UPDATE: The winner is…Ellen Blakley!
*~*~*

This morning, I’ll be sitting in a workshop with my daughter and one of my granddaughters, learning a new craft. Something I’ve never tried before. WE’VE never tried before. And I can’t tell you how excited I am. Yes, I have an art room filled with supplies for a ridiculous number of arts and crafts already, but I’m on the side of there’s never too much STUFF to learn. I’m nearing 65, and I have to fit it ALL in before I go.

So, when I post this and walk away from my desk to get ready for the fun, I have a question for you to ponder, perhaps a challenge you might accept.

Today, or this weekend, or this month, is there something NEW you want to try? A new craft? A new recipe? Shopping at a new store? Eating at restaurant you’ve never tried? A trail you’ve never hiked? Some new adventure you want to undertake—big or small? Say it here then accept the challenge of actually doing it! Life is about collecting memories and experiences, about sharing journeys. Name something you will make happen!

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, share the challenge you will undertake! Enjoy the puzzle!

UPDATE: The winner is…Amy Dudley!
*~*~*

This old silberback is a handsome thing, isn’t he? Although, he does look liked he’s ready to eat a booger.

And why am I posting his picture? Well, my day started at 5:15 because I awoke from a nightmare, and there was no way I was going back to sleep.

I dreamed that my daughter and I had decided to hike a trail in the woods. We came across this hut that was mostly fallen down. As we passed a fallen wall, I thought I heard a sound from under the section of wall and stepped closer to peer under it. A set of glowing eyes stared back.

I backed away and told my daughter to run as the creature crawled from underneath the rubble. At first, I thought it was a silverback gorilla, because from his torso up, that’s how he appeared, but as he stood, his legs were too long and his posture was upright. I was looking at Big Foot! We ran, and he followed, bellowing down the path, his footsteps making the ground shake. We made it to the car and managed to get on the road. When I looked back, he stood in the middle of the road beating his chest.

Back home, we were nervous wrecks but laughing at our close call until I heard a thump at the back door, and it crashed inward. Big Foot folded himself downward to fit in the space and stepped inside—and that’s when I woke up.

So, it got me thinking. Why aren’t gorillas ever featured in shifter stories? Is it because their expressions are so human that it’s creepy? Aren’t they as sexy as bears or wolves? They have such ferocious-looking faces, I can’t see it, but then when you look at a bear up close, I don’t see the attraction either.

So, for a chance to win a download of your choice from my backlist, answer that question, or tell me which creatures you think make the sexiest shifters.

Not so very long ago, most of the strange and usual, the mysterious and unexplainable, pretty much anything that had no obvious explanation, was thought to belong in the realm of magic. Sadly, these days we are far more likely to believe in science than magic but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist.

Maybe a little salt sprinkled over our shoulder will get in the devil’s eye and stop him from bringing misfortune to our door. Who can say for certain that crystals don’t clear away the negative energy from a space and maybe dragonflies do bring us messages from the dead. I don’t want to live in a world where we have let magic die, where machines create art, and where children no longer search for fairies in the bottom of the garden.

I believe that there is nowhere better to rediscover some of the magic and enchantment than between the pages of a book.

Here’s the spell I used to create Bewitched in the Inbetween:

Mix together:

A good dose of romance
A smattering of longing
A dollop of passion
A scoop of danger
A serving of adventure

Sprinkle liberally with magic and a touch of dreams then let it all simmer with a slow burn.

Best enjoyed with a warm mug of hot chocolate and a cosy blanket xx

Bewitched in the Inbetween

Demonic haunting, mystery and dark romance intertwine with everyday magic in this bewitching tale of cursed love.

Ayla grew secluded and protected by her grandmother and their enchanted cottage, free to explore and nurture her magical gifts. This blissful existence is shattered when her grandmother dies, leaving Ayla vulnerable to the darkness that seeks to steal not only her gifts, but her very life and the life of those she loves.

And then she meets the one she cannot live without.

The wolf that lurks somewhere beneath Ash’s skin draws him deep into the darkest forest, where the last thing he expects to find is the terrified young witch, running for her life.

Drawn together by fate, their growing attraction puts both their lives in peril.

Get your copy here!
It’s FREE in KU!

About the Author

I live and work with my family and menagerie of pets in Sydney, Australia. Aside from writing, I work as a teacher, graphic designer, and artist. I love to believe in the possibility that magic might exist in our everyday lives, hidden just below the surface of our day-to-day existence. I enjoy using words and art to create landscapes where magic and fantasy collide and overlap with ordinary, everyday experiences, bringing a new dimension of colour and light to the world.

Connect with me through:
https://www.instagram.com/smilingmoon_books/
https://linktr.ee/smilingmoonbooks

I know it’s Flag Day, too, and everyone will be waving their Stars & Stripes, but it’s also the U.S. Army’s birthday! On this date in 1775, the American Continental Army was founded.

I’m a proud retired Army vet with over 21 years of service, so this day means something to me. The photo below isn’t the best I have, but it was the easiest to get to. That smile looks like more of a grimace—my chin looks really long! LOL! At the time, I served on the general’s staff at Fort Gordon—now, Fort Liberty—Georgia.

I hope you have a great day! Cook those hot dogs. Raise a beer. Or head to the pool, like I will. 🙂

UPDATE: The winner is…Stephanie!
*~*~*

We’re almost there. Now, you can only vote for one theme for the next Boys Behaving Badly Anthology! Don’t know what these anthologies are all about? Check them out here: Delilah’s Collections.

Of course, next, I’ll need to come up with a clever idea for the title. Maybe you can help with that, too…

The Final Poll

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon GC, take a stab at a title for your favorite theme below!

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FOR AUTHORS!
NOTE: Email me directly at delilah@delilahdevlin.com with your response! You can promote a new or older title/series and connect with my readers!
*~*~*~*~*
Hey there, Authors! I like to host a guest blogger two to three times a week on my blog (www.delilahdevlin.com/blog/). Right now, I need to line up bloggers for dates from July through September 2023. Be quick to grab a date before it’s gone!

I will need bloggers for the following dates:
July 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 20, 21, 23, 27, 28, 30
August 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23, 27, 28, 30
September 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 24, 27, 28, 29

If you are interested in being a guest, please look at the available dates and let me know if you would like me to pencil you in. I advertise the daily blogs widely. I have 2,993 blog subscribers, who get posts sent straight to their email inboxes every day. My blog also feeds to my Facebook page, which has 4.9k friends, and my Fan Page, which has 4.3k follows. I also post the blog to my Pinterest—total followers 21.1k. If a date isn’t listed but is particularly significant for you, ask me about it anyway! I do try to work people in.

I prefer posts that talk about something more than just new or older releases, but you have room at the bottom of the post for covers, blurbs, links, and short excerpts. You can talk about hobbies, what’s important to you, what inspired this particular book—the field’s wide open, but remember, we wish to appeal to readers rather than other writers. Please keep the number of pictures you want posted to no more than 2, although that’s not a hard and fast rule. And readers love contests and love questions only they can answer that allow them to interact with you!

If you’re interested, contact me! Give me your preferred date(s). First come, first served.

Delilah Devlin
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author & Freelance Editor

When I sat down to write my current series about three witch sisters, I didn’t know where it would lead me. I’ve been an urban fantasy fan forever though, so I’ve had some key influences. The 90’s TV show Charmed, The vampire film series Underworld and Xena, Warrior Princess to start with.

The Magicians is one of my favorite television shows ever. I devoured the entire five seasons like a rabid were-creature and could almost re-watch the whole thing. I loved it that much—except that my “to be watched” list is as unruly as my “to be read” list!

Eliot was my favorite character; his chill demeanor in the face of a lifetime of trauma really speaks to me. He’s smart and talented and happy to let people recognize it or not. He’s loyal and even with all of that he makes mistakes all the time. Just like every single one of us.

I’m sure that my series has some unintentional Magician’s flavor, I don’t know how it couldn’t. It was too brilliant not to have influenced me.

American Horror Story: Coven, while it edged into “horror” a bit more than I like (I was prepared for AHS to be ‘horror’ don’t worry!) I really enjoyed the story. I love when the lines are blurred between good and evil, and while Fiona was definitely evil, not every choice she made was.

Right now, I’m watching The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and I love the whole aesthetic so much! It’s such eye candy for me, but I have a lot to catch up on.

Obviously, my favorite element of urban fantasy is ritual magic. Like in Alice in Wonderland, I want to believe in impossible things. Magic is one of them.

In my series, The Silver Wilde Chronicles, the main character is the middle sister of a trio of witches. When their mother disappears, the search for her leads their entire worlds to turn inside out. I’d say she’s got a bit of Charmed’s Phoebe, Underworld’s Selene and The Magician’s Kady mixed in there. The free prequel is three chapters showing how she ended up captured by a vampire, which is where book one opens.

What are your favorite urban fantasy films and tv shows?

Life has been… a magical rainbow dumpster hellfire, and it’s about to get so much worse.

I’m Silver Wilde, a Hekate-worshiping witch, with the power of compulsion – which I only use to check alpha holes who need a smack down, of course. And the occasional barista for free coffee.

I thought I was at rock bottom grieving for my best friend, but then it became a mesmerizing, glittery black hole and sucked me right in.

Starting with the sketchy client who said I couldn’t quit… I told him to hold my beer.

Now it’s like I woke up in some alternate universe. Meddling questions. Vampire captors. Gut churning portals.

My mother, the most powerful witch I know, has disappeared. Just… Poof! Nowhere to be seen, astrally or otherwise. WTAF?

And let’s not discuss that pesky death prophecy I never should have asked for. What a thorn in my side.

It’s fine. I’m fine. This isn’t my first creepster rodeo. I’ve had to deal with a shady dude the bloody way before. And, to find my mom, I’ll do it again.

Scorched Heart and Sass is a sexy, snarky adventure in a magical world with witchy, occult flavor, full of unwanted alliances, unwelcome revelations and uninvited emotions.

This is book one of an urban fantasy series with a slow-burn, steamy romance subplot, adult language and adult themes.

Pre-order now!

Get your FREE read!

Download now! Ignite, by Dahlia T. Drake

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