Author Guest Post : After the Silence – Bree by Jacqueline Paige

Author Post

I’ve been told that any time I have animals in one of my stories they are more human than most humans. I’m not sure if that’s true, but having an animal as a secondary character just feels right and rounds out the story for me.
I find animals more expressive than people in the real world. They don’t try to hide their feelings or expressions to spare our tender human hearts.
I didn’t plan on Bree having a horse (Tremor) in her story, so I was as surprised as she was when Kismet appeared in the story.
After the Silence without Tremor or Kismet would have been a very monotone story at time I think.
Then again I’m an animal lover and the author so I may be a little bias.

Thank you for having me here today! 


After the Silence – Bree
Part 1
Jacqueline Paige

Genre: Paranormal Urban Fantasy / Survivalist

Tagline: One woman’s journey through the chaotic new world.

Those left standing make the paths for the future generations.

Book Description:

When the Mother Nature decides she’s had enough and begins to fight back, survival takes on a whole new meaning. If the earth is the enemy – there are no rules and all you can do is try to survive the odds.

Those the planet allowed to live still have to survive the trials of the virus. If you manage to come out of it alive you are left with some form of mutation that could give you an ability that could be harmless or lethal.

Bree Taylor is the last survivor of her family. With no other choice she sets off on her own to escape the clutches of the new government’s army—that does not place safety and security in their code of behavior only the highest bidder get their protection and loyalty.

Living in a world of unstable climate changes becomes a journey she won’t soon forget. She has to be prepared for anything at all times out in the new country and has to be wary of every person she meets. All while staying out of the path of the new army.

This is a 4 part serial story releasing from June - September.

Release Date for part 1 is June 18, part 2 releases July 18th

The entire volume will be released in January 2015 as one book.
http://www.firstrealmpublishing.com/


Excerpt:

The snapping and crunching of branches told me something was moving through the trees. Turning the flash light off, I hunched down to be as small and invisible as possible. I listened in the darkness for anything that would let me know where the noise had come from and what had made it. Voices were carried to me in the dark, a man and a woman. I moved slowly back towards my things and sat with my back against the tree straining to see in the dark.
Time stopped as I waited to see if the voices kept moving or came closer. I wasn’t sure what I’d do if they did come closer. I touched the handle of the knife inside my coat, hoping this wasn’t when I find out if I could use it. Leaves rustled from behind me. I held my breath and pushed back against the tree, waiting. When I heard a low growl coming from around the tree I think even my heart even paused.
I had strangers coming closer on one side of me and an animal voicing a warning behind me. Tremor shook his head and pranced a few times and the growling got louder. I sat there trying to gauge what was the most important and decided there was no way I was going to let something happen to my horse. Sliding up the tree as quietly as I could, while focusing on the voices, I tried to recall every skill instilled in me, drawing more blanks than anything useful.
Pulling the knife from the pocket, I prayed it was sharp enough to cut the rope I’d tied Tremor to. I guessed I had about fifteen seconds to cut it and get to the horse before whatever was growling took a bite off one of my legs or other body parts. Chewing my lip, I hoped I could still get on his back without the saddle. The plan was to ride like hell and come back later for my stuff—if we could find it again.

About the Author:

Jacqueline Paige lives in Ontario in a small town that’s part of the popular Georgian Triangle area. No one has ever heard of Stayner, so she usually tells people she lives “near Collingwood” and no, she doesn’t ski at Blue Mountain or at all, in fact she’s not even fond of snow.

She began her writing career in 2006 and since her first published works in 2009 she hasn’t stopped. Jacqueline describes her writing as “all things paranormal”, which she has proven is her niche with stories of witches, ghosts, physics and shifters now on the shelves.

When Jacqueline isn’t working at her ‘reality job’ or lost in her writing she spends time with her five children, most of whom are finally able to look after her instead of the other way around. Together they do random road trips, that usually end up with them lost, shopping trips where they push every button in the toy aisle, hiking when there’s enough time to escape and bizarre things like creating new daring recipes in the kitchen. She’s a grandmother to four (so far) and looks forward to corrupting many more in the years to come.

Jacqueline loves to hear from her readers, you can find her at www.jacqpaige.webs.com , www.jacqpaige.blogspot.ca or http://magicseasonsbooks.blogspot.ca

Author Guest Post: Winter Mist by Jacqueline Paige

What an adventure!
If you’ve been following the history behind my writing the Magic Seasons you know it was not planned and in the beginning, I had no idea what was going to happen.
All I can say now as the fifth book is released is “What an adventure!”
From the first book until now my own characters have kept me on the edge of my seat with one thing after the other. I’ve held my breath while getting them out of the washed out valley they were trapped in, several mishaps with spells, car chases, killers and even a few blundering moments that I’m sure the witches from the town of Russel would like to forget about.
I laughed (out loud) while writing this series, to the point that my family started to wonder if I was coming unglued. I fell in love with all of the characters in this series and even cried when they did, to the point of having to stop writing some scenes to calm down.
For the two plus years I was working on these books, I took everyone from them with me everywhere I went. It was a hard to write the end of Winter Mist, thinking I would have to let them go after that but I managed to get to the last page. The series was complete, all loose threads tucked in. Finished.
And then I deleted the last chapter and re-wrote it. The gang from the Magic Seasons Books isn’t finished yet, they’re just resting for a few years until I get through my huge list of projects and then I think we’ll be seeing more from them.

Thanks so much for having me here today!



Winter Mist
Book 5 The Magic Seasons series
Jacqueline Paige

Release date: March 15, 2013
CLASS ACT BOOKS author page
AMAZON author page


Step into a world of magic and passions....

Take a dash of spice, heat it
Add a flash of magic and watch the sparks fly
Toss in a killer that's targeting women
Add a handful of witches from all paths to stir it all together...

Patrick is a man that has lived a violent life undercover in all the wrong places, for too long. His light charm carefully keeps others from seeing the dangerous man that lies inside. He is the first for justice and will go out of his way to keep the innocent safe. He finds himself falling for the woman that was a victim of a sick and vile person and is caught between keeping her out of harm’s way and completing the job he needs to finish.

Rhonda is a woman that becomes a victim to the vicious attack of a killer. Even though she survives, she will have to learn to live with the scars for the rest of her life. In hiding she has to rebuild the strength to get through it. She is forced to spend her days and nights in the company of a detective, that seems to have no other plan in life than to constantly aggravate her and make her want things she may never have again.

When Patrick’s cover is blown and he is badly injured, the group of friends pull together to keep him and the recovering victim of a killer safe. As a result, the group of twelve become targets of the criminals after Patrick and have to live together in a safe house for Yule.

Can twelve witches follow orders or will they take matters into their own hands?


Excerpt One:
Walt looked around at the three women, then to the giant in front of him. “Who the hell are you and where’s Blaine?”
Dexter shrugged. “He’s not here.”
Walt backed toward the door a bit, pulling Bob with him for cover. He pointed the gun at the large man. “We’ll be going then.”
Dexter shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
Walt shoved Bob as hard as he could toward the other man and reached for the door at the same time. He pulled it open only to have it jerked from his hand and close with a loud bang. “What the...” He spun around and pointed the gun at the man again. Bob was lying in a heap on the floor as if he’d fainted. Idiot.
He pointed the gun at the longhaired woman and grinned. “Walk over here real slowly.” Her eyebrows went up in a look of shock.
“I don’t think so,” she said softly.
The short blonde flung an arm up and growled. “I don’t like you pointing a gun at my friends.” The gun jerked out of his hand and floated toward the big man, who reached out and plucked it out of midair.
He flipped the safety on and tucked it into the waist of his jeans. “You should listen to her friend.”
“What are you people?” Walt looked from the longhaired one back to the short blonde.
“Sexy.” The black haired woman said softly as she stepped from around the man holding his gun. “And slightly irritated because you barged in here.”
Walt stared at her for a second then turned back toward the door.
“Leaving so soon?” She purred. His back was against the wall, his feet not touching the ground. His shocked expression looked down at Rachel, as his heart tried to climb into his throat.


About the Author:

Jacqueline Paige is a world class multi-tasker being a mother to five adventurous and unpredictable children, a cafe manager and having a colossal imagination that allows her to step outside of reality into a world of paranormal romance —with just a touch of suspense.

Jacqueline lives in Ontario, Canada and avoids the ever changing weather of the region she lives in by creating other worlds to fall into in her stories of all things paranormal.

Her first book was published in 2009 and since then has published ten. She is always writing and currently has more than a dozen stories in one stage or another of the writing process.

You can find all of Jacqueline’s books at: www.jacqpaige.webs.com


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Author Guest Blog: Heart Book I in Animal Trilogy by Jacqueline Paige

Rewrites!

I’ve had to do my share of rewrites since stumbling my way into becoming a published author. A chapter here and there, a slight plot change and is a normal part of writing. Sometimes the translation from my brain to the pages doesn’t quite equate when someone else reads it, I get that.

When I wrote the first book in the Animal Trilogy, it wasn’t just my first go at writing a shifter story, it was the first time I found out what real rewrites were.

When I began writing Heart, it was in third person POV (point of view). I was a quarter of the way through when I decided I wanted try it in first person. I know that most readers relate better to third person stories, seeing things from all the characters instead of one, but I still continued and rewrote the whole thing. While I was writing it in that point of view I was able to grasp the characters sense of urgency and emotion much easier. The rest of the book just flew onto the page.

When the publisher read it, they liked it but had one request — change it to third person. So after a few hours of reading through it and seeing it in third person I agreed to do it. How hard could it be to take a completed story and write it line by line in another perspective, right?

I literally pasted the entire manuscript into a blank document and began one line at a time. Of course I had to change many scenes when I did this…and I will admit (now) that they are much better for it. Having to go through word by word and take all the I’s and me’s and change them to she and her or him and his wasn’t just challenging, but tedious. I can say that I know this story inside and out as well as backwards now. My editor even forgave the few instances of first person still lingering after the resubmission of the new completed version of Heart.

Am I happy I did this?

You betcha! The four and five star reviews just keep coming in and I’m thrilled that everyone is finding it a refreshing change for a shifter story. Just wait until you see what I have planned for Scent, the second story in the Animal Trilogy.

Synopsis

You can only hide for so long before fate steps in…

Three women without knowledge of their true heritage...

Three men have waited for their mate all of their lives...

Hearts and tempers collide with wild passions and animal instincts.

The Animal Trilogy
Book 1
HEART


Torn from her sheltered life, Rayne is alone and scared after she discovers her fiancé is not the man she thought he was. Unable to accept the corrupt world he belongs to, she flees to the furthest possible location she can reach on her own. Nothing could ever prepare her for the journey and what she finds when she arrives.
Is she strong enough to survive on her own?

The epitome of the lone wolf, Devin stays in the wilderness and far away from people, avoiding the decision of whether to accept his title as leader and alpha of the pack. One alluring woman stirs his resolve and passion when she disturbs his solitary world. The man inside is tempted in a way he can’t understand but his wolf knows he’s found his mate.
Can he have her without succumbing to the responsibilities waiting for him?


About the Author:

Jacqueline Paige is a world class multi-tasker being a mother to five adventurous and unpredictable children, a cafe manager and having a colossal imagination that allows her to step outside of reality into a world of paranormal romance —with just a touch of suspense.

Jacqueline lives in Ontario, Canada and avoids the ever changing weather of the region she lives in by creating other worlds to fall into in her stories of all things paranormal.

Her first book was published in 2009 and since then has published ten. She is always writing and currently has more than a dozen stories in one stage or another of the writing process.

You can find all of Jacqueline’s books at: www.jacqpaige.webs.com

Author Guest Post: Jacqueline Paige

WOO HOO !!!!!!!! POST #1000 - THANKS FOR READING

When the story keeps going…

By Jacqueline Paige

Sitting down and writing a story isn’t a difficult task for me. The hard thing for me (and I blame my muse) is to stop after one. More often than not I sit down to write a single story with great characters and then find out about half way through that it’s going to have to a be series or at the very least a trilogy.

When you secondary characters bring more to the plot than you intend, you are automatically obligated to write their story as well. This is what happened when I was writing Animal Heart – which is what the original name was to be. When I met Calum, his character was so intriguing I knew there would be an entire book for him and then half way through Gage and Kelsey’s story popped out at me—this is when I changed the title to Heart – Animal Trilogy.

Of course for a Trilogy I try to write similar stories, or at least have one thing to connect them. So not only did I find one thing to connect them, but several. Sitting in the plot file now is book two for the trilogy, Animal Scent, where you’ll meet a few tigers. The third book is also being plotted at the same time (because I don’t need to sleep – ever), in Animal Passion we’ll take a look at Calum’s clan of panthers.
As tiring as it is when the characters make the story continue, it’s more than worth it. I can’t wait to see where they take me.

Book Excerpt
Excerpt:

If nothing else she was warmer now. How long would the rain last? Do I want to wait it out and then try to find a washroom – in the dark? Rayne shook her head before she could go any further with that thought. There was no way she was getting out of this car until it was light out, rain or no rain. How many hours until daylight?

She debated very briefly whether she could squirm around and reach the purse to get her phone. Highly doubtful. Besides being cocooned in the puffy material, the phone was off for a reason and turning it on just to check the time wasn’t worth the risk of Aiden being able to trace the location. Truthfully she didn’t know if that was possible even though all the movies referenced it being so, but understanding what type of man Aiden was and what he was capable of, she wasn’t taking any chances.

Working one arm free from the bag, she shifted far enough forward to reach the ignition; he couldn’t track the cars clock. Turning the key, her heart sunk when she noted the time, there were too many hours left until dawn. She looked out the windshield and froze, her heart jumped into her throat. Afraid to so much as breathe, Rayne stared at the animal a few feet away from the headlight. Her brain first said dog, but that was no dog. That was a wolf; it had to be a wolf. Were wolves that big? It seemed bigger than in any pictures she’d seen.

She sat there looking at it, not sure if she should honk the horn or just sit and try not to get hysterical waiting for it to leave. The car may be metal, but the roof was something this animal could probably get through. As she continued to stare at it she couldn’t help thinking it was a beautiful creature. It’s grey and brown fur looked soft and thick, not that she’d ever be able to find out if it was. It was the way the haunting grey eyes watched her that made her decide not to honk the horn or scream as loud as she could, which had crossed her mind briefly. Rayne was fairly certain it was as surprised to see her as she was to see it. Didn’t wolves travel as group? A pack? She wanted to look around and see if there were more in the trees, but the logical part of her brain said she was better off not knowing. Never argue with the logical part.

She was sure she stopped breathing all together when it took a step closer to the car and then turned quickly back towards the trees. As she was reaching for the keys it stopped and looked back at her for the length of two heart beats before it bolted into the trees and disappeared.

Turning off the key, she sat in the dark leaning back against the seat while she tried to remind her body how to take air in. In this moment with her heart beating so loud she could hear it, or at least it felt that way, Rayne reached the decision that she was not getting out of the car until daylight, and even then was questionable. One more conclusion was also not turning the lights on again; her mental state was much better not knowing what else was outside of the car. She checked to make sure the door was locked, she did know a wolf wouldn’t just walk up and use the door handle, but she felt better knowing that she was locked in and more importantly other things were locked out.

Pulling her arm back into the sleeping bag, Rayne shuffled down as far as she could and closed her eyes. The sooner she slept, the closer daylight was to getting here. Over the noise of the water beating off the car, she thought she heard a howl.

About the Author:

Jacqueline Paige is a world class multi-tasker being a mother to five adventurous and unpredictable children, a cafe manager and having a colossal imagination that allows her to step outside of reality into a world of paranormal romance —with just a touch of suspense.

Jacqueline lives in Ontario, Canada and avoids the ever changing weather of the region she lives in by creating other worlds to fall into in her stories of all things paranormal.

Her first book was published in 2009 and since then has published ten. She is always writing and currently has more than a dozen stories in one stage or another of the writing process.

You can find all of Jacqueline’s books at: www.jacqpaige.webs.com