Guest Blog & Giveaway: Witch's Bounty by Ann Gimpel

Witch’s Bounty
The Witch Chronicles, Book 1
Ann Gimpel

Publisher: Taliesin
Release Date: 3/6/14
Genre: Dark Paranormal Romance


A demon-stalking witch teams up with a Sidhe, but their combined power, never mind their love, may be too late to make a difference.

Book Description:
One of only three remaining demon-stalking witches, Colleen is almost the last of her kind. Along with her familiar, a changeling spirit, she was hoping for a few months of quiet, running a small magicians’ supply store in Fairbanks, Alaska. Peace isn’t in the cards, though. Demons are raising hell in Seattle. She’s on her way out the door to help, when a Sidhe shows up and demands she accompany him to northern England to quell a demon uprising there.
Duncan swallowed uneasy feelings when the Sidhe foisted demon containment off onto the witches two hundred years before. He’s annoyed when the Sidhe leader sends him to haul a witch across the Atlantic to bail them out. Until he sees the witch in question. Colleen is unquestionably the most beautiful woman he’s ever laid eyes on. Strong and gutsy, too. When she refuses to come with him, because she’s needed in Seattle, he immediately offers his assistance. Anything to remain in her presence.
Colleen can’t believe how gorgeous the Sidhe is, but she doesn’t have time for such nonsense. She, Jenna, and Roz are the only hedge Earth has against being overrun by Hell’s minions. Even with help from a powerful magic wielder like Duncan, the odds aren’t good and the demons know it. Sensing victory is within their grasp, they close in for the kill.

Guest Post by author Ann Gimpel:
The Writing Life 
Isn't anything like I thought it would be. I suppose I had this romanticized picture in my mind of curling up in front of my computer and turning out, well, stuff. That part has come true. I do write stories--and novels, too. And I truly love that part. There's nothing better than being lost in the creative process where characters are alive in my head and the other world--the real one--fades into insignificance.
There are all those other parts, though. The ones I really didn't know all that much about. I've taught myself to be a better self-editor. And I've gotten better at researching markets for my stories. Not much point in sending a sci fi piece to a market that publishes predominantly horror. Or in sending high fantasy to a publisher that wants an urban slant.
The short story markets are interesting. In many ways it's like trying to hit a moving target with no feedback. If you send them something that looks a lot like what they publish, they often figure there's too much sameness in their stories. "Yes, we want swords and sorcery, but we've had too many stories with ______________ (fill in the blank). We want something else now. Surprise us." Sometimes I'm amazed I've had as many shorts published as I have. Something like fifteen in all. 
Probably a low point was one of my stories that made it to the finals for a particular publication. I did get feedback on that one: a very nice note from the editor telling me it was a good story. That there was "nothing wrong with it". But he wasn't going to use it because it was too long. Even though the publication had a published 10K word limit, they apparently prefer stories half that length. Now some magazines will 
tell you that up front. I'm nothing if not an inveterate direction follower, so I went back to the magazine's website and searched for clues as to preferred length. Didn't find a thing outside the "send us your stories up to ten thousand words". And so it goes.I don’t write many short stories anymore, not because I don’t enjoy them, but I no longer have time. Plus, I’ve found I can cram a whole lot more “story” into novellas 
and novels. My current “preferred” book length is around 60K words. And I just adore the paranormal romance genre. All those hunky alpha males are little shy of amazing. Shifters add a whole new dimension to things.

What’s your favorite genre to read? Why?

About the Author:

Ann Gimpel is a mountaineer at heart. Recently retired from a long career as a psychologist, she remembers many hours at her desk where her body may have been stuck inside four walls, but her soul was planning yet one more trip to the backcountry.
Around the turn of the last century (that would be 2000, not 1900!), she managed to finagle moving to the Eastern Sierra, a mecca for those in love with the mountains. It was during long backcountry treks that Ann’s writing evolved. Unlike some who see the backcountry as an excuse to drag friends and relatives along, Ann prefers solitude. Stories always ran around in her head on those journeys, sometimes as a hedge against abject terror when challenging conditions made her fear for her life, sometimes for company. Eventually, she returned from a trip and sat down at the computer. Three months later, a five hundred page novel emerged. Oh, it wasn’t very good, but it was a beginning. And, she learned a lot between writing that novel and its sequel.
Around that time, a friend of hers suggested she try her hand at short stories. It didn’t take long before that first story found its way into print and they’ve been accepted pretty regularly since then. One of Ann’s passions has always been ecology, so her tales often have a green twist.
In addition to writing, Ann enjoys wilderness photography. She lugs pounds of camera equipment in her backpack to distant locales every year. A standing joke is that over ten percent of her pack weight is camera gear which means someone else has to carry the food! That someone is her husband. They’ve shared a life together for a very long time. Children, grandchildren and three wolf hybrids round out their family.

Author Contacts:
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Tour Wide Giveaway:

$50 Amazon GC 

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