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Strong As Death – Releases Tomorrow!

Posted July 27, 2016 By LadyJai

Strong as Death

Born from Death book one

by M.S. Kaye

cover art StrongAsDeath.v6Ilona discovers what it means to have a mother who is a modern woman and a father who is a 19th-century gentleman ghost.

After being hit by a car and taken to the hospital, Ilona starts to realize she’s different from other people, and that her mother has hidden the truth from her. She sneaks out of the hospital in order to discover the truth.

A mysterious boy named Archer guides her through Brooklyn and introduces her to Hendrick, the man who claims to be her father—though he died in 1890.

Ilona must discover not only what she must do to rid the city of Soll, a sadistic and powerful spirit, but also what it means to be half ghost. She proves what her mother told her—love is stronger than death.

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Add to your to your to-read on Goodreads.

Release date 7/28/16 from Inkspell Publishing.

Awaken from Death, Born From Death book 2AwakenFromDeath.v3

Will be released 10/15/16 from Inkspell Publishing.

The truth of an ancient connection threatens to destroy Ilona and Archer. As they struggle to understand, Lettie discovers, or rather remembers, their history, as well as the punishment Archer bore as a result. She comes to accept Archer will never leave Ilona, but will that cause his destruction?

 

Excerpt from Book 1:

Another twenty yards and she’d be out of the darkness of the trees and almost to the sidewalk, within reach of the light from the streetlamps.

A figure stepped out from behind a large oak, directly into Ilona’s path.

Ilona stopped and searched for a way around.

“What are you doing?” a rough voice growled.

Ilona recognized it immediately, even before she registered Archer’s face.

“It’s none of your business what I’m doing,” she said.

He moved closer. “You’re making it goddamned impossible to protect you.”

“You can’t protect me.”

His jaw tightened, and he glared. “What in the hell do you think I’ve been doing?”

“I’m honestly not sure.”

His voice rose. “You’d be lying frozen dead in a gutter right now if it wasn’t for me. You saw what happened in the shelter—you’d have been attacked by now if I hadn’t been around.”

Her tone was quiet, calm. “I know how you scared them away.”

“I told you I have a talent for creating fear. It comes in useful.”

“But you don’t like it.”

He said nothing.

“And I know you’ve been around,” she said.

He raised his eyebrows as if she was being slow.

“Before you asked me if I was lost,” she said. “You were there—when the car hit me.”

His expression sobered.

She waited for a response.

Finally, he said, “I’ve been around.”

“Will you answer one question? And be honest?”

“I give as much honesty as I can.”

Her lips curved a little. That was perhaps the most honest response he had yet given.

She moved closer, and he backed away.

“No,” she said.

He stopped.

“When you turned the corner and asked if I was lost,” she said, “you leaned your shoulder on the wall. How did you do that?”

His eyebrows pulled together.

“You’re really good at it,” she said. “It took me awhile to realize you never actually touch anything, that you stay out of the light, that you don’t get cold, your breath doesn’t come out in puffs in the cold like everyone else’s, you never let anyone close, near enough to realize you have no scent, to feel the static when you get too close.”

He took a step back, as if in self-defense.

“Don’t try to lie anymore,” she said. “I know what you are.”

MSK.v1Author Bio:

M.S. Kaye has several published books under her black belt. A transplant from Ohio, she resides with her husband Corey in Jacksonville, Florida, where she tries not to melt in the sun. Find suspense and the unusual at www.BooksByMSK.com.

To receive news on upcoming releases, sign up for email updates on her website.

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Kindling the Past by M. S. Kaye

Kindling the Past by M. S. Kaye

Thank you, Jamie, for having me!

Welcome to my Quick Tips Blog Tour. I’ve put together ten short, easy writing tips to share. Follow my tour to see them all. Tour stops will be posted on my website: http://booksbymsk.com/?page_id=616

Quick Tip 4:

Chapter endings are supposed to be a good place for the reader to stop, right? NO! That’s what we let the readers think, but we all want them to keep reading, to lose a full night’s sleep because they couldn’t put the book down. That means chapters need to end in a way to taunt the reader into turning that page. Come on, only one more page…

Here are 3 ways to end a chapter that sticks its tongue out at the reader and says, “Nee-ner, nee-ner, come and get me.”

  1. Just before the climax of a scene
  2. As the characters are entering into the next scene (with a promise to be interesting)
  3. At the discovery of a curious nugget of information

What are your favorite ways to end chapters?

Kindling the Past

by M.S. Kaye

Kindle is fighting to survive on her own, to break free from her possessive and violent ex-boyfriend, and trying not to let her best friend, Anna, know she’s in love with her husband. Most of all, she fights the visions she sees of the past—she doesn’t believe in that kind of stuff.

Then Anna is shot and killed.

In their grief, Kindle and Ty, Anna’s husband and Kindle’s Taekwondo instructor, grow closer. Although Kindle is careful never to let him too close, he helps her learn to accept that her visions are real. Eventually, the truth about Anna’s death breaks through into Kindle’s visions, and she must find a way not to let it destroy her.

M. S. Kaye - AuthorAuthor Bio:

M.S. Kaye has several published books under her black belt. A transplant from Ohio, she resides with her husband, Corey, in Jacksonville, Florida, where she tries not to melt in the sun. Find suspense and the unusual at www.BooksByMSK.com.

Contact M. S. Kaye at:

www.Facebook.com/BooksByMSK

www.Twitter.com/MSKosciuszko

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7222522.M_S_Kaye

Other links to purchase:

Publisher: http://www.lsbooks.com/kindling-the-past-p902.php
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Kindling-Past-M-S-Kaye-ebook/dp/B00JZ5EOXK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398682985&sr=8-1&keywords=Kindling+the+past
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Kindling-the-past?keyword=Kindling+the+past&store=ebook
iBooks:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/kindling-the-past/id860929921?mt=11
Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/kindling-the-past
aRe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-kindlingthepast-1490578-149.html

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Excerpt:

Prologue

I fought the visions. My mother used to tell me my expression turned stupid when I had them, but I didn’t care about that so much anymore. I hated when the visions were true somehow, actual bits of the past. I didn’t believe in that kind of stuff.

Chapter 1: Fight

“She’s such a snob,” one of the young women whispered on the other side of the locker room.

I stayed faced away, trying not to hear their gossip. I tugged my jeans on and pulled my shirt over my head. When I glanced in the mirror to fix my hair, I barely saw the dark brown framing my fair skin—only the way the other girls looked at me. I bent over to pick up my shoes.

“The guys don’t even ask her out because she’s so stuck up.”

I didn’t understand why they thought like this about me, but I didn’t much care anyway. As soon as I had my shoes on, I threw my gear bag over my shoulder and walked out.

Master Trahem was on the workout floor sparring with Mr. Schmidt. Master Trahem’s uniform was starting to come open, and sweat glistened on his well-built chest.

I looked away.

“Bye, Kindle,” Mrs. Trahem said as I passed the front counter. “See you tomorrow.”

I smiled at her, one of the few people I reserved my genuine smile for. She was a big part of the reason I came in early to help every day, her and her atrocious typing skills. She always held her fingers above the keys like a fisherman wielding a spear, as if expecting them to squirm out from under her aim.

But honestly, helping with data entry was just an excuse—Mrs. Trahem was the best person I’d ever known, and I felt calmer when I was around her.

“You’ll be there early, right?” Mrs. Trahem added. She tucked her silky dark hair behind her ear. There was a grace to her movement. No wonder Master Trahem had married her so quickly. At twenty-nine, she was a few years older than me but looked just as young.

“Definitely.” Then I kept walking. Before I gave into the urge to turn and watch Master Trahem.

The girls from the locker room followed me out into the parking lot. I sat in my car and started the engine.

While I drove the forty-five minutes home, I fought to stay awake. At least traffic at nine-thirty at night was thin. I always missed rush hour. I left my apartment before six every morning and didn’t return until after ten. Being tired felt normal.

As I pulled up to my building, I examined each car. I knew to whom each of them belonged, as well as half my neighbors’ friends’ cars. The girl across the hall traded boyfriends every week. She drove me nuts.

I had no way of knowing what Chris was driving. I had to know which cars were supposed to be here in order to know if there was a new one. Most of my neighbors drove beaters like me, and Chris had always liked something flashy. But with him, I couldn’t depend on consistency. He was smart.

I recognized all the cars tonight. I parked under the streetlight and kept the door locked while I pulled my gear bag onto my lap and slipped the strap over my shoulder. Keys ready, I jumped out of the car and jogged up the steps. I hated apartment buildings in Florida. The halls were open, no security doors to block unwanted visitors from knocking on your front door, from lurking in shadowy corners.

Within about ten seconds, I was up the stairs, down the hall, and at my door. Just being able to move quickly without running out of breath was worth the cost of Taekwondo classes. I felt more confident, less scared.

My door unlocked, I glanced down the hall one more time then slipped inside. I closed the door, locked it, and flipped the lights.

I was not alone.

He was right there, tall, thick, and blond as always. I was seeing as clearly as if through acid. I blinked to make sure he was really there. I always did that. It was stupid.

Chris was always there.

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Hope you enjoyed the post. And if you haven’t already read anything from M. S. Kaye, you really should. She’s great. I have enjoyed everything I’ve read of hers so far, published or not! <3

LadyJai

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Guest Post: M. S. Kaye on Motivation

Posted September 12, 2013 By LadyJai

I thought I’d take a bit to introduce you to a local crit partner. Though I haven’t been participating like I should on account of all the things going on in my life, when I did participate, the group was very lovely, encouraging, and just down right amazing! M. S. Kaye runs it and she’s done a bang up job in that as well as her writing. Not only did she just release her first novel, but she has a second one in the works. Can’t wait to read that too!

I’ve had the pleasure of reading several bits of several stories of hers, though FIGHT PRINCESS was my first full read. I’ve always loved her stories, her writing. And she’s definitely not the type to follow “what’s hot” in the market. She writes what comes to her, not what popularity dictates.

Ms. Kaye graciously wanted to add to my motivation and positive outlook. So without further adieu, please welcome M. S. Kaye.

Jamie, you’re the queen of writer motivation advice, so I figured I’d write a bit about my motivation.

Passion is the keystone to my writing (no, I don’t write erotica). It’s not about money, or respect, or recognition. Although all of that’s nice, I wouldn’t write solely for any of those things. All my motivation comes back to the passion I feel for my stories and characters.

I find something about a story or character that I fall in love with, and I build a book around that. Sometimes that something is really cool (like my female underground fighter in Fight Princess), and sometimes it draws strong emotion from me (like a woman falling hopelessly for a man about to enter the priesthood, as in my upcoming novel Once).

I do not pay attention to what’s selling or what the trends are. That’s what everyone else is into, not necessarily me. I want to be the one to make the trends, not follow them.

This passion also helps motivate me to write my best, to continue to improve. I want my awesome stories and characters to be portrayed properly, for everyone to see them as I do, to feel the excitement I feel.

If I’m excited about awesomeness or on the verge of tears as I’m writing the outline, then I know I can make a great story.

So, what are you passionate about? That’s the question I believe you must be able to answer before you can write anything truly great.

Author Bio

M. S. Kaye is a 4th degree black belt and certified instructor of Songahm Taekwondo. A transplant from Ohio, she resides with her husband Corey in Jacksonville, FL, where she does her best not to melt in the sun.

Contact M. S. Kaye at:
www.BooksByMSK.com
www.Facebook.com/BooksByMSK
TWITTER: @mskosciuszko

Fight Princess links:
Amazon – http://amzn.to/15xQX8O
iBooks – http://bit.ly/17Asczv
Barnes & Noble – http://bit.ly/1abP1LC
Liquid Silver Books (publisher – all formats) – http://bit.ly/172SszA

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Thank you so much for doing this guest post and for all your encouragement. It really is truly appreciated.

LadyJai

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