UF

Ready, Set, Go!

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There’s butterflies in my belly and I’m feeling a wee bit light-headed. Why, you ask. Because last week I wrapped up my review of the eGallery (basically the digital proof) for my first full-length novel, Rekindled Prophecy, and sent it back to the publisher.

Next step…an actual hard copy printout in all it’s glory for one last review to ensure perfection before we can get it out onto the bookstore shelves and into the Amazon bookstore (or other online book retailer) for you!!!

Here’s a nice link to my Amazon author page so you’ll have everything you need to simply click and purchase Rekindled Prophecy when it comes out in November!

https://www.amazon.com/KC-Freeman/e/B07QDTJD19?ref_=dbs_p_ebk_r00_abau_000000

And here’s the link to my author page on GoodReads too https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19024932.K_C_Freeman

In addition, I’ll be attending my first ever author event, well as an author this time! Tomorrow, September 10, 2019 I will join other fabulous authors from the Charlotte, NC area in a meetup at Barnes & Noble at the Carolina Place Mall. The event is sponsored by Hopewriters and is titled “Hope*Writer Day”.  For more information on this event, please check out their FB page @hopewriterscommunity.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1296125360556693/

This past week I also posted my first ever live FB video to discuss my upcoming book, Rekindled Prophecy. Please check it out when you can. Last week’s discussion centered on “What is a guardian angel?” since my protagonist is a guardian angel and there’s not a vast amount of novels out there with guardian angels. You can check out the video here –  https://www.facebook.com/pg/KCFreemanAuthor/videos/?ref=page_internal

In short, my answer for what a guardian angel is — Once human, now angel who walks the earth helping save us from our own inner demons and the more nefarious real ones. Check out the video for more details please.

This week’s FB live discussion will focus on dark guardians. What are they exactly? Please check out my FB page later this week for the answer.

Time is drawing near for the release of Rekindled Prophecy so expect to hear more from me in the coming weeks and months.

Thanks for your patience as I took a sabbatical over the summer to be with my children. School is back in session now and I am more than excited to write/edit/discuss Rekindled Prophecy and the rest of the books in the series, as well as other story ideas that have been brewing in my head over the last few months.

Again, please join the book discussion on my FB author page https://www.facebook.com/pg/KCFreemanAuthor/

or my Twitter page https://twitter.com/KCFreeman5

You can also find me on Instagram @kcfreeman5

or Pinterest at https://www.pinterest.com/kvcfreeman5/pins/

I look forward to bringing you more details on the upcoming book release and discussing everything from guardian angels to fallen archangels with you soon.

Blessings to all!

KC

 

 

Who is Greylyn?

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For the last few weeks you’ve been reading about Rekindled Prophecy – Greylyn the Guardian Angel series, Book 1. You’ve been introduced to her guardian angel counterpart and mentor, Jasper Moreau. And you’ve witnessed her in action saving a co-ed with self esteem issues from a nefarious soul stealer in a country western bar.

But who exactly is Greylyn?

Greylyn was born over 450 years in the Irish countryside. She wishes she could tell you more about her human life, but since rising from the grave as a guardian angel she doesn’t remember anything from that time. Her first memory is waking up, underground, with the pungent odor of earth and fear infiltrating her senses.

The above image is “Alice in the Looking Glass” — a statue in England, which will have more relevance once we get to book three in the series. For our purposes here, it appears as if a young woman is reaching out from the grave.

Once Greylyn dug herself out of her grave, she met someone who would have a profound effect on her “afterlife” — yes, the handsome and strong guardian angel, Jasper. But don’t let their closeness fool you. Our beautiful guardian, Greylyn, has a penchant for the bad boys.

Enter dark guardian, Kael O’Shea. We’ll discuss Kael in more detail later. I just didn’t want you to misconstrue the situation with Jasper. Not that he hasn’t tried over the centuries to win her heart, body, and soul. It’s just the chemistry between Greylyn and Kael is off-the-charts hot and undeniable, even though she vehemently denies it.

Jasper taught Greylyn everything she knows about being a guardian angel, including how to fight. Sometimes they battle the bad guys together, and sometimes apart. There just aren’t enough guardian angels to go around, so they are kept plenty busy.

Greylyn takes her job seriously and rarely enjoys any R&R for herself. She’s learned not to get too close to the humans she is meant to save, but she has a huge heart. Whenever she fails a mission, it hits her hard. That fear of failure propels her forward, but doesn’t fill the emptiness in her heart and soul. A few people have been fortunate enough to make it into her inner circle, including a snarky Australian former rugby player turned college professor with an affinity for the paranormal; an Irish innkeeper; and the subject of Greylyn’s mission in Rekindled Prophecy — a young bride with a secret and a supernatural price on her head.

Here’s a glimpse into Greylyn’s meeting with the bride, Kelly:

Kelly’s voice was soft and sweet, with just the faintest Southern belle tinge. There was something that bothered Greylyn from the moment she’d walked in the room. A glimmer of gray hung over her like a cloud. Despite the smile, this woman sensed something was wrong too. When they shook hands, waves of energy spiked from Greylyn’s hand all the way to her neck. Not painful, but more like the warmth of a cashmere blanket. Familiar, but foreign.

Greylyn’s mind flashed back to the vision of the woman in white silently screaming in the window. Although the vision had been blurred, there was no doubt that Kelly had been the woman. For a split second, another image emerged. Glazed hazel green eyes, but the face was blurred. Again the vision morphed to pitch darkness surrounding the woman in front of her, like acrid smoke billowing off a bonfire. But instead of the smoke floating away from the source, it encircled her.

But that still doesn’t answer “Who is Greylyn?” Our heroine drives a 1968 British racing green Camaro, loves hair-band heavy metal music, and sports a Celtic dagger when going into battle. Her drink of choice is called a “Godfather” — half scotch/half amaretto over ice. She’s petite (under 5’2″) with long raven hair and a spattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks. Her eyes are like emeralds…unless she’s upset or angry (her eyes turn as blue as the Mediterranean Sea). Her friends call them “mood eyes” (like a mood ring which changes color with your mood).

 

I don’t want to give away too much about our lovely heroine. I prefer you read about her for yourself when Rekindled Prophecy comes out in November 2019. Until then, I’ll keep posting tidbits here and there to keep you intrigued.

Have a safe & fun Mardi Gras!

A Little Slice of Heaven

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Usually an author introduces her/his readers to the main character first, but after some particularly interesting responses to my Facebook posting of a supporting character, I thought I’d break the mold and introduce the incredibly sexy guardian angel, Jasper, first.

Jasper — oh, he’s a hottie! A perfect spoil to the dark guardian, Kael (who we will discuss in much greater detail later).

Jasper is a guardian angel. He has been roaming the Earth helping humans battle their own inner demons and the more nefarious real ones for centuries. We know Jasper has been a guardian for much longer than our heroine, Greylyn (approximately 450 years for her).

He’s French royalty. He and Greylyn even visit revolutionary France to stop Robespierre from slaughtering innocents by the infamous guillotine, discovering too late that the dark guardian, Kael, is pulling the French leader’s strings.

But who really is Jasper Moreau? Although working on the side of good, he gives off a distinct bad boy aura. He’s a stylish dresser, with a flare for black boots and even a leather jacket if the situation calls for it. He will ride in to the rescue in a rented luxury sports car or straddling a Harley Davidson motorcycle. He drinks champagne as if it were water, but never overindulges because he wants…needs to remain in control.

His temper is ferocious and quick to flare. Just ask Kael who has been on the receiving end of his anger too many times to count. But Jasper’s heart is huge, but he keeps it guarded for reasons he does not confide even to his best friend for centuries, Greylyn.

Below is an excerpt from the Greylyn the Guardian Angel series, shown as a flashback of when Greylyn first met Jasper. Enjoy!

Hunched over, her body shuddering in the final throes of dry-heaving, a faint chuckle broke through the silent night.

She turned her face towards the sound. Everything was a blur. Blinking, grains of dirt caked onto her lashes fell away. More blinking, her eyes brought into focus the gloom of an icy moonless and starless night. Then finally she was able to make out the silhouette of a tall figure lounging against the side of a large oak tree.

“Well, it’s about time you made it out. I’ve been waiting all night. A few more moments and I would have left without you,” the shadowed man said in a foreign accent she didn’t recognize. With a subtle bow, he added, “Jasper Moreau at your service, Milady.” He separated from the tree and strolled leisurely over to where she lay on the damp ground. His boots shone with garish gold buckles, as if he were walking into a palace, not standing in the middle of a dirt field.

Get up and run!

The energy that had propelled her from the grave had vanished. She could barely lift her head to gaze up at him. The muscles in her neck twitched with the effort. Her mind ordered her legs to jump up and run, but nothing happened. A new wave of panic rocked her body.

She pushed herself up on trembling arms. “If you knew I was trapped under the ground, why did you not help me?”

“Sorry, Milady,” he said with a slight touch of sarcasm. “I could not assist you. There are no headstones or markers in this quaint little boneyard and there appear to be several fresh grave sites. I simply could not find you in time. I do hope you will accept my sincerest apology.” Something in the smoothness of his voice or his nonthreatening stance gave her a sense of calmness – that she had no need to fear this man. Still, how could she be certain? 

A tingling sensation washed over her body, as energy flooded back into her limbs. First, she wiggled her toes, then shook out her legs that moments earlier had refused to move. Pulling her legs towards her body, she took a long look around. She sat on the edge of a small graveyard between a sheep pasture and a thick forest. In the distance, silhouettes of buildings stood out, with one taller than the rest with a pointed steeple. Even the cloud-filled night sky seemed bright and welcoming.

A sliver of moonlight peeked out between the dense cloud cover for just a moment, offering enough illumination that she could make out the visage of the stranger. Her vision wavered in and out until finally coming to a crystal clear focus.

Strikingly tall with broad shoulders, his clothing was fancy. Frilly white shirt with a dark velvet overcoat. Long jet-black hair pulled into a ponytail with a satin ribbon. Every detail screamed he didn’t belong here.

When he reached over to help her up from the ground, a sweet musky scent infiltrated her senses producing a vision of a deep evergreen forest. Most notable were his startling blue eyes set against deep olive skin. They glowed in the darkness with such intensity as if he peered into her soul. She found herself on her feet without any recollection of standing. When she looked down at his hand on her arm, he released her. The tranquility abruptly ended.

“Madam, I realize you may be distressed about your predicament. Allow me to reassure you that you are now indeed safe. You will never need to fear the grave again.”

How dare he act so nonchalant about this situation? And say such nonsensical things! She rounded on him, her voice rising. “How is that precisely? Someone buried me alive! You did nothing about it. How can you stand there and smugly say that you could not help me?”

His eyes narrowed and a nerve ticked just under his left eye. The look, more than the silence, unnerved her.

This couldn’t possibly get worse.

“Milady, you were not buried alive,” he said. “You were very much dead.”

 

The End – This Time for Real

It is with a mixture of great joy and sorrow that I typed those two precious words at the bottom of the page of Book 3 (working title: Remembrance & Revelation) of the Greylyn the Guardian Angel series.

THE END

Who would’ve thought I’d struggle through one of the most heart-wrenching scenes I have ever written (no spoilers here, I promise) while surrounded by dozens if not hundreds of screaming kids at an indoor trampoline facility for a birthday party? Seriously? Who does that? I can’t imagine Jane Austen penning the declaration of love scene between Mr. Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennett while children ran wild around her.

Did Shakespeare create one of his great romances, comedies, or tragedies while a mob of children played Ring-Around-the-Rosy around him with his parchment and quill?

Perhaps he did.

Regardless, that was how THE END came to be for my first urban fantasy trilogy.

***Side note – PLEASE stop me if I say I’m going to write another series. Kick my a** if necessary, but do not let me do that again.

But that’s a subject for another day. Actually, I may have written about that already. Yes. Yes, I did.

https://kcfreemanauthor.com/2018/02/08/the-perils-of-writing-a-series/

So back to THE END…

Each book in the series has had it’s own temporary ending, with the allure of more adventures to follow. I hope everyone will enjoy every word of all three books, and will look upon the end of Book 3 as all you’ve ever wanted for the characters, but please understand that not all twists and turns are meant to be tied up in neat little bows. Honestly, I think it is against a writer’s nature not to leave something out there in the ether for readers to ponder long after they’ve finished reading.

My favorite explanation of this phenomenon came from Chuck in the hit television series SUPERNATURAL. I lot of my favorite quotes come from Chuck.

“Endings are hard. Any chapped-ass monkey with a keyboard can poop out a beginning, but endings are impossible. You try to tie up every loose end, but you never can. The fans are always gonna bitch. There’s always gonna be holes. And since it’s the ending, it’s all supposed to add up to something. I’m telling you, they’re a raging pain in the ass.”

Chuck

And of course, the ultimate tease…

So how should we celebrate THE END? I’d give you an excerpt of Book 3 but you have a lot of reading to do to catch up. Yes, I know that’s my own fault. Book 1 “Rekindled Prophecy” will be available soon. Getting the book cover gussied up and once I get this marketing thing figured out (insert evil laugh), we are all set!

Instead of giving you a quick look into Book 3 and the ending, how about we start off with a few nuggets from Book 1?

The long-anguished over blurb…

For over 450 years, guardian angel, Greylyn McLeod has fought to protect the souls of innocent humans from their own inner demons and the more nefarious real ones. A sexy dark guardian, Kael, has kept a close watch on her, tormenting her very heart and soul as an undeniable sexual chemistry threatens to engulf them with every encounter. Called to the rural Shenandoah Valley, she finds herself working with him to protect a young bride from a wicked fallen archangel’s game to bring about a long dormant prophecy — one so dangerous that neither Heaven nor Hell wishes it to be unleashed.

Here’s another blurb. Which do you prefer for the book cover?

Protecting humans from their own demons and the more nefarious real ones…that’s her job as a guardian angel. Greylyn knows no other life.

Just another day in the last 450 years of her existence, just another simple assignment in the lush picturesque Shenandoah Valley. Not quite.

As soon as she arrives at the quaint bed and breakfast, Greylyn senses evil and she instinctively knows what, or more like “who”, to expect – Kael, a sexy dark guardian working for Hell. He’s tormented her heart and soul for centuries as an undeniable sexual chemistry threatens to engulf her with every encounter. Expecting a battle, she’s shocked to discover he’s there for the same reason she is…to protect an innocent young bride whom Hell has marked for death. But why?

Seems Kael’s boss, a notoriously wicked fallen archangel, has plans for the young woman. Too bad, those plans involve holding her life over Greylyn’s head as collateral.

Olivier wants one thing…for Greylyn to fulfill a long dormant prophecy – one so dangerous that neither Heaven nor Hell wishes it to be unleashed.

 

Last week, I gave you the Prologue so we need something “more” this week. How about this nugget where our heroine, Greylyn, meets up with the sexy dark guardian, Kael under the gazebo at a quaint bed and breakfast in the Shenandoah Valley?

The shadow didn’t move. As she neared the gazebo, the scurrying of a squirrel up the tree behind her was enough to warn the entity of her presence. It still didn’t move. Maybe this was a dumb one. Now, wouldn’t that be lucky?  As usual, luck was not in her corner.

“Hello, Greylyn! Long time, no see. Did you miss me?” a husky male voice called.

Chills ran up her spine at the friendly greeting, and her breath caught in her throat. Not only was she discovered, but that voice belonged to the one dark guardian she never wanted to tangle with again. Kael. The menace had been showing up repeatedly ever since she began battling for good shortly after her “rebirth.” She had never in her over 400 years of being a guardian angel encountered the same evil being twice…except for this one. He took immense pleasure in subverting her efforts, and it always felt like he was toying with her.

Trying her best to sound unruffled, she countered, “Well, I would say it’s great to see you, but we both know that it’s not.” With more bravado than she felt, she stepped out of the shade of the trees into full view of her opponent.

Yes, it was definitely him, with that charming, cocky grin. She despised him for all the evil he had unleashed on the world and untold damage to humanity, but more so for the way he made her weak in the knees. With him around, Greylyn would have to be extra careful. Her head was never clear when he was near.

“Dare I ask what you are doing here aside from disturbing my vacation?” Despite her best efforts, her voice wavered.

With a soft chuckle he emerged from the shadowed corner of the gazebo. Tall, dark, and sinfully handsome. His deep cocoa-brown eyes danced wickedly, alight with gold flecks that could hypnotize even the strongest mind. She had discovered long ago that directly gazing into those seductive pools was more dangerous than teetering on the edge of a volcano. Although unsusceptible to regular demon thrall, the same did not apply to him.

He strode over to Greylyn, took and gently kissed her hand. “Come sit with me, love.”

Damn it!

His touch sent an electrical surge through her entire body. Her breath caught in her chest. Every nerve ignited.

She steeled herself for any further interaction, digging her nails into her palms so as to not reveal his influence over her.

His chestnut brown hair, with just a touch of auburn highlights, swept his forehead just above brooding, dreamy eyes.

Get it together, girl!

“Love,” he drawled with a slightly southern, cowboy twang, “we both know this is no vacation. Although I don’t see why we can’t have some fun.” The side of his mouth ticked up in one corner, showcasing his dimple.

She watched in involuntary fascination as he continued to stroke the top of her hands, “Dear, dear, Greylyn. Why don’t you save yourself the trouble? Go on a real vacation. The Shenandoah Mountains are lovely this time of year, and I know how much you enjoy hiking.”

She would almost swear she saw sparks flying off her skin from his caress.

“No thanks, Kael. Tempting, but I’d rather kick your ass back to Hell.”

 

A little bit of romantic intrigue. While the series is firmly planted in Urban Fantasy, it does have strong undertones of sex appeal, the allure of the bad boy, and romance.

Also, thought I’d leave you with a teaser photo of the epic couple.

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Okay, so as a guardian angel, Greylyn does not technically have wings. Think of the wings as metaphorical.

After I recover from my THE END party hangover, I will be up to my neck in edits. But I promise more and more teasers to come very soon.