The Beach at the Sea Foam Apartments by D.J. Kozlowski

Three Worlds Press has started a fun series of shorts which is planned to be compiled into anthologies as we go :) They all have to do with the Sea and a little light horror, and the one to launch this week is gothic horror! I have the author guest blogging as well as his buy links and a little som'in som'in from his book!

 

 

 

• Would you want to live in the world you’ve created and why/why not?

My world (in the book) is our world. The only difference is much of the magic we see in movies or phony "documentaries" is real in the world of the book, though much more subtle than in traditional fantasy. I'd love to live in a magical world. My universe--to which the book provides only a glimpse through a window--has magic, monsters, gods and demons, and many typical fantasy elements, but is otherwise our normal, workaday world. What makes it interesting, I hope, is that nothing is overt. The magical underbelly of reality exists largely unnoticed by most people. 

• Did you have a favourite book or author as a child? Have you got one now?

I loved a book series called The Three Investigators. I recall them having business cards and thinking that was so cool--there was some kind of power in that. They--much like Scooby Doo--always found a rational explanation for seemingly supernatural phenomena. That is attractive to me in a way. But then I have always been inspired by Poe and Lovecraft (my daughter is Raven and once son is H.P.). In the past decade, I've noticed a theme of Neil Gaiman running through my life--movies, books, and other forms of media had links to Gaiman. Long before I knew who he was (or recognized the value of following authors rater than stories) I was reading comics he wrote (one, Death: The High Cost of Living, is still a favorite). I figured he was one of these ubiquitous writers--a Stephen King who everyone has experienced somehow--but no. Gaiman appeals to a certain community, and those people gravitate toward his projects not necessarily because of him (generally), but because of their temperaments and the style and quality of his projects. I also enjoy the early writing of Orson Scott Card, and who doesn't love Bradbury, Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke, Dick, Blish, etc. 

• What do you find hardest to write?

My mind always wants to explore my universe, so constraining stories to the relevant characters and plot lines is a constant battle. I sometimes satiate myself by dropping in Easter Eggs that only I recognize as such (as my body of work grows, maybe they'll be more recognizable). But when you've got a world in your mind filled with interesting characters, it's hard to keep them from popping up at every opportunity. I remind myself to keep a steady pace--over time I will begin to explore more of the people/beings.

• Do you have any other books in the works?

I have a few in process, most set in this same world. I enjoy world-building, so expect to see at least some of the characters from Sea Foam again. 

 

 

 

Author Bio:

D.J. Kozlowski writes gothic horror, dark fantasy, and magical realism, drawing inspiration from the likes of Poe and Lovecraft. When he’s not writing, D.J. counsels businesses as an attorney. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, 3 kids, and fish, the latter of which is constantly being replaced for the sake of the children. He tries not to take life too seriously.

Blurb:

Minor magic can have unintended consequences.  At the beach across from the Sea Foam Apartments, the fates of five people are tragically altered through Melinda’s well-intentioned meddling.  Now, Melinda has a chance to help these people find their destinies and restore life to the beach, but she’ll need some help.  Fortunately, someone has been watching.

Quotes:

“She recalled the sun rising from behind the sea, darkening then illuminating the lighthouse and brightening the sands whose sparkle mixed with the shimmering waves to cast all the early joggers in a discotheque strobe. This place had magic to it.”

“The rustling of the curtains was enough to rouse Marc from a dead sleep. When he was younger and living in that apartment at the end of Seaside Avenue, the curtains rustled. At first, he thought he’d left the balcony door ajar, allowing a sea breeze into the apartment. Only later did he realize the curtains moved regardless of the door or the breeze.”

The Midwife's Moon re-release and The War of the Weres

*Waves* We are forgoing this weeks Your book. Your Business. posts to bring you news of the exciting sort! My book!!! With beautiful new edits, some words cut, over 1k new words added, a glossary of peeps --including a sneak peek at characters not out yet!--and locations and specialty words as well! So much new stuff. In the first book, I also re-edited and added significant number of words as I also cut some. I rewrote a scene and added a short scene. So you want to get books one and two new versions! And book three is hopefully not too far behind! In the meantime, there will be shorts released!

Here's the EXQUISITE COVERS

 

 

I TOTALLY AM IN LOVE WITH THEM. My cover artist, Victoria Miller, pushed out some more beautiful work! *gives standing ovation*

Right now, I have over 15 full length novels and about 6 chronicles (these are main characters/story bits already moving, some partly written...I have two shorts written, one half written, and others clamoring, half a full length and notes on another full length...from writing in my *spare* time.

I'm so excited to have these back out. Some health issues, partly caused by extreme stress both in my personal life and my professional life, put these on hold. But I'm having new ideas all the time. These books will traverse the world over! Next, in The Panther's Hunter, I stay in my home state of Washington, but move off the reservation to a transplanted werepanther to Mt. Rainier.  Transplanted from New Orleans, where I am planning to go for book four if Sherona and Tom's story will wait. They were planned for book 6, but Sherona is a character to be reckoned with and Tom is her perfect counter point and can quite hold his own against her shenanigans. I just hope I can get the others written fast enough for them!

Barnes and Noble can be found here, All Romance ebooks (ARe) can be found here, and Amazon here. It is also on Kobo, Google Play, and iTunes or books, or whatever it is LOL I always get them mixed up.  Enjoy this continuing saga where each story has the world woven through with continuing stories, but stands on it's own as a novel. You will find yourself both satisfied with the main story and wanting more for the world! :D

Ravaged, Vol 2

Guess what? I have another shifter story out today :D

Well, I and a few other authors. Ravaged, Vol 2 is happily out today (the 3rd in case this goes out a little early)! I along with my fellow writers wrote about things that shift...into what, well, you'll have to read to find them all out. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as the editor enjoyed torturing pushing us.

I had this fancy schmancy blog post planned, but forgot what I wanted to say. So, here it is. Plain as toast. But I do have something fancy, a cover!

Witchy Wolf, is my contribution. Did you know that Stonehenge isn't the only circle of stones to be made in Briton? I did this research a while back. Right now, I have Maya on the mind right now. HOURS of research, for a less than 10k word story. And do you know how much I used? *This* much. But you know what, it's there in the back of my mind as I write.

Writing is like that. With few exceptions, writers who are published have done their research. Hell, most of the time, editors do research as well. Although, I will admit to saying (when I'm the editor) to said authors, I have no knowledge of this (like, I don't know, Italian!), so please triple check your facts (or like, the syntax, verb agreement, spelling, accents :P). Otherwise, you would not believe the research that happens. The internet has been a godsend in more than one way!

Now, put on some mood music, fire up the candles, turn down the lights, perhaps slip into something comfortable, and get ready for a hot read that will set you ablaze.

Oh, and one more thing before deciding on your favorite scented candles...A give away!!! Comment, tweet, what have you, see how you can enter to win a lot of fun things to keep you warm this winter! Or to sit by the lake and read if you're down under. Somewhere you can jump into cool water to bring your body temp down to human :)

Enter here: a Rafflecopter giveaway





For a list of each days blogs, go here :D Good Luck :D

Christmas is coming and see what I have!

I love Christmas! Lots of traditions galore. I've had a rough few months with my health, so I've not been writing or posting like I'd want to be. I have been editing like a crazy woman though!! This is going to be the first of many Christmas book related blogs :) I'm starting with mine that's already available for preorder and available on sale! $2.24, The Captain's Christmas is an exciting sci-fi adventure.

And, if you buy direct from the publisher, they have special sales happening for a limited time :) The more you spend, the more you save! It's really an awesome deal.

And the captain is a really awesome character :) Come and meet her! (blurb and excerpt on pub site)

I'm giving away a copy to a lucky commenter! The more the merrier. Tell me, what's your favorite and least favorite part of the holidays?

yay! I have power again and a new release

Well, it's been an interestign 2.5 weeks. We *tried* to go on an anniversary camping trip. Our new to us motorhome broke down. While it was sitting on the side of the road overnight by Gleed, a tiny little town, (The lock wouldn't work and it was too dark to see. We finally figured it out later but it was a little like closing the barn doors after the horses escaped.) someone got in and stole our chainsaw, other items, and more importantly to me, the last really nice thing I owned from when I had a good job--a full set of Rembrandt soft pastels in a hardwood box with brass fittings that retails at over 1000 bucks. I'm heartsick about it. I still cry like a baby when I think about it. I loved that set. My stomach is churning just writing this and it's been two weeks. I don't know if I'll ever get over the cruelty people have to pull over to a broken down motorhome and just help themselves. What if we'd been in there? It just makes me depressed and angry.

So we came home to try and get one night to ourselves, and the next morning our power was shut off. It's a long story and I'm not going into details, but we got power back last Friday. But, by then, my fruit had gone bad and all the freezing done up to this point was wasted. We did manage to eat through more than half of it before it went bad, but it's still heartbreaking. This was to be my stores for healthy snacks for the winter.

But the worst part of being without power was the inability to effectively promote and write. I have a tablet and tried some writing, but I'm still learning it's quirks and I lost 500-1k+ words straight up, because I clicked to a different window without saving. I also haven't been able to figure out how to copy and paste links on it. I finally found out how to highlight links (on purpose) but still couldn't get it to copy. So, on top of everything, during this time without power, I had another release :D
LOL silver linings and all that.

It's the anthology, Ravaged and it's already getting some good reviews so check it out!! It is classified as erotica. My particular short introduces the werebears and a couple of characters that will appear in other shorts and novels. Not a necessity to have read it, but helps to fill in the gaps a little bit :) Also has dolphin shapeshifters!! I can't wait to read the rest of them :)

I've done it. I've written my first historical and it's been accepted into another anthology, the Crimson anthology. It's a vampire story. Love the world I've created around it and am also excited to join a couple of my favorite authors from Ravaged in it. It promises to be another scorcher!