A Life Through Books

Monday, July 20, 2015

Screamin' Skull Press
8:50 AM0 Comments



Searching for Rebellion: Two Indie Authors Form Edgy Publishing Company

Tony Nesca and Nicole I. Nesca have one question – where have all the fearless artists gone? Unable to find a mainstream publishing outfit that suited their taste for grittier writing, the Nescas formed their own – Screamin’ Skull Press.
Creators like Jack Kerouac, William S. Burroughs and Lucien Carr courted debate and made careers out of pushing the proverbial envelope with their poems, books, music and other creative expressions. Living on the fringes of society was considered to be more exciting and fulfilling than conforming to the mainstream.
Authors and married couple Tony and Nicole Nesca feel connected to that Generation through their own work, and their innate understanding of what it means to be artists whose work cannot be deemed ‘conventional’ by anyone’s standards.
Currently writing, editing and publishing their works through their self-publishing venture, Screamin’ Skull Press, Tony Nesca and Nicole Nesca have both cultivated individual styles but have the same mission.
 “To be frank, we see too much pushed out into the world today that is bland and formulaic,” says Tony Nesca, whose unique, humorous and lyrical sixth novel, ‘Hobo’ is out now. “Every other book is a rip-off of another rip-off. The bookstores are packed with these endless vampire stories and dystopian fairy tales. Where is our Anais Nin? Our Hunter S. Thompson?”
 Screamin’ Skull Press exclusively publishes the works of the Nescas, and along with ‘Hobo’, released Nicole I. Nesca’s collection, ‘Kamikaze White Noise’ this year. Raw, electric and with a free flowing mix of prose and poetry, the companion pieces are explorations of sexual freedom, art, death and love.
 “We knew that mainstream publishers wouldn’t have the courage to publish the kind of work that we want to create,” says Nicole Nesca. “It’s interesting – sometimes we wonder, could Charles Bukowski find success in today’s market? It’s as if bravery is a dirty word in literature. Fearlessness, to me, is everything to a writer. Although we have our own styles, I think that’s one thing that Tony and I saw in each other when we met – that drive to find truth and peel back the layers in our own work.”
 “I think we first fell in love with each other’s writing,” says Tony. “Which was a fitting beginning to our story.”
 Tony Nesca and Nicole I. Nesca have published 18 distinct works through their Indie Press, and their journey toward a more rebellious future for literature continues
For more information about Screamin’ Skull Press, and for details on Tony Nesca and Nicole I. Nesca’s individual works, please visit their website: http://screamingskullpress.blogspot.ca/



All books are available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Lulu and Itunes as paperbacks and Ebooks – also available directly from Screamin’ Skull Press via credit card or Paypal


All books cost $15.00




Tony Nesca was born in Torino, Italy in 1965 and moved to Canada at the age of three. He was raised in Winnipeg but relocated back to Italy several times until finally settling in Winnipeg in 1980. He taught himself how to play guitar and formed an original rock band playing the local bars for several years. At the age of twenty-seven he traded his guitar for a Commodore 64 and started writing seriously. He has published six chapbooks of stories and poems (which he used to sell straight out of his knapsack at local dives and bookstores), six novels, four books of poetry and has been an active contributor to the underground lit scene for ten years, being published in innumerable magazines both online and in print. He currently resides in Winnipeg.

Tony Nesca and his wife, Nicole-Isabella Nesca, are the editors of the underground publishing company Screamin' Skull Press.





About a Girl
About a girl is a short novel that begins with two strangers, a man and a woman, who meet at a bus-stop and go on an impromptu bar-crawl on a cool, winter day. Taking place in twelve hours it recounts the oddball, hardcore, characters they meet and their increasing emotional connection as they fall for each other almost immediately. Infused with sexual energy, pop-culture references, intellectual debate and literary allusions this is an unapologetic, uncensored look at our society through the eyes of the outsider. It is written in a free-flow, spontaneous style with long unhindered sentences that enable the reader's eye to glide down the page as the story flows and moves to an urban beat of strippers, punk rockers and nightlife happenings.















The Do-Nothing Boys

The Do-Nothing Boys is Tony Nesca's brand new novel, a raucous tale of teenage rebellion recounting the exploits of a teenager named Ziggy, recently returned to Canada after a three year hiatus in his native country of Italy, and the group of friends that spontaneously gather around him. A result of parental divorce, he turns to sex, drugs and rock and roll and in the process discovers deep friendship, love, loss, disintegration, and the beautiful, sad and wondrous experience of living. Written in an incendiary and gritty stream of consciousness, the words cascade down the page in a free-flow waterfall of ideas and happenings, hallucinatory at moments with surreal jaunts of what Nesca himself calls "word music", but never straying far from the downright gritty and street-tough prose, laced throughout with a constant sexual/erotic underpinning.



Crazy Legs
Crazy Legs is a collection of poems written in Tony Nesca's incendiary white-light/white-heat stream of urban consciousness. Both lyrical and street-tough, often in the same breath, the words cascade down the page in a free-flow waterfall of ideas and happenings and what Nesca himself calls "word music". A romantic, sexually charged discourse on life, Crazy Legs reads like latter-day Beat Poetry, but edgier and much more alive.





Dishpig
Dishpig is an experiment, an unconventional approach to writing, a first draft without a single sentence, word or comma altered from the way it was first laid down on the page. Written in five weeks, spontaneously and in a free-flow style, sentences go on for pages, undisciplined and full of vitality, exuberance and sexuality. It chronicles the bawdy adventures of a dishwasher/unpublished writer as he tries to make sense of what it means to be alive. From the fifteen year old Brazilian Maria, to the young, beautiful, wayward Betsy, to the protagonist, Tony, cynical but full of life, Dishpig takes you through the streets and bars of urban Winnipeg and the trendy strips of little Italy. With a keen sense of confused insight and humor, the language whips through a landscape of lost dreams and oddball characters, serious at moments, downright grim at others, but never collapsing to the point of complete defeat. It’s a rush of vitality. It's a sense of living. There hasn't been a book like this in quite some time...





Nicole Nesca was born in Ohio. She developed a love of music, painting and writing early on and continued that love throughout her adult life. While living in Canada, she completed her first three works of poetry and prose collected in the anthology piece, KAMIKAZE WHITE NOISE., and her latest release of poems, Diamond Scarred Alley. She has been published in several E-Zines and has been a part of two anthologies.





KAMIKAZE WHITE NOISE
Kamikaze White Noise is a collection of three books by Nicole I. Nesca, The Sexual Repression Collection, Kink and Canned. Though not a formal trilogy, the books were written as companion pieces and follow the themes of sexual freedom, emotional frankness and street-carnival logic, all written with Nicole Nesca’s usual free-flowing sardonic wit. Kamikaze White Noise is prose and poetry that assaults the senses, liberates the mind and celebrates life on the edge like a perfect quarter-mile drag race.






diamond scarred alley
Poems written with the rebellious angst of a 40-something human who's been driven from the madness and frenzy of the ballrooms of mars.
Reading Time:

Friday, July 17, 2015

Blog Tour: Happily Ever Single #giveaway
12:00 AM1 Comments


Contemporary Romance
Date Published7/9/15


Still in my twenties, I have it all. I am young, happy, and healthy, despite my wine and pizza addictions. I am a successful business owner who lives a life I love, free from any romantic commitments. To me, my life is perfect right now, except for just one small problem…

My mother.

She will tell you I am missing something in my life, that I should be married with kids and have a house with a white picket fence, even though I cannot think of anything worse.

Ignoring my constant protests, she manages to set me up on a series of horrendous blind dates. To pacify my mother and avoid being set up with another friend’s son, I am driven to do something I never thought I would. 

I begin arranging dates through an agency. 

This idea seems to work well, until my arranged date falls sick right before a family event. With no other options, I am forced to attend with the agency owner’s brother-in-law as my stand-in date. At this point, my perfect life suddenly becomes … complicated.

Ollie is sexy, fun, and intense. There is an instant connection between us, but is it strong enough to risk my perfect life plan?

I am single, free, and content. I don’t need a man.

However, Ollie is persistent, despite my reluctance, and now I am left wondering if it is possible that he may be the perfect match for me.

Can Ollie be the one man to finally accept me for me, or does he think he can change who I am and my opinions?

Does my story end with me happily-ever-single or with a happily-ever-after?

Or can there be room for both?



Jessica Frances was born and raised in South Australia, quite possibly born with a book in her hand already. An avid reader her whole life, a pen finally appeared in her hand and she began her journey writing her own stories. The voices in her head have not slowed down and hopefully they never will.

Contact Information


Reading Time:

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Release Blitz: Madison's Song by @ChristineAmsden with an #excerpt and #giveaway
2:00 AM 2 Comments



Paranormal Romance
Date Published: July 15, 2015

 photo add-to-goodreads-button_zpsc7b3c634.png

Her voice is enchanting; his soul is black…
Madison Carter has been terrified of Scott Lee since the night he saved her from an evil sorcerer – then melted into a man-eating monster before her eyes. The werewolf is a slave to the moon, but Madison’s nightmares are not.

Despite her fears, when Madison’s brother, Clinton, is bitten by a werewolf, she knows there is only one man who can help. A man who frightens her all the more because even in her nightmares, he also thrills her.

Together for the first time since that terrible night, Scott and Madison drive to Clinton’s home only to discover that he’s vanished. Frantic now, Madison must overcome her fears and uncover hidden strengths if she hopes to save him. And she’s not the only one fighting inner demons. Scott’s are literal, and they have him convinced that he will never deserve the woman he loves.



EXCERPT


            “Silence,” David commanded.
            Her throat continued to work, but no sound emerged. She felt like a fish being gutted, choking and spluttering as David returned to the work of cutting into the soft, sensitive flesh of her belly. Yet even as tears refilled her eyes and fear devoured her heart, some part of her recognized that her guts remained intact. Whatever David was doing to her with the dagger involved tracing shallow patterns across the surface of her skin.
            Fight the pain. Take deep breaths. Ground and center. She was not in the empty living room of a house she had not quite moved into yet, she was at church, singing in the choir. Above her, Jesus hung from a cross, a crown of thorns atop his head, a soft glow surrounding him. She usually found the magic within that glow. She reached for it...
            “Stop that!” David slapped her hard across the face.
            Once again her eyes flew open. She saw the dagger dripping with blood – her blood. Had her feeble grab for magic actually made a difference? David seemed to have noticed something, but what?
            “You're just making this harder on yourself,” David said.
            “What do you want?” Madison tried to ask. Her mouth moved, her lips forming the question, but no sound emerged.
            She didn't think he would answer; he couldn't even have heard the question, but to her surprise he only hesitated a moment before saying, “Your soul.”








About the Author


Christine Amsden has been writing science fiction and fantasy for as long as she can remember. She loves to write and it is her dream that others will be inspired by this love and by her stories. Speculative fiction is fun, magical, and imaginative but great speculative fiction is about real people defining themselves through extraordinary situations. Christine writes primarily about people and it is in this way that she strives to make science fiction and fantasy meaningful for everyone.
At the age of 16, Christine was diagnosed with Stargardt’s Disease, a condition that affects the retina and causes a loss of central vision. She is now legally blind, but has not let this slow her down or get in the way of her dreams. (You can learn more here.)
In addition to writing, Christine teaches workshops on writing at Savvy Authors. She also does some freelance editing work.
Christine currently lives in the Kansas City area with her husband, Austin, who has been her biggest fan and the key to her success. They have two beautiful children.

Contact Links


Purchase Links



Giveaway

$10 Amazon Gift Card



 photo readingaddictionbutton_zps58fd99d6.png
Reading Time:

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Release Day: Tales of the Winter Wolf by @rj_blain with an #excerpt
8:02 AM0 Comments


Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Fantasy Thriller/Suspense/Romance
Date Published: July 14, 2015

 photo add-to-goodreads-button_zpsc7b3c634.png

Long before Nicolina Desmond manifested her powers as a wizard, she was a Normal girl with extraordinary circumstances. In order to prove herself and escape her father’s chokehold on her life, she’s determined to get on the fast track towards an independent life.
However, she never anticipated how meeting Richard Murphy would change her life…

Tales of the Winter Wolf follows the adventures of Nicole and Richard, predominant characters from Witch & Wolf #2, Winter Wolf. Spoilers for the novel are contained within!

Volume One contains the following stories:

Hunted
Nicolina Desmond should have known that her twin’s overly friendly behavior with the eligible Fenerec males would land her in trouble, but she never expected how far young, single werewolves would go to secure a mate.

The Scent of Guilt
When Richard is invited to hunt Nicolina’s kidnappers with her father, he jumps at the chance. With Desmond lusting for blood and violence, Richard is forced to toe the line between mercy, justice, and revenge.

Firecracker
Charles Desmond’s influence isn’t enough to stop those who are determined to take Richard’s rank through force. With Nicolina Desmond out on the hunt to kill him once and for all, he’ll need a lot more than luck to survive his stay with the Desmonds.

Glitter
Richard Murphy has many sides, and Nicolina Desmond is dismayed to discover that he truly has the patience of a hunting wolf and his pranks are just as nefarious as hers. When the bodies of Fenerec turn up in her back yard, however, she might have to kill again, and her target is none other than Yellowknife’s injured Alpha.



Excerpt

Winter was the season of love, romance, and bonding for Fenerec, and I wanted nothing to do with it. In my gamble to escape, leaving my twin to fend off the wolves, I had graduated high school three years early, won early admittance into Stanford, and spent the vast majority of my time in California, far away from my Seattle home.

I had exams in a week, but that hadn’t been enough to deter my father.

It was bad enough having Fenerec parents, but for the next few days, all I had to look forward to was being toted around, put on display, and courted by every single werewolf looking to take advantage of my father’s influence. The werewolves couldn’t even handle the truth; calling them werewolves was a good way to stir their ire, and an angry werewolf had a tendency to hurt people, property, or, as the case often was, both. When they were hunting a mate, their volatile tendencies were doubly worse.

My sister, however, loved every moment of it. Lisa loved Seattle in the winter, with its heavy rain and occasional snowfall. She spent the rest of the year mourning her lost opportunities and lusting for the attention and thrill of being chased by testosterone-poisoned males hoping to win her affections and our father’s good graces.

I, on the other hand, knew better. I was the older sister; I should have been the one with a grip on things, but no. In the eyes of my family, I was the flake, the unreliable one, and the one too stubborn to give in and play the game their way. Attending Stanford at fifteen meant nothing to them, neither did my perfect GPA. I could be a doctor, a lawyer, or anything else I wanted, but that wasn’t good enough.

They wanted me to be the bride of a werewolf, and I wasn’t having it.

While Lisa dressed up when she knew they were coming, I dressed down. Before I had gone off to college, when ratty clothes and a surly temper didn’t work, I left for the city to spend the winter whenever possible, hopping from friend’s house to friend’s house until the werewolves left.

This year, things would be different. I put aside the ratty jeans and bulky sweater in favor of a black skirt and blazer with a pristine white shirt. I wore a silver charm bracelet with a single moonstone pendant, both an acknowledgment of my heritage and a mockery of it. The silver was old that even my father flinched away from it.

If a werewolf did decide to get frisky with me, I’d be more than happy to burn him.



About the Author

RJ Blain suffers from a Moleskine journal obsession, a pen fixation, and a terrible tendency to pun without warning.
When she isn't playing pretend, she likes to think she's a cartographer and a sumi-e painter. In reality, she herds cats and a husband, and obeys the commands of Tsu Dhi, the great warrior fish.
In her spare time, she daydreams about being a spy. Should that fail, her contingency plan involves tying her best of enemies to spinning wheels and quoting James Bond villains until she is satisfied.

Contact Information


Purchase Link


 photo readingaddictionbutton_zps58fd99d6.png
Reading Time:

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Blog Tour: The Summer Diary by @douglaselyse #interview #giveaway
1:00 AM1 Comments

Contemporary Romance
Date Published: May 7, 2015


After her best friend and her husband are killed in a private airplane crash, Keri finds some of her friend’s personal effects, one of which is a diary. When Keri reads it, she discovers her friend had been secretly in love with another man, a soldier. Keri knew nothing about the relationship, even though she and her friend were as close as sisters. 

Determined to find the secret lover, Keri sets off on a journey and discovers the key to her destiny.






Interview


What is the hardest part of writing your books?
Finding time and a quiet place in this very busy world.


What songs are most played on your Ipod?
Everything from Billy Joel to Diana Krall to Sebastian Bach


Do you have critique partners or beta readers?
Beta readers


What book are you reading now?
All the Light We Cannot See


How did you start your writing career?
In college, working on short stories and poems



It is a Christmas romance, entitled The Date Before Christmas


Elyse Douglas is the pen name for the married writing team Elyse Parmentier and Douglas Pennington. Elyse grew up near the sea, roaming the beaches, reading and writing stories and poetry, receiving a Degree in English Literature.  She has enjoyed careers as an English teacher, an actress and a  speech-language pathologist.  She and her husband, Douglas Pennington, have completed five novels: The Other Side of Summer, Christmas for Juliet, Wanting Rita, Christmas Ever After, The Christmas Town and The Christmas Diary.



Purchase Link


a Rafflecopter giveaway
Reading Time:

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Blog Tour: Scintillate by @KTjebbenAuthor #review
1:00 AM1 Comments


(Scintillate Series, Book #1)

Young Adult - Supernatural Romance/Thriller
Date Published: September 4, 2013



Kate Archer is instantly drawn to Nick. He's handsome, smart, and interested in her - perhaps a little too interested according to Kate's brother. And it's a good thing Nick is interested, or Kate would have died the night of the football game. Sure, Nick rescued Kate, but he can't stop the inevitable. Kate is changing; she just doesn't know it. She can't explain the visions and sensations affecting her body, but she can enjoy the pleasure of Nick's kiss - that is, until she learns the real reason he is with her. Betrayed by her genetics, Kate begins a metamorphosis that forces her to confront an unseen reality and claim her true destiny.




Review 

I think this is a great start to a YA supernatural series. The Romance element may be a little cliche to other series like this, but I enjoyed it all the same. 

One thing I did want a little more was backstory and understanding of the world Karen Tjebben has created. I felt a little lost at times. 

The character and plot development were both well done and I enjoyed the pacing as well. 



Story time always captivated Karen.  As a child, she fell in love with books that transported her to different worlds and introduced her to new creatures. As a teacher, she encouraged her students to explore different times and new worlds through literature.  Now, when Karen isn’t living in reality with her husband and daughters, she can be found creating an alternate reality filled with creatures and worlds that she hopes will delight and raise goose bumps on her readers. 
Reading Time:

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Blog Tour: Beach Man by Annabel Foxx #review #giveaway
12:30 PM0 Comments



Steamy Contemporary Romance
Date Published: May 30, 2015


Kim is a former Broadway dancer, who feels trapped in a loveless marriage to a jealous wealthy older man.  He blames her for crippling him in an auto accident that he himself caused.
Kim strives to make the marriage work, despite her husband’s blame, verbal abuse and bitterness. 
When she meets a wickedly handsome man on the beach, she fights not to want him, not to want a new life and not to fall in love.  But Derek is seductive and irresistible—a former soldier who recently comes to town to start a landscaping business.  Kim falls hard for him, and he becomes addicted to her.
Although Kim wants a divorce, her husband finds out about their affair, and devises a plot to destroy them both.  They must struggle to survive a web of lies, deceit and dangerous passion.
(Due to adult themes and sexual content, this book is recommended for mature readers.)


Purchase Link



Review

This is definitely a steamy Contemporary Romance and I loved every second of it. 


There are themes that may not sit well with everyone as Kim is married. I think that Annabel Foxx really does a great job of giving enough insight to Kim and her emotions and why she does what she does. 


Derek is incredible HOTT, he oozes sex appeal and the chemistry and scenes between them are page melting! 






I love to read and write novels.  I'm also a loner, who loves to drink copious amounts of coffee--and I won't turn down a good bourbon if it's offered by a handsome man... or indeed, by any kind and generous man.

I'm a Scorpio, and I love the beach.  I have a background in graphic design and creative writing.  My mother kept diaries and wrote short stories about Christmas, old lovers and travel.

My cat, Count Elvis, loves cognac and Pop Tarts.

Reading on the beach is one of the great delights of life.  Sun, sea and sand.  Ahhh... and then I pick up a book and dive into a story.   I love everything gold: golden tans, golden hair, golden sunsets and golden earrings. 

My husband, Dane, is a diver and sun worshiper.


Reading Time: