Hi, I’m Kory and I write Dark/Urban Fantasy.
What are some of your favorite songs to listen to while writing (or anything else)?
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For those of you who like “dark”, either because you need music while you write (like me!) or enjoy a good soundtrack while you work—I’ve made a 10-song list for you to enjoy.
What are some of your favorite songs to listen to while writing (or anything else)?
Worth Dying For
Dying for a Living Series
Book Five
Kory M. Shrum
Genre: Supernatural Suspense, Paranormal Thriller
Publisher: Timberlane Press
Date of Publication: May 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-0692705322
ASIN: B01C0PFMJ6
Number of pages: Print, 435
Word Count: 83K
Cover Artist: John K. Addis
Book Description:
A supernatural suspense novel about a snarky anti-heroine and her motley crew trying to stop the unstoppable. The fifth novel in the popular Dying for a Living series, Worth Dying For picks up two months after the events of Dying Light.
The gang is in New York and much to Jesse’s surprise, they are all still alive. Jesse, Ally, Rachel, Gideon and Maisie have managed to stay off of Caldwell’s radar for months. But when your enemy can control minds and teleport, there isn’t a safe place in the world where you can hide. They have a plan for stopping his genocidal reign, but it will require a 2500-mile road trip to Cochise, Arizona, the abandoned military base where it all began.
Excerpt:
“So what’ll it
be?” I ask her. “Water? Juice? I don’t think we actually have Gatorade, but I
can walk down to the store.”
“Water’s fine.”
Ally falls back against cushions and grins up at me. A light pink blush spreads
over her cheeks. She finger-combs her hair. “My hair is so pretty. I love my
hair.”
I snort. “I love
your hair too.”
“What else about
me is cute?” she asks.
“Everything.” I
fluff the pillow for her and search the room for a blanket. I yank a red
velvety throw off the back of a chair as Gideon slips out of the bedroom and
passes me on his way to the mini fridge. He grabs one of the wrapped water glasses
from the bar above.
“Grab us one
too.” I have zero problems assigning tasks to other people. Sometimes I wonder
if it was a mistake going into death-replacing. Sure, I was a great death
replacement agent, and dying for other people is cool, but I’m really good at
bossing people around.
It’s like a
calling.
Gideon fills two
water glasses with some fancy bottled water from the fridge and hands me a
glass. I don’t dare remind him that Ally vowed not to drink this water
yesterday. She ranted about the effect of plastic on the environment for ten
whole minutes. I could’ve reminded her that the planet is about to explode
anyway, but that meant Gideon would’ve won the argument and I’m Team Ally all
the way.
I put the glass
of water in her hand. What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. “Here you go. Drink
up.”
She waves her
water around. “I just feel so good, you know?”
I smile. “I can
tell.”
She runs a hand
through her hair. “It’s a new year. A new beginning. And we have a great plan
for kicking Caldwell’s butt.”
“We do.”
“And you’re so
cute and you kissed me.”
With arched
eyebrows, Gideon closes the bedroom door behind him. Thankfully, the sound of
the television comes on, affording us some privacy.
I sink down onto
the sofa beside her. “I’ll do it again if you want me too. I’ll kiss you a
million times.”
She bites her
lip and I’m about to lose it. I lean forward to kiss her but she starts talking
again, so I hang there mid-smooch, lips puckered.
“Life is so good
right now. No one is stabbing us, burying us alive, beating us up, or
kidnapping the dog,” she goes on, her voice echoing inside her water glass. Her
face pinches. “That means we are probably about to die.”
I press my lips
together and sigh. “Don’t say that. You’ll jinx us.”
It’s difficult
getting her to sit up, but I manage it. I want her to drink this water. I tilt
the glass toward her lips, encouraging her.
“This is good,”
she says and frowns at the water. “Is this tap water?”
“Yep.”
“Because I’m not
drinking that $15 water Gideon bought.”
“It’s tap,” I say
again. “You’re just too drunk to taste it.”
Ally shrugs and
finishes the glass. Then she hands me her empty glass.
“You want more?”
“No,” she grins.
“I want something else.”
“We’ve got
chips, but that’s about it. And Rachel can’t close a bag to save her life, so
they’re probably stale.”
She shakes her
head, grinning.
Then I realize
what she’s saying.
“Oh.” I smile.
“Okay.”
She crawls over
the pillow between us and pulls herself into my lap. She straddles me, wrapping
her arms around my neck. She kisses me once on the cheek, probably a missed
target rather than a sweet gesture, and then manages to get my mouth the second
time.
She pulls back.
“God, is it you or is it really hot in here?”
“We’re still
wearing our coats.”
She laughs and
looks down at herself. “Oh. Right.”
I reach up
behind her and pull her jacket off. “Better?”
She snuggles up
to me. “You’re still hot.”
“Thanks for
noticing.”
“Let me help you
take your coat off.”
“Okay.” I let
her attempt to pull off the jacket, but it’s not really going anywhere and she
accidentally pulls my hair twice. So I help her get my jacket off and throw it
over the arm of the sofa. One of the throw pillows falls to the floor with a
poof.
Ally doesn’t
stop there. She slips her hands under my shirt, giving me a curious look. “Is
this okay?”
I try to find
the voice to tell her it’s more than okay. She would have been naked an hour
ago in the grubby bathroom of some bar if she wasn’t such a germaphobe.
She is so
beautiful. Her eyes are bright, reflecting the lamplight. Her face is flushed
from the alcohol, her smile lazy. Her eyes half-closed. My heart pounds in my
chest, thudding against my ribs so hard it hurts.
“What’s wrong?”
A frown creases her face and I think she can hear my heart throbbing. “Don’t
you think I’m pretty?”
“Don’t be
stupid.”
I reach up and
pull her down into my arms. I kiss her, even more deeply than I did on the
balcony. I slip my hand under her shirt and unsnap her bra with one twist of my
fingers.
She gasps in my
mouth and the sound of it makes my whole body shudder.
“Lay down,” I
command.
She laughs,
surprised, but her voice goes all deep and breathy. “Yes, sir.”
I climb on top
of her, positioning myself between her legs. I kiss her neck and she squirms,
bucking her hips up against mine.
“Do you love
me?” she asks.
“More than
anyone.”
“Are you sure?”
I cover her
mouth with mine. “Please stop talking.” I pull back. “Unless you want me to
stop.”
“No, no.” She
grabs the front of my hoodie, twisting it up in her fists and pulls me down on
top of her.
Shrum's writing is smart, imaginative, and insanely addictive! I have begun to think of her books as my Kory Krack. I beg of you to pick them up. You will NOT regret it! ~ Darynda Jones, New York Times Bestselling Author of the Charley Davidson series
This book and author are now among my favorites! Wow! I might be a little partial to this story because I love morbid comedy, urban fantasy, and a good mystery. I'm also a big fan of original ideas, since they're so rare anymore. But this one has it all! ~ Angela Roquet, author of the Lana Harvey Reapers Inc. series
Shrum is a master at blending a breezy narrative with genuine weight to story and characters. Hysterical, moving, and fascinating all at once. ~ John K. Addis, author of The Eaton
About the Author:
Kory M. Shrum lives in Michigan with her partner Kim and her ferocious guard pug Josephine. She is very fond of naps and foods made of sugar, which is, as you can imagine, a deadly combination. But she tries to compensate for her extreme physical laziness with her overactive imagination. She's an active member of SFWA, HWA, and the Four Horsemen of the Bookocalypse, where she's known as Conquest. She's the author of five contemporary (and somewhat dark) fantasy novels in the Dying for a Living series: Dying for a Living, Dying by the Hour, Dying for Her: A Companion Novel, Dying Light, and Worth Dying For.
Dying for a Living has over 190 5-star reviews and is a free ebook.
When not writing, she can be found teaching, traveling, and wearing a gi. She's very likely to tempt you to an ominous tarot or palm reading--anything spooky-foo to pass the time until Guardians of the Galaxy or Sherlock return. She's not-so-secretly dying for the next season to begin.
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