It's day 4 of the blog hop, and day 4 of my short story. I hope that you're enjoying it.
I had great fun writing it. I actually wrote it last year with the intention of writing it as a full
book, and who knows, maybe I will one day. 
​Make sure to enter the huge rafflecopter and enter my giveaway from yesterday. And for a
new giveaway for any ebook of mine of your choice, all you have to do is share this blog,
then come back here and leave a message saying that you've done it. I'll pick a random
winner at the end of the week.

Moving on.
Here's part four of the story - ALL GOOD THINGS.
​

​
The idea was promising, and he was playing to my one weakness, but I vowed that I would
make him pay. I would claim some vengeance for my zombie brethren, just not right now.
I turned around, a smile lighting up my face as the door swung open and a timid woman
peered out into the early evening sky.
“Well hi there,” I said, and took a step forwards. I always put people at ease, with my soft features and warm smile. Little did they know.

The woman stepped fully outside, her legs naked and her ass barely covered by a small pair
of denim cut offs. Conrad lurched forwards, eager, always so eager. I stepped in front of him, halting him in his tracks. She was a petite thing, her arms slender but toned. She had
runners’ legs, strong and lean, and on her feet were an old pair of Nike Airs. It was always so amazing how people learned to adapt and survive. This chick was using what came naturally
to her—running. It was clever. The only thing wrong with that plan was that sooner or later,
you got backed into a corner and everything came crashing down around you. It didn’t matter
how fast you could run when you were trapped. This shack was her proverbial corner, and
Conrad and I would send her world crashing down around her.

Her eyes scanned the ground, seeing the many dead zombies and she shuddered before breathing a sigh of relief. Clearly she hadn’t realised how many zombies had been surrounding
the shack. Her usual tactic of running and hiding had failed, and she would have been screwed without us…hell, she was screwed with us, she just didn’t know it yet.

She walked towards us, stepping over the zombies, one of them wasn’t completely dead, and
its jaws snapped up at her as she moved around it. She pulled out a large flip knife from her pocket and knelt down and stabbed it right through the eye with more strength and
determination that I would have expected from her, and I was glad that I had stopped Conrad
from going straight after her. The zombie was silenced for its last time and the smile fell
from my face.

She stood back up, putting her knife away and dusted off her hands on her bare thighs. She looked over at us, a tentative smile playing on her mouth and flipped her shoulder length
brown hair over her shoulders.
“At least I’ve helped a little now, huh,” she said with a light laugh. The sound a soft tinkling in my ears that made me want to stick my hands down her throat and rip out her vocal chords. “I’m Sarah.”

“I’m Andy, and this is Conrad,” I replied as Conrad moved away from me before I could stop him.
It didn’t matter though, she was now too far away from the shack to escape back inside, and too close to us to get away.
She had walked right to her death.

Her eyes widened. It wasn’t that she hadn’t seen him until now; he was six foot tall and had been stood directly behind me, but she hadn’t paid him any mind because she'd been focused on me. But the thing with Conrad, and possibly one of the very reasons that I kept him around, was that he was dangerous. At least to vulnerable women like this, and the way he leered over at her let her know his sadistic intentions immediately.

He had been being escorted across the state in police custody for rape and murder, when the apocalypse had hit. Of course he preferred a clean kill like strangling, but I could still appreciate how he liked to watch the life drain from those women’s eyes while he defiled their bodies.
He was an innocent idiot ninety percent of the time. That was until provided with a play toy
like this poor woman.

She backed up a step, but it was too late. She’d waited too long before seeing the danger
stood directly in front of her. The wolf hiding in the woods, ready and eager to tear her apart.
She turned and began to run, a scream escaping her soft pink lips as Conrad’s body ploughed
into hers and they tumbled to the ground together in a mass of limbs and zombie parts.
I hadn’t even seen him move, he’d been that quick, and I let my mouth stretch back into a
wide grin.

“No, please, no!” she cried out, looking at me with deep brown, pleading eyes. I had no idea why women always thought I would try and stop Conrad, why I would put my own life, or needs on the line for them. It was illogical, yet this wasn’t the first time that it had happened. “Andy! Please, please help!”

She fought Conrad’s groping hands off her, but it was a pointless battle, and I watched for a
few moments in eager anticipation. This was the part that I liked, the fight to the death, the life ebbing away, the horror struck expressions of victims. It was a beautiful sight.

His meaty hand slapped over her mouth, shutting off her screams and cries and leaving
behind only a mumble and her muffled sobbing. I grinned and began walking, stepping
around their writhing bodies and entering the shack to see how it would suffice for the night.

It was dark inside, a single filthy skylight in the roof providing almost all the lighting. There were blankets on the ground in a heap, and a backpack, opened up. I got down on my haunches and looked through the contents, finding some homemade jerky and some canned tomatoes.
I stuck some of the jerky in my mouth and began to chew as I stood back up and continued to survey the small space, checking draws and cupboards for anything that might be of use.

After a thorough search, I found nothing good, other than the woman’s jerky, canned tomatoes
and the pile of blankets, of which I was more than happy to have. I ate another piece of jerky, chewing slowly and savouring the flavour as I sat down on one of the decrepit wooden chairs
next to the dusty desk. I pulled out the map, but it was too dark to really see anything now.
It had gone quiet outside again, the groans and muffled cries silenced, until it was just the cool night air to keep me company.

I let my thoughts drift, thinking over those poor dead zombies that we had to kill, and saying a small prayer for them all. One day I would have the courage to become one of them, to belong,
but not today.
I bit my lip, hating that I still hadn’t found the inner strength to take the ultimate plunge. To make the ultimate sacrifice. I knew it was my calling, I felt it, deep within me, like a calling from my soul to belong. But something continued to stop me. Pain had never been something that I had feared, but for some reason, I still couldn’t find it in me to do it.

I swallowed my own cowardice, the acid in my gut bubbling away and giving me a stomach
ache. I looked up as Conrad’s large shadow filled the doorway. He was grinning from ear to ear, a sick look of satisfaction covering his ugly face.

“She’s all yours,” he said, still a little breathless from his exertions.

He came in and sat down on the blankets, running a hand through his thinning hair.
Even in the darkness I noticed the slight tremble in his hands, the rush of adrenaline coursing through his body.
I stood up, passing him on my way out. The stench of sex and sweat emanating from him in waves.
“Thank you,” I said on my way out. Because I knew it must have taken great willpower to
stop himself from killing her himself. Perhaps it was fear that had stopped him, or perhaps
respect for me, either way he was a stronger man than I was, because I knew I wouldn’t be
able to stop once I started.

Copyright Claire C. Riley 2017

​Come back tomorrow for part five!
​

As the title suggests, Odium IV The Dead Saga is finally here! *throws glitter bomb*
NO more waiting.
NO more wondering.
NO more angry messages (please!)
​Just 98'000 words of zombie apocalypse madness for you to sink your teeth into!
​There's new characters. New settings. And new villains aplenty. And more than one or two surprises *insert evil laugh*

Amazon au - http://amzn.to/2heCK1C...
Amazon ca - http://amzn.to/2hul3Mx
Amazon uk - http://amzn.to/2gv10NP
Amazon us - http://amzn.to/2hugq4W
And it's also free to download in Kindle Unlimited!

The paperback will be a couple more days, but fingers crossed that it goes live before Christmas!

You'll also be happy to hear that I've been working on ODIUM V THE DEAD SAGA. I'm hoping to get Odium 3.5 The Dead Saga out February 2017 and then Odium V around April/May.
Fingers crossed for some productive writing sessions!

​I hope that you enjoy the book, it's a huge stepping stone in the series, and a really important one.

Happy reading,

​Claire x

Christine (C.A.) Verstraete enjoys putting a little "scare" in her writing. Her latest book, Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter, offers a twist on the Lizzie Borden murders. She also is author of a young adult book, GIRL Z: My Life as a Teenage Zombie, and books on dollhouse collecting and crafting, including Dollhouse Decor & More  and In Miniature Style II.

Christine's short stories have appeared in various anthologies including: Happy Homicides 3: Summertime Crime, Mystery Weekly, Young Adventurers: Heroes, Explorers and Swashbucklers, Athena's Daughters, Silence in the Library; Feast of the Dead: Hors D'Oeuvres; Darlings of Decay; 100 Doors to Madness; Timeshares, Steampunk'd, and Hot & Steamy: Tales of Steampunk Romance, DAW Books; and The Corner Cafe: A Tasty Collection of Short Stories.

She is an award-winning journalist with stories published in daily to weekly newspapers and in various magazines. Her stories have received awards from local and national newspaper associations and the Dog Writer's Association of America. 

She is available for signings or appearances, including a PowerPoint presentation on zombies, writing and the history of Lizzie Borden.

Social Media Links

Blog: http://girlzombieauthors.blogspot.com
Website: http://cverstraete.com
Amazon: http://getbook.at/LizzieBordenZombieHunter
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31553183-lizzie-borden-zombie-hunter

​

​By C.A. Verstraete
   What makes Lizzie Borden so intriguing? Is it the chubby face and dimpled cheeks? The look of innocence? Or is it the idea of a demon lurking behind that smile?
   Nearly 150 years later, the spinster Sunday School teacher from the industrial town of Fall River, Massachusetts, remains one of the most infamous, and controversial, women in history. Yet today, camps are still divided on whether she actually killed her father and stepmother that August 4th morning in 1892.
   The lack of evidence likely helped convince the jury to declare her not guilty in her trial in June, 1893. But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t any, though the “not found” column may be more telling as to the results of the trial…
 
What was found:
   * A hatchet head without the handle. Stains were later determined to be rust, not blood.
   * Two persons brutally butchered with only one family member and a maid at home.
   * In recent years, traces of blood were found running down the walls to the cellar. 

What wasn’t found or ignored:
   * The crime scene wasn’t sealed off.
  * No fingerprints were taken although the new, developing technology was being used more and more by police departments.
   * No witnesses, though reports were made of a man holding some kind of cleaver or weapon seen on the street. They were determined unfounded.
   * In the weeks prior to the murders, Lizzie supposedly heard a mysterious visitor arguing at the door with Mr. Borden. The person was never identified or found.
   * The uncle (Lizzie’s late mother’s brother) came from out of town, stayed overnight and then left that morning.
   * A possible illegitimate son of Mr. Borden was mentioned.
   * No direct evidence was found linking Lizzie to the crime. The case was circumstantial with only her and the maid Bridget Sullivan home with Mrs. Borden until Mr. Borden returned a couple hours after doing errands downtown.
   * No bloody clothes were found though a witness later testified about seeing Lizzie burn a dress. When asked about it, Lizzie said that the dress had “paint” on it.
 
What played a role in the trial:
   * Class and social standing. The jurors—all men—likely couldn’t see a woman of Lizzie’s social standing committing such a brutal, heinous crime. Hence, the verdict of not guilty.
   * During a time period when women were still viewed – literally - as the weaker sex, the idea that a woman could commit such a brutal, physical crime that took a lot of strength and stamina also didn’t seem likely to jurors.
   * Lizzie’s inquest testimony was ruled out as evidence in the trial and could not be used. Her testimony answers made no sense, likely due to her being treated with morphine prior to questioning to “relax her nerves.”
 
Rumors
Rumors flourished about Lizzie’s character. Many other theories have been offered today as to why she committed the crime, including that she had epilepsy; was caught in a lesbian relationship; was sexually abused; lived in a dysfunctional family with domestic violence; or that this was a crime of anger fueled by passion and her being “stuck” within the rigid bounds of society.
None of the claims, of course, can actually be proven. The expanse of time allows the horrific crime to be interpreted today in a number of ways. Then, as now, we may never know the real answer. People can choose the method they think fits the crime and decide for themselves whether Lizzie Borden was indeed guilty or not guilty.
If you look at the autopsy reports and photos, however, the question remains as to why the victims had been so viciously attacked and repeatedly hit in the head.
 
Another View of the Murders
My view is that Lizzie had no choice but to commit the crime since her father and stepmother had become… zombies. 

About Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter:
 
Every family has its secrets…
One hot August morning in 1892, Lizzie Borden picked up an axe and murdered her father and stepmother. Newspapers claim she did it for the oldest of reasons: family conflicts, jealousy and greed. But what if her parents were already dead? What if Lizzie slaughtered them because they’d become… zombies?
Thrust into a horrific world where the walking dead are part of a shocking conspiracy to infect not only Fall River, Massachusetts, but also the world beyond, Lizzie battles to protect her sister, Emma, and her hometown from nightmarish ghouls and the evil forces controlling them.
 
Using actual inquest testimony and events, the book gives an entirely different view of the crime. 

   * Available in print, Kindle and Kindle Unlimited.   (The Kindle is on sale for 99 cents to Dec. 15. Or get a signed print copy (US shipping only) at my website.

Happy reading my book lovers!

​Claire xxx

Todd (TW) Brown is the author of the DEAD series, That Ghoul Ava, and the Zomblog series. He is also the editor for May December Publications with numerous anthologies to his credit as well as the full length works of authors such as Mark Tufo, John O' Brien, Chantal Boudreau, Robert Dean, and Heath Stallcup.

You can begin your search of his available titles here: 
https://www.amazon.com/TW-Brown/e/B00363NQI6

Or get even more in tune by visiting his blog: 
http://authortwbrown.com/

And if you are interested in GOING SOLAR...then get started here:
http://share.solarcity.com/authortwbrown

Returning to the DEAD world
 
When I sat down and began writing the original DEAD series, I hoped that I would be able to put together a 4-book series. As the story unfolded before me, I realized there was so much going on…and that led to my producing 12 books (that was over 1,000,000 words!). The truth is that I could have gone on MUCH longer. There is a gigantic ten-year time jump for example. But I knew the ending, and to reach it in 12 books, I had to skip ahead.
I found that I skipped over a lot of details as I plowed ahead to that ending. Yes, I could’ve easily discarded my 12-book total announcement. However, I’d made that announcement publicly. I know of one writer that ended a series at book 6. This person went on to other projects that I was hired to edit. One day, book 7 of that series arrived in my email. I sent back a query.
Me: “Hey, I thought you were done with this one.”
Reply: “Yeah, the other stuff isn’t making the money like “Series X” so I am gonna extend it.”
I thought that was unfair to the fan base. And while I admit this is a business, I just thought it was playing dirty. However, true to the hopes of this writer, the fans scooped up the additional books in large numbers. So, I guess that is okay. I just feel that I gave my word. I wasn’t going to be like The Who and have twenty Farewell Tours” when it came to the DEAD series as the fans knew it.
To that end, I have produced the DEAD: Snapshot—{insert town here} collection of standalone novels. To date, Portland, Oregon; Leeds, England; and Liberty, South Carolina have all received the DEAD treatment. I think the Leeds, England book is some of my best writing. It is one of the books that I truly felt good about. As a writer, I often feel my stuff is lacking.
So, all of this brings me to the real reason I am here with you today. On October 31, 2016, the DEAD world will be the setting of my new series. It begins with DEAD: Onset (Book 1 of the New DEAD series).
So, what makes this different? For one, this series will be through the eyes of one man: Evan Berry. No rotating chapters with Geeks and Vignettes; just the story of one man trying to figure out what is going on and then how to stay alive.
Evan is just a regular guy. I think that resonates more with readers than some military super-soldier packing an arsenal and having a way to rig every situation to his liking. Evan will make mistakes. Sometimes, I am betting that the readers may not like him very much. You will be inside his head, and we all know that we’ve thought things that would cause those around us to be shocked or think badly of us. You will be privy to those thoughts when they cross Evan’s mind.
What I hope to do with this series is to explore the world a bit more closely. One of my favorite twists in the mythology of the zombie is how children are different after they turn. I was inspired along this track when I was in a college psychology class. The topic of how much more active the young mind is, how open it is to learning gave me the inspiration that my child zombies would have a degree of sentience. That makes them a bit more frightening. While not actually holding on to their humanity…they are somehow different. They don’t just walk into a storm of bullets. They lurk. They wait.
Additionally, I think I was one of the early writers to explore the idea of possible immunity. That comes from Stephen King’s The Stand. The human immune system is a mystery. Some people just do not get whatever bug or virus is making the rounds. SO why shouldn’t there be those who are immune to the bite? However, once bitten, why not make that person a carrier? Imagine the schism that would eventually arise as the survivors had time to get past that first shock. And now, a person bitten but immune could infect another through fluid exchange. Think back to the hysteria and societal over-reaction to HIV and the AIDS virus. Strip away law and order, toss in those who feel they are now “The Chosen” as well as those who see the immune as dangers and abominations.
It doesn’t take long in my zombie books for zombies to become the least of people’s worries. DEAD: Onset (Book 1 of the New DEAD series) has no set number of volumes. I will write this story until I have nothing left to say. I am not in a hurry to reach an endgame. I want to suck the reader into this world and make them feel every emotion possible. Happiness, sadness, anger. I hope you enjoy it. I have said it before, but it bears repeating: I feel that every new book is my audition.
I look forward to hearing how you feel about this book. I don’t go out seeking a flurry of 5 star reviews. It is impossible to be all things to all people, especially in the entertainment world. And I often learn things from well thought out critical reviews. If you can’t take those 1 star stingers that come every so often…you are in the wrong field. Do they feel good? No, but as long as you are seeing more love than pleas that you never take up the pen again, you should feel like you are on the right track. Let’s hope I am with my new series.

Happy reading my book lovers!

​Claire xxx
<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/10411337/?claim=956zgpm3ugd">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>​

As followers of my work will know, I'm currently hard at work on the fourth book in my
Odium Dead Saga Series.​ I had hoped to have it out this week, but I've run into a couple
of snags and therefore it will now be mid November.
But IT IS coming, and very soon, so don't fret!

As a special treat I thought I would give you a sneak peak/teaser of the book​! I really hope
that you enjoy it. I know a lot of you guys are worried for Nina, and I can't say I blame you Mwuahahahah! ;-)

For those of you NOT familiar with my work, it's probably best to look away for now *grin*

Be aware that ALL of the accompanying ODIUM ORIGINS books are currently
on sale for .99c/.99p each.
These books should be read after each main book, and they are my favourite thing to write!
I love to write about the start of an apocalypse. Who people were BEFORE everything goes to hell. What their lives were like, and see how they react when their worlds are tipped upside
down. Because I always think that we truly believe we know who we are and how we
would react in such desperate situations, but we honestly don't. Until we're in that position of choosing your life over someone else's, ​or coming face to face with something ungodly like a deader and knowing that you need to put it out of its ever-loving misery before it eats your
face off, how can we really?
We all like to believe that we're good people, but when it comes down to it, how many of us
really would be in an end of the world situation?​ In your day to day life, do you always pick the right path, or make the right choice?
It's something to stew on for a little while for sure.

I'll put the reading order of the series for you:
Odium 0.5 The Dead Saga
Odium I The Dead Saga
Odium 1.5 The Dead Saga
Odium II The Dead Saga
Odium 2.5 The Dead Saga
Odium III The Dead Saga​​​​​
​​​​​​​
So if you love zompoc and feisty, snarky heroines, then this series is for you!

​​I also have my other dystopian horror - Out of the Dark #1 that you might be interested in, and you'll be happy to know that I'm also halfway through book two on that series. This isn't
necessarily zombies, but they are dark creatures that lust and kill for blood, so it's not for the faint hearted either. I've had many messages from readers asking what these creatures are. Zombies, vampires, monsters...I like to think they're a little of everything and a little of whatever the hell
your own imagination imagines them to be. Because that for me, is the best monster for a horror story there can be. This book however, takes on a more gentle approach than my Dead Saga series with its cussing and culling, and instead it follows a mother and her young daughter as
they travel across a bleak post-apocalyptic landscape trying to stay alive.

It's one of my most favourite books to date, and is full of soul-crushing despair, beasts galore and hard-hitting situations that will have you screaming at the pages. Or at least that's what I've been told haha 
 
I'm going to give you some links to my Facebook fanpage where ​there's currently a week of crazy horror related things going on and tons of competitions and giveaways that the admins have laid on for you, so be sure to head over and join in the fun and win some more cool stuff!

For a chance to win an ebook of both Odium I The Dead Saga, Out of the Dark #1 and Thicker than Blood (one of my co-authored zompoc books), plus lots of swag (pens, bookmarks, stickers etc) all you need to do is LIKE my Facebook page, JOIN my fanpage, share this post by either facebook and/or twitter and LEAVE ME A COMMENT on my author page and tell me your story from the choices below!
Fyi: ​These are all characters from my various books, so I love reading them! haha
​
​CLAIRE C RILEY FANS WEEK OF MAYHEM ​EVENT LINK:
www.facebook.com/events/322910284748000/?__mref=message_bubble

“We’ve got company,” I said, my voice sounding grim even to my ears. “And I’m not talking about the good kind. I’m talking about the mother-in-law from hell kind of company.”
Phil and Ricky followed my gaze, both of them cussing at the same time. For the second time in forty-eight hours I was coming face to face with a new foe. And this one wasn’t slow like the deaders, or emotional like the Forgotten. This enemy was quick and savage.

The ground erupted around us again as Ricky tried to look around the tractor and O’Donnell
called out to stay still. Actually, her exact words were, 'stay the fuck where you are before I crawl out of here and kick your asses!'

The rabid dogs had stopped running as the gunshots sounded out, their heads were low, their ears
flat against their heads and their tails tucked between their legs as they watched us with snarling expressions. Fluffy had stood up too, though her injured leg was lifted in the air. She bared her teeth and snarled right back at them, froth foaming at the corner of her mouth as she watched
the dogs coming slowly towards us.

I looked at where I was, trapped between some insane masked shooters which had us pinned behind an old tractor, and a pack of wild dogs, with no escape in sight, and wondered how this moment could get any worse. As if answering my unspoken question a growl to the left had us
all looking, and we watched as three deaders shambled around the side of some abandoned equipment. These were definitely the original homeowners I decided. All three of them were wearing old denim dungarees, the clothing of a thousand farmers worldwide.

O’Donnell let out a round and I heard a short sharp cry of pain coming from the barn. More gunshots sounded out, but this time they were coming from O’Donnell and not just the barn.

“That’s two,” she called back to us with a small laugh. “How are we looking, Mikey?” she asked.

Phil, Ricky and I looked at each other, our gazes straying to the rabid dogs which were circling closer and closer and then to the denim-clad deaders shambling towards us.

“Erm, not good,” I replied.

“Not good? How so?” she asked, firing off another round. “Gotcha, you little fucker,” she yelled happily. “Come on, boys, what’s going on back there?”

O’Donnell scooted back from under the tractor with Ricky and I dragging her out the last couple
of inches. She sat up and wiped the sweat from her brow.

“What is it?” she snapped.

“Dogs, deaders, shooters, pretty lousy fucking odds if you ask me,” I said, jerking a thumb in one direction and my head in another.

“Aaah, crap,” she replied looking first one way and then the other before coming to a quick decision. “We need to get moving.”

“Which way, smart ass?” Ricky asked without an ounce of sarcasm in his voice.

I eyed the hand grenade on O’Donnell’s belt. “I’m seriously doubting that Adam is in the barn, so," I took a long breath before continuing, "I think we need to hightail it back to the truck, and get our asses out of here.” The moment the words left my mouth I felt a punch to the gut, not a real one, but an imaginary one, as if Nina were here letting me know exactly how she felt about that decision.

“So, what are you thinking, dude?” Phil asked, pushing his glasses further up his nose. His bright Hawaiian shirt seemed so out of place right now that it made me want to laugh, but it was more than likely the hysteria which was beginning to bubble up from my gut. I could see the same anxiety crossing Ricky and Phil's face too, though O'Donnell was a picture of calm. 

Fluffy’s ears were flat to her head as her snarls got louder, and Phil removed his hand from her head in case she got lost in the moment and bit him.

“That,” I nodded towards the grenade. “That’s what I’m thinking. Drop and run,” I said.

“That’s for emergencies only, Mikey,” Ricky said matter-of-factly.

“Dude, this is an emergency!” Phil and I said at the same time.

“Jinx,” Phil said with a laugh. I smirked but didn’t say anything.

The deaders had stopped walking, and were looking around trying to find their source of food. Their noses lifted to the air as they caught scent of mine and Fluffy’s blood, but thankfully
mistook it for the wild dogs and then began shambling towards them instead.
The dogs were barking and growling as the deaders got closer to them. And I was surprised that the dogs knew the difference between deader and human. Then again, I thought, it was only the difference between good meat and bad, and I should probably be at least a little pleased that I
was classed as the good kind.

“That was lucky,” O’Donnell said, turning away from the dogs and deaders situation. “Okay, can you run?” she asked me, eyeing my bad leg. I nodded yes and she looked over at Phil.

“She’ll be fine,” he said, referring to Fluffy, who’s ears were still back, but she’d turned the
snarling down to silent.

“Who’s chucking it?” I asked.

“I was volleyball champion in high school, I’ve got this,” O’Donnell said, her gaze back on the deaders and wild dog dance off happening.

I got a firm grip on my pistol, my hatchet in the other hand, and I crouched down, ready to run. From our position, we could see our truck further down the road, but there was no way we’d
make it, not with all of those dogs hot on our tail. We had to shake some of them off. Not to mention that all this noise was bound to bring more deaders to our position. and of course we couldn't forget about the barn full of masked shooters.

O’Donnell stretched out her shoulder, circling it twice until she heard a satisfying click of bone. Then she pulled the grenade from her belt.
"Ready?" she asked, her expression deadly serious.


** ODIUM IV THE DEAD SAGA COMING NOVEMBER 2016 **​
* Copyright Claire C. Riley 2016
*unedited*​​​

Happy reading my book lovers!

​Claire xxx

HAPPY OCTOBER!

head on over to my Claire C. Riley fan page and join in the awesome week of maybem that my admins have planned! There's games, giveaways, guest posts and competitions!
prizes are everything from ebooks, paperbacks, swag, audible codes, and zombie bookends.
Make sure to join in ALL of the competitions to be in with the best chance of winning.
​And don't forget that I have ALL of the ODIUM ORIGINS BOOKS on sale for .99c/.99p for all of October, so get one-clicking!
​

****MAIN GIVEAWAY****

The contest will run from today 24th October- 30th October.

Using the Template (below) gets you bonus points but if you don't want to use it, you can still enter by listing your team members according to position.

On the 30th admin will pick their favourites and a poll will be made for a Final Three when it'll be down to you to vote for your winner. Winner will be notified on the 1st November.

Please post all entries on this post!

This giveaway is not affiliated with Facebook

Good Luck Guys!

Happy reading my book whores

​Claire xxx

Happy reading my little book whores!

Claire xxx

Hurray, Odium has been nominated for a dystopian book award!
​Check out the Facebook page and get voting from September 1st, and thank you to those of you who nominated it, and me, in the first place!

The cold of winter is setting in, at least for those of us in the northern Hemisphere of the world. But we at Metamorph Publishing aren’t letting that get us down! We’re already looking forward to a sizzling summer, and we’re here to announce our first annual Indie Book Awards! You heard that right, a summer book awards! The event officially begins on January 1st of each year, and nominations will be accepted through midnight CST on August 31st each year. Voting will begin on September 1st and end on September 10th each year.

“What’s the big deal,” you ask? “There are all kinds of contests out there.” And you’re right, there are hundreds, probably thousands of book awards. But many of them are only for unpublished authors, or authors who only write in certain narrow genres, or for authors who have never published before in a particular genre. Plus, there are plenty of them that charge an entry fee, some of which are prohibitive to authors who publish independently, without the backing of a large and powerful publishing house.
​
So, we’re hoping to do something different with the Summer Indie Book Awards! Entry is free, and nominations will be accepted from any indie or small-press author, regardless of their current published or non-published state, or what genre they write in.

We are accepting donations of print or e-books, author swag or novelty items (bookmarks, pens, keychains, etc.), but donation is not required for nomination. We’re taking nominations from authors as well as from readers, and authors can nominate their own books; we only ask that authors who do so also nominate a fellow indie author. Nominations can be made using this form: http://goo.gl/forms/T1L8sQJGVx, while donations can be made at: http://goo.gl/forms/6DkAK4MeqI. Feel free to join up with the event on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/events/1099924726693772, and like the official Facebook page of the Summer Indie Book Awards at https://www.facebook.com/summerindiebookawards. You can also sign up for the newsletter at: http://eepurl.com/bL43cf so you can stay up to date with all the latest news! In the pinned post of the Facebook event, you’ll find these links, along with links to a Google Drive folder where you can look and see who’s already been nominated! And any author who is nominated will have access to an official contest nominee badge, that they can use on their book covers or any promotional media, if they so desire.

Winners in each genre will receive a prize (hopefully we’ll get enough donations for this), beginning with the 1st place winners. If we get enough prizes donated, we’ll go next to 2nd place winners, and then to 3rd place. Regardless of the prizes, winners will get a high-quality winner badge, stating their place and the genre of the book. These will be of high enough resolution for authors to use on their print books, if they want to!

But it’s not only the winners that will benefit from the Summer Indie Book Awards! All nominated authors will have the potential to reach hundreds, if not more, of new readers (readers often have a preferred genre, and while they’re voting for their favorite author, will come across others they may not have tried yet), and reach a huge new audience through the social media forums! And best of all, it’s meant to have fun, to reach out and network with other authors, potentially forming long-lasting relationships. And readers will benefit from having a wealth of new books in front of them, as well as a vast amount of new stories to immerse themselves in.

Though we’re using Facebook and other social media as a platform to reach more authors and readers, none of these social media outlets are affiliated with the awards. They are hosted strictly by Metamorph Publishing.
For more information, please visit Metamorph Publishing at https://metamorphpublishing.com.

Happy reading my little book whores!

Claire xxx

Rebecca Besser resides in Ohio with her wonderful husband and amazing son. They've come to accept her quirks as normal while she writes anything and everything that makes her inner demons squeal with delight. She's best known for her work in adult horror, but has been published in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for a variety of age groups and genres. She's entirely too cute to be scary in person, so she turns to the page to instill fear into the hearts of the masses.
To learn more about Rebecca visit her Website, or find her on Facebook, Twitter, GoodReads, and/or follow her Blog!

Nurse Blood Summary (Limitless Publishing):
​
Sonya Garret roams the bar scene hoping to steal the heart of an unsuspecting victim—literally…
Sonya, better known as Nurse Blood, is part of a team of lethal organ harvesters who seek out the weak to seduce, kill, and part out for profit on the black market. When Sonya meets Daniel McCoy, a young man recovering from a broken engagement, he’s just another kill to line her pockets with quick cash.
Agent David McCoy vows to find out how and why his twin brother Daniel disappeared…
Daniel’s body hasn’t been found, and the leads are slim to none, but it won’t stop David from dedicating his life to solving his brother’s case. When the evidence finally uncovers the shocking truth that Daniel’s disappearance is linked to organ harvesters, David knows his brother is most likely dead. But he’s determined to stop the villains’ killing spree before they strike again.
One last harvest is all Sonya and her team need to put their murderous past behind them…
A family with the rarest blood type in the world is the only thing standing between Sonya and retirement. David McCoy and the FBI are hot on their trail, though, and multiple targets make this the most complicated harvest yet. Will David unravel Sonya’s wicked plans in time to avenge his brother and save an innocent family? Or will Sonya cash in her final kill and escape for good?

Murder for profit stops for no man when you’re Nurse Blood.
​

(Nurse Blood goes up on the Limitless website for pre-order Aug 13th and officially releases Aug 23rd.)

Limitless Publishing "Coming Soon"

Nurse Blood On Amazon
 

Prologue
​
The air inside the nightclub was hazy from smoke machines. Flashes of colored light cut through the swirls in beat with the pulsing music that shook the walls and the floor. The atmosphere was alive with movement―a mass of hot, swaying bodies bent on enjoying the moment. A monster waited in the depths of the darkness to bat her pretty eyes at someone and make them her prey.
The door of the establishment swung open to give way to three eager young men looking to have a good time and celebrate. The trio was instantly surrounded by dancing women. They made their way through the press of bodies to reach the bar.
Daniel forced himself not to scan the crowd for his ex-fiancée, April. But she was the least of his worries, as the real danger was a face he wouldn’t recognize.
Roy got their drinks while Hank and Daniel stood at a balcony that overlooked an even larger dance floor below. The smoke was thicker down there, and there were more lights. The dancers looked like they were paying sensual homage to their deity. The air was tainted with the aroma of perfume and alcohol; it burned the men’s nostrils and fueled their excitement for the revelry to come.
Daniel took a moment to text his twin brother, David, to let him know where they would be celebrating their shared birthday. He received a text back from David saying he was still an hour away.
Roy joined them with three shots and three cold bottles of beer, passing one of each to his friends. They downed the shots in one swallow before turning their attention to their beers.
“Dave will be here in an hour or so,” Daniel announced after downing his shot.
“Awesome—we’re gonna have a great time!” Hank yelled over the music.
As Roy took a drink of his beer, a petite, slim blonde grabbed his waist from behind. He jumped in surprise and turned, recognizing the young woman.
She tucked a finger into the front of his jeans, smiled at him, and tugged him away from his friends toward a table with another girl.
Roy looked back over his shoulder at his friends and shrugged.
“That’s Lynn,” Hank yelled to Daniel. “They’ve been seeing each other for a while. And that’s her cousin Trisha—you don’t want to go there.”
Daniel nodded and looked around. The warming effect of the shot was spreading through his body, relaxing him. He felt less paranoid about running into April.
While he was looking over the crowd, a woman caught his eye. She was a tall, slim brunette, and she was beautiful. She was standing alone at the end of the bar. He watched her for a few moments, and when she looked around, their eyes met.
He smiled and looked away.
Hank noticed Daniel’s mild interest. He knew what his friend had been through recently and why he was gun-shy with women.
“Go for it!” he yelled, nudging Daniel. “Have some fun!”
Daniel looked at his friend, took another swallow of beer, glanced at the woman—noticing she was still alone—and shrugged.
Hank laughed and gave Daniel a shove toward the bar, causing him to slam into two people who happened to be walking past. When he turned to them to apologize, he came face to face
with the very woman he was hoping not to run into: April. The man she was with was leaning on her with all his weight while she struggled to hold him up.
Daniel’s heart clenched in his chest and his lungs seized up for a moment. He felt his hand tighten around the neck of his beer bottle. He wanted to slam it over the other man’s head, but he managed to restrain himself. He didn’t want her to know how much the sight of her with another man hurt him, so he put on a brave front.
“Excuse the fuck out of me,” he said with a sadistic smile, raised the bottle in the air like he was toasting them, and then took a big swig of the brew. He was pleased with the shocked expression that spread across April’s face at his harsh greeting.
They didn’t say anything to Daniel, but focused back on each other and moved around him and deeper into the establishment.
Daniel glanced over to Hank, who was grinning from ear to ear.
He smiled at his friend, nodded, and forced himself to put one foot in front of the other until he made it over to the woman at the bar. While he walked he pretended not to notice that April had glanced back at him several times as she guided her drunken man to a table where he could sit down. He was determined to show April she wasn’t the only woman in the world. He was going to prove to himself and her that he was over the breakup.
“Hi, I’m Daniel!” he yelled when he reached the woman, leaning toward her a little so she could hear him as a new song started to play.
“Grace!” she yelled back.
They smiled at each other.
The couple chatted for a while about nothing important, since it was too loud to carry on a serious conversation, and ordered drink after drink as they stood at the bar. Daniel’s emotional tension eased little by little with every drink. He became more and more relaxed, and friendlier and friendlier with Grace. Before he knew what was happening, they were pressed up against each other while they conversed so they could hear each other better.
“Let’s get out of here,” Grace said. She kissed him and reached down between them to rub his crotch.
Normally Daniel would be shocked and uneasy by such a gesture so soon after meeting a woman, but he’d had enough drinks not to care about how respectable she was or wasn’t being.
He nodded in agreement and looked around for his friends, frowning.
“I have to tell my friends I’m leaving,” he said, taking a step away from Grace.
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Grace said, rubbing his crotch again. “They’ll figure it out. Besides, you can call them later and they can pick you up from my place.”
That sounded reasonable so he followed her out to the parking lot. The night was clear and felt cool after the heat from the population of patrons inside the nightclub.
They stumbled together through the parking lot and paused to make out, pressed against the side of her car for a couple minutes before they finally separated their bodies to get in.
Daniel had the passenger’s side door open and was about to climb inside when his cell phone beeped, notifying him of a text. He stopped, stood up straight beside the car, and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket by mistake. He reached into his other back pocket and extracted his cell phone. He frowned and squinted to focus on the tiny, bright screen that said David was only a block away.
“What are you doing?” Grace asked.
“I can’t go with you,” he said with a sigh. “Sorry. I—”
He felt a sharp pain in the side of his neck. He reached up to figure out what had hurt him and spun around at the same time, dropping his cell phone and wallet to the asphalt parking lot.
Grace was standing behind him holding an empty syringe.
“I’m sorry,” she said, “but you have to come with me.”
He tried to shove her away, but his limbs wouldn’t do what he wanted them to. His legs gave out from beneath him as the world blurred into a black blob of nothing.
***
Grace shoved Daniel’s tall frame into the passenger seat when he started to fall, smacking his head on the door frame. She quickly picked his feet up from the ground and spun him so she could get him all the way into the car.
She heard laughing as a couple made their way through the parking lot a few rows over, so she didn’t take the time to pick up what Daniel had dropped.
Grace shut the passenger door and ran around to the driver’s side of her car. She scanned the parking lot as she pulled out, not seeing anyone close-by. She’d been careful, watching for people as they’d headed outside, but the distant couple had snuck up on them. Luckily they hadn’t come close enough to see what she was up to. She tensed slightly when she had to pass another vehicle as she pulled from the lot out onto the street, but the man was looking in the opposite direction and didn’t even glance their way.
Once she was out of the parking lot and a couple blocks away, she pulled out her cell phone and called Roger.
“Hey,” she said into the phone. “I have fresh meat…”
 
©Rebecca Besser & Limitless Publishing, 2016. All rights reserved.

Happy reading my little book whores! 

Claire xxx