Merry Christmas!

Congratulations to Kim of North Carolina for winning this month's contest! Thank you all for the great comments and support! Please come back Jan. 25 for the next contest!  Happy New Year to you all!

It's hard to believe another year has passed!  I hope it was a good one for you, full of joy, fun times, and great books!  And I hope you'll end 2014 with a bang-- Crouching Tiger, Forbidden Vampire!  It releases December 30.

To celebrate, there are a bunch of contests going on, and some live appearances scheduled.  Just check the appearances page on my website at www.kerrelynsparks.com or the events page on my Facebook author page.  The Launch Party will happen Dec. 30 at Katy Budget Books.  If you can't make it, you could still order one of the books I'll be signing that evening.  Just contact the folks at Katy Budget Books (http://www.katybooks.com) to place an order.

Avon Books has started a series of author events called KissCon. I'll be at the KissCon in Sarasota, Florida, at end of January and the KissCon in the St. Louis area at the end of March.  For more information about KissCon, please go to http://www.avonkisscon.com.  I also have events in Dallas in January and Birmingham, AL in February.  For more information, check the appearances page on my website or events page on my Facebook page.

And since you're busy opening presents and munching on Christmas cookies, I'll get straight to the contest. One lucky winner will receive a signed copy of The Vampire with the Dragon Tattoo and How to Seduce a Vampire (Without Really Trying).  Those are books 14 and 15, so you'll be ready for book 16, Crouching Tiger, Forbidden Vampire when it releases in a few days. The contest is open internationally. Winner will be chosen at random. To enter, simply leave a comment below. Leaving your email address in your comment will make it easier to track you down. If you choose not to leave your email address, that's okay, but please remember to check back here in a few days in case I'm looking for you.

And finally, I'd like to thank all of you for following the entire series and being the best readers ever!  Your enthusiasm and support have been a blessing to me over the years.  May you all have a safe and happy holiday season and a glorious New Year!

Dark Moon Stars

Christian Schloe - Surrealist Visions

From Kim's 11th House Blog.

Hello Supernatural Underground readers! How fast did 2014 go?

It's the Dark Moon now until December 21st/22nd, the perfect time to reflect on the power and energy about to shift with the final New Moon of 2014. Dark moons are for rest, recuperation, meditation and quietude. Find a place, inner and outer, that represents peace to you and go there.  

New Moon 0 Capricorn 06'
LA - Sunday - 5:35 pm
NY - Sunday - 8:35 pm  
Lon - Monday - 1:35 am  
Syd - Monday - 12:35 pm

New Moons are perfect for setting intentions, pre-paving desires and focusing our energy on what we want, but often we're too busy to get in touch with how we really feel. As the dark moon deepens this week, we can look back over 2014, asking what came to be. What could use some tweaking? Is there any dead wood that wants pruning?

Aligning with the current Astro can help you find the answers now, before the New Moon, and turn that knowledge into powerful transformations.   

These tips are also excellent for setting intentions for a most fabulous and fulfilling 2015.

Key elements in upcoming New Moon are:

1) Uranus direct - think back to March/April 2013. What was set into motion then? You have a chance to make major adjustment there now, and move forward in new ways.

 2) The Uranus/Pluto square - It's been in orb since 2010 but coming to its final exact alignment. What challenges have you faced? What strengths resulted?

 3) Saturn leaving Scorpio to enter Sagittarius - What have you been working hard towards since late 2012? The fruits are about to ripen!

4) New Moon on the 0 degree Aries Point. What is it you want to be 'known for'? Make sure that is part of the intentions you set on this auspicious New Moon.

Remember you get to decide how your respond to everything that comes your way. Be it old family dynamics, new romantic interest, brilliant creative dream or a job/living situ that has to change, you set the stage by how you think of it.

Click to Enlarge - New Moon Chart December 2014

Sign by Sign Horoscopes for the New Moon and the New Year 2015!

ARIES: This New Moon is a laser focus on your career, mission, profession. It's not enough to just get by. You want to express your capabilities out into the world. Ask what it is you represent and be that every time you step outside your door. Career Action time! Make a move.

TAURUS: Think new horizons as the possibilities for expansion present themselves in the new year. The focus for you is on new experiences - going places you have never been before. Travel, meditate, learn, teach, wander beyond the beaten path. Expand your awareness now!

 GEMINI: The New Moon activates your house of shared resources, collaboration and the desire to transformation. It helps if you let go of old ways of thinking about yourself and embracing the new. Include the art of receiving in this renaissance self. Abundance through joint endeavors. 

  CANCER: The New Moon rises in your 7th house of relationships and the intentions you set now will pave the way for your all of 2015. Hint: Begin with yourself. That's the partnership that counts! Be there for yourself, and shower your life with LOVE, appreciation and reverence. 

  LEO: Time to address any health or healing areas. Everything you do in your day to day routine counts - exercise, nutrition and the thoughts you think! The key to manifesting the life of your dreams begins with the basics, with soap and water and the kitchen sink. Appreciate every little thing.


VIRGO: The focus for you is creative self-expression, your art, craft and recreation. What is it you love doing? More of that is in order! Your homework is to have the time of your life through play, creative practice, music, dance, theater, film . . . whatever lights you up. Romance doesn't go astray either!


LIBRA: This New Moon is in your house of secret feelings and it's going to awaken all kinds of magic in your life. Eyes open. Be ready! Any and everything you do to improve the home right now improves you too! De-clutter, and spruce up the Feng Shui. Dreams and synchronicities light the way!

 SCORPIO: For you, the New Moon rises in your 3rd house of 'mind' and it's your thoughts and how you direct them that are most empowered. This is where your communication skills come in to play. Use them! Focus on what you want most, speak it aloud, and watch dreams come into being.

  SAGITTARIUS: The New Moon in Capricorn can make it easy to get distracted with pragmatic concerns. This isn't 'bad' though if you look deeper at your 'resources' you'll see your true wealth is your core values. Use them. Meanwhile, sort your finances, make a new plan, and expect abundance in 2015.

 CAPRICORN: This is your personal New Moon so take a moment to reflect on how your life is progressing. What have you accomplished in 2014? What goals do you want to set in 2015? Care to raise your sights? The sky truly is the limit, so start blasting through those set-points now!

 AQUARIUS: The New Moon rises out of the land of dreams and the chaos of the unconscious mind. It's about letting go and allowing for what you want as opposed to trying to force things to 'make it happen'. The more you relax, let go of control and allow your intuition to guide you, the better. No resistance!

 PISCES: The Capricorn Moon lights up your house of friends and like-minded others. You are opening to new connections and also, perhaps, some friends are starting to drift away. Just go with the ebb and flow, releasing the urge to grasp and cling. 2015 brings leadership roles! Be ready!

 Comments always welcome.

Have a wonderful NEW MOON and a safe and warm holiday season!

 Namaste all!
 xxxKim
Kim Falconer is a Supernatural Underground author writing paranormal romance, urban fantasy, YA and epic science fantasy novels.

You can find out more about Kim at GoodVibeAstrology.com,  KimFalconer.com or on the 11th House Blog, and on FaceBook and Twitter. She posts here at the Supernatural Underground on the 16th of every month. Her latest release is"Blood and Water" in Supernatural Underground: Vampires Gone Wild.

Martyrs and the Mistletoe season

Year of Living Heroically: The Resurrection

Okay folks. We are here. The big moment. The final ordeal. If is sounds like I'm being epic, I am.
Our Heroine has come so far down this journey and yet, she needs to do one more thing: sacrifice herself.

It is the key moment of our hero proving she is a hero. The last step in her journey is to face something she knows will kill her. She knows this because she has lived in this special world for so long that she already knows the dangers she is going to face AND SHE GOES TO FACE THEM ANYWAY.

Why you might ask?  For the greater good.

See, the hero has been through the flames before, the Supreme Ordeal, but that struggle was only for the betterment of her alone. The resurrection of the story is the hero realizing that she is the only person who can do this, and using the knowledge of the world so far, fights an evil that has been plaguing the whole world (or their special world). The resurrection of the story is the hero changing from warrior to martyr and in that change, healing the world around her.

What comes out of it is an elixir that is going to make the entire world a better place. Now, this elixir might be a peaceful nation, a healing potion, or knowledge that the entire village (and the reader) gains for the hero's sacrifice. And if Black Friday taught me nothing, its that everything has a price. The hero's willingness to sacrifice is the price paid. Don't go thinking that she has paid with their life. No! She is still kicking at the end of the book (most of the time).

Now, everyone's dragon/witch/beastie is going to look a bit different. For example: one of the best resurrection scenes I've seen in a comedy is the end of ACCEPTED, with Justin Long and Jonah Hill. Bartleby has to stand up to a school board wanted to shut down his college to defend his right to a passion-filled education and he wins, allowing his school to stay open and for all students to be able to fulfill their own dreams. Its a pretty awesome elixir for a very funny movie.

 Not everyone has to face down Sauron, but there are so many ways to be a hero in today's world, even if your sacrifice only changes a few people's lives, you've done something truly heroic.

I've been watching a lot of John and Hank Green videos and I think this holiday season is the perfect time to throw down a little gauntlet. I challenge you to be heroic and decrease world suck! You can start small, with small sacrifices, even our heroine had to build-up to dragon fighting.

But who knows, maybe this time next year, you'll be writing a blog of your year of living heroically.

Until next year my friends,

Amanda Arista
_____________________________________________________________________

Author, Diaries of an Urban Panther
www.amandaarista.com

Inside Middle Earth: Visiting Hobbiton

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With the third and final Hobbit film upon us I thought I'd share a few fun photos from inside Middle Earth—Hobbiton in fact.

Starting with the view to Bag End and "the tree":

A close up view of Bag End:

And the famous green door:

As well as an interior view of the Green Dragon:

And the green dragon itself (very topical!):

Regardless of whether or not you see the movie: have fun in December and all the best for the forthcoming holiday season. See you all again in 2015! (Scary!)