Limited Time 99c Sale: A Thousand Yesteryears by Mae Clair #mystery #suspense #thriller #writingcommunity #mothman #pointpleasant #urbanlegends

Hi, friends. I hadn’t planned to blog today, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share news of a limited time sale. My publisher has placed A Thousand Yesteryears, book one of my Point Pleasant series on sale for 99c. You can read this as a stand-alone novel, or as the first of three books comprising the series.

Book cover for A Thousand Yesteryears by Mae Clair, depicting a wooded thicket at night

New York Times best-selling author, Kevin O’Brien called this book “Masterful, bone-chilling fiction…one intense thriller. A Thousand Yesteryears will keep you guessing, gasping and turning the pages for more.”

I honestly don’t know how long the sale will last (it’s likely a 1-2 day flash sale), so if you’d like to sink into a novel where “A woman’s homecoming is met with death threats, a treacherous killer, and a legendary monster” now is your chance.

I’ll be taking a closer look at the urban legend behind this book in 2022, as part of a new series I’m planning called Mae Clair’s Cabinet of Curiosities.

A Thousand Yesteryears is a fictional account of historic events and established folklore, involving the tragic collapse of the Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and sightings of the Mothman. I made two weekend trips to the actual town and surrounding areas while writing this series in order to visit areas firsthand and talk to the locals. I’ve been honored to have many book reviewers who live/lived in the area remark on how well I captured the town.

I’ve closed comments, but invite you to meet the Mothman and learn the history of a once thriving river town!

Teaser ad for A Thousand Yesteryears, a novel of suspense by Mae Clair

PURCHASE LINK

The Big Release Day is Here: Cusp of Night #supernaturalthriller #mystery #suspense

After all the prep and behind-the-scenes pulling my hair out, the big day is here! Cusp of Night is now available from all booksellers.

Banner ad for cusp of Night, a mystery/suspense novel by author, Mae ClairI’ve got a crazy launch day, with an appointment that falls smack in the middle of the day, sure to keep me offline for a time. I’m apologizing in advance because I have so many wonderful bloggers helping me out, and I fully intend to make rounds and visit all my host blogs. I just may be a little late.

I’m also going to be reblogging posts here. I hope you don’t get sick of me, but I’d love for you to meet the wonderful people who have agreed to host me. These are fabulously supportive friends and excellent authors in their own right. I’ve also taken the time to write individual posts for this tour (eighteen at last count) so there should be something new to discover at each stop.

I’ve put a ton of effort into this book and have my fingers crossed all that work will pay off in the long run. There are a number of early reviews already floating around the blogosphere which have me giddy.

I have one more that I hope you’ll indulge me with. Yesterday, Anita Dawes and Jaye Marie shared a review post from a different blogger as part of my tour. Today, they’ve posted their own review (along with a short excerpt of their choosing—which incidentally I love 🙂 ). If you get a chance, check it out, and show them some blog love. You can find the review here.

I’m closing comments on this post because I’m going to be reblogging throughout the tour and the day. If you have time, I hope you’ll visit some of my stops and also scope out my host bloggers. They’re a fab group of friends 🙂

If you’ve pre-ordered Cusp, THANK YOU, and I hope you enjoy the tale. If you haven’t, and would like to, you can use this universal purchase link to discover the town of Hode’s Hill, and a mystery that lingers on the Cusp of Night and the cusp of a century!

Mothman Memes #PointPleasantSeries #UrbanLegends

I’ve been doing a lot of playing around on Twitter lately. After blogging, it’s my favorite form of social media and I find it a great place to connect with others. I also love the variety of graphic Tweets I find there. Novelicious and Abandoned Places are two of my favorite Twitter feeds with amazing graphics. If you haven’t visited them before, you might want to give them a looksee.

With the last of my Point Pleasant novels, A Desolate Hour releasing, I decided I needed a new pinned Tweet. I change it out every now and then depending on the promo I’m doing at the time. I also decided the other two books in the series could benefit from ehanced visual representation, especially with book one, A Thousand Yesteryears, currently on sale for .99c

Here’s what I’ve been up to:

A Thousand Yesteryears (Book 1)
Banner ad for A Thousand Yesteryears by Mae Clair features the night sky over an old farmhouse

Behind a legend lies the truth…

As a child, Eve Parrish lost her father and her best friend, Maggie Flynn, in a tragic bridge collapse. Fifteen years later, she returns to Point Pleasant to settle her deceased aunt’s estate. Though much has changed about the once thriving river community, the ghost of tragedy still weighs heavily on the town, as do rumors and sightings of the Mothman, a local legend. When Eve uncovers startling information about her aunt’s death, that legend is in danger of becoming all too real.

Caden Flynn is one of the few lucky survivors of the bridge collapse, but blames himself for coercing his younger sister out that night. He’s carried that guilt for fifteen years, unaware of darker currents haunting the town. It isn’t long before Eve’s arrival unravels an old secret—one that places her and Caden in the crosshairs of a deadly killer.

Universal Purchase Link | Currently .99c from all book retailers

~ooOOoo~

A Cold Tomorrow (Book 2)

Banner Ad for A Cold tomorrow by Mae Clair features road through a meadow near few trees and foggy in forest at night

Where secrets make their home… 

Stopping to help a motorist in trouble, Katie Lynch stumbles upon a mystery as elusive as the Mothman legend that haunts her hometown of Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Could the coded message she finds herald an extraterrestrial visitor? According to locals, it wouldn’t be the first time. And what sense should she make of her young son’s sudden spate of bizarre drawings—and his claim of a late-night visitation? Determined to uncover the truth, Katie only breaks the surface when a new threat erupts. Suddenly her long-gone ex-boyfriend is back and it’s as if he’s under someone else’s control. Not only is he half-crazed, he’s intent on murder.

As a sergeant in the sheriff’s office of the famously uncanny Point Pleasant, Officer Ryan Flynn has learned to tolerate reports of puzzling paranormal events.   But single mom Katie Lynch appears to be in very real danger—and somehow Ryan’s own brother, Caden, is caught up in the madness, too. What the skeptical lawman discovers astounds him—and sends him into action. For stopping whatever evil forces are at play may just keep Katie and Caden alive.

Universal Purchase Link

~ooOOOO~

A Desolate Hour (Book 3)

Banner ad for A Desolate Hour by Mae Clair features Man standing in a dark mysterious forest with bloody lake in foreground

Sins of the past could destroy all of their futures . . .

For generations, Quentin Marsh’s family has seen its share of tragedy, though he remains skeptical that their misfortunes are tied to a centuries-old curse. But to placate his pregnant sister, Quentin makes the pilgrimage to Point Pleasant, West Virginia, hoping to learn more about the brutal murder of a Shawnee chief in the 1700s. Did one of the Marsh ancestors have a hand in killing Chief Cornstalk—the man who cursed the town with his dying breath?

While historian Sarah Sherman doesn’t believe in curses either, she’s compelled to use her knowledge of Point Pleasant to uncover the long-buried truth. The river town has had its own share of catastrophes, many tied to the legendary Mothman, the winged creature said to haunt the woods. But Quentin’s arrival soon reveals that she may have more of a stake than she realized. It seems that she and Quentin possess eerily similar family heirlooms. And the deeper the two of them dig into the past, the more their search enrages the ancient mystical forces surrounding Point Pleasant. As chaos and destruction start to befall residents, can they beat the clock to break the curse before the Mothman takes his ultimate revenge?

Universal Purchase Link

~ooOOoo~

And there you have my Twitter memes. I’ve also added them to the book pages on my website, and would be delighted if you share them around should you stumble over them in your online roaming. I’ve been meaning to create these for a while but had to finally buckle down and set aside the time. Once I did, it was a fun and creative exercise. I’d still like to make a few for my older books, and a few more for my Point Pleasant series. As always, time is the enemy.

Do you use graphics to promote your books? If so, have you found them too be helpful? I remember the days when it was enough to make a Tweet and add a link, but Twitter has become a visual medium. Personally, I love that. Especially now that images don’t count into those 140 characters. I’ve definitely been sucked in by the beautiful graphic promos I’ve seen on Twitter, and have even bought books as a result. How about you?

And most importantly—how do you like my Mothman memes? The last one is my personal favorite. 😀

Free May 2 thru May 4: ECLIPSE LAKE by Mae Clair #RomanticMystery #RRBCAuthor

In celebration of my recent release, A THOUSAND YESTERYEARS, I’m offering one of my back titles for free!

If you enjoy romance, mysteries, and suspense, I invite you to take advantage of my limited time offer for ECLIPSE LAKE. Grab your Kindle copy, May 2 thru May 4 for FREE. This is a stand-alone full-length novel of old wounds, buried secrets, and sweet romance. It’s not part of a series, so you can enjoy the complete tale.

Book cover for Eclipse Lake by Mae Clair depicting a summer lake with rushes at sunsetBLURB FOR ECLIPSE LAKE:

Small towns hold the darkest secrets.

Fifteen years after leaving his criminal past and estranged brother behind, widower Dane Carlisle returns to his hometown on the banks of sleepy Eclipse Lake. Now, a successful businessman, he has kept his troubled past a secret from most everyone, including his seventeen-year-old son.

But memories in small towns are bitter and long.

Ellie Sullivan, a nature photographer for a national magazine, has a habit of ping-ponging across the map. Her latest assignment leads her to Eclipse Lake where she becomes caught up in the enmity between Dane, his brother Jonah, and a vengeful town sheriff. When freshly-discovered skeletal remains are linked to an unsolved murder and Dane’s past, Ellie is left questioning her growing attraction for a man who harbors long-buried secrets.

Grab Your Free Copy from Amazon here

If you don’t have a Kindle, download a FREE Kindle Reading app for the device of your choice

I hope you enjoy ECLIPSE LAKE and ask only that when you’ve finished reading you’d leave an honest review on Amazon. Authors love hearing what readers enjoyed about our novels (even what didn’t work). It’s a cherished reward.  🙂

I’d also like to ask for your support in the release of my brand mystery/suspense novel A THOUSAND YESTERYEARS a story that blends a murder mystery with the urban legend of the Mothman.

Book cover for A Thousand Yesteryears by Mae Clair, depicting a wooded thicket at nightBLURB FOR A THOUSAND YESTERYEARS:

Behind a legend lies the truth…

As a child, Eve Parrish lost her father and her best friend, Maggie Flynn, in a tragic bridge collapse. Fifteen years later, she returns to Point Pleasant to settle her deceased aunt’s estate. Though much has changed about the once thriving river community, the ghost of tragedy still weighs heavily on the town, as do rumors and sightings of the Mothman, a local legend. When Eve uncovers startling information about her aunt’s death, that legend is in danger of becoming all too real…

Caden Flynn is one of the few lucky survivors of the bridge collapse, but blames himself for coercing his younger sister out that night. He’s carried that guilt for fifteen years, unaware of darker currents haunting the town. It isn’t long before Eve’s arrival unravels an old secret—one that places her and Caden in the crosshairs of a deadly killer…

Purchase from:
Amazon 
Barnes and Noble 
iTunes 
Google Play 
Kobo 
Kensington Publishing

Purchase A THOUSAND YESTERYEARS and grab your copy of ECLIPSE LAKE for free. You get TWO full-length books of suspense, mystery (and romance) for under $4.00!  Either way I hope you will enjoy the free book. Both stories plus their characters hold special places in my heart.

Thank you for your support and I’d love to hear from you!

 

Mythical Monday: Chasing the Chupacabra by Mae Clair

The chupacabra is a creature said to haunt South America, Puerto Rico, parts of Mexico and portions of Texas. Known for attacking livestock and draining its prey of blood, the chupacabra’s name in Spanish is translated as “goat-sucker.” A mythical creature, the chupacabra is also recognized as a crytpid—a creature that may exist but hasn’t been proven to exist. If you’ve followed my blog for some time, you know I enjoy reading about mythical beasts and those put under the microscope of cryptozoology. It’s interesting when those fields intersect, as in the case of the chupacabra.

This is not a guy I would want to cross while out for a stroll.  A heinous looking oddity, the chupacabra has alternately been described as a winged monkey, a hairless dog with a pronounced spinal ridge or quills on its back, and a rodent or a reptile with grayish-green skin. The beast exudes a ghastly odor, is endowed with sharp fangs, and a forked tongue. Some believe the chupacabra is a coyote infected with mange, others that it is a species brought from outer space, still others that it is the result of a government experiment gone haywire.

Naturally, something this ugly has to have glowing eyes. In the case of the chupacabra, they are malignant red, capable of hypnotizing its victim and freezing them in place while the creature drains the victim’s blood.

Old farmshouse with free walking chickens  in rural surroundingsThe first report of dead livestock occurred in 1995 in Puerto Rico when a farmer found eight of his sheep drained of blood, each with three puncture wounds to the chest. For this reason, some believe the chupacabra is related to the vampire bat. It’s also been known to hiss and screech when alarmed and make an odd sound when feeding (who would want to get that close?).

Throughout the years the chupacabra has been blamed for numerous bizarre deaths in the killing of goats, chickens, pigs and dogs. Though most common to Latin America and South America, it has been spotted as far north as Michigan and Maine and has even shown up in Russia. There are countless videos and websites devoted to the myth of the chupacabra. This infamous crytpid has also made appearances on Animal Planet, and the Discovery Channel. Despite all the debate and discussion about El Chupacabra—including various descriptions from eyewitnesses—its legend continues to grow confounding skeptics, cryptozoologists and the curious in general.

As the debate rages, perhaps it’s best to err on the side of caution. What do you think?

Mae Clair’s Mythical Monday: Robert Johnson and the Crossroads

There are plenty of mythical beasts and legends to rifle through each Monday, always making it hard to choose just one.

This week I’m going to venture off the beaten trail to resurrect the tale of legendary blues guitarist, Robert Johnson. Step back into the dusty days of the Mississippi delta when folklore and music intertwined. When a hardscrabble existence and a hunger for fame, led a young man to bargain his soul for the trappings of success.

According to legend, Robert Johnson was already a moderately successful blues guitarist when he walked down to the crossroads on a moonless night. At the stroke of midnight he recited an incantation to summon the devil (or Legba, depending on the version of the tale). In exchange for his soul, the devil tuned Johnson’s guitar.  From then on Johnson played with amazing skill no other musician could match. When Son House, a friend and mentor to Johnson, was overheard saying “He sold his soul to play like that,” it only served to stoke the fire of superstition.

There was no question Johnson had peculiarities. He lived the life of a nomad, roaming from town to town peddling his music. He had an uncanny ability to pick up tunes at first hearing, and was once taught by a man rumored to have learned music in a church graveyard. He often turned his back to the crowd while playing, but could easily engage a group of listeners. Outgoing in public, he was reserved in private, well-mannered and soft spoken.

Having lost his sixteen-year-old bride and unborn child years before, he became a bit of a womanizer which may have led to his downfall. Legend has it Robert met his end when he drank from an open bottle of whiskey in a juke joint where he’d been playing. Some say a jealous husband poisoned the whiskey with strychnine, others that it was an ex-girlfriend. He suffered convulsions and died three days later. Still others whisper he was shot or stabbed. Whatever the cause, the man who sang “Hellhounds on My Trail” had nowhere left to flee.

Robert Johnson died at the age of twenty-seven on August 16, 1938 not far from a country crossroads in Greenwood, Mississippi.

Among his songs, six mention the devil or something supernatural. “Crossroad Blues” which has been recorded by a number of other musicians is also rumored to carry a curse. Several of those who have recorded, or played it frequently, experienced tragic circumstances–Eric Clapton, The Allman Brothers Band, Lynryd Skynrd, Led Zepplin and Kurt Corbain. I think it speaks volumes that all of these musicians and many others, kept Johnson’s song alive long after his demise.

In 1980 he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. Perhaps most telling of all, on September 17, 1994, the U.S. Post Office issued a Robert Johnson 29-cent commemorative postage stamp.

For Robert Johnson, King of the Delta Blues, his legend along with all of its inherent mystery, lives on!