Ellen C. Maze's Blog

 

TIME TO WORK ON A NEW NOVEL!!My two series are complete... now I am working on a standalone, still in the vampire/paranormal vein. Here's a sample chapter for folks fond of vampire tales.Warning, it contains demons. Working title: THE INDWELLING OF TORI BLESSING:"What if your family line involves vampiric demon possession, and when it's your time to allow it... you don't want to give up your life to their control? Raised from birth in the modern world knowing she would marry her deceased father's successor... what her guardian held back was the truth of it-- when she marries, she is expected to hand over her body to the demons waiting to indwell her. For Tori, this does not seem an option!"(Y/A Paranormal Fantasy, Demons, Vampires, Language, violence, sexual situations, adult themes, alcohol and/or drug use)SAMPLE CHAPTERThe screeches were much worse than the screams, and tonight, her husband’s voice carried ear-splitting elements of both. Michele covered her ears and jogged down the hall. When she reached her bedroom, she double-locked the door and collapsed onto her bed. Another loud staccato shout filtered upward from the basement and hugging herself tightly, she curled into a ball. “Please, please, please don’t let him come up here. Please!” Michele prayed the same words a few more times before wondering to whom she was speaking. God? If so, which one? There were so many, how could she know which to turn to at what times? A loud crash sounded from beneath her room; splintering wood and breaking glass—Cedric was in the laboratory; the place he ran his experiments, the ones she wasn’t permitted to witness. What he did on the slab in that cold place she didn’t know, but the shrieks of despair he caused were human and predominately female. Still… he was good to her. The real Cedric was always good to his beloved wife.Footsteps in the hallway reached her ears. Cedric’s steel-toed work boots, caked with soil from the surrounding moors, made that sound when he came to her at night. Just as often, it was them. Many nights, they propelled her husband to her end of the giant house. Uncertain which it was, Michele opened her eyes and leapt to her window. It was nearly dawn—that fact sometimes kept him downstairs, for Cedric was cursed and unable to walk in the sun. “MEEE-SHHH-ELLLL!” The elongated three-syllable version of her name sent goose-pimples across her flesh. Only Ki’tarit called her that—Mi-sha’el—and of the seven spirits that tormented and possessed her husband, he was the most foul. Michele jerked her gaze to the north horizon fifty miles away, where the mountains towered over neighboring Slovakia. Her east-facing windows had been painted over and sealed, for what purpose, she never knew. Whatever the reason, it mattered little at the moment; Ki’tarit summoned and the sky was still more purple than pink.“MEEE-SHHHH-ELLLL!” he bellowed, much too close now. Michele jumped at the sound and pressed her hands to her ears. He’d have to come get her. She learned a long time ago that when one of Cedric’s Indwellers spoke her name, it was better to run and hide. Each of them longed to destroy her and only Cedric’s incredible love restrained them from doing so. Michele shivered, and prayed to the unknown God once more.Bang! Bang! Bang!Michele screamed and her hands clutched the familial amulet Cedric had given her to wear. It gave her little comfort now that Ki’tarit was at the door. Would he be able to open it?“YOU WILL OPEN THIS DOOR, YOU SELFISH WHORE!” the voice bellowed and Michele cringed backward until her rear was against the wide edge of the protruding windowsill. Fingering the soaring eagle design on her necklace, she scooted onto the sill and looked to the landscaped lawn outside. It was dark, but she was on the first floor, the drop only fifteen feet. “Michele?” the voice asked softer, with a harsh accent on the first letter, sounding more like MI-shull. This one was Yuli, Cedric’s deceased father. The Gustat family line accomplished immortality by the parent possessing the body of the child. Weary from a millennium of suffering, Yuli Gustat gave up his breath four centuries ago when Cedric was pulled from his mother’s womb. As per their way, the father entered the son when he took his first breath. In the hallway, the Indwelt knocked again, this time with the sound of a tentative nosy neighbor, tap-tap-tap. Michele held her breath. Yuli was no angel, but he lashed out at her the least. Still, she remained at the window, fingers on the latch. She called across the room at the bolted door, “Mighty One, get Cedric downstairs. The sun is coming,” she said, hoping she sounded braver than she felt. The tremor in her voice was difficult to erase.“Come sleep with us, Mi’shull. It’s been so long. Cedric will be back. Trust me.”Michele faced outside, looking as far east as allowed by the corner of the house. She would never consent to Yuli’s request and he must realize that. She had slept with her husband one time in his crypt and nothing bad happened, the Indwelt were still. But since then, over the past year, she’d seen enough of their violence that she vowed she would never voluntarily place herself in their clutches. Although Cedric promised that he’d protect her, she found it impossible to put her confidence in his claims.Knock-knock. A soft rap; he’d changed again.“Kitten, it is I, your husband.”Cedric! Michele faced the door and her hand flew to her throat.When he was present in that crowd of spirits, her heart grew warm within her and she flushed from head-to-toe. Finally, her husband had come forward to wish her a good day.“Cedric!” Michele breathed and reached the door in four rapid strides. Then, remembering herself, she paused, palms on the wood. “Cedric, should I open the door?”“Yes, kitten, open the door.”Michele unlocked two deadbolts and removed the iron bar atop them both. With a pull on the heavy door and a swish of air, she was in her beloved’s embrace. Cedric held her gently and kissed the crown of her head.“I wanted to wish you a good day, my sweet.” Michele held him tightly, her face pressed into the lapel of his cool leather coat. It had been three nights since she’d last seen him. When he left Monday at sunset, he hadn’t returned until last night, and she knew better than approach him then. It had been a good call, for as she prepared her dinner, the Indwelt overcame him in the bowels of the house and began the tumult to which she’d unfortunately become accustomed. But he was here now, for a few minutes.“Are you all right? I missed you,” she whispered against him.“If you missed me, you will look at me, no?” Michele smiled and pulled away well enough to look into his face; Cedric’s extreme comeliness never failed to bring tears to her eyes. She considered herself a mousy girl with dull blonde hair she could hardly control and pale blue eyes that were too big for her face. She’d always attracted men too old for her, but Cedric was the first one she’d paid any mind. Painfully attractive, his dark eyes were nearly always at half-mast, hiding centuries of secrets. His mouth was set in a permanent smirk, which only served to convince Michele that he knew everything there was to know about everything and his wisdom would change her world. Raised in a Budapest orphanage since age four, Michele never knew tenderness until she met the walking god who held her now. “Who was it that put the look of the doe into your eyes?” Cedric pierced her with his gaze, asking questions he could divine if he chose. Michele answered right away so he wouldn’t have to.“Ki’tarit threatened me. Yuli was only there a second before you were back.”Cedric nodded. “Yuli and I have come to an agreement. He promised to subdue the others for me, but Ki’tarit is sometimes too much for him when he thirsts.” Cedric brushed Michele’s hair from her cheek and pushed it behind her ear. “I will deal with Ki’tarit today while I sleep.”“How did you get Yuli on your side?” Michele asked, truly curious. Cedric explained his way early in their relationship, which she accepted on faith. As far as she knew, the Indwelt could not be persuaded by anyone at any price.“I took him on a little trip,” Cedric’s mouth went to the side, his black eyes sparkling with humor.Michele didn’t ask for more. The Indwelt were bloodthirsty and murderous; to satiate them, Cedric would have been party to horrendous activities. Cedric put a finger to her chin and bent to kiss her mouth, lingering there long enough that she forgot to breathe. When he stood to his full height, he ran both hands into her hair and held her head gently. “I apologize that we frightened you.”Michele smiled, and wiped a tear that had slipped out as they kissed. “Yuli said you wanted me to sleep with you today. Is that so?”Cedric nodded his head, his shoulder-length black hair catching the light from her room in its loose waves. “You will be safe.”Michele’s pulse increased a few ticks, but she nodded her head in his palms. “Let me change clothes. Do we have time?”Cedric looked over her shoulder in the direction of her window, although he could sense the sunrise more easily than observe it. “Seventeen-and-half minutes, kitten. Will that do?”Michele nodded and backed into the room as he slowly released her. She’d visit the restroom, wash her face, and change back into her nightgown. She normally slept from noon until sunset, but she needn’t worry about insomnia; in Cedric’s crypt, he would put her to sleep gently and fully. Her husband leaned against the threshold and watched her prepare to bed down. It would only take her ten minutes and then she’d accompany him to the basement where he slept away the long Hungarian days. As she slipped her silk nightdress over her head, she begged the unknown God to keep the Indwelt at bay. (Indwelling expected early summer, 2021. Follow this page or follow the author on Amazon to be alerted when it is out! https://www.amazon.com/Ellen-C-Maze/e/B002YWH2TY

(New Release NOVUS by Ellen C Maze. Kindle, paperback and KindleUnlimited)
 

As far back as I can remember, I enjoyed "Dracula" stories more than any other. 

I first met Count Dracula at a Scholastic Book Fair in Middle School in the form of a graphic novel. As a budding fine artist myself, I fell in love with both the characters, the story, and the illustrations.

 

I moved then to the novel by Bram Stoker and I became inflamed with the desire to write vampire stories. At age 12, I began drawing Dracula scenes and writing short stories about vampires.

Allow young Ellen to read adult novels and by age 14, I was reading vampire fiction intended for grownups - with sex and profanity, oh my! 

(They Thirst was my favorite vampire novel after Dracula. I have read this more than fifty times in my years. It is the consummate vampire novel!)

Voraciously, I purchased every novel about vampires on the bookshelf, and this was before online shopping. I would be AT AN ACTUAL BOOKSTORE surfing actual shelves for new vampire books. I gobbled them up, reading them sometimes 20+ times.

This whole time and into high school and then college, I continued to read vampire books and write vampire stories. My career plans had nothing to do with writing - I never dreamed to be a writer at this time. I was training to be a psychologist and when I reached my senior year of college, I had decided I would get a Masters and work with the elderly.

But.

Instead.

I got married to my high school sweetheart and a year later, we had our daughter. I quit work and became a mommy. I wasn't until my daughter was 10 years old did I pick up writing again.

This is when I wrote THE JUDGING. My first novel took 3 years to write and I immediately wrote Book 2 and then a new novel called RABBIT: CHASING BETH RIDER. Over the years, all three of these became bestsellers and spawned two separate series' that I love dearly.

So by now, 2020, I have written and published more than 40 vampire-themed novels and stories and I still have dozens left in my head!

My next blog, I am going to discuss a character named Androni from the end of one of these series. He has commanded me to write him a spin-off novel and I will comply. If I refuse, he will haunt my sleep and keep me up at night. It's true.

Okay, let's go read. You might be surprised to hear that even though I am writing a new vampire novel right now, I am reading a cozy mystery about a woman and a Boston Terrier. Yes! I am a reader, too and now that I write vampire books, it's been years since I read a vampire book by someone else. Sure, I will go back and read my favorites from the 80's, but I have not read the new stuff. I should... I know... maybe later.

HUGS to you all and stay well!

~ ellen

PS: If you enjoy vampire novels (and I am also writing a cozy mystery series with NO vampires but a snarky cat, LOL) - please sign up for my newsletter. Here's a link and it provides a free book, The VAMPIRE Magician!

https://dl.bookfunnel.com/z0c7dpe1am

Oh, my friends... The graphics department sent my newest covers for the "Rabbit Reboot." Rabbit: Chasing Beth Rider is coming up on 10 years old and books 3, 4, & 5 started coming out after a 5-year break. They needed to be brought into the new days and now they have been. I am going to show the covers here in order, with the tiniest line of explanation on each. I love these books so much and all of your raving reviews only make my heart fill with joy.



For a writer, sharing her tales with others is a huge dream. Thank you for loving my characters as I do. They are alive. Trust me!



First new cover: RABBIT: CHASING BETH RIDER




Caption: A new 25, Beth's vampire novels have hit #1 and at a book signing in Atlanta, a huge terrifying man threatens her life. From there, this novel doesn't let up a moment, introducing a large cast of well-developed characters you will love to follow through the plot...
IMAGE - She is brave and her faith is strong. She'll need that courage to resist her enemy...







Second new cover: RABBIT LEGACY
Javier lived 140 years as a Rakum, born a vampire, completely above mortals on the food chain. Now that Beth Rider's message has gone out, Javier has to make some big decisions about his future...



Third new cover: RABBIT REDEMPTION
A legendary youth named Isaac joined the Rabbit posse in the previous installment. Now he's the strongest Rakum alive and his baby face and sweet voice hide a demonic core...





Fourth new cover: ANOMALY: BEYOND THE RABBIT
Circumstances have put Elder Kilmeade, the Rakum's most powerful Elder, in a precarious position. Without supplying spoilers to you have haven't read this far, suffice to say, he will lean upon Canaan and his close mortal pals to see him through a very tough trial...




Fifth new cover: CONUNDRUM: THE LOST RABBIT
Elder Canaan finds himself a living conundrum - the last Rakum alive who retains his birthright. He can't lay down the sword, either, as a surprising threat arises to the woman he loves and his best friends, too.



*Author's note: Canaan became my personal favorite character as soon as he arrived in Rabbit Legacy. He stole my heart and wrote all of his own scenes. To be honest, I think Canaan is me. He struggles with doing what is right when his flesh constantly pulls him to the wrong direction. Wait... that's all of us, I think! ~ Ellen *

A few of my readers who love the previous covers, love these, too, and said I should show you the backs. If you enjoy purchasing paperbacks, the graphics department at LRP/RRB (Artist Elizabeth Little) has designed the backs, too. Let me know what you think!!

(Click here to write to Ellen!)

NOTE: I REDUCED THE FILE SIZE BUT YOU CAN SEE THE BEAUTY...
Order these new covers in the coming weeks. Check this link, they should be up soon: Make sure it's the new cover before you order.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B00YUB1HSY?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_0000_ft























(Who caught the sun coming up only on the last cover? Rakum live in the dark, but the Light sought them out one by one!)
I shall go back to my writing. Thank you, each one of you, my readers bless me so much.
Hugs and stay well,
Ellen

LINK TO SEE THE SERIES ON AMAZON

https://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B00YUB1HSY?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_0000_ft

THE EXCITING NEWS... breaking here today and with international fanfare on April 20, THE JUDGING Book One and DAMASCUS ROAD Book Two are being re-released with brand new covers, newly reworked for 2020 and Book Three (never before published) is set to launch May 20, 2020.

Book Four ANATHEMA will launch June 20, 2020

and

Book Five NOVUS will launch July 20, 2020

Thank you for being part of this journey and any of you who have read THE JUDGING, you should give the 2020 version a read. With new chapters and a complete renovation while holding true to the story and characters you loved in 2010, this book is ready to take the series to today's world.

Sign up to my news letter to get immediate info on new releases, plus insider sales and promos. I better get to writing!
Thank you all for your support!
http://www.ellencmaze.com/about-us.php

WHAT IS THE CONUNDRUM?




Imagine being born to lead, a master among the Rakum - an ancient vampire race that has lived among the mortals for three thousand years. 




Now imagine an event occurs that begins to turn your brethren into humans.




It takes years, but finally, you're the last of your kind.

You feel the same fate approaching and you don't want to change.




This is Elder Canaan's story, and you can read it now as a stand-alone novel, or as Book 5 of the Rabbit Saga. Available in eBook, softcover, and KindleUnlimited.




According to ReadersFavorite.com, Elder Canaan's "Conundrum" is a "fascinating, haunting, and totally enjoyable romp among some of the finest characters created."




BetaReaders responses: "I can't put your book down!" 

"I don't want your stories to end!" 

"I love Jersey so much and Canaan is on my mind all the time now!"




See why The Rabbit novels have garnered more than 100 5-star reviews across the series and right out of the gate, Conundrum earned 3 separate 5-star reviews from ReadersFavorite.com.




We want to share the Conundrum with you.

Buy it now on Amazon.com!




~ Batya Dulos, for RunRabbitBooks

@RunRabbitBooks on Twitter 

https://twitter.com/RunRabbitBooks

Rapid Release: How to Write & Publish Fast For Profit by Jewel Allen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Thank you, Jewel!
If you are wondering what rapid release means, Jewel Allen explains it in a concise and transparent manner. I gobbled the book up quickly and made notes along the way.



View all my reviews

The Girl I Left Behind by Stephanie Bain

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Everyone and their mother should read this book. Historical YA fiction regarding a young woman who's twin brother is KIA Civil War. She dons his uniform and poses as a male cousin and goes to war in his place. The most enjoyable tale I've read in years, and the author has done her homework. The historical elements are perfect. HORSE LOVERS will rejoice at how the mounts are mentioned and considered during the course of the telling. It only makes sense - a horse was a person's car and pet, so when your life depends on how well it performs, it will be part of your thought stream!

I want to buy a bunch of these and give them as Christmas gifts! Don't tell my family!



View all my reviews

It's time for a little reading, beloved. A million twitterbirds told me it was #NationalReadABookDay and I am promoting all sort of books from all sorts of authors on Twitter and Facebook this week.



For today's blog post, I want to share my recent excerpt blog below. HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!



LINK (Click Me, Sugar!)



https://therabbittrilogy.blogspot.com/2018/02/hunting-children-is-riskiest-venture-of.html

Side Character Pens #Rebuttal against Amazon #1 Top-Rated #Vampire Novel, the #Interview




Emil Jersey (who goes by Jersey) is a Rakum who disagrees vehemently about how his people were portrayed in Beth Rider's book, Rabbit: Chasing Beth Rider. I got him to call into my podcast and here is the transcript. ~ Run Rabbit Books, Editor.







EDITOR: Jersey, why did you write this book?








JERSEY: My agent warned me this interview would
irritate the shit out of me. Read the back cover.








EDITOR: I’m posting it now. Hang on…

(Hashtagged by the Editor)








(Back Cover Text for Blood, Sex & Violence, AVampire’s Rebuttal, by Emil Jersey)








I wrote this
book in response to the bestselling vampire novel, Rabbit: Chasing Beth
Rider, by (penname) Ellen C. Maze. Beth Rider was writing about us, the
Rakum. This is my rebuttal.



~ Jersey








PARENTAL
ADVISORY



Language,
Violence, & Sexual Situations Consistent with an R-Rated Film








THE BOOK IN YOUR HAND IS THE #UNRATED
VERSION



My publisher may eventually release a
PG-13 version. I signed a paper to that effect. I don’t give a shit.








#TRIGGERWARNING



Rakum have sex as
children, which may trigger mortal victims of sexual abuse.








THIS BOOK IS
NOT A SORDID AND EROTIC SEXUAL EXPOSÉ to titillate you into grabbing your junk
or rubbing your knob. This is my rebuttal.








BLOOD, SEX,
AND VIOLENCE—that’s what we care about. We don’t care about you or even each
other (not in the way mortals understand such relationships), but we know
everything there is to know about pain and pleasure. Because of this, I object
to Beth Rider’s idiot novel regarding her time as Elder Jack Dawn’s focus. I
object to the way she whitewashed and ameliorated everything having to do with
being a Rakum and turned us into a hapless byproduct of some spiritual war.



WE ARE REAL,
WE ARE ALIVE, AND SHE IS AN ASSHOLE.








Thus, begins
the #rebuttal.








EDITOR: Okay. The #readers asked me why there’s a #parentaladvisory. F-words didn’t sink the Titanic.








JERSEY: For that, ask the publisher. They're
under the umbrella of a #ChristianFiction company and although they publish
secular fiction, they felt the need to warn their readers who may stumble across
my book when reading the original, Rabbit: Chasing Beth Rider.








EDITOR: What do you want your readers to take
away from this read?








JERSEY: Did you read the back cover? Geez.








EDITOR: It’s 2015 and the book isn’t coming out
until 2019. Why the wait?






JERSEY: Ask something else. Not everything is up
to me.








EDITOR: I can see you’re about to leave. Is there
anything you want to leave for the readers of this interview?








JERSEY: Sure, I say, read my rebuttal, read
Rabbit: Chasing Beth Rider , and then tell me which one is more accurate. Beth
Rider can tell a tale, but she doesn’t know us. I want our side to be heard.
Kazak.

Bestselling Author Beth Rider wrote a chilling account of her time with the Rakum, a vicious and bloodthirsty race dating back three millennia. Because of a novel she wrote about a priest who becomes a vampire in his sleep, she angered the Rakum whose leaders marked her for death, but only after a chase sequence for the thrill of their brotherhood.



One of the Rakum have come forward to speak his mind on the matter.



Expected from Run Rabbit Books (A Division of Little Roni Publishers, LLC) in Winter 2019, write to ellenmaze@aol.com to put your name on the mailing list. The publisher will give away a free paperback copy of this book to the first ten respondents.



Intended for Mature Teen/Adult Audience, Violence, Language, Sexual Situations, Adult Themes






 Click for better images: blood-sex-and-violence-landing-page
#TriggerWarning #Blood #Sex #Violence #JerseysRebuttal #AVampiresRebuttal #fixitMan #ishmikhan #comingSoon #vampireNovel #mature