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Introducing Alaric Lambrecht

Alaric Lambrecht is the second main character in Through Shade and Shadow. As the story opens, Alaric is twenty four years old and he has had a pretty charmed life.  His parents are not wealthy, but they are upper middle class.  He’s never wanted for anything.

At seventeen, his father tapped him to be one of his Keepers, a trio of people from the tribe of psychics, empaths and other gifted folk who help the leader of the clan function, watching out for his mental, emotional and physical well being.

Alaric’s specific gift is empathy, the ability to feel what others feel.  He uses it in an attempt to help his father do his other job, that of city councilman.  Alaric is his aide, does research for him, helps field phone calls and the like.

When he isn’t busy with that, he is helping his mother with re-igniting the structured teaching methods of his tribe, which have largely been abandoned due to the persecutions of the past.

He’s pretty content with his life until people begin to react to the discovery of the Shade serial killer in ways that will threaten his people. As his idyllic life begins to unravel, Alaric must make choices, all of them driving him toward Mason Jerah and beyond him, war.

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a window into ourselves

Through Shade and Shadow is set in an America not very different than the one I live in.  Well, maybe a little closer to America circa 2015.  As the book opens in the spring, the political climate is already a little tense, with those who want to claim the Republican party nomination for president already relying heavily on morality rhetoric.

The are quick to point out that the problems that the country has are easy to blame on those “others” that they name, be they Muslims, immigrants, the poor who demand the government support them, etc.

But then, they get handed a new scapegoat when a serial killer is discovered. He is found drinking the blood of his victims which has people speculating that he’s a Shade.  When medical exams conclude that he is indeed a Shade, fear skyrockets and the politicians have a new group to villainize.

Up to the moment that a doctor declares this killer a Shade, Shades were considered to be mythological beings. Little of truth is actually known about them, and even what is has been distorted from the reality.  Speculation abounds and violence follows behind it.

And this is the start of a journey that will take Mason Jerah far, far from the safety of his ancestral home.

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Introducing Mason Jerah

When we first meet Mason Jerah, he is just turning eighteen and watching his grandmother die.  He has lived his entire life separate from modern society, but for what he can see on television.

His interaction with the outside world has mostly been with the people in the nearest town.  He has been alone with just his grandmother for many years.  As a result, he’s hesitant and comes across as shy upon first meeting.  It isn’t so much that he is shy, but he’s thinking through everything he says.

Mason belongs to a tribe of people called Shades, one of five tribes that once upon a time coexisted peacefully.  Shades are gifted healers who can use energy to help not only themselves, but others heal.  It takes a lifetime of learning and practice, which Mason hasn’t had because his grandmother was too afraid to teach him.

Shades require large quantities of fluid, usually water to be able to do their work and to keep their own bodies functioning.  They are also vulnerable to the affects of the sun, burning quickly and well beyond the average sunburn.  The sun can kill a Shade.

With his grandmother’s death, Mason decides to embark on a traditional journey that will take him down off his mountain and out into a world that has started to fall apart.

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where the edit starts

It is always a weird transition for me, going from the writing/self-editing phase into working through the edits suggested by someone other than me who has read the manuscript.  I genuinely love the notes that show confusion, because they give me a chance to see the story from a different perspective.

Obviously the passage made sense to me at the time…but now I get to re-read the scene from another point of view, and hopefully clarify whatever was unclear.

It also gives new life to characters that had become intimately familiar, making me step back and see them for not who they are to me, but who the words have created.  I learn something every time.

I should mention here too that I have an AWESOME editor who isn’t afraid to tell me when things just don’t work and who gives me tools to be a better writer.  I’m sure I wouldn’t be half as good at storytelling without her.

I am so very excited to share this story with readers.  In the coming days I will be posting short character introductions, and not just for the characters in this book, but I will include characters that join the cast in books 2 & 3.

First up will be Mason Jerah.  You’ll be meeting him this weekend. I hope to post an introduction on Saturday, between all of my last minute prep for the family holiday.

 

 

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Christmas Special

As I announced on Facebook today, I am running a Christmas special on the paperback copies of Forever that I have on hand. I’ll even sign them and personalize them if you like.

There are 15 copies available at $10 + shipping costs. Send $15 ($10 for the book, $5 for shipping) to paypal.me/NatalieCase.  Going price on Amazon is $16.99 before shipping.

Live outside the US?  No problem.  Drop me an email with your shipping address and I’ll get a quote for the cost of shipping.  Want it faster delivery than media mail?  Not a problem, again, just drop me an email and I’ll get a quote for you too.

You can use the contact form on this site to reach me.

I’m clearing off some bookshelf space because in the new year, I’ll have a new book out.  I’m excited to share it with you all!

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a whole new world

This weekend here in the states we had a long weekend for the Thanksgiving holiday.  For lots of folks, that means the official beginning of the Christmas shopping season.  For me it is a chance to get some extra writing time.

This year that extra writing time meant I got to finish the first book in the trilogy I have been working on all year.  There’s something very satisfying in coming to the end of a book.

This story is something that started out as little more than a short story, but grew because the characters grew and as they grew, the story changed and developed a stronger plot, became more than one story.  And as the political landscape in the United States began to mirror some of the political landscape in the story, I couldn’t help but embrace that as well.

A vast departure from my first published book, Forever, this trilogy will navigate the rocky terrain of the US as several tribes of man, once thought to be myth and legend, are brought out of hiding into the harsh light of bigotry and fear. The country will be torn, and in the chaos tribes will come together, relationships will be born and friendships tested.

I can’t wait to share it with all of you!

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forever in a day

With the help of my publisher’s efforts and the 99 cent sale for the Kindle version of the book, Forever managed to reach #28 in one of it’s genre categories on Amazon this week.  Even today it’s still clinging to the top 100 in the  Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Horror > United States category.

That’s pretty exciting in this little corner of the world!

Have you read Forever?  Feel free to ask questions if you have them, here on the blog or on Goodreads.  I wouldn’t mind a review either!  Reviews are important in the world of independent authors.

In other news, I’m making exciting progress on my next project and my head is filled with new stories.  This time of year is always my most productive.  I love the chill in the air, and the darker half of the year is where I feel at home.

Forever is still on sale until November 8th, on amazon.com and amazon.co.uk.

And if you prefer paperback, those are available also.  If you’re interested in getting a signed copy, comment below and I’ll be in touch.

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it’s time for a sale!

Yes, you read that right.  Starting on 11/2/16 and going through 11/8/16, the Kindle edition of Forever is on sale for $0.99 (Amazon US) and £0.99 (Amazon UK).  If you haven’t read it yet, now is your chance!

Just click here for US and click here for UK!

And to entice you along a little, how about an excerpt?  From Chapter 12 of Forever:


 

 

 

Continue reading it’s time for a sale!

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final countdown!

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Natalie J Case

Have you requested your chance at one of two signed copies of Forever?

The Goodreads giveaway closes at midnight tonight!  Over 800 people have added their name to the pot.  Get your name in soon!

If you win, you get a paperback copy of Forever, personally signed by me with a personal note inside and mailed from California directly to you.

You don’t get a deal like this very often.  Hurry!

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everyone loves book recs & free stuff!

Just a reminder that my giveaway is open for you to jump into over on Goodreads.com.  I have two copies of Forever up for grabs.  Sign ups close on Halloween at midnight.

So far, more than 400 people have raised their hand to be included.

You can join the fun here on Goodreads.

While I have your attention, let me point you to some awesome work by other awesome women that I know:

Fellow Creativia author and friend, Susan-Alia Terry’s debut book is called Coming Darkness and it is so very well crafted.  Imagine if you will that Lucifer was never sent to hell, just banished from heaven.  And imagine him with a vampire for a lover.  Add in some political intrigue, some culture clash among the Otherkin and a grand mystery in the form of beings more powerful than God himself.  Her characters are brilliant and their story is vibrant and alive.

Another friend with a debut novel this year is K.B. Wagers, whose debut novel, Behind the Throne, is the sci-fi with a kickass female lead you didn’t even know you were waiting for.  The story begins with a gunrunner with a secret past finding her past catching up to her and whether she wants to or not, she’s going to have to face up to everything she left behind. What follows is a roller coaster space epic that leaves you white knuckled and breathless.  Get it now, because the sequel, After the Crown drops on December 13th.

One last one for today.  If you dig sassy female protagonists, check out my friend, and one time critique partner, Carlye Knight’s first book, Confessions of a Failed Preacher’s Daughter.  The story takes the form of the main character’s blog and it revels in all the emotions of being a teenager, amplified through the megaphone of being a PK (preacher’s kid).

There you have it.  Go sign up!  Go read!