First, we have 3 from Amazon reviewers, the first (4 stars) is titled ‘FUN, FUN, FUN’, you can read it here 

Then we have a 5 star one, by Rosemary Riggal (another Amazon reviewer). You can read it here 

A reviewer called  1safelady also posted an enthusiastic 5 star review here. AND she started the first ever Supernatural Freak discussion! It’s called ‘Best Book Ever’ and has already had a response! Check it out here and add something to the discussion!

Last but not least, the wonderful blogger Dame Margot posted a very insightful and GOOD 3 star review here. Just let me point out that she forgot that what I sent her was and ARC, therefore with typos. Other than that, she LOVED the story and is already booked to

More good news tomorrow Now, off to work!

Now, don’t get me wrong, last thing I want is to underestimate what happened in Boston: people died, many were injured with life-changing injuries. But that was it. No long term negative effects for the environment and the inhabitants of the Boston area.

What happened in Texas is much worse. Many more people have died (15 for sure, but unfortunately their number could increase), others had their homes destroyed. Not to mention the potential long-term consequences for the environment and the general health. Although the response of the authorities has been great in both cases and in Texas they are relentlessly investigating the accident while monitoring the overall environmental damage, these people need our help.

So, although I have a lot of good, exciting news about my books, I won’t speaking about them today, today is all for America, where the majority of my faithful readers live. I have done some research and listed below a number of organizations that are helping Boston and Waco, please invest a few minutes of your time to check them out AND THEN DONATE. Please. It doesn’t matter if, like me, you cannot donate much. Even a few bucks can make a difference to this people, so just go ahead and do it!

Here’s some ways to donate to help Boston:

The One Fund Boston

Razoo features several online fundraisers in support of Boston Marathon runners

TUGG (Technology Underwriting Greater Good), a project of the Boston technology community, has set up a fund in support of victims. All donations will go to the Red Cross, the Boston Children’s Hospital, and other groups working with victims of the explosions. Donate here.

The RYOT Foundation has set up a Boston Marathon Victims Fund to support victims and their families.

Here’s some ways to donate to help Waco:

Red Cross

Waco Foundation

The March of Dimes in Texas is taking donates of baby formula and diapers. Call 254-741-1025 to donate

To donate supplies to displaced pets, go to www.facebook.com/HumaneSocietyCentralTexas

Also, here’s a complete list of places to donate blood in the Waco, TX area: here

I am planning an interview with her asap, of course she is very busy!

Mrs Petersen has a number of new books out I wasn’t aware of, such as an exciting anthology of short stories called In the Dead  and an intriguing short story, Shambling With the Stars.

On her blog I have also read she has a new upcoming series, Club Monstrosity, book one will be available at the end of April so… do not miss it! Here’s her website, to know more about her and her books: http://www.jessepetersen.net/books/

Below, you can see the Twitter screenshot, proving she’s following Lost in Fiction, oh, God! I can’t believe it’s true! Just click on the screenshot to go on the Lost in Fiction twitter’s and follow us too!  Yay!

Here at Lost in Fiction we all agreed not to publish the teaser Tuesday post today, out of respect for the Boston’s victims. It is really difficult to talk about entertaining books, while there are people dead or permanently injured and an entire family devastated by the loss of a child. We are sure you’ll understand.

The Lost in Fiction Team

In the meantime, I have decided to create a sort of weekly column where writers of the supernatural can post their favourite lines of THEIR OWN BOOK, to promote it on this site! It’s called ‘Supernatural teaser’ and  it will be featured here every Monday, starting today with my book, Supernatural Freak! Here. Eat the followingrandom lines!  :)

“Run!” Mr Wilson growls, getting worryingly hirsute. He has a point. A skinny girl in her twenties is no match for a werewolf, and I don’t think that telling him I’m a dog person would make much of a difference.

No vertigo, no headache, just a nice sense of relaxation due to my full stomach. This is the right mood to be in to open a new Yonkers pack. I feel lucky this morning. I deserve to be lucky, after what happened to me last night.

“Now I want to see it, Layla,” the dark elf continues. “I want to feel its energy.”

“As you wish, Sebastian,” Layla replies. Without warning, a giant black thing fills the cave and even the elf steps back. Then, an enormous monster emerges from the darkness, stepping into the fire’s light. It’s at least twenty feet long and has a muscular, lizard-like body with six legs. Its neck is long but
strong, protected by hundreds of thick spikes, and leads to an enormous, rounded mouth filled with five rows of sharp fangs.

Thrilled? Enticed?  To know more, just click on the cover below!

OK, I admit it: I bought this book (Down to You) because of the cover. I understand that this does not make me look serious and professional, but look at that guy! I mean, he’s smoking hot. And I’m not made of wood. The book itself was a quick, entertaining read with some spicy scenes. I had a few issues with the MC since, as you know, I love strong female heroines, with a strong personality, able to make their own choices. Olivia is not like that. Still, I honestly think Ms Leighton is a very talented author and I bet she has a number of aces up her sleeve, some big surprises ready for 2013… Well, let’s keep an eye on her and see if this is the case!

2) Addison Moore

OK, first, let me say that I am very partial to this writer: I LOVE the Celestra series.  I love urban fantasy and paranormal books (that’s why I write them!:) ) plus, I really enjoy long series where the story and characters unfold and develop. The first book in the series was OK, but nothing huge. Still, I decided to give this author a chance, since   there were a lot of good points in the story and the characters. Well, I wasn’t disappointed! The books of this series are, literally, one better than the other! Addison has now this new book out ‘Someone to Love’, a new adult romance. This is really not a genre I read very often still,  since it’s Addison, I would for sure give it a go! Please, keep an eye on her in 2013!

3) Jessica Sorensen

Here’s another amazing author of paranormal stuff (the Fallen series) who has recently dived into Romance. I totally enjoyed the Fallen series, Jessica has an extraordinary work ethic and every indie writer should take her as an example. Her latest book is The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden, a new adult romance with two very interesting, complex characters. Stay tuned on Jessica Sorensen this year, I promise you won’t regret it!

4) Samatha Young

This is the only, well, let’s say ‘resident of the UK’ in my list. Of course, I could tell you that she is British, but then she’d probably come to my house at night and stab me in my sleep. Trust me, you don’t want to tell a Scottish girl that she’s British, unless you are tired of life. Scottish people are very proud of their national heritage.

Anyway, I devoured the Fire Spirits series, couldn’t put it down! I love European urban fantasy and paranormal… Lol!  I loved the series so much that, again last year, I interviewed Samantha BEFORE she became a New York Times bestselling author with her sexy romance On Dublin Street. I am currently reading this book and, I assure you, it’s sexy and passionate and entertaining at the same time! It has a juice plot and a bunch of very interesting characters … So don’t miss it!

This post was inspired by my friend Rachel, 31, who is the only one I know, of that age, who is happily married with a kid. Rachel is married to Robert, a great guy who is maybe not overly sexy (sorry Rob, if you are reading this! ), nor a ‘alpha male’ but who ‘s a hell of a husband to her.

Rob is sensitive, cultivated, reliable and trustworthy. Rob is faithful and would rather shoot himself than cheating on his wife (please, do not be skeptic, such men do exist). Rob is a caring dad who shares child duties with his wife, gets up at night to change/feed their daughter and brings her to the park every Saturday, while his wife takes a well-deserved nap. Rob is definitely my dream husband!

Rachel is madly in love with him and wouldn’t change him with anyone else (and she’s right). That’s why I was so surprised when, while talking about books, she listed a number of romance titles featuring sexist content, chauvinistic (when not violent) jerks and dysfunctional relationships presented as quintessentially romantic. To make my frustration worse, they were all books written by women.

Most of them were young adult books, so even worse: they were really teaching the wrong values to young, still clueless girls.

“Are you out of your mind?” I said. “We are talking about books with the leading man being an illiterate jock who cheats on his girlfriend who ‘always forgives him because, deep down he loves her’. The last book you’ve read is about a 19 year old girl dating a violent cheater who goes in and out of jail! Don’t tell me you are going to let your daughter read such things, when the time comes!”

And, as always, wise Rachel managed to teach me a lesson. She told me that she is perfectly aware that those are trashy, sexist books sending the wrong message. It’s only nice to think about a tumultuous relationship with some ignorant, sexist yet super-attractive idiot, it’s simply a fantasy. A fantasy.

“In real life, I have never and would never date such men,” she explained. “Only an idiot would. I tell you, in a parallel world where my husband cheats on me, I’m going to kick him out. No mistake. I wouldn’t want my daughter to grow up in a dysfunctional family, where one partner cheats on the other and the other constantly bites the bullet, God knows why. It wouldn’t be a good example for her. A healthy relationship is made of mutual respect, love, trust, shared interests and values.  And I wouldn’t let my daughter go anywhere near a violent sod. I would be deadly worried if one day she does. But I enjoy those books. They are silly and entertaining and exciting. I can tell you, I have a number of dysfunctional, overly tattooed, sexy book boyfriends. But I have one stable, trustworthy, loving real husband!”

Well, I couldn’t have put it in a better way, folks!

I had many goals when I started writing Supernatural Freak: creating an entertaining, action-packed humorous book, for example. Making people smile and forget their everyday problems, just to make another example. But my main goal, the most important of all, was giving young girls and women a positive heroine, a good role model. And but I know for sure I have reached said main goal:

Robyn is brave and independent and totally capable of being alone. She doesn’t need a man ‘to complete her’. She is already ‘completed’. When, I mean, when and if (grin) she will have a relationship, it won’t be because she ‘needs’ someone. It will be because she genuinely wants to share her life with somebody who’s worthy (not with anybody). It will be because she’ll want to have the right person to witness her life.

This is a lesson I have learned at my own expenses: if you need someone else ‘to complete you’, you are in big trouble. A partner should be there to enrich your life, not to be used as a sort of crouch. More important, if you’re incapable of being alone, how will you know you are committing to a man (or a woman) because you really want to stay with him/her, and not because you are simply using him/her to get through life?

So, if you, like Rachel, are dating/married to a decent guy in real life, but love to dream of tumultuous relationships with some violent sexy bastard, you’ll be fine. On the other hand, if you think those books are the Bible and you are applying to real life what they ‘teach’, well… You are in trouble. Trust me, you are. It’s much better being on your own, than with the wrong person. There’s nothing romantic with being stuck with someone who doesn’t value you.

What do you think? Looking forward to hear your thoughts!

Susan has supported Lost in Fiction from the very beginning, when we started organizing online events to promote the website. She took part to Lost in Romance (see her post here: http://www.lostinfiction.co.uk/?p=2195) and to Lost in Young Adults (http://www.lostinfiction.co.uk/?p=1455).

Her guest posts were always insightful and interesting, no wonder they got so many hits and comments! When I finally found the courage to tell her that I was about to self-publish, she didn’t suggest I should give up, she didn’t say things such as ‘it’s ridiculous, what are you thinking?’ or ‘You are a young starving freelancer, why don’t you find a real job, instead of wasting your time telling stories?” NO. She didn’t say any of this.

She just congratulated me,  said ‘well done!’ and promoted Supernatural Freak on her blog.  Then, she kept encouraging me on a daily basis, privately and publicly, leaving tons of positive comments on Lost in Fiction and suggesting me names of bloggers who could be interested in reviewing my urban fantasy.

The icing on the cake, is that we weren’t even friends, when she started supporting me. We were total strangers. To this day, we haven’t even met in person, since I live in the UK, while Susan in America!

So, this is a short post to THANK SUSAN FROM THE BUTTOM OF MY HEART: Susan, you are great, I’ll do my best to deserve  your friendship and support! All the best with your blog!

 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15764886-supernatural-freak

I am also very close to reach 100 books sold in less than 3 months! I know, these are no bestseller figures but, hey! Almost 100 people FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD bought my book! I think that’s a good reason to celebrate! SO, as soon as I hit the magic number 100, I will do a little giveaway to thank you all! My question is: what would you like? I could have a few copies of my book printed and shipped, if you like the idea! I could even sign them or draw cute hearts on them! Or would you prefer, say, a t-shirt with the cover image on it? Would you like that? Or a poster? Just leave a comment below, I promise I will read all your suggestions! And thanks again for your wonderful support, you guys!