Meet Guest Author, Michelle Pickett

I am very happy to introduce to you Michelle Pickett, who is another MuseItUp author. She is visiting today and she wants everyone to know about her new novel, Concilium just released by MuseItUp Publishing. I know Michelle, because she was one of the first people to review my book and become a fan.:) I hope to be reviewing Concilium soon!!

Michelle is stopping here as part of her blog tour and she is also giving away a gift card to the lucky winner. Let's find out more about Michelle:

Michelle Pickett Bio:

Michelle has been an avid reader since a young child.  She began writing for personal enjoyment in college, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in accounting.  Deciding sitting in a cubical all day was her form of cruel and unusual punishment, she decided to do what she really wanted to—share her passion for reading and writing with others. 

She wrote her debut novel Concilium in 2010.  It was released July of 2012 by MuseItUp Publishing.  The sequel, Concilium: The Departure will also be published by MuseItUp Publishing with scheduled release date of November 2012.  

Her Debut young adult novel, PODs, will be published by Spencer Hill Press and is scheduled for release in paperback June 4^th, 2013.

Michelle was born and raised in Michigan.  She now resides in a small community outside Houston, Texas with her incredibly supportive husband, four wonderful children, a 125-pound lap dog, a very grumpy cockatiel and a cat that thinks she's queen.

Michelle writes adult and young adult Sci/Fi and urban fantasy romance.

This cover is beautiful, Michelle! I can't wait to find out more about this book!!!

                                         Concilium

Blurb:

Leslee hit a strange animal with her car.  Now she’s marked for death.  

It was a simple car accident – the animal didn’t even die – but it drew the attention of the Cruor Imbibo. Driven by their insatiable need to feed, the secret society of Imbibo has devoured the dregs of civilization for centuries.  Afraid Leslee will expose them, and put an end to their meal ticket, the Imbibo want her dead.

The Concilium is Leslee's only protection. Guardian of the ancient secret and the protector of humans, the Concilium fights to control the Imbibo and end their feeding frenzy. Miller works for the Concilium. Keeping Leslee alive is his next assignment. 

Now Leslee is on the run, and the only thing between her flesh and the snapping jaws of the Imbibo is Miller. He and Leslee quickly form a bond, but will falling in love make Miller’s job more difficult? Because if he fails, Leslee will be next on the Imbibo menu.

The Cruor Imbibo are coming, and they're coming for Leslee. 

Excerpt:

     Saturday morning I woke up screaming from the gruesome nightmares. Sweating and shaking, I stumbled into the bathroom, splashed cold water on my face, and brushed my teeth before pulling on my favorite U of M sweatshirt and heading into the kitchen for some cereal. 

     “There’s nothing like the taste of Cocoa Puffs after brushing your teeth,” I said absently, wandering outside to eat.

     I looked around…and dropped my bowl. It shattered into a hundred shards of glass at my feet. 

     Pools of dark blood were splashed throughout the deck and back yard. Blood was splayed across the trees and wildflowers, turning my beautiful yard into something out of a horror movie, something out of my nightmare. 

     “Leslee.”

     I screamed at the sound of my name; I hadn’t seen him when I walked outside. I stumbled over to the chair next to where Miller stood with his hip leaning casually against the deck railing, arms crossed over his chest. 

     “What happened?” I whispered.

     You cut your foot,” he commented. “Come on, you need to get that cleaned. Where are your bandages?” 

     I looked down at my foot bleeding on the wood planks. My blood swirled on top of the blood dried there.

     “Come on, Leslee.” He pulled me from the chair and pushed me gently toward the door, carefully avoiding the shattered bowl and Cocoa Puffs scattered across the deck. 

     “Hey, Les, where’s your garden hose?” Brooks called from the yard. “I’ll clean up a little,” he said, like it was something he did every day. Maybe it was.

     “The garage,” I mumbled as Miller guided me through the back door and into the kitchen.

     “Bandages?”

     “In the bathroom,” I answered. Looking down, I saw blood pooling around my foot on the kitchen floor. “Sorry, I’m making a mess.” 

     “It’s not my floor.” He picked me up and walked down the hall looking for the bathroom, drops of blood falling on my carpet as we went. “Which door?”

     “Second on the left,” I managed to answer. 

     I was flung over his shoulder as he strode calmly through my house like he belonged there. It wasn’t like the romantic scenes in sappy movies where a man carefully carries a woman while gazing lovingly into her eyes. No. It was more like a caveman movie when the hairy, stinky caveman flops the woman over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. That’s what I was—the sack of potatoes. But Miller wasn’t a hairy, stinky caveman. Far from it. 

     I looked down at the back pocket of his jeans bulging with what I guessed was his wallet. I slowly reached down. If I could grab it, I might get some answers to who he was.

     “Don’t,” he said and I jerked my hand back. 

     He put me down on the side of the bathtub with my foot under the faucet to wash away the cereal and blood. I watched him work, cleaning and then bandaging my foot. Now that I could see him clearly, without the horror of fearing for my life and thinking he might be the one to take it, I was struck by how unbelievably good-looking he was. He was movie-star handsome, Greek-god handsome, out-of-my-league handsome. 

     Tall and lean but athletic, he had black hair and liquid green eyes that seemed to pierce through me, a full mouth, and a deep dimple on the right side of his stubble-covered face. 

     For crying out loud! I’m starting to sound like some mindless romance novel. It’s not like he’s perfect. 

     He did have a slight scar over his left eye—just a faint jagged line, but enough to make his face even more interesting. He came pretty damn close to the tall, dark, and handsome man of any woman’s dream, but he was as irritating as they came.

     “Where do you want me to throw these?” he asked, and I realized I’d been staring. Worse, he knew it.

     “The trash is under the sink.” I felt a warm blush crawl across my face.

     “You’re fine. No stitches.” He helped me up and into the living room.

     I sat on the couch, sinking down into the soft pillows. I was so exhausted. Even Miller being in the room and Brooks cleaning up the blood splayed around my yard didn’t keep me from wanting to curl up and go to sleep. 

     Maybe with Miller here the nightmare will stay away. Where did that thought come from? When did he go from being part of the nightmare to my dream catcher?

     “Go to sleep, Leslee. You’re safe. And you’re right. I’m not your dream catcher.”

     “How do you do that? You did it in the car Monday night, and you’re doing it again now.” 

      He didn’t answer as he walked toward the back door. 

     “Wait!” I yelled after him. “Last night, you said you’d explain when everything was over.”

     With an exasperated sigh, he turned to face me. His fists on his hips, he looked like a spoiled child about to have a temper-tantrum. “It’s not over.”

I know after reading that excerpt that I can't wait to read the whole book!! Here are the links for Michelle:

The MuseItUp Buy Link:

http://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=537&category_id=64&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

The Amazon Buy Link: 

http://www.amazon.com/Concilium-The-Series-ebook/dp/B008QWIC3G/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343678496&sr=1-3&keywords=concilium

Kindlegraph—get your copy of Concilium digitally signed by Michelle. 

Go to: http://www.kindlegraph.com

To enter any of the giveaways here are the links:

Blog Tour Give away:

1. Concilium E-Book
2. $10 Amazon Gift Card

Rafflecopter Giveaway Code:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Also, please leave a comment for Michelle. Thank you for visiting today, Michelle, and I wish you all the best with Concilium and with your forthcoming publications.

Until the next time, my guest on RRWL Tales from the Pages is going to be Amy McCorkle on Thursday, August 23rd at 3PM Central and 4PM EST. Tune in to learn more about this fascinating author who has placed in the Top Ten of Preditors and Editors Readers Poll for two categories.