ENJOY YOUR STAY

A party beneath the full moon.

I'm sure your host will be here soon.

Candles light the dark hallway.

I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay.

THE DEAD GAME

by Susanne Leist

http://amzn.to/31wJpuN

A RED GLOW

Alexander Calder, Sumac V. 1953.

A glow in the night

will lead me astray

from the moon’s light

to where I can’t say.

Bloody prints mark the way

to a small town on the shore.

At the end of the day,

we are at the devil’s door.

Time has no meaning or reason.

You can travel forward or back.

Death will follow with each season.

It is past time for me to pack.

THE DEAD GAME by Susanne Leist

http://amzn.to/1lKvMrP

http://bit.ly/1lFdqNj  

DARK PARADISE

 

A more beautiful place cannot be,

It faces the waves of the dark sea.

White sand and quiet beaches galore,

You can’t ask for anything more.

Life is perfect as can be.

Come and frolic with me.

Tourists visit from far and wide.

Oasis is Florida’s pride.

Beware when The Dead descend.

We can no longer pretend

This is a perfect place to be

As The Dead rise up from the sea.

Darkness brings flying creatures and death.

Beware that this won’t be your last breath.

THE DEAD GAME

by Susanne Leist

ALIVE AT NIGHT

The wood floor creaks.

I slowly turn around.

Where are The Dead freaks?

I hear no other sound.

The lights flicker.

Can the rumors be true?

I feel sicker.

The Dead will take me too.

I can see their faces.

Dark eyes stare at me.

They take their places.

I’ll never be free.

I run through the hall,

But I’m running in place.

I give up and fall.

A grin covers his face.

He leers at me.

Eyes glowing bright red.

A sight to see.

I flee toward my bed.

He lifts me in his arms.

We fly into the dark night.

I won’t fall for his charms.

The Dead come alive at night.

THE DEAD GAME

QUEBEC BURNS

Quebec will never be the same

once The Dead play their game.

The boardwalk bursts into flames.

Are the vampires to blame?

THE DEAD AT HEART

BOOK THREE OF THE DEAD GAME SERIES

https://amzn.to/32wnFyc

SPLENDOR IN THE GRASS

Follow the lights to the house of glass,
There will be much splendor in the grass.
A more decadent event there could not be,
Lights in the trees as far as the eye could see.

THE DEAD GAME

STEP INSIDE

 

If you dare step inside,
there’ll be nowhere to hide.
A new dimension you’ll cross
on the back of a black horse.
Are you ready for this?
Lean in for my first kiss.

THE DEAD GAME SERIES
by Susanne Leist

A VAMPIRE’S BITE

William’s bite bonded Shana to him, but he didn’t ask her to mate with him for life. She isn’t ready for a lifetime commitment. Now, William excludes her from his vampire meetings. Shana understands he’s an original vampire with immense powers. For them to be a couple, he has to treat as an equal partner. If William doesn’t respect her, then what are their chances of finding happiness?

Shana speaks to Linda, her best friend, of her fears.

“Paradise is an illusion.” Shana’s face grows heated as her frustration mounts. “Oasis is a haven for vampires. I’m tired of their battles. The Watchers get rid of an evil group of vamps, and another group arrives and attacks. It’s a vicious cycle. Vampires are trouble.”

“We will have a happy ending.” Linda lifts her head. “Don’t lose faith. The Watchers will protect us, and Gregg has an elite force of original vampires.” She touches Shana’s arm. “William loves you; he won’t let something happen to you.”

“The vampires keep secrets from us.” Shana swallows the lump in her throat. “I don’t want to live with vamps anymore, and I need time to decide on my relationship with William. One minute, I’m suffocating, and then the next, I’m lost without him.”

As a new enemy descends on Oasis, Florida, Shana turns to Sheriff Sam, who broke her heart. Can she trust the human-vampire?

This begins Shana’s journey to fight vampires and werewolves with Sam at her side.

An explosion at Chateau Frontenac in Quebec doesn’t stop Shana and her friends from saving their town, and maybe even the world.

THE DEAD AT HEART by Susanne Leist

https://amazon.com/dp/B08DZY6LPF

https://barnesandnoble.com/w/the-dead-at-heart-susanne-leist/1137419755?ean=2940162640943

THE DEAD GAME -- IN THE BEGINNING

sonnetlx:

Candles by simplysublime

THE DEAD GAME BY SUSANNE LEIST
IN THE BEGINNING

The town of Oasis is plagued by dark shadows. Shana and her friends plan their own line of defense. They believe Wolf is responsible for the deaths and disappearances in town.

      Shana's friends sit around her table in the back room of her mystical store with the lights off and the front door securely locked. A small candle on the table provides the only light in the room. Shadows on the walls sway back and forth with the motion of the flickering flame. Each time the shadows move, Shana jumps a little inside, remembering the dark figures that have been stalking her.
     Despite the fear racing through her icy veins, she says to the others, “We must confront Wolf on our own. "

Are they successful? Do they rid the town of the evil one and his followers?

Only The Dead know.

THE DEAD GAME

http://amzn.to/1lKvMrP
Nook
http://bit.ly/1lFdqNj

Author Spotlight on Susanne Leist by Angel Sefer

This is my author spotlight  on Angel Sefer's blog.  She did a great job. Thank you.

Spotlight on Susanne Leist - Author of the exciting paranormal mystery/thriller The Dead Game by Angel Sefer

http://www.angelsefer.blogspot.gr/2015/10/spotlight-on-susanne-leist-author-of.html

As you all know, I have a special section on my blog where I feature excerpts of fascinating novels of many talented authors. So, I asked Susanne Leist—the talented author of the exciting paranormal mystery/thriller The Dead Game—if she was interested in sending me an excerpt of her popular novel to post on my blog.

I was happy Susanne accepted my invitation and sent me an excerpt and information about her book. Along with that, she also sent me a very touching note about herself.

So, I want you all to meet the real Susanne Leist:

I was asked to contribute an article to a fellow author’s blog. At first I panicked. I didn’t know what to write about. I’m a listener. I listen to other people’s stories. I’m a good listener. I don’t like speaking about myself. Therefore, I don’t like to write about myself. But now that I’m a writer, I have to move into the spotlight.

I’ve done a few interviews on fellow authors’ blogs. Their questions helped to serve as guidelines. Now I have a blank page to deal with. Should I write about why I had decided to become a writer? I don’t think so. It has been done to death by writers. I believe I will write about what had inspired me to pursue my career in Finance. It wasn’t a ‘what’ but a ‘who;’ the person who I had looked up to and then had lost too early in life. This was my brother, Neil Leist.

Neil was the type of person who lit up a room when he entered it. He was 6’2”, but it wasn’t his height that drew others’ eyes. It was his dynamic personality and his intelligence. Those grey eyes mirrored his great intellect and capacity for greatness. He acted as my father when my father wasn’t home but working long days and nights driving a taxi. He took care of my blind mother until I was old enough to help out. He sheltered me as much as he could from life and responsibilities. He shouldered these burdens himself.

He did well in college but he flourished in the business world. He traded on the Commodity Exchange until he had enough money to take over a Fortune 500 company. With a majority share in its stock, he took over American Bakeries. Taystee Bread was never going to be the same. He took me along on his ride to stardom. I worked for him on the Exchange and in his offices on Madison Ave. in Manhattan. I majored in Finance at New York University, preparing to join him. All was going well for once in my life and in my brother’s life. My parents were proud. He helped them out. All was perfect until that awful phone call in the middle of the night.

My lights went out. All the light in the world was gone for me. I was stuck in darkness as dark and deep as the one my mother lived in. My brother had been in a car accident in the Hamptons. His fancy, red Porsche had hydroplaned on the wet roads. Neil was a great driver with quick reflexes. He drove the car off the road and onto the grass. Luck wasn’t with him. A truck was parked in his path and the Porsche crashed beneath it.

Neil was in a coma for two years before he passed away. Meanwhile, his so-called friends at American Bakeries were undermining his position at the company causing the stock price to drastically plummet. We had to sell off his investment in one big chunk at a big loss. Most of his money was tied up with this company. I spent eight years dealing with all the vermin or finance people and lawyers before his estate could be settled.

I lost my taste for high Finance. I did get an M.B.A. in Finance but it soon lost its appeal to me. I wasn’t cutthroat. I wasn’t a back stabber. I wanted an interesting job that was challenging. I did enjoy working at The Office of Management and Budget at City Hall. I wasn’t able to work the overtime hours on Saturdays because of my Sabbath, so I left.

I worked at different companies, such as: E.F. Hutton & Co., McCall Pattern Company, and at local brokerage firms on Long Island where I now live. None of these jobs appealed to me. I was married with two beautiful daughters. I devoted myself to them. I took on part-time jobs, but I was always available if they needed me.

The big 50 was approaching and I was beginning to feel that I had lost out on life. My brother and then both my parents had passed away. My daughters were beginning their own lives. I needed a focus, a reason for my life. I was helping my daughter write an essay for college. I read it over and was surprised that I had written it. It related to my mother being blind with dementia in a nursing home. I began to think about writing.

My mid-life crisis book, The Dead Game, took me ten years to write. I hadn’t realized that writing was so hard. Characters have to move around and speak at the same time. They can’t sound the same. Through all the rewrites, the plot and story remained the same. Only the dialogue and grammar changed. I believe I could edit for the rest of my life and still not be satisfied.
I found a self-publisher, who offered to print and edit the book for a set price. Anything else costs extra. If I made any changes to the book after it was published, it would cost hundreds of dollars for them to take care of it. They even charged to send the changes to Amazon and Nook, even though these companies don’t charge for this.

One day, the publisher informed me that my book was published. I thought that this meant it was printed. Not only was it printed, it was sitting on Amazon and Nook without a description or bio. It looked sad. I panicked. I had to learn how to use Google so I could ask it how to describe a book. I learned about the log line and synopsis. I bought books on grammar and editing. I opened blogs. I found Facebook and Twitter. Luckily, I found some nice authors who helped me with my countless questions.

My book looked nice on the sites, but it didn’t have reviews. I soon learned that without reviews there are no sales. I joined Goodreads.com to find reviewers. I was placed in review groups, where the members randomly reviewed other members’ books but not each other’s books. Some authors gave nice reviews with constructive criticism. Others took apart my book, piece by piece, and in detail described what was wrong with it. They even used excerpts. These hurt, but I used the reviews to fix any weak spots in my book. After a year of this, I put out a new edition of my book. I tried to address everyone’s concerns. But you just can’t please everyone.

My book is now sitting comfortably in its sections: Vampire Suspense on Amazon and Paranormal Suspense on Nook. I will continue to promote it online while I begin to work on book 2 of The Dead Game series.

My life has taken many unexpected twists and turns. I wonder what the young me would have thought if she had heard that she was going to write vampire stories in the future. Would she have laughed? Would she have been surprised? Knowing me so well, I wouldn’t have laughed or wouldn’t have been surprised. And I might have even been happy. I don’t believe I was so happy with Finance, even in the beginning. I did it as more of a challenge. I wanted to do well in a male-dominated field—just to prove that I could do it. And now I have a new mission. I want to prove to myself that I could be a good author. And I believe I’m well on my way.

Thank you for listening,

Susanne Leist

Excerpt from the exciting paranormal mystery/thriller The Dead Game by Susanne Leist