Posted By Nonny on June 24, 2009
As there were a total of 2 entrants in the poetry contest I was holding for The Twilight Deception’s release contest… instead of closing it, we’ll have 2 winners. 
AJ and Cia, please contact me at mistressnonny@gmail.com for your prizes. 
Posted By Nonny on June 15, 2009
Here’s the next installment of Severed Spirits Rising!
For those confused, SSR is a prequel to my Shadowguard series that I’m offering for free. It’s about Arielle as a broke college kid trying to make an extra buck offering psychic services — except she’s not expecting to get involved in a murder case. 
If you missed the first chapters, they’re located here.
CHAPTER THREE
Samuel crossed his arms over his chest, glaring. “You gave me the brush-off, told me to get counseling, and take it to the cops that wouldn’t help me in the first place. Why the fuck are you back here now?” He said the epithet like it was one, unlike the rest of the school who used it as often as a 90s valley girl said ‘like.’
I winced. I’d known this was going to happen—and I couldn’t blame him. I’d be just as pissed if I were in his shoes. Now, the question: Tell the truth, or make up an elaborate lie?
I opted for truth. Lies are a pain in the ass to remember, not to mention a sin—but I’ve got bigger sins under my belt. “I admit it. I wrote you off as a grieving guy desperate to believe his girlfriend hadn’t killed herself. But…”
“What?” He leaned forward, suddenly curious. Amazing, that.
I explained what I’d found in my dorm yesterday and my altercation with the cops. “I don’t think Kristen’s death was a suicide, and what are the chances of two suicides occurring on the same college campus within 48hrs? Not very likely. It’s highly suspicious.”
He still looked doubtful. “But why do you care? What’s it matter to you? You’re not involved.”
“Well, actually, I am.” I told him about the rose and showed him the note. “I think whoever did this wants to keep me away from it. I don’t know why, but I intend to find out.”
Posted By Nonny on June 15, 2009
Excerpt Monday time! The following is an excerpt from Severed Spirits Rising, a prequel to my urban fantasy / paranormal romance Shadowguard series with LSB.
~*~
I made my way to the bar, squeezing my way through the throng of people. “I hate crowds,” I muttered under my breath, strengthening my shields so I didn’t enter the TMI zone. Sometimes being an empath sucks.
Eventually, I got to the bar and let out a sigh of relief. The bartender came up to me, a cheery grin on his face. He almost had to yell to be heard. “What’s your poison?”
“None, thanks,” I yelled back. I fumbled in my pocket for the picture of Nancy and held it up to him. “But I was wondering if you recognized this woman?”
He took a closer look. “Oh, Nan! Yeah, she’s a regular here. Doesn’t dress like that, though.”
I glanced at the frilly white pinafore she wore in the picture and laughed. “No, I would suppose not. When’s the last time you saw her here?”
He held up his hand and walked over to the other bartender and said something to her. She nodded, and he came back to me. “Let’s step outside, where it’s quieter.”
“Great idea,” I said, and followed him outside and down the street a bit. I shivered; it wasn’t that cold outside, but compared to the heat of the club, it might ’s well have been the Arctic.
“By the way, I’m Jared,” he said with a smile.
“Arielle,” I offered in return, then decided to get the discussion back on track. “So when’s the last time you saw Nancy?”
Jared rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Last Saturday. She didn’t show on Wednesday, which had some of us concerned. She almost never misses a day unless something’s really wrong.” His eyes snapped to me. “Is that why you’re here? Did something happen?”
I bit my lip. Great. Time to drop the bomb. “Nancy died Wednesday night. The cops ruled it a suicide, but her boyfriend and I don’t think that’s true. We think something else happened.”
His face went pale as a china teacup. “Oh my god. I had no idea.”
Oh, great. Jared looked like he was about to cry. I felt awkward as an anorexic hippo performing Swan Lake. I don’t do comfort well. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I wish there was something I could say.”
His eyes snapped to mine. “There isn’t. But there is something you can do.”
“What?”
“Find out who did this and bring them to justice.” Jared set his jaw, eyes blazing with fury. “It’s too late to save Nan, but maybe you can save someone else from ending up like her.”
“That’s the plan.”
~*~
Check out a few of the other Excerpt Monday pieces here:
Mel Berthier, Urban Fantasy (PG 13)
Bryn Donovan, Paranormal (PG)
RF Long, Paranormal (PG 13)
Crista McHugh, Paranormal (PG 13)
Evie Byrne, Historical Romance (R)
Grace Draven, Fantasy Romance (R)
Cate Hart, YA- Paranormal (R)
Aislinn Kerry, Paranormal (R)
Kirsten Saell, Erotic – Fantasy (NC 17)
Posted By Nonny on June 8, 2009
Yay! Release day! The Twilight Deception is officially out from Liquid Silver Books.
When the FBI receives word of vampire-related murders, they order tough-as-nails resident witch Arielle Thompson to investigate. But the last thing Arielle expects is to have her butt saved by a friendly vampire who claims he’s tracking the master vamp responsible for the murders.
Despite her wounded pride, Arielle can’t help her inexplicable attraction to this sexy-as-sin vampire who calls himself simply “Jackson.” He reluctantly informs her that their enemy is far more powerful than reports said — and his powerbase is only increasing.
Arielle and Jackson must team up to stop him, before he grows too powerful to defeat.
I hope it sounds as interesting to y’all, because I certainly had fun writing it.
Now, the contest…
Everyone in the last contest gave me some great ideas, and I think I will be using a particular one credited to Warinbear over at LiveJournal: poetry. Or, pooh-etry, if you prefer.
Limerick, haiku, sonnet, whatever. Be creative, and make me laugh. But it must match a theme: Darkness, hope, vampires, paranormal, blood, love. Mix, match, however you please. As long as your masterwork has some relation, it’s wide open for the contest.
The winner will receive a free copy of The Twilight Deception and mention in the acknowledgments of the sequel (or, a named walk-on role, if preferred). I’ll name the winner one week from today.
Have fun!
Posted By Nonny on June 1, 2009
I’m participating in a fellow Diva’s Summer Reading Trail, a free read program. Check it out, there are plenty of free reads from various cool authors.
My contribution is part of a 20k novella about Arielle, heroine of my Shadowguard series. It’s a prequel, beginning when she’s a poor college kid trying to make her way with a bit of psychic work on the side. Until her roommate is murdered by preternatural means…
Here’s a snippet:
Great. That was a waste of two hours. I glowered, shrugging my backpack over my shoulder, and stalked out of my class. For the millionth time, I wondered what I’d been thinking when I picked my major. Apparently, I hadn’t been. The only thing psychology courses taught me was to hate people even more than when I started—and that took some doing.
But, three years into my undergrad, there’s not much I can do but suck it up and hope I can use the fancy schmancy piece of paper to find a decently paying job.
I slid my PDA out of my pocket and checked the calendar. No more classes today—yay—but I had an appointment in forty minutes with one Mr. Samuel Derkin. Bet everyone calls him Sammy.
That gave me enough time to dump my heavy-as-hell backpack (God, what is it about professors that require you to bring the damn book to class?) and get a shower in before I met the guy. He’d sounded scared and urgent on the phone earlier, but so does every kid that loses some precious knick-knack and thinks a psychic has a better chance at locating it.
Fortunately, I’m very good at finding lost things. Good enough to bring me in a decent supplementary income above the money my great-grandmother left me.
I sucked in a breath, pain surging in my gut. She’d lived a good life, and been more of a mom to me than my real mother. Everyone “knew” it was coming. I mean, when you’re over one hundred years old, you’ve gotta croak sometime, right?
Somehow, my sixteen-year-old self thought she would live forever, an immortal among men. Then she died. Peacefully, in her sleep. Her children and grand-children fought over her belongings and sold what they didn’t want. They didn’t give a shit if I wanted it, and I watched some of my beloved keepsakes, things that had been promised me, go up on the estate sale.
The dead have little influence over the decisions of the living. But my family couldn’t touch the money that Grandmama put in a trust for me. She wanted me to have the education that my mother would never provide.
Pity they don’t offer classes for psychics. That would rock.
Someone bumped into me and made a derisive comment about standing in the doorway. “Sorry,” I mumbled. I didn’t mean it a bit, but I took it as a hint that if I wanted my shower, I’d better stop thinking about the past and get a move on.
Interested? Read the first two chapters here!
I’ll be posting new chapters once a week until it’s completed.
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