RoseBlood Artwork and Excerpt Reveal!

****GIVEAWAY ENDED****

Winners have been announced here.

Back in March, we had the official RoseBlood cover reveal. If you saw that post, you know there was a story behind the artwork. For those who missed it, here's a recap:

RoseBlood’s cover had an interesting journey. At first, I had my heart set on a panoramic view of my heroine, Rune, singing in front of the stage. There’s a scene in the book when she first embraces her voice without pain that is so powerful, it gives the reader that feeling of being swept away upon swells of living music. That’s what I had hoped to capture. So Nathalia Suellen worked up an amazing, evocative, and dark rendition of said scene, and I fell in love.

However, the panoramic view was harder to spot from a distance . . . not as eye-catching. And eye-catching is one of the first rules of a good cover. Also, it was a busier cover, which can be distracting, especially in thumbnail images. And, were we instead to go with a close-up image, similar in ways to the Splintered books, readers would automatically know it was written by the same author, just from one quick glance.

So, the panoramic was pushed aside, and a close-up cover took center stage for marketing reasons.

BUT, I didn’t want to say goodbye to that first mockup. So I bought the original image from Nathalia to use in posters and postcards. This way, you all get to share in the cover journey and have a visual of that pivotal scene from the book.

Without further adieu, here is the panoramic image, and the excerpt it represents -- the first time Rune manages to sing without pain with the help of her masked "maestro":

Excerpt:

The finale stretches, silken and luxurious, before falling in an audible drizzle that coats every wall, rafter, and seat with tremulous emotion.

The room stops spinning, and I’m left standing—strong, powerful … victorious. For the first time in ten years, I conquered the music. I did it.

“I did it!” I shout, spinning in place on the stage, my wet dress opening like a parasol and sprinkling water everywhere. I haven’t felt like this for so long … elated, like when Dad would accompany me, when together we carried the songs.

The unanswered guilt at his absence flutters through my heart again, but can’t find a place to perch. My chest is too full of happiness; it feels effulgent, as if it’s glowing from within. I look down to find it is, and can’t help but wonder if somewhere above me, the Phantom’s chest is glowing, too.

I glance up at the box seats and project my voice, smiling. “Thank you...”

The soft wail of that familiar violin answers, not in my mind, not from the balcony, but from the orchestra pit. One murmuring, sensual note that winds around me like a caress. 

My cheeks tingle and I press my palms to them, only to realize the black glove is gone from my hand, as if he took it back during our fantasy dance. As if he really held me in his arms…

*****

Yes, those thorny, black vines actually play a part in the story, but not in this particular scene. And yes, they're every bit as creepy and dangerous as they appear. ;)

Now, onto the giveaway!

(1) One personalized and signed RoseBlood ARC.

(2) One signed poster of the panoramic image revealed today. 

(3) Three panoramic postcards + RoseBlood swag packs:

 

 

 That's 5 chances to win something, INTL! Enter the rafflecopter below, and good luck to everyone.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Slasher Girls & Monster Boys Survival Tips

Four tips for surviving the 14 terrifying tales you'll find between the pages of Slasher Girls & Monster Boys:

1. Always read in bed while burrowed under your covers. If you can't see IT, it can't see you. Your safety is all that matters, even if the covers hinder your ability to breathe.

2. Don't make a noise. Every whimper leads it closer to your hiding place.

3. Lie as flat as you can and don't move. Any lump in the covers attracts its attention. 

4. If you've been discovered, only light can make it go away. Bright light and nothing else. A flashlight will reflect off its eyes and make it angry.

gif by Kevin Weir of fluxmachine

Think you're brave enough to read our stories?

You can win a copy here.

(Rules for survival inspired by A Child's Eyes)

Win an ARC of Slasher Girls & Monster Boys!

The Great SLASHER GIRLS & MONSTER BOYS ARC Giveaway

• Sponsored by publisher 
• US-Only (INTL readers, see the P.S. at the end of this post)
• Ends Monday, May 18
• Need to have a twitter account or Instagram to take part

HOW TO WIN:

We want to see you at your creatively slashiest. Show us your macabre side and post a pic of something scary to Instagram or Twitter, under hashtag #SLASHERGIRLSARC 

SCARY PIC SUGGESTIONS:

1. Hold a seance

2. Read a horror story in a cemetery

3. Recreate a horror scene from film/tv

4. Play light as a feather, stiff as a board

5. Say Bloody Mary 3 times in a mirror at midnight

6. Show us your Slasher boyfriend/girlfriend/platonic friend–Pinhead, Freddy, Xenomorph Queen…

7. Draw a chalk outline of a body on a sidewalk. Possibly yours.

SUPER SPECIAL ENTRY: Dig your own shallow grave. Anyone who goes to this much trouble will be placed in their own pool, i.e. your chances of winning are extremely good. 

Shallow grave guidelines: Be safe about digging. We’ll not be responsible for bodily injury due to spade mishaps, digging near power/gas lines, or digging on a too hot day, etc. Keep it safe, keep it shallow. On a beach, perhaps. Or in your garden.

Enter the giveaway as many times as you want (but dig your grave only once).

The Special Pool entries will be given priority.

And don’t let us hinder your slashy creativity. If you have other ideas, let’s see them! Tweet us your fave horror quotes! Show us your…scary dogs? 

Just keep it legal. And don’t forget to RT and use the hashtag #SLASHERGIRLSARC

P.S. Since this is sponsored by the anthology's publisher, it is US-Only.  However, I'll be getting a few ARCs and will have an INTL giveaway later for one, along with a chance to win a signed poster of the cover. So all my INTL readers, stay posted! :)

Junk-food for thought...

Now that I've had a month-long break from writing (and while I'm waiting for my next set of edits) it's time to start planning another book. And although I can't officially announce what it is, I can share my crafting process. 

 

I'm totally about the visual. My first stage of starting a story is building characters: what they look like, what their GMC (Goal/Motivation/Conflict) will be, and their personalities/names. To aid in this, I have a pinterest board for fascinating faces that fuel my imagination:

Click to go to pinterest board

 Since my current project is one I started a while back, I've already got the characters lined up.

 

Which means I move on to stage two: creating the settings and world. 

 

 This is one of my favorite things EVER. Maybe because it's when I really turn my imagination loose and embrace the crazy. Anyone who's read Splintered knows what I mean. Again, I have inspirational pinboards for world-building:

 

 

 

But, one of the most fun things about world building is I get to indulge in all the junk-food my wee little brain can digest.

 

I'm not talking cheetos or twinkies (although those do have their place, along with coffee and inordinate amounts of chocolate). I'm talking about horror movies with surreal plots, tons of shock value, and reel upon reel of grotesque eye candy.

 

Creepy critters and disturbing settings work like a defribrillator to my muse, and it's even better if the plot is mainly black and white without too many grays (in other words, junk food for the mind). That way, my brain is free to gorge itself on the visual aspects without having to think too hard about layers or predicting the ending.

Recently I've discovered the Silent Hill movies. Because they're based on computer games, the plots are mainly good vs bad and there is no shortage of gruesome graphics, scenery, and monsters.

Here are two of my favorites from the 3rd movie:

(1) A spidery creature made up of mannequin pieces. The first time I saw it scuttling down the wall, it was SO CREEPTASTIC I salivated. Heh.

 

(2) Mutated rusty-razor-bearing nurses whose faces are a macabre twist of skin that looks like an exposed brain. Since they have no eyes or noses, they react to their other senses: touch and sound, and move in a really jerky manner that makes them even freakier.  

   

Watching movies also keeps me attuned to the distinctive movements of the creatures and how they react to their setting, which puts that foremost in my mind as I'm building my own worlds and monsters.

As for an actual setting that has spoken to me, there was a scene in a decrepit amusement park that inspired a deliciously eerie idea for a carnival one day.  I can't WAIT to write it. ;)

 

Seeing as I'm a glutton for weird creatures and places, I guess I've found the perfect calling and outlet by writing dark and creepy novels. ;)

 

Girls & Monsters don't always play nice...

Luckily, today they're being downright SWEET!

I'm honored to welcome the ever lovely, ever dark Anne Michaud to my blog! I met Anne via blogger and fell in love with her delectable, seductive, and morbid prose while reading the short stories and poems she would post on her blog. Now at last she has a book coming out and the whole world can savor her terrifyingly twisted tales! Her new YA horror novel is launching in just a few days, so she has stopped by to tell us a little about it.

Anne, you have the spotlight!

***

They hide under the bed, in the closet or in a dark corner of your mind; they want to scare, play with or eat you. Monsters are everywhere, feeding off your screams, waiting for the perfect moment to attack - and sometimes, only girls can kick their butts. A killer mermaid, suburbia, hallucinations, one huge spider and zombies all face their match in this dark horror collection of 5 novellas for young adult. Annoyed by weak and fragile protagonists waiting for boys to save the day? Here's GIRLS & MONSTERS! Death Song, an excerpt:

 

Something catches in the back of my throat. I hide my face in my hands to quiet the sobs. But then, something ain’t right. Air moves around me and I stop. I look between my fingers, but the blur of my tears thickens everything: the bathtub, the towels, and someone on the floor. A woman’s in here with me, door still closed and locked. An exhale, like after a deep swim, and a smell, like the swamp close to my empty home. A chill runs down my back, I wipe my eyes, rub and scratch them to see more clearly. And I do. Two gray hands scratch the floor tiles, nails green with algae, putrid flesh sagging on her legs, arms and torso, hair so long and wet and heavy, it drags her down. Diluted, impossible to focus on, like little waves rippling over her body from head to foot, seaweed in the water. Scales and fins, mermaidlike, little knives, those are. And they scrape the floor, like a fork on a plate. It’s her—Limnade. She opens her mouth of scissor-teeth and the rotten smell of fish wraps around my throat like two hands trying to choke me. "You can’t be…” I don’t finish my breathless thought and jump backward, knocking over the dish of decorative soaps. Blurry waves, vision impaired, out of focus, unreal. She crawls toward me, eyes unblinking, lethal, hands inches from me: my legs refuse to move, as my body feels like stone. Frozen, hypnotized, a statue. Then I hear something coming from within her…A melody, reminding me of something lost, tickles my ears. It drags on until the sweetness turns sickly, vibrating into a full-on super-scream, hyenalike, enough to pop my ears and make them bleed. Her large mouth deforms her face into one gap of black, the cry so high and strident, I scream from the pain. Limnade stares at me, everything but her fades away—Jo’s nice bathroom, Jo’s new life, Jo himself, none of it matters anymore. Her fingers brush my forehead, they’re cold and sticky like clams. And I let the darkness take me away.

 

***

 

 

To celebrate the release of Girls & Monsters on April 30th, the author has handcrafted Skellies, The Monster Collection, each representing a monster of the 5 stories. The giveaway also includes a softcover of the collection, autographed if requested. The grand prize winner will be announced during the book launch's LIVE CHAT with Anne Michaud on April 30th at 9PM (east)! Girls & Monsters will be available at Darkfuse and other retailers from that date on. ♥

 

***

Anne Michaud

 

She who likes dark things never grew up. She never stopped listening to gothic, industrial and alternative bands like when she was fifteen. She always loved to read horror and dystopia and fantasy, where doom and gloom drip from the pages. She, who was supposed to make films, decided to write short stories, novelettes and novels instead. She, who’s had her films listed on festival programs, has been printed in a dozen anthologies and magazines since. She who likes dark things prefers night to day, rain to sun, and reading to anything else.

She tweets
She blogs
She facebooks

And don't forget to add Girls & Monsters to your goodread list ♥