Welcome Kasper Beaumont & Her New Release

I am tickled pink to welcome Kasper Beaumont on the occasion of her new release, Captive of the Darkness. For my readers that aren’t familiar with you and your stories, introduce yourself, please.

Hi everyone, so nice to be here with PJ on the blog today. I’m Kasper, a dragon-loving, lightsaber-wielding fangirl who likes to write.

I guess things are quiet here in my sleepy little town in Australia, which causes my imagination to run wild. I write high fantasy books about a quest to restore the stolen Elven Jewel. And my new Captive of the Darkness book is an adult paranormal one about angels and demons in a strip club. Something for everyone in the family, I guess.

What book was most influential in your decision to become a writer yourself?

These kind of questions are always hard because I read so widely. Probably have to name Enid Blyton as an early influence. The Magic Faraway Tree and the Famous Five series.

What sorts of conditions are most conducive to your productivity?

Quiet times when no-one is around to distract me. I like to write in the wee hours of the morning or late at night. Also, I put a ban on Facebook until I finish a chapter. It’s a good incentive.

In your experience, what is the best thing about being an author?

Two-fold in my book. One, is bringing happiness to others when they read it. Two, is a lasting legacy after I’m gone. I like my family to be proud of me and the thought that a piece of me will live on.

What is your least favorite part of writing?

Hand down it’s gotta be revisions. I do several self-edit passes on every book before they go to the editor. Only thing is, I’d much rather be writing.

Are you a plot driven or character driven writer? Why?

Do I have to choose? You’re being mean. Well sometimes I have a certain place to get to in the plot and I coerce my characters into behaving.

Other times there is total anarchy and the characters definitely call the shots. I had planned for the plot to veer a certain way but one of the characters becomes difficult to fit the script and we take a new tangent. That is sometimes where the best writing is discovered,

Tell us a little about your new release. Where did you get your inspiration?

It’s confession time, I see. The type of books I read is always subject to change on a whim or a good recommendation. Someone gave me the Fallen series to read and I loved it. The idea of angels and demons sprang into being there and soon morphed into the new Hidden Angel series. So far, I have finished book one: Captive of the Darkness. I also have book two written in draft form and the bare bones of a plot for book three. This series both excites and terrifies which is a thrilling way to write.

Thanks, Kasper. May your sales be plentiful!

Title: Captive of the Darkness

Author: Kasper Beaumont

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Captive-Darkness-Hidden-Angel-Book-ebook/dp/B081MW4D1P/

Release date: December 14th.  Preorder is now available.

In Kasper’s own words: 

On Riley’s 18th birthday, she is told she’s a demon hunter, like the rest of her family.  She shrugs the news off in disbelief but that very night she unwittingly enters the lair of a powerful demon and her whole world is turned upside down.

She meets a stripper nicknamed Cupid, who states he is prisoner of the demon.  He is a graceful ballet dancer forced into slavery but yearning to escape his dangerous master.  When she sees a glowing aura around this young man, she realizes he isn’t just any ordinary lad, but something very special.  She knows she must try to save him.

Blurb
Can an angel be hiding here on Earth?

A veil of secrecy is lifted on Riley’s 18th birthday. She thought she knew the world, but now discovers she is a demon hunter. It doesn’t seem real, but then she meets Him, a charismatic young dancer with special powers.
He is a prisoner of a powerful demon.

What secrets does this stranger hide? Will Riley risk her own family to save Him?

 
Excerpt:

Small sandy feet pounded the warm pavement along the beach.  His heartbeat thrummed in his ears, faster than he ever thought possible.  The whispering kept getting closer, no matter how far or fast he ran.  He swiped a cap from outside a shower cubicle.  It was rather large for his head, a perfect disguise.  This covered most of his blond hair and shaded his eyes.  He hoped to outwit whoever was chasing him.  Turning a corner, he dove into a shaded alleyway and bent over to catch his breath.  An aching side-stitch now caught his attention, winding him.  His hands trembled as they rested on shaking and weakened knees.  Turning his cap backwards, he held his breath and peeked a look around the corner.  There was no sign of pursuit.  He let his breath out and wiped the sweat cascading down his cheeks that had soaked his swim shirt.  Fear drove him on.  It was instinct, not a rational decision on his behalf.  Then all the hairs on his body stood up on end.  A cold shiver ran down his spine.  A shadow passed over him.  A whisper, quiet and close.  Warm breath could be felt on his neck.  He turned around slow.  His eyes widened as his hands grasped for the wall at his back.  There was nowhere left to run.  “Oh please no…”

Biography:

 
Kasper J. Beaumont was born and raised in Australia and lives a quiet life with the family in a seaside town. Combining a love of fantasy and a penchant for travel in the Hunters of Reloria trilogy, she started to write on the urging of friends and family and enjoys watching readers become immersed in the magical world of Reloria. Kasper is a pen name for a rather shy author who is happy to remain unnamed.

 

The Hidden Angel series is a urban paranormal fantasy involving Angels and Demons in the seemingly ordinary city of Brisbane. Riley discovers she’s a demon hunter on her 18th birthday and enters a dangerous new world.
Book 1: Captive of the Captive, published 2019.

The Hunters of Reloria trilogy is about the magical world of Reloria where halflings and fairies share a lifelong bond. Dwarves, elves, knights and dragons inhabit this country, but their world is about to be invaded by scaly lizardmen and giant Cyclops.

Prequel: Fandri’s Adventures, published 2016.
Book 1: Elven Jewel, published 2012.
Book 2: Hunters’ Quest, published 2013
Book 3: Dragon’s Revenge, published 2014.

 
Kasper’s links:

Deadly Reality Photos

Just a few of the pictures from my stay in Estes Park, CO for the Deadly Reality book signing on November 9th.


Have Some Fun :)

Do you like jigsaw puzzles? Here’s a quick one just for fun.

(Hint-if you want to start from scratch, choose the dotted linebottom left and hit restart.) 

 

And here’s what it should look like when you are finished. Enjoy!

 

 Thanks to jigsawplanet.com, the source for this. 


SpillingInkShow

 

I was recently honored to participate in the Spilling Ink podcast, where we discussed our books, writing, and life in general. By the way, I hate my camera setup, and I’ll have to change it up the next time I participate in one of these. Anyway, it was great fun to do. Many thanks go to Jason LaVell and Katie Salidas for the opportunity.

And I apologize, but there must have an issue with my internet connection which ended up making my voice garbled. (LAG!) 

 


Seasons in Writing #OpenBook blog Hop

July 8, 2019

Despite the recent snow in the Rocky Mountains, it’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere. Do your stories and worlds reference seasons and do they play into the plots of your books?

 

Did you hear about the snow sculpture contest in the park?” she asked.

“No,” I said. How did I miss that? “Who’s sponsoring it?”

“Oh, it’s unofficial.” She put more grated cheese on top of her spaghetti and passed the container to Freddie. “Started with some little kids building old-fashioned snowmen, and then a bunch of high schoolers got involved. Pretty soon parents got into the spirit of things as well. Now there are dragons and castles and all sorts of creations scattered on the shore of the lake. Makes me hope the cold weather sticks around so they last longer.”

That’s a short snippet from Her Ladyship’s Ring, the second book in the Harmony Duprie Mysteries. This is the first scene that came to mind when I saw this week’s topic. Since Oak Grove, the town where she lives, is located somewhere north of Pittsburgh, it seemed only natural to bring the weather into the story. 

I could likely find at least one weather-related snippet from every one of my books. The out-of-doors is important in my life, so it’s natural to include it in my stories.

Here’s another from Wolves’ Knight, the second book in the Free Wolves series.

The storm clouds rolling in from the west made the night seem even darker than normal, bearing the promise of an early snow. Tasha had her window down, hoping the cold air would help her stay awake. When she caught the first trace of smoke, she assumed that someone had been smoking in the car, never wondering why she hadn’t caught the scent sooner. When the odor got stronger, she pulled over to the side of the road, thinking the car had developed a problem.

But it’s not just bad weather that get featured, I also set scenes on  picture-perfect summer days, crisp fall nights and rainy springtimes. a few happen in the sweltering heat of Florida.

But maybe I have it easy because all my books are set in the real world. (Well, mostly. Do you believe there are shifters among us?) Other authors may not have it so simple. Let’s go find out! 

July 8, 2019

Despite the recent snow in the Rocky Mountains, it’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere. Do your stories and worlds reference seasons and do they play into the plots of your books?

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

 


Summer Solstice Scavenger Hunt

Welcome! I’m happy to take part as the FSF Readers Lounge Presents its first ever Solstice Scavenger Hunt. It runs from June 16th to June 29th , with 19 authors joining forces to offer readers a chance at $75 cash via PayPal and 19 eBooks as a Grand Prize! 38 secondary prizes (an eBook from a participating author) will be given to randomly chosen participants with the correct answer.

To play for a chance to win you must go to each of the authors sites listed below, collect the “hidden” word(s), unscramble them, and then enter to win! Enter Here

Entering does not enter you into anything! You have the option to choose who to subscribe to and who to follow – the only requirements are 1- you must follow the Facebook page for the Readers Lounge in order to get the winners announcement and -2- use the link to enter the giveaway, but I hope you choose to follow the wonderful authors participating in this hunt!

$75 Cash via PayPal

eBooks up for prizes:

A Bit of Magic

Azimuth

Bonded

Curse Breaker: Enchanted

Dragon Blood

Elven Jewel

Forever People

Ian’s Realm Saga

Schrodinger’s Cat

Shadow’s Hand

Sleepless Flame

Tattoos

The Fox and The Hunter

The Glass Gargoyle

The Hand of Atua

This Cursed Flame

Witch’s Moonstone Locket

Wolves’ Gambit

Make sure to visit all the sites to gather all your words! Happy Hunting!

Before you go, head over Here to find out more about Lori Grenville and Wolves’ Gambit, the book that’s part of the prize. 

Rennie St. James

Maria Andreas

Selina J. Eckert

Linn Tesli

Marsha A Moore

Kasper Beaumont

PJ MacLayne

D.L. Gardner

Katie Cherry

Dora Blume

Odin Oxthorn

Charity Bradford

Eileen Schuh

Noelle Nichols

Alison Lyke

Mae Baum

Melinda Kucsera

Stacy Overby

Cheryllynn Dyess

____________

Rafflecopter link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/3d87297f10/?

site links:

https://writerrsj.com/blog/

https://sjeckert.wordpress.com/2019/06/16/solstice-scavenger-hunt-2019

https://linntesli.com/page/

https://marshaamoore.blogspot.com/2019/03/solstice-scavenger-hunt.html

www.huntersofreloria.weebly.com

http://www.pjmaclayne.com/mountain-musings/

https://diendrial.wordpress.com

https://www.facebook.com/KatieCherryFantasy/

www.dorablume.com

https://www.odinsmusings.com/

charitywrites.blogspot.com

http://eileenschuh.blogspot.com/

www.noellenichols.com

http://www.alisonlyke.com/blog

https://maebaum.com

https://melindakucsera.com/blog/

www.cheryllynndyess.com

www.thisisnothitchhikersguide.com


Her Ladyship’s Ring MFRW Book Hooks

Welcome to another week of MFRW Book Hooks. This week’s edition highlights Her Ladyship’s Ring, the second book in the Harmony Duprie Mysteries.

In this excerpt, Harmony is having supper with her friends, Freddie and Sarah, and her ex, Jake.

Excerpt: 

Amazingly enough, no one extra showed up. So the four of us sat around my table and acted like we were old friends and nothing was wrong. Except I caught Freddie scrutinizing Jake when he thought Jake wasn’t watching. And Jake took every opportunity possible to touch me, and each time he did he let his fingers linger a moment too long. Sarah was the only one who didn’t feel the tension. Either that or she was a better actress than I’d realized.

“Did you hear about the snow sculpture contest in the park?” she asked.

“No,” I said. How did I miss that? “Who’s sponsoring it?”

“Oh, it’s unofficial.” She put more grated cheese on top of her spaghetti and passed the container to Freddie. “Started with some little kids building old-fashioned snowmen, and then a bunch of high schoolers got involved. Pretty soon parents got into the spirit of things as well. Now there are dragons and castles and all sorts of creations scattered on the shore of the lake. Makes me hope the cold weather sticks around so they last longer.”

“You and I should go see them tomorrow,” Jake said smoothly, touching my forearm.

I would have loved to go, but not with Jake. “I really need to go to the library tomorrow,” I said. “If I get too far behind, I’ll never catch up. I have a deadline coming up in a day or two.” I hadn’t even checked my email to see if I had any new requests.

Sarah sighed. “It’s not like you have to punch a time card. Sometimes you take yourself too seriously.”

We’d had this discussion before, and I had no desire to rehash it now.

But Sarah was on a roll. “You loosened up for a while, now you’re slipping back into your old habits.” She winked at Jake. “You were good for her, except for that whole drug and attacking the police stuff.”

Was she flirting with Jake in front of Freddie? She’d hardly touched her wine, so she couldn’t be drunk. Unless she’d been drinking before she and Freddie got to my place.

I glanced at Freddie. His expression was more puzzlement than anything else. He caught me looking, and barely shook his head. He didn’t know what she was up to either.

Jake, on the other hand, winked back at her. “I’ll try to change that.”

“Yeah, the whole long-distance relationship thing she’s got with Eli isn’t working out if you ask me.”

“Sarah!” I hissed.

Jake leaned towards her, ignoring me. “What makes you say that?”

“Do you know they haven’t had sex yet?” She giggled. “At least the last time we talked about it. But it might have changed when he was here a couple of weeks ago.”

My face burned as she reached for her wine. Freddie distracted her by putting his hand on her shoulder. “Did you take one of your pills today?” he asked.

Sarah had occasional bouts with a panic disorder but the prescription her doctor gave her usually helped. She laid a finger across her lips and looked thoughtful. “Yes. I had a really bad day today. In fact, I may have taken two. One this morning, and one before we came here.”

That explained it. “Let me get you something else to drink, Sarah,” I said, rising. “How about some ice water?” A trip to the refrigerator would give me time to regain my composure.

“Why, am I acting loopy?”

Blurb: 

Harmony Duprie is back, and so is trouble in Oak Grove.

When a man is murdered in the back yard of the old Victorian house she is remodeling, Harmony is determined to locate his next-of-kin so he can be put to rest properly. But with her ex-boyfriend Jake out of prison, back in town and one of the suspects in the murder, she takes on the challenge of solving the crime.

With Eli, her current love interest, in Florida and Jake close by, old emotions come back to haunt her. Can Harmony clear Jake’s name and solve the mystery of her own heart?

Buy Links
Amazon

Nook

iTunes

Kobo

 

You can check out more authors participating in Book Hooks in the list below.


Writing Characters of the Opposite Sex #OpenBook Blog Hop

June 10, 2019

What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?

You know those silly on-line quizzes that tell you what superhero you are? Or which Star Trek character? Or whether you think like a male or a female?

So, according to those, I’m Spock and I think like male 70% of  the time. Since I grew hanging around with five brothers, it doesn’t surprise me too much. I’m also employed in a field comprised mostly of males, and get along well with my coworkers. I guess that gives me an advantage when writing my male characters. It doesn’t mean I know everything that goes on in a male mind. 

When a reviewer complimented me on how well I wrote my female characters, I was puzzled. So, I asked her about it. Turns out she thought I was a guy based on how well-written my male characters were! I’ll take that as a compliment.

Here’s the catch: I rarely write from a male point of view. I like strong female characters, and that’s what POV I write from. That means I don’t have to dive too deeply into the male psyche. The males are written thru the eyes of my women. I have plenty of experience in observing males in their natural habitat and can easily translate that to my books.

What I have to be careful about is making sure my men are not cookie-cutter replicas of people I know and that they each have their own personality. I have to make sure that their motivations and desires reflect what is right for the plot. 

The hardest part is making sure my female characters react to each male character as suits their personality. Obviously, my female sleuth can’t respond to her friend , a police detective, the way she does to her lover. I also have to make sure the men don’t all treat her the same way. That wouldn’t be realistic. The most important thing to remember is that they are just people, too. 

The one thing I’d have the most difficult time writing would be a man’s thoughts during sex. Obviously, my brothers and coworkers don’t talk about that to me! But I don’t write sex scenes, so I’m off the hook.

There’s one male character who I have a real hard time writing, and that’s Jake, my anti-hero in the Harmony Duprie Mysteries. Or is he a villain? I’m not sure, he has secrets he’s not telling. 

Now, follow the links below to see what the others in the hop find the most difficult about writing their “opposite sex” characters.

June 10, 2019

What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?

Rules:
1. Link your blog to this hop.
2. Notify your following that you are participating in this blog hop.
3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
4. Tweet/or share each person’s blog post. Use #OpenBook when tweeting.
5. Put a banner on your blog that you are participating.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter