Tomorrow is
Halloween here in America and I couldn’t be happier. I have always loved this
dark holiday, and even as a child my fascination went beyond my costume and how
much candy I could get from the neighbors. I have always been enamored with the
supernatural and Halloween was the day it suddenly wasn’t weird for a ten year
old to know so much about ghosts, vampires and all manner of things that go
bump in the night.
And believe me I
was a fount of knowledge. Unfortunately the books available on such subjects at
my school were few but I had two town libraries at my disposal. I read every book in that section I could get
my hands on. And there may have been a night or two when my eyes peered at
shadows over the edge of my blanket as I tried to decipher whether that was a
shirt or a ghost on that chair in the corner.
Naturally that
fascination bled into my fiction reading as well. I burned through R.L. Stine
and Christopher Pike among others and was reading Stephen King by the time I
was a freshman in high school. I watched the rise of paranormal romance and
urban fantasy with giddy anticipation.
Now I write about
all those things that have always fascinated me. And I’m always coming up with
new ideas on how I can use them in my series or in future books. In the Realm
Walker universe you’ll find gods, fae, werecreatures, vampires, witches,
sorcerers and just about anything else you can think of. Blood Slave even has
zombies and leprechauns. What’s even more fun for me is using all these
creatures everyone knows in new and unexpected ways. My mages are tightly
controlled and overseen by a director. My vampires aren’t undead; their lives
have been extended by ancient blood magic and they feed to keep the spell working.
So, tonight, as
darkness falls and the wind begins to blow as the witching hour draws ever
closer think about your favorite supernatural creature and come back here and
share them with me. If you’ve got one rarely heard of, even better. You never
know I might find something new to research.
Happy Halloween and Happy Reading!
Blood Slave
Realm Walker Series
Book 3
Kathleen Collins
Can she find a killer in a town where the basest desires are allowed to run free?
There are zombies in the Dead Zone and Juliana Norris is sent to take care of the problem. And for there to be zombies, there had to be bodies. When vampires are found to be the culprits, Juliana is sent undercover in the red light district of Kansas City. Lying to her mate, Thomas Kendrick, isn’t something she wants to do, but she’s in another vampire’s territory and Thomas would not be pleased. Besides, she’s more than capable of doing the job and she needs to prove it to everyone. Most of all herself.
Charles Morgan is in control of the Kansas City area, making a rich living off his various enterprises. Juliana goes undercover at the strip club Lust and gets sucked into his dark, decadent world. More victims turn up and the Agency is positive they’ve got their man, but Juliana is not so sure. When the Agency refuses to listen, she reluctantly turns to Thomas for help. He intervenes but finds Juliana unaware of the danger she is in and discovers she may just be too deep for him to save.
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Excerpt 1:
The
zombie Pomeranian yipped at Nathaniel in between growling and tugging at the
leg of his jeans. Juliana pulled her foot back to kick the creature away from
her friend and made ready to bring her sword down on it as soon as it was
clear.
“Don’t,”
Nathaniel protested as he held up a still-clawed hand. “You might hurt it.”
Her
brows arched up into her hairline. “That would be the general idea.” The thing
growled again and she looked down at it where it was doing its utmost to gnaw a
hole through Nathaniel’s jeans. And she wasn’t entirely sure it would stop when
it got to skin. I realize you have a particu-lar kinship with all things
canine, but it’s gnawing on your leg.”
“Just
my jeans.” Now back in fully human form, he bent and disengaged the dog from
the denim.
“Easy
there, boy. Good dog.” When the Pomeranian continued to express its displeasure
with the situation in general and Nathaniel in particular, he lifted the beast
above his head, looked at it nose to nose and growled back. Evidently
recognizing an alpha even in its altered state, the dog curled in on itself and
whimpered before darting its tongue out to lick Nathaniel’s nose. Juliana
grimaced. Zombie breath couldn’t be pretty.
“See,
he doesn’t mean any harm,” her friend said as he tucked the abomination under
one arm. Their scruffy brown hair made them look surprisingly similar.
She
blinked at him in disbelief before taking another look at the creature in
question. When she bent closer, it growled and she straightened with a huff.
“She.”
“What?”
“She. Name tag says Fifi. Last time I
checked that was a girl’s name.”
Nathaniel snorted in derision. “Fifi.
What a prissy name.”
“Hate to break it to you, partner, but
that is a prissy dog. And it smells like mold.”
About the Author:
Kathleen Collins lives and works in Missouri. By day, she labors in the local prosecutor's office. At night she writes while surrounded by her husband, two boys and two loveable mutts. She is constantly thinking of her next project and loves to connect with her readers. You can fine her most often on Facebook or on her website.
@kathy_collins
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