WELCOME THIS WEEK'S FEATURED AUTHOR!
SHANNON RECKLER
shannonreckler@hotmail.com
CONTEST: Comment below and include your email address for a chance to win OUT OF DARKNESS: SLAYER 2. Contest ends April 13th at midnight.
ABOUT
Shannon Reckler is a southern girl at
heart, who grew up in a small town in North Carolina. She currently is
finishing college, and living in the mountains. Her feline, ember, keeps her
company while she is up late trying to finish whatever story is locked in her
mind. She is passionate about writing as well as cooking. Nothing means more to
her than her family and friends, and she can’t wait to return to her hometown
someday.
OUT OF DARKNESS [SLAYER 2]
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Phoebe has been captured by Cordin, the leader of
the vampires, and is fighting for her life—as well as the way of life she has
come to know for the last two hundred years. As the youngest sister, Phoebe is
still learning everything about the world of the Slayers. But more importantly,
she is still learning things about herself. Currently she is learning that her
resistance is just as strong as she thought it was.
Cordin has put his right-hand man, Xander, in
charge of watching her. Unfortunately, she spends a lot of time watching him,
too.
Phoebe won’t stop trying to escape and
return home, but this mysterious man keeps distracting her from her goals.
Xander has not only captured her physically, but is capturing her heart without
even trying. Phoebe must choose between returning home to her sisters and
remaining Xander’s prisoner forever.
STORY EXCERPT
Phoebe heard the boots touch
softly on the ground. She knew that without her specialized hearing, she never
would have been able to hear the feet land only inches away from hers. She
didn’t move, because she knew she would only have one burst of adrenaline
powerful enough for her to possibly fight against her attacker. She needed to
make sure she had a chance at life. She couldn’t let her sisters down.
The man who was in front of her, didn’t make a move to grab her
or threaten her. He simply stood there watching her, she could feel his gaze on
the top of her head where she was curled around her knees. She couldn’t see him
with the angle her head was at, and she couldn’t move to look at him. However,
she could feel the energy he was letting off.
Because of her heightened panther senses, she could feel
various energy from different types of beings. Her non-animal sisters had a
different energy than the ones who could shift. And then the vampires had a
horrid energy surrounding them, it was almost a suffocating sense.
However this energy, was not familiar to her. She knew he was
not a vampire, he had a strong energy but it wasn’t inherently evil.
She sat patiently waiting for him to move, but he just stood
there for a few more moments. She couldn’t hear him breathe, which was strange.
She also had impeccable hearing. How was it possible that he made no sound?
She was startled by a rough, warm hand on her arm. How long had
he been so close to her? She thought he might be there to help her, since there
was no evil energy, but then he jerked her roughly to her feet.
Because it had been so long since she had had blood, her body
was weak and she wasn’t prepared to have to catch her weight on her feet. She
fell forward into the man, and found her self mashed up against a solid, hard
body. He tensed as her body melted in to him, and then his arms came up to her
shoulders pausing for a minute before he jerked her away from him.
She caught a whiff of his scent and was mesmerized for a
moment, before the scent of blood caught her nostrils and her stomach cramped.
She couldn’t stop the whimper from escaping her chapped lips. She could feel
her fangs distend from her gums, just at the thought of sinking her teeth into
flesh.
The stranger growled low in his throat, as if he could read her
thoughts. Her panther answered with a growl of her own. She knew she was weak,
but she wasn’t dead and she didn’t take kindly to being threatened.
“Slayer don’t you even think of biting me. I will kill you if I
have to.” Phoebe shivered at the first sound of his voice. It was deep and
husky, as if he didn’t speak very often, but she felt the vibrato of it all the
way to her bones. But then she remembered where she was and who this man was
probably associated with.
“I wouldn’t bite a vampire to save my life, no matter if it
meant death. I would rather die than have that kind of filth in my body.” She
tried to jerk her arms free, as a serge of adrenaline hit her system. But it
wasn’t enough strength to combat the power of this man. Or vampire? She was
trying to think in her head, when he had the audacity to laugh at her
struggles.
“We agree then.” She didn’t know what he meant at first, because
her temper was flaring at his laughter. But then she figured out he was talking
about the vampire blood.
“You’re not vampire?”
He let out a not-so-quiet snort. “Hell no.”
“Then you’re here to help me?” Phoebe thought she had a glimmer
of hope until his fingers tightened on her arms.
“No.” She felt his hand move from her arm, but she couldn’t see
in this hellhole. She was trying to use her energy to figure out what he was doing,
but it was hard enough to figure out how big he was, and how hard it was going
to be to fight him off.
She could tell her was taller than her, from where her head had
been at high on his chest. Which put him at around 6’5”, since she was almost
5’11” herself. He had a muscular chest and thighs that she could tell from
their brief contact, which meant the rest of him was probably impressive in
strength as well.
She honestly didn’t think she could fight him off, but she
tried to prepare herself for the fight anyway. She couldn’t fathom dying
without at least fighting for her life. She tensed her weak muscles and tried
to shift her weight into a fighting stance, trying to figure out where his hand
was and if he was going to strike.
And then she heard him chuckle. That was twice he had laughed
at her. The bastard was laughing at her weakness. Phoebe tensed and tried to
jerk her arm free, but the large, hot palm on her arm didn’t budge in the
slightest.
“You can’t hurt me, Slayer.” Phoebe tensed as she felt his
words whisper in her ear. He had leaned down so close she could feel his hot
breaths against her skin. She shivered as he brought his hand up near her face,
and then ran one callused finger down the side of her cheek. She should jerk
away. She had no idea whether this man was a friend or foe. He hadn’t
threatened her yet, but he hadn’t offered her an escape either.
She
thought he was going to say something else, but he made no sound. His hand
dropped to her neck, and she was distracted by his touch so much that she
wasn’t prepared for the thumb that was pressing down. Once she figure out his
attention it was too late, she was slipping in to unconsciousness and slumping
forward into the hard masculine body standing before.
THE INSIDE SCOOP
Q:
I was hesitant in
the beginning about the sex scenes. Originally, I was writing for mainstream
romance and I decided to make the change to erotic romance. I was worried about
what my family would think, but after book one I decided that I wanted to write
what made my happy. I wish my first book had had hotter sex and possibly
another round of edits.
Q: If you could
spend a day with one of your characters, who would it be and why?
I love Daphne
Brooks from Velvet and Lace. I think she has the best attitude on life and I
think that it would be an incredibly entertaining day.
Q: How do you keep
your characters and stories organized?
I have to keep
spreadsheets on all of my characters so that I can remember the simple details,
such as eye color, hair color, height that sort of thing. I never forget their
personalities or anything, but sometimes it is hard to remember the little
details.
Q: When is your
favorite time of day to write?
I write best at
night. I have always been a night owl and it seems that my best ideas always
come to me when it's dark outside.
Q: When and
where can readers look forward to seeing you this year?
I have a lot to
look forward this year, I'm hoping. I will be graduating from college this year
and after that I will have a lot more time to write so I hope in the second
half of the year I will have a lot more books released.
Wow, just wow, I loved your story excerpt. I like stories that have strong female characters. Looking forward to reading your book.
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