Well, would you look at that?  <——

It’s like the backwards blog!  I don’t even try to make you read my post before you get to the goods!

Actually, I will make you comment.  And I’ll be bikini brief, I promise. All comments for all participating blogs will be shuffled around in a random name picker (not to be confused with a random nose picker). So comment on all the blogs at the top for the best chance to kick ass at winning!

But first, a word from your sponsor.

We have two grand prizes. #1 is a Kindle Fire. #2 is a $50 Amazon.com gift certificate.  Not too shabby. And you can win an e-book from me right here, baby! Fantabulous!

Hold up.  Wait and read what I have to say!  We’re talking words of wisdom passed down from generation to generation, folks. In the spirit of romance and hot summer lovin’, I had an old family proverb pop into mind.  It goes a little something like this:

When the weather’s hot and sticky,

That’s no time to dunk the dicky.

When the frost is on the pumpkin,

That’s the time for dicky dunkin’.

Thanks, Dad and Grandpa! So while it may be wicked-hot and hard to imagine dicky dunkin’ of any variety, fall is coming (and for you G.O.T. fans, winter isn’t far behind). To celebrate, I’m giving away a copy of my latest release, Star Catcher.  I never do this—goes against my personal company policy, so be very excited.  Star Catcher is set in the fall, and despite this heat wave we’re having, I can just imagine a bracing breeze as my heroine, Stella, races through a corn maze to escape otherworldly beasts. And I want to share it with y’all.

So, comment, and I’ll shove your deets into the random name generator thingy, and if everything doesn’t get sucked into a voracious black hole, I’ll pick a winner.  It just may be you. 🙂

*****

Excerpt from Star Catcher:

Another overgrown shape materialized to Stella’s left. It sniffed the air and turned alarmingly in her direction.

It was all the impetus she needed. Stella turned and ran from the hounds of hell.

The stalks beat against her. They stung her bare skin and grasped her hair like bony fingers as she forced her body through the canes. She dug a path through the dry material, raking the plants with her hands to make way for her body, only to be slapped in the face as she split the rows. Stella ran like never before. In high school, she had competed in plenty of races on the track team. The act of pushing her body to the limit was not foreign to her.

This race was far worse, though. The stakes were life or death.

Fire speared through her chest as she sprinted between the scratchy vegetation with nothing more than moonlight to guide her. Rising hysteria made her breathing more labored than running alone. The thing could hear her crashing through the corn and could detect her scent. There was no point in trying to be stealthy. All she could do was move as swiftly as possible.

The pale moonlight grew brighter up ahead, and she forced herself not to slow.

Nearly safe. Get out of this nightmarish maze. Almost there.

Stella broke from the corn. A breath of unbelievable freedom nearly choked her, cool and remarkable, before she slammed into a wall of glass. Her arm had been pumping upward and took the brunt of the blow, but the barrier was completely unexpected. The breath gushed out of her like a released balloon.

She lay stunned in the damp grass, shaking and hyperventilating. The blades rose tall around her, and she was tempted to stay down; to hide. Who could see her here?

But that thing could smell her.

She wasn’t safe until her car door closed, and she was locked inside. Then she could relax. Stella managed to pull up on all fours and crawl over to the invisible wall. She reached a hand into what should have been open air and was met with ice-cold resistance.

What the hell?

It felt like plastic. She noticed a faint give and recoil as she pushed hard against the wall. It was like an invisible force field. Her stomach did a somersault.

Stay calm. If you lose your head, you’re done. Get to the entrance of the maze. Head right, follow the wall. You can get out of this, but you need to move now.

The voice in her head gave the command and she obeyed. Stella sprang up. Fight-or-flight hormones surged through her, and she began to run at top speed along the edge of the field. Her hand trailed along the smooth, cool barrier, waiting for a break in the enclosure. Sooner or later she would find the exit—that, or a dog-monster. Or maybe she’d run straight into the freaky sideshow chicks who had imprisoned them. Whatever happened, she wasn’t going down without a struggle.

If she was bound for Hell tonight, she wouldn’t be the only one.

-Kimber

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