DelSheree Gladden Spotlight!

DelSheree Gladden lives in New Mexico with her husband and two children. The Southwest is a big influence in her writing because of its culture, beauty, and mythology. Local folk lore is strongly rooted in her writing, particularly ideas of prophecy, destiny, and talents born from natural abilities. When she is not writing, DelSheree is usually reading, painting, sewing, or working as a Dental Hygienist. Her works include Escaping Fate, Twin Souls Saga, The Destroyer Trilogy, Wicked Hunger, and Invisible. Look for, Wicked Power, the next book in the SomeOne Wicked This Way Comes Series, Intangible, book two in the Aerling Series, and Soul Stone, book two in the Escaping Fate Series, coming 2014.

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You're kidnapped by a paranormal creature. What kind would you prefer and why?

I thought this would be an easy question to answer, but when I sat down to write, I came up empty. So, I posted the question on my Facebook page to what others had to say about it.

Two of my good friends got into an energetic debate about whether it would be better to get captured by a vampire or werewolf. The werewolf camp lost points for having to put up with dog breath, while the vampire camp lost points for inducing anemia and the fear that sparkliness might be contagious. Vamps did make a comeback with a relationship that lasts forever, but werewolf camp argued that they are way hotter than emo vamps. Neither side could be swayed, and in the end I decided I wouldn’t like to be kidnapped by either.

My seven year old daughter voted for being kidnapped by a unicorn. My nephew suggested I invent my own creature and give it a lovecraftion or SCP name. I am not cool enough to know what either of those are, though, so I was back to choosing my own kidnapper.

If I am going to be kidnapped by a paranormal creature of my choice, I’d have to go with a zombie. Maybe it’s just because I was watching Warm Bodies earlier today and being kidnapped by R doesn’t seem so bad. In truth, I love zombies. I’ve watched everything from the sixties version of Night of the Living Dead to World War Z. Some of my favorite video games are zombie related, and I even talked my sister-in-laws in reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies for our short-lived book group. I’m not sure they got as big of a kick out of it as I did.

Having watched so many zombie movies and having played plenty of Resistance and Resident Evil, I think I’m ready to be kidnapped by a zombie and have a good chance of getting away. If it’s one of the slow types of zombies, really, getting away shouldn’t be an issue. I’m not sure how anyone gets caught by something that can only shuffle anyway, but I suppose it could happen. If it’s a fast zombie, well, that will be more of a challenge. Some sort of weapon would probably need to be involved. I’d have to go with a baseball bat over a gun, though. I’m okay with shooting a BB gun, but I’ll admit to being nervous about shooting real guns. It’s the noise that gets to me. I don’t even like opening the Pillsbury crescent roll tubes. I usually get one of my kids to do it for me.

I’m not totally sure zombies count as a paranormal creature, but I have to go with what I think I have the best chance of surviving. I can always keep my fingers crossed that my zombie kidnapper turns out to be the kind that is more interested in restoring his humanity than eating me.

Now it’s your turn. Which paranormal creature would you prefer to be kidnapped by? And don’t forget the why!

 

Arcadia Day was in no way prepared for the death of her twin sister in the first book of this series, Arcadia's Curse, nor was she prepared for empathic abilities to begin manifesting and generally ruining her day to day life. The battle to control her new extra sense hasn't gotten any easier in book two. Cady is struggling to get through one day at a time. School is a nightmare as the raging emotions of hundreds of teens scramble her ability to think. Hope comes in the form of an invitation to join a research group away from home that studies psychic phenomena. Ready to try anything, Cady agrees to go, but the experience turns out to have a darker side than she was ever expecting.

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, so I was excited to get a copy of book two. Some of the great aspects from book one, like great characters that were easy to connect with and relate to definitely carried over into this book. I found myself going on an emotional roller coaster ride with Cady as she struggled to make it through each day, but Ryan manages to give readers a connection with every character, no matter how small of a part they play.

I was surprised by how much I sympathized with Cane (Cady's sister's ex-boyfriend who has developed strong feelings for Cady). I really found myself liking him and applauding his protectiveness of Cady. Bryan, who I loved in the first book got under my skin a little (as intended) when he began focusing too much on himself and not realizing how much Cady was being affected. The new characters Cady meets in association with the research program will pull readers in from the moment they meet them. Bastian, especially, will catch readers' attention with his troubled heart and damaged soul. I loved the relationship Cady and Bastian developed, bonding over their difficult experiences.

The storyline itself was expertly developed. The focus moved from Cady figuring out what was happening to her with the new abilities she was experiencing to learning how to live a normal life while experiencing more emotions than one person was meant to feel and process. The initial chapters deal with Cady trying to manage on her own, but she soon realizes it isn't working. Knowing who to turn to isn't easy though. Telling her best friend and her father about her abilities scares her more than she can admit, but when a friend she met online offers her a chance to leave home and really learn how to live as an empath without losing her mind, Cady doesn't see any other option.

I suppose it should be fitting that a story about an empath should be absolutely drenched in emotion, but I was still surprised by how much this story got to me. Cady’s personal struggle is enough on its own to captivate readers. She is a wonderfully deep and soulful character. The emotional pull escalates, however, when Cady is drawn into and assignment for the company funding the research project and she finds herself locked up with the expectation to do as she is told. Cady is given no choice in her role in the assignment and it broke my heart to watch her nearly crumble in the face of such a terrible experience. Not many books make me cry, but this one did. I simply could not stop reading, hoping someone would get there in time to rescue Cady before there was nothing left to rescue. I don't have a single complaint about this book, and I would highly recommend it to just about any reader. I can't wait for the next book!

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Olivia’s best friend is not imaginary. He’s not a ghost, either. And she’s pretty sure he’s not a hallucination. He’s just Mason. 

He is, however, invisible. 

When Olivia spotted the crying little boy on her front porch at five years old, she had no idea she was the only one who could see him. Twelve years later when new-girl Robin bumps into the both of them and introduces herself to Mason, they are both stunned. 

Mason couldn’t be more pleased that someone else can see him. Olivia, on the other hand, isn’t jumping at the chance to welcome Robin into their circle. Jealousy may have something to do with 
that, but honest fear that Robin’s presence will put Mason in danger is soon validated when a strange black car shows up outside Olivia’s house. 

The race to find out what Robin knows in time to protect Mason from whatever threats are coming becomes Olivia’s only focus.

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Coming April 1, 2014

“Save him and hurt him, don’t save him and hurt him. Pain, either way. Delicious pain. Hunger will be the only one that wins. Hunger always wins.” 

Vanessa and Zander Roth are good at lying. Their whole life is a giant web of deceit made in an effort to conceal the deadly secrets that plague their family. 

Zander will do anything to forget his mistakes, including pushing everyone away. He was barely surviving in his self-forced solitude before Ivy Guerra entered his life. The new girl in school, with her pink-striped hair and unyielding curiosity, incites something wicked inside Zander that can only be blamed on his family genes. Now Zander is forced to fight an internal war and make a choice between loving Ivy Guerra and killing her. 

Vanessa wants nothing more than to shed the strange powers she wields and be normal. Because if Van were normal, she’d be able to have normal things… Like a relationship with the boy she’s been secretly in love with for years. Unfortunately, her life is anything but ordinary. That boy who owns her heart just happens to be her brother’s kryptonite and a potential liability for her entire family. When choices between love and family loyalty have to be made, Van finds herself faced with an impossible decision. 

As if the Roth family needs anything more to worry about, a vicious plot to expose Van and Zander for what they are is uncovered. When it becomes apparent that someone close to them is at the center of this devious plan, the fight to maintain control and keep their cover ensues. It's a seemingly impossible battle because something is causing their powers to stir stronger than ever before… and it won’t stop until Van and Zander give in to their wicked hunger. 

Wicked Hunger is the first book in the all-new paranormal series, Someone Wicked This Way Comes.

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