Spotlight on TK Rapp

Introducing TK Rapp

T.K. Rapp can do an awesome backflip into the pool, has flown an airplane and has written an awesome first book. Two of these things are lies, but one is the truth. Since you are on a blog about authors attending Penned Con 2014, you probably know which is true. But for reference, she hasn’t attempted a flip in over twenty years and she hates being in airplanes, let alone the idea of flying one.

T.K. graduated from Texas A&M in 2000 with a degree in Journalism, and this is also where she met her husband. A seven year stint in the U.S. Navy had the family living on both coasts, until they were finally able to settle back down in Texas. She is a 35-year-old (*Gasp* She shared her age!) wife and mother. She has always had a love of all things creative, but her ability to do anything with her hands was laughable, at best. Give her a pen, she could journal or work up blue prints, but painting, sculpting, anything of that nature, it was a talent lost of her. Fortunately, her life-long dream was to write.

This dream was realized with her debut novel, Being There. It is self-published book released in early July and was an absolute labor of love. Being There tells the story of Cass, and her journey to open herself up to what life hands her. TK is currently working on two more novels, one of which she hopes to publish late November.


If you ask how her friends would describe her, words they tend to use include quirky, raunchy sense of humor, loves coloring her hair, stubborn, cheap drunk, loyal, fun, awesome mom and simple. If you ask her to describe her friends? One word: Blind!


When she isn’t writing, or thinking up something to write, she can be found chatting on Facebook, reading, adding things to her bucket list or hanging with her family.

Follow T.K. on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/#!/T.K.Rapp.Author?fref=ts

On twitter at: https://twitter.com/TKAM78

Or her blog at: modestview.worpress.com
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DAYS GONE BAD by Eric R. Asher

DAYS GONE BAD by Eric R. Asher

Released on February 8, 2013

Days Gone Bad takes its readers on an adventure that is both exciting and chilling.


Damian is the owner of Death's Door, a shop that caters to the dark arts. He is a necromancer, meaning he can communicate with the dead, not in a clairvoyant way, but more in the way that he sees auras ghosts and other things that those with normal sight cannot. He has a penchant for chimichangas, ale, and kicking supernatural ass.

Sam is Damian's sister. She was the victim of a brutal attack by a rogue vampire and now lives in a Pit with other vamps. She has accepted her fate with grace and lives her new life the best she can.

Frank is Damian's new assistant shop keeper. Frank is a commoner until he is gifted with the sight to see the otherworld by Damian's adopted mom, a fairy named Cara. Frank is attracted to Damian's sister Sam.

Foster is a Fae fairy that lives with his wife and mother in the grandfather clock in Damian's store. He is a miniature body guard to Damian, with the power to grow to seven feet tall.

Zola is Damian's master. She too is a necromancer and is teaching her ward how to use and strengthen his gifts. She has been gone for two years, but unexpectedly returns and that is when things get interesting.

When Zola calls Damian and tells him to meet her at her cabin, he knows their reunion will not be a casual visit. When she produces a demon doll, his training takes on a new urgency. The story takes us on an adventure that introduces many dark elements in this urban fantasy thriller. Steeped with historical interludes of the Civil War, Damian and his band of helpers track down evil creatures and powerful artifacts in order to keep a lid on the doom that is surely inevitable.

Eric does a great job with character development and creates strong bonds between his characters filled with love, loyalty and devoted friendship. He has turned me into a fan of the paranormal/urban fantasy genre.

Eris was gracious in answering my questions regarding this book and its characters. Here is our interview.

RMWTPC – Damian is such an affable character. His easygoing manner coupled with his strong loyalties to family and friends made him quite endearing. Does he bear any resemblance to yourself and how?

Eric R. Asher – Oh, I’ve had one or two folks accuse me of being sarcastic over the years. Family and friends have always been important to me, and I have no doubt that influenced Damian’s personality.

RMWTPC – Damian has some of the most deplorable eating habits I have read about recently. His steady diet of chimichangas, beef jerky, frappuccinos, and moon pies is a gastronomical nightmare. Would it kill him to eat a vegetable now and then?

Eric R. Asher – It might. It could disrupt his delicate balance of, umm, “nutrition?”

RMWTPC – Your story incorporates what appear to be a number of day trips to historical locales in the St. Louis vicinity. Are any of these locations real? Are they places that attendees of Penned Con should be sure to visit?

Eric R. Asher – Actually, all of the locations are real. Historic Saint Charles is about thirty minutes from downtown Saint Louis. Elephant Rocks State Park probably has the biggest wow factor (standing next to a granite boulder bigger than a house is just awesome), but it’s about ninety minutes from downtown. Forest Park, where one particularly infamous scene occurs, is only about ten minutes from the Penned Con hotel. You can find the Art Museum, History Museum, and the Zoo all within the park grounds.

RMWTPC – You take bits and pieces of the paranormal world from various cultures: i.e. cu siths of Scottish and Irish folklore, Camazotz from Mayan mythology, and Gwynn ap Nudd, from the Welsh Otherworld. What was your research process when blending them into your story or are they common entities in your genre?

Eric R. Asher – One of the things I love about various cultural mythologies is shared themes. I’m especially fond of finding subtle, and sometimes blatant, differences in creatures in one culture compared to another. It inspired me to pick and choose (and even alter) characters and creatures that could potentially share a stage, so to speak. Others are just the stuff of my own nightmares, like gravemakers. Even more so than the supernatural elements, finding the right locations that could be tied in to the story at the right time was challenging. Some of the characters have been around a long time. I had to be sure they could have reasonably been at each of those locations in the past so that it made sense for them to be talking about it in the present story arc.

RMWTPC - Your story brings together necromancers, fairies, vampires, demons, cu siths, rogues, zombies, guardians, gravemakers, timewalkers, shapeshifters, demi-gods, werewolves, ghosts and a warlock. Not being familiar with this genre and many of these terms, I spent a considerable amount of time searching them on the internet to be sure I understood what they meant. Do paranormal stories usually incorporate so many different elements and how did you find a way to make them all fit in a way that seemed effortless?

Eric R. Asher – I’ve read several paranormal and urban fantasy stories that incorporated multiple critters into one saga. Days Gone Bad is a single point in Damian’s life. There is much more the reader does not yet know. Already building the history of the characters’ relationships helped me cement Damian’s world together. It was not always a smooth road, though. I owe a lot of that “effortlessness” to my wonderful editor and beta readers.

RMWTPC – As a necromancer, Damian will live at least eight lifetimes. Will readers be able to follow him through all eight?

Eric R. Asher – Well, we don’t know quite how long Damian will live. I certainly hope to spend many more years with him, and explore the past of some of his more long-lived companions. One Cajun in particular.

RMWTPC – The fight scenes in your book were very exciting especially when Damian, Foster, and Zola battled vampires and the zombie horde. Has there been any consideration in transferring this storyline into a video game?

Eric R. Asher – Not until you said that. Now I want to play it, LOL.

RMWTPC – And what can we expect from you next and when?

Eric R. Asher – Vesik, Book Two is coming in October. Wolves and the River of Stone. Watch for it. This may be shocking, but it has wolves in it. ;)

You can follow Eric R. Asher on his blog at:

On facebook at: www.facebook.com/ericrasher

You can purchase his book on:

Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Days-Gone-Bad-Vesik-ebook/dp/B00BDUUXSA

Barnes & Noble at: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/days-gone-bad-eric-asher/1114587408?ean=9781482567434

Smashwords at: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/284028

Spotlight on Karice Bolton

Introducing Karice Bolton. Karice lives in the Pacific Northwest and writes paranormal and contemporary romance. She loves to read anything and everything. She also enjoys baking, skiing, and spending time with her wonderful husband and two English bulldogs.

She has a new book coming out on September 2nd called Beyond Control, which I will be reading for the blog. It is book one of the Beyond Love series.

Her other titles are:
*The Camp

*The Witch Avenue Series:
Lonely Souls (Book 1)
Altered Souls (Book 2)
Released Souls (Book 3)
Shattered Souls (Book 4)

*The Watchers Trilogy:
Awakening (Book 1)
Legions (Book 2)
Cataclysm (Book 3)
Taken Novella (Watchers Prequel)

Find Karice at...

website ~ www.karicebolton.com

blog ~ blog.karicebolton.com

Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest @KariceBolton

Giveaway winner!

We have a winner! Congratulations to Samantha Alvey. You have won your choice of an ebook by authors Brooke Cumberland, Vicki Green or Kimberly Stedronsky. Check your email for details on how to claim your prize. Thank you to everyone who entered. We will have another giveaway soon!

DESTRUCTIVE SILENCE by L.U. Ann

DESTRUCTIVE SILENCE by L.U. Ann

Released on August 16, 2013


DESTRUCTIVE SILENCE should be on the high school required reading list across the country. The subject matter is portrayed in a brutally honest way and deals with some of today’s toughest subjects; child molestation, alcoholism, physical and emotional abuse.

Lacey is a high school senior who resides in a suburb of Baltimore where she moved when she was 10. She struggles with balancing her good girl upbringing and her fun loving wild side. But Lacey has a past, a past she wants desperately to leave behind.

Becca, is Lacey’s best friend. Equally as fun loving as Lacey, Becca has a strong sense of self and a take no crap attitude. She keeps Lacey centered while helping her to cut loose from time to time. The strength of their friendship never waivers.

Caine is who Lacey thought would be a one night stand. After meeting him in a club and having an instant attraction, Lacey decides the best way to leave her past behind her is to create a new one. Caine was to be the ends to that mean.

The story takes us on the tumultuous ride that is Lacey and Caine’s relationship. It illustrates how through manipulation, physical and verbal abuse, the self esteem of a young woman can be chipped away at so thoroughly she feels trapped with nowhere to go.

I was impressed with the writing quality of this book considering it is the author’s first published work. L.U. Ann did an amazing job laying out difficult subject matter in a way that was spot on. The dialog between the characters was very natural and she did an equally excellent job injecting age appropriate jargon and music references in this story. (Loved the Ting Tings mention)

LU Ann was very open about answering my questions regarding this book and its subject matter. Here is our interview.

RMWTPC – Tackling one of the disturbing subjects in this book would be enough for most writers. How did you decide to tackle three in this book?

L.U. Ann – I would like nothing more than to tell you I decided to write this because friends of mine were victims; but that would be a lie. All three major subjects unleashed in Destructive Silence are near and dear to my heart because I have been at the forefront of each. I wanted to write something different than what's out there. I wanted to write about real life and hopefully help someone who might be going through the same thing. By writing about the number of issues I’ve experienced I'm able to give the reader the other side of the story. Many people ask, "Why don't you just leave?" Plain and simple, it's not as easy as that. Today's population needs to be made more aware of these issues and how we can help break these vicious cycles and make an impact on the community.

RMWTPC – Alcohol abuse among military troops is becoming a public health crisis. What compelled you to inject this topic into your storyline?

L.U. Ann – This is completely in my opinion, but the stresses involved in being a service man or woman in today's military unfortunately are comforted by alcohol. Many troops have children at a young age before they are truly ready and the added stress of deployment, relocating and a new family is often too much. To be in the service is a great honor and I support each and every troop. They already have a lot on their plate with their line of duty any added stress can be too much. This might lead to decompressing in unhealthy ways.

RMWTPC – How have your readers reacted to the dark yet realistic depiction of abuse in Destructive Silence?

I get messages praying for it not to end the way it does. I think I might give some readers a "hangover" or "WHAT???" effect. Honestly, there was no other way to end Destructive Silence. I promise, once you read the rest of the series, you will look back and say "Wow, I get it." I think readers like to get swept off their feet in romance land, I know I do. Every once and a while you need a fresh dose of reality to ground you and hopefully be able to help someone in need.

RMWTPC – And what can we expect from you next and when?

L.U. Ann – Destructive Choices is scheduled to be released in November 2013. It will recap a few of the issues found in Destructive Silence but will add a number of new ones. You will be introduced to a new character that will go above and beyond your expectations.



You can follow L.U. Ann on her blog at: http://author-luann.blogspot.com/
On facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/LU-Ann/516096385119463
And you can purchase her book on:

Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Destructive-Silence-The-Series-ebook

Barnes & Noble at: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/destructive-silence-l-u-ann

Smashwords at: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/348030

Spotlight on Eric R. Asher

Our next feature author is Eric R. Asher.

Eric calls St. Louis his hometown and is looking forward to having so many authors and bloggers visit his city during Penned Con. He is a former bookseller, guitarist, and comic seller. A lifelong enthusiast of books, music, toys, and games, he discovered a love for the written word after being dragged to the library by his parents at a young age. When he is not writing, you can usually find him reading, gaming, or buried beneath a small avalanche of Transformers.

I will be reading Eric's book Days Gone Bad

You can follow Eric on his blog at www.daysgonebad.com
on facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/#!/EricRAsher

and you can purchase his book at:
http://www.amazon.com/Days-Gone-Bad-Vesik-ebook/dp/B00BDUUXSA