VAMPIRE ROMANCE SEASON 12 Dec - 1 Jan

Snuggle up to a sexy vampire

VAMPIRE ROMANCE SEASON 12 Dec - 1 Jan

Jarod and Wolfe find their soulmates amidst the challenges of vampire royal life.

Find PRIME PREY and PRIME PLEDGE at 75% off during the end of the year!

PRIME PLEDGE by Linzé Brandon (Book 8 in the Nations of Peace series)

PreSALE offer - get the book BEFORE its release on 1 December 2024! 

Wolfgang Hauer is not just a businessman, he is the Prime Alpha, prince of the vampires. Like all the males he craves the relationship with his soul-mate. Cursed into blindness by a vindictive lover, he is deprived of the chance to see the tiny flame in the eyes of the woman who would fulfil that craving. Until he meets Isabeau, whom he knew was going to change everything ... including his future.

Isabeau D'Amour is the epitome of beauty with her long, curly black hair, flawless skin and deep green eyes. But she has the brains of a brilliant engineer and researcher in the field of medical robotics. And yet underneath all the beauty and brains hides her true nature: she is a ritual healer, Karri'anah. Revered by the vampire clans for her abilities, she is cursed by her bloodline. She needs to be loved to be beautiful.

Meeting Wolfe stirred emotions inside her heart that she didn't know was possible. But when she learned of his curse, how could they possibly get involved if she wasn't his soul-mate and then deny him the chance to meet the woman he craved?

Sinister forces threaten their lives and family disputes are not helping them figure out if there was a future for them. But Isabeau quickly learned that Wolfe wasn't someone who took those threats lightly as he rallied his cousins around him to actively search out and take the threats head-on.

Prince or not, Wolfe was not going to let his chance at happiness slip through his hands. He would make sure that people understood that being Prime Alpha was not about being royalty, it was about responsibility, and protecting his people and his soul-mate, no matter the cost.

PRIME PLEDGE is available from these online retailers:

Smashwords Apple Books Barnes and Noble

Everand Gardners Kobo Books

Take a look at the rest of the series here

BOOK FEATURE: The Medusa Psalms by Kyle Toucher

     This book is a collection of 10 stories and 2 novellas, taking place within, or tangential to, Walpurgis County, a place benighted by fallen angles and old curses, pockets of time dilation, and a sinister cult fixated on the end of all things. Overlooking the entire place broods Walpurgis Peak, a snarling ogre of a mountain, beneath which a comatose entity convalesces, kept alive by a colossal bio-mechanical atrocity, known only as The Machine.

     Connected by events and recurring characters, whether taking place in the 19th, 20th, or 21st centuries, the history and lore of Walpurgis County revealed through the stories of those who lived it.  Exorcisms and scarecrows. A wicked mountain and an unaging house. Disintegrating family and a lonely motel. Demons and monsters. Alternative history and the end of all things. Methamphetamine and Slayer.

👉👉  BOOK TRAILER  👈👈

🔖Get the book on Amazon here

Excerpt from 'Billy Beauchamp and the Monster Cartel'

Scarlet, leaning to accommodate Fate, gazed up at me. The twins wore a plain white dress of mismatched sizes, no shoes, and a garland of flowers arranged in each mane. Scarlet, the pagan maiden eager to plunge into the volcano. The look in her eye told me she had resigned herself to that day and had not that sacrifice spelled doom for her younger sister, I felt she would have acted on it there and then.

I felt sorrow for her. Though so pure and unafraid, I saw a future in service to monsters as they feasted on tentacles, traumatized children, and walked the endless line between desolation and damnation.

The conjoined sisters turned away and joined hands with the others. Six girls formed a perimeter around the magic weave. A freakish sight by any measure, but it would be a crude disservice to refer to these young ladies as freaks. In the Purg, bones fused in ways not seen, bloodlines ran long and true. Haunted and hunted had found refuge here, despite the bloody knife of Walpurgis Peak and the terrible events shat upon its slopes.

“Pneuma,” said the tallest of them, Destiny I believe. Her twin, Candi, half her size and nearly half her age, repeated the word in a whisper.

“Haima,” said another.

“Mystiko,” said a third.

The last time I heard Greek, Lena and I were in a restaurant in Studio City, and she had to order for us because I was about four Ouzos into a future DUI. But in the presence of Penny Brynnwick’s daughters, their words were clearly understood: Breath. Blood. Secret.

One second the magic circle was an ugly nightmare of lines and symbols―the next, an icy extrusion of light burst from those same lines. Shadows splashed throughout the Grand Room, and somewhere in the hollows of my heart, I knew if I stared at this shadow theatre long enough, I’d catch a glimpse of what waited out there, in the Elsewhere, that place of abandonment The Proprietor lamented over, the place where the monsters were left behind.

The temperature dropped. Serpents of frigid air slithered through the Grand Room. In their linen dresses and bare shoulders, these barefoot girls made me feel like a coward for shivering in my long sleeves, jeans, boots, and leather vest. Their hair, caught in the gale, sought the center of the conjuring rug.

🔖Get the book on Amazon here

About the Author: Kyle Toucher

Kyle Toucher is the author of the novel Live Wire, from Crystal Lake Entertainment, the novella Life Returns, and the Black Hare Press release, Southpaw.

He recently appeared in the anthologies Dead Letters: Episodes of Epistolary Horror and To Hell and Back, from Crystal Lake and Hellbound Books respectively.

This September, expect his first collection The Medusa Psalms: Welcome to Walpurgis County ―also from Crystal Lake Entertainment―to rise from the slab of a coroner's office near you. Ten stories. Two novellas. One benighted landscape.

Chat to Kyle on social media

X: @kyletoucher

Instagram: @kyletoucher

Smashwords Summer/Winter sale - The Nations of Peace are on sale!

 The first seven Nations of Peace books are 50% off for the whole of July.

Series link to the sale books

Series link to the sale books

A-to-Z blog challenge: Step Z - it's finished!

Thank you for visiting my blog on the last day of the challenge. If you are an artist interested in taking part in a competition, there is still enough time to enroll. Check out the details on the AGAC website.

I will probably put the painting in an exhibition for sale, and before that happens I will sign it on the front, and then give it two coats of satin varnish.

Sharing the painting on social media can only happen once the competition is closed and the winners are announced.

But here is the first social media slash public image of the painting I entered in 2023. It was based on a painting by Wassily Kandinsky. Mine is titled Duality and it is for sale. It is a 120cm x 76cm mounted wood panel done in mixed media.

Mixed media on wood (2023)

Stay creative until we meet again.

🇿🇦💜 Linzé

 

A-to-Z blog challenge: Step Y - submission process (part 2: the paperwork)

 No one likes paperwork, that's for sure, but rules are rules. Part of the submission process is to fill out the submission document which you receive when paying the entry fee.

Once the organizers acknowledge receipt of all the files, then the painting is officially in the running for the competition.

Multiple entries are allowed, and that also means making sure the paperwork is submitted correctly for each art work.

Once I press the send button on my email, I relax and take a deep breath. Even as I write this post knowing that I still have to do the painting, it is still exciting to look forward to the process of creating a something new that will decorate a wall somewhere.

Until tomorrow!

🇿🇦💜 Linzé

A-to-Z blog challenge: Step X - submission process (part 1: the painting)

 

Depending on the paint medium, it is a good idea to take the required photos before varnishing the painting. Oil and acrylics tend to be shiny and will make for challenging photos especially if using a glossy varnish.

I prefer a satin varnish for both oil and acrylic paint, but it does depend on the painting. My husband is a professional photographer so I ask him to take my photos for me. Not because I can't take photos, I can, but it is about the colour correction afterwards. I am useless with Photoshop.

So I stand next to him with the painting in hand, while he adjusts the photos to accurately reflect the colour of the painting. Since I paint on a panel, not a screen, no other adjustments or corrections are allowed.

The file type and size restrictions need to be taken into account too. After my husband does the colour adjustments, I take the final files and resize them, or export them to the required file format.

The competition organisers want more than just the pretty pictures. More about that on Monday.

See you then!

🇿🇦💜 Linzé

A-to-Z blog challenge: Step W - action steps (part 7: the last decision)

 

The last decision is sometimes the most difficult to make for many artists. I am no different. And that is the decision to stop fiddling. The painting is done and it is time to stop.

Knowing when that happens, requires stepping back and leaving the painting alone for a day or three. I usually cover it up too. If the painting it still drying, I will add clips to the easel to keep the dust cloth away from the drying surface. It will still allow airflow for drying, but covering it up takes it off my mind in a manner of speaking.

Overworking a painting can destroy many hours or weeks of work, so that decision to stop is crucial. I have been known to spot a flaw and fix it. Stuff like a spot of dust on a dark area, or a hair in a light area. I have very long hair, and it will show so I will fix that. But no touching the painting otherwise. After three days I will remove the dust cloth.

At that point my gut would tell me that it is finished. This gut feel comes with experience, and is impossible to explain. I just know it's done.

Signatures are not allowed on the front of competition paintings, so I will sign it on the back. Once I sign my initials, to my creative brain the project is done and I can move on to the next.

Until tomorrow!

🇿🇦💜 Linzé

A-to-Z blog challenge: Step V - action steps (part 6: time management)

 Welcome back to my blog, and thank you for sticking around during the challenge. Since I am writing about my process of creating a painting for a competition, you have undoubtedly noticed the lack of photos. Today, I will share another of my paintings to show more of my artwork.

Back to the process! Creating art is different from my day job, where I can plan my time with better control since I know how long it takes to do the tests. I don’t do the same tests every day because not all tests apply to all the equipment we test, but we know how long each test will take.

Planning and managing time to create art is more of an art than engineering. LOL! However, I have been painting large and small pieces for many years, so I have a good idea of how long each step or task will take. Because every piece is unique, there are some unknowns, for sure, and for that, I make allowances during my planning.

Impressionistic lotus flower
 - acrylic on canvas panel

But life happens. I get sick. Work takes more of my time. My book’s editing is not on schedule. My commissions are not up to my clients’ expectations. All of these things can and do happen to all of us in some form or another.

It is important not to get overwhelmed because dealing with everything will be more difficult. I have written about my process of dealing with feeling overwhelmed, so I am aware of my “symptoms” when it is about to strike me down.

And it will happen. The important thing is to have a plan in place to help, which I do. This plan is also part of my schedule because deadlines are involved in both my work and my creative projects.

Missing the submission deadline for a competition is definitely something that can be avoided by being prepared for the unexpected as much as possible.

Until tomorrow!

🇿🇦💜 Linzé

A-to-Z blog challenge: Step U - action steps (part 5: the devil is in the details)

 

It is time to get into the details. At this point, I will remove the taped items to focus on painting the details. These items can be bulky or need to be adhered to the panel after painting so that there are no gaps or halos.

Halos are those white or light-coloured lines you can see surrounding subjects in photos or where a painted area does not cover the background colour properly. It is usually a good idea to avoid these unless, of course, you want them. I'm not fond of those halos, so I will avoid them as much as possible.

The notes made during the non-painting stage are now considered for any adjustments or changes. This stage of the painting will take the longest because it is very important to ensure that the outcome will reflect the painting I have envisioned.

Until tomorrow!

🇿🇦💜 Linzé

A-to-Z blog challenge: Step T - non-painting tasks (part 3: assess, record, and update)

Staring at the painting is not very productive, although it is important to do so. To make the effort useful, it is time to make notes. Using my sketchbook with the original thumbnails and planning, I can make notes with words or drawings, on the things I am seeing that need adjustment. It not the time to do the work. It is the time to think about the things that needs to be fixed or changed. Make the notes and they will not be forgotten.

It is also useful to take a picture with my phone, print it out and stick it into the sketchbook as part of the assessment process.

Now the notes and thoughts are recorded, it is time to step away altogether. Do something else like read a book, because my brain needs the time to assimilate the painting. But before I read that book, it is time to have a look at the planning.

The competition runs from 1 April to 30 September. My plan is to start work on the painting on 1 June. It will give me four months to do the work, but more importantly, it gives me time to make sure that other tasks, like the final editing of my next novel, will have my focus for May. April is for writing, so I am focusing on that. Focus is important because it helps to get things done more efficiently.

So updating the planning after that first steps of painting will then happen to make sure that I will make that deadline without adding more stress to my life.

I am sure your life is as busy as mine, and if you struggle with managing the tasks taking up the hours of your day, I can recommend a new book by Cal Newport, Slow Productivity.

And a planning method called, The Twelve Week Year by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington, is definitely also worth looking at.

In the next post I will get back to the action steps for the painting.

Until tomorrow!

🇿🇦💜 Linzé

A-to-Z blog challenge: Step S - non-painting tasks (part 2: doing art by doing nothing)

 

Doing nothing when creating a painting really comes down to taking a step back and assessing the work done. Being enthusiastic about a project is a good thing, but sometimes, taking a moment can prove to be a very important step.

Painting is a close-up process. I stand at the easel, my hand probably resting on the panel while painting or adding mixed media elements to the surface. Being so close means that I cannot see the whole. The rule of thumb is to stand back at least three times the distance of the largest dimension of the artwork to see the whole.

Small pieces are easy; you can simply take one step and see the whole, but painting anything over 50cm will require some more distance.

Not looking at the painting for a day and then coming in and assessing it at that three-times distance will provide information not always easy to spot from close proximity while painting.

What do I see when I stand back?

- do the colours blend as I want them to

- are all the elements in the composition in the right place

- is there enough contrast

- do the mixed media elements provide the impact I want

- and more

When viewing the painting from a distance, you can see a multitude of details, which can tell you a lot about it.

What to do next? Please stick around for the next post.

Until tomorrow!

🇿🇦💜 Linzé