Oh Hey! Books.: Urban Fantasy

Truth be told, I am obsessed with all things Halloween and it is my favorite time of year! Since I was a young child, I’ve adored the idea of the one night a year when all things spooky were embraced! And Halloween is one of those times when I can just go crazy! I love food and gatherings, so decorating the house, throwing Halloween parties and enjoying all the frightfully fun things happening around town is kinda my thing! Today, I’m going to share a few of my favorite crafts and foods I love to do for beloved Halloween!

Some easy crafts I do are making my own “potion” or “witches’ brew” bottles. They are easy to make and can be done with just about any glass container. For these, I used old soap dispensers, a small vase, a wine bottle, and a few corkscrew jars from the dollar store. The labels were easy to find in a set and cost about $2 from Wal-Mart. You can also make your own! Fill with water and food coloring, or whatever and boom, you’ve got yourself some great decorations to set the mood for the season.

One year, I threw a little party for my daughter and her friends, so I decided to make some scary finger foods and treats. I was going to do orange and black label cards but then I decided custom decorated ones would be better. I printed them out on decorative design printer paper, pasted them to cardstock, then cut them into whatever shape I wanted. Lastly, I simply taped a wooden skewer to the back for easy placement. These signs were cute with the snacks and are reusable!

Here’s some of the treats I made. All were a hit!

Below are “Monster Fingers” made from mozzarella string cheese cut to finger size. I used the knife to cut little “finger creases” in it, added almond slivers for the nails, followed by red icing gel for the blood.

These “Bones ‘n Blood” were made from pulling apart crescent roll dough to about (each piece three inches long), then tying each end so it looks like a bone. I then baked them as usual and served it with a side of warmed marinara “blood!”

Bat cupcakes are my fave and beyond easy to make! I just baked a batch of devil’s food cupcakes like normal and iced them in chocolate icing. Next, I snapped some fudge-stripped shortbread cookies in half and stuck them into the cupcake for wings. Lastly, I used a Hershey kiss for the face and two dots of red icing gel for the bats’ eyes.

These easy “coffin bites” were simply ham and cheese sandwiches cut into the shape of coffins, then I wrote on them with black icing gel.

These were store-bought but still great! I simply baked sugar cookies as instructed then sprinkled them with orange and black sprinkles while still warm. The kids loved them!

Immortal Descent
Carolyn M. Walker

Book Genre: Adult Urban Fantasy

Release Date: 4/3/2018

Publisher: Clean Reads / Astrea Press

Book Description:

Deep in the caves of rural Western Germany, the truth about immortality has remained a secret for centuries, but now that secret is about to break free...

Ethan West knows what it means to be different. With a haunted past and a strange sixth sense he sometimes can’t control, Ethan’s in search of a better future. Instead, he’s brutally attacked. Narrowly saved by the beautiful and mysterious Rue, Ethan quickly learns the world is darker and more bizarre than he had ever imagined. And sparing his life comes with a price: being reborn immortal. Now, a dark faction of ancient, cursed immortal beings known as Lorns are after him. And they want his rare, newly awakened soul.

Descended from the mythological Nephilim, Lorns are bound by either the divine force of order or the mortal force of chaos. Ethan is a rarity, bound by neither, yet he is ruled by both. Now, wielding an ancient and volatile power, Rue and her Alliance work to keep Ethan from spiraling out of control. At the heart of a terrifying underground war between Lorns, Ethan becomes the target of one side and a savior to the other. Amid everything, Ethan struggles to understand his own purpose and power—an ordeal that tests his loyalties, beliefs, and sanity in ways unimaginable. And the greatest danger is yet to come.

Amazon

About the Author:

Carolyn M. Walker is a California native and lover of all things literary. As an avid reader, she always enjoying new and exciting reads. Now as an avid storyteller, it is her mission to bring that same joy to her beloved readers. After earning her Bachelors in English Literature and Psychology, Carolyn went on to pen the draft for her first fiction novel and hasn’t looked back since. Aside from writing, she is also passionate about art, food, travel, history, and music. Carolyn has a soft spot for holiday cooking and loves experimenting with new recipes and treats. She also loves the beach, snorkeling and diving. Carolyn now lives in sunny Florida with her husband and daughter.

Website: www.misswritewise.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carolynmwalkerwrites/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MissWriteWise

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/misswritewise/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/misswri/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Carolyn-M.-Walker/e/B079VJ3N9M

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17271041.Carolyn_M_Walker

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The Last Ghost by Jamie Blake | Genre: YA Urban Fantasy | Pub Date: October 1st 2018
Christian Orland is dead, and everyone in his life is doing their best to understand what happened. Especially Woe, the sixteenth Fatality, who knows that she was assigned the wrong case when she stopped his heart, but also knew she had to do it, or risk being destroyed herself. Woe only handles expected death, and not many people expect to die in an accident. However, not many people have the history of Christian Orland. That history is now tormenting his brother Noah, the keeper of all of Christian’s dangerous secrets, his childhood friend Ellery, who he once swore he would love “until he died,” and his girlfriend Melissa, who can’t understand why she is the only person not haunted by ghosts. Woe teams up with the Fatality who she thinks should have had Christian’s case, and the ghosts of Christian’s past to try to solve the mystery of how he ended up as her case. As they try to unravel some of Christian’s lies, they begin to uncover something far more sinister. Together, the most important people in Christian’s life and death must work to restore order from the chaos his death caused in the lives of those who loved him, and in realms he could not imagine, before free will is lost forever.

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Excerpt

The sixteenth Fatality was surprised to find herself on a bridge, but that was where her appointment book told her to go, and thus, that was where she went. Not that she had a choice either way, but she didn’t mind, she liked the order, the predetermination of things. Car after car drove by, and she watched them, looking closely, knowing all the while that they couldn’t see her. A little after eight in the morning, she noticed a car moving erratically on the bridge. She watched as the car seemed to spin, and then crashed through the wooden guard rail and into the water below. She looked over the edge of the bridge as the car; front end first, began to sink into the depths. She peered down the road, waiting for another car to come, some passerby to notice the broken guard rail, someone to help the passengers. After a few minutes passed, she began to wait for someone entirely different.

Knowing that too much time had gone by for there to be a legitimate chance of rescue, she floated down to where the car had entered the water, looking around expectantly for the twelfth Fatality to come and bring a life to an end. He didn’t come. She started to panic, aware of the pain the people in the car must feel. She felt the familiar pulse of the appointment book as the realization began to overtake her.

“This is wrong. This is not how it is supposed to be,” she murmured, as she dove into the water, passed through the passenger side door of the car, and gently took the right hand of the young man, unconscious and bleeding in the front seat. Her icy touch went up through the fingertips, up the arm, and across his chest as it stopped the faintly beating heart.

She pulled herself out of the water, dry, but still shivering, and walked back towards the bridge to wait. For a Fatality, she hated the process of death. She had heard that she did not have the glamorous part, that there were various other beings that could comfort humans. Beings whose presence was welcomed, as they said their last goodbyes, or made the pain stop. That was not her assignment. Eventually, sirens blaring, the rescue workers came, and it was with a dull throb that she realized they were already too late by the time that she got to the bridge that day.

She had three other appointments that morning, all in hospitals, which was where she normally lingered. She knew some of the other Fatalities who spent time in hospitals, but was not in the mood to socialize with them, to tell them about her terrible day. She never truly felt like one of them anyway. Instead, she knew where she had to go, she just didn’t want to visit that place.

Jamie Blake writes smart books for young adults and teens. Born in Massachusetts, she is the third of four sisters, which by literary tradition makes her the bookish one. Jamie earned degrees in literature at the University of Rochester and public policy at Cornell University. She was an elementary school teacher in North Carolina before moving to Upstate New York, where she lives with her family, including identical twin cats. The Last Ghost coming October 1, 2018 from 50/50 press is her first novel.

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The Blood Race
The Blood Race Trilogy
Book One
K.A. Emmons

Genre: Young Adult/SciFi/Paranormal /Urban Fantasy / Time Travel

Publisher: K.A. Emmons

Date of Publication: July 27, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-7321935-3-6

ASIN: B074CQ64NG

Number of pages: 321

Word Count: 104,000

Cover Artist: Stuart Bache

Book Description:

All Ion Jacobs ever wanted was to be normal. But when you’re capable of killing with your very thoughts, it’s hard to blend in with the crowd.

Running from his past and living in fear of being discovered, Ion knows he will never be an average college student. But when Hawk, the beautiful, mysterious girl next door unearths his darkest secret, Ion’s life is flipped upside-down. He’s shocked to discover a whole world of people just like him -- a world in another dimension, where things like levitation, shape-shifting, and immortality are not only possible… they’re normal.

Forced to keep more secrets than ever before, Ion struggles to control his powers in the real world while commuting between realms -- until his arch enemy starts a fight he can’t escape. Now he has sealed the fate of the Dimension, severing their connection to the real world, and locking himself inside forever. But a deadly threat hidden in plain sight may cost Ion more than just his freedom -- it may cost him his life.

The Blood Race is the first book in K.A. Emmons' riveting new sci-fi/fantasy thriller series. If you like epic urban fantasy, fresh takes on super powers, deep allegories, raw emotions and intricate plots that surprise you at every turn, you'll love the first novel in Emmons' page-turning series.

Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/LBV7Nh-1YQo

Amazon

Excerpt Book One:

I had no idea where I was or who I was really speaking to, in fact. Up until the car incident, Sensei had simply been “the crazy old guy next door.” Now he was beginning to feel like my only connection to sanity. I had no reason to trust him, but something in me gravitated towards it.

“Sensei, how did you know about me?” I asked. “Hawk said that you’ve been watching me—how did you find me? How did you know about my powers?”

His deep-set eyes studied my face. “You still have not answered the question.”

I held his gaze for a moment, then let go of a sigh. “I don’t know the answer to your question. I don’t even know who I am.”

“Would you like to know who you are?” I nodded slightly.

“Then that is the answer to the question,” he said. “You wish to learn who you really are. Where you have come from. And it is for that reason that you have been brought here.”

“But why?” I asked.

“Because you were created to protect that which is to come, Ion.”

I thought about it for a moment before shaking my head. “I don’t get it.” “Every generation to walk the earth has, hidden within its repetition and

pattern, a few who will resist. A few who will realize that they are inherently different from others,” Sensei replied. “Most will follow the pattern cut through the density of the forest, because they are afraid to stray from that which is familiar. But a few will stray—the anomalies. Those who recognize their own powers and allow their abilities to guide them.”

There was that word again. The word that had provoked me to the point of driving a knife through Hawk’s hand only hours before. Coming from him, though, it didn’t have the same effect.

“I created this dimension to protect you. Because you are the only ones who have awakened to protect the future from what it has become.”

“How do you know what the future is going to be like?” I asked. “You talk about it like it already exists.”

“Because,” he said, “I have seen it.” “You’ve seen the future?”

Sensei nodded.

“So this whole…” I looked for the right word. “Dimension. You created it?”

“I am it.”

I stared at him. “Wait, what?”

“When you healed Hawk, when you altered reality with your very thoughts, you projected that which is within you into that which is without. When you practice that for eternity, this,” he gestured towards our surroundings, “is the result.”

“You’ve found every one of us… every one of the anomalies?” “From past, present, and future.”

My head was starting to hurt.

“You were the one who fixed my face, weren’t you.” It wasn’t a question. Sensei nodded. “I could imagine how much it hurt.”

“Yeah, well. You imagined correctly.” I laughed mirthlessly. “God, this is

insane.”

“It is your choice to make, Ion. Hawk will teach you how to utilize the portals, and you may come and go.” He folded his hands. “Or you may return to your world permanently—but you must tell no one what we have discussed or what you have seen here.”

“I want to stay,” I said, without hesitation, surprising myself.

Worlds Beneath

The Blood Race Trilogy

Book Two

K.A. Emmons

Genre: Young Adult/ SciFi / Paranormal /

Urban Fantasy /Time Travel

Publisher: K.A. Emmons

Date of Publication: July 1, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-7321935-1-2

ASIN: B07CPXPFJG

Number of pages: 389

Word Count: 106,000

Cover Artist: Abbie Emmons

Book Description:

I used to think that seeing was believing, but now, as I struggle to stay alive below the ravine, I begin to realize that - good or bad - I will see whatever I believe.

“Who are you, Icarus, that the earth opens its mouth to receive your blood?” Sensei’s words were my last thoughts before I fell into the bottomless ravine, plunging toward my own death, and bringing about Hawk’s at the same time. Or so I thought.

I woke up underwater. I awoke in a strange and unfamiliar world, filled with maze-like forest, shadows, and nightmares seemingly as vivid and dangerous as reality. I had no idea who I was, or how I got there - I couldn’t remember anything, until I remembered her: Hawk. The other half of my soul.

I knew that in order for her to stay alive, I had to survive and find a way out. But that’s easier said than done when you’re trapped in a realm as deadly as your every thought - and dominated by a hierarchy of ravenous wolf packs.

Alerted by a dream, I realize that Hawk has left the Dimension to come find me. For an instant, I rediscover hope. But that hope quickly burns to ash when I realize that we may not be the only ones down here. Someone else with a thirst for her blood may have survived the fall too. And I may have just lured her right into the jaws of a predator even fiercer than the wolves.

Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/hDa7Tc9CQnE

Amazon

Excerpt Book 2:

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared. The very things that were potential beacons of hope were also bright red warning flags. There was no way for me to know what I was walking into.

I waited until nightfall. Until the sky was dark and the stars were like sparkling pinpricks in satin overhead. I watched him light a fresh fire after failing to rekindle the last, using two rocks. It reminded me of my own newly acquired ability to channel fire. When I thought about it, I could practically feel the heat tingling in the tips of my wings.

He sat down, cross-legged, by the fire, and the black wolves dispersed into the woods, seeming on edge as the starlight flickered down through the trees. I heard distant howls on occasion.

The young man’s features were illuminated by the crackling fire. He seemed to have all but forgotten I was there. He held a small journal in his hand and seemed to be writing or making a sketch with charcoal.

Finally, he rose again and went inside the shelter, and the opportunity for me to make my entrance presented itself.

I left the branch and flew several yards into the forest. I landed softly on the ground below and transformed back into my human form. I didn’t want him to know I could shift; that had to remain a secret.

I straightened my clothes and took a shaky breath.

I slowed to a halt at the very edge of the clearing, waiting to see if and when he would emerge from the shelter. When he didn’t, I finally stepped forward into the clearing.

I walked farther in towards the flickering shades of yellow and orange. The snap of a twig under my foot disrupted the chorus of crickets and the distant, occasional howls. It was enough to cause an audible stir from within the shelter. A moment later the curtain parted. The dark eyes met mine from across the flames. He stared at me like someone who hadn’t seen another living soul in a hundred years.

He stepped out completely. The connection between our eyes didn’t falter.

“Who are you?” he asked, in a curious voice edged with an accent. “Where did you come from?”

I pulled in a deep breath, debating what kind of cover story to give.

“The wolves,” I replied slowly. “I followed one of the black wolves, and it led me here.”

I swallowed, watching his expression closely. “Where exactly is this place?” I asked.

He stared at me for a moment longer, seeming puzzled by the question, and then he looked around us. “Must everything have a name?” He seemed to be musing more than asking. “It is reality. I know nothing beyond it.”

“Nothing?” I questioned. “You’ve always lived here?” He nodded. “It certainly feels like it.”

“Are you alone here?” He nodded again. “How is that possible?”

He shrugged, turning his attention back to me. “Could I not ask the same of you?”

He could indeed.

I struggled to come up with something to say.

“I awoke in a place like this, but covered in snow.” I thought back to the tunnel in the embankment. “And then the wolf led me here. The wolves you talk to.”

He studied me a moment longer and then smiled. “I talk to them because they are mine.”

“Yours?”

He knelt beside the fire, picking up the journal and closing it. “It is hard for you to understand, but if you stay, you will learn that no one knows where exactly this place is.”

He paused to pick up a stick with which he began prodding the fire. “And no one knows how to leave,” he said, seeming to muse once more to himself. “Or should I say, escape.”

I watched him for a moment. “I don’t want to stay.” “You wish to find your way home, then?”

About the Author:

When she’s not hermiting away in her colorfully-painted home office writing her next science fiction, passionate story-teller Kate Emmons is probably working on the nonprofit organization she founded, Blue Freedom. An organization designed to teach students and young adults about whales and dolphins and the importance of keeping them in the wild.

Katie’s other passions include traveling, hiking, and surfing, which she also loves to blog about.

She lives in the often-snowy hills of rugged Vermont with her husband and dog named Rocket.

Website: https://kaemmons.com

Goodreads: https://goodreads.com/author/show/17065155.K_A_Emmons

Amazon: https://amazon.com/default/e/B074DPYGVK/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kaemmonsauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/emmonswrites

Blog: http://www.thegoodnessrevolt.com/

YouTube - https://youtube.com/channel/UCWbbRCqlmjlxoQMSqT_vDgQ