Fall into Fantasy 2014

Greetings, everyone. Welcome to my humble site. I really appreciate you stopping by. For new visitors, my name is James Garcia Jr - or Jimmy to my friends. I write horror and paranormal novels, usually with a crossover slant. That means me being a Christian influences the work, but I would not label them as such, considering how dark they can get.

I began to swallow up horror novels in my teens, and then eventually began to work on penning my own stories until life sort of got in the way. In any event, just short of my 40th birthday - realizing the regret I was staring at - I returned to my dusty manuscript and saw it to completion. It is called Dance on Fire. It was the story of a vampire who saves a family from another - the one who made him what he is today. The woman is convinced that there is good in him, and that God can indeed use him. I then wrote the sequel. It is called, Dance on Fire: Flash Point. In that chapter, a third vampire who had escaped the end of book one returns for revenge, armed with four other vampires. I am currently editing the third book in the series and I will provide more of those details before the year is over. In that chapter, the devil himself will emerge from the shadows, armed with over one hundred vampires - because a vampire that seeks God cannot be allowed to walk the earth.

After the second book in the series was published, I took a time-out from the vampires and penned a ghost story. It is called, Seeing Ghosts. I do not label it a paranormal romance, but it definitely does contain a healthy dose of romance. It came about from my love of haunted house books and movies like An Affair to Remember. What follows is the blurb:

Paul Herrera finds himself bequeathed a mysterious old house near the California central coast by a deceased aunt he never knew. The woman who shows it to him is the spitting image of his wife, taken from him three years before in a senseless car accident which also took his unborn son. While he deals with the ghosts of a past he cannot let go, there are new ghosts Paul must deal with - alone for the week in the expansive two-story house that he will soon discover holds many secrets. Eventually, he will see that he is surrounded by ghosts as he struggles to hold onto the only thing that he has left in this world - his sanity.


The following is an excerpt. The woman who looks like Paul's dead wife and her son have become stranded at his house and he isn't dealing with their extended stay very well...

“You’re throwing us out?” she asked and turned away from me. She took one unsteady step and then turned back. “Where…? Where can we go?”

“I don’t know,” I said, holding my head as the pressure was mounting. I felt terrible, but completely powerless to stop the avalanche of emotion from bringing everything down around us.

Anne suddenly jumped into my face. “Where can we go?” she snapped, raising her voice to me for the first time ever.

“I don’t know!” I matched her with a yell of my own—not mad at her, but at the world. “Anywhere but here!”

“So, you’d have us live in the car until we can get help!” she continued. “I really don’t believe you! You’re incredible!” She walked away from me. I looked at her and studied everything as if I were frozen in place. She spun back. “You’ve never liked me!” she said now. “I don’t know what I ever did to you but be nice and professional. I thought today we had gotten past all of that, turned a corner. Now I see I was wrong!”

“Angie, wait!”

As if she couldn’t get any louder, Anne snapped at me. “My name is Anne, damn it! Get it straight!”

Just then I felt something give, like a weight being lifted off of me.

Anne grabbed Jason by the wrist and pulled him out of his seat by the doorway to the hall. He never uttered a word or attempted to enter the fray, but other than that I couldn’t tell what his expression had been. All this time I simply held Anne in my sights.

“Wait!” I said. The both of them turned and stared at me. “Just wait.” I walked over to them slowly, but stopped short of entering their space. “I’m being a total ass, I know, but there’s a reason for it.”

“What reason could there possibly be?” Anne asked loudly.

“Please,” I asked, raising my hands unthreateningly before me. “I can promise you that this is nothing personal. I have never disliked you.”

“That’s bullshit!” Anne said, as if she didn’t realize that her young son was standing beside her. I’m sure it wasn’t the first time in his life he’d been introduced to the ugly expression. “From the first day you have been nothing but cold to me…”

Anne continued to say a collection of other things concerning how I’d been anything but cordial to her, but by this point I was tuning her out while contemplating how I could possibly win this argument. In the end, I realized there was only one way.

“Please,” I interrupted her. “You’re free to hate me if you want, but let me show you something first before you do.” I walked around them and headed into the hall, and the stairs beyond. “Follow me.” I turned back and asked them. I waited a moment on the second step while neither of them seemed inclined to budge an inch. “Please, both of you.” I didn’t wait for any reply. I turned and methodically headed up the stairs toward my bedroom.

I sat on the bed near my nightstand and waited for them to arrive. It took them a while, but they slowly followed. They stopped at the doorway to the bedroom.

I reached for my wallet that sat there near the lamp and plucked out the object I intended to offer them both. “Here, Jason,” I said softly, without looking up. As much as I’d been staring at Anne previously, I now stared just as hard at the photograph. Jason walked over alone. I dutifully handed it over to him and then watched as he took in the image of my dead wife—his eyes ballooning. He spun away from me.

“Mom!” he cried out. “It’s you!”

“What?” she asked incredulously as she approached us. He handed her the picture.

I thought I noticed her legs buckle just a bit. I totally understood the feeling. “That’s exactly how I felt when you walked into the hotel lobby that morning. I knew you weren’t Angie, but it was very hard to have her walk back into my life, even for only a millisecond.”

“I don’t understand this,” she said. “How can this be? I look just like her.”

I would very much like to send you either an e-copy or a signed paperback. You don't have to jump through a bunch of flaming hoops or anything... Just tell me you want to read it, and leave a way for me to get a hold of you. The winners will be chosen at the end of the event and I will quickly contact the winners.

In the meantime, follow the Fall into Fantasy link and take a look at all of the other books that are available. There are plenty of great books out there to be had, and from what I understand, plenty of swag.

Thanks again for stopping by. We'll talk soon.

  

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year?

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts. I'm so glad that's over. How about you? I'm talking about summer, of course. Here in the California central valley it can get well over 100 degrees and stay there. All you do is hide in the air conditioning. I know there are worse places to live in the world, but this is all I have to compare it to... In any event, I can't wait for fall.

It's been another month since I have posted. I've been working 12 hr days all year, but just last week began leaving early, allowing my new supervisor partner to close the place. I have to get to work at about 4 am, but am now leaving work at 3 pm, and thinking about leaving at 2:30 pm - especially since my manager has asked me to do so. My problem is my OCD, and nagging need to do everything myself. *laughs* It's a work in progress, but I'm hopeful it will become the norm. Stay tuned. Then, after nearly two years of being allergy-symptom free, my post nasal drip kicked on a few weeks ago (forgive the visuals, but I am a horror writer after all). I had to fight through the work week, being unable to allow the new supervisor to take over for me, since he's so new at the gig. Anyway, I survived. The allergy shot seems to be working.

I have a completed cover for my forthcoming book that I shall be revealing soon. Some have seen it, but I'll begin promoting it soon. I have been taking some time off from the novel, not necessarily by choice, but will be getting back to it soon. It won't be long before it's in the able hands of the editor. I think we can safely say this should be ready by very early 2015 - if not sooner. I'm going to take a wild guess and figure that the holidays will slow me down, but other than that it shouldn't be that much longer.

You can anticipate seeing more activity from me on these pages this month. There are several things in the oven for the month of October and specifically Halloween. There are interviews, giveaways, tons of events planned, etc. It should be busy, but a lot of fun, too. In fact, let's kick this off now. Take a look at my e-books and let me know if you'd like to review something. I'd be happy to gift you one.

We'll talk soon.

   

A Multitude of Halloween Giveaways

Happy October, Fire Enthusiasts! Wow! Is this month crazy or what? 

This month – and it all seems to be converging at the same moment - we’re gearing up for Halloween with three events. We’ve got Coffin Hop 2013; Author Milo James Fowler’s brainchild, CreepyFreebies; and Author Ash Krafton’s Fall into Fantasy Giveaway. Not only are there opportunities to snag free copies of my books during this time, but altogether there are easily over a hundred other authors giving away their books and author swag.

As I mentioned, Author Milo James Fowler is hosting Creepy Freebies. Every Friday during the month we’re giving stuff away and mine is next. I’m giving away multiple Kindle copies of my latest, Seeing Ghosts on Friday, October 25th. You can enter by placing the book on your Goodreads shelf or liking my Facebook Author page. Just let me know who you are with a comment and tell me what you did. I’m easy that way.

Next we have the Fall into Fantasy extravaganza, hosted by author Ash Krafton. She’s awesome-sauce and she’s got a fabulous giveaway on her site. There are over 50 authors participating, and with so many books and swag opportunities it is not to be missed. The contest started October 17^th and runs through until Halloween. I’m giving away Kindle copies of Seeing Ghosts there as well.

Last, but certainly not least, we finish the month in grand fashion with Coffin Hop 2013. Every year the group of authors participating seems to grow exponentially, and so does the stuff that is given away. It is so big that it will take you the entire week to get through the hop! And it will be so worth it. Head on over to the Coffin Hop site and take a look down that list of sites participating. Perhaps the highlight of the event is the Coffin Hop: Death by Drive-In Anthology. It is a collection of stories from some of the best of the Coffin Hop members with all of the proceeds going to LitWorld.Org (a non-profit organization that supports child literacy.

I will be giving away Kindle-copies of all three of my books, including a grand prize winner who will receive them all. Adding the book you want (Dance on Fire, Flash Point (book 2) or Seeing Ghosts to your Goodreads shelf or liking my Facebook Author Page gets you in. Just leave a comment as to which book you want or if you want them all. At the end of the contest I will choose multiple winners out of a hat.

Before I go, these are the books I’m giving away:

Seeing Ghosts:

Paul Herrera hasn’t worked, left town or done much of anything since the untimely death of his wife two years before. He suddenly finds himself bequeathed a mysterious old house near the California central coast by a deceased aunt that he never knew. The woman who showed it to him and handed him the keys is the spitting image of his dead wife, taken from him two years before in a senseless car accident which also took from him his unborn son. While he deals with the ghosts of a past that he cannot let go, there are new ghosts as dead Aunt Flora is not content with eternal sleep, but continues her unholy quest to be rejoined with her dead husband on this side of the grave.

Flora isn’t the only ghost that Paul must deal with, alone for the week in the expansive two-storey house that he will soon discover holds many secrets. Eventually, he will see that he is surrounded by ghosts, both the ethereal and those that only haunt his memories, as he struggles to hold onto the only thing that he has left in this world: his sanity.

Dance on Fire:

Each May, the Central California town of Kingsburg celebrates its Swedish heritage with the annual Swedish Festival: a weekend event where the town puts on its traditional dress, culminating with a dance around a Maypole on Friday, and a Swedish pancake breakfast and parade on Saturday. The town with a population of over 11,000 residents draws thousands more to the event. This year, two uninvited guests also converged upon the unsuspecting town.

Nathaniel is a vampire. He wandered into town, bothering no one; feeding upon stray cats and other vermin, wanting nothing more than to have a place to rest his head. Vincent is a second vampire, and the one responsible for making Nathaniel. He has been searching for his long lost “son” for well over two centuries. Vincent’s goal is to take Nathaniel home or kill him. Nathaniel has often wished for death, wondering why God ever allowed this punishment: to walk the earth undead and unable to be redeemed. Does God remember the little boy from Romania who watched his parents die, was raised by the murdering vampire, only to become one himself? What does God think of Nathaniel and could there yet be redemption for one outside of heaven?

Ten days before the start of the Swedish Festival the most tumultuous week in the history of Kingsburg has begun with two vampires leaving death and destruction in their wake. Kingsburg Police Detectives Mark Jackson and Michael Lopez, Barbara and the entire Lopez family find themselves drawn into something that threatens to destroy them all or leave them scarred forever.

Dance on Fire, Flash Point:

Five years after the death of their only child Tiffany, Steve and Angie Rosen receive an unexpected guest to their Morro Bay, California home: their daughter. She comes with a tale of having suffered a terrible head wound in the fire that took their Kingsburg home, causing her loss of memory and migraine headaches that force her to hide from daylight in order to prevent. Tiffany's reemergence is treated like Manna from Heaven; however, her story is only half true. Tiffany is a vampire and their daughter in name only. She sleeps during the day and hunts for human blood during the night, and has come back to enact a twisted revenge upon those who ruined the plans of her master, the notorious vampire, Vincent. And she is not alone.

Five years after the terrible events that reshaped the Swedish Village, Kingsburg lies unsuspecting as five vampires descend upon her with a great evil in their black hearts.

Five years after old wounds have finally healed and the old fires were thought extinguished, Police Chief Michael Lopez and Officer Mark Jackson and their families find themselves surrounded when fires blaze anew. The good vampire, Nathaniel, has pledged his service to these people, but he is no longer among them. He lives high in the Oregon Mountains near the California border, seeking whether God might have a place in His kingdom yet for him.

When Nathaniel discovers that Tiffany has returned, will he be too late to stop her? And will his desire to protect his friends destroy what God has begun in him?

It will all begin with a Flash Point.

Thanks for stopping by. For old friends, it’s always great to see you. For new friends, it’s great to meet you. We’ll talk soon.