Daily Dose | New Authors, New Worlds, New Words, Good Times

Catherine Spangler gave a presentation at the North Texas RWA chapter meeting this past weekend. I’d seen her book covers, but I’d never actually picked up one of her novels. When I heard she was presenting, I read up on her books. Her TOUCHED BY DARKNESS, TOUCHED BY FIRE and TOUCHED BY LIGHT intrigued me. Fortunately, a friend had all three and loaned them to me.

Typically, I don’t read anything while in the midst of writing, but I made an exception to scan the first couple of chapters. I really liked what I had to read. Her writing is intense and fresh with characters that leap off the page. I am already wondering what happened to the characters in the book, so they are sitting on my shelf as a reward for meeting my personal page count. Something of a carrot and a stick:

New Authors, New Worlds, New Words

Good times are to be had in any new discovery -- so check out this fabulous trio of books that has me so intrigued.

TOUCHED BY DARKNESS Dr. Kara Cantrell settled in the sleepy town of Zorro, Texas, convinced she and her child had escaped the sinister reach of a supernatural underworld. But now dark forces may jeopardize her new life. Her only hope is Damien Morgan, a dangerous, alluring man with superhuman abilities. He and Kara share a mystical link that triggers desires they must ignore. But as they work together to protect her son, and begin tracking the evil stalking them, something threatens to push them toward the edge...of darkness.

TOUCHED BY FIRE Since a brutal attack on her sister eleven years ago, Marla Reynolds has been emotionally frozen. But the passion of one man-a member of an ancient superhuman race-could melt her defenses.

TOUCHED BY LIGHT Dr. Julia Reynolds lives a solitary existence. But Adam Masters is determined to draw her into a dark and dangerous otherworld-and make her give in to the stunning sexual attraction between them.

Read the excerpt that hooked me: Exercpt. Frankly, that last line sold me beyond anything else. This is so my kind of book!

Discovering New Authors

I can’t possibly read every book in the world – I used to want to try, but now I am satisfied with the fact that no matter my tastes or desires, books and authors are out there waiting to fulfill my entertainment needs. Catherine Spangler is hardly a new author on the block, but she’s definitely a new one on my book shelf and that makes her fresh and new to me.

When you discover an author, you do more than just discover the book they’ve published. You’ve discovered their backlist and their future titles as well. It’s an all access pass to entertainment and marvelous things.

Amusingly enough, when I went by my mother’s this morning to drop off my daughter I saw the book she was reading. Would you believe it: TOUCHED BY DARKNESS by Catherine Spangler? I cracked up and told her I was reading the same book. What my mother didn’t realize is that there were two more set in that world. Now she and my daughter will be trekking to a bookstore today. Apparently she’s read TOUCHED BY DARKNESS three times and is currently on her fourth pass through the book.

What new authors and series have you become enchanted by recently?

A lifelong writer turned author, Heather Long's first book REMEMBERING ASHBY is available for purchase at Sapphire Blue Publishing. Coming soon is the urban fantasy: PRIME EVIL. The Daily Dose explores books, television, writing and more -- all topics that Heather enjoys.