Tuesday, August 05, 2008

News for July and August

L. Shannon’s News for
July & August 2008

*What’s on my schedule?*
July 2008Father of the Wolf coming in print! Woot!
July 2008  A Second Chance released from Changeling Press
August 1, 2008  The Vampire Oracle: Love with Cobblestone Press
September, 2008 (I think)  Acacia 2: Blindsided with Changeling Press
September 13, 2008  Book signing in Saltsburg PA
SometimeA Lover’s Touch – this story has been delayed due to cobblestone scheduling. It will be out soon in CPQ

Every Friday at 9 eastern – Cobblestone Press release Chat – I don’t always make it to chat, but stop by anyhow and say hello to the other wonderful authors of Cobblestone Press. http://www.cobblestone-press.com/chat.htm


*Did you miss me?*
Sorry I missed putting out news in July. You all know I’m not the best at staying on a schedule. But I’ve been working hard, I can promise you that. In June Moira Reid and I finished and released Steel City Vampires: Welcome Home as a free download. If you haven’t grabbed it up yet, I recommend you run over to http://www.readmoore.com/free_reads.htm and grab it. I also finished edits on another Steel City Vampire novella (The Vampire Oracle: Love) which came out on August 1st with Cobblestone Press. And I wrote a third novella with the working title Bound and Determined which will probably be changed.

July was just as busy. I’m tickled (and tired) to announce the completion of the third Eagle Clan novel, The Longest Journey. And now I have to wait to hear back on the submissions but I hope the story will be coming soon. Not to mention I had a huge send of excitement for the print release of Eagle Clan 1: Father of the Wolf. You can buy it now through Cobblestone Press. Grab your own copy even if you have the ebook. This is a new and improved version.

Whoops! I almost forgot I had another story come out in July also. Check out the Chances 2: A Second Chance, a hotflash from Changeling Press.

Anyhow, I can’t promise I’ll do better. I wish I could. The best I offer is… hey, got this newsletter out, didn’t I? *grin*


*Welcome!*
Welcome to new members tonni06, ladybirdinsyr, lindapeters, hotteddy2001, rm2h, redwitch59, crucible_23, rozblaede1, lonelyone97405, kittensbrightstar ! Thank you for joining the group!

*Contests!*
Join the L. Shannon newsletter loop http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LShannon/ and automatically be entered for a chance to win a free L. Shannon e-book. I give away one every month just for being a member! I call these Member Rewards.  I also have a second contest just for members every time I have a new release. I call these Release Rewards. Both of these contests require you to send me an email to confirm the win.

MEMBER REWARDS!
JULY – ma_tig_fa
AUGUST – downsideuk
(E-mail your choice of e-books to lshannon@hotmail.com)

RELEASE REWARDS!
Eagle Clan 1: Father of the Wolf (signed & in print) – arayofdawn
Chances 2: A Second Chance – karensldr
(SCV) The Vampire Oracle: Love – dianestu13
(Confirm your win by emailing me at lshannon@hotmail.com)

WHO SAID THAT?
In Anom’tan 3: Walking at Sundown, who said… “I believe you will die this night.”
I love you guys. I really do, but I’m still waiting on the correct answer. The teacher in my is encouraging you all to try again. Keep sending entries! (E-mail your answer to lshannon@hotmail.com.)

NEW CONTEST!
The fourth and final Anom’tan book has been contracted to Cobblestone press. On the day book 4: Walking Death’s Edge is released (May 30th) I will draw one winner from eligible entries. The winner will receive a box of synnfully fun prizes including but not limited to… scented candles, relaxing bath set, fuzzy cuffs, romantic game dice…
To enter email your favorite line from any Anom’tan book to lshannon@hotmail.com. I’ll be adding to the prize package until the release day and will accept multiple entries from the newsletter group members. If you enter multiple times please pick more than one favorite line.

YAY! We have a winner! Thanks for the many entries for this contest. I loved hearing which lines you liked and I will definitely be having more contests like this one.

The winner is… Caity_Mack!! Her favorite line was: "He looked fragile and ill, but behind that terrifying exterior was a stark beauty so breathtaking she thought for a moment he must be an angel".

Caity_Mack has yet to claim her prize. Caity_Mack, please contact me ASAP with your name and snail mail address. If the prize is still unclaimed by my next newsletter I will pick another winner.

Other contests ~ Watch my blog at http://lshannon.blogspot.com/ and Cobblestone Mainstreet for spur of the moment contests and up to date info on contests and news.


*New This Issue*
You can see my available and coming soon books and read blurbs and excerpts for all my work at www.lshannon.net . Lots to catch up on here. Enjoy!


Chances: A Second Chance
by L. Shannon
7/22/08 - excerpt ~ buy ebook

Blurb
Passionate Obsession… Chance can't get Josh out of his mind. It’s time for the demon to do something to exorcise the human from his nightly erotic dreams. The first step is to find Josh and take his fill of everything the human has to offer…

EXCERPT
"Hey perv! Time to wake up."

His brother’s voice jerked him awake. Chance opened his eyes and the human faded away with the wisps of imagination. Not just any human, but the one man who’d been consuming Chance’s thoughts and dreams for five months.

Damn Josh anyway.

Why couldn’t he find satisfaction with anyone else? No more than a few hours in Josh’s arms and now he was ruined. Damn him. Damn them both.

Chance rolled over, ignoring his brother’s annoyed look. So what if he had been humping his pillow? It was none of Meryk’s business. "What the hell are you doing in my house anyhow?" He couldn’t keep the snarl from his tone. Being hard and unsatisfied made for a bad way to wake up.

"I’m tired of you moping around. I’m the one with a bad attitude, not you. I came down here to offer to watch over your last chance demons so you can go get your head on straight."

"What in the hell are you talking about?" He pulled on a pair of leather pants while trying to wake up enough to understand Meryk.

"I said, you’re on vacation. I can manage things for three or four days. Go figure out what’s wrong and get it fixed."

After stuffing his feet into a pair of boots, he faced his brother. "Just like that?"

"Yep. Any idea where you’ll be going?"

"Miami." He snagged a silk shirt from his closet and dematerialized from Hell. He staggered as he reappeared on a beach in the mortal realm. The sand shifted under him while his stomach reeled from crossing the realms.

Josh’s condo was along this beach on the outskirts of Miami.

Despite the dark night, Chance turned toward the cream colored building without hesitating. Josh was there, inside those walls. His salvation was within reach.

END EXCERPT
Buy the book at http://www.changelingpress.com/product.php?&upt=book&ubid=949



Steel City Vampires
More than the usual dangers lurk the dark streets of Pittsburgh. Murder and mayhem is always a risk, but fear not. There are honorable undead-- vampires who have pledged their lives to protecting the citizens from creatures and villains who would desecrate their beloved city and its innocent inhabitants. They patrol the city, lurking in the shadows, saving our human necks... for themselves.

Steel City Vampires: Welcome Home
by L. Shannon & Moira Reid
JUNE 22, 2008 - EXCERPT - FREE DOWNLOAD - IN PRINT

Kalib Fontana had searched two hundred years for a peaceful home far away from his cursed past. As his realtor, Shasta Hemingway, welcomed him to the Fox Chapel estate resplendent with the lingering scent of dinner and her perfume, he allowed himself to imagine for one wonderful moment he'd found both. The moment shattered when David found him--David, the one curse that refused to be forgotten. As always, his dangerous past wanted him, and worse, this time it wanted vengeance.


(Steel City Vampires) The Vampire Oracle: Love
by L. Shannon
AUGUST 1, 2008 - EXCERPT - BUY THE E-BOOK


Dillon is determined to save his soul by killing vampires who prey on humans, but the current psychopath, Mistress Serena, is stronger and meaner than any others and has enslaved a man too sexy to resist.
Jason expected his mistress to kill him. He was ready to give that final blood drop, when he was suddenly given away to a huge, dark vampire with unknown intentions. Then again does it really matter which creature finally drains him?

EXCERPT
Dillon stared at the man curled against his side. The damn fool didn’t know what he was doing. Offering sex and feeding was playing with fire, hell, it was playing with fucking brimstone. Then again maybe he did know what he was doing. “You must have a death wish. Just what did Serena use you for anyhow?”

“She used me for whatever she wished.”

“You were her blood slave.”

“Yes.”

“And sex slave as well.”

“I was whatever she wanted.”

“How could you live like that? Slavery has been illegal for more than a few decades. Surely you knew that.”

Jason sighed and ran his fingers through his short hair. “Yes, I know that slavery is illegal, but after a few years of feeding a vampire, I had little choice.”

“You always have a choice.”

“Bastard. You’ve never been addicted to the Blood Kiss. How the fuck do you know what my choices have been?”

“Shit.”

“Yeah, total shit.” Jason left the bed and paced across the room toward the still shuttered window. Perhaps if it had been open he would have stared sullenly out into the front yard. Since it was closed, he turned and paced back to the bed. “Look, life with her was hell, but I couldn’t leave. At first I was a child and didn’t know any better. Then, later I stayed for the Blood Kiss and to try and protect my sisters. Now they are gone, and I thought I would be next.”

“She killed them.”

“Either her or one of the others that she entertains. She is very generous with sharing her slaves with others who are impressed by such things.”

“So she kills humans. Does she hunt off the street too?” All the evidence said she did. Dillon had tracked the scent from the latest kill right to Serena. It had to be her.

“I don’t know. Most likely.” Jason finally stopped pacing and settled back onto the bed.

“Are there any other vampires there now, or just Serena?”

The shutters lifted quietly, but Jason stayed on the bed. “I don’t know.”

Jason lay back on the blanket. He made no effort to cover his partially aroused body. His eyes offered more sex.

Dillon’s body reacted at once, but the cost was too great. This time Jason would expect him to feed. Just fucking great. Now he had all the devil’s temptations just laying there in bed looking like a dream. Looking tasty enough to kill for… Shit, how was he going to keep from running down this path to hell?


END EXCERPT
AUGUST 1, 2008 – ANOTHER EXCERPT - BUY THE E-BOOK



Eagle Clan 1: Father of the Wolf
Novel by L. Shannon
Cobblestone Press - excerpt available in EBOOK or PRINT

Athair came into Hope’s life with a nightmare on his heels and a clan full of baggage. With his first touch, he awakens a power within her, but will it be enough for them to overcome the odds against them? Only time will tell if their separate responsibilities will tear them apart or bind them together.

Father of the Wolf is now available in print! Find it at http://Cobblestone-Press.com
Check out these book trailers! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUa3wUJuHhk (Thanks to Jamieson Wolf for doing this fabulous video!)
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db2mQkrjzC4 (Did this one myself :))


EXCERPT

That evening, as Hope washed the dinner dishes, she realized she’d gone completely mad.

Pardon, I am very thirsty. Could you please bring me a drink? This time the mental contact with the wolf came almost natural, as if it had been there all the time, only now choosing to use words.

“What?” she gasped aloud as his words sank in, and she realized the animal was again speaking into her mind.

Juice would be nice.

Deciding she might as well go along with the madness, she got a glass and filled it with orange juice. She could feel his thirst. It made her fill a second glass for herself before walking to the clinic recovery room.

Thank you, he said into her mind as she entered the room.

“I am not talking to you. Wolves don’t talk,” she said sternly.

He chuckled in a low, sexy tone that raised the hair at her nape. Unlike a voice spoken aloud, his mental touch vibrated through her whole body.

“They don’t do that either.” The sensation that had passed through her left her off balance and started a strange ache she didn’t want to name.

His next thought showed he understood just how much this situation unsettled her. Would you rather I pretend to be only a wolf until I leave?

She thought about what he meant by the offer. They could act as if he were a nice, normal wolf, and once he was well, he would leave without causing any more strangeness in her safe little world. The offer was terribly polite for an animal. But her curiosity and fear won out. She needed to know more. What if he was one of those who had attacked the girl, or he knew who had done it? If he was actually a werewolf, he would have the answers she needed.

“Maybe that would be a good idea,” she said. “But I want to know what you are first.”

A man, mostly.

“What does that mean?” Was he being deliberately vague?

I am not sure how to explain.

Yep, he was being vague. Maybe if she asked him specific questions, she would get more details. “If you are a man, why do you look like a wolf?”

I can change into wolf form.

Her guess had been confirmed. She was suddenly very glad he was behind the wire. “You are a werewolf,” she said in an accusing tone.

I can feel your fear, but there is no reason for it. I will not hurt you. He paused. Werewolf is one name we have been called, but it’s not one I prefer. With a mental shrug, he asked, So, do you plan to kill me now?

Shaken by his question, she studied him. His expression was one of acceptance rather than of fear. He actually expected her to try to kill him, after she had worked so hard to save him. The thought dampened her fear and brought her curiosity about him back to life. “Well, as I don’t have a pitchfork and torch handy, no. I don’t plan to kill you at this time.”

Then may I have the juice? It is not poisoned, is it?

“Oh, I forgot. Sorry. And no, it’s not drugged.” To prove her point, she took a sip from the glass before pouring the juice into a bowl and sliding it past the wire.

He drank it gratefully. The juice was soothing and cool to his tender throat. Again, I thank you, Hope. He drank the rest of the bowl. I may have a slight fever, despite your excellent care. I believe my body is trying to purge the poison I was given.

She refilled the bowl with her juice. “How did you wind up under the wheels of Steve’s station wagon? And how were you injured so seriously to begin with?” She sat on the upturned box.

Athair wondered just how much he should tell her, and decided she deserved to know the truth, or at least most of it. He would have eventually died from the poison and injuries if she had not found him. Considering the strength of the poison, even he would not have healed after losing so much blood. She had saved his life, and he wanted to speak with her honestly. But where should he start the story?

I was poisoned by members of another clan. When I did not succumb quietly, they attacked me. I had no choice but to flee. They chased me until I met with your friend’s wagon.

“Oh. By clan you mean...there are more werewolves? If you don’t prefer to be called werewolves, what do you prefer?”

He nodded. I am a Valàfrn. And yes, there are others.

END EXCERPT

(Read the whole first chapter online! http://www.lshannon.net/EAGLE/FatherOfTheWolf.html )
Buy in EBOOK or PRINT at http://cobblestone-press.com



*Currently available*
Cobblestone Press
Anom'tan 1: Walking with Synn ~ 7/20/07 ~ excerpt available in ebook
Anom'tan 2: Walking in Memories ~9/21/07~ excerpt available in ebook
Anom'tan 3: Walking at Sundown ~ 2/22/08 ~ excerpt available in ebook
Anom'tan 4: Walking Death's Edge ~ 5/30/08 ~ excerpt available in ebook
Eagle Clan 1: Father of the Wolf ~ excerpt available in EBOOK or PRINT
Eagle Clan 2: Destiny ~ 6/30/06 ~ excerpt available in ebook
Lynx Clan 1: Forgiven ~ 9/15/06 ~ excerpt available in ebook
Origins: Vali's Curse ~ 11/10/06 ~ excerpt available in ebook
Origins: A Spirit United ~ 11/2/07 ~ excerpt available in ebook
Origins: My Immortal ~ 12/14/07 ~ excerpt available in ebook
Tascryn: Season of Blood ~ 10/31/06 ~ excerpt available in ebook
Tascryn Royals 2: Blood Reign ~ 1/19/07 ~ excerpt available in ebook
Tascryn: Surviving Synn ~ 5/11/07 ~ excerpt available in ebook
Valàfrn: Forever Eden ~ 8/17/07 ~ excerpt available in ebook
Vampire Oracle: Love (SCV) ~ 8/01/08 ~ excerpt available in ebook

Changeling Press
Tascryn Royals 1: Of Blood and Blessings ~ 6/2/06 ~ excerpt ~ buy
Chances: A Snowball's Chance (hot flash) ~ 3/3/08 ~ excerpt ~ buy
Chances2: A Second Chance (hot flash) ~ 7/22/08 ~ excerpt ~ buy
Acacia 1: Abducting Aeron ~ 4/18/08 ~ excerpt ~ buy


*Off Topic*
Off topic, off course, off task, often. Yep that’s me blundering around in this thing I call life. I love lists and plans and agendas. I really do. They give me this false sense of order when deep down in my heart, I know life is chaos. But I’m from calm dependable stock and I know that chaos can reign and life will still roll onward. Hey, quit laughing. I CAN be calm. I can, really. I mean it. STOP LAUGHING. Okay then… as I was saying.

I have a list of things to do and I look at it often, sometimes I let the very intimidating list terrorize me, other times I let it motivate me. At the moment I feel fairly on top of things. I have one book due in (checks calendar) 4 days and I really think I’ll be turning it on time.

Right now that list is motivational, because when I look at it and see that the book in line is Dead Men’s Nails: Kindred Spirit and I LOVE that book. Had to put it aside last fall to finish up some promised books and now I’m almost back to it. Can’t wait. :-)

Shannon


*Writing Wips*
At the moment I’m working on the second Acacia story, Blindsided.
Med Blake, A high ranking vampire doctor in the medical division of Acacia is shocked to find the blood supply contaminated. He nearly dies before his devoted slave, Dasher, saves his life. Dash has been at his side helping him for years, but never had he turned to him for sex or for love. But when the slave sees Blake almost die, he risks everything to save his master. Now the only question is who contaminated the blood, with what and why? And how will Blake and Dash go back to their former roles as master and slave?

Then I’ll be on to Kindred Spirit.
So what do you get when a girl chased by assassins meets the essence of death? Well, you might think she'd be bright enough to run, but no, not this time. Faith nic Wolf already has her hands full when Nail drops into her life, giving her a Dead Men's Nail as well as the oh so fun ability to see how her friends will die. So how, while struggling with finals and family politics, will she save their lives? Not to mention, what will her parents say when she brings Mr. Essence of Death home for a visit?


*About L. Shannon*

L. Shannon, the author, came into existence in June of 2004. Ms. Shannon’s always been a reader and lover of books, but never considered writing until one night when she ran out of books to read… She began writing that very night as the first line defense in a battle against insomnia. Her writing has steadily grown into a war against reality. Her friends kindly say reality never stood a chance. The L. Shannon novels have expanded to fill an entire world with paranormal wonders including Valàfrn werewolves, Tascryn demons, blood-sucking vampires, sexy selkies and many, many more. Be careful if you choose to enter Ms. Shannon’s hunk-filled world. You may never wish to leave…

In the time Shannon doesn’t spend writing, she’s kept busy with bothering her husband, showing dogs, gardening and watching over her four Butterfly Koi ponds. You can learn more about her writing and her life at www.lshannon.net.



Blogger hates my links, so if you see one that you want more information about you have two options. 1. Go to my newsgroup to find this original news post. The links my have survived there or 2. Go to my webste at http://lshannon.net and find all the information there.

Shannon