Magic, Mayhem, and Murder

Bear with me, friends, it's been a long time since this witch has made a blog post, and the gremlin king of technology and I have a long and bloody history...

Greetings! I'm Jennifer Blackstream, USA Today bestselling author of urban fantasy and paranormal romance. You can find me at http://www.jenniferblackstream.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/JenniferBlackstream8675309/

For now, here's what you need to know:

I'm an avid coop board gamer. My group meets once a week (more in the summer when kids are out of school) and we play games like Mice and Mystics, Eldritch Horror, Thanos Rising, and Sentinels of the Multiverse. Some of my blog posts will be about the games I love, and I ALWAYS want recommendations of new coop board games. Note: Coop means cooperative, where you win or lose as a team. Not competitive.

I love conventions. Right now, I attend ConFusion (Novi, Michigan), ConCoction (Cleveland, Ohio), MarCon (Columbus, Ohio), and DragonCon (Atlanta, Georgia). I look for cons with a good writing/genre fiction track, so if you have any within four hours of Ohio that you'd recommend, please leave a comment!

I read for enjoyment, and that's how I write. If you read one of my books, I will try to run you through the gamut of emotions. Ideally, you'll gasp, you'll laugh, and you'll miss your bedtime, and maybe once in a while you'll tear up, but you should never be depressed or down by the time you finish the last page. For me, murder mysteries are delicious homicidal stress relief, and that's what I want to offer you. My favorite authors include Laurell K. Hamilton, Terry Pratchett, SM Reine, Jim Butcher, Kim Harrison, and Patricia Briggs. These authors have largely influence my own work, so that gives you some idea what to expect.

Which brings me to said work:

THE BLOOD TRAILS SERIES is a fusion of fantasy and mystery that combines a classic private investigator/whodunit with the sarcasm and magic that's made the Urban Fantasy genre so famous.

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THE BLOOD PRINCE SERIES is a sensual paranormal romance series that twists beloved fairy tales into original tales of love, adventure, and...well, blood. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and ultimately you'll need to sink your teeth into the next book as you follow a desperate desire to find out just what the werewolf, the vampire, the demon, the angel, and the god are really up to...

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THE BLOOD REALM SERIES is a spin-off/continuation of the Blood Prince series.

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All of my books are written in the same universe (yes, even the urban fantasy, which is contemporary, not historical like the Blood Prince/Blood Realm series--and you'll have to read Deadline to find out how I managed that...). Be ready for crossovers and cameos!

And that's all for now!

I think...

JB

Today Is My (Book) Birthday!

Hey, everyone! I'm Sarra Cannon, and today I'm celebrating nine years since I published my first book, Beautiful Demons.

I honestly can hardly believe it's been nine full years since I took the plunge and decided to start my own publishing company and put my books out into the world.

When I first started writing, I had every intention of trying to get a deal with a big publisher, but as I met more published authors and got into the industry a bit more, I decided that I really wanted to have more control over my own books and to get them in the hands of readers faster than traditional publishing. Nine years ago today, I took the leap and published my books on my own.

It was seriously the best decision I ever made! Since then, I've published 25 books and sold nearly three quarters of a million copies. It's crazy to think how much that one day - that one decision - changed my life forever.

Unlike some of the other authors you'll meet on this blog, I write mostly Young Adult fiction. I can't exactly call most of it Urban Fantasy, because my main series, The Shadow Demons Saga, is set in a super small town in Georgia called Peachville.

Peachville is totally made up, but it's based (not so loosely) on the town where I grew up. Hawkinsville, Georgia.

Beautiful Demons

Beautiful Demons is the first book in my Shadow Demons Saga, so in celebration of this book's birthday, here is quick description for you:

Harper Madison isn't like other girls. She has extraordinary powers, but her inability to control them has gotten her kicked from so many foster homes she's lost count. Shadowford Home for Girls is her last chance, and she hopes Peachville High will be the fresh start she needs.

At first, life appears to be looking up for Harper. She's making new friends and is strangely drawn to the guy next door. But when evidence ties her to the gruesome murder of a Demons cheerleader, Harper discovers this small town has a big secret.

My life has changed so much since I wrote and published this book, and I couldn't be more grateful to each reader who has taken a chance on this series.

What's really nuts is that I originally expected and planned for this to be a simple trilogy. The first couple of books are shorter and the story lines are simpler, but the more I wrote in this world, the more ideas started to flow out of me. I had to write more!

Now, nine years later, I'm about to start working on the 11th book in this series. There will be 12 total, but I also have a spin-off called Sacrifice Me and a few side stories, as well.

If you don't like YA as much but you want to check out this story world, you might love Sacrifice Me, which is more Urban Fantasy with a strong romance and one of my personal favorite heroines, Franki. She is 21, so even though there is still a coming of age feel to her story, it's more New Adult than YA.

If you're interested in checking out my books, you can find the Shadow Demons Saga reading order here on my personal website, with links to buy the first three books in the Shadow Demons Saga for free in the Beautiful Demons Box Set.

More About Me

And since this is the first post from me, let me share a little bit more about who I am and what I'm all about. I currently live in Charleston, South Carolina, which is seriously a dream come true. I have always wanted to live near the beach in an old southern town like Charleston. I love it!

I am married to my best friend, George, who I met while playing an online game called Everquest II years ago. We will celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary in December.

We have two children. Andrew is 7 and he's the cutest, sweetest, red-headed little boy in the world. We also just had a daughter 8 weeks ago!! Her name is Nynaeve (a name we pulled from our fave fantasy series, The Wheel of Time), but we call her Evie. How cute are they?

You can see lots of family and behind-the-scenes writing pics over on my Instagram, so I'd love for you to follow me there!

I am passionate about my stories, and I love creating new worlds. I'm also passionate about helping fellow writers and people who want to be writers find a way to get their books out there and manage their time. Okay, I'm also a passionate planner-girl who is obsessed with washi tape :P. If you have always thought about writing a book, you might be interested in my YouTube channel, Heart Breathings, where I talk a lot about writing, publishing, and all things planner.

What else? I love gaming (currently playing Final Fantasy online), anime (Sword Art Online is my all-time favorite next to RWBY), and reading. I'm also really into Tarot Cards, crystals, and manifestation. Oh! And I am obsessed with Hello Kitty!

And that's basically me! If you stumble across this post, comment and let me know a little bit about you, too! I'd love to hear more!

Oh, and by the way, this is me with Baby Evie!

So, hello to you! Welcome to our blog. I hope you'll stick around and hang out with us here.

As a huge Happy Birthday to Beautiful Demons, I hope you'll pick up that first free box set and give it a try. It's a great time to discover the series since you can binge read the first 10 books and the side stories before the 11th book comes out early next year. :P

Also, as a gift to you, here's a free downloadable signed wallpaper featuring my cover art from the incredible artist, Ravven. You can simply click on the image to bring up the full size and then save this image and post it as your laptop or desktop wallpaper. The image below is perfect for most phones!

Click here for the full sized desktop image!

Click here for the full sized phone wallpaper image!

I hope you enjoy the free wallpapers. Thank you for hanging out and helping me celebrate Beautiful Demons' book birthday today!

All Aboard For the Wild Hunt

So our beginning posts are going to be introductions and a bit of chit-chat so you get to know us a little better. So...here's me, in a (non) nutshell! I've got  along bio, so pull up a chair and I'll try to keep from being boring. ;)

I’m New York Times, USA TODAY, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn.  In April 2012, I won a Career Achievement Award in Urban Fantasy at the Romantic Times Convention.

I have over 65 books on the shelves, and I write urban fantasy and paranormal romance, including the Wild Hunt Series, the Fury Unbound Series, the Indigo Court Series, the Otherworld Series, the Bewitching Bedlam Series, and a number of others, as well as metaphysical nonfiction books. AND...I just got my rights back to my Whisper Hollow Series, which I'll be starting up again!

I wrote for traditional publishers for twenty years, from 1996 until 2016, and now I have moved into being an indie author to give myself more freedom. I'm loving the new ride. It suits me well and I find so much more freedom this way.

And yes, I’m a shamanic witch and am considered an elder in the Pagan community, having been in the Craft since February 29th (yes, leap year day), 1980.  I walk an eclectic path and consider my life to be a blend of teacups and tattoos–the former in my china closet, the latter on my skin–I’m a heavily inked pagan priestess.