Category: Shades and Shadows

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in the morning fog

Winter in San Francisco generally means temperatures in the mid 40s to mid 50s and fog.  Sometimes really thick fog.  That does seem to be the case this year.  Even though I live a good 45 minute BART ride outside of the city, my little city can get pretty socked in too.

Fog means dangerous driving conditions, particularly when you don’t know the roads you’re driving on.  For me, I find fog mysterious and beautiful, especially when it hangs low over the mountains or the bridges.  I never do seem to get out into it with my camera however.  One of these days I’m going to get up to the Marin Headlands when the fog rolls in.

Just imagine what the world of horror movies would be like without fog!  It sets a mood, for sure.

where-shadows-fall

If you have been waiting for the paperback to get your copy of Where Shadows Fall, your wait is over.  As of this morning, the paperback is available.  Click HERE to get it.

We’re headed into the busiest time of year, with holiday parties and get togethers, shopping and cooking and chaos of all kinds.  My life is no exception.  I’ll be trying a new-to-me cookie recipe this coming weekend for a company pot luck, and I have my first holiday party tomorrow evening.

Then it’s all a landslide into Christmas for me.

What about you, Readers?  Do you have a special holiday tradition, no matter what holiday you celebrate?

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a complete set

Looking for a gift for someone who loves to read?  The entire Shades and Shadows trilogy is available as a complete set for your loved one’s Kindle (or your own).  For the first time, you can own the complete story from the beginning before violence and xenophobia tear a country apart, through a sort of war that finds our heroes scattered and hurting, to the conclusion.

Come meet our heroes, Shades Mason and Raven, Shadows Alaric and Bryan, Shifters Sahara, Maddie and Evan, and young Zero who is both Sage and Shadow, and so much more, as they try to navigate a world, and a war, fighting for the survival of their tribes.

I am also holding a sale on paperbacks.  I currently have 10 copies of Forever and 11 copies of Through Shade and Shadow (with the original cover) available.  From now through December 24 they are $7 each, or both for $12 plus shipping cost.  Just reach out to me via email at natalie@nataliejcase.com and we’ll sort the details.

I hope to have a giveaway set up soon (amazon is giving me headaches over it). If you have already read any of these, I would appreciate it if you would leave a review on Amazon.  Every review helps us get the books in front of more readers.

It’s writing day, so I am off into a land of fantasy.  Happy Sunday, Readers!

 

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book link and other fun stuff

You might have noticed a few changes around here, which can only mean that the new book is finally here!  You can find Where Shadows Fall on Amazon.  Only the Kindle version is available, but the paperback should follow shortly.

As usual, this also means the push to get reviews, as my publisher’s promotion apparatus only functions well with a minimum of 10 reviews on Amazon.  To help facilitate that, I am setting up an Amazon giveaway of 4 Kindle copies.  I should have the link to that later today.  I’ll update this post when I have it.

Eventually, the trilogy should be available as a set for Kindle, and I’ll probably do a giveaway for that too when the time comes.

And, if you’re more of a paperback person, I’ll have links to those as soon as I have them.  I may even do a flash giveaway of paperbacks just in time for Christmas, provided I get them in time.

Now, however, on this rainy Wednesday in San Francisco, the day job has begun and I must switch from creative word making to technical word making.  Hope your Wednesday is filled with awesome and amazing things, Readers!

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so you want to start a revolution…

Through Shade and Shadow is just that, the start of a rebellion, though no one involved knew that at the time.  And, right now, Through Shade and Shadow is available for free for your kindle.

This first book in the Shades and Shadows trilogy introduces Alaric Lambrecht and Mason Jerah, and the world in which they live.  It’s a world that is starting to come apart at the seams.

If you haven’t read it yet, now is your chance to get it before Where Shadows Fall drops.  Let me lure you into an America not so different from our own, one where tribes of paranormal people have blended into the fabric, hiding their talents to prevent their own destruction.

Shades, a name given to them because of their particular weakness to the sun, are primarily healers, though they can kill just as well as heal.  They are feared for their gifts, particularly after one is found to be a serial killer. Of the tribes, Shades are the most feared and have the hardest time hiding due to their issue with sunlight.

Shadows are psychics and mind-readers, among other things.  Their gifts come from their minds and their name comes from the ability to control another person, shadowing them. Of the tribes, Shadows hide the easiest among the human population, their gifts easy to disguise.

Shifters are shapeshifters, people with the ability to shift into something else.  Of the tribes, Shifters have been hunted the most voraciously over the years, resulting in a low number of them still in existence.

Sages are those who use magic and each Sage is attuned to a specific form of magic based on their elemental affinity.  Of the tribes, Sages have had the easiest time adapting to the modern world, hiding among the new age and Pagan populations.

America is falling apart, shredding itself in it’s fear of those it once thought were myth, and Alaric and Mason are directly in the path of the destruction.  War is coming.

Shades and Shadows

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Looking for a signed book for a Christmas present for the reader in your life? I have a limited number of books available, including Forever and Through Shade and Shadow with the old cover.  Hit me up in email at natalie@nataliejcase.com  or in DM on Facebook.

 

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new book coming

We’re in the final stages of getting Where Shadows Fall out into the world.  Just yesterday I got the final version of the cover.  where-shadows-fall

I am very pleased with the way it incorporates bits from the first two covers.

Blurb:

As the world descends into ever darker chaos, Alaric Lambrecht seems set to follow it, seeking vengeance no matter the cost. His path will take him deep into 8th Battalion territory and on a collision course with Raven Ivany and Zero, who are attempting to rescue those taken during the raid on Shady Lake. It seems a small light in the darkness, but it brings Shadows and Shifters, Sages and Shades all together with a common enemy.

The only question is, can the four tribes join together enough to win the war?

I can’t wait to share this story with you, Readers!

 

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#amwriting

I’m sitting in my home office on a Saturday morning, enjoying the last bit of the Death Wish Coffee before I get my next shipment later in the month, and writing.  It is maybe my favorite day of the week, especially when the words are working well.

Today is one of those days, when the words are working and the story has changed enough that my re-write of existing words to change from 3rd person to 1st person has become writing fresh words that take the story in a slightly different direction.

My main character, my point of view character is an eleven year old girl when we first meet her.  She got her name when one of my best friends responded to my naming dilemma by telling me to name her Fred.  She was being facetious, but I took the suggestion to heart.  Her full name is Alliafred, but those close to her call her Fred.

The world she lives in is different from anything I’ve published before, and I’ve been really enjoying create a map of that world, though I lack in the drawing skills and naming skills.  I’ve been working on the world’s backstory for years.

In other news, I’m told to expect Where Shadows Fall to be ready to publish before the end of November, and as soon as I can, I will share the cover with all you.  I’m very excited to share this story with you to close out the Shades and Shadows series.

Now, however, it’s back to the coffee and the words.

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weekend tidbits

I woke up this morning to my publishing contract for Where Shadows Fall, which is not a bad way to start a Sunday morning, you know?

Yesterday I woke up to a small cold, and ended up taking the day very easy.  Today I plan on writing for a few hours, then getting the housework tamed a bit.  Seems like there is always housework, doesn’t it?

At the moment, I’m slowly waking up.  I have a cup of coffee and it’s quiet outside my window.  I imagine the kids next door will be shattering that silence before long, but for the moment it is quite nice.

I can’t wait until I can share new cover art with you all!  For now though, I seem to have reached the bottom of my coffee cup, so I’m off to refill it.  Hope your Sunday is filled with fun and imagination, Readers!

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where shadows fall

I received word yesterday that my manuscript for Where Shadows Fall has been accepted by my publisher.  This means it should be ready for release in time for holiday sales.  Where Shadows Fall will serve as the ending of the Shades and Shadows trilogy, though not likely the end of stories in that world.

I have at least two short stories I want to write with these characters, possibly more, so I won’t be leaving it for a long time.

There aren’t really any new characters for me to introduce to you this time around.  The story moves from where In Gathering Shade left off and drives through the gathering darkness without really picking up any new characters.

We do get to see more of Emily and Victoria in this book, and some of the side characters really get ot shine as well.  I can’t wait to see the cover because I know that my publisher always comes through with great covers.

I hope you, dear Readers, are as excited about this as I am!  But for now, I have to go get another cup of Death Wish Coffee and get some work working.

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the fury of women

I’m sure you can feel it.  The anger seething just beneath the surface.  The anger of women who have been ignored, belittled, harassed, abused, assaulted, raped and the status quo has failed them time and time again.

If you can’t feel it, you must be living in a cave.

The swell is coming.

I’ve been told not to be too political on my blog because it will scare readers away.  But if you read my work, you should already know where I stand.  I hope you are voters, Readers.  I hope you will vote next month and in two years and in two years after that.  I hope you will vote in every election, no matter how small.  Make your voices heard.

Let that rage fill you up and burst out in that voting booth.

I tend to fall to poetry when the need to express myself is greatest.  Here’s one I wrote last night/this morning:  Self Destruction.

With that, and my last cup of coffee, I’m off to write and edit for a bit.  New book coming soon!

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an exciting day

Today is an exciting day.  Why, you ask?  Because today is the day I finally submitted Where Shadows Fall to my publisher!

That means that very soon there will be talk about book covers and the like.  Then I’ll be able to start teasing publishing dates, maybe even open up pre-orders!

It’s been a long time coming, interfered with by life events and the like, but this is the end of this trilogy, and I feel like I can move on to the next thing without being held back.

I’m still processing pictures from my trip (like the one above), and I’ll get a post up on the travel blog as soon as I’m done.

In the meantime, if you haven’t already read Through Shade and Shadows and In Gathering Shade, now is a good time to get on that!