Tuesday, December 15, 2015

What's Up for the Debut Author Challenge Authors? - Part 3


This is the third in a series of updates about formerly featured Debut Author Challenge authors and their 2015 works published since the last update and any upcoming works for 2016. The year in parentheses after the author's name is the year she/he was featured in the Debut Author Challenge.


Part 1 here.
Part 2 here.


Dianne Duvall (2011)

A Sorceress of His Own
The Gifted Ones 1
Dianne Duvall, May 31, 2015
Trade Paperback and eBook, 374 pages

A USA Today Bestseller

From the New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed Immortal Guardians series comes an enchanting new series full of romance, danger, and loyalty: The Gifted Ones

Since the day Lord Dillon earned his spurs, rumors of his savagery on the battlefield have preceded him into every room, stilling tongues and sparking fear. Weary of battle, he wishes only to find a woman he can wed who will approach him not with fear, but with the tenderness that has been absent from his life for so long. Yet only the wisewoman seems invariably at ease in his presence. Perhaps because she garners the same fear in others that he does himself.

For seven years, Alyssa has been by Lord Dillon's side, counseling him from the shadows, healing him with her hands, and staving off the worst of his loneliness while his fearsome reputation keeps others at bay. Blessed--or cursed--with gifts that label her a sorceress, she is forced to conceal her youth and the love she harbors for him beneath umbral robes that lead Dillon and his people to believe she is the same aged wisewoman who served his father.

All is revealed, however, and passions flare when an enemy threatens Dillon's life and Alyssa sacrifices everything to save him. When Dillon discovers that the wisewoman is far from elderly, he is instantly entranced. And, as he and Alyssa work together to defeat an enemy bent on destroying them both, Dillon will risk anything--even the wrath of his king--to be with her.



On the Hunt
   with Alexandra Ivy, Rebecca Zanetti and Hannah Jayne
Zebra, August 25, 2015
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 384 pages

Four of today’s most intriguing paranormal authors entice readers deep into the shadows, where vampires, immortals, and other supernatural creatures heat up the night...

On The Hunt by Alexandra Ivy
Mika Tanner has loved Bailey Morrell, a beautiful Healer, since childhood. But his duty as a Sentinel, a supernatural guardian of an ancient race, clashed with her rebellious spirit. Now a dangerous new anarchist group not only threatens life as they know it—but any chance of their being together again...

Scorpius Rising by Rebecca Zanetti

With a deadly disease spreading like wildfire across the country, microbiologist Nora Medina needs to focus all her energy on stopping the pandemic. Playing with dynamite—in the form of her way-too-hot ex—is the last thing she should be doing. ​But forced to work with Deacan McDougall against unexpected enemies with the seconds ticking by, she knows the explosion is coming...

Phantom Embrace by Dianne Duvall

Immortal Yuri Sokolov was born with the ability to see spirits, yet he's never seen one as lovely as Cat Seddon, the woman who haunts his home and his dreams. But amid their star-crossed love, a new danger may have Yuri facing a different kind of eternity.

Stake Out by Hannah Jayne

Vampire fashion designer Nina LaShay has a lot on her plate—just two days until fashion week and the model who was flirting with her photographer boyfriend is now a corpse in her studio. But when dead turns into undead and dangerous, Nina must find out who’s responsible…before the beautiful baby vamp takes too many bites out of the Big Apple.



Shadows Strike
Immortal Guardians 6
Zebra, August 25, 2015
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 320 pages

The Immortal Guardians protect the innocent in secret. Sometimes the secret gets out...

U.S. law enforcement agent Heather Lane can read minds. But not the future. The dream of battle and blood that recurs every night must be a fluke, some obscure terror from her own mind. What its significance might be, she can't guess: an attack from seven psychotic vampires at once, only separated from nightmare by an eighth very different immortal. A handsome, brave man fighting at her side, a man she misses when she wakes.

Then the dream comes true. Heather is flung into a war between predators and protectors of humanity, the man from her dreams beside her again. Except now that she's awake, she isn't sure she can trust Ethan, or the shadow organization he represents. The U.S. military doesn't trust either of them. But against an onslaught of evil like the one that's coming, it will take everything they have just to survive...


Note:  Phantom Embrace (Immortal Guardians) is scheduled for publication on June 18, 2016 from Zebra.





T. Frohock (2011)

In Midnight’s Silence
Los Nefilim: Part One
Harper Voyager Impulse, June 23, 2015
eBook, 128 pages

The fate of mankind has nothing to do with mankind…

Born of an angel and a daimon, Diago Alvarez is a singular being in a country torn by a looming civil war and the spiritual struggle between the forces of angels and daimons. With allegiance to no one but his partner Miquel, he is content to simply live in Barcelona, caring only for the man he loves and the music he makes. Yet, neither side is satisfied to let him lead this domesticated life and, knowing they can't get to him directly, they do the one thing he's always feared.

They go after Miquel.

Now, in order to save his lover's life, he is forced by an angel to perform a gruesome task: feed a child to the daimon Moloch in exchange for a coin that will limit the extent of the world's next war. The mission is fraught with danger, the time he has to accomplish it is limited…and the child he is to sacrifice is the son Diago never knew existed.

A lyrical tale in a world of music and magic, T. Frohock's In Midnight's Silence shows the lengths a man will go to save the people he loves, and the sides he'll choose when the sidelines are no longer an option.



Without Light or Guide
Los Nefilim: Part Two
Harper Voyager Impulse, November 3, 2015
eBook, 128 pages

The fate of mankind has nothing to do with mankind…

Always holding themselves aloft from the affairs of mortals, Los Nefilim have thrived for eons. But with the Spanish Civil War looming, their fragile independence is shaken by the machinations of angels and daimons…and a half-breed caught in-between.

For although Diago Alvarez has pledged his loyalty to Los Nefilim, there are many who don't trust his daimonic blood. And with the re-emergence of his father—a Nefil who sold his soul to a daimon—the fear is Diago will soon follow the same path.

Yet even as Diago tries to prove his allegiance, events conspire that only fuel the other Nefilim's suspicions—including the fact that every mortal Diago has known in Barcelona is being brutally murdered.

The second novella in T. Frohock's Los Nefilim series, Without Light or Guide continues Diago's journey through a world he was born into, yet doesn't quite understand.


Note:  The Second Death (Los Nefilim, Part Three) will be published by Harper Voyager Impluse on March 29, 2016.





Lexi George (2011)

Demon Hunting With a Dixie Deb
Demon Hunter 4
Lyrical Press, May 24, 2016
eBook

Deep South legends. Deep fried curses. Deep dish revenge . . .

This Debutante Is Having A Ball!

Way down south in the land of cotton, one belle's plans are soon forgotten--when Sassy Peterson drives her Maserati off the road to avoid a deer and lands smack-dab in the proverbial creek without a paddle. The Alabama heiress should have known something weird was going on when she saw the deer's ginormous fangs. Hello, Predator Bambi! But nothing can prepare her for the leather-clad, muscle-bound, golden-eyed sex god who rescues her. Who wears leather in May? That's just the first of many questions Sassy has when her savior reveals he's a demon hunter named Grim. Also: Why would a troop of fairies want to give her magical powers and rainbow hair? Why would a style-challenged beast called the Howling Hag want to hunt her down? Most importantly, what's a nice debutante like Sassy doing in a place like this anyway? Besides feeling Grim . . .





Dani Harper (2011)

The Holiday Spirit
Dani Harper, September 29, 2015
Trade Paperback and eBook, 229 pages

A woman who talks to ghosts.
A man mistaken for dead.
An ancient evil that stalks them both.


Writer Kerri Tollbrook spends her free time counseling the newly departed, but the tall, dark and handsome spirit she meets at the shopping mall claims he's not dead. Is he just in denial? Or is something more sinister at work?

Firefighter Galen McAllister has felt like The Invisible Man ever since a malicious spell separated him from his still-living body. Kerri is the first person he's met who can actually see him. Now if only he can get her to listen ... because the nightmare creature that trapped him between two worlds is far from finished!

Dani Harper's Christmas ghost story returns as a full-length novel! The characters from this popular paranormal romance have haunted their author into making it bigger, better...and BADDER!





Kevin Hearne (2011)

Three Slices
  with Delilah S. Dawson and Chuck Wendig
May 5, 2015
eBook, 166 pages
Illustrated by Galen Dara

Three Slices presents three novellas by modern fantasy writers:

A Prelude to War by Kevin Hearne
After an old friend is murdered in retaliation for his mercenary strikes against the oldest vampires in the world, Atticus O'Sullivan must solicit the aid of another old friend in Ethiopia if he's going to have a chance of finishing a war he never wanted. Meanwhile, Granuaile MacTiernan starts a private war of her own against Loki, the lord of lies, and if it brings Ragnarok early—so be it.

Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys by Delilah S. Dawson
The number one rule of the circus? Don't kill your volunteers, even accidentally. That's how young magician Criminy Stain ends up on the run in a forest, where he meets a beautiful woman holding a bucket of blood. But is Merissa the answer to his prayers-- or the orchestrator of his ruin?

Interlude: Swallow by Chuck Wendig
Miriam Black is back. Miriam is tired of her curse and finally believes she knows how to be rid of her ability to see when and how other people die. She follows a lead to the mountains of Colorado, where she believes she sees signs of a serial killer she thought she already killed. (Set between THE CORMORANT and THUNDERBIRD.)



Two Tales of the Iron Druid Chronicles
May 18, 2015
eBook, 39 pages
Cover illustration Copyright © 2015 by Galen Dara

Two Iron Druid short stories, previously available only in limited release, have now been revised and made available worldwide!

"Kaibab Unbound" occurs just a couple of weeks before the events of HOUNDED, book one of the series. Before Atticus gets drawn into the battles of gods and monsters, he has to protect one of the earth's elementals from an accomplished coven that wants to steal its power for their own.



Heir to the Jedi: Star Wars
LucasBooks, November 24, 2015
Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages
Hardcover and eBook, March 3, 2015

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. . . .

A thrilling new adventure set between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, and—for the first time ever—written entirely from Luke Skywalker’s first-person point of view.

Luke Skywalker’s game-changing destruction of the Death Star has made him not only a hero of the Rebel Alliance but a valuable asset in the ongoing battle against the Empire. Though he’s a long way from mastering the power of the Force, there’s no denying his phenomenal skills as a pilot—and in the eyes of Rebel leaders Princess Leia Organa and Admiral Ackbar, there’s no one better qualified to carry out a daring rescue mission crucial to the Alliance cause.

A brilliant alien cryptographer renowned for her ability to breach even the most advanced communications systems is being detained by Imperial agents determined to exploit her exceptional talents for the Empire’s purposes. But the prospective spy’s sympathies lie with the Rebels, and she’s  willing to join their effort in exchange for being reunited with her family. It’s an opportunity to gain a critical edge against the Empire that’s too precious to pass up. It’s also a job that demands the element of surprise. So Luke and the ever-resourceful droid R2-D2 swap their trusty X-wing fighter for a sleek space yacht piloted by brash recruit Nakari Kelen, daughter of a biotech mogul, who’s got a score of her own to settle with the Empire.

Challenged by ruthless Imperial bodyguards, death-dealing enemy battleships, merciless bounty hunters, and monstrous brain-eating parasites, Luke plunges head-on into a high-stakes espionage operation that will push his abilities as a Rebel fighter and would-be Jedi to the limit. If ever he needed the wisdom of Obi-Wan Kenobi to shepherd him through danger, it’s now. But Luke will have to rely on himself, his friends, and his own burgeoning relationship with the Force to survive.



A Fantasy Medley 3
Fantasy Medley
  with Jacqueline Carey, Laura Bickle and Aliette de Bodard
Subterranean, December 31, 2015
Hardcover, 153 pages
Dust jacket by J. K. Drummond

In each of the first two volumes of the acclaimed A Fantasy Medley series—both of which earned starred reviews from Publishers Weekly—editor Yanni Kuznia brought together stories from a quartet of fantasy's most exciting authors. Now Kuznia returns with A Fantasy Medley 3, offering riveting new tales of the fantastic from four more of the field's brightest stars:

In "Goddess at the Crossroads," Kevin Hearne shares a thrillingly memorable episode from the past of his popular Iron Druid Chronicles hero Atticus O'Sullivan, revealing how one night's dark encounter with the cult of Hecate served as inspiration for Shakespeare's witches in the Scottish play.

With "Ashes," Laura Bickle revisits Detroit arson investigator and powerful spirit medium Anya Kalinczyk as she, her five-foot-long salamander familiar Sparky, and Hades' Charon pursue a destructive fire elemental named the Nain Rouge through the city's festival in his dubious honor.

"The Death of Aiguillon" finds Aliette de Bodard exploring an episode sixty years prior to the start of her latest novel, The House of Shattered Wings, in which the survivors of an ongoing magical conflict in Paris eke out a grim existence, and one woman's wish for a better life is granted at a terrible price.

And in "One Hundred Ablutions," Jacqueline Carey, author of the much-beloved Kushiel's Legacy series, tells the tale of Dala—a young woman chosen by her people's overlords to be an exalted slave among slaves—and of the twining in her life of ritual, rebellion, and redemption.



Staked
The Iron Druid Chronicles 8
Del Rey, January 26, 2016
Hardcover and eBook, 224 page

Iron Druid Atticus O’Sullivan, hero of Kevin Hearne’s epic New York Times bestselling urban fantasy series, has a point to make—and then drive into a vampire’s heart.

When a Druid has lived for two thousand years like Atticus, he’s bound to run afoul of a few vampires. Make that legions of them. Even his former friend and legal counsel turned out to be a bloodsucking backstabber. Now the toothy troublemakers—led by power-mad pain-in-the-neck Theophilus—have become a huge problem requiring a solution. It’s time to make a stand.

As always, Atticus wouldn’t mind a little backup. But his allies have problems of their own. Ornery archdruid Owen Kennedy is having a wee bit of troll trouble: Turns out when you stiff a troll, it’s not water under the bridge. Meanwhile, Granuaile is desperate to free herself of the Norse god Loki’s mark and elude his powers of divination—a quest that will bring her face-to-face with several Slavic nightmares.

As Atticus globetrots to stop his nemesis Theophilus, the journey leads to Rome. What better place to end an immortal than the Eternal City? But poetic justice won’t come without a price: In order to defeat Theophilus, Atticus may have to lose an old friend.

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