The Raven Happy Hour

Missouri Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) state section director Margie Kay is reporting an increase in UFO sightings reports. READ ON

New York City has a long, eventful past and the city’s West Village is no exception. Riotous gangs, murderous politicians, drunk writers and nutty speak-easy owners have all made their mark on this corner of Manhattan and some think that they never really left. READ ON

Late on the evening of 3 January 1804, a bricklayer by the name of Thomas Millwood left his home in Hammersmith, to the west of London. He was smartly dressed in the sort of clothes favoured by men in his trade: “linen trowsers entirely white, washed very clean, a waistcoat of flannel, apparently new, very white, and an apron, which he wore round him.” Unfortunately for Millwood, though, those clothes proved to be the death of him. At 10.30pm, while he was walking alone down Black-lion-lane, he was confronted and shot dead by a customs officer called Francis Smith - thus setting in motion one of the strangest, best-remembered and most influential cases in British legal history. READ ON

Lilith Enraptured by Michelle M. Pillow
Now in Ebook and Print!

Divinity Warrior book set in the Divinity Universe.

Sorin of Firewall lives in a land forever at war. In fact, the Starian men are so busy fighting, their marriage ceremony has been reduced to a “will of the gods” event where they simply pick a woman out of a lineup and claim her as a wife. With women becoming scarce, it’s necessary to trade with the off world Divinity Corporation for brides. Duty-bound to attend the ceremony, Sorin has no intention of picking a bride, let alone one from another dimension. That is, until he sees Lilith, the bewitching woman sent by the gods to reward—or punish?—him.

Lilith, a data analyst for Divinity, is betrayed by the Corporation and wakes up in a primitive, uncharted dimension filled with warriors who know only war and duty. Her fear of becoming a sex slave to a big, beefy knight becomes all too real when a warrior of god-like proportions claims she’s his new woman. As Lilith discovers, there are worse fates than being the focus of Sorin’s skillful and earthy seduction.

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Gerrit Blank, 14, was on his way to school when he saw “ball of light” heading straight towards him from the sky.

A red hot, pea-sized piece of rock then hit his hand before bouncing off and causing a foot wide crater in the ground. READ ON

The Carpathian Mountains!
By N. J. Walters
The Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania. Just the mere mention of them sends a shiver down the spine. It conjures up images of darkness and the supernatural. Of wild wolves and vampires. And of that most famous inhabitant of the area—Dracula.

We’ve all seen the movies and read the books, but the fact remains that Vlad Dracula was a real person, a fierce man who fought back the invading Turks by the force of his will, cold calculation, and sheer brutality. It was the way things were back in those dark days. Might was right and only the strong survived. We might see Dracula as a monster, but the people of his country viewed him as a hero.

Then along came a man called Bram Stoker. He took the legends of the man, the superstitions of the land, and created a monster, the likes of which the world had never seen. Immortal, powerful, but needing blood to survive. Dracula was terrifying and compelling at the same time. And the unwitting Jonathan Harker and the innocent Mina were caught in his web. Read more

I’m guest blogging over at the Bradford Bunch today! Stop by and see me!

Divinity Warriors: Fighting Lady Jayne releases **TODAY** from EC. I’m really excited about this alternate reality series!

Divinity Warriors: Fighting Lady Jayne
The second Divinity Warriors book, set in the Divinity Universe.

Jayne Hart has earned her independence by becoming Divinity Corporation’s inter-dimensional boxing champion. Life is great, until a dirty fighter knocks her unconscious. Now, abandoned by the corporation in a parallel world, Jayne will use every weapon she has to be free once more. Even if it means running from her sexy new “husband” and spending the rest of her life in a primitive forest.

Ronen of Firewall longs for a woman to warm his bed and his home, but he had no intention of choosing a bride. In an unprecedented move, one chooses him. Never in the history of the breeding ceremony has a woman dared to lay claim. How can he resist the alluring Lady Jayne? She’s confident and sure in her decision to be with him—until their wedding night when she’s nowhere to be found. But Ronen is not one to shy from a battle. He will find Jayne and when he does, he has one particular “weapon” in mind for taming his seductive, wayward wife.

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Help me out - Steal this Banner! Read more

Helpful Show Links:
http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/W/worstjobs/tudor.html
http://www.listal.com/list/almost-unrecognizable
Faire Justice by Michelle Pillow
Somber Resplendence by Mandy Roth

The Key to Perseverance by Crystal Kauffman

“Never, never, never, never give up.”
– Winston Churchill

I stand before you an example of perseverance in its most extreme. It took me 12 years to sell my first book. No, I don’t mean the first book I ever wrote (that embarrassment has long since been shredded) I mean to make my first sale.

I guess what got me to thinking about my own perseverance was a critique partner’s claim that if she didn’t sell her latest WIP– the third manuscript she’d received a revision letter for– she was going to call it quits. That just seemed so sad to me. Give up my imaginary friends? Never!

I was never a very perseverant child. Sure, my teachers said I was exceptionally bright, but I never had much see-through-it-ness. I was easily frustrated, and quickly bored. My parents developed a habit of making things easier for me when it appeared I wasn’t going to finish something, and that only enabled my ease in giving up.

But I never quit writing. Never stopped reaching for that elusive contract. I’ve heard other writers call themselves gluttons for punishment. Sadists. “Why do we do this again?” With all the roadblocks in this slow moving industry, why bother? It certainly isn’t a get-rich-quick trade.

I simply love writing too much. Building worlds, inventing characters, devising plots, creating conflict, conjuring romance… it all brings such a thrill I get this little burst of excitement in my chest every time I put away a dreary task and return to my manuscript in progress.

These twelve years have taught me the key to perseverance: find that thing you love to do. That prize you have to have. That goal you have to reach. Trust me, the success feels good. The way I feel right now makes every day of those twelve years totally worth it.

I consider myself extremely lucky the niche where I finally found my perseverance is so darned much fun. My first book comes out April 14th from Loose-Id. Every step along the way has been a thrill. Each little milestone – my first revisions, (and second and third, and line edits… my first cover, my first ISBN – have all been like a little party thrown just for me.

To celebrate, I’m throwing a doosey of a party for my readers, and giving away a brand Sony eBook reader. I hope you’ll stop by my website and join in the party!

Crystal Kauffman writes scorching hot romance with dark heroes, dangerous villains, spirited heroines and hot, hot sex! Her first book, a paranormal fantasy about sexy gargoyles who protect humans from vampires, debuts in April 2009.

CONTEST
To celebrate her new release, she’s giving away a Sony eBook reader. Check it out at http://www.crystalkauffman.com.