Happy release day to Erin Fanning!

Blood Stitches

By Erin Fanning

Available May 12, 2015 from Kensington Publishing/Lyrical Press

Love and danger intertwine…

It’s called El Toque de la Luna—The Touch of the Moon. At least that’s how nineteen-year-old Gabby’s older sister, Esperanza, refers to the magical powers she inherited from their Mayan ancestors. Esperanza says women with El Toque weave magic into their knitting, creating tapestries capable of saving—or devastating—the world. Gabby thinks Esperanza is more like touched in the head—until a man dressed like a candy corn arrives at their Seattle home on Halloween. But “Mr. C” is far from sweet…

Soon, Gabby and her almost-more-than-friend, Frank, find themselves spirited away to a demon ball, complete with shape shifters—and on a mission to destroy Esperanza’s tapestries before they cause an apocalyptic disaster… And before it’s too late to confess their true feelings for each other.

Buy

Kensington/Lyrical:

http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/book.aspx/31335

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Stitches-Erin-Fanning-ebook/dp/B00ONTR8I6

Barnes & Noble:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/blood-stitches-erin-fanning/1121044500?ean=9781616506735

Kobo:

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/blood-stitches

Google:

https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Erin_Fanning_Blood_Stitches?id=naZdBgAAQBAJ

Itunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/blood-stitches/id933601953?mt=11

About the Author

Erin Fanning spends her summers on a northern Michigan lake, where her imagination explores the water and dense forest for undiscovered creatures. In the winter, she migrates to central Idaho, exchanging mountain bikes and kayaks for skis and snowshoes. She’s the author of a mountain biking guidebook, as well as numerous articles, essays, and short stories. 

Find Erin online

Website: www.erinfanning.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/502190.Erin_Fanning

Twitter: @WriterErin

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Erin-Fanning/e/B002BODQGS

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Excerpt

In this scene, Gabby and Frank’s relationship tentatively begins moving beyond best friends… until they are interrupted by Gabby’s older sister Esperanza:

The fire crackled, and Frank joined me at the window. Lamplight pooled around my socks, and rain rat-a-tatted on the roof.

“Rain, rain, go away. Come again, another day,” Frank said.

“You go from Lester Ruben to Mother Goose. I guess Shakespeare’s a stretch.”

“Oh yeah? ‘Being your slave, what should I do but tend upon the hours and times of your desire?’”

“English 101, right? One of the sonnets?”

“Sonnet 57, to be precise.”

“I’m impressed.”

“Never underestimate me.” His hand brushed mine, and a charge ran up my arm. “You know, you don’t need to be jealous of Esperanza. You’re as pretty as she is.” He stammered over the last few words.

My cheeks grew hot. No guy had ever called me pretty.

Frank put his arm around my waist.

Surprising myself, I leaned against him. Frank understood my complicated feelings for Esperanza and Abuela, how they shut me out and acted like nothing mattered except knitting. Our friendship went back forever. Words were unnecessary.

“What are you two doing over there?” Esperanza said from behind us.

Frank and I disentangled and whirled.

Esperanza, balancing a tray holding three steaming mugs, winked at me. She placed the drinks on the coffee table and handed Frank a mug. Eyes downcast, he sipped the drink, fire flickering behind him.

 

Cover Reveal: Blood Stitches by Erin Fanning

Blood Stitches

By Erin Fanning

Coming May 12, 2015 from Lyrical Press

Love and danger intertwine…

It’s called El Toque de la Luna—The Touch of the Moon. At least that’s how nineteen-year-old Gabby’s older sister, Esperanza, refers to the magical powers she inherited from their Mayan ancestors. Esperanza says women with El Toque weave magic into their knitting, creating tapestries capable of saving—or devastating—the world. Gabby thinks Esperanza is more like touched in the head—until a man dressed like a candy corn arrives at their Seattle home on Halloween. But “Mr. C” is far from sweet…

Soon, Gabby and her almost-more-than-friend, Frank, find themselves spirited away to a demon ball, complete with shape shifters—and on a mission to destroy Esperanza’s tapestries before they cause an apocalyptic disaster… And before it’s too late to confess their true feelings for each other.

Excerpt

A gust of wind scattered leaves across the University of Seattle campus. My hair tangled over my face. New contacts tortured my eyes, and books weighed down my backpack. It didn’t matter. A tornado could have snatched me up. As long as it carried me home and put an end to the anniversary of the worst day of my life.

“Watch out, Gabby.” My best friend Frank thrust his hands deep into the pockets of his pinstriped suit. “We’re being followed by a giant candy corn.”

“Giant candy corn? Yeah, right.” If I turned around, Frank would laugh and say, “Gotcha”, or some other dorky thing. The mind-numbing boredom of Calculus I, our last class of the day, always set Frank off, making him zanier than usual.

“I mean it. We’ve got a candy corn on our tail.” Frank whistled a Lester Ruben song as he sauntered ahead.

“Okay, okay. Let me see this Halloween wonder.” If I didn’t give in, Frank would never leave me alone. I whirled, ready to hear Frank’s laugh, and almost ran into a man. His face glowed orange, like someone who’d spent too much time in a tanning booth, and he wore a white cap pulled down to his ears. A yellow scarf hid his neck and chin. For once, Frank wasn’t kidding. The man resembled a giant candy corn.

Shredded paper and a postage stamp poked out of his scarf, and a moon decorated an edge of the knitting, like one of my older sister Esperanza’s creations. It didn’t seem possible, but no one else I knew added garbage and a signature moon to their knitting. A wool coat covered the rest of him, except his face and steel-tipped boots.

“Sorry.” I jumped back.

Frank’s chuckles mixed with squirrels chattering in a nearby tree. Drizzle moistened my forehead, and a cold dampness seeped into my bones. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, like watching Esperanza unravel her knitting one stitch at a time to fix a mistake.

About the author

Erin Fanning spends her summers on a northern Michigan lake, where her imagination explores the water and dense forest for undiscovered creatures. In the winter, she migrates to central Idaho, exchanging mountain bikes and kayaks for skis and snowshoes. She’s the author of Mountain Biking Michigan, as well as numerous articles, essays, and short stories.

Links

Website: www.erinfanning.com

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Stitches-Erin-Fanning-ebook/dp/B00ONTR8I6

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23450191-blood-stitches

Lyrical: http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/book.aspx/31335

Erin Fanning knits some spooky tales!

Cate: Yay, Erin Fanning's here for my special Halloween celebration. Erin, please tell us a little bit about yourself.

Erin: I split my time between the mountains of central Idaho, my home state, and the lakes and forests of northern Michigan, where my husband grew up. Both places are quiet and remote, perfect for generating story ideas and allowing the imagination to go wild.

Cate: Sounds perfect for writing! What do you love most about Halloween?

Erin: Trick or treating with my nieces and nephews. I love their enthusiasm and wandering the neighborhoods with them, and, of course, sampling all their candy. It makes me feel like a kid again.

Cate: Any favorite Halloween stories you’d care to share?

Erin: The remoteness of where I live has greatly influenced my writing with everything from a mountain biking guidebook to kayaking articles to nature essays. But the deep forest and soaring mountains have particularly sparked my imagination, helping me write many fantasy and horror short stories.

In 2008 Sam’s Dot published my collection of short stories, The Curse of Blackhawk Bay : “Around Lake Trillium strange events occur. Children disappear, ghosts appear, and a man bursts into flames. The lake itself is inhabited by something vast and dark. With each event there appears a crow--but what does it want? Who will be next to confront the secret of the lake and of Blackhawk Bay?”

And some of my individual stories can be found for free on the Internet like:

Crossing the River Styx , Lonnie’s Gold , and The Devil’s Knitting Needles .

Cate: Very cool! Tell us about your latest release.

Erin: I’m currently editing Blood Stitches, the first book in the Yarn Weavers series, an urban-fantasy-romance based on Mayan mythology (how’s that for a genre-buster?) due out from Lyrical/Kensington May 2015.

Cate: LOVE mashed genres :) Care to share a blurb or excerpt?

Erin: Here’s the back-cover blurb: “It’s called El Toque de la Luna—Touched by the Moon. At least that’s how nineteen-year-old Gabby’s older sister, Esperanza, refers to the magical powers she inherited from their Mayan ancestors. Esperanza says women with El Toque weave magic into their knitting, creating tapestries capable of saving—or devastating—the world. Gabby thinks Esperanza is more like touched in the head—until a man dressed like a candy corn arrives at their Seattle home on Halloween. But “Mr. C” is far from sweet…

Soon, Gabby and her almost-more-than-friend, Frank, find themselves spirited away to a demon ball, complete with shape shifters—and on a mission to destroy Esperanza’s tapestries before they cause an apocalyptic disaster…And before it’s too late to confess their true feelings for each other.”

Cate: What inspired you to write about the theme?

Erin: In 2009, an Italian woman, trapped underneath her bed after an earthquake, kept herself occupied by knitting. I read about her around the same time I was learning how to knit. I imagined firefighters digging through the rubble and finding her wrapped in a knitted afghan.

The story tumbled around in my brain, somehow intersecting with my interest in Mexican culture. From there, I discovered the Mayan twin myth and the battle with the demon Vucub Caquix. Bit and pieces of Mayan mythology adhered themselves to my imagination, morphing into a history of magic and needlework.

Soon Gabby and her family formed, along with a question: what if you could not only knit your way to safety but also create a disaster through knitting. It wasn’t long afterward that Blood Stitches pushed its way through my fingertips.

Cate: Anything else you’d like to share?

Erin: For more information, please visit my website: www.erinfanning.com

Cate: Thanks for being part of the Halloween bash, Erin!