guest author Ami Blackwelder

What lies beneath the water? This is the question I ask in my latest release The Mers, which came out halloween night! Available on kindle, nook, smashwords. Would we find enlarged sea monsters? Mermaids? If our world ceased to be as it is now....and the land crumbled beneath the water....how would we survive?

I love teasing readers with dystopian questions about how our actions will affect our future. I like to make readers think. But I also want them to have fun. So, in most of my novels, The Mers included, I give the reader a plausible world, one plausible way our world could turn out and insert many heart-felt characters to tell a story that is relatable on a very human level.

I enjoy reading stories that are not just unpredictable, but also character driven. I love to fall-in-love with the characters. When I write I keep those two points alive. I want readers to sit at the seat of their pants, to cry, laugh, throw something when the characters does something they didn’t like. I want my readers to care, to FEEl. After all, that is half the fun of reading fiction. That and an amazing new world.

I hope I do that for all my readers with my array of novels: The Gate of Lake Forest (elf romance), Shifter Evolutions (books 1-6, shifter romance), The Day the Flowers Died (historical romance set in Munich, Germany 1930), and with my latest book The Mers.

I am building a variety of worlds for readers to explore: elf, shifter, mermaid...but also I will be writing about angels, psychic abilities, and vampires. So, look out for a plethora of intriguing worlds to enter in 2012! 

Do we really ever know what we are stepping into whether in the water or in our life? What if everything you thought you knew turned out to be a lie?

Please check out my latest release The Mers and find out why my books are stories readers just can’t put down (I’m not kidding)

Please order the books from kindle, nook, amazon, BnN online and front desk, and on the author's website.















Book Trailer code:


Enclosed are images to include and a bio and synopsis.

SYNOPSIS:

Paranormal and SciFi Author Ami Blackwelder will have two new books out soon!

Find out more about her and her books at http://amiblackwelder.blogspot.com


The Invasion of 2020, the first book in the Shifter Evolutions series is scheduled to be released Sept 1st 2011, (Books 1-5 are out now)
The Invasion of 2020 is the prequel to Shifters of 2040. The Shifter Evolutions begins with the middle book, The Shifters of 2040, and gives the reader the choice for the past or future. This release of the first book in the series, The Invasion of 2020, will allow readers to engage the series chronologically also.
Readers will enjoying finding out more about Uri Petrov and Dr. Samantha Croon as they discover what exactly brought the shifters to Earth and what sparked human fears. Who was the young Marn and young Raul and what molded them into who they became?

BIO:

Ami Blackwelder is a forbidden romance writer in the paranormal and historical romance genre. Growing up in Florida, she went to UCf and in 1997 received her BA in English and teaching credentials. She travelled overseas to teach in Thailand, Nepal, Tibet, China and Korea. Thailand is considered her second home now. She has always loved writing and wrote poems and short stores since childhood; however, her novels began when she was in Thailand.

Having won the Best Fiction Award from the University of Central Florida (Yes, The Blair Witch Project University;), her fiction From Joy We Come, Unto Joy We Return was published in the on campus literary magazine: Cypress Dome and remains to this day in University libraries around the country. Later, she achieved the Semi-Finals in a Laurel Hemingway contest and published a few poems in the Thailand’s Expat magazine, and an article in the Thailand’s People newspaper. Additionally, she has published poetry in the Korea’s AIM magazine, the American Poetic Monthly magazine and Twisted Dreams Magazine.

http://amiblackwelder.blogspot.com


Straddling Lane, Frenier’s knees dug into the soft porch sofa and his arms braced on each side of her neck. He dangled a fresh strawberry above her wet lips and teased. The resolute glint in her eyes stayed fixed on the moist fruit as it oscillated.

“Let me have it!” she demanded, her long tongue showing.

“Come and get it,” he whispered, his breath blowing over her porcelain like face. With only his beige trousers on, the beads of water from the shower earlier slid over his defined muscles and dropped one by one over Lane’s naked leg. In only lace panties and a pink bra, her blonde hair sprawled over the sofa, under- neath and behind her. Like the indents in desert sand made by slithering snakes, her hair appeared soft and perfectly patterned.

“Give it to me, Frank!” She batted her lashes, her chin angling upward as her lips fought to secure the strawberry. Like getting a fish to charge at bait, Frenier had become an expert fisherman when it came to her, when it came to most women. Both players at love, they understood the game.

Review The Invasion of 2020 by Ami Blackwelder

Title: The Invasion of 2020 (Shifter Evolutions #1)
Author: Ami Blackwelder
Source: Requested Review
Genre: Paranormal Sci-Fi
Format: Paperback, 265 pgs
Release Date: August 24, 2011

Alaska 2020. Earth. Shifters. Invasion.
Uri Petrov and Dr. Samantha Croon find their lives intertwined when the shifters first land on Earth. Both motivated by love for their families, each is taken down a different path that will change the course of their lives forever and eventually the fate of the world.

Meanwhile, the military has divided into fractions...those who believe in the alien invasion and those who refuse to accept it, leaving Captain Raul at opposing ends with other heads of military.

With the shifters invading the forests of Kenai Lake, they explore their new world of refuge, and must discover how to shift in animal form while uncovering what it truly means to be human.

With underlining themes of how prejudice breaks human connections and animal/wildlife conservation, this novel which has received rave reviews will leave the reader flipping through the pages. This was the fifth book written in the Shifter Evolutions Saga.


Rating -
-- 3.75 Stars!! --
Sexual -
Virtually None to
My Review:

3.75 Stars!!
While this is the fifth book written in the Shifter Evolutions series by Blackwelder, it has been subtitled Shifter Evolutions #1 since it is the prequel which tells the story of the actual invasion that started it all. Earlier this year I read and reviewed The Shifters of 2040 and, after reading this, I now understand more about the characters in that book. This author does something I so appreciate; includes a glossary of her world's terms in the front of the story.

Blackwelder has created a totally unique type of "shifter" for her series. They are Eequeueans, "sentient beings of light", with three form types: natural alien, animal and human-like.

It is the 4th of July 2020 in Alaska and meteors-like things fill the sky amongst the fireworks display but they don't just fall, they hover and streak sideways.

This is the story of:
Uri - who has an important part in the future, spends time in Alaska during his college life featuring his girlfriend Julie who so gets on my nerves with her screaming and panicking and who makes a decision which will forever change Uri
Samantha - and her dysfunctional marriage to Christopher caused by the death of her brother which causes her obsession with the shifters and trying to find a way to stop them since she thinks they killed her brother
Raul - and how he rises in power in the military due his obsession with the shifters after seeing one while out deer hunting and meets a young woman who will change his world and possibly the attitude toward the shifters
Melissa - how as a ten-year-old the seeds of hatred for her military father are already germinating and the shifters' discovery fuels her thirst for all things science which leads her to become a scientist

Here much of the military are the bad guys along with the American president, the public acts like the people of 1938 upon hearing H. G. Wells' radio broadcast of War of the Worlds and the aliens actually do come in peace just wanting to share a little bit of the earth.

I liked the story, especially since it has such unusual shifters and a good plot.

Review The Shifters of 2040 by Ami Blackwelder

Title: The Shifters of 2040 (Shifter Evolutions #3)
Author: Ami Blackwelder
Source: Requested Review
Genre: Paranormal Sci-Fi
Format: Paperback, 315 pages
Release Date: October 29, 2010
Author Website






America 2040.
Three Species. Divided Lovers. The Race is on for Planet Earth.

Summary: Set in Alaska in 2040, Melissa Marn and Bruce Wilder must work under the iron fist of the SCM, while still trying to maintain humanity. Discovering a world of shifters and hybrids, the scientists must struggle with human prejudice and betrayal. With the original ancestors, dubbed shifters, still living on earth, humans are in the midst of a fifteen year old war. As the eldest hybrids, Unseen and Diamond, learn about humans the hard way, with the loss of loved ones and sacrifices, love on planet earth proves challenging.

With underlining themes of how prejudice breaks human connections and animal/wildlife conservation, this novel which has received rave reviews will leave the reader flipping through the pages.




Rating -

Sexual -

My Review:

This is the third in the Shifter Evolutions paranormal futuristic sci-fi series. While each book can be read separately or in series order, the author suggests starting with this book because it has the most information about the shifter and hybrid race. The other books take place either in the past or the future. Blackwelder does a very good job of providing an overall glossary/encyclopedic overview of the shifter race before the story begins.

This is a heart-wrenching story about what happens when aliens land and start to interact with humans and of course the military gets involved. In typical "shoot first ask questions later" fashion the military have decimated the alien population. Unbeknownst to the military, the shifter males have impregnated human females for the past 20 years so there are now hybrid shifters. This is the story of a small band of remaining shifters in Alaska 20 years after arriving on Earth. It is also a story about one such human female who is impregnated and her attempts to keep the knowledge from the military while learning all she can about the new species.

Melissa, the human female lead, is a military research scientist. Unlike her research assistant, she is military minded and wants to see the shifter race wiped out but she can't help being awed by their genetic makeup. She is definitely an "experiments first, humanity second" kind of gal but she's not totally conscienceless. And she can't help being drawn to Brendan.

Brendan, the shifter male lead, just wants to survive and see his babies born and safe as do the others of his race. He finds himself drawn to and loving Melissa.

Keenan and Diamond - a forbidden romance that might just get Diamond's family killed.

Upon finishing the story you have no qualms about labeling the humans the bad guys in this. As usual, fear of the unknown makes idiots and monsters of mankind.

Not having read books one and two of the series, I wasn't lost but did have some questions that I wonder if were answered there. The writing style is a bit unusual but I was quickly drawn in and broke out in tears a couple of times, which shows that the characters are so believable as to incite sympathy and caring. Once I started reading this I couldn't put it down. This is not what paranormal romance or urban fantasy fans are used to but I think they could enjoy the book.

Bewitching Book tours: Guest author Ami Blackwelder with giveaway

Eloquent Enraptures and author Ami Blackwelder proudly presents the six part science fiction/paranormal romance saga! Like nothing you have ever experienced!

                           Shifters of 2040:

“I’m pregnant.  Her eyes peered over the edge of the cloth and confronted her mirrored reflection with that truth.  I’m pregnant…by a SHIFTER.  Oh, god!”

In “The Shifters of 2040,” Scientist Melissa Marn finds her world swirling on its axis with that one revelation.  Shifters — a sentient alien species of light — look to Earth for refuge.  In doing so, both shifters and humans are forced to confront prejudice, betrayal, adversity and oppression.

Methodical scientist, Melissa Marn, and her coworker, Dr. Bruce Wilder, conduct experiments on the shifters.  Through her pregnancy, she becomes more compassionate and humane and finds herself defending the very species she’s supposed to eradicate. 

One of the hybrids, Diamond, falls in love with Keenan, a soldier trained to kill her. Between the four, the reader is led from conflict to resolution, from despair to hope, from loneliness to love.

Much of the book’s originality lies in the shifters, common characters in science fiction, but whose origins are rarely explained. In this series, their alien DNA allows them to metamorphose into not just wolves, but a variety of animals. As the plot unfolds, the shifters discover they can have children with humans — hybrids.

Strengths of the novel include the complex characters, its writing style of poetic prose and rich description, and the well developed, thought-provoking, yet highly entertaining plot.

This fast paced book will appeal to the young adult and adult market. It fits nicely into the paranormal romance and science fiction romance genres and would make a great movie, a captivating TV series and an intriguing video game.

Readers will enjoy the fresh approach and original concept of the world thirty years from now, and will find the characters come to life in their minds long after they read “The End.”

                          Shifter Evolutions video and purchase options at her website.

                                                      http://amiblackwelder.com

                      [youtube] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7BEABzTbrU [/youtube]

                                              The Shifters of 2040

Character Interview: This interview will be conducted for the characters of the Shifters of 2040. Scientist Melissa Marn and the hybrid Diamond.

Do you always love what you can’t have?

Melissa Marn: The Smithsonian, Bruce Wilder. I guess I do. But my life is controlled by the SCM now, by my father and General Raul. They decided this fate for me. If I had my way, I’d run off with Bruce somewhere far away...

Diamond: I fell in love with the enemy on accident. I didn’t plan to love Keenan, the military soldier sworn to kill me and my kind. He didn’t plan to love me. We just happened.

If you were a quality?

Melissa Marn: The River. I am methodical like waves. I do the job needed to be done, whatever the cost of erosion, and flow continually. Close to the Earth, but I am cold, because the SCM coaxed me since fifteen, and trained me since twenty-five.

Diamond: The Hawk. This is my other half, the beast inside of me, that the humans fear. I fly above the world and watch. Silent, and steady, but strong.

If you were a flaw?

Melissa Marn: Ice. I am cold, and hard. And too easily I melt and conform to the shape I am enclosed in, that prisoner the SCM has built around my life.

Diamond: The Heart. I feel too much. Emotions explode inside of me, and I sense my heart will be the end of me one day. If I could only feel less...

Do you always walk on the moral slippery slope?

Melissa Marn: It’s my job! It’s all I know. And if I didn’t do it, someone else would. What then?  I know the shifters are more than the SCM tells us they are. They must feel something. But what? My curiosity and scientific training drives me. I have to find answers to my questions. I have to perform my duty!

Diamond: But I love him! I know being with him draws danger to my kind, to my family. My sister. But he would never betray me, willingly. I know he loves me too. And though I am sworn to stay away from him, from all SCM, my heart dominates my head.

Favorite food?

Melissa Marn: The Italian restaurant Little Milan. Bruce and I have shared many discussions, heated arguments, and romantic memories there. 

Diamond: Mice...I am half hawk.

Amazon Prints                                  Kindle                                                Nook

Guest author Ami Balckwelder

Please welcome author Ami Blackwelder!


Eloquent Enraptures and author Ami Blackwelder proudly presents the six part science fiction/paranormal romance saga! Like nothing you have ever experienced!

Shifters of 2040:

“I’m pregnant. Her eyes peered over the edge of the cloth and confronted her mirrored reflection with that truth. I’m pregnant…by a SHIFTER. Oh, god!”

In “The Shifters of 2040,” Scientist Melissa Marn finds her world swirling on its axis with that one revelation. Shifters — a sentient alien species of light — look to Earth for refuge. In doing so, both shifters and humans are forced to confront prejudice, betrayal, adversity and oppression.

Methodical scientist, Melissa Marn, and her coworker, Dr. Bruce Wilder, conduct experiments on the shifters. Through her pregnancy, she becomes more compassionate and humane and finds herself defending the very species she’s supposed to eradicate.

One of the hybrids, Diamond, falls in love with Keenan, a soldier trained to kill her. Between the four, the reader is led from conflict to resolution, from despair to hope, from loneliness to love.

Much of the book’s originality lies in the shifters, common characters in science fiction, but whose origins are rarely explained. In this series, their alien DNA allows them to metamorphose into not just wolves, but a variety of animals. As the plot unfolds, the shifters discover they can have children with humans — hybrids.

Strengths of the novel include the complex characters, its writing style of poetic prose and rich description, and the well developed, thought-provoking, yet highly entertaining plot.
This fast paced book will appeal to the young adult and adult market. It fits nicely into the paranormal romance and science fiction romance genres and would make a great movie, a captivating TV series and an intriguing video game.

Readers will enjoy the fresh approach and original concept of the world thirty years from now, and will find the characters come to life in their minds long after they read “The End.”

Shifter Evolutions video and purchase options at her website.
http://amiblackwelder.com

[youtube] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7BEABzTbrU [/youtube]

The Shifters of 2040

Character Interview: This interview will be conducted for the characters of the Shifters of 2040. Scientist Melissa Marn and the hybrid Diamond.

Do you always love what you can’t have?
Melissa Marn: The Smithsonian, Bruce Wilder. I guess I do. But my life is controlled by the SCM now, by my father and General Raul. They decided this fate for me. If I had my way, I’d run off with Bruce somewhere far away...
Diamond: I fell in love with the enemy on accident. I didn’t plan to love Keenan, the military soldier sworn to kill me and my kind. He didn’t plan to love me. We just happened.

If you were a quality?
Melissa Marn: The River. I am methodical like waves. I do the job needed to be done, whatever the cost of erosion, and flow continually. Close to the Earth, but I am cold, because the SCM coaxed me since fifteen, and trained me since twenty-five.
Diamond: The Hawk. This is my other half, the beast inside of me, that the humans fear. I fly above the world and watch. Silent, and steady, but strong.

If you were a flaw?
Melissa Marn: Ice. I am cold, and hard. And too easily I melt and conform to the shape I am enclosed in, that prisoner the SCM has built around my life.
Diamond: The Heart. I feel too much. Emotions explode inside of me, and I sense my heart will be the end of me one day. If I could only feel less...

Do you always walk on the moral slippery slope?
Melissa Marn: It’s my job! It’s all I know. And if I didn’t do it, someone else would. What then? I know the shifters are more than the SCM tells us they are. They must feel something. But what? My curiosity and scientific training drives me. I have to find answers to my questions. I have to perform my duty!
Diamond: But I love him! I know being with him draws danger to my kind, to my family. My sister. But he would never betray me, willingly. I know he loves me too. And though I am sworn to stay away from him, from all SCM, my heart dominates my head.

Favorite food?
Melissa Marn: The Italian restaurant Little Milan. Bruce and I have shared many discussions, heated arguments, and romantic memories there.
Diamond: Mice...I am half hawk.

Amazon Prints  Kindle    Nook