West Hauntings ~
Blurb
* In life and the afterlife, on the Double D Ranch one belief holds true—the power of love changes lives.
* With cowboys, ghosts, modern day women, hot dreams, pre-wedding relations and a bit of sexy time travel, life promises to be one wild time on the ranch again.
* Rachel Star has met the man of her dreams … literally. Too bad he’s a ghost. When true love crosses boundaries from dreams to reality and across time, the Double D ranch is the place it happens. It takes the love of a man from the past, Dalton Dougan, to bring love full circle in the present for Rachel.
* Bristol Ashcombe, soon to be Dougan, is ready to have her baby … and so is a poltergeist. Can the love of a woman for her man and child sustain her during the most horrible of terrors? Can the love between family and friends really dispel the evil haunting them?
* Wild West Hauntings — Double D Ranch Tales (Book 2), a contemporary, paranormal, erotic romance story set in Nevada.
Excerpt
* The coolness of the bedroom was the second odd occurrence that Bristol noticed after she’d woke unexpectedly in the room bathed by shadow and light. The first had been the baby’s unusual kicking pattern.
* What the…
* After sweeping her open palm over her stomach in the hopes of settling the little one, she glanced at Damon. As usual he was wrapped around her body with his legs across hers and his arm protectively draped around her belly bulge.
* She wasn’t shocked by the massive body heat he gave off because that was a normal occurrence for her man when he slept. No, it was the shiver that ran down her spine when her gaze rested on the panty remote on the nightstand near Damon’s head.
* The dial moved once.
* Fear followed by confusion plummeted through her body, and suddenly her mouth felt full of cotton.
* Surely her eyes played tricks on her.
For more on the first book in the series, Wild West Weekend, & the second book, Wild West Hauntings, now available at Evernight Publishing, visit the Double D blog. :)
Happy Halloween & Happy Reading,
Casey Moss
