Ashley!!!

I PM’d you on Facebook. Let me know if you don’t get it!

-Anna

Hey all my wonderful readers!  Here is south-central PA the leaves are changing, the weather is cooling, and I’m in the mood to give away some swag.  So…. I’m hosting a giveaway of one copy of The Kane Wolves – Howl & Embrace along with one beautiful jasper & silvertone oak leaf book mark.  Enter the giveaway here -> a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Kane Wolves is both books in the series – in one! So you’re actually getting 3 things – Howl, Embrace, & the bookmark. Rock on, friends, rock on.

*my camera doesn’t take the best pics but I’ve got to work with what I have, unfortunately*

So this past weekend I was at the Adams County Public Library for their 1st annual Local Author Weekend and I got to share a table with Eileen Graham.  She wrote An Outlander’s Journal: Essays on Country Life which is about her experiences in Adams County (where I’m from!!).  It’s fantastic.  If you are looking for a great book about back-country and mountain living, check out her book.  You won’t be disappointed.

Here’s the blurb:

In warm and humorous prose, this award- winning columnist writes about her adventures in Pennsylvania’s apple country and the realities to be faced when the ambiance wears thin. Each subject in An Outlander’s Journal seems ordinary, but Eileen Graham digs deep to reveal layers both bright and dark, like the red shale and ironstone found under her Adams County soil.

Through her clear yet compassionate eyes, explore the Stony Batter, Maybelle’s place, Dickey’s Hill and the neighborhood swimmin’ hole.

Meet a faith healer, beekeepers, a skunk trapper of the year, and country folk who celebrate spring by throwing an egg over their house. Commiserate as she comes to terms with goats, pigs, sheep, a horse, a goose, two growing boys, and a husband who never met a tractor he didn’t like.

In the words of her neighbor Hazel Johnson, An Outlander’s Journal may just be “the most wonderfullest” book you read this year.

You can also find it here on Amazon.  Happy reading all!!!

Super excited!!!  I just created a section in which you can read the first chapters of my indie books for free.  I included current books and upcoming works.  Oooh I’m feeling so good about it.  I love being able to read first chapters before buying a book.  So yeah.  That’s all.  :P

I’m smelling hot wings and it’s making me super hungry….

-A.G., out

These guys!

I just got my copies of Gettysburg After Dark!!  My kids, Nick & Yue are super stoked!!

Aaaand….

We just got The Kane Wolves – Howl & Embrace, too!

We’re going to having a “local author” book signing at this year’s Pippinfest.  (Click the link to learn more about Pippinfest)  My dad will be there selling and signing his books, as will I.  Also – Shawn, the kids, and I will be selling homemade caramel apples (made the best Honeycrisp apples south-central PA has to offer!), chocolate-dipped bacon on a stick, homemade rice crispies treats, and more.  If you’re in the Adams County area next weekend, stop by and see us!

Okay, not gonna lie…..

I totally picture Hunter Hayes as Tristan Matthews.

Thoughts?

I finished Embrace.  Oh my goodness, I’ve been living some heavy-duty emotions the last few days.  Now I’m going to walk away for a few days and then finish the editing.  I think I need a bit of a break.  But Sophie is a hard one to walk away from to be sure.

To celebrate, I’m posting the prologue.  30 September will be here soon but I hope this helps get you excited!

Prologue – Daniel

I heard the light crunch of ice just outside the house a moment before I heard his knock on the door.

My sister Jessa’s ears perked up at the sound which signaled someone other than family at our door.  The oddly polite rapping of knuckles was something neither of us had heard in several years.  Not since someone took a wrong turn down Chamin du lac Rond and ended up on our intentionally hidden driveway.  It had been as much a shock for us as for them since so few people actually lived so far from the main road, let alone an hour’s drive outside of Saint Laurence.

Tentatively, I walked to the door and opened it just a few inches.  Tristan’s face, grave and uncertain, peered back at me through the narrow space.

“I was asked to find you.”  He said.

“Qui est celui?”  Jessa called out behind me.  I waved her off.

“What for?”  I asked as I stepped outside, closing the door behind me.  I scanned the small spans of snow-laden yard, looking for footprints that signaled he wasn’t alone.  A sniff of air lead me to believe the woods surrounding my pack’s home were empty of anyone else.  I really didn’t want to fight anyone from Sophie’s family – Tristan, her twin, most especially.

“Sophie wanted me to give this to you.”

His outstretched hand held a folded piece of paper.

“What’s this about?”  I took the battered sheet in my hands and studied it for a moment.

“I don’t know.  I didn’t read it.”  Tristan gave me a hard look and crossed his arms.

I quickly unfolded the paper.  She must have written the letter hastily because her handwriting was shaky and agitated.

Daniel, if what you said was true then come home.  If not, never return for even a moment.  I will protect my pack above all else.  Remember, our futures are our own.  Which path will you take?

My heart drummed in my chest as I read then reread the letter.

“When did she give this to you?”

“About three weeks ago.  I was told to track you and when I found you, give you the letter.  I wasn’t sure which way you were headed when you left.  It took me a while to find your house.”  His tone was anything but apologetic.

We both stood in silence for several minutes, studying each other.  Could this be a trick?  I carefully weighed what I knew of Sophie and her family with what I had witnessed the day my cousin Jason and his pack attacked the Matthews pack.  Sophie wouldn’t lure me back on a false pretense, would she?

“And you didn’t read this?”  I asked, breaking the harsh silence.

“No.”  He said flatly.

“She said I can come back with you, if I choose.”

The utter shock and anger that flashed in his eyes told me truly hadn’t read it.  Faster than I could react, Tristan had me by the collar and pushed me against the front of my house, knocking the wind from my lungs.

“You are never coming back, murderer!”

Fury erupted from inside me and I pushed Tristan back with all my might, sending him flying backwards several feet.

“I’m not a murderer!”

I bared my teeth and sprang toward him.  We were on the ground then, wrestling one over the other a furry of fists and snarls.  His iron knuckles met my jaw with enough force that my canines punctured my lower lip.

“You killed Gavin and Ethan!”  Tristan roared as my head snapped around.  My mouth bubbled with blood and guilty anger.  Growling through the pinching pain, I shoved him off though he landed in a low, patient crouch.

Panting, I wiped the blood from my chin.  “I didn’t know what Jason was capable of!  I never wanted anyone to die!”

“Liar!”  Tristan growled a heavy, noxious growl and sprang toward me.

My fingers caught his coat’s collar.  I evaded a swipe destined again for my chin and gripped his fist in mine.  Tristan, about four inches shorter than me, used my weight against me in a feint that knocked me onto my side.   I rolled away just before his boot could catch my stomach.  Mid-strike, I swept his leg and pounced as he landed belly-up.  He was slighter than me though I was faster.  With a knee upon his chest and both of his hands pinned, his ears finally twitched and a small whine of defeat escaped his throat.

“Listen to me!”  I heaved, near breathless.   “I never wanted them dead!  I have to live forever with my guilt, Tristan.  Believe that.”  I stood up and spat out fresh blood from my mouth in a large crimson spray onto the blanket of white in my yard.

Tristan didn’t say a word as he shook snow from his blood-streaked jacket.

“I’ll go pack my things.  We’ll leave immediately.”  I said, purposely turning my back on my attacker, knowing he wouldn’t come at me a second time.

“Ou te-vas?”  Jessa appeared in the doorway to my room as I finished packing my bags.

“Back to America.  Pennsylvania, to be exact.”  I mumbled through an irritatingly painful swollen lip.

“Why?  She said she’d kill you if you came back.”  Jessa cried.  “Pourquoi voudrez-tu risquer d’aller là-bas?!  You’re stupid for even thinking about it!”

A growl built in my throat as her piercing words hit my ears.  I really didn’t want to fight with her too so I swallowed down the volcanic hurt.  Emotions running on high voltage and low self-restraint were rampant our genes.  It was for this reason that Jessa didn’t blink an eye when I came in the house with blood dripping from my lip.  Fist fights were a staple of our existence.  But that didn’t mean I wanted to fight with my twin.  Not now, not today.

“Jessa, she sent her brother to find me.”

“So that’s who was at the door?  J’aurais dû le savoir.”  Her lips pursed in disgust.  “Yeah, I should have known.  Should have known that you’d go running back to that bitch as soon as you could.”

I slammed my fist against the wall, sending a shockwave that rattled the door and windows.  “L’arretez maintenant!  I mean it, Jessa.  Just stop it.  She has given me the chance to go back and I’m taking it.”

“Pour quoi?  There are others, Daniel.  She’s not the only female Loups Anciens left!”

“J’ai besoin d’aller parce que je l’aime!”  I bellowed.

Jessa’s lips curled back in a contemptuous snarl.  “You…love…her?”

So I’d admitted that I love Sophie.  Out loud.  To the one person on this earth who hated her without ever having met her.

“You left a good life in St. John’s Bay to move to America.  Then when your plans fell spectacularly to pieces, you tucked your tail between your legs and came home to your pack.  And now, you leave again because she called for you?  Like a lap dog?”

“You don’t have to like my decision but I am leaving.  I need to.  I care about her too much to not go.”

Gritting my teeth, I turned away from her glaring teeth and fevered eyes.  I slung one duffle bag over one arm and snatched the other from my bed.

With that, I left for Pennsylvania for the second time in a year.  This time, I knew I wouldn’t be back.

So my son starts back to school on Wednesday and I’m trying not to freak.  I don’t want him to go.  Can I just keep him home a little longer?  Please?

Plus, my library internship and portfolio classes start next week.  Ugh…. last semester and then I’m done.  Like, really done.  D-O-N-E.  And it will be at least a decade before I’m allowed to even think of my Ph.D.  Shawn has made that very clear.  :P  Two Master’s down and then I can focus solely on writing.  Maybe that’s better anyway.  At least it doesn’t cost anything to write.

-Anna

“Are you serious?”  I croaked.

“Very.  They came to you asking for help, something that unrelated packs don’t do except for in the most dangerous situations.  Whatever information they have about you must be extremely valuable.”  He leaned against the house and lowered his voice.  “And Sophie, they fear you.”

I paced back and forth across the porch.  “Why would they fear me?  I’m nobody.  At least, nobody capable of taking on Nevin Holsten.  I can’t even get the Council to take me seriously.”

“I don’t know.  But they do – big time.”  The lines around his eyes tensed.  A strange, reluctant dread crept across his face and into the space between us.  The sour sting of it barbed my skin.

I stopped pacing.

“Do you fear me, too?”  I whispered.

“I don’t want to.  But something about you is spooking them.  Whatever it is, it’s serious.”

“I don’t care what it is; I can’t have you fear me.  It would crush me!”

I ran a hand through my hair and walked over to the edge of the porch, leaning myself against the railing.  I closed my eyes and soaked up the brilliant moonlight beaming down upon my face.  I sent up a silent prayer to her, the glorious moon, begging her watchful self to come and tell me what to do.

His fingers pulled a few strands of hair away from my face.  “I’m sorry, Sophie.  I promise to never be afraid of you.”  He gave a small smile.  ”You’re the only safe place I have in this world.”

For just a moment I allowed myself to hope.  With him by my side maybe I could conquer all of this…mess.

Oooohhhh I’m so excited to debut this!!!  I’ve been working hard on Embrace and it’s been a tumultuous experience.  Heartbreak, bravery, and love….  Sophie’s life is anything but easy these days.  

*

Old traditions reign supreme in Sophie’s world.  Stunning revelations about her ancestry threaten everything she has worked hard to build.  The day is coming when she may have to make the ultimate sacrifice or risk losing everything, including her family.  Can this female Alpha keep control amidst the chaos or will she be torn apart by the ones who should follow her?

*

Embrace (Kane Wolves, #2) – coming 30 September 2012

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!!!