Storm of Masks Cover Reveal

If you noticed I haven't been blogging much this summer, it's because I have so many projects going at once...including one that I'm finally ready to share!

Storm of Masks is a paranormal romance set in a small town, full of mystery, ghouls, and holiday festivity! Halloween is my favorite holiday, and fall is the best season in my humble opinion, so I wanted to write a book celebrating them as we get closer to that magic time of year.

Storm of Masks is set in the small town of Ashbrook, which is home to an annual Fall Festival gearing up to Halloween, which the locals go all out for.

It's usually Jen Gordan's favorite time of year...but this year, she's gained the uncanny ability to see ghouls. And they're everywhere.

To get answers she has to turn to the charming new boy in school, Carter Lord.

I'm glad I held off on sharing this one, because it originally had a different name, but Storm of Masks came from a line I drafted closer to the end of the book, and I really loved it, because it fits the book perfectly.

Everyone wears masks; the living, the dead. They hide parts of themselves from us and let others radiate. It's not always deceptive, either; it's part of life.

I wanted to explore the different parts of people that war with each other and the facades we build against those around us. Anybody you think you know can be keeping secrets, and isn't Halloween the best time of year to start yanking off masks for a peek at what's underneath?

I can't wait to share this story, but for now I'll leave you all with a quote from the book!

       The days went on like that, a blur of rotting leaves and morning conversations, the bitter burn of hot coffee and the bite of frost filling the air. Long hours in stifling classrooms listening to shuffling sheets of paper lulled me into a sense of peace. I buried myself in routine and academia, doing my best to ignore the ghouls.

Again?

Here's a Desperation quote! Again? Yes, again. I am having a lot of fun writing this book:

Blood of Midnight & Taking Things Apart (Book + Cover Reveal!)

Where the hell have I been? Writing a novella. And editing a book for publication. And turning twenty. And other things!

So, awhile back I posted the cover for Dreamseeker, along with a blurb. That book is now published, and you can get it here! But on top of that, I edited a novel I wrote about a year and a half ago, gave it a fresh round of edits, and published it as well! That book is a vampire novel called Blood of Midnight, and you can buy it here!

Here's a quote:

So, what's up with Blood of Midnight? Well, it's essentially what happens when I write a book just to dissect and deconstruct a bunch of YA vampire genre tropes. It has bicurious vampire soldier girls and plot twists galore. It blurs the line between young adult and new adult, but I'm calling it YA.

I would mainly call it a race against time mystery, about trying to root out a traitor in a vampire court before the future king's coronation. Also, there's a mysterious cult.

BOM is basically me taking apart the YA love triangle and the pointless girl hate trope, while also deconstructing or inverting the action girl archetype, along with a few others I can't give away for spoiler-y reasons.

I originally planned to scrap and rewrite this novel entirely, bringing it from fast-paced, slightly commercial mystery-adventure-romp thing to fully fledged dark urban fantasy, but frankly, I think it's a good book. It's not my best work, since I've finished 5 or 6 books since the time I wrote it, but at the same time it's fun and fast and I think it has enough merit to stand on its own. And honestly, as an introduction to this world, it works.

The book is standalone. This isn't a series. But it is a world, and it's one I plan to write in again. I'm calling it the Evernight Saga, but, I repeat, IT ISN'T A SERIES.

Characters from this will appear in future books set in this world, but they're more spiritual successors than direct sequels. Like an anthology series, I suppose. Yup, I'm going the Scream Queens route.

Anyway, I'll have more in the next few weeks - including posts about why casual sex is important in YA novels and starting a YA parody account on twitter!

Dreamseeker Book + Cover Reveal (Free book!)

Dreamseeker is my new novella, and it's got best friends falling in love and pretty alternate worlds and teenagers hunting monsters in small Maine towns. What more could you ask for?

Dreamseeker is going to be up on the Kindle store in a few days for 99 cents, but it's also free to read on Wattpad here!

Here's a quote, to entice you:

Shadows of Ourselves Character Spotlight #1

I'm editing Shadows of Ourselves now, so over the next few days I'll be doing character spotlights! Today's is for Riley! She's one of my favorites from the novel, and I have some big plans for her in the sequel! (She might even become a POV character!)

Frenzy & Rage (Free Books!)

So. I wrote some things. Some things I would like to get more exposure and mainly, more feedback on. So I thought I would offer up some freebies! As you do, right?

Rage & Frenzy are both paranormal novellas. They're set in the same universe, and while they can each be read as standalones, they work best when read together, and are available in a single collection, as well as individually;

 

They feature racially and sexually diverse characters, as well as action, romance, comedy, and horror elements. And I want you to read them for free.

So, if you're a book blogger, or if you rate books on Amazon or goodreads, comment on the blog with your email - or shoot me an email at ApolloBlake@mail.com with the subject line 'rage and frenzy' and I'll send you a free epub!

I would love to see more reviews and ratings - it's always fun to hear feedback - and I'd love to share Myra and Evelyn's stories with more readers.

(Note: I know the blog has been slightly dead in the last few weeks - that's because I'm working on editing Shadows of Ourselves for publication, and getting ready to interview some fellow indie authors here on the blog! I'll be posting updates about those soon! And, if you're an indie interested in being interviews, feel free to email me!)

5 Facts About Shadows

I finish the draft of Shadows today. In honour of that, here are five facts about this book! Oh, and don't forget to check out the Charmers tab at the top of the blog for more info!


1) It's dark. As in, lot's of angst, lots of danger. Drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness, emotional traumas. On top of that? A whole heap of monsters, some twisted romance, and a lot of action. I write a lot of dark stuff, and I got to show a bit of that in Things We Saw at Midnight recently, but I'm looking forward to seeing how readers react to a full length novel as opposed to a collection of shorts.

2) It's diverse. I really love diverse books. I don't love diverse books where the minority characters are treated as accessories or written as stereotypes, and I don't like books where the diversity feels preachy - I wanted to write a book that had trans and nonbinary characters, characters of colour, queer people, and characters with disabilities, without making them into caricatures. These characters' identities are just part of who they are, a normal part of their daily lives - as they should be.

3) It's hot. Remember when I mentioned twisted romance? Well, Shadows has heaps. Sky and Hunter are hot, full of hormones and angst, and oh yeah, stuck close together until they break the powerful magikal bond brewing between them. Sparks will fly - and so will clothes . . .

4) The book is in the New Adult genre. Sky is nineteen, and Hunter is twenty. The novel and series are set around adult themes, and are definitely not for the younger reader.

5) It's set in the city where I grew up. Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada - it's a hot damn mess of the grit and the glamour. Gleaming white spas down the hill from ugly ass dive bars, seedy strip clubs situated around the corner from top 40 radio stations. It's the largest city in the province, and it's a hectic mix of light and dark, hot and cold - the perfect reflection of the characters and story of Shadows. You can read more about it here: Saint John.

So, yeah, those are some things about this book that you should know. I honestly can't wait to share this with you guys. Aside from that, I also have the final quote I'll be sharing from the draft - as I finish it today, and then I'm letting it rest for a few weeks before edits start.

That doesn't mean I won't be working, though - I'm also doing nanowrimo this month! Feel free to add me!

Shadows update and Quote~

I'm still working on ten day book. Why? Halloween got really crazy - and then things stayed crazy. So ten day book has turned into, what? 14 or 15 day book? Still a pretty fast drafting time. Life has finally calmed down again, and I'm back on regular work schedules, so it's coming along fast, but these distractions, coupled with a few added chapter, have drawn out the process. Having fun though! Here's today's quote:

New Music, Much Ado About A Lighter, & A 10 Day Book Update!

So earlier tonight I got a new mp3 player - it's nothing fancy, but it works, and it has a screen, and good sound quality, and honestly? It's just nice to have something to listen to again. My old ipod broke months ago. Of course I loaded it up with the new albums from Demi Lovato, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Selena Gomez. I'm so obsessed with pop right now, it's weird, considering I'm usually more into indie or punk. but whatever, it's a nice change of pace, I'll take it.

The other day I walked over an hour to buy a lighter and the woman at the gas station wouldn't sell my one. I'm nineteen, so I'm a legal adult here, and I have all the privileges that come with it - drinking, buying tobacco products, buying lighters, et cet - but I don't have an ID and I don't always look my age depending on what my hair and skin are doing, what I'm wearing, if I have my glasses . . . any number of things. so sometimes I get away with stuff and sometimes I don't. This time I didn't. My parents brought my home a new lighter that night anyway, but I needed one earlier, and it was kind of annoying.

As far as Shadows goes, I have one more final chapter to write tonight and then I'm done for the day - and thank god, 'cause I'm about to collapse. I know I already gave you guys a quote today, but here is another one: