Can I Buy You A Drink? (At my favorite fictional bar)

New Storm Tide excerpt and cocktail cards from Ramone's Party Cove

Feb 28, 2022

Hi there, you sexy fantasy romance reading beasts!

We have a bunch of new reader friends that have joined the lair—woohoo! Welcome, everyone! First off, I have one quick order of business to attend to. Last week, I did a big switch over from my former mailing service to this one. And, I have to say, I’m loving the new interface and the functionality. There may even be opportunity for me to add some fun new features such as serialized stories, podcasts (if I ever were to get up the nerve to start one) and other things. So that’s all really great stuff to be excited about. Buuuut (there’s always a but, isn’t there?) in the big switch over coupled with some technical glitchy-ness from one of the two systems—I won’t say which—I’m afraid I have a batch of new readers that may fallen through the cracks. That being said, if any of you got any repeat emails or my system missed you hitting the “jump ship” button, I apologize. Switch over is all done and the Monsters & Mystics newsletter is now my main hub for all my book talk and news, so we’re good to go. If you have any concerns or think you might have missed any news or new subscriber gifts from me, please don’t hesitate to contact me at amandavshane@amandavshane.com and I’ll get you squared away.

Okay, now that we have that out of the way, onto the fun! Here’s one of the book teasers I posted from Storm Tide this week on instagram and I’m adding in a little extended excerpt for you reading monsters and “mysticalials” (totally made up a new word) because I love you!

“You know not what you have done, warrior.” The main völva said. Her haggard face appeared at the entrance of the cave. Two younger witches appeared behind her, their skin marked in magic symbols. Draknar’s throat had yielded to Karr’s sword three days past. The Elder witches captured him in a web of dark magic before he could sail back home with his clansmen. Now he lay, tied on a stone slab in a dark enclosure. Ritual smoke, pungent with strong-smelling herbs, filled the air. “You will never meet your glory in Valhalla, god slayer. You came to this land an outcast, Karr Völbrok. The gods do not claim you for their own. No one claims you. You are a man with no clan and no place!” She pointed her staff at Karr’s face as she screeched at him.

Slowly, the old crone lowered her hand, her face twisting into a hideous snarl. Karr imagined her mouth and nose taking on the shape of a dog’s snout, a wolf’s. “This night we,” she opened her arms wide, staff in hand, “daughters of Vala, high priestesses of the Vanir magic, will give you a place.”

She nodded to the other sorceresses, those to the left of her and those to the right. Their numbers had grown inexplicably, many bodies appearing from out of nowhere, all hovering behind the main Elder witch. Karr blinked, but all that did was intensify the burn of the acrid smoke in them. His head swam from the smell winding its way into his mouth, nose, and eyes. The main sorceress’s face appeared above him, a cruel snarl twisting her lips. The lines of her wizened face contorted into an inhuman visage, her small eyes becoming sharp, black pebbles barely held within the withered skin on her skull.

He couldn’t speak, could barely see. Watery images surrounded him, closing in. Mournful wailing came from the back of the large group as the high walls of the cave began to sway. Faces of witches, young and old, twisted, then stretched, changing before his eyes to those of beasts and phantoms. Other images swept around Karr in the smoke as wails and shrieks wended their way into a strange song that penetrated his brain. Flits and shadows. Faces and rooms like nothing he’d ever seen. Places here and not here, neither of the Earth nor the halls of Valhalla, of that he felt certain. A different place—Niflheim!

The old sorceress laughed.

“I see into you,” her voice crackled, the smoke clearing barely enough for Karr to see her marble eyes loom above him. “Dark things, warrior. You believe you killed Draknar, but its mighty spirit remains intact. The beast will lie with you, trapped as you shall be trapped until the time the gods are called back to the earth.” Karr tried to move, tried to call out, but could not. The witches’ spells immobilized him. The only sense of his physical self he retained came as a rush of cold air mixing with the smoke on his skin. An immediate freeze tore into his veins with a vengeance. Wind and ice pushed through his blood, stopping his heart. The lines on the lead witch’s face twisted even more violently as the wailing song of the others hit a fever pitch. Frost raced over Karr’s face and lips, sealing his eyelids shut.

The cold overtook all. It was his final memory before that of the face of the deadly beauty who’d pulled his sword from his frozen grip.

In addition to that little morsel, I have my latest flash fiction piece for those of you that didn’t read it earlier in the month. Just click on the link for Realm of Diamonds—my latest fantasy romance short story.

Now, for my newbies: Let me induct you into the Tides of Atlantis fan club. (And for anyone else who has lost track of their story drink recipes cards.)

As promised, here are the recipe cards direct from hot-as-sin Adam Atlas’s bar—Ramone’s Party Cove—from the Tides of Atlantis book series. If you’ve been with me for a while, you’ve probably already seen these by now, but here they are again in case you lost track of them. They’re all alcoholic versions, but I’m sure you can turn them into non-alcoholic versions as well. If you come up with any good variations on my recipes, I’d love to hear about them. Just email me your creations! For now, let Adam Atlas be your personal bartender… yum!

First off, here is the drink featured in Moontide, Tides of Atlantis Book #1.

Buy Moontide

Drink 2 from Crystal Tide, Tides of Atlantis Book #2

Buy Crystal Tide

Drink 3 - from King of the Tides, Tides of Atlantis Book #3

Buy King of the Tides

I periodically write short stories set in the Tides of Atlantis story world that have cocktails to go along with holidays and special occasions, so be on the look out for those! I definitely have a super pretty one coming out for Storm Tide that you won’t want to miss. Till then, happy reading, book monsters and take a look at these awesome books I found for you…

Here is a new book that is especially near and dear to my heart as you’ll find the author has named the video game that appears in the story “Tides of Atlantis”. I’m so tickled by this, I can’t even say! Be sure to check out Carly Spade’s rendition of a mythology romance with her new book, Poseidon!