2013 - the year to beat all the others.

Giselle has barely had time to accept her new life, never mind the prospect of motherhood, but she finds herself, yet again thrown into chaos, only this time there is more than just her life at stake. 

With vampires and shadow creatures vying for her life, can Giselle escape the darkness consuming her, or will she finally descend into the world of shadows?

2013 sees me vying to fulfill my dreams beyond my wildest expectations! With the merger of Vamptasy and Crushing Hearts, Black Butterfly - the sky is the limit. With a team of dedicated writers, editors, promotional experts, I can only strive to be the best I can be. 

Escaping Shadows released on 27th December 2012, and has been on the bestsellers list already. This is a major triumph, and one I am proud of. I work pretty hard on my promotional drives and try to reach as many people as possible, and am considering doing a monthly Vlog, capturing my thoughts and reaching a whole new audience. 

Take a look at what some reviewers have said so far:

"The sequel to Within the Shadows was beyond amazing. The author carried off from where she left off in the cliffhanger from the first book, and Giselle's world becomes even more troublesome than before. Whilst the horror elements are prevalent throughout the story, there are moments of pure joy and elation that left me reaching for the hanky to dry my eyes. The intimate scenes of the birth of baby Kaden were beautiful and it brought back memories of my own experience at seeing my first child born.

Of course we have the intensity of the will they/ won't they scenario between Giselle and Antoine, and whilst there was a brief encounter, I am still not sure if he is the one for her.

I was shocked with the twist involving Marc, but it added a whole new depth to the series. I loved it. I truly didn't see that happening.

The writing was flawless, and I loved the insight into the different perspectives/voices of Giselle, Alex and Marc. The book was cleverly written and one I will surely read again.

Some of the scenes were very raunchy, for that alone I'd recommend this book for people over the age of 16. There was nothing too gratuitous, but nonetheless, they were sexy and hot.

This book was overall a GREAT read. I could go on, and ADD lots of spoilers, but that would not be fair to new readers of the series. Get your copy now, it will not disappoint."

"J.A. Lynch does it again! The continued saga of Giselle captures your heart and attention from the beginning! Picking up where she left off, Giselle's adventure continues through more ups and downs with many unforeseen twists. The ending again leaves you wanting more, wanting to follow Giselle on her continued journey through a world unimaginable!"

Now, it's time to get your bite on, and step back into the world of shadows, and join Giselle as she continues her battle with the darkness.

Get your copy here:

Amazon.com

Amazon UK

And last but not least, HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

Another year almost gone.

Well, I am just the worst person at updating EVERYTHING in my life right now.  Do you ever have those days were you KEEP promising to do things, spend all day doing 'other' things, and never quite getting round to doing the 'things' that needed tending to in the first place? Yeah? Well, welcome to my world.

I have been so busy with running my EXTRA busy household, writing, having laptop trouble and trying to sane on top of it all. No easy feat let me tell you, BUT as life starts to settle down (somewhat), the baby becoming less dependent on me (no more night feeds, praise the lord) and my work schedule heading in the right direction, I can now BREATHE a sigh of relief.

Whilst this year has been a toughie in all respects, it has also be one of blessings. For one, my daughter came into the world safely and is thriving, and boy do we LOVE her. Secondly, I have found a home with Vamptasy Publishing, and have gained a WHOLE new family that supports, promotes and endorses each other on a whole new level. Respect is priceless and in the literary world, that is a precious commodity.

Me with my Paperback of Within the Shadows

Of course, my plans for 2012 haven't gone exactly the way I had foreseen them, but you want to know something? I am not going to beat myself up over the 'what ifs' or 'could have beens' I am just thankful that my books are reaching a wider audience and gaining the notoriety they deserve. I've worked long and hard on this series for it to be just another 'washed out series'.  I am passionate about my tale and can NOT wait for the conclusion to hit stores next year.

Books 1&2 and a little taste of both.

Vamptasy Publishing have been thorough with their work ethic and have supported my every endeavor. Back in September, we saw my first ever book launch which was a success, with people buying copies of my book, and having ME sign them. Crazy, right? I know. I still have moments of disbelief, but you know something, I am proud of myself, and proud of the writer I am becoming.  Each day sees me becoming more passionate about what I am doing, and THAT is a great place to be. 

A small crowd gathers for cake and a signature.

A reading as requested by fans!

With the success of The Shadow World novels, I've embarked on new journey, involving the lovable and desirable character: Antoine Vilniv.

The proposed art work for the first two books.

The Vilniv Chronicles follows Antoine and his life before Giselle and the Shadow World.  Of course we will meet familiar characters such as Leonid, and Afanas. We will also be introduce to Antoine's Twin, Isobelle, who proves to be just as flamboyant as her brother. From London, to the guillotines of France, we will see, taste and love the world through Antoine's eyes.

Escaping Shadows releases this Christmas.

Preliminary cover art for Fighting Shadows

So, as you can see, 2013 proves to be a planned busy year, BUT I am going to take it all in my stride.

Merry Christmas from a 'few' of my children, and of course myself.

Have a blessed Christmas wherever you are, and remember, "The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." ~ Jane Austen.

In other words, go read a book!

Ciao my lovelies :) 

Within the Shadows Paperback

What you've been waiting for. The PAPERBACK edition is here. Go pre-order your copy TODAY: 


Vamptasy Publishing

One Reviewer Said:

"I am going to do something I hate doing; I am going to mention another book in relation to this one. Do you know Twilight? Did you like it? Did you hate it? If you hated it, you will probably love this. If you loved it, again you will love this.

If you do not know Twilight, then I .... Well then I rest my case!

This book is nothing like Twilight, it has Vampires and it has good and evil. But these Vampires are not nice, they do not sparkle and they do not play games.

I felt horrible for the main character; she was forced into a life she would never have wished for. I have to so, at stages I felt overwhelmed by the amount of strife she had to cope with.

It is not suitable for YA, it has explicit scenes and this should be taken into account. This is one facet that I am sure will attract a new readership base.

I loved the fact that these vampires are evil. That they use, abuse and have agenda's as dark as midnight. I felt so bad for the main character though, that I will have to give this book a 4 * review. Her life was a torture and I can only hope her future will be better. All this said, go get this book. It is well worth the read.

WaAr

Oh, and I love the cover!" Wanda

'Tis that time of year....again!

Well it has certainly been an odd few months. Life always seems to be a roller-coaster of events in my house. Of course, being a mother of five, and writing, and everything in between certainly runs its course. Exhaustion, fatigue, and frayed tempers (the joys of night feeding) and the drama of a tween hitting her first year of high school, and a teen with the attitude of a monkey on meth, well lets just say, there is never a dull moment in Chez Lynch.

But saying that, I doubt I'd change any of it for the world, quite simply because my children (crazy little monsters that they are) are MY life. They are the fundamental reason for waking up in the morning and battling through what can often be seen as a 'warzone' - and that's just breakfast time. I guess in hindsight, no matter how tough it can be on me, I always wing it, and survive the awful days. 

You see, I am suffering from PND: Post Natal Depression, and as much as I try to ignore it or pretend that I am fine, I can assure you that I am anything but. Each day is hard, and brings with it new struggles. I find the simplest of tasks so hard and for the most part I feel guilty for feeling like this. It is just a viscous circle that leads to self deprecation and loathing, and the inner feeling of complete emptiness is often too consuming. It's a horrible place to be in, and the isolation that comes with it is horrendous. I no longer enjoy the things that once brought joy into my life: watching a movie, eating a nice meal, talking to friends - they are all redundant and mediocre 'chores' to me at the moment, but with the support of my husband and family, the road to recovery will be a little less stressful.

Of course, I do have my book and work to occupy my wondering thoughts, and none more so than the paperback release of Within the Shadows, which I am very excited about. Vamptasy Publishing have been great and have shown me so much support in the past two months, I am feeling very humbled by them. 

Within the Shadows will be released on September 14th and will be available for pre-order in the coming weeks. 

If you like your books full of Gothic elements: suppression, submission, highly sentimental, and where the characters are often overcome by anger, sorrow, surprise, and especially, terror; suffering from raw nerves and a feeling of impending doom.Then Within the Shadows is the book for you.

One reviewer said:

“I was pleasantly surprised by this book– finally an author that isn’t addicted to her characters and is more than willing to watch all of them suffer in turn. That being said, I did appreciate the interesting way Lynch interacted with the world this series is set in. Lynch didn’t spend pointless pages having another character explain the hidden universe to the protagonist, instead the reader is left about as confused and lost as the protagonist (though honestly a bit more fleshing out of the universe would be quite nice in the sequel due to the lovely cliffhanger conclusion).If you’re even thinking about reading a slightly more dark vampire book– read this one, I read it in two sittings.”

So please continue to support me, follow me, and even bag yourself a copy or two of my book. It means the world to me and of course paves the way for future releases. 

Love to you all. xxx

Yadda, Yadda, Yadda!!

Well, let me tell you that I have all but survived the summer from HELL, and there are still two weeks to go. I swear I never knew that my role of primary care giver included being a referee: fun times; not!

But on a lighter note, my NEW publisher Vamptasy Publishing recently published the re-vamped Within the Shadows on Kindle with Paperback due out this Halloween.

Available on Amazon

Vamptasy are a great team to work for, and my adult line of novella's has been given the go ahead, which I am very excited about. 

I also have a blog tour coming up in September via Enchanting Book Tours that runs from the 8th - 19th, so be sure to look out for reviews, and the odd interview from me. I will post stop nearer the time.

I am also getting involved with various charities that I hold dear to me. The first one is Rett Syndrome, which my niece Amelie Kiki was recently diagnosed with. You can follow her journey here: Cure Kiki, and help support her and make people aware of this debilitating condition. I will be taking part in the Flora Mini Marathon in Kiki's name, raising funds for Rett Syndrome Ireland.  . 

Well, that is it for now, but I promise to update more often :P

Ciao lovelies xxx

Who Ever Said Life Was Dull?

WOW, I have been a very bad girl. As much as I'd like to make up an array of tales full of fantastical elements, I can't. My absence from the world has been because of the arrival of a very special, and all together fantastic little girl.

Yes, my baby girl arrived three weeks early on March 13th, and we could not be more happy or besotted with the final addition to our Lynch Family Legacy. Poppy Anne Lynch, weighed in at 6lbs 3ozs and is the most perfect baby EVER.

Poppy was a little unwell when she was born and needed some time-out in SCBU, but soon bounced back, and got the nack of feeding all by herself. Now she's a milk guzzling monster and I could not be more proud. She's a little fighter, just like me.

So, because of the world-wind arrival of Poppy, life is certainly taking some getting used to. Night time feeds, dirty nappies, gas, and all the little giggles in between. She is now 12 weeks old and is becoming this incredible little lady. She certainly has all the men in the house wrapped around her little fingers and of course, me, mummy, I just melt when she looks at me.

Poppy Anne on her Christening day, 3rd June 2012

I am slowly getting back to work, and trying my hand at some non-fiction to ease me back into the game, and I can tell you, I am loving it. I had BIG plans for several projects this year, but it seems that life has decided that I need to slow down some, and have some time for me and my family and put a little something back into it.

So that being said, I am off now. I am on feeding duty 24/7 and The Popster really does insist on being fed when she hollers.

Ciao for now my lovelies. It's good to be back :)

Author of the Month: Joseph Beekman

Coming just a little on the late side, (pregnancy issues) I am happy to announce that the Author of the month is none other than Mr. Joseph Beekman. His work is beautiful unique, refreshing and all together fabulous. He is an author to watch. 

What is your name, where were you born and where do you live now?

       Hello, and thanks for having me, Julieanne!  My name is Joseph Beekman, and although I have lived 99 percent of my life in the wild west of Arizona, where I currently reside, I was born in Bozeman, Montana J  

Did you always want to be a writer? If not what did you want to be?

        Well, I have always wanted to tell stories, have loved reading stories since I was very little, and so writing was a great thing to learn and continue learning to this day.  If not a writer, then probably something to do with the creative fields; acting, or something to do with the movie industry J

   When did you first consider yourself as a "writer"?

        Probably in high school;  I would write quite often, short stories during classes, or at least the ideas for them… I would write all kinds of crazy stuff ;)

    Did it take a long time to get your first book published?

        No, not really.  I self published, as I do now, and with the internet age and all the various options available out there to publish oneself, it was fairly quick to do. 

What is the name of your latest book, and if you had to summarise it in less than 20 words what would you say?

        Little Orphan Anvil: the Shades of Fate.  It is the second in the series of Little Orphan Anvil.  It is a twisted and magical tale surrounding a witch, a robot, and quite a few ghosts! In a realm that is gloomy and full of all kinds of paranormal happenings, the little robot must once again, with the aid of some new and old friends, help to destroy the rule of the witch.

   Who is your publisher? or do you self publish?

        I was published for a bit, but felt that the publisher I was with was not going in the direction I saw myself or my books going, so I set out, once again, to self publish and learn along the way, some more of the standards, etc…  It is a lot of work, but all in all, well worth the growth and learning experience of it.

How long does it usually take you to write a book, from the original idea to finishing writing it?

        A few months, for sure.  Depends on the idea and subject matter, I guess…  With the Little Orphan Anvil book, for example, I had the idea and the name of the story in mind, then just went at it…started typing it out and kept at it until it was completed and ready to edit.  Then, revised it and published it! J

    Which of your books were easier/harder to write than the others?

        Probably the ones now, the Little Orphan Anvil series…there is much going on and many varied characters; plus, I have delved into spiritual and philosophical situations, more so in this new one than the first one, so balancing fantasy with one’s own reality was like playing a game of tug-o-war, but a lot of fun at the same time, too. J

      What can we expect from you in the future?  ie More books of the same genre? Books of a different genre?

      Definitely, more of the LOA series!  I am having fun writing this story and series.  I also have some horror, sci-fi ideas brewing, and started, so that should be interesting.

.

 Do you have plans for a new book? Is this book part of a series?

      Just finish up a horror/sci-fi short story, may possibly be a series, and of course, begin the third installment in the LOA series.

 What genre would you place your books into?

      Fantasy/adventure, paranormal/sci-fi, mythical, and young adult/teens - so somewhat of a combo of all that J

 What made you decide to write that genre of book?

      

My love for that type of storytelling, my love for that kind of material.

 Do you have a favourite out of the books you have written? If so why is it your favourite?

      Little Orphan Anvil.  Both books so far, but I really like the second one quite a bit!

Do you have a favourite character from your books? and why are they your favourite?

      Probably the old man, Will, from the LOA books.  He is a somewhat crazy and wild, but very smart and funny character, always seeking adventure, and loves to build things and live out in the wilds of the land.  I like that kind of character J  Also, Tinspar, from the second book: He is a very interesting, off-the-wall, one, but I don’t want to spoil that character for anyone who has not read the second book, yet J

If you had to choose to be one of your characters in your book/books which would you be? and why?

      I would say, it would be Sonny, the little boy from the first Little Orphan Anvil book.  He reminds me of me when I was little and adventuring about in the wilds of Montana during my summertime visits there.  

Do you have anybody read your books and give you reviews before you officially release them?ie. Your partner, children, friends, reviewers you know?

      Actually, I usually just release them and then have reviews, etc….  The second book, “the shades of fate”  I had the amazing author and musician, Khloe Kamalis, who also edited the book, read it over, but no one else had.  

Are there any hidden messages or morals contained in your books? (Morals as in like Aesops Fables type of "The moral of this story is..")

      Oh yes….Both, A Tail Spun, and the Little Orphan Anvil, books have underlying messages of Faith, Hope , Love, Strength, Honesty….and a spiritual aspect of one’s self and towards life.  

If you could invite three favourite writers to dinner, who would you invite and enjoy chatting with?

      Alive:  Stephen King, George R.R. Martin, and Anne Rice.  Dead: Frank Herbert, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Mark Twain. J

Thank you Joseph for giving us an insight into your life and work.  It's always great to get to know the mind behind the book. 

Now if you'd like to find out more about Joseph and his work, you just might find the links below an interesting asset:

Little Orphan Anvil Fan Page

Amazon Print

Amazon eBook (LOA)

Book II: (Little Orphan Anvil: the Shades of Fate)

Joseph Beekman author central page for books/info

Thanks everyone for stopping by. Remember to leave a comment or two, us authors love your feedback.

Until next time, ciao my lovelies.