Tag Archives: supernatural

New Release BookTok

Here is the BookTok for my new release, Braelynn’s Birthright–Book 2: Fallen Angel. I am currently brainstorming the third book in the series, tentatively called Origins.

Fallen Angel is the thrilling sequel to Wendigo. In the second book in the Braelynn’s Birthright series, Braelynn and her friends are back, and this time, they face an even bigger challenge.

It’s been a few years since Braelynn inherited her grandmother’s ring and the curse that came with it. After graduating from high school, Braelynn and her friends opened a sort of detective agency, figuring out how to help people who have problems with supernatural entities. But when more and more of the creatures start giving her the same chilling message that something powerful is coming, she realizes that an evil being is at play.

Will Braelynn be able to take down a fallen angel hell bent on stealing her soul?

Get ready for an action-packed adventure with Braelynn and her friends in Braelynn’s Birthright—Book 2: Fallen Angel.  

This book unites characters from Wendigo with those in my other books, Revamped and The Revenant to create a common world.

If you’d like a free copy for review, please leave a comment or send me an email. If you’ve already read it, please let me know by posting a review, and don’t forget to like this video and follow me for more BookToks and new releases.

Purchase my books on Amazon.

New Release!

Braelynn’s Birthright–Book 1: Wendigo

I am proud to have published Braelynn’s Birthright–Book 1: Wendigo. This is the first in what I hope will be a series of books featuring the same set of characters. Book1: Wendigo is a young adult supernatural/horror urban fantasy novel.

Book 2: Fallen Angel is near completion. This book is a new adult novel, taking place a few years after Book 1. It also unites characters from a number of my books including Phase Shift, The Revenant, and Revamped. Look for the release of Book 2: Fallen Angel in November of this year.

If you’re a fan of Supernatural, Nancy Drew (current TV series), or Legacies (Vampire Diaries spin-off) you will love the Braelynn’s Birthright series, as well as the other books mentioned here.

Here is a closer look at what Braelynn’s Birthright–Book 1: Wendigo is about:

Imagine a world where the creatures of nightmare are real. This becomes fifteen-year-old Braelynn Hanlon’s world once she inherits her birthright in the form of her grandmother’s ring and is tricked into putting it on. You see, the women in her family have been cursed, doomed to defend humanity from things that go bump in the night. On the upside, the ring comes with super-healing powers, but it also makes her a magnet for all things supernatural. Her mother has had years to come to terms with her fate, but Braelynn’s about to get a crash course on how to be a hunter of all things paranormal.

Her boyfriend, Seth, turns out to be a vampire. When Braelynn vanquishes him, the leader of Seth’s gang sends a bugbear to seek revenge. If that’s not bad enough, her best friend, Shannon, is a werewolf, and Shannon’s girl crush is enchanted. To make matters worse, the school’s activist, Winona, is an Ojibwe shaman in training, hot on the trail of a wendigo disguised as a local businessman who is threatening to destroy the local watershed. Braelynn and her friends agree to help Winona vanquish the wendigo, but will her ring and her new-found powers be enough to keep her safe?

Braelynn’s Birthright–Book 1: Wendigo is available at Amazon (paperback and eBook), B & N, Apple Books, and Rakuten Kobo.

The Wattpad Experiment

For years, my friend, Mia Meade, has been encouraging me to try WattPad out. I’ll be honest–I tried it before I met her and had no success. But after talking to Mia and reading “How Authors Can Use Wattpad to Sell Books and Earn Money” by Linda Poitevin, I’ve decided to give it a go and blog about my experience.

 

The challenge was to figure out which story to use as a tester. I currently have three books in the works (The Carrington Pulitzer Revelation Chronicles Online Extended PlayPack–science fiction, young adult; Indoctrination–Book Two of The New Recruit; and Re-vamped (paranormal/supernatural), but they are in various stages of editing and won’t be ready to publish for a while yet.

In the end, I decided to re-issue The Revenant: A YA Paranormal Thriller with Zombies. The plan is to post a chapter a week as Poitevin suggests and to blog as I do. In the meantime, I will be reading other authors in my genre, add to my library, vote, and comment. I will also be posting to social media as I go. In addition, I will be reading a number of resources on how to use Wattpad for fun and profit and share what I learn with you.

The Revenant: A YA Paranormal Thriller with Zombies can be found on Wattpad at https://www.wattpad.com/story/134197850-the-revenant. This is a completed novel that can be purchased on Amazon, B & N, iBooks, and Kobo.

If you Wattpad, please look me up, vote for my book and follow me. I’m interested to connect with you, both here and on Wattpad. After you’ve read a chapter or two, come back and let me know what you think.

Constantine – 5 reasons why he’s a forgotten regeneration of Dr. Who

Another comic book hero series to debut this season is Constantine.

John Constantine is a self-described “Exorcist, Demonologist, and Master of the Dark Arts”. He engages in Supernatural-type adventures, pitting him against other-worldly bads. Much like Sam and Dean Winchester, Constantine is a reluctant hero and an anti-hero, which only serves to make his character more interesting. (It also doesn’t hurt that, like the Winchester brothers, the actor playing him, Matt Ryan, is easy on the eyes.) But with episode 3–“The Devil’s Vinyl”–John Constantine proves he’s more a forgotten regeneration of Dr. Who than a long-lost Winchester boy.

Here are 5 reasons an argument could be made that John Constantine is a forgotten regeneration of Dr. Who:

[Tweet “5 ways John #Constantine could be a forgotten regeneration of Dr. Who #drwho”]

1. He’s British.

With the exception of Peter Capaldi’s iteration, all of the Doctors have either been British or played British. And so Ryan’s Welsh, but (correct me if I’m wrong) isn’t Wales considered part of Britain?

2. He has a companion.

Beginning with episode 2, Constantine adopts a young, female companion named Zed. Like so many of Dr. Who’s companions, Zed is attractive, smart, and has saved Constantine’s skin on occasion.

3. His home base is a T.A.R.D.I.S.

When Zed first enters Constantine’s underground base of operations she observes it is bigger on the inside, which is the primary feature of the T.A.R.D.I.S.

4. He has psychic paper.

Constantine has an enchanted playing card that makes the viewer see whatever the holder suggests.

5. He has a sonic screwdriver.

Not exactly. A sonic screwdriver is a sort of deus ex machina device that allows Dr. Who to get out of tough situations, simply by pointing it. Constantine has a carpet bag full of tricks. At the start of the episode he introduces an ancient tracking device that he uses later in the story. I would bet there are trinkets enough in that carpet bag to rival anything the sonic screwdriver can do.

And there you have it. Why John Constantine is a forgotten regeneration of Dr. Who!

 

 

Throwback Thursday: What are Coles Notes?

coles-notes

There’s a scene in The Revenant where Father Paul discusses a case with Toronto’s coroner. So far, two bodies have been brought into the morgue in a state of decomposition indicating they’d died more than a week ago. In both cases, there are witnesses claiming they were alive only minutes or hours ago.  The discussion goes something like this:

“What’s this?” Paul asked.
“Autopsy file,” the coroner said.
“They didn’t teach Science at the Seminary. How’s about you give me the Coles Notes’ version?”

Coles Notes are the printed version of web sites like Spark Notes or Grade Saver. In the days before the Internet, we bought Coles Notes in Canada and Cliffs Notes in the U.S., on everything from literature to writing resumes. The author for the books is “The Coles Editorial Board” which was rumoured to be university students. Like the web pages of today that serve the same function, they were not infallible. While studying Richard III before teaching it, I found a discrepancy between their interpretation and mine, and no matter how hard I tried, I could not see how their interpretation was valid.

Though there are no Coles Notes for The Revenant, a study guide is available upon request, which would make an excellent tool for a teacher, student, or book club wishing to study the novel. Let me know if you’d like your PDF study guide by leaving me a note in the comments below or emailing me at info @ eliseabram . com.

Kick Off Party for THE REVENANT Blog Tour!


going on tour

A number of really amazing bloggers and reviewers have opened up their blog sites so I can take The Revenant on tour this month. Check my itinerary page for stops and updates.

Remember, The Revenant is now available for purchase in hard copy on the Black Rose Writing (BRW)page, at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, both in paperback and as an eBook.

Once more, thanks to Reagan Rothe at BRW for helping to make my dream of being published a reality. Also thank you (again) to Dave King, Design Lead at BRW for his amazing cover design and endless patience through the revision process.

Even though we’re taught not to judge a book by its cover, most readers will tell you cover art is key. I’ve had my front cover posted on my page for The Revenant for about a week now, but here is the complete cover:

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Thank you to Dave King for his work on the cover art.

On with the festivities…

giveaway

Use the form on my itinerary page to enter into a Rafflecopter draw for a chance to win one (1) of three (3) eCopies of The Revenant. The giveaway will run for the entire month of August. All you have to do for your chance to win is follow me on Twitter via the Rafflecopter form.

Also available as a giveaway, PDFs of The Revenant  study guide. Please request these via email at info @ eliseabram . com

 

fan page party wednesdayJoin me on Facebook for a Fan Party meet and greet every Wednesday in the month of August. Like people’s pages and get your page(s) liked as well.

throwback thursdayI’m considerably older than your sterotypical YA reader. My  mind might work a bit differently than them, too. On Thursdays I’ll be writing about how that particular challenge has effected me as an author.

 

new follow back friday

Join the party-hop as we move from Facebook to Twitter. I pledge to follow back everyone who follows me on Twitter on every Friday in the month of August @eliseabram

 

Literary Devices from A to Z – Brought to you by the letter G

 

 

 

is for Genre

 

 

 

Genre is used to describe types of literature. Some examples are science fiction, young adult, supernatural, thriller, adventure, and police procedural.

In the genre of science fiction, authors take current social mores and technology and project how that might change in the future. One example of this is “Star Trek” and communicators. In “Trek”, Gene Roddenberry imagined how people might communicate in the future and came up with the small, handheld devices. It’s no coincidence that when real life engineers were designing handhelds they used the communicator as a model and came up with the flip phone. Incidentally, modern smart phones appear modelled after another “Trek” device, the PADD (personal access display device).

In Phase Shift, museums on Gaia meld high and low tech in their dioramas. A description follows:

…the display was lifeless, a series of plaster casts of various skeletal remains sitting dully on a number of podiums, arranged in chronological order according to the era of each animal’s evolution.  Now, one by one, each piece of bone is animated in turn.  I watch as the first skull grows holographic muscle and skin and then rotates a full three hundred and sixty degrees on its podium.  Following that, the hologram grows a body, a three-dimensional representation of what Gaians believe the animal to have looked like when alive.  The three-D body comes away from the skull on the podium and it, too, rotates full circle.  Lastly, for its magnum opus, the hominid looks me square in the eye and takes a series of steps toward me, leaving the diorama behind.  Once more it rotates a full three hundred and sixty degrees before vanishing into thin air.  It takes almost a full five minutes for each specimen on the Gaian human evolutionary line to cycle through its trip down the runway.

When the last specimen has finished, the gallery is once more still.

Here, holographic technology is melded with a low-tech plaster diorama to create an interactive museum display. Given the state of holographic technology today, it’s not such a long stretch to assume one day the two might be joined to make history come to life for museum patrons.

The key to writing science fiction is to make it plausible. Readers should be able to imagine a future in which the technology and social structures might exist.

How many genres of literature can you think of? Write them below and I’ll compile a master list and share it in a future blog post.

 

Literary Devices from A to Z – Brought to you by the letter F

 

 

 

is for Foil

 

 

 

Foils are characters that have opposing character traits and motivations.

An example of foils from classical literature are Macbeth and Macduff from William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. In this example, Macbeth is driven by ambition to suit his own, selfish needs, while Macduff’s only ambition is altruistic in nature, to put the kingdom back to rights. Macduff and his wife’s relationship is a loving one, while Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s is adversarial. Macduff has a child while Macbeth has none. Macduff is allied with Malcolm while Macbeth is his enemy. These and other traits set Macbeth and Macduff up as near polar opposites in character and desire, establishing them as foils.

In The Revenant, Morgan and his brother Malchus are constructed as opposites. Morgan is the naughty child, Malchus the good one. Morgan tends his family’s farm fields while Malchus is apprenticed to the local doctor. Morgan has the gift of foresight, something he wishes would go away while Malchus actively seeks out and embraces his power in the Dark Arts. Malchus raises Zulu from the grave for nefarious means; Morgan saves him. Morgan finds a life of purpose embracing the good while Malchus loses himself in evil. For these and other reasons, the brothers are set up as having opposing personalities, desires and motivations, rendering them foils.

Can you think of any other foils in literature or television? Post your ideas in the comments below.

 

“Saving Hope” from an Identity Crisis

 

In “Saving Hope”, Charlie (Michael Shanks) is in a car accident leaving him in a coma for most of the first season. While in the coma, his spirit roams the hospital interacting with other dead or nearly dead patients, helping them solve their dilemmas, watching his fiancée, Alex (Erica Durance), and  ex-wife, Dawn (Michelle Nolden), fight over whether or not to pull the plug. When Charlie finally awakens, he is left with the “gift” of seeing dead and nearly dead spirits in the hospital. He reluctantly makes the effort to help them with their problems, afraid he may be going insane. He finally lets hospital psychiatrist, Gavin (Kristopher Turner) know he may be hallucinating and is prescribed medication, but his ability doesn’t go away. After a near overdose, he decides to let Alex know. She doesn’t take it well and Charlie decides the best thing to do is to take a break from the relationship while he sorts out his situation. This serves to complicate matters, as free of Charlie, Alex finds herself drawn to colleague and ex-boyfriend Joel (Daniel Gillies).

I love “Saving Hope”. I like the characters and would be as happy seeing Alex with Charlie as I would with Joel. It’s filmed locally, right here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which is a bonus as–like with “Rookie Blue” and “Orphan Black“–it doesn’t try to hide or disguise the city. The stories are every bit as compelling as “Grey’s Anatomy” and sometimes as cringe-worthy as the most gross “Grey’s” emergency case or “Bones” opening segment. I like that it’s a guy who sees ghosts, and that he does so reluctantly. Charlie’s a good guy who means well, but he’s also worried for his career and social life and we get to see his internal struggle. Unlike “Ghost Whisperer”, Charlie has yet to experience catharsis into acceptance of his ability, and Shanks does an excellent job portraying this.

Where “Saving Hope” fails, is deciding if it’s a supernatural show or a hospital drama. This week’s episode was a prime example of that indecision, as there wasn’t a single ghostly encounter in the entire show. The odd thing is, as a pure medical drama, it worked. Maybe the confusion is not on the part of the writers, but on me. The show has potential as a supernatural-slash-medical drama. It works as a purely medical drama. The question is would it work as a purely supernatural one? If they took the action outside of the hospital, perhaps, but then you’d be taking away Charlie’s source of spirit. People die in the hospital. As a doctor, Charlie is in a position to be their first welcome into the afterlife. Without the medicine, “Saving Hope” would be nothing more than “Ghost  Whisperer: the early years”–assuming Charlie eventually comes to terms with his ability and whether he ultimately decides it is more a blessing than a curse.

Did you watch this week’s “Saving Hope”? What did you think? Were you disappointed there were no ghosts? Let’s talk in the comments below.

Dracula is a page turner

Bram Stoker’s Dracula is the gothic horror story that put down roots for modern day vampire lore.

In Dracula, lawyer Jonathan Harker is sent to Transylvania to close a deal on the sale of a house for Count Dracula in England. Confined to a limited number of rooms in Dracula’s castle, Harker goes  exploring where he discovers siren-like creatures and Dracula’s dark nature. Harker eventually escapes, goes nearly mad, and convalesces in a hospital where fiance Mina Murray retrieves him and marries him. They return to England to find Mina’s friend, Lucy, mysteriously ill from blood loss. Harker and Dr. Seward enlist a retired Van Helsing for help. They replenish Lucy’s blood nightly to no avail. Eventually Lucy dies, her body claimed by Dracula. It’s not long before Mina falls prey to the same “illness,” with one strange symptom–she has a connection with Count Dracula. Harker, Seward and Van Helsing use this connection to ambush Dracula and kill him for good at last.

Fan of vampire stories that I am, I had always meant to read the original Dracula, but never got around to it. But after watching NBC’s Dracula, I needed to go back to the archetype to see which characters and events were borrowed from the original and which were new.

In NBC’s Dracula, the count assumes the name Alexander Greyson and pretends to be an American newly arrived in England on business. In a grand spectacle opening, Greyson holds a party at his mansion where he introduces his guests to free, wireless power which sends the oil magnates into a tizzy. At this gala is socialite Lucy Westenra who has invited her friend and medical student Mina Murray and Mina’s boyfriend, reporter Jonathan Harker. When Dracula sees Mina he sees his wife’s doppelganger and is determined to have her, but not by force. To that end, he hires Harker as his assistant, puts him up in a mansion and pays him enough to marry Mina and live happily ever after. The idea is to keep Mina close and gradually insinuate himself into her life. Pursued by the Order of the Dragon, an ancient organization whose members are involved in (among other things I can’t figure out) maintaining a power monopoly and killing vampires, Greyson’s goal is to punish members of the Order for their role in making him what he is today.

Other than character names and the time in which the story takes place, there is little comparison between the original book and the television show. In the book, Dracula has no alter ego and there is no mention of Mina the doppelganger. TV’s Renfield is Dracula’s manservant, a far cry from Stoker’s raving, bug-eating lunatic and Stoker’s Van Helsing is out to kill Dracula, not form an unholy alliance with him in order to seek revenge on the Order of the Dragon. Reading the book  also shed some light on other supernatural works, including  an explanation as to why the brothers on Supernatural bear the last name Winchester and the origin of the title “Vampire Diaries”, adopted because most of Stoker’s novel is told in journal or diary format.

The novel is a page turner at times, boring at others, but worth the time to read.

The series picks up pace midway through episode two and becomes the television version of a page turner. I binge watched the first three episodes and regret not watching the fourth as well (but Once Upon a Time was about to begin and priorities must be set).

Are you watching NBC’s Dracula? What do you think?