Dead Before Dawn - #WordSeach Fun No.2

Dead Before Dawn - Word Search Fun

As promised, it is Word Search Wednesday and I have a new puzzle for everyone to enjoy. But don't forget, last week's competition puzzle is still open for entries until May 13th, so check it out if you haven't already.

This week's word search is based on my vampire novel "Dead Before Dawn" (almost typed Dad Before Dawn - which is a whole other kind of book 😂). The book is full of actors, vampires, vampire hunters, action, adventure, romance, and life and death excitement, so lots to enjoy. It's available in paperback and eBook from Amazon, and eBook from all our other favourite book sites. See the bottom of the post for link.

The book was originally a real person fanfiction that I wrote for a Big Bang Event (a fiction exchange for long fiction where authors are paired up with artists). I liked the premise so much that I altered the setting and characters, and expanded the universe into a full original novel. I keep meaning to get round to writing the sequel. If only it would give me a clue as to how it should end 😉.

Options for Solving

1. Click the button below and start solving online. If you create a free account with MyWordSearch.com (you only have to pay to create word searches) you can save your progress and come back later.
   
   Create account - top left of pop-up.
2. For those who prefer the old school pen and paper, click here to download the PDF so you can print it.

Solution

For those who would like to check their answers or who can't find that last word, here is the solution:

Click to open the puzzle solution in a new window.

Please, let me know if you are enjoying the word searches with a comment, and if you enjoy a romantic, little bit naughty in places and exciting vampire tale, check out the book it's based on.💖

Book of the Week

Dead Before Dawn: The Vampire Curse

by Natasha Duncan-Drake

Max Statton's life will never be the same again.

While in Moscow for the premier of his new movie a terrifying encounter reveals some nightmares actually exist. Attacked by one of the city's resident vampires, Max is bitten and infected. Only a team of local vampire hunters prevent him being dragged into the violent underworld of the undead.

Fighting for his very existence, Max must resist the vampire curse with the help of Yulia, the hunter's doctor. But with his humanity slipping away, Max only has two choices: ask the hunters to end it, or risk becoming a monster.

When Yulia offers him a final, desperate, kill or cure option, Max must decide if he has the courage to take it. He wants his life back, and the idea of telling his friend and co-star, Gian Bossard, he's sort of in love with him, doesn't seem so frightening after vampires. However, Yulia's solution could just as easily send him to a worse hell than the one he's living.

       

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Sorry for the lack of posts over the last 2 weeks

Good morning all. Hope everyone is well. This is just a little note to apologise for the lack of new posts over the last couple of weeks.

Last week we lost internet for a couple of days, which completely threw me out, and this week I have the dreaded lurgy, so I'm concentrating on getting my NaNo stuff done and anything else I have to do and not much else.

Next week will see a return to our normally scheduled programming. Thank you for your patience.

To fill in time, I am still posting


Dead Before Dawn: The Vampire Curse
over at Wattpad. It's totally free to read and new chapters are posted Tuesday and Friday. We're over half way now and the final chapters will be posted the week before Christmas, so now is the time to catch up.

Best wishes to all, hope you are all well.

Halloween here we come! New Chapters Every Day! Dead Before Dawn

To celebrate Halloween, this week there will be 7 new chapters of 

Dead Before Dawn: The Vampire Curse

1 every day!

Chapter 11 - Not Quite Free

Max is still stuck in Russia and the hunters may not have given up as easily as he had hoped.

Chapter 12 - Accidents Happen (explicit version)
Chapter 12 - Accidents Happen (edited non-explicit version)

How do you accidentally kiss your friend? Ask Max!
There are two versions of this chapter - the original with an explicit sex scene and a edited version with less intimate details :).

~

Max Statton is in Moscow for the premiere of his new movie when a terrifying encounter turns his life on its head. Attacked by one of the city's resident vampires, Max is bitten and infected. Only a team of local vampire hunters prevent him being dragged into the underworld of the undead.

Fighting for his very existence, Max must resist the vampire curse trying to take over his body if he is ever to get back to his life.

~

I am very much enjoying posting Dead Before Dawn over at Wattpad. My number of followers keeps going up, which I am taking as a good sign :). So does the read and vote count on the novel.

Here's hoping everyone is enjoying reading as much as I am posting.

Wattpad is definitely not a post and run site from a writers perspective - it's much more a social media hub as well. I keep looking at the clubs, but the one that is supposed to be for chat seems a little, well, random and I have no idea what to post. So so far I have stuck to the genre specific places.

Anyone have experience with the Wattpad clubs? Where is it best to hang out?

I need to get my arse in gear and read some other people's work - I have gotten behind on that recently because I've had so much else to do.

Favouritest Vampire Trope Ever! + New Ch of Dead Before Dawn

Favouritest Vampire Trope Ever!

Wittegen Press

FREE
Wattpad
New CH every
Tue & Fri

If there is one trope in vampire films, books and TV that will guarantee I am there like a shot it's:

Protagonist is turned into a vampire against their will and has to fight against the instincts. Bonus points if they have no idea what's going on.

The Lost Boys has it where Michael (Jason Patric) is tricked into drinking blood from the bottle and starts to become a vampire, nearly killing Sam (Corey Haim) before he realises what's going on.

Fright Night Part II has it where Regine (Julie Carmen) targets Charley (William Ragsdale), so she can punish him for what he did in Fright Night.

Even My Best Friend's A Vampire (aka I Was a Teenage Vampire) has it, kind of, where Jeremy (Robert Sean Leonard) starts having strange urges before being introduced to the vampire community proper.

I don't mind if the protagonist ends up accepting their fate, or fights valiantly back to humanity - the trope is just like catnip to me :). I love the confusion, the vulnerability and often the "OMG vampires are real" moment. It's all but a cast iron trope guarantee that I am going to love the story.

I even love writing it, which is why it is the basis of my new vampire novel Dead Before Dawn: The Vampire Curse. Max, my protagonist is infect on the very first page and then has to struggle the near certain doom this brings with it. Totally FREE to read with new chapters every Tues and Friday.

What is your guaranteed trope?

Review: Ghosts of Shepherdstown + Ch5 of Dead Before Dawn

Rob and I have been watching Ghosts of Shepherdstown this week and we really enjoyed it. It looks like reality TV, it's even listed as reality TV on IMDB, but if this isn't scripted, I'm Father Christmas.

The leads are playing themselves and at least one is a real paranormal investigator. The set-up is that they've been brought in by the Sheriff of Shepherdstown because he and his department are getting lots and lots of calls about paranormal activity, that they just can't cope with.

Bill Hartley, Elizabeth Saint, Nick Groff

Shepherdstown is supposed to be the most haunted town in the USA, but apparently the activity just ramped up considerably.

Throughout the six episodes the investigators take over from the police when the cops find no evidence that there are human perpetrators involved in six different cases, that all neatly link together. They have a psychic medium and a historian who help them investigate the cases and in each episode they see more and more paranormal activity.

There are recreations of ghostly happenings in the program as well as what we are supposed to believe are real paranormal activities filmed by the team. If the evidence were real there would be paranormal investigators swinging from the highest towers crowing about everything that had been found.

That said, it's a very enjoyable watch, put together well and is very spooky in places. It feels like a War of the Worlds type thing to me, fiction presented as fact to give us a good scare and it works.

If you like reality tv ghosts shows and some good ghost stories, then this is a great program to watch. Not sure what they'd do if they were renewed for a second season, but I'd tune in to see it if they did.

Have you seen Ghosts of Shepherdstown? What did you think?

~*~

It's Tuesday and that means it's new chapter time.

Chapter 5 - Facing the End

of

Dead Before Dawn: The Vampire Curse

is NOW available.

The vampire infection is taking over, Max is becoming a monster.

#vampire #gay #adventure #paranormal

Totally FREE read. New chapters every Tuesday and Friday.

Available NOW Ch 4 More or Less Human? of Dead Before Dawn

It's Friday and that means it's new chapter time.

Chapter 4 - More or Less Human?

of

Dead Before Dawn: The Vampire Curse

is NOW available.

Max might still be alive, but fangs are probably a bad sign, right?

#vampire #gay #adventure #paranormal

Totally FREE read. New chapters every Tuesday and Friday.

Max Statton is in Moscow for the premier of his new movie when a terrifying encounter turns his life on its head. Attacked by one of the city's resident vampires, Max is bitten and infected. Only a team of local vampire hunters prevent him being dragged into the underworld of the undead.

Fighting for his very existence, Max must resist the vampire curse with the help of Yulia, the hunter's doctor. But with his humanity slipping away, Max only has two choices: ask the hunters to end it, or risk becoming a monster. His fame makes it dangerous to just kill him, but there may be no choice.

When Yulia offers him a kill or cure option, Max must decide if he has the courage to take it. He wants to go home, he wants to see his family and friends, but his life is poised on a knife edge.

Which is The Scariest Vampire Movie? + Dead Before Dawn Ch3

Vampire movies are an odd genre. They are categorised as horror, but often, I have to admit, I don't find them frightening, very entertaining, but not frightening. With October on the horizon and the inevitable Halloween celebrations, I began to wonder if there are any really scary vampire movies.

Many of us like a good scare every now and then, don't we?

Of course different things scare different people. :) For me, ghost stories scare the willies out of me, but monster movies, not so much.

I think the best I can do is the ones with the scariest, most dangerous vampires.

Higanjima: Escape From Vampire Island

This is a Japanese vampire movie - so be prepared for subtitles.

The vampires are very vicious and there is lots of blood and fighting.

Some of the peasant vampires are also rather freaky.

Definitely an action packed film for those who like their vampire films on the exciting side.

Dracula's Widow

Now Vanessa - Dracula's widow, is a very nasty, freaky vampire. She is a true monster.

There is nothing soft and gentle about this beast of the night. In one part of the movie she literally does become a beast and there is a whole bloody massacre.

This is a late 80s movie, so all the effects are done with fake blood and makeup, which is so much scarier than all this CGI.

Someone kindly put the massacre scene on Youtube - not for the faint of heart.

From Dusk Till Dawn

Who doesn't like two movies for the price of one? :) The first half of this film is a heist movie, the second half, a vampire film.

Now none of us can deny that these vampires are freaky and a little bit scary. The Titty Twister is a gateway to hell for those who enter it.

The fact that the vampires seem to love the carnage as much as the blood is one thing that makes them so monstrous. The fact that their victims change so quickly as well. One bite and people change sides in minutes. No lying around in a coffin waiting for the next night for these vamps.

Lifeforce

Now these are a different sort of vampire and it's not how they look or how violent they are that make them monstrous, it's what they do.

As the name of the movie may suggest, these vamps steal lifeforce. They leave their victims as husks who come back to life and immediately steal the lifeforce from others, turning them back into an imitation of human beings.

Unfortunately they need to feed repeatedly, turning back into living husks if they do not.

This is a vampire come zombie movie and zombies are always freaky.

So please, tell me which vampire movies you think are the scariest.

~*~

It's Tuesday which means a new chapter of my FREE novel over at Wattpad.

Dead Before Dawn: The Vampire Curse

Chapter 3 - Dawn

Will Max survive dawn or will the vampire infection take over?

Introducing Max Statton #WriterlyWednesdays 43

Welcome to my blog for another Writerly Wednesday. I've just launched a new free novel on Wattpad called "Dead Before Dawn: The Vampire Curse", so today I thought I'd introduce you to my leading man, Max. I hope you like him.

Introducing Max Statton

So Max in an actor who has worked his way up to the edges of the A list. I know, another main character who is an actor, I seem to like grabbing them out of their life and then throwing them at things they can't possibly understand :). We writers are evil like that.

Max is the go to guy for playing the nerd who turns out to be a secret ninja.

He's about 5'10''/5'11'', depending on who you ask, with the wiry athletic look going for him. Think something along the lines of James McAvoy's build in Wanted, just a little bit taller. Put him in a t-shirt, jeans and glasses and he can look like a geek, put him in black spandex and he's an assassin.

When he was a teenager he was a very promising gymnast looking at national and international level competitions. He took up the sport because he had some anger management issues after his father abandoned the family. The discipline required gave him something to focus on.

Unfortunately a bus crash all but destroyed one of his knees. He wasn't given much chance of walking normally again by the specialists, let alone competing. Being a stubborn ass he proved them wrong, but he could never quite get back to the level he had been at.

Through all this his twin sister Cal was his rock. She has always been the level headed one. Everyone thought she would be an engineer or a doctor, but she ended up a fashion photographer, which she claims is all about math and angles, so it's the same thing.

When Max's gymnastics career proved to be over, Cal got him into modelling. From there he decided to try his hand at acting and, as it turned out, he was good at it. From bit parts on the New York theatre scene he moved into films very quickly thanks to his agent Terisa. He causes directors heart failure because he likes to do his own stunts, but he has a reputation for being easy to work with.

He has a special relationship with director Darius Vandenborre, along the lines of Depp and Burton. Darius is something of a mentor to Max. Their latest film together is "In From the Cold 2: Rogue Agent", which is the premier in Moscow where all the trouble starts.

Max does his best to keep his private life private. He's gay, but not publicly out.

He has a huge crush on his male co-star from Rogue Agent, Gian Bossard. He hasn't acted on it because he doesn't want to wreck their friendship. Gian is Swiss, from the French speaking region, 'built like a god', openly bi, and his accent makes Max's knees go weak.

Max's life is going just about perfectly until he is attacked by a creature from legend on the back streets of Moscow. Infected by the vampire's bite he's likely be dead before dawn.

~*~

Book Info

Dead Before Dawn: The Vampire Curse

by Natasha Duncan-Drake

#vampire #gay #adventure #romance #mature

Max Statton is in Moscow for the premier of his new movie when a terrifying encounter turns his life on its head. Attacked by one of the city's resident vampires, Max is bitten and infected. Only a team of local vampire hunters prevent him being dragged into the underworld of the undead.

Fighting for his very existence, Max must resist the vampire curse with the help of Yulia, the hunter's doctor. But with his humanity slipping away, Max only has two choices: ask the hunters to end it, or risk becoming a monster. His fame makes it dangerous to just kill him, but there may be no choice.

When Yulia offers him a kill or cure option, Max must decide if he has the courage to take it. He wants to go home, he wants to see his family and friends, but his life is poised on a knife edge.

Being serialised on Wattpad with new chapters every Tuesday and Friday.

Read it on Wattpad

New Novel "Dead Before Dawn: The Vampire Curse" Now FREE on Wattpad

My new vampire novel, Dead Before Dawn: The Vampire Curse is finally ready for serialisation.

Ch 1 is now AVAILABLE FREE on Wattpad:

Dead Before Dawn: The Vampire Curse
Chapter 1: Cat and Mouse

Max Statton is in Moscow for the premier of his new movie when a terrifying encounter turns his life on its head. Attacked by one of the city's resident vampires, Max is bitten and infected. Only a team of local vampire hunters prevent him being dragged into the underworld of the undead.

Fighting for his very existence, Max must resist the vampire curse with the help of Yulia, the hunter's doctor. But with his humanity slipping away, Max only has two choices: ask the hunters to end it, or risk becoming a monster. His fame makes it dangerous to just kill him, but there may be no choice.

When Yulia offers him a kill or cure option, Max must decide if he has the courage to take it. He wants to go home, he wants to see his family and friends, but his life is poised on a knife edge.

(Male/Male Paranormal Romance, Mature Content)

All chapters are between 2K and 3K words and one will be posted each Tuesday and Friday.
If you wish to be notified via email whenever a new part comes out follow me on Wattpad and add the book to your library. Votes on story parts are also greatly appreciated - thank you (it helps the book up the rankings to be seen).

Wattpad is a social media site for posting fictional works. There are FREE apps for most operating systems as well as a web interface, so you can read straight on your phone and receive text updates when a new part is ready. If you follow me I can also send you messages, so I can tell you if anything new is happening.

Please LMK if you are on Wattpad and I will follow you back.

Really Having a Blast With the New Book #ThinkyThursdays 24

Really Having a Blast With the New Book

Welcome to Thinky Thursdays and there's only one thing consuming my brain this week, so I'm going to be self indulgent. I am having such fun with "Dead Before Dawn: The Vampire Curse".

Y'know how sometimes something is just the most fun and then we don't want to stop doing whatever it is we are doing. I feel like that with this novel.

I actually thought the manuscript was almost done a week ago and was in the final edit stage. However, it's gained nearly 25K and there's barely a paragraph that I haven't edited in some way since then. I'm only up to chapter 16 and there are currently 29, probably will be 31 or 32 at least by the time I am done.

Each chapter is between 2K and 3K to make it digestible on Wattpad.

The novel is based on a Real Person AU Fanfic I wrote a few years ago, but I liked the premise so much I wanted to change it up for a wider audience. All the characters have changed, a whole background had been added and there's a completely new undercurrent as well as huge new sections. It's blossoming into something new and I am loving every second of taking it there.

Writers, do you find that you have the occasional story that seems to take no work, or rather, it engages you so much that it feels as if it takes no work, even though you're putting in hours and hours?

If you've not had one of those yet, I wish you one, because they are the best.

We all know writing is often hard and we sometimes have to kick ourselves in the behind to get moving on what we are working on. That's why this novel is such a joy. No doubt the final tweaks will still be a bit of a chore, but at the moment I'm having a blast. I very much hope it comes out in the writing.

Cannot wait to get it to a stage where it is ready to publish. I'm so very, very excited to share this one.