The final stop for geeks and meet the villain plus Nick's cover reveal

Geek girl problem #893: It's the last day of the Geeky Dice & Debauchery Tour and you can't get enough geeky posts.

What a tour!
Three months of incredible fun. Thank you so much to all my wonderful hosts and to the readers that have been following me. You guys make it all worthwhile.

My final stop is at the steamy Decadent Kane's blog. I love her erotic elf series! I'll be talking about some of the things I learned during this tour about marketing erotica.

Update: Due to health issues, Decadent Kane will not be hosting me today. But if you would, please go to her blog and send good thoughts her way.

You still have time to enter the geeky giveaway below!

Prepare to meet the big, bad villain in Of Blood and Sorrow.
Be wary of her charms lest you be caught in her spider's web.
Click on over to the awesome Shannon Lawrence's blog for more.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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I'm excited to be part of the marvelous Nick Wilford's cover reveal!

Isn't that wonderfully creepy?!

  

Title: A Change of Mind and Other Stories

Author: Nick Wilford

Genre: Contemporary speculative fiction

Cover Design: Rebekah Romani

Release Date: May 25th, 2015

A Change of Mind and Other Stories consists of a novella, four short stories and one flash fiction piece. This collection puts the extremes of human behaviour under the microscope with the help of lashings of dark humour, and includes four pieces previously published in Writer’s Muse magazine.

In A Change of Mind, Reuben is an office worker so meek and mild he puts up with daily bullying from his boorish male colleagues as if it’s just a normal part of his day. But when a stranger points him in the direction of a surgeon offering a revolutionary new procedure, he can’t pass up the chance to turn his life around.

But this isn’t your average surgeon. For a start, he operates alone in a small room above a mechanic’s. And he promises to alter his patients’ personality so they can be anything they want to be...

In Marissa, a man who is determined to find evidence of his girlfriend’s infidelity ends up wondering if he should have left well alone.

The Dog God finds a chink in the armour of a man with a megalomaniacal desire to take over the world.

In The Insomniac, a man who leads an obsessively regimented lifestyle on one hour’s sleep a night finds a disruption to his routine doesn’t work for him.

Hole In One sees a dedicated golfer achieving a lifelong ambition.

The Loner ends the collection on a note of hope as two family members try to rebuild their lives after they are torn apart by jealousy.

Nick Wilford is a writer and stay-at-home dad. Once a journalist, he now makes use of those rare times when the house is quiet to explore the realms of fiction, with a little freelance editing and formatting thrown in. When not working, he can usually be found spending time with his family or cleaning something. Nick is also the editor of Overcoming Adversity: An Anthology for Andrew. You can find him hanging out on his

blog or on Goodreads or Twitter.

Preorder Links: Amazon US, Amazon UK

Add it on Goodreads

Friday Five for January 17, 2014

1. I'm almost at the end of draft 2 of my paranormal romance WIP. I have less than 5k to go. I rewrote the entire final battle. Last night, the villain did something that was simple and made complete sense. Why didn't I think of this before? It was awesome. I wanted to shout "Bravo!" Then I realized that was the villain. Drat. Okay, protagonist, you need to be equally as clever.

2. I came across a book I could not finish for the first time in a long while. I couldn't get past 10% on my Kindle. I only mention this because I felt really bad about it. I wanted to finish it. Is it strange I felt guilty?

3. My little guy had his first after school special on Wednesday. It's an Animal Science class that goes for six weeks. They learned about frogs. They put sticky jelly on their fingers and felt how it stuck to surfaces. Then they ate goldfish crackers using only their tongues to pick it up. He was really excited about it. (Plus mama got extra time to write!) I'm so pleased I enrolled him in a play-based cooperative preschool. I've been reading a lot of articles lately that reported upon the benefits of this type of preschool. Now that play-based preschools have been around for a while, several studies have shown how well it nurtures a love for school and learning. It is especially effective with boys, and studies have followed students up through the sixth grade with positive results.

4. I'm doing better with finding my balance, but I'm not there yet. I still spend too much time online when I should be writing. I've been going to bed at a better time, though, and that's helped during the days. I also take a little more time at night before bed to wind down. I sit in bed and read or watch a half hour show. Maybe I should use one of those timers and kid blockers to keep myself off the internet! Hmm, hey, not a bad idea. Anyone else ever try that?

5. I have my local critique group meeting tomorrow. Other than that, no plans for the weekend. What about you?

A to Z Challenge - V is for Villain

This is part of an ongoing story throughout the Challenge.

If you're just joining me now, please start with A is for Abby.

V IS FOR VILLAIN

Abby started to move to check on Demetrius, but had to stop as Burrows rounded the desk. She couldn't turn her back on the thing no matter her desperation to know if Demetrius was dead or not. It had killed one of the Fearless when Burrows was a girl, and she wasn't a young woman. That meant it had several years to get stronger.

"I have no qualms about killing Burrows to kill you." Abby had several, but she wasn't going to let the monster know that. Perhaps if Tawa was with her, she might be able to tell her a way to kill the thing without killing Burrows too, but she was on her own.

She heard Demetrius then, stomping up the stairs and growling curses. Abby felt a warmth spread through her. No, she wasn't alone. She had Demetrius.

"I didn't think you would. That's what makes this even more thrilling." Burrows stopped in front of her desk and pushed her glasses up her nose. It was a silly human gesture, but somehow chilling in this moment. "I've always wanted to be the villain, the big bad wolf of the world. It's hard to do stuck in a pathetic little body."

"So you want Abby's? Not going to happen." Demetrius limped, but it seemed his pride was hurt more than anything else. He readied himself for another charge, but Abby put a hand on his arm.

"It doesn't want my body. It can't leave Burrows." It seemed easy enough to just kill the host to kill the beast, but Abby doubted it was going to be that easy. Something else was going on. Something she hadn't figured out yet.

"Then let's get on with the fight." Patience wasn't one of Demetrius' virtues. He ran head-on again, but wary of the dark tendrils this time. He dodged two and was smacked back into the bookshelf with a third.

There was no point standing around playing Twenty Questions. Abby used the fae's distraction and dove in, targeting Burrows' mid-section. She was swept back, stopping herself just before she fell down the stairs.

Demetrius and Abby made a second attack together, and then a third and fourth. Each time, they were knocked back. Neither of them were able to get close enough to land a hit on Burrows. The attic was small. There was only so much room to maneuver and the monster was aware of every tiny movement.

Abby threw one blade as Demetrius bellowed and swung from the opposite side. He was thrown back and Burrows caught the glowing sword. She held it in one hand, examining it with a childlike fascination.

"Interesting. It burns my essence, but human flesh can hold it. Perhaps it isn't so bad being trapped in this form." Burrows gave Abby a sly look. "Or maybe it's a sign that you can't kill me after all."

Abby recalled her sword and it re-emerged from her palm. "I don't know. Let me run you through with it and see what happens."