ORIGINS by Celia Breslin - Haunted Halloween Spooktacular


Flash Fiction

I love Halloween, and every year I like to share my absolute favorite spooky story from my family’s arsenal of scary tales. This one comes from my Irish grandmother, about her personal encounter with a Banshee when she was a teenager. Enjoy!

Bumped by the Banshee
       by Celia Breslin         

… I lived in a large two-story house with my parents, younger sister, and grandmother. It was a cold, winter evening, nothing special or out of the ordinary. My family dined together, then my sister and I cleaned up while our parents and grandmother drank tea. We joined them at the dining table to do our homework, but my grandmother said she was tired and went upstairs to bed. My parents followed shortly after that, but my father paused on the landing.
“Maeve, it’s going to be a cold night. Fetch us some coal, please.”
I abandoned my homework, grabbed the empty coal bucket from the kitchen, and went down into the cellar. I filled my bucket and returned to the stairs. I had one foot on the first step when the temperature in the cellar, already cold, dropped dramatically. Chills ran down my back. Behind me, someone moaned.
But how could that be? I was alone...
Terror rooted me to the spot. The keening grew louder. I dropped my bucket and covered my ears. A cold wind bumped against my back. I stumbled forward as the shrieking wind rushed over me and up the stairs.
But how could that be? The cellar had no windows...
Above me, the cellar door slammed shut. The sound broke me from my stupor. I screamed and ran up the stairs and out of the cellar, through the kitchen and dining room, and up the stairs to my room. My parents and sister found me under my bed, shaking like a puppy lost in a snowstorm.
“Maeve! Maeve! What is it? What’s wrong?” They asked me, while pulling me from my hiding place.
“I heard the Banshee wail.”                                                
We stared at each other in silence, all of us reaching the same conclusion moments later. We hurried to my grandmother’s room.
She was dead.
(Copyright 2019, Celia Breslin. All rights reserved.)



ORIGINS
Tranquilli Bloodline
Book 3
Celia Breslin

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Champagne Book Group

Date of Publication: September 9, 2019

Number of pages: 250
Word Count: 94,000

Cover Artist: Melody Pond

Tagline: The Chosen One is home. Bad little vampires beware…

Book Description:

In HAVEN and DESTINY, San Francisco nightclub owner Carina Tranquilli finds love and fights her vampire family’s enemies. Now, in ORIGINS…

En route to reunite with her estranged father in Italy, Carina is kidnapped by a human organization intent on vampire genocide. Beaten, starved, and forced to fight fellow captives, she finally manages to escape. Along the way, she encounters the group’s leaders—their identities shock her to the core.

Once home, Carina warns her family of this new threat, but dear old dad is missing. In his absence, the Tribunal, the governing body for all vampirekind, lies in disarray, with an old enemy making a bid for her father’s throne. What’s worse? The usurper wants her for his queen…and slave.

With a human-vampire war looming on one side and a vampire-vampire battle brewing on the other, Carina will have to rally her troops, take back the throne, and fulfill her destiny as the Chosen One. If not, her whole world will fall, taking everyone she loves with it.


Kobo       Amazon      Champagne




Excerpt

The car stopped. I couldn’t convince myself to step out. What if this was a freaking, injection-induced hallucination? What if I was still back in the damn prison?
Besnik helped me out.
The mansion’s mammoth double doors eased open. The man illuminated in the doorway chased away the numbness, pumped my heart so hard it might pound right out of my chest. He opened his arms wide, calling me. My lips curled upward in the first true smile I’d cracked since the last time he’d held me in his arms. That man, my man, loved me more than any other on this whole damn planet.
“Alexander.”
I ran to him.
Alexander’s arms closed around me, his hold so tight I could barely catch a breath. Tremors ran through his hard body, again and again.
“Carina,” he croaked, voice sandpaper rough. “Carina.”
Nuzzling his neck, I planted fevered kisses along his tan, heated skin. He’d fed recently to be this warm under my lips. Temptation had me licking his pounding pulse, nipping at the vein. Couldn’t resist it. My fangs slid home.
Energy exploded between us, our mate bond bursting to life and tearing away whatever magical wall had separated us for far too long. My bite, the catalyst, his blood the cure. Awash in the force of our reunion, Alexander staggered then clutched me closer while I pulled out of his neck and laved the rapidly healing holes.
As our power continued to bubble and stitch us back together, he whisked us into the grand entryway, planted my ass on an ornate, antique cabinet, and devoured my mouth like a starving man. His hands roamed everywhere, searching, cataloguing, as if to reassure himself this wasn’t a hallucination, that I was really here, in his arms, relatively unharmed.
The more he kissed me, the more those wonderful, golden threads of our connection resurrected inside me, around me, between us, and I felt like freaking Sleeping Beauty awakened from her magical slumber by a kiss from her fated handsome prince. The silly thought made me giggle against Alexander’s seeking mouth, and then I was crying while my love cupped my face between his hands, wiped away my tears with his thumbs, and pressed tender kisses to my forehead, my cheeks, the tip of my nose…
“Alexander.” I fisted his shirt tight. Please, God, let him be real. “I… I don’t want to wake up.” Please, don’t let this end.
His smoky blue eyes bored into mine, his brown hair spiked in every direction, a bit longer than in my memory. It’s not a dream, baby. You’re here. You’re home.
Oh my God, I can hear you. I swiped some willful bits of hair away from his forehead, touched his full lips, ran my fingers along his strong jaw, taking in the whole handsome, bad-boy package. You’re back in my head. I’d never been happier to have someone inside my mind. Silence was seriously overrated.

And back in your arms.

About the Author:
                                                                           
Celia lives in California with her husband, daughter, and two feisty cats. She writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance, and has a particular fondness for werewolves, vampires, and the Fae. Her stories are action-packed and typically include one of the many varieties of romantic entanglements: fated mates, second chance, rescue romance, opposites attract, friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, and more.

When not writing, you’ll find Celia exercising, reading a good book, hanging with her family, or indulging her addiction to Joss Whedon’s TV shows and movies, as well as everything in the Marvel Universe franchise. Of course!
                                        
Web site: http://www.celiabreslin.com/    







Newsletter:  http://eepurl.com/bxqwRL     


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DIY Feathered Costume Creation - Black Magic Voodoo Queen


My bestie and I had been planning a Halloween trip to New Orleans since last year. 

Talking about it for ages but finally booked lodging and started planning details around Christmas last year. 

One of the events we planned to attend was the Endless Night Vampire Ball. This year's theme was Black Magic. And it was in New Orleans. SO you combine black magic and New Orleans you definitely get voodoo. So she wanted that woven into her costume.


In March she started showing me ideas for her costume.  Chest pieces, epaulets, feathers....I said, "Hey, I can do something like that." In theory I could but after getting started I wasn't so sure. LOL

I started with the skulls. I purchased 4 inch foam skulls and cut them in half so I had just the face portion to lay flat on the costume pieces.


Then I started painting them. Her color schedule was red, black and silver.


Using acrylic paint I painted some sections red, some black. I let them dry then used silver rub and buff over the top.


Next up came the pieces to attach the skulls to.


She purchased the pre-made feathered epaulets and a chest harness with straps and feathers. I added red feathers, the skulls, and beads around the skulls to the epaulets. I also added better clips to easily attach them to the straps of her harness. 


I purchased the lace chest piece and added snaps to attach it to the strappy harness.
Then put some cute skull cabochon beads over the snaps to hide them.


I glued the skulls onto the shoulder and chest pieces with liquid stitch, then I cut corsage pins to make them shorter so they wouldn't poke through the skulls and poked them in from underneath while the glue was still wet to give the skulls added strength. I didn't want the glue to fail and them fall off. The end result had the skulls cemented in place. They weren't going anywhere.




She also purchased these pre-made feathered wrist bands. They were solid black so I added red feathers. She ended up making ankle ones to match.


I decided the skulls needed a little more pizazz and used corsage pins to make them stand out. I carefully stuck the jeweled corsage pins all around the skulls to border them while not leaving any sharp points sticking out.


I convinced Ilona she needed a headpiece so I made that from scratch. I started with a headband and paper plate then glued on the feathers first, on both front and back. Then I added the skull, hands, and beads. I used black cord to hide where the feathers attached to the headband.






She also purchased these bone garlands. Just a simple Halloween decoration. I spray painted them red and black then used the silver rub n buff on them. She wore it as a belt. She purchased 2 feathered skirts and I stitched them together to make one. Extra feathers were used for the headdress.


Tada, the finished ensemble. I had a black veil she added behind the headdress, which matched perfectly with the tulle skirt she wore under the feathers.

She topped everything off with two silver chain necklaces she found at Kohls, which draped perfectly over her chest for some extra bling.

I think this is one of my best creations. The head dress turned out amazing. I think hats and head pieces are my specialty. :-)




Here we are together at the Endless Night Vampire Ball in the House of Blues Voodoo Garden.


I also made several pieces on my costume including the skirt (post coming soon), the skull brooch and the mini top hat. You can see the Top Hat Tutorial here.

Perfect Punches for Your Halloween by Luna Joya



Perfect Punches for Your Halloween by Luna Joya
                                
Need an easy party punch for your All Hallows’ Eve celebration? How about a simple recipe that works in both good and (slightly) wicked versions for all the witches on your guest list?


Witch’s Blood Brew
Serves 14-16

4 cups of grape juice
1 46-ounce can of pineapple juice,
4 cups of ginger ale
To go wicked, add 3 cups of vodka.
          All chilled
Combine the grape and pineapple juices. Just before service, add the ginger ale.
If you prefer to ice your punch, mix the juices before and chill to make ice cubes or an ice ring to avoid dilution.


Witch’s Heart
Serves 18-20

½ gallon lime sherbet
1 46-ounce can of pineapple juice,
1 liter of ginger ale
1 liter of lemon-lime soda
To go wicked, add 3 cups of vodka
          All chilled

Place the sherbet in a punch bowl. Pour in the liquids. Stir well.

Want more witches? Check out Tides of Time by Luna Joya for steamy romance, magic, sisterhood, and mystery.




Tides of Time
The Legacy Series
Book One
Luna Joya

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Publisher: City Owl Press

Date of Publication: 8/20/19

ISBN:  978-1-949090-45-1
ASIN:  B07V21FVHL

Number of pages:  257
Word Count: 84,000

Tagline: They must solve a past mystery to save their magical happily ever after.

Book Description:

A “good girl” witch hiding secrets from her family…

Cami wants a normal life. Or at least as normal as a life in a family of witches can be. She can’t tell her sisters about her violent ex. Or that she broke the first rule of magic to “harm none.” When her youngest sister asks for help unraveling the death of a 1930’s star abused by those she loved, Cami can’t say no.

A reformed bad boy who doesn’t know his own family’s secrets…        

Sam lives for his restaurant and coveted screenplay expertise of Hollywood history. He avoids the entanglements of relationships since even his own parents didn’t want him. But when the enchanting Cami needs his help to crack an unsolved mystery, he can’t resist. The closer they come to finding a killer, the more they crave each other. But someone is determined to stop them.

Can they solve the mystery before history repeats itself?

Amazon      BN




Excerpt
All he’d thought about this week were her golden eyes, her scent, and the pull she had on him. He’d never experienced a connection on this base level to anyone or anything other than the ocean. It was crazy how she made him think of the call of waves and swells.
She stretched her fingers to brush the nape of his neck. Sam stilled with every single nerve focused on that delicate touch. He almost lost control when she grinned a mischievous, sly smile and a dimple flashed. His breath caught as she pressed her lips to his and quickly deepened the kiss.
He’d been wrong about her. She might be reserved and serene on the surface, but her passion was wild and bewitching. She was anything but the calm cool waters he’d expected. She was a riptide. Sam’s last coherent thought was how he’d be happy to drown in her before need took over.
                        *                      *                      *                      *                      *
Cami slid her fingers into the clipped hair at the nape of Sam’s neck, skimming upward to sink into his curls. Sudden hot desire flashed across her senses. She touched her tongue to his bottom lip and melted at his groan. He nudged her mouth open to tangle his tongue with hers. She smiled and nipped at him until she breathed in the smell of ocean air.
For a second, she panicked. Had she lost control in kissing Sam and drawn on her power?
She inhaled. This wasn’t her magic. It was Sam, his scent of saltwater mixed with that spicy alcohol hint she’d caught at the restaurant when he was near. It was dark, delicious, and intoxicating. She needed more.
She reached for his shoulders to tug him closer and got distracted by the muscles there. She ignored the quick pulse of heat at the base of her neck. All she wanted to feel was more of Sam. She pressed against him and clutched his shirt.
A door slammed somewhere in the building. He tore his lips away and lay his forehead against hers. Cami’s mouth trembled at the loss of his and the intensity of this newfound passion.
He lifted his head. “Was that part of the research? If it was, sign me up.”
Cami suspected from the roughness of his voice she’d gotten to him as much as he’d consumed her. She wanted to do that again as often as she could. His kiss was sexy and tempting, yet tender and giving all at the same time. There’d been an underlying need for more than physical contact. The sheer hunger in his kiss had been enough to make her crazy. She hummed over the seductive mixture and licked her lips for one last taste.
Sam narrowed his eyes on her mouth, his gaze hot with promise. “If you don’t stop looking at me like that, we are never going to be allowed back here again.”
                                       
                                       

About the Author:


Award-winning author Luna Joya writes hex and sex in The Legacy Series, a witch family saga of romances about kickass heroines and the men who love them.

Fluent in sarcasm and penal code, Luna prosecutes sex crimes and homicides by day and writes paranormal romance at night. She loves history, especially Los Angeles and Hollywood lore. A survivor of traumatic brain injury with steel body parts, she lives in SoCal with her combat veteran husband and their two-pound terror of a rescue pup.


https://twitter.com/lunajoyawriter             





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Flash Fiction - All Hallows’ Eve Silent Night By S. Peters-Davis



All Hallows’ Eve Silent Night
By S. Peters-Davis
                                                   
“I gotta make a quick trip to the restroom. Can I use the flashlight?” I asked, glancing at Rory as he tilted his head. “Oops.” We’d made a pact not to talk, experience the night of stargazing with each other in silence.
Rory handed me the flashlight. “Remember, no talking when you come out. Sasha?”
“Got it.” I nodded, grabbed the flashlight, and then rushed into the dimly lit park restroom. Rory and I had come to the Haggerset Lake Park for the last four years to stargaze on Halloween night, ever since we’d graduated high school. We loved our creep-night, the one night we dropped whatever we were doing and wherever we were to come back to each other on this one night.
A rustle outside, like something heavy falling on the ground, startled me. I hurried with my business and ran out to check on Rory. He stood waiting for me. I slid the light beam his way, and he smiled, pointing toward the ground.
I didn’t say a word at the blanket and cooler strewn over the dewy grass, assuming he’d tripped over something. We both picked up the stuff and headed down the hill away from the tree line to the beach by the lake. The perfect place to lay for an open view of the star-ridden sky.
We spread the blanket and sat. I dropped the flashlight on the blanket, and then pulled the wine and glasses from the cooler. Rory grabbed my hand so I looked at him. He shook his head. I set the bottle next to me, thinking we’d open it later.
He stretched out on the blanket and patted the spot next to him. The moon cast enough light to see his shadowed face and body. I bent down, knees on the blanket, and then flipped to my backside, sliding close to him. His hand found mine and our fingers intertwined.
A spike of electricity charged through me, like what always happened when Rory touched me. I missed him during the long months we’d attended separate colleges, and this would be our last semester apart.
His breath sucked in as he pointed upward. A falling star streaked across the sky.
I gasped, but remained silent as per our pact. An owl hooted in a tree on top of the hill. Crickets set a rhythm, adding to the croaking bull frogs all around us. I adored the sounds and smells of the night, just like Rory had admitted the first time we’d done this.
He squeezed my fingers, raised my hand to his warm moist lips, and kissed my palm. His tongue slithered up and down my wrist, making me giggle. Then his lips attached to my skin and he sucked. My whole insides melted and fluttered at the same time. I panted, wanting more.
His body flipped over mine, his moist lips kissing, nipping, and sucking over my neck. Every cell in my body responded, zinging sparks spiked through my veins. His tongue slathered my skin. My eyelids closed on automatic.
“Sasha!” Rory? His voice came from on top of the hill.
I opened my eyes wide and pushed against the body on top of me. He sat on top of me and covered my mouth with his hand, his other hand held both of mine above my head. The skin on his face shimmered and blurred. He leaned over me, close to my face. A thin forked tongue slithered from his mouth, licking my face.
“Sasha, are you there?” Rory shouted again from a distance.
I bucked, but to no avail. The thing’s skin turned to scales, his eyes…glowed amber, their pupils narrowed into slits like a snake. Fins grew along his forearms.
I fought, hard, struggling to free a hand and bucking to throw him off. My hand came free and I reached for the wine bottle.
Footfalls pounded down the hill, the monster glanced up. I wrapped my fingers around the neck of the wine bottle and swung. The monster’s head snapped sideways and his body fell from on top of me.
Rory stood over us. “My gods, what the hell is that thing? It attacked me and I woke up in the middle of the woods, afraid of what that thing had done to you.” He gave me a hand up. 
A rancid odor burst through the air and the creature’s body sizzled, like brats on a grill.
We stepped back as it turned into bright embers and then dust. Rory pulled me into his arms as the night breeze carried the smoky particles over the water.
“That thing looked just like you. It licked me.” I yanked the bottom of my T-shirt up to wipe my face and neck.
“You couldn’t tell that thing wasn’t me?”
“It never kissed me on the lips.” And I couldn’t help but wonder what it had planned on doing with me. “What do you think its end game was with me?”
Rory took a knee and extracted a small box from his shirt pocket. “Not this.” He turned so the moonlight shone on the box and then flipped it open. A diamond sparkled. His gaze melded into mine as he asked, “Sasha, monster-slayer of All Hallow’s Eve, will you marry me?” He grinned, and then added, “Before some scary creature sweeps you off your feet?”






Unorthodox
A Kendra Spark Novel
Book One       
S. Peters-Davis           

Genre: Paranormal Suspense-Thriller Romance
with a good dollop of Supernatural

Publisher: Books We Love Publishing

Date of Publication: September 15, 2017

ASIN: B073MZZPVM
ISBN 978-1-77362-303-0

Number of pages: 153 pages
Word Count: 63,000

Cover Artist: CoverUp.Net

Book Tagline:  Kendra’s ability of communicating with the dead is requested by her FBI criminal analyst friend to stop a killer from murdering agents.

Series Tagline: Kendra sees ghosts, and then her BFF, Jenna, becomes one. The two friends and FBI agent Derek Knight fight for justice to the victims of heinous crimes.

Book Description:

Kendra Spark, suspense-mystery romance author and communicator with the dead, is requested to hop on the first flight to D.C.

Jenna Powers, FBI criminal analyst and estranged best friend of Kendra, gets ghosticized in a fatal accident before relaying all the details of the FBI killer case.

Derek Knight, a dedicated FBI Special Task Force agent, takes lead on the case.

The investigation into the FBI agent killings continues as Kendra, Jenna – yes, even after death – and Derek work together on the case before Director of the Special Task Force Jackson Powers’ number is up. He’s Jenna’s father and the end-game of the killer’s target list.

Somehow the elusive killer remains undetected, until Kendra’s unique ability produces results and a final possibility at stopping his killing spree before it’s too late.

Amazon     BN      Smashwords      Kobo



Malevolent
A Kendra Spark Novel
Book Two
S. Peters-Davis

Genre: Supernatural, Suspense-thriller, Romance

Publisher: BWL Publisher

Date of Publication: August 10, 2018

ASIN: B07G36D3JC
EPUB 978-0-2286-0419-8
Kindle 978-0-2286-0420-4
WEB 978-0-2286-0421-1

Amazon Print 978-0-2286-0422-8
BWL Print 978-0-2286-0423-5

Number of pages: E-book length: 150 
Number of pages: Print length: 195
Word Count: 57,500

Cover Artist:  Michelle Lee

Tagline: Trafficked girls marked to lose their souls by a malevolent supernatural entity require someone with explicit abilities for their rescue. Will Kendra be able to save them?

Book Description:

Kendra Spark, suspense-mystery writer and communicator with the dead, signs on to the next FBI Special Task Force case, trafficked girls that are marked to lose their souls.

Jenna Powers, ghostified criminal analyst, sticks close to the case as she and Kendra are also marked by the same malevolent supernatural force.

Derek Knight, lead FBI Agent on this case, learns of the malevolent entity and the deeper paranormal realm of danger.

Kendra’s unfiltered feelings for Derek struggle to take a backseat, and as the menacing threat grows more intense, so does her passion for Derek.

Derek faces uncertainties he’s never dealt with in his past, like malicious entities and the loss of his heart to love. How can he protect Kendra against forces he can’t see?   

As boundless supernatural danger intertwines with the future reality of the trafficked teens, Kendra and Jenna realize only they can shoulder the rescue by calling in a voodoo priestess…

Amazon      BN      Kobo      Smashwords

Scribed      Indigo      Books2Read


Albatross A Kendra Spark Novel
Kendra Spark Series 
Book Three
S. Peters-Davis

Genre: Supernatural, Paranormal, Suspense-Romance

Publisher: BWL Publishing, Inc.

Date of Publication: June 1, 2019

ISBN-10: 0228608910
ISBN-13: 978-0228608912
ASIN: B07S29TF9V

Number of pages: 210
Word Count: 60,200

Cover Artist: Michelle Lee

Tagline: A cold-case investigation ends in facing the ultimate psychopaths, a highly-accredited police director gone crime lord and a beautiful malevolent “albatross of a spirit.”

Book Description:

Kendra Spark, Derek Knight, and “ghosty” Jenna Powers, members of an FBI special task force, investigate a cold-case and end up facing the ultimate psychopaths, a highly-accredited police director gone crime lord and a beautiful malevolent “albatross of a spirit.” Both want Kendra for her unique abilities but might settle for Jenna instead.

Derek stops at nothing to keep Kendra and Jenna safe, but what if the worst-case scenario happens, an unstoppable villain and villainess of the dark plane that picks the earth plane as their stomping ground?


Books2Read      Amazon

About the Author:

S. Peters-Davis writes multi-genre stories, but loves penning a good page-turning suspense-thriller, especially when it’s a ghost story and a romance. When she’s not writing, editing, or reading, she’s hiking, RV’ing, fishing, playing with grandchildren, or enjoying time with her favorite muse (her husband) in Southwest Michigan.

As DK Davis, she also writes YA and NA paranormal, supernatural novels that involve diverse and mature subject matter.



BWL Publishing Inc.: http://bookswelove.net/