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Sunday, October 2, 2011

Guest Blog & Contest with Author Cynthia Eden

My author guest this week is a regular here on Amberkatze's Book Blog.

Cynthia Eden writes the most amazing paranormal romance books which are always packed with action. The newest edition to her releases will be Angel of Darkness which comes out next month.

However fans can read a short story from Cynthia in the amazing anthology Entangled. All the proceeds from the book go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and Cynthia's contribution was one of my favourite stories in the collection.

So I hope you enjoy this guest post and will also take the time to enter the contest. You could win a copy of Cynthia's upcoming release before it hits the shelves! Oh and another five books are up for grabs too!

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Bump In The Night

I love the month of October. A chill is in the air. Pumpkins wait on doorsteps. And when it gets dark, people start to whisper their scary ghost stories.
When I was a kid, I couldn’t wait to hear (and share my own) ghost stories. All kinds of tales—about the dangerous beasties that go bump in the night. You’d better be careful (so the stories said) because you never knew what could wait in the darkness.

I’m not a kid any longer, but I sure do still enjoy my scary stories. Only now…I like those stories with some romance, too, please. I like my monsters (I could never say good-bye to them), but these dangerous guys—vampires, demons, shifters—they aren’t the villains of my tales. They’re the heroes.

Who said heroes had to be perfect?

I like the scary guys who can thrill and chill. What’s the fun in safety? I have safety in my real life. In my books, I want drama. I want to live on the edge. Bad paranormal boys can steal my heart.

For my upcoming FALLEN series, I wanted to take a character that was “supposed” to be good—and give him a very, very bad edge. So my first Fallen Angel of Death was born. Keenan isn’t some lily white angel who heads out into the big, wide world to comfort and protect. He’s a killer. One touch…that’s all it takes for him to claim the souls of his prey. Keenan isn’t kind. He isn’t a white knight. He’s the creature that everyone fears in the darkness.

Powerful. Dangerous. Sexy. He can definitely make things go bump in the night. :)

Making bad guys into good heroes…turning “good” guys into monsters…isn’t that what writing fun should all be about? And as Halloween draws near, isn’t this the perfect time to dive into paranormal romances and read about those monsters in our men?

I think so. I sure can’t wait to head into my giant Halloween TBR pile!

And speaking of books…want to win a copy of ANGEL OF DARKESS (due out from Kensington Brava on 11/29/11)? Then tell me…what’s your favorite scary story/legend? What tale used to thrill and chill you as a child? One commenter will be picked to win that ANGEL OF DARKNESS copy—and five other commenters will win digital copies of my paranormal novella, BOUND IN DARKNESS (a vampire/werewolf romance).

Thanks for checking out my post! (And a huge thanks to Amberkatze for having me over!)
Happy Halloween to you.

Cynthia Eden

ANGEL OF DARKNESS—Available 11/19/11 from Kensington Brava
When an angel falls, all hell breaks loose…







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Contest Time


Did you read the Guest Post? Cynthia is giving away a copy of ANGEL OF DARKESS (due out on 11/29/11)? One commenter will be picked to win a copy of ANGEL OF DARKNESS and five other commenters will win digital copies Cynthia's novella, BOUND IN DARKNESS!

That means we will have SIX winners this week! Thank you Cynthia!


How To Enter


Tell Cynthia what your favorite scary story/legend? What tale used to thrill and chill you as a child?


No Story/Legend = No Entry


'Please enter me' posts will not be counted as an entry!


Earn more entries for each link you place about this contest on the net. You can post on Facebook, Twitter & MySpace but make sure you add links here for me to confirm your entries! However please do not make individual postings for each entry. Please post all your entries in one post.

Advertise Amberkatze's Book Blog on your site and get an extra entry for this and every other contest!


Amberkatze's Book Blog

Have you 'Liked' Amberkatze's Book Blog on Facebook?


You can also earn extra entries by emailing your friends about the contest. Just make sure you send a copy of your email or receipt to me at Amberkatzes_book_blog at gmx dot net.

Make sure you post your links here so I can confirm your entries.

Keep the contests going by using the Bookdepository.com and Amazon.com links/Banners below and around the site!


The Book Depository



The contest will stay open until Sunday 9th of October 2011 4pm CET and the winner will be picked by a randomizer. Entrants should check back to see if they have won. I do not hunt down winners and will pick new winners for any prizes not claimed within 7 days.

60 comments:

Barbara E. said...

I've always enjoyed The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
I especially liked it when Johnny Depp played Ichabod Crane in the movie version.

Bobbi Romans said...

As a child my grandfather would swap between 3 stories. As Barbara mentioned, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Rip Van Winkle and my favorite...

The House of Seven Gables.

BTW- Such a fangirl of Cynthia Eden!!

Victoria said...

The scariest story I ever heard as a child was from my Uncle. He told my brother and I that a crazy man had escaped and was targeting little children. He would come upon the window of their bedroom after they went to bed and pound in them screaming. Well he was watching us that night while my mother was out and after he put us to bed (we shared a room back then) the crazy man attacked. I don't think two small children ever freaked out more. Needless to say we were still up when mom got home and Unk caught hell :).
Thanks for the giveaway. I'm really excited about your new angel series.

vsloboda(at)gmail(dot)com

KhelseyJackson said...

When I was a kid I was scared to death of IT. And to this day clowns scare the crap out of me!
btw I love Cynthia Eden! :D

Cackleberry Homestead said...

We had lots of local legends because I live in the Beaufort, NC area where there are plenty of pirate and ghost stories. My favorite was one about the Hammock House which is in Beaufort. I don't remember the particulars. I just remember it was haunted, it was a real house we could go by and it was scary!

crystalfulcher(at)ec.rr.com

Scorpio1974 said...

The boogie man always freaked me out. I never really knew what he was supposed to be but my father used to like scaring me with that type of story that the boogie man was going to crawl out from under my bed and get me when I'm sleeping if I didn't keep my room cleaned up. LOL!

And thanks so much Cynthia for this generous giveaway opportunity too!!! =) I've been wanting to read your books but haven't been able to buy any of them yet.

Valerie Long
just.val.1974@gmail.com

Unknown said...

I always liked Dracula. However, it didn't scare me that much. I always felt a little sorry for Dracula.
marlenebreakfield(at)yahoo(dot)com

alainala said...

Ohhh legend wise it was the Bloody Mary one. i swear that i saw something in the mirror, but as we were in the school bathroom it could have been anything.. movie wise, IT scares the crap out of me. i used to love clowns till then.. ughh.. and the blair witch project scared me.. we have these woods behind my house, and my neighbours made those little stick figures.. horrible buggers!

Regina Shiderly said...

Wow, what a giveaway! The legend, ghost story that scared me as a child was The Devil's stomping ground. The story goes that the devil danced on a spot in the woods. Forever after, that site is a perfect round circle where nothing will grow. There is grass around it, flowers, but that perfect circle never grows in. Don't know if its actually true... but I was convinced the circle was in the woods behind my house, lol. I was scaaaaaared, needless to say. In the daytime, I'd have adventures trying to find the circle but at night, it was covers over the head with a nightlight burning. :)

Raonaid Luckwell said...

My playmate was five years older than me. Of course I thought the world of her because she seemed so worldly and knowledgeable. Well, she told me this story of Bloody Mary, that to talk to this woman you had to stare in the mirror and call her name. Let's just say that well I couldn't look in the mirror for YEARS

Ashley Applebee said...

Oh this is kinda of a hard one, but I have to say that the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Bloody Mary and Candyman (which is kinda like Bloody Mary) scared the heck out of me as a child and still do!! I refuse to walk past a mirror in the dark to this day!!
Ashley A
ash_app@hotmail.com

deanna said...

I remember reading The Legend of Sleepy Hollow in school and singing a song called "Witches Brew."

DeAnna
dpostell2 at gmail.com

May said...

I know this is going to sound wimpy but the most scary story that I can think of is Gremlins... I was so scared after watching the movie and I almost refused to turn off the light.....

http://twitter.com/#!/MayPau531

Diane said...

I have most of Cynthia Eden's books and really enjoy them.
As a child , the story that scared me the most was: Little Red Riding Hood; we lived at the end of a street where there were wooded areas right after the last house and at night it was very dark and very scary. There always seemed to be noises coming from there. What I didn't know at the time is that a farmer owned the land and even though we couldn't see a house there was one at the opposite end.

Diane said...

I have most of Cynthia Eden's books and really enjoy them.
As a child , the story that scared me the most was: Little Red Riding Hood; we lived at the end of a street where there were wooded areas right after the last house and at night it was very dark and very scary. There always seemed to be noises coming from there. What I didn't know at the time is that a farmer owned the land and even though we couldn't see a house there was one at the opposite end.

I posted on Facebook about the blog and the contest too!
facebook.com/profile.php?id=566547895

Lisa Richards/alterlisa said...

As a child, my grandfather use to tell us to stay out of the woods (there was a pond there and that's why he didn't want us going)cause if we didn't "Swampy Joe" would carry us off and we'd never be seen again. Even the older cousins swore they had seen him lurking around the barns and corn crib at night. There wasn't a one of us that would go to the outhouse at night when we spent the night. We might have had indoor plumbing at our homes but at the grandparents we all used the chamber pot with no fussing at all..
(\___/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

alterlisa AT yahoo DOT com
http://lisaslovesbooksofcourse.blogspot.com/

fairysong91 said...

My most terrifying legend? My parents used to tell me that the "boogey monster" lived under my bed and that if I slept uncovered, he'd grab my feet and nible on my toes. However, in my child's mind, that meant he would EAT my feet - not nibble. I had visions of a monster peeking over the end of my bed in hunger - watching and waiting for me to move and expose body parts to eat. He was the same color of shadows and his mouth was full of layers of razor sharp teeth. If I let a foot hang out, he would reach for me with hands that had long, thin fingers ending in black claws ... and if I didn't move fast enough - he'd impale me with those knife-like claws. It was so frightening! If I didn't have my sheets tucked up under my chin, I couldn't relax. To this day I still feel a little apprehension when letting even one foot free from the confines of my blankets.

Breezy1323 said...

This might sound ridiculous but when I was younger I was terrified of the Chucky Doll. After watching the movies I became afraid of chimneys because I happened to have been siting by one when I saw the movie.
Breezyobreezy(at)gmail(dot)com

Jamie said...

It would definitely have to be bloody mary. My friends and I would scare ourselves silly doing this in the bathroom in the dark. We all swore that we saw her in the mirror.

Cynthia Eden said...

Amberkatze, thank you so much for having me over!

Cynthia Eden said...

Hi, Barbara! Oh, I love that one, too!! I've always been a huge Sleepy Hollow fan.

Hi, vitch36! You've listed some awesome stories. (And thank you!)

Cynthia Eden said...

Victoria, that would have scared me to death! Gah!

Khelsey, you are not alone. That clown from It has always creeped me out--and made me afraid to go near sewers b/c of that early scene. (And thank you very much!)

Cynthia Eden said...

Crystal, those real haunted houses always give me goosebumps.

Hi, Valerie! I used to always check under my bed before I went to sleep b/c I was worried about the boogie man, too--that guy got around!

Cynthia Eden said...

Marlene, I felt sorry for him, too! I wanted him to find a happy ending. :)

alainala, I've always been too much of a coward to actually say Bloody Mary near a mirror, so I bow down to your bravery!

Cynthia Eden said...

Shiderly, that's a creepy tale! Now, anytime I see an area like that, I will think of your story.

Raonaid, I get nervous if I go near a mirror late at night. Too many stories about ghosts looking back at you!

Cynthia Eden said...

Hey, Ashley! Ah, Candyman! I remember that movie (and it's sequels). Definitely scared me! Those bees--ah!!!

DeAnna, I am now off to Google that soong. :)

Cynthia Eden said...

May, Gremlins had some scary parts! Those guys were vicious!

Diane, that would have scared me, too! Being alone near/in the woods has always made me a nervous girl.

Cynthia Eden said...

Uh, oh, Lisa, that Swampy Joe sounds pretty scary! I wouldn't have gone out there, either!

Gah, fairysong, that would have scarred me! I'd never be able to sleep without having my feet covered if I'd heard that story as a kid. Scary!!

Cynthia Eden said...

Breezy, that doesn't sound ridiculous at all! To this day, I have to cover my eyes when I watch a Chucky show.

Jamie, you are braver than me! I've always been too chicken to try summoning her in a bathroom.

Pamk said...

Friday the 13th freaked me out.
can't remember which one but me and two friends both teenage girls around 16 was watching one at one of our houses with no parents there and someone knocked on the door. I was nominated to answer cause I was the least scared of the three of us. When I opened the door the person who knocked yanked me outside. Scared the crap out of my friends and me too until I realized it was my boyfriend. I could have killed him.

Becky said...

My favorite legend is The legend of Sleepy Hollow. Growing up I never did find the stories or the scary legends to be scary. I had always been fascinated with them. I remember stories about things that people told me when growing up and I always wanted to go to that place and check it out for myself. I am still that way even now. I would find it fascinating to stay someplace haunted.

Sheree said...

What? No spooky love for Robert Service's "The Cremation of Sam Mcgee"? The ending always gave me shivers.

"There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold..."

ironss [at] gmail [dot] com

Debs119 said...

Hi Cynthia, thank you for the great giveaway.

I was brought up on scary movies/stories. Every weekend when I was a kid I went over to my Nana's house to stay and she let me stay up late with her watching all the horror movies.

I used to find Candyman scary with the whole saying his name five times while looking into the mirror (I believe a bit like the legend Bloody Mary)

But the one which always freaked me out was Puppet Master. I hate Puppets, they give me the creeps.

englishbabe78(at)hotmail(dot)co(dot)uk

I have Liked Amberkatze's Book Blog on Facebook

I posted on Facebook & Twitter about the contest too

http://twitter.com/#!/Debs119
http://www.facebook.com/Debs119

Unknown said...

I always liked The Legend of Sleepy Hollow or Candyman from television. They were both pretty scarey to me. Please enter me in contest. Tore923@aol.com

Nancy said...

Ack! How did I almost miss this event?

No need to enter me. I buy Cynthia's books with glee!

The headless horseman of The Legend of Sleep Hollow freaked me out more than any other story. Headless anything freaks me.

Amber, thanks for bringing Cynthia to us, and thank you, Cynthia, for the terrific blog!

Light,
Nancy Haddock

Audra said...

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
audie@wickerness.comm

Dovile said...

I'm not really a fan of scary stories, and the scariest for me as a child was the story of Little Red riding Hood. actually, all Grimms's tales were pretty scary to me.

wanda f said...

As a child it was The Legend of Sleepy Hollow I waited every year to watch it on tv .These days its movies like Scream that freak me out but I love a good scare .

flanagan@mebtel.net

Cynthia Eden said...

Pamk, I would have been ready to kill that boyfriend, too!! So scary!

Yay, Becky! Another vote for Sleepy Hollow. Love that one.

Cynthia Eden said...

Sheree, I've never heard of that one. Now I have to go and Google. :)

Thanks for entering the giveaway, Debs! And I am with you on the puppets--so creepy! I watched a puppet movie on SyFy the other night that is still messing with my head!

Cynthia Eden said...

Two great ones, Tore!

Aw, thank you, Nancy!! :)

Love that one, Audra!

Cynthia Eden said...

Dovile, I agree with you, Grimm could be pretty scary!

Wanda, didn't there used to be a cartoon version of Sleepy Hollow? Or did I dream that?

Anonymous said...

Hey Cynthia! Ok, looking backthis was a silly one, but Candyman used to scare the crap outta me. I would have psych myself up and try and say it 3 times in the mirror (like Bloody Mary) and would get to the second time and chicken out lol.

I put this on my blog FB page here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ramblings-From-A-Chaotic-Mind/182110908487043

and re-tweeted here:
http://twitter.com/#!/cynthiaeden/status/120889634392776704

skyla11377 said...

I used to always love reading The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow. The story of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman always captivated me as a child. When I was a littel older I had found a recording of the story which I used to play on Halloween because this version sounded so much more sinister than I could ever make it sound in my head. Washington Irving created such a fabulous short story that stands the test of time. I have Cynthia Eden's Night Watch Book so I would love to get my hands on her next series.

I posted this giveaway on my Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/skyla11377).
http://www.facebook.com/skyla11377/posts/198220540251551

I tweeted about this giveaway on Twitter (@skyla11377).
https://twitter.com/#!/skyla11377/status/120896071252705281

I posted this giveaway on my Myspace page (http://www.myspace.com/skyla11377).
http://www.myspace.com/skyla11377/stream/activity/ShareItem/370949088

skyla11377(At)AOL(Dot)Com

latishajean said...

The one I always liked was Bloody Mary heard about that one growing up!
Sleepy Hollow is also one I know well.
Thank you for the great giveaway!
tishajean@ charter.net

Cathy M said...

I am pretty much a wuss when it comes to scary movies, and am the one to leave the room whenever my kids had one on tv.

When I was growing up it was the stories of Bloody Mary and the Candy Man that would really scare me.

caity_mack at yahoo dot com
liked your FB page Amber

NikkiB said...

When I was a child there were three very scary things that to even this day make my skin crawl. The first was of course Chucky, my parents actually bought me the doll and after I watched the movies well lets just say he went in the trash! The second was "IT", I didnt like clowns to begin with and after that I had nightmares for the longest time especially after my father bought a creepy clown portrait that played creepy music. The third was the zombies from "Return Of The Living Dead", To this day I cant watch the movie. I know it sounds crazy but at night I would be looking around my house going If they came how could I board the house up and survive..lol.. my son loves to tease me about it.

powermom245@comcast.net

StyleVamp said...

Thx fr the great Contest..

I have quite a few..The Blob "do you remember that movie?" Every time I would take a shower I would look into the drain. Just to make sure nothing would be coming out. (lol)

In school it was the myth of "Bloody Mary". Girls & Boys would try dare each other to turn off the lights in the bathroom and say her name 3x in front of the mirror. Needless to say..I was to much of a chicken to ever do that (lol)

Has anybody ever done that?

Amy said...

As a child, I was really scared of the Bloody Mary legend. My friends told me the story in 3rd grade and said that it could happen in our school's 4th floor girls' bathroom. I was also really scared of the Goosebumps stories, but I still loved them!

angeldream3[AT]gmail[DOT]com

Linda said...

When I was a kid I (stupidly!) watched a Dracula movie on TV & that spooked me crazily that I couldn't sleep for nights.

Thank goodness I grew out of it & now as an adult I read PNR! It would be amusing (well maybe not) if i still got spooked reading vampire books.

thumbelinda03@yahoo.com

clynsg said...

My favorite spooky story has always been the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, but I also remember an Abbott & Costello ghost movie from my childhood--unfortunately not the title though! Our small town had Saturday movies during the summer and I can still feel chills from walking home in the night after that movie.

cgclynsg0 at gmail dot com

Betty Hamilton said...

I grew up watching horror movies of the late 50's and early 60's. My Mom would give my older brothers and I each a quarter to get into the movie (double feature on Sat!!) and a snack. The movies were such greats as "The Blob", "They", "Them", "It", "The Day The Earth Stood Still"..... well you get the picture! I was about 6 or 7 and loved to go to the movies with my big brothers...however, I would have nightmares from Sat till about Thursday... when we would start looking forward to the next "GREAT" movie. ;o)
bettysunflower at hotmail dot com

Valerie Taylor Mabrey said...

I was scared of dracula because I watched a chiller movie when we were to young to by sneaking down on a sleepover.
vmkids3 at msn dot com

jeanette8042 said...

When I was a kid I was scared witless after watching Chucky. Such a creepy and evil doll *shudder*

lilazncutie1215[at]yahoo[dot]com

Alicia0385 said...

I've always enjoyed The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. My dad would take us kids on a wagon ride and my cousin would dress up as the headless horseman and scare the crap out of us!

aliciahall0605(AT)yahoo(DOT)com

donnas said...

Sleepy Hollow is my favorite scarey one. Dracula is my favorite overall, but its not scarey.

Cant wait to read Angel of Darkness. Just finished Bound in Darkness and thought it was great!

tweet - http://twitter.com/#!/DonnaS1/status/122152833545023488

bacchus76 at myself dot com

katiz7 said...

I was deathly afraid of vampires as a child. I have no idea why. However, my cat would lay her head across my neck while I slept to protect me. :)
I had nightmares so I wasn't allowed to watch scary movies. Now, I love them, if I can't predict what will happen. My favorite was Disney's Ichabod Crane.

Bella said...

I loved the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. We didn't live too far from the setting of this story either, and that might have helped make the story even more of a favorite.

The Friday the 13th movies scared the wits out of me. I remember pinching my boyfriends arm so hard in the theater watching that. lol That and screaming hysterically.

BellaMarie @ tampabay . rr . com

annemarie562000 said...

When I was a child Nightmare on Elm Street really scared me. I thought that Freddy was going to come when I fell finally fell asleep - which took awhile to do!

annemarie562000(at)yahoo(dot)com

Unknown said...

I always found the legend of the headless rider terrifying, especially after I have seen the movie adaptation of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow!

But Halloween is approaching, yay! :-D

stella.exlibris (at) gmail (dot) com