Captain Yo-Ho-Hobag's Pleasure Palace

It's happening! We're in the throes of a countdown to the release date of Blood in the Sand, second in the Sanguis Noctis series (and, of course, sequel to Blood Howl, our debut novel).

 In celebration of the impending release, we decided to give little teasers of the book in the form of five of our favorite one liners. There may also be an excerpt that we've been dying to share and a few tastes of the character interactions to come.  And yes, oh yes, there will be a giveaway.  You know how much we adore a good giveaway.


But today, it's number five of our Five Fabulous One Liners:

"We’re going shopping on David’s dime. What kind of gun would go best with Bermuda shorts?" 

                          --Jed 'Journey' Walker

Blood Howl Giveaway! And the sixth excerpt.

Today, we’re happy to announce we’re doing a free e-book giveaway! 

In the spirit of urban fantasy, we want you to give us your scariest stories. Ever had a brush with the supernatural? Got a local urban legend? Leave them in the comments, and we will be picking our favorite — and whoever gives us the best spooky story will win a free e-book copy of Blood Howl.

The contest starts right now and lasts until 11:59pm on Wednesday, 9/14/11.  So think of something to give us chills and leave it below!

Also, we are now two days away from Blood Howl’s release date, and we wanted to give you a special treat for this last excerpt.

This one might be less than work appropriate...

A Rainy Friday Leads to a 5th Excerpt...

Good morning, wonderful people.  It's grey and cloudy and drizzly here, which can only mean one thing.  It's our second to last excerpt, and one day before our giveaway promotion!

Starting tomorrow, there's going to be what I hope will turn into a really fun, interactive contest.  To give you a taste, I'll just say this:  You might want to start thinking about your favorite ghost stories.  It will help you be in the right brainspace.

And now, on to the excerpt!


In which there is badassness beginning:

Spending a few more minutes considering, Jed determined which roof he’d use. A brick storage facility about a hundred yards away gave the best angle and view of the dock area and most access points. Other options were available, sure, but snipers took the easiest route as often as possible. There was enough working against you without worrying about bad wind angles or things blocking the trajectory.

Quietly, Jed worked his way around to the back of the storage facility. Using a dumpster, he climbed his way up to the roof, unholstering his Glock and moving as silently as he could around the ventilation system. And there was his dance partner. The man was in dull camo, rifle scope resting lightly against his cheek as he scanned the area. He wasn’t moving, ever the good little soldier. He didn’t even flinch when the barrel of Jed’s gun pressed into the back of his neck.

"Howdy." Jed grinned. It wasn’t a pleasant expression. "Whatch’a lookin’ for?"

Excerpt One - Plus An Upcoming Give-Away!

As we are now one week away from the release of Blood Howl, we've decided to post a small excerpt a day for the next six days.

Keep watching this blog, because we're going to be doing a give-away contest, where you could win a free E-book copy of Blood Howl!

Excerpt One:

In which Redford needs to go shopping:

“Chains,” he started. “Thick ones. Several locks. A muzzle. An iron hoop to attach to the wall, for the chains.” Redford dried the next dish, hoping that he wouldn’t drop it with the shaking in his hands. He’d never talked about this with anyone before. “We’ll need to go to a hardware store and a pet store.”

Quiet, Jed carefully set the last plate back into the sink, hands braced on the metal sides while he blew out a slow breath. “Didn’t take you for the kinky kind, sweetheart,” he murmured, one corner of his lips turning up, though without the usual heat. Taking the towel from Redford, slowly drawing it through Red’s fingers as he pulled it away, Jed held his eyes with a scary kind of intensity. “That what your grandma used to do?” he whispered. “Tie you down before she traipsed off to her roses and her fucking doilies?”

Redford got the feeling that if Jed wasn’t whispering, he’d be shouting. Hunching his shoulders, Redford tried to remind himself that Jed wasn’t angry at him. At least, he really hoped he wasn’t.

“It was safer that way,” Redford replied, and he wasn’t entirely sure why Jed seemed insulted. “She was keeping herself and everybody else safe.”

Amazing...

Because I am on the cutting edge of all things pop, snap, and crackle culture, today I signed up for Goodreads.  Which is just a rabbit hole for anyone who likes books, really.  I can already see what my new time sink is going to be.

Imagine my amazement, though, when I get myself set up and find that Blood Howl already has a page.  Not only that, but 26 people have expressed some kind of interest in it so far.  Would you think less of me if I said I teared up a little?  Writing a book has been my dream since I dropped that one about a hobbit coming to whisk me off to Middle Earth.  And through this entire process - the countless rounds of editing, sleepless nights going over and over scenes to try and make them perfect, approving our cover, seeing it up on the Dreamspinner Press site - I don't think the reality had truly set in until that moment.

People are going to read this book.  More than that, even before it's been published, even before there are any reviews hinting at whether this is worth their time or not, even though it's from two unknown authors, people are interested in this book.

It's an incredible feeling.  And it just makes me want to keep writing, to keep exploring these characters and all the other worlds and stories Robin and I have brewing between us.  It makes me realize that this is what I want to do, until my fingers no longer can punch the keys or hold a pen.

So thank you, Goodreads members.  If any of you ever see this, ever read this, thank you.  And I sincerely hope you enjoy the book even half as much as Robin and I have loved writing it.  These characters are ones we care about very much and I am truly excited to get to share them.

I hope that everyone checks out that awesome site, by the way.  It really is quite fun and a great way to find new reading material.  And if, by chance, you want to jot down your thoughts about Blood Howl, well, it's a mighty fine place to do so.

We only have ten days left to release.  Someone hold me, please.

-Alex

Upcoming Release: Blood Howl

Gun for hire Jed Walker doesn’t figure it for a difficult job—a simple smash and grab retrieval—except his new client doesn’t want money or goods. He wants shy, gorgeous Redford Reed, a man who turns Jed’s world upside down inside a day. He is in no way prepared to fall hard and fast for his newest assignment.

Redford Reed lives his life locked in his grandmother’s house, haunted by a terrible curse and watching the world pass him by until Jed shows up, sent by a man who will stop at nothing to claim Redford as his own. Teaming up with Jed is Redford’s only chance at survival, but as the violence escalates, so does the tension between them. Even though they each finally have something to live for, now it’s going to take all Jed’s skill and every bit of courage Redford has just to stay alive.


Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Art: Anne Cain


It was a lot of fun to write this book, and we're excited to finally be close to it's release. Dreamspinner Press has been absolutely fantastic to work with. They were our first choice to publish with--how happy are we that they decided to publish us? The only answer can be: extremely happy.


Blood Howl will be the first of an urban fiction series, the second of which we are working on the plot for right now.


Release Date: 12th September. Buy it here!