Play and #WIN a #Free Book!

GUESS THE TRUE STATEMENT & WIN JESSICA BELL'S THRILLER, WHITE LADY! (Statement #46)

To celebrate the release of Jessica Bell's latest novel, WHITE LADY, she is giving away an e-copy (mobi, ePub, or PDF) to the first person to correctly guess the one true statement in the three statements below.

To clarify, two statements are lies, and one is true:

The following is a line from the book:

a. I envision the look of calm on a dead face, relax my jaw, and take a deep breath.

b. There is nothing more relaxing than witnessing one’s breathing to cease.

c. What I need is good cutting spree to calm myself down.

What do you think? Which one is true? 

Write your guess in the comments, along with your email address. Comments will close in 48 hours. If no-one guesses correctly within in 48 hours, comments will stay open until someone does.

Want more chances to win?

You have until October 31 to visit all the blogs where Jessica will share a different set of true and false statements on each one. Remember, each blog is open to comments for 48 hours only from the time of posting.

If you win, you will be notified by email with instructions on how to download the book.

Click HERE to see the list of blogs.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

*This novel contains coarse language, violence, and sexual themes.

Sonia yearns for sharp objects and blood. But now that she's rehabilitating herself as a "normal" mother and mathematics teacher, it's time to stop dreaming about slicing people's throats.

While being the wife of Melbourne's leading drug lord and simultaneously dating his best mate is not ideal, she's determined to make it work.

It does work. Until Mia, her lover's daughter, starts exchanging saliva with her son, Mick. They plan to commit a crime behind Sonia's back. It isn't long before she finds out and gets involved to protect them.

But is protecting the kids really Sonia's motive?


Click HERE to view the book trailer.

Click HERE for purchase links.

Jessica Bell, a thirty-something Australian-native contemporary fiction author, poet and singer/songwriter/guitarist, is the Publishing Editor of Vine Leaves Literary Journal and the director of the Homeric Writers' Retreat & Workshop on the Greek island of Ithaca.

She makes a living as a writer/editor for English Language Teaching Publishers worldwide, such as Pearson Education, HarperCollins, MacMillan Education, Education First and Cengage Learning.

Connect with Jessica online:

Website | Retreat & workshop | Blog | Vine Leaves Literary Journal | Facebook | Twitter

Scream for #HALLOWEEN, #WIN a Rouge audiobook!

Halloween is my all-time, absolute favorite holiday.

So in honor of the occasion, I'm RE-presenting my Top Three Favorite Halloween Memories starting from least scary to... well, most silly.

And Stay tuned... your chance to WIN! is at the end~

1. The Country Fair-McCue Road.

In elem-middle grades, I went to a private school that had a Country Fair every year on Halloween. There were games, dunking booths, crafts for sale, fair food, etc.

That was all fun when I was little, but when I got closer to high school, I realized the teenagers would always take off and run around to local "haunted" sites while all the children and parents were at the fair. (Back then you got your drivers' license at 15 and I had an older brother.)

There were two sites near where we lived that had several legends around them. The first was McCue Road. It led back into the woods and started off paved, but eventually it turned to gravel. Supposedly two dead bodies drained of all their blood had been found wrapped in garbage bags back on the gravel part. Naturally, that meant there was a coven of witches doing Black Sabbath rituals that we had to investigate.

The other was a grave at this Civil War-era cemetery in Zachary, La. I don't remember the name, but the grave had bars installed across the top because the legend was it contained the corpse of a witch. One by one the bars had been removed by... teenagers... and supposedly when the last bar was gone, she'd come back and kill us all.

All sorts of stories about cars going dead and then failing to start, power windows going down and not going back up, headlights going out and not coming back on, etc., were told by kids who'd tried to steal bars off the grave.

(To me that didn't make sense because wouldn't she want to come back? So why mess with the teenagers trying to release her?)

Nothing ever happened to us on these trips, but the memory of being 13 and allowed to tag along with the cool "big kids" on those adventures is still pretty vivid. It forms the basis of my Halloween love...

2. My Hero.

In college I dated a guy who was six-foot-two, 200 pounds--big guy. He stomped around town in Size 13 Docs, was the lead guitarist in a band. Mr. Cool, right?

He was also the youngest of nine kids--good south Louisiana Catholic family--and claimed when he was out running one night he saw the Spirit of Death (a dark shadow) rise out of a gutter and go into a house in his neighborhood. The next day (he said) the man who lived in that house died of a heart attack.

My boyfriend was also a major campy-horror-movie fan. Like the super B- variety. He made me watch The Evil Dead. And the sequels. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Piranha! (the original)...

So he and I went to this haunted house one Halloween--you know, the pretend kind where people dress up and try to scare you? Many of you have never seen me in person. I'm not so big. I'm about five-foot-four, and I weigh between 120 and 130 pounds, depending on if there are cupcakes in the house.

At one point on our haunted tour a fellow dressed as Leatherface with a chainless chainsaw ran out toward us. Immediately my giant boyfriend lifted me off the ground by my upper arms and threw me in front of him, at the guy with the chainsaw.

Me: What are you doing?!?!
Him: (panicked) They won't hurt a girl!
Me: They won't hurt anybody! It's all fake!

We all know that was a completely illogical response, btw. They always hurt the girl.

3. Trick or Treat.

We didn't celebrate Halloween at my house when I was a kid. Well, my paternal grandmother thought that was a lot of ridiculousness. So one year when my brother and I were visiting her at Halloween (we were very young), she decided to take us trick or treating around her small hometown of Liberty, Miss.

I was very much a pleaser as a child, and I just knew we weren't supposed to be doing this. Internally, I was all a-fret because "if Mom found out..."

I was also a pudgy little kid. I was never very tall and until I hit puberty, I was ... well, fat. There's just no other nice way to say it. I didn't like to sweat and I liked to eat. Two plus two equals four.

So we went to several houses, got bags filled with candy. Me: Hey, this Halloween business ain't so bad! Then my Mammaw said we had to go to one more house. It was someone she knew, but at the time, I wasn't aware of that.

My brother and I walked up to the door and knocked and "REEE!!!" An Evil Witch jumped out and released a blood-curdling screech! My brother took off like a rabbit, but I knew I'd never out-run her. I closed my eyes and started swinging my Halloween bag with all my might.

To this day I remember hearing nothing but a high-pitched shree and feeling all my precious candy falling around my shoulders and disappearing through the cracks in the porch. At some point, I took off running. I was not pursued because the "witch" was bent over, hyperventilating with laughter.

I remember seeing her talking to my grandmother through the driver's-side window at the car, and I crept back and got in the backseat. We had to drive a few blocks before we found my brother...

So there you go! My fave holiday memories... ***Now for the TREAT! Your chance to WIN!***

On Amazon

I'd love to hear your favorite Halloween memory.

Leave a comment, and on Monday, I'll pick ONE LUCKY commenter to WIN a copy of the Rouge audiobook!!!

Here's the description:

Romance, velvet, sequins, and murder...
 
Hale Ferrer is the rising star of the hottest cabaret in New Orleans. And her one goal is escape. Escape from the lies, from the crime, and from her growing fear that one day she'll have to earn her living in the secret back rooms, where the dancers do more than dance.
  
But she won't leave behind Teeny, the orphan-girl she promised to protect.
  
Freddie Lovel is rich, handsome, and in love with Hale, and he's ready to sweep her away with him to Paris. But her heart is captured by Beau, the poor stagehand with eyes as blue as Louisiana iris flowers.
   
Denying her fears, Hale is ready to choose love and a life with Beau, until a predator hidden in the wings launches a chain of events that could cost her everything--Teeny, their one hope of escape, and possibly even her life.

Yep! My dark and atmospheric tale set in New Orleans read by the lovely & talented Susan Eichorn Young is perfect for the season. You'll LOVE it~

So leave a comment, then get out, scare some children, eat some candy, watch a scary movie, be safe.

But most of all have a very, very

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Halloween Kisses #BOO!

I confess, reader-friends.... Halloween is my favorite holiday! 

I LOVE dressing up and being scared an the lovely fall weather. And I don't know, but doesn't everyone just seem to be in a better mood at Halloween?

It's all the candy, I know.

When I wrote Dragonfly, I wanted to have something Halloween in it. The book follows the first semester of senior year, which covers the holiday. (Watercolor is the second half, ending at prom.)

Since Dragonfly is on SALE right now for 99 CENTS (No tricks, all treats), Here's the fun, Halloween Hay Maze excerpt, which also involves a little smooching.

On Amazon

See what you think~

We handed over our tickets and started into the maze. Renee and Rachel were giggling nervously as we walked, waiting for something to happen. Jack held out his arm to me, and I took it, not minding a little temporary protection, regardless of the source. 

It was cooler inside the maze, and the height of the walls made it darker as well. Huge spotlights lit certain portions of the grid, but some corners were almost completely dark. Those were the tense spots, where you could feel the actors lurking, waiting to scare you. It was all in good fun, but I was glad we were going through it as a group.

We rounded the first corner, and from the shadows, I felt the swish of air as something ran toward us from behind. Rachel screamed as a fur-clad figure snarled at her. We scattered in six different directions, screaming and laughing. It was terrifying, and I couldn’t stop giggling. I ran as hard as I could from our grisly pursuer, thinking someone was with me, but after several turns, I stopped running and looked around. I was alone. Great.

I walked slowly through the dim-lit stacks, straining my ears for familiar voices. I thought I heard Rachel off to my right, and I followed the sound. But as I rounded the corner, it was a shadowy dead end. I doubled back and listened again. It sounded like they were just on the other side of the hay wall, and I started running straight ahead. My heart was thudding when the passage opened. I could go right or left. I waited and listened, and once again, I felt the swish of air as a figure came up behind me. I spun around ready to scream, but it was only Julian.

“Hey,” he said low in my hair, as his hands found my sides.

“Julian!” I laughed, hugging him in relief. He smiled and pulled me into a shadowy corner. “I hate being alone in these things, and I thought you were—” 

He leaned in and cut me off with a kiss. My heart had been racing from the fright and the running, but now it was flying for a different reason. Instinctively, I pulled him closer, not wanting to let him go, and he held me tighter in response. 

This time his kiss was not a question, it was a demand, and the part of me I’d been pushing down for weeks came rushing up to meet him. My arms were around his neck, and I slipped my fingers into his hair. I felt his lips curve into a smile against mine, and our mouths opened, tongues touched, and electricity raced to my toes. It was hot and breathtaking, and everything I’d expected returning Julian’s kiss to be like. His uncasted arm circled my waist, holding me strong against his body, then he lifted his head to look into my eyes. 

We were both breathing fast. Neither of us spoke, we only smiled, a little amazed and unable to look away. He leaned forward to kiss me again, and once more I kissed him back, open-mouthed and eager. Hungry. I felt confident and strong, and I didn’t want to stop ever. He held me back against the scratchy hay wall, and my hands moved from his shirt to his shoulders and then his neck. I wanted to touch his skin. I wanted to pull him closer. I wanted to feel his skin against mine. 

His lips moved to my jaw then my chin, and without thinking, I murmured his name. I dropped my face against him, inhaling deeply the faint scent of his cologne mixed with the straw all around us. We were swirling in a dizzying wave of adrenaline until I heard voices coming toward us. 

As if waking from the most amazing dream, I opened my eyes and reluctantly stepped away, out of Julian’s arms.

“I think I heard them over here!” Renee ran up and stopped short, the laughing others close behind her.

I turned away and tried to pick the hay fragments out of my hair. There was no denying what we’d just done, and I didn’t know what to say. 

* * *

Maybe "Oops!"--? (LOL!)

I know, all the Julian lovers in the house were like, "Yes!" And that's only the beginning for those two. If you haven't started the series, now's a great time!

Get Dragonfly (#1) TODAY for only 99 cents!

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Kobo

And have a smoochy, spooky, SUPERFUN Halloween, reader-friends!!!