Clean Reads author, Karen King has a new release out today.

Karen, how did you get started writing?

I’ve always written. I had my first poem published when I was 11. I started my writing career with Jackie magazine, writing articles and photo stories.

Are you a Plotter or a Pantser?

It depends whether I’m writing to a commission or not. If I’m commissioned I have to plot as I have to send a synopsis and the first couple of chapters to my editor. If I’m not writing to a commission I work out the basic outline of my story then write ‘by the seat of my pants.’

Are you most productive in the morning or evening?

Morning. Often I get out of bed and start writing straight away. I’m full of ideas in the morning.

Karen King has had over one hundred and twenty children’s books published by mainstream publishers such as Walker, Scholastic, Harper Collins and Macmillan. She’s written for many children’s magazines too including Sindy, Barbie, Winnie the Pooh and Thomas the Tank Engine. She writes for all ages and in all genres; story books, picture books, plays, joke books, non-fiction and YA.

Social Media Links:

Website: www.karenking.net

Author Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn&__adt=7&__att=iframe#!/KarenKingAuthor

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/74448.Karen_King

Twitter: @karen_king

Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/karenkingauthor/

Should Aluna betray her father to save the world?

 Aluna’s father is the Master Wizard of the Katalan. On her thirteenth birthday she is initiated into the coven and swears allegiance to her clan. Then she has a vision about the mother she has never known and a gold sceptre with an eagle’s head handle.

She discovers that the mysterious new girl, Raffie, who appeared out of nowhere is looking for the same sceptre. Aluna hopes the sceptre will lead her to her mother so swears an oath of friendship with Raffie, pledging to find it together only to discover that Raffie is Angleyt. They are sworn enemies.

Aluna’s father is looking for the sceptre too, as are the evil Bygnorim. Will Aluna really betray her father? What dreadful secret is he hiding about her mother? Aluna and Raffie face terrible danger in their quest. Are their combined powers strong enough or will Darke Magyck win?

BUY LINK:

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Witch-Angel-Karen-King-ebook/dp/B0176VUAAK/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1445929819&sr=1-1&keywords=witch+angel+by+karen+king

EXCERPT:

Something woke Aluna in the middle of the night. She snuggled under the bedcovers trying to get back to sleep, but a niggling in her head told her something was wrong. She crept out of her room and out into the hall. She heard loud voices coming from downstairs.

She crept to the top of the stairs and peered down. Her father and Wizard Tal were standing in the hallway. Their voices were raised, but Aluna couldn’t hear what they were saying. She crept down the stairs, sitting down just before the bend so she could hear them but not be seen.

“You can’t do this, Sebastian,” she could hear the quiver in Tal’s voice. “It’s too dangerous. You can’t meddle with forces like this.”

“I’ll do whatever it takes to find the sceptre. And no one will stop me.”

She crept down further and peered through the gaps in the rails. Tal looked terrified. “How long have you been dabbling in this? Did Kristen know?” Tal said. Aluna saw a look of horror come over his face. “Is that why she disappeared. What did you do to her?”

Aluna put her hand over her mouth to stifle a scream. Had her father hurt her mother?

She gasped she saw her father point his wand at Tal and mutter something. Tal screamed and put his hand to his throat. He opened his mouth but no words came out. “At the moment you’ve just lost your voice,” her father said. “Go against me and you will lose your life.”

Aluna listened in horror as Tal scuttled off down the stairs. A few seconds later she heard her father walk back into his study and close the door behind him.

She stood up, shaking. She had never heard her father so angry. And to strike Tal, a dear friend, dumb like that. It was awful. Her head spun with questions.

Why was her father so angry?

What was Tal warning him about and what did he mean when he said he would do anything to find the sceptre. Why was it so important to him? What did he intend to do with it?

A chill ran through her as she remembered the look on her father’s face when he cast the spell on Tal. He’d looked almost…evil. As if he didn’t care what he did to anyone as long as he found the sceptre.

Had he hurt her mother? Is that why she’d left and never come back?

Devon Alexander is a 15 year-old teenager coping with the monotonous reality of his average life. His life receives an interesting reprieve as he has his first realistic dream of a spaceship. The strangest thing about the dream is that he seems to be the only one on board who isn’t in a dream-like trance. Before he can figure out anything about the dream or his strange shipmates, he manages to wake up. The next day, Devon catches a news story about inexplicable comas taking place all over the world. Devon’s life becomes increasingly interesting as he recognizes some of the victims from his spaceship trip.

Devon and an unlikely group of other teens start devising a plan to find out who is behind the strange dreams and the comas. Their plan is not only successful but immerses them in to the fantastical world that only resides in dreams. While in the dream world, the teens learn about the power of teamwork, a new world of culture, and their hidden potential to be heroes.

Suspenseful, funny at the worst times, and just a hint of teenage romance, Lucid takes a group of young adults and throws them into a fantasy world that they only thought could exist in their dreams. In a sense, they’re right.

BUY LINKS:

http://www.amazon.com/Lucid-L-E-Fred-ebook/dp/B00L96KPNQ/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1403629450&sr=1-3&keywords=Lucid

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lucid-l-e-fred/1119860362?ean=2940149781171

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/451564

http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/lucid-11

http://www.wattpad.com/56318026-lucid-by-l-e-fred

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/lucid/id893420559?mt=11

EXCERPT:

I know that most adventure/fantasy/whatever-you-would-like-to–call-these-stories start with something magical, but my story starts with something ordinary, dreams. I’m talking about the “I’m taking a test and don’t realize I’m in my underwear” kind of dreams. We have them every night, whether we remember them or not. Sometimes they leave us waking up with excitement or inspiration. Sometimes they cause us to wake with a shriek and to look around our rooms. Sometimes they leave us waking up confused or ashamed. These experiences are probably commonplace for most people, but I doubt any of you could ever say your dreams caused you to stay asleep for a long period of time.

What if your dreams made you disappear?

L. E. Fred is a perpetual dreamer who writes about worlds both within and without this realm. With a degree in psychology, L. E. Fred tends to get lost in the mind, the greatest adventure of all. L. E. Fred is currently traveling the world, finding more adventures to inspire new tales of dreams and beyond.

Social Media Links:

http://facebook.com/only.but.a.dream

http://marsjaws.blogspot.co

http://goodreads.com/marsjaws

http://lefredwrites.wix.com/marsjaws

CAN LOVE SURVIVE DEATH?

 “No one has ever walked out of Red. Once the Soul Catchers get you they don’t let you go.” Denny’s words scare me but I have no choice. If Will is in Red that’s where I have to go.

I’ve never really thought what it was like when you died. I’m only 16, too young to worry about that. At least I thought I was. I’ve heard about Heaven and Hell, of course, but it doesn’t look like I’m in either of them. All I know is that Will is here too and I need to find him. I can’t face spending eternity without him.

EXCERPT:

Everywhere Will turns all he can see is mist. It’s inside his head too, wrapping around his mind, stopping him from thinking straight.

He tries to shake the mist away, to find a fragment of memory that will tell him who he is, where he is. But there’s nothing. His mind is a complete blank. He can’t even remember his name.

He squints as a shape starts to form in the mist. It’s a man.

The man strides purposefully as if he’s heading somewhere in particular and needs to get there fast.

“You okay, mate?”

Will shakes his head. “I can’t remember anything. Where am I?”

The man pauses and looks around. “No one meeting you?”

Will frowns, trying to remember. Why would someone be meeting him? “I don’t think so,” he stammers. “Should they be?”

“Sometimes they do.” The man’s tone is casual. He shrugs. “You’d better come with me then.”

Will doesn’t know what else to do, so he follows the man. He has to quicken his pace to keep up with this stranger’s long, effortless strides and constantly looks around, trying to get some idea where they are. After a while the mist starts to fade and Will sees that they’re crossing what looks like barren wasteland. Rugged cliffs jut up along each side, gnarled trees and bushes dot the landscape here and there, and a buzzard caws as it flies overhead. It’s eerie. There’s no one around except him and the man yet Will feels like he’s being watched. Stalked almost.

“Where are we going?” he demands, fear making his voice sound shrill. “Who are you and where the hell am I?”

The man turns around. “You really don’t remember, do you?”

Something about the way he says the words sends an icicle of fear down Will’s spine. “Remember what?”

The man holds out his hand, it’s long, thin and bony. “Take my hand.”

Will stares at the outstretched hand not wanting to touch it.

“Take it if you want to remember. Or leave it if you don’t. It’s all the same to me.”

Will hesitates, a terrible feeling of foreboding seizing him. What is it he has to remember? He’s sure it’s something he’s not going to like. But he has to find out. He needs to know who he is, where he is, what he’s doing here. He takes a deep breath, reaches out and grasps the man’s hand.

Immediately, a bright light explodes across his forehead. He gasps and tries to pull his hand away but the man grips it tight, his nails digging into Will’s flesh. The light fades and pictures flash across his mind like a horror slide show. He’s getting in a car, a girl’s singing, a huge tree zooms in so close that he instinctively step back then there’s a big bang. Now the girl’s lying motionless, blood oozing out of a gap in her forehead, her neck bent at an awkward angle, her eyes open, staring. Will draws in his breath, his hand pressing across his forehead as his memory floods back and his heart shatters into jagged smithereens that puncture him inside. The girl is Sapphire, his girlfriend. He’d just passed his driving test and was taking them for a drive when he crashed.

He killed her. He killed Sapphire.

Buy Links

Amazon UK http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sapphire-Blue-Karen-King-ebook/dp/B00QKYAL7W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417793348&sr=8-1&keywords=sapphire+Blue+by+karen+king#_

Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-Blue-Karen-King-ebook/dp/B00QKYAL7W/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1417779552&sr=1-1&keywords=sapphire+Blue+karen+king

Solstice Publishing   http://solsticepublishing.com/sapphire-blue/

Author Bio

Karen King has had over one hundred children’s books published. She’s written for many children’s magazines too including Sindy, Barbie, Winnie the Pooh and Thomas the Tank Engine. She writes for all ages and in all genres; story books, picture books, plays, joke books and non-fiction. Sapphire Blue is her second YA novel. She also writes romance novels under the name of Kay Harborne.

Author Links

Website: www.karenking.net

Author Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn&__adt=7&__att=iframe#!/KarenKingAuthor

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/74448.Karen_King

Twitter: @karen_king

Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/Karen-King/e/B0034P6W7I/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/kryski/

It ‘s finally here – release day for my second novel, Taking A Chance On Love.

My love for music began when I joined the East Atlanta Elementary Band in fourth grade. My parents were instructed to rent a clarinet from the local music shop. My journey began in C band that year, moving to B band in fifth grade. I was promoted to A band in the sixth grade and progressed to second chair clarinet in the seventh grade. I excelled in music and was appreciative of the many experiences my talent afforded me all the way through college.

When you check out my new release, it will be no surprise to you that I dedicated this novel to my first band director, Charles I. Bradley.

From childhood, Virginia Manning has planned for a career as a concert clarinetist. Blindsided by family circumstances, her plans are interrupted, taking her down a path she would never have chosen. As a music teacher, Virginia’s relationship with the football coach goes from problematic to romantic. After Blake’s brush with death, a scared Virginia runs away looking for the contentment music has always brought to her life.

Because Blake Oliver has experienced disappointment and pain, he opts for a fresh start in a small New England town. Accepting the position of football coach, he isn’t looking for love when it finds him. But when Virginia leaves to pursue a performance career, Blake realizes it’s not where you live but having someone to love that matters. His only problem is making her understand that as well.

Buy Link:

http://www.amazon.com/Taking-Chance-Love-Rachel-Jones-ebook/dp/B0167GDZF2/

It’s my pleasure to share an excerpt from the book with you:

She pulled her arms across her chest in an attempt to calm her shivering. Bright lights reflected from her rearview mirror, the only headlights she had seen since she had stopped on the side of the ride. Releasing a sigh of relief, she waited for flashing blue lights to interrupt the blackness surrounding the car. No blue lights. Her heart began racing at hearing a car door slam. She was alone, on a deserted highway. Checking the locks on her doors, she thought about driving away, but how far could she go with a flat tire?

A tap on the passenger window made her jump. “Hey.”

The dark night made it impossible to see the face outside the passenger window. Fear made it impossible to move.

“Come on, Gin. It’s wet out here.”

No one else called her Gin. She hit the automatic button releasing the lock and Blake pulled the door open. Relief flooded her body and was replaced by anger.

“Blake — you nearly scared me to death.”

“Not the best time for a flat tire. You’re soaked.”

“You’re not so very dry yourself.”

“Where are you headed?”

“I was on my way home. I had an early dinner with my family before they left for the weekend. Staying to play my piano wasn’t a bad idea — I just got caught up in my music.” She loved how her music could take her away from everything, but the downside was eventually she had to come back to reality. “Anyway, I was going through my options when you drove up.”

“Your spare is lying in the mud.”

“I was going to try changing it, but when the lightning started, I chickened out.”

“Well, you can’t drive all the way to Boston soaked to the skin. And I really don’t want to change a tire in this downpour.”

“So what do you suggest I do?”

“Let me take you back to your sister’s house. You can stay the night and deal with the tire in the morning.”

Virginia didn’t respond, didn’t want this moment to end. He was here, beside her and the intensity of how much she had missed him came crashing down upon her like tumultuous waves hitting a jagged rock wall along the seashore.

“Gin?”

She looked up. “That sounds good.”

As he leaned over and pulled the keys from the ignition, it took all Virginia’s willpower to keep from pulling him close.

“Make a dash for my car and I’ll lock up and put the spare back in the trunk.”

The rain continued as they drove to the house on Adams Street. When they arrived, Virginia insisted he come in to dry off.

They ran inside and stopped in the foyer, causing a rivulet of water to fall from their drenched clothes to the floor.

Virginia slipped out of her shoes. “I’ll grab some towels.” She skirted away, her heart pounding in her chest. She returned and tossed them at Blake and announced, “I’ll be back.”

When she returned, Blake was squatting by the fireplace, lighting the gas logs. He had removed his shirt and towel dried his upper body. She moved to the side of the room, relishing the opportunity to study his features in the glow of the fire. It appeared he hadn’t shaved for a couple of days and the pronounced facial hair gave him a rugged look that was appealing. His light brown hair was longer since she had last seen him and it had a crumpled, damp look, adding a dimension of sexiness to the male specimen in front of her.

Knowing this was the perfect opportunity to let him know how she felt about him, she was determined not to let him leave. He looked up and smiled at her.

“I brought you some of Michael’s clothes. You can’t stay in those wet things.”

She placed them on the chair next to the fireplace and moved toward Blake.

“Thanks. I love the convenience of gas logs. A twist of the key, a lighted match, and voila — instant flames.”

Virginia pulled herself against Blake, her head pressed against his chest. “I’ve missed you. I love you and I made the biggest mistake of my life when I left you.”

Buy Links:

http://www.amazon.com/Taking-Chance-Love-Rachel-Jones-ebook/dp/B0167GDZF2/

Other site buy links available soon…