OTBP Blog Tour & Giveaway | Winners Announcement!

The Off the Beaten Path Blog Tour & Giveaway has concluded, and the winners are....

Grand Prize winner of bound book & $10 Amazon card:

Felicia T. 

Triple winners of 2 $5 Amazon cards &“Off the Beaten Path” ebook:

Tanya J.

Amy H.

Double winner of $5 Amazon card & “Off the Beaten Path” ebook:

Teresa E.

Winners of “Off the Beaten Path” ebook:

Tiffany M.

Seth C.

Kristy E.

Tiffany K.

Winners of $5 Amazon card:

Clare T.

Jackie B.

Rose W.

Congratulations to you all! Thanks for entering, and we hope you enjoy our collection of paranormal short stories. : )

OTBP Blog Tour & Giveaway | Author Interview: Jason Graves

It's the last day of the Off the Beaten Path Blog Tour & Giveaway! So be sure to enter for a chance to win books and Amazon cash! It's super easy, and if you like following authors on Facebook and Twitter, there are tons of ways to earn more entries!

Today, I'd like to introduce the man who put together our haunting collection of short stories. He's been a blast to work with! : )

Jason T. Graves lives in North Carolina with his family and a menagerie of small, domestic animals. He takes his coffee black, and, when he is not conducting mysterious, mad-scientist experiments with his students, he writes mysterious and beautiful fiction. Many years ago, he was punched, only once and very lightly, by Muhammad Ali.  Jason is the author of the Noctivagas Chronicles and the novella On the Bridge.

Q. Vampires? Werewolves? Ghosts? What's your favorite flavor of supernatural and why? 

A. Vampires and Fey seem to have carried the day for the moment, what with The Noctivagas Chronicle (Blood Roses and Morning Stars) and On the Bridge. However, I enjoy other paranormal and supernatural critters and characters, such as angels and demons, ghosts and spectres, and Nephilim. I can't abide with lycanthropes though, because shape shifting would be a biological nightmare of epic proportions... and besides, that much hair is kinda gross. I enjoy writing about vampires because the whole phenomenon of pale, elegant, blood suckers is fascinating from a scientific
scientific stand point: how could biologically tenable vampires exist? That's a question that drove the story development in The Noctivagas Chronicle. Of course, no scientific treatment of the undead would be complete without some magic and mysticism thrown in for good measure, so I did that too. I'm not really keen on the whole ghoul-like vampires or zombies -- I swore I'd never write a zombie story -- although I have three ideas for stories that directly relate to zombies. Go figure! Oh, and never say never... it'll come back and bite you on the butt. 

Q. Do you dabble in other genres besides paranormal? What kind of stories come to you most naturally when writing? 

A. I mostly write about people and how they relate to each other and react to life-altering circumstances. As such, I can write across genres, and I do. I have written science fiction stories, and I have story ideas for Chick Lit and New Adult stories, and a dark, urban fantasy. I even have a couple of ideas for children's and elementary-grade books. I never want to be genre typed. 

Q. Are you an outliner or an organic writer? 

A. I am definitely an organic writer. I let my characters (aka, my subconscious) write much of the story, then come in and organize stuff with the conscious mind. I generally write the outline near the end, just to keep everything straight -- especially as my novels comprise a series, which requires more diligence. My subconscious mind is very clever, and I often don't find out just how much until months after I have written some things. It's fun to have those, "Ah, ha!" moments when I discover just how clever I am, haha! 

Q. Where do you do your writing? Do you have an office, or do you frequent a favorite coffee shop? 

A. I do the bulk of my writing at home, in my office. If I tried writing in a coffee shop, I'd be fat from all the lattes and pastries. I do write, on occasion, in my favorite book store. It adds symmetry to my life, and makes me feel like Harlan Ellison. 

Q. What are you currently working on? 

A. Um... I have about six irons in the fire at any given moment, but I've been spending most of my limited time on Mars Rising, the sequel to Morning Stars. I have also started working on the novel to follow On the Bridge, my novella about a possibly insane young black woman (Gretchen Thyrd) and the Fey who love and hate her. On the Bridge is a bit of an awesome story that I fear is being woefully under read. 

Q. What question do you wish someone would just ask you already?

A. I wish someone would ask me what my favorite flavor of ice cream is already. If you ever meet me at a convention or a book signing, just come up and ask me! I will tell you! Only, you need to be prepared to buy me some ice cream afterwards :) 

Thanks for visiting my blog today, Jason! And thank you for bringing us all together for the awesomeness that is Off the Beaten Path! 

Find Jason all across the interwebs...

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon

 

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OTBP Blog Tour & Giveaway | Author Interview: D. R. Johnson

It's day #4 of the Off the Beaten Path blog tour & giveaway, and today I'd like to share some more about author Debra Johnson with you! Debra writes under the name D. R. Johnson, and she was also part of the big indie book giveaway that I participated in earlier this year. She is the author of The Pheonix Curse Saga, and her short story To Darkness I Fall was featured in Off the Beaten Path.

Debra resides in Texas, one of my favorite places to visit! So I'm hopeful that we'll meet in person one day... and maybe do a book signing together! : )


Q: Vampires? Werewolves? Ghosts? What's your favorite flavor of supernatural and why? 

A: I love them all and sometimes my favorite can sway, but right now I love anything to do with angels. I don’t know if that’s QUITE considered supernatural, but I love a good story of the tug of war in heaven and the whole mythology behind it. Besides, what girl can resist a good ‘fallen angel’ story? Angels are totally the new vampires.

Q: Do you dabble in other genres besides paranormal? What kind of stories come to you most naturally when writing? 

A: I will dabble anywhere my mind takes me, but about 50% of my writing is dystopian/apocalyptic stuff. The other 50% is split between paranormal, chick-lit and fantasy.

Q: Are you an outliner or an organic writer? 

A: Well, not going to lie, but I had to look that up. So you know what that means? I’m organic, baby. I let myself drift in the story and see where it takes me. There is no outlining. The story does what it needs to do while I’m just the tool typing. Then I’ll rein it in during the editing process. I love writing. I hate editing.

Q: Where do you do your writing? Do you have an office, or do you frequent a favorite coffee shop? 

A: Unfortunately, I do not have a retreat I can escape too. My desk is in the middle of the living room (AKA; Grand Central Station) and there’s always something going on during the waking hours. So, I wait till everyone else is asleep and then take advantage of all the quiet time. Although I wish I could, I know I could never write in a coffee house. I tend to talk to myself, act out motions and, occasional, yank on my hair. I just don’t see that going over well.

Q: What are you currently working on?

A: I am just about to release my second installment in The Phoenix Curse series. I actually pushed back the release a couple weeks so I could focus some attention on the release of OTBP. The Phoenix Curse has been pretty time consuming and I don’t see myself working on another big project until I get everything wrapped up, and that might take a few years..  

Thanks for visiting with me, and good luck with your next book! Can't wait to read it! : )

Find Debra across the interwebs...

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads |Amazon

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OTBP Blog Tour & Giveaway | Author Interview: Chip Putnam

Kicking off day #2 of the Off the Beaten Path blog tour & giveaway, and I thought it might be nice to learn some more about my fellow indie authors whose short stories are also featured in the anthology. A lot of times, these projects are organized and collaborated on between authors who span the globe. We send dozens of group emails helping each other with editing and marketing plans. Many of us do not get the chance to meet in person, and many of our correspondences are book related, so it's really nice, once the work is finished, to get to know each other on a more personal level.

Today, I'd like to introduce Chip Putnam. Chip actually has two short stories in Off the Beaten Path: The Reason Why Grandmothers Should Not Be Allowed To Read Vampire Novels and Prairie Zombies. He has also won several contests with other short stories, and he managed to accomplish all of this with a full teaching schedule as a high school science teacher in North Carolina.

Chip was able to find a few moments to visit with me, and here are some fun facts I found out about him.

Q: Vampires? Werewolves? Ghosts? What's your favorite flavor of supernatural and why? 

A: I would have to say the zombie hordes are my favorite.  Vampires get all of the PR, ghosts are too transparent, and werewolves are just plain schizophrenic.  It shouldn’t be too difficult to pick a species, but werewolves have to try to be both humans and wolves.  It’s no wonder they don’t really fit in with anyone.  For my favorite undead, I have to go with the underdog, the oft maligned, zombies.  They lurch, they moan, and eat the occasional brain.   What’s not to love?

Q: Do you dabble in other genres besides paranormal? What kind of stories come to you most naturally when writing? 

A: I’m possibly the most eclectic author I know.  My passion is fantasy, but I’m good with a quip or two.  So I find it easy to write contemporary humor.  Since all of my adult life has been spent in a high school classroom, I tend to gravitate toward school stories that bear a more than passing resemblance to events I have witnessed over the past twenty years.  In a demonstration of eclectic nature, my most recent manuscript was a romantic comedy.  When asked about my favorite genre, my response is, “The one I haven’t explored yet.”  

Q: Are you an outliner or an organic writer? 

A: I tend to start a story with both a beginning and an ending in mind.  The steps in between are usually a hazy blur, with half-glimpsed scenes.  It’s an adventure writing a novel, and several characters have assumed personalities that I had not predicted at the start of the project.

Q: Where do you do your writing? Do you have an office, or do you frequent a favorite coffee shop? 

A: If you remember the old Western TV show, “Have Gun - Will Travel,” then you have an idea of where I write.  My theme is “Have Laptop – Will Travel.”  With two active daughters, I can be seen sitting in bleachers watching gymnastic practice while slaughtering entire villages in a story.  Waiting for the end of dance class one night, I mapped out the entire ending of a love story where boy meets girl only to loose her to the allure of the stage.  At this point I can’t decide if her love for him is strong enough to pull her away from the limelight, or if zombies destroy the theater.  All thoughts of travel aside, my favorite place to write is draped over our overstuffed chair in the living room with Pink Floyd playing in the background.

Q: What are you currently working on?

A: I am currently finishing a fictional account of a school year, which bears an overwhelming resemblance to the real world events I experienced in my own classroom last year.  I am hoping to have it on the market by the end of the October.  I am also polishing up a fantasy manuscript in what I call “High Fantasy” in the Tolkien style.  After watching her dear, old dad write, my youngest daughter wants to collaborate on a story she is developing.  Aside from the benefits of spending time with my daughter, it’s a darn good story line.  I’ve enjoyed my foray into the realm of the paranormal with Off the Beaten Path.  When I finished the “The Reason Why Grandmother’s Should Never Be Allowed to Read About Vampires,” a small embryo of an idea took root in my mind of a way to merge the drama of high school with the fun of the paranormal, without anybody sparkling.  When you think carefully upon the subject, high school and the paranormal really aren’t that different.  

Thanks for visiting with me, and good luck with your future works. They sound exciting! : )

Find Chip across the interwebs...

Blog | Facebook | Goodreads

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Off the Beaten Path Blog Tour & Giveaway Begins Today!

Happy October everyone!

This is my very favorite time of year, and even more so this year. Off the Beaten Path, an anthology featuring a short Lana Harvey story, is now available on Kindle and Amazon! This collection of eight paranormal tales is a perfect read for the season. It also features some of my favorite indie authors from a lively bunch I had the pleasure of doing an awesome giveaway with earlier this year.

To celebrate the release of our haunting collection of short stories, we're giving away all kinds of bookish goods during our blog tour, which starts today! See below for all the easy ways to enter for a chance to win!

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OFF THE BEATEN PATH

The Blog Tour for OFF THE BEATEN PATH starts October 1st! Woot! The anthology features eight short stories from some great indie authors. We'll be giving away copies of the Kindle ebook edition and several Amazon gift cards, so be sure to check out these great blogs from October 1st - October 8th for some fun interviews and the chance to enter the giveaway!

Blog List 

Sharon Sant, author of Sky Song and The New Moon

Angela Roquet, author of the Lana Harvey series and Crazy Ex-Ghoulfriend

Monica La Porta, author of The Ginecean Chronicles and The Prince's Day Out

D. R. Johnson, author of The Phoenix Curse saga

Jason Graves, author of On the Bridge, Blood Roses, and Morning Stars 

Chip Putnam, author of The Reason Why Grandmothers Should Not Be Allowed To Read Vampire Novels and Prairie Zombies


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