THE ALIGNED IS HERE

Author Interview with Lucy Pireel

Hey everyone! Today I have author Lucy Pireel on the blog, just answering my list of twenty and giving you some insight into her new book releases, check it out first here!

1. Describe your book in twenty words or less.
Short story collection on obsession, want, control, or lack thereof, and death.

2. What were some of the biggest obstacles that you had to overcome while writing?
Making the message clear without muddling it with unnecessary details.

3. Are you also a reader? And if so, what’s your preferred genre?
Avid, voracious, and my preferred genre is a book that grabs you by the throat and drags you through its pages without letting go for a second.

4. If you could have dinner with one person dead or alive, who would it be and why?
Dinner? Now that is my favourite pass time, after writing and reading and yoga. Person to have it with? My loved ones. (I don't do hero admiration)

5. Do you have any weird little habits that get you in the writing mood—downing a bottle of wine, eating an entire bar of chocolate, fornicating on a porch swing?
Hahaha, I like the fornicating on a porch swing bit, but I have no porch, and no swing. Bugger! But to be honest, no, none at all. I just sit down and start to type until I need to pee.

6. What sets your book apart from others in the same genre?
Erm, it's mine, that's for a starter, but it also has more than one layer. It's not just horror to make you wet your pants or lock doors and windows at night, but I like to think it has a message. Like fairy tales do.

7. Okay, so I bet you secretly hate one of the characters in your novel. Who is it and why?
Yes, I seriously disliked the main character in Reunion. Why? Well, she's the good guy. And I kind of have a thing for the baddies, unless the good guy had a serious bad attitude or does something seriously bad. Like the main character in Permanent Fix. :-)
If you want to know what I'm on about, you'll just have to read A Menu of Death.

8. You’re on death row and it’s your last meal. What will you choose to eat?
White asparagus with steamed potatoes and salmon, a bit of sauce, Hollandaise. For dessert a rich, dark chocolate two layer cake, filled with ganache with ground pistachios, covered with a layer of ganache and a pattern of pecans.
All washed down with the appropriate wines.

9. Tell us three crazy things about yourself that you wish no one else knew (I promise I won’t post this … but I lie).
-I love eating herring for breakfast, or mackerel.
-I love to do a funny dance when I'm happy.
-I laugh loud, I mean really loud.

10. Are you a scruncher or a folder? (Yes, this is a toilet paper question)
Folder! Oops, that's my tiny streak of OCD kicking in, things need to be folded, even empty juice cartons. (This should be at the previous question)

11. If you had to pick one song to be the soundtrack to your novel, what would it be and why?
Bloodshed in the woodshed by The Moulettes. Or all of their music really. Their lyrics and the music have given me inspiration and great fun too.

12. Do you have any future projects lined up that you want to tell us about?
I do! There's a vampire erotica flick coming up, and a paranormal romance/mystery/detective novel

13. E-book or paperback, what’s your preference?
E-book, trees should not be cut down to make paper from when we can all enjoy books digitally.

14. What books or authors have most influenced your writing style?
No doubt, there is influence from what I've read in the past and am still reading now, but I try to be as original and me as can be in my writing and life.

15.          If you were stuck on a deserted Island would you choose:
a)            A total hottie to keep you company over the lonely nights ahead.
b)            A solar powered Kindle with limitless reading potential.
c)            Tom Hanks and Wilson to help get your ass off the Island.
A hottie that brings the solar powered Kindle with limitless reading material. :-) And he must also bring wine and cheeses.

16. Where can we find you?
Here! Erm, I mean, on my blog, website, Google Ploo (Plus), Twitter, The Book of Faces, Booklikes, and AuthorsdB, Goodreads

17. Who has been your biggest support on your writing journey, and please, feel free to add my name here …
Kristy Berridge! :-) There with that settled on to the next question. Oh, you want a serious answer? Who says I wasn't serious? Okay, you want another name. I have been my biggest supporter, because I firmly believe in the fact that you have to first and foremost believe in yourself for others to believe in you.

18. What is one of your favourite scenes from your novel? Feel free to provide a small excerpt to entice the readers.

My fav scene? Difficult, it's short stories and they all have a scene I particularly like, but I can do an excerpt. Or rather a very short quote from one short story in the collection.

"He won’t call the police, he’ll no longer be able to control me if he does. But I don’t have to obey him anymore. That big hole in the back yard he’s been digging to install the new septic tank has given me the perfect solution."

19. If you had to cast your characters, who would you reconcile to play their parts?
Helena Bonham-Carter has to be in it, and the rest? Well, what's his face from fightclub, not Brat Pitticus.

20. Any last words? (feel free to write Kristy Berridge is super awesome right here)
Kristy Berridge is a super awesomestst blogger and writer!
And I love chocolate and would like to say "Hi" to all who like reading and do pop over to any online bookseller near you on September 30th to pick up A Menu of Death.

Cover Reveal - Diary of a Teenage Zombie

Well hello guys!
I must say I'm super excited to show you the cover for my brand new novel 'Diary of a Teenage Zombie'. This book is going to be a ripper - violence, sex and lots and lots of gory humour. I'm like a proud mama with this one, and thus, I've selected a cover to aptly represent poor old Katie Palmer and her Zombie-fied state.

Get it into you, get excited and get ready for an awesome literary adventure!

Synopsis:

Dear Diary. Today I ate the mailman. My bad.

Being seventeen is hard―Katie Palmer has to deal with school, pimples, hormonal boys, and malicious cheerleaders. After the Zombie Apocalypse, though, she no longer sweats the usual teenage drama.

Athletics star by day and flesh-eater by night, Katie’s done well to hide her transformation from friends and Zone-sanctioned security, but now someone or something’s onto her secret and if she doesn’t feed soon she’ll start falling apart.

Dead bodies are piling up and all the evidence points to Katie’s blood-stained hands. Will she end up killing the competition before security discovers she’s rotten underneath?

Book Review: Feast of Fools by Rachel Caine

Feast of Fools is the fourth book in the Morganville Vampires series by Rachel Caine, and yes, I will be reading all of them. Why? They are just that good.
I'm not going to lie, it's not Shakespearean text, and you won't learn anything particularly new or exciting about vampires, but what it does have in spades is mystery, scenes of action-packed drama, and just a trickle of romance to stop those throbbing pulse points from icing over.
Feast of Fools starts relatively slow. We are introduced to a couple of new characters, and as always, they are out for blood. Bishop is the founding vampire's father, a sadistic bastard covered in the stain of past indiscretions. He cares for no one, and he certainly has an agenda. Those who get in his path are mere fodder - vampire and human alike. Bishop will stop at nothing to retrieve what he's searched Morganville up and down to find, even if that means destroying his own daughter and the town she's built in the process.
The last third of the novel is where the action and intrigue really comes to a head. As always, protagonist Claire Danvers is sticking her nose in where it's not wanted, a quest to save her family and friends. With the very best of intentions, Claire pairs up with a vampire not quite in his right mind, and attends a feast in honor of Bishop's arrival.
Claire soon realises this feast is an offering ceremony, every vampire in Morganville either swearing allegiance to this rebel outsider, or their human companion to become part of the feast. As the action unfolds and blood is spilt, we see little Claire resolute and brave - a real fire starter and defender of the weak.
What I love about these stories is the never-ending drama paired with the equally vicious vampires and passionate drive to succeed. There's never a moment when Claire wonders if she'll fail, merely pushes ahead despite her fears, knowing she must to protect those that she loves.
With witty dialogue, amply described action and great narrative imagery - I'm hooked and again rate this novel four out of five fangs.

Synopsis:

In the town of Morganville, vampires and humans have learnt to live in relative peace. Still, Claire Danvers knows that after dark, her homework can take a backseat to staying alive. But this tenuous harmony is turned on its head with the arrival of Mr Bishop.
Bad to the bone, the ancient old-school vampire cares nothing about keeping the peace; staying at the top of the food chain is enough. What he wants from the town’s living and dead is unthinkably sinister. It’s only at a formal ball attended by vampires and their human dates that Claire realises Bishop’s plan—and the elaborately evil trap he’s set for the warm-blooded souls of Morganville…

The Damned (volume 2 The Hunted) It's coming ...

Great news peoples. The Damned - the long overdue, much anticipated second installment in The Hunted series is almost here. The books are in print and should be shipped and in my hot little hands within a fortnight.
And have no fear! For those of you super keen on e-books, they're being organised as you read this, including new formats for The Hunted. So in light of this fact, I've decided to post the preface for you to have a read through - whet your appetite so to speak.
Enjoy, my friends. The real deal will be here lickety split. Thanks for your patience.

PREFACE

The stranger lifted the warm mug of AB negative to his lips. He took a few swift gulps, felt the sweetness of the warmed fluid caressing his tongue and setting his tastebuds aflame. Like liquid velvet it slid down his throat, strengthening and replenishing his body from within, and filling him with the rich satisfaction that could only come from the taste of blood.
He could feel his arteries dilate, his senses sharpening as life-force began to satiate his awakened thirst. His pulse throbbed under the influx, eventually slowing to a stop again once the blood had dissipated into his system.
It was good to be a vampire.
Body still burning for more, the stranger gestured to the barman for another. This packaged stuff known as Synth Blood could sustain him but was nowhere near as gratifying as fresh blood from a warm human body. He longed to bury his fangs in the neck of an unsuspecting victim, rend at flesh until the warmth of their essence spilled across his tongue, making him whole again. For now he had to suppress his instincts, though, to prevent his detection from the ones still hunting him.
Only one month had passed since the stranger had last killed but his skin already itched with the need to taste a human’s fear. As he revelled in his memories of the hunt, an image of his wife came to mind, and with it a sadness that was all consuming. His wife had shared in his bloodlust, his uncontrollable desire to feed. She had hunted beside him, night after night, and eventually murdered because she had rightfully lived as the predator she was created to be. The stranger’s blood still boiled thinking about her unrighteous death and the creature that had caused it. But the time for retribution was coming.
He would make sure of it.
The stranger glanced around the bar. It was mostly empty; no real surprise considering it was high noon. The turned vampires would all spend their daylight hours hiding in darkened spaces, waiting for nightfall. Born vampires were able to move around in the daylight but were still forced to avoid direct sunlight. At this point, as the thirst still rode him, the stranger cared little for shelter.
‘You travelled far this evening?’ the barman asked, setting down a fresh mug of heated blood and jogging the stranger from his reverie.
He accepted it gratefully and took a sip. ‘Not especially,’ the stranger said, eyeing the barman from head to toe.
The barman was a turned vampire, probably no more than thirty years of age. He had short, sandy blonde hair and unassuming blue eyes. Despite being slightly rotund in the mid-section he was still as beautiful as the rest of his race.
‘Are you from Spain or Italy?’ the barman asked, an eyebrow rising. ‘I’m trying to pick your accent.’
The stranger took another sip. ‘I’m Italian.’
‘No kidding?’ He wiped at a spill on the counter top. ‘You must be part of Lucius Valerius’s coven.’
The stranger contained his desire to sneer. ‘No. I belong to no coven and I especially do not answer to Lucius Valerius. At least, not anymore.’
‘Here, here. The last sixteen years under Lucius’s rule have been difficult. I really used to enjoy hunting humans before it was outlawed.’ The barman absently wiped at another spill. ‘Granted, I make money from the sale of Synth Blood and the shelter my neutral bar provides, but it’s not the same as the thrill of hunting for fresh blood. The only way I can function now, without being hunted down by Lucius or his thralls, is to stay here where I have all the blood I need. Confrontations with humans are too ... tempting.’
‘That’s pathetic,’ the stranger said.
The barman frowned. ‘We all do what we can to survive. Sometimes that means swallowing your pride and advocating for the Devil.’
The stranger smiled. The barman didn’t realise how on the money he was. Lucius was demon spawn.
Taking the stranger’s smile as an invitation to talk further, the barman leant forward on his elbows, smiling warmly. ‘So what brings you to Paris, anyway?’
The stranger wasn’t in the mood for idle chit-chat, but doubted that the barman would leave him alone. ‘I’m looking for someone.’
‘Perhaps I can help?’
The stranger shook his head, taking a few more gulps of blood. It wasn’t his favourite brew, but the liquid was undeniably starting to satisfy his primal cravings. ‘I don’t think so.’
‘If you’re looking for a vampire in Paris, I know everyone by name.’
The stranger gritted his teeth. ‘I thank you for the drink,’ he said, holding up the mug, ‘but I wish to finish it in peace.’
The barman scowled. ‘I was just making conversation.’
‘Unwanted conversation. Go find another patron to annoy.’
‘There are no other patrons.’
The stranger looked around, noting that the few other patrons had left. He’d always had that effect on people.
He glanced at the barman.
Pity.
The stranger drained the remaining contents of his mug and pushed it back towards the barman.
Frowning, the barman turned his back on him.
‘Barman, I require another drink.’
‘In a minute. I gotta clean,’ he said, busying himself with the relatively unimportant task of filling a small sink behind the bar with hot, soapy water.
The stranger drummed his fingers on the counter impatiently. The barman started to wash and stack glasses, now ignoring him completely.
‘Barman, I bid you pour me another drink before you make me angry. And before I do something that you will regret.’
The barman glanced around and smirked insolently. ‘I’ll pour you another drink when I’m ready.’ He went back to stacking glasses. ‘And do not threaten me. I am Vampire, just as you are.’
The stranger sighed. He could have left the bar. He could have sought nourishment from some other venue or even hunted down his own humans. But, now, that wasn’t enough.
The stranger, moving with inhuman grace, was behind the bartender moments later, his hands gripping the creature’s sides so tightly it could barely move.
His rage could no longer be contained.
‘What the―let go of me!’
‘Are you ready now?’ the stranger whispered, spinning the barman around to face him. In one swift motion, he sank his fangs deep into the barman’s throat, ripping out his jugular in a vicious shower of crimson-slicked gore. As his victim thrashed in his embrace, warm blood poured down the stranger’s chin and sprayed the front of his shirt. As the stranger felt the last of the barman’s life leaving his body, he tossed what remained onto the floor with a resounding thud.
He wiped the excess blood from his lips, spitting onto the floor. 
‘Much better,’ the stranger murmured, stepping over the body and moving towards the front door without so much as a backward glance. ‘Turned vampires―as easy a prey as humans.’ 
He pushed open the front door and cringed. Where the rays from the midday sun struck him, blistering lines burned across his features. Searching quickly for a shady area through which to walk, he soon spied a darkened alleyway and hurried out towards it. 
He considered the next step in his plan carefully. He needed leverage, something that would turn an enemy into a friend, or at the very least, an enemy into an ally. 
The Vânătors, a fierce race of fanatical werewolves, were not exactly known for their negotiating skills. They were hungry predators, born from the blood of the Vampire and completely uncaring of anyone’s needs but their own. They were wild, the very worst variation of a vampire’s genetic nature, and were the perfect tool for his vengeance. 
The Vânătors penchant for vampiric blood would definitely work to the stranger’s advantage. Their mating habits produced large packs, enough to cause any vampire trouble. Also, their ability to shapeshift into the form of any human they had previously fed from meant they could move around mostly undetected—a useful trick. 
He just needed to figure out what it was the Vânătors desired. 
The stranger smiled. He saw the future in his mind, laid out in the front of him. It was a future he hoped to share with other, likeminded vampires, with any other supernaturals tired of suppressing their natural instincts. The stranger’s future would mean no more hiding in the shadows, where vampires reigned supreme and blood was the word on everyone’s lips. 
A future he could really sink his teeth into.

Kristy :)

Want more information? Head to this link to keep you updated; The Hunted Facebook page

Diary of a Teenage Zombie - Synopsis

Hi Guys,

So you all know by now that I'm trying to crowd fund for this latest novel I've penned - Diary of a Teenage Zombie. I've gotta say, I'm really proud of this one, I even crack myself up. I've managed to jam action, gore, romance and witty banter into a 60,000 word novel that I can honestly say will put a smile on your dial.
The release is set for August this year, and there will be no delays because I'm producing the venture myself, albeit hopefully with the help of my lovely fans, family and friends who are currently pledging a couple of bucks here and there to try and make this happen (Click POZIBLE widget on the left side of the page, and donate for good karma)
Anyway, I've decided to leak little snippets of information along the way to light your excitement fires since I'm still a long way off my goal of raising $8000. Today I have the completed synopsis. Next week? Maybe an excerpt, so stay tuned because this novel is happening!

Dear Diary. Today I ate the mailman. My bad.

Being seventeen is hard―Katie Palmer has to deal with school, pimples, hormonal boys, and malicious cheerleaders. After the Zombie Apocalypse, though, she no longer sweats the usual teenage drama.

Athletics star by day and flesh-eater by night, Katie’s done well to hide her transformation from friends and Zone-sanctioned security, but now someone or something’s onto her secret and if she doesn’t feed soon she’ll start falling apart.

Dead bodies are piling up and all the evidence points to Katie’s blood-stained hands. Will she end up killing the competition before security discovers she’s rotten underneath?

Again, thank you all for taking the time to check out my Pozible crowd funding venture - a great way to support poor authors like me and promote opportunity for the arts.

Have a great weekend,

Kristy :)

Book Review: Club Dead - Zombie Isle by Dane Hatchell

This could just be one of the shortest stories I've ever read - possibly the grossest. 
Club Dead: Zombie Isle, delves very quickly into a rapid fire plot with no particular protagonist, merely a narrative perspective of vacationers quickly regretting the decision to head to the tropics. Character names are irrelevant as they all soon fall victim to a mysterious illness that quickly sweeps across the island and claims the humanity of everyone present.
In all traditional sense this story is zombified. Flesh is eaten in abundance, people turn rapidly and others are killed for their internals as they are far too good to resist. The typical snowball effect of this horrific disease quickly exemplifys the downfall of those who are still alive. The action is limited to tearing flesh, oozing gore and streaming blood. We don't really see retaliation as the story flows quickly to conclusion, the night's horror chased by the eventuality of certain death.
Overall I enjoyed the short read and the explicit details, but I was never drawn, repulsed or awed by any one moment as there was never pause to develop emotional connections with the characters. As a short story this is to be expected, and if judging on face value, eloquence of writing style or pointed plot then I will rate Club Dead: Zombie Isle two fangs out of five.

Synopsis:
A ridiculous undead romp on the beach. Three couples arrive at a Caribbean resort when a plague turns its residents into human flesh eaters. The story is told from multiple points of view. It's the perfect companion to an adult beverage while working on a tan.

Book Review: Dance on Fire by James Garcia Jr.

Dance on Fire is the debut novel from the very talented James Garcia Jr. I've had the pleasure of mingling with this author via Twitter, Facebook and the bloggesphere in general - a very interesting and down to earth man who I was supremely curious about his writing, particularly given it's links to supernatural genre which you all know I'm a massive fan.
Dance on Fire is a story told from multiple person perspective - a rather fabulous way of consistently keeping the reader in the thick of the action and diving into the many layers of each individual character. I enjoyed being a sinister, sadistic vampire who preyed on innocent children, the hardworking detectives trying to solve a string of seemingly unsolvable murders, and the house wife with more layers than an onion and an unwavering faith in the almighty.
The small town of Kingsbury, quaint and generally peaceful, has now fallen victim to a string of gruesome (and I do mean gruesome) murders. Detectives fight to solve the mystery, unaware that creatures of the night stalk those who dare to stray into the shadows, feed mercilessly, and pursue a vendetta waged centuries before.
But are these creatures we've come to celebrate as blood-thirsty, depraved and without morality all as bad as we believe? Or for that matter, are vampires the only cause for the slayings of the innocent?
Dance on Fire reserves the right to keep you guessing. With such rich and complex characters brimming with intense emotion and unwavering beliefs in right, wrong and justice, it's easy to fall victim to the intriguing plot. Once the action began and the unfolding of past events were teamed with the present, I was truly unable to put the book down.
I thought perhaps some of the insertion of bible referencing would annoy me but in the end it served its purpose and began to make you believe that everything had happened for a reason. With only one typo error in the entire novel, a well constructed plot filled with relevant facts without the over stimulation of information, and I truly believe I found (pardon the puns) a killer novel to really sink your teeth into. 
It was almost too easy to rate this novel four and a half fangs out of five. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys reading the adult supernatural/horror genre.

Synopsis:
Two Kingsburg police officers have been butchered in an attack as ferocious as it is mystifying. Now two detectives and their families are being drawn into a battle that threatens to destroy them and those around them. In a marriage of horror and Christian themes of good conquering evil and redemption, Dance on Fire is the fictional account of characters drawn into the fire by supernatural forces.

Follow Friday #45

Happy Friday everyone!

Yes, it’s that time of week again where bloggers unite to participate in the Follow Friday venture. The idea behind #FF is to promote traffic to your own blog, make new friends with other like-minded bloggers and discuss new and interesting topics each week.

Participating is simple. First you need to follow my blog because I’m totally awesome, then you can follow me on Twitter @kristyberridge (actually you don’t have to do this, it’s wishful thinking), but do follow my blog or assassins will get you …

Then you must follow our illustrious hosts Rachel of http://www.parajunkee.com/ and Alison of http://www.alisoncanread.com/ If you want more details on how to enter your own blog in the follow and hop, all directions are on their webpages

Now, once you’ve followed, check out my answer to this week’s questions and don’t forget to leave a comment so I can do the right thing and follow you back!

This week's question: What book do you think would make a great Halloween movie? Please explain in graphic detail of goriness…

My Answer: I don't know about a Halloween movie, but I would love to see Stacia Kane's Downside Ghosts Series as a movie. It's creepy, confronting and sexy as hell - all the things I love in a good book ... and movie!