This post is dedicated to the ever awesome and completely fascinating Literary Dark Prince [aka Nathan Squiers ;)] He was kind enough to donate to my Very First Giveaway!! So sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride folks!!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Born in Massachusetts in 1986, Nathan grew up in Andover where his affinity for story-telling flourished due to a love of books and movies as well as an overactive imagination. At the age of 13, Nathan and his mother moved to upstate New York to be closer to their family.
After surviving public school, where he spent most of his days locked away in the AV room watching old 80s movies on Laserdisc and planning out his next video project, Nathan began a shaky college career. A love of inventing and telling stories was motivation enough to pursue an education in English, and, as luck would have it, a series of phenomenal professors were presented to get him pointed in the right direction. It was in his first years of college that Nathan began to actively pursue a writing career, starting his first literary journey with a piece that would become Crimson Shadow (due for release summer of 2012 by Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing).
Like any good story, a chaotic turn of events brought Nathan from the very brink of insanity and loneliness to the warm, comforting embrace of Megan, his best friend, lover, kindred spirit, and--more often than not--personal handler. It was with Megan at his side that Nathan was able to continue his writing (sometimes solely motivated by the young lady's threats of dismemberment if he tried to stop). With Megan's help, Nathan was able to see Death Metal, his fourth manuscript, through the publication process.
Nearly ten years later, Nathan continues to invent stories and put them into a literary sequence that he hopes will be somehow decipherable by other readers. As a lover of all things creative, he works in both novels, novellas, short stories, as well as comic book scripts (just don't ask him to draw something if you don't like stick figures and poorly-executed shapes).
DEATH METAL SYNOPSIS:
Life was good and the future was bright for up-and-coming heavy metal band, Bloodtones. With a steadily-growing fan-base, the five members looked forward to a promising career in the music industry. And then things went to hell. Soon after a strange sighting, the Bloodtones' lead singer, Bekka, finds herself capable of the impossible and in mortal danger from otherworldly forces that catch even the non-human members of the band off guard. With their rock-solid future rapidly crumbling before their eyes, the Bloodtones find themselves struggling for not only their music... but their very lives.
DEATH METAL EXCERPT:
Brian came in heavy at that moment on his guitar, the rapid, high-pitched squeal ranging back and forth as his fingers flew along the frets. As the intro's tempo grew more rapid, Bekka heard Derek's subtle bass line as it worked its way in. After another few seconds Will came in, slow at first, but racing along to match the others' pace. When their combined efforts seemed unable to get any heavier, David jumped into the mix.
As the sound go nice and heavy, Bekka began to rock back-and-forth onstage. In front of her, hundreds of metal-lovers began to jump and gyrate to their music. She matched their movements for a moment, enjoying the connection that was being made, before stepping over to the keyboard that had been set up behind her. Sliding her microphone into an attached cradle, she assumed her position and got ready. Right on cue, all the others stopped playing, throwing the auditorium into an abrupt silence. Before the crowd could react, however, Bekka's fingers began to work the keys, issuing a rhythm that was much softer and slower than what had been built up. The audience's violent thrash-dance calmed at that moment and they began to sway in response.
Bekka smiled to herself.
This is what she lived for.
CRIMSON SHADOW (Series Coming Soon):
After losing his mother to a vicious assault committed by his stepfather, young Xander Stryker is sent to live with his widowed grandmother. With no hope in sight, Xander trudges through life on a day-to-day basis, loosely relying on his knowledge of magic and driven by the hope that he won't live to see the next. Every night he attempts to take his life with a single bullet in his late grandfather's revolvers. But every night he's denied escape.
Nearing his 18th birthday, however, Xander's tortured existence begins to take a turn towards the otherworldly. As strange sightings, loss of control over his powers, and a growing paranoia threaten the sanity that he's managed to maintain through the years, Xander is nearing his breaking-point. When, at the peak of chaos, his grandmother turns up murdered and surrounded by the bodies of her killers, the world--a supernatural world filled with vampires and werewolves that he was unknowingly born into--comes crashing down, and he has to choose between living as a human in a world that hates him or taking on a vampiric legacy that he's always been meant for.
Is Xander prepared for what's coming? And what happens when his horrific past--a past that he's long-since believed to be dead and buried--turns up even more deadly than before? Is Xander strong enough to survive the downward spiral of the truth, or will the revolver's hammer finally land on the lone bullet he's been waiting for all these years?
Xander Stryker, the protagonist of the Crimson Shadow series, was created nearly ten years ago after several years of extensive research prior to the piece. Nathan wanted to approach the vampire/werewolf lore from a new direction that would make the creatures believable. He didn't, however, want to alter the legends to the point of no longer being recognizable. After creating the world that Xander would inhabit, Nathan went about telling the story of a deeply troubled young man and his struggles with himself and his place in the world. When Nathan first approached the project, it was a means of overcoming some of his own inner demons--a way of doing on paper what he knew could not be done in life--and, as Xander's story unfolded, it continued to be a piece dedicated to inspiring hope, but it rapidly became less about Nathan and his own hope and more about providing inspiration for others that were in similar situations. Xander quickly became a symbol for Nathan of strength and perseverance (the number one reason that he got the character tattooed to his right forearm). When book #1 was completed, Nathan moved on to the second, and then the third. To date, seven books are planned for Xander and his tortured adventures (Nathan's currently in the middle of book #4). More than anything, he's happy that he's created a series that will not only delight and entertain fans of the genre, but bring hope to readers as well.
A short while ago, Nathan--along with Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing--decided to donate a portion of the book's proceeds to the To Write Love On Her Arms cause, a non-profit group dedicated to providing support to those suffering from depression, anxiety, and suicidal or self-destructive tendencies.
For more information about the cause, please visit http://www.twloha.com/
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