Meet Thor 
Our family adopted him when he was 10 months old. His original owners said he was “uncontrollable,” and we were approached because Mark McKibben, husband, and father, is a dog trainer. Within no time, Thor became a model citizen, so much so that he attends meetings with Mark and has become the example of a well-behaved pooch.

Fast forward to about six years. As a more mature dog, Thor developed a lipoma, a lump under the skin that occurs due to an overgrowth of fat cells. His wound was on his hip and quite large. (Yes, he needs to lose weight.) Vets consider lipomas as non-cancerous growths, but it’s always advisable to remove them, just in case.

​​So, Mark took him in to have the growth removed. That was the easy part.

Should Dogs Lick Wounds to Heal Them?
It’s said dog kisses heal, so why didn’t we let Thor lick his post-surgical incision? Let me answer by asking, when was the last time your dog ate something off the sidewalk that you couldn’t identify? When was the last time they went licking their unmentionables? How many times do they brush their teeth?

It’s true that dogs can be a comfort when their people are depressed, hurting, lonely and need a friend. But while their mouths have a different set of bacteria separate from humans, which is why they don’t get sick when we have a cold and we can’t get kennel cough from them, licking a wound has a higher potential of getting infected.  

Let us tell you about the experience we had with Thor licking his stitches. 

Want to read more of Stephanie McKibben's article written for Penn Scripter? Click here. 

Til Next Time,
​Carol

I am so in love with the cover for my newest series! What's it about? Well, here's a clue:

Supernatural hybrids. The wrath of the Devil. Can three chosen by God win the war against darkness?
 
Reign knows he was never supposed to exist. The impossible fusion of a vampire and a spirit wolf, the powerful shifter’s life is a divine miracle. But when the city of Florence is robbed of its memories, Reign stands between the innocent Italians and a hellish demise.
 
Teaming up with his bonded packmate and a young wizard, Reign storms the Tuscan capital to bring down the possessed mob leader. And with the Heavenly battle raging against Satanic gangsters, the God-chosen crossbreed must risk his own inconceivable life to annihilate the forces of evil. 
 
Can Reign survive his ordained mission to save the world from damnation?
 
Reign: The Assault of Lucifer Morningstar is the extraordinary first book in the Silver Blood Knight paranormal vampire series. If you like epic conflicts, unexpected revelations, and unique twists on supernatural creatures, then you’ll love Carol McKibben’s out-of-this-world tale.
 
Guess what! Even though the book launches on November 10, you can pre-order it today! Here's the link to purchase Reign: The Assault of Lucifer Morningstar to defeat Satan today!

http://mybook.to/reign1
​I hope you will join me in my latest adventure today!
Until Next Time,
Carol

I wanted to share my latest adventure with you. It's called Penn Scripter.

What is it? Penn Scripter is the nom de plume for the writing team of S.N. and Carol McKibben. This mother-daughter combo writes unexpected paranormal romance. Separately, they each have a healthy list of novels.

The two authors have combined their talents and interests to produce unexpected paranormal romance that will include fantasy, mythology, paranormal, dogs and horses, relationships, unusual circumstances, and, of course, romance.

Current projects include a fantasy novel entitled, Triad, and a contemporary paranormal romance, The Transformation of Charlie.

Here is an excerpt from Triad - The Demon of Reginhart, our current work in progress:

His inferno steed, Selkie, drove onward while Marcus brooded over his situation. Just another cog in the wheel of a king. Even a demon could learn something about manipulation from Valder.

Marcus slowed Selkie to a stop at a fork in the road. He squinted at a weathered wooden sign for direction. The trees here grew in an uncultivated manner. Winter rested upon the trees, weighing down limbs with snow. Knotted branches reached out, pointing accusations at Marcus. The crisp air settled in, chilling his bones from the exhaustive pursuit to his new place of rest.

Steam rose from under Selkie’s dancing hooves. Snow gave way to patches of dry ground the size of hoof prints. Marcus’s steed gnashed his teeth, grunting his annoyance, heaving breaths, sending fog into the air. Selkie’s pace shortened a three day’s distance in half. Still, the inferno steed pranced in anxious patience, willing to run longer, faster, more.

Marcus folded his clawed fingers against his palm and stroked Selkie with his knuckles. Valder commanded an immediate departure and that compulsion pushed him to exceed Selkie’s limits.

“Walk the rest of the way.” After his manic ride to Reginhart, Selkie deserved an easier pace.


​And, here's a video clip to give you a bit more detail!

Music has always been such an important part of my life.

I met my husband Mark through music. He was a radio DJ when we first became acquainted. I knew him through his music.

Music has gotten me through good and bad times. It touches my soul. And, I forgot that for a time.

I was reminded this past weekend when my trainer, Deirdre Sabo-Frary, danced to music with my horse, Okido, in several musical freestyles. In fact, in one show, they danced to the regional championships with two qualifying scores. 

Deirdre commented about how much Okido loves his music. As I watched him, I thought he just seems to come alive when he hears his music, and trust me, he knows it's his music. 

If music affects the animals in our lives, think about what it does for us. It lifts our spirits, carries us away to our fantasies, and makes us happy while we work.

I put on the best of Seals and Crofts, one of my favorite oldies duo, this morning, and I am quite happy as I work. 

This is a hard time for all of us. This year hasn't been what we all expected when we rang it in on January 1st. But, we can learn that we have definite ways to get through them. Think about the music in your life... whether it is really music, another person, your family, or the things you love to do.

I know that I am inspired to go dance with Okido. I hope you will listen to the music in your life and let it lift you above all else.

Til Next Time,
​Carol

Love. That's what we need now. 

With the horror, conflict, and fear that surrounds us now, I can only shake my head and wonder why we have forgotten to love instead of hate. I read posts on social media, shake my head, and cry. People are so quick to attack. Quick to judge. 

My question has always been, if dogs can love us unconditionally, why can't we love each other in the same way? I pulled up the image above to a happier time. These were my five labs - Darth, Leia, Luke, Yoda, and Obe Wan called Tipper. They loved us without question. They trusted us and were loyal. They are gone now, but the joy they brought to me will live in my heart forever.

Shouldn't it be so with people? Can't love and kindness prevail? 

All the books that I write reflect this theme, even in the most unlikely and perilous conditions. That's our situation today, and I ask only one thing. Consider that it might be easier to love than condemn, love than hate, understand instead of judging.

Til Another Time,
​Carol

While you continue to shelter at home, you can escape for FREE! That's right. A select collection of FREE digital books has been hand-picked by a former acquisitions editor for your enjoyment. They include all genres, so you can choose what you like. And, my very own Snow Blood Season 1 is among them. 

Don't hesitate. Offer begins on May 1 but won't last. 

https://claims.prolificworks.com/gg/Qfvwq6itS6Fei8hjtM5n

Happy reading!
​
Til Next Time,
Carol

​Enzo’s shaggy black fur shimmered in the Tuscany moonlight. His golden eyes transfixed on nothing. His body stood frozen in place. I knew the signs. My spirit-turned-corporeal wolf was experiencing another vision.

The forest around us just outside my master Kane’s Italian wine estate was silent save the laughing voices of Zandra, her brothers, and James, her newly turned hybrid vampire Lycan, as they hunted for prey in the far distance. They had no need to be quiet as their vampire speed allowed them to take down the fastest prey. Through my preternatural connection to Kane, I alerted to my sire taking down a large bull moose and sating his thirst at the beast’s jugular. I longed to have a taste.

Instead, I padded to Enzo and pressed against him until his eyes focused and he shook his head. I sat back on my haunches as he gazed into my eyes.

We will have little rest. The worst approaches.

His warning shook me to the core. I twisted my head at the one I loved only second to Kane and wondered, What could be worse than what we have experienced? Enemy werewolves, flesh eaters, shifters, and zombies have attacked us repeatedly. Lilith, the original succubus, has tried to control us. Satan has tried to destroy us. Prior to ever meeting you, human greed captured and tried to use us.

Before he could telepathically respond, we both lifted our noses to the air and took in the stench of danger lurking around us.

An arrow whizzed past my right ear. A sharp sting and the whiff of deadly silver alerted me as a chunk of my furry white ear sailed through the air.

Enzo whirled and placed his backside to mine. We circled as some twenty men dressed in brown leather pants and boots surrounded us. They carried axes, crossbows, and swords. Their faces and bodies reeked of hate.

My injured ear stung. The insidious burn of it seeped inward from the minor cut. Liquid fire ran down the rest of my injured appendage numbing everything it touched. I feared silver poison but ignored it and sprang just missing the sharp side of an axe intended for me. I went for the hunter’s weapon-wielding arm and bit down.

The man screamed, convulsed, and foamed at the mouth. He died before he hit the ground.
Behind me, I heard Enzo tear into several others. Skin and cloth ripped. Screams of humans being devoured rang through the air. The spirit wolf’s throaty growls and gnashing teeth mingled with their cries.

A few of the enemy backed off momentarily in surprise at Enzo’s ferocity and their comrade’s death from my one bite. They must not have known that I had inherited my biological father Snow Blood’s deadly bite. I took off to my right, grabbed the extended arm of one man, and ripped it from his shoulder. He shuddered and fell face first into the budding spring ground cover. I whirled and this time bit into the leg nearest me. Knowing I had killed again, I moved on and sprang, tearing out the throat of a third victim.

The screams of those Enzo attacked were short-lived. His powerful jaws ripped throat after throat. Dead bodies littered the forest ground. The smell of their blood incited me. The bloodlust within me overpowered my senses.

I leapt for another would-be victim but was taken down by a silver arrow to my spine. The pain shot through every nerve ending, and the deadly metal surged through my core paralyzing me. Four more attackers surrounded me and began to slash and hack at me with both swords and axes. A blade bit deeply into my shoulder. I yelped in agony. The pain became intolerable.
Enzo instantly jumped them and became a killing machine. Body parts flew in the air. A head rolled next to me. The man’s blank, dead eyes stared at me. An arm plopped down just next to the head. A headless torso took flight and smashed against an oak tree.

I struggled to stand as another blow landed on me from behind, taking my hind legs out from under me. I whirled and took off the offending hand with one bite. The soft appendage still wiggled. My body began to morph into my inner demon, but blood poured from me. I fought to keep my eyes open and was sinking fast. I felt my life slipping away.

As another attacker bent to slice my throat, I sprang with all my remaining strength and tore out his. With nothing left, I slid toward the earth. As the world went dark, I heard Kane’s voice. Hold on, girl. We’re here.

Want more? Go here: https://books2read.com/u/mv59pq

Til Next Time,
Carol

Moon Blood 5, the last book in the First Blood Son Series, is finally available on Kindle. This book - with a tagline of: One.Last.Battle. - is the ultimate fight between good and evil.

I love the cover because it depicts Zandra watching Kane in red dragon form while Moon and Enzo protect her back. 

This book throws all manner of evil at my beloved de Medici vampire family, and the question is: Will they survive?

I loved writing this series, and I hope you will join me in the finale. You'll find it at: http://mybook.to/MB5. It's also available at Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple, etc. You can find it at other retailers here: https://books2read.com/u/mv59pq.

Readers are now asking me if this is the end of the stories of vampires who battle against evil. The answer is: Not Yet. Look for another entire series entitled Reign - The Silver Blood Knight. Book 1 is in the can, and I'm working on Book 2. Unfortunately, it's up to my publisher as to when these books will be released. I promise to keep you informed.

In the meantime, meet Reign below.

Til Next Time,
Carol
​
  

This is a "tree" that links all the characters in the Snow Blood family together. Just something to keep readers straight on all the characters. Not as bad as Game of Thrones, but lots to remember! 

Til Next Time,
​Carol

As you may or may not know, I love to meet and interview the characters from my books. This time, I was fortunate enough to request and was granted some time with Seth.

Seth is a long-time friend of Kane’s, the first blood son of Brogio, the original vampire. He was an angel who fell from grace for the love of a human woman named Emma. After Seth fell, Emma died in an accident. Kane and his family later discovered that Hecate, goddess of witches, murdered Emma so that she could win Seth for herself.

Grief-stricken over Emma’s death, Seth became a white witch so that he could help people in need. Kane dabbled in witchcraft, and that’s how they met.

Seth, along with his angel companion, Mathias, who takes the form of a winged Friesian horse, have been integral to both the Snow Blood and Moon Blood Series. So, I thought it important for you to get to know him a little better. He agreed to meet me in the forest near Kane’s Tuscany wine estate near Rome.

As I sat on a large fallen tree branch in the forest clearing and waited, the moon shone so brightly that I had to squint to observe it. I blinked and rubbed my eyes at the sight of the black shadow of a giant winged horse as it flew in silhouette across the face of the moon. The light from the moon grew brighter and elongated to a silver streak on the ground in the forest some thirty feet away from me.

I shook my head, rubbed my eyes, and felt his presence before me. Looking up, his face took my breath away. A man shouldn’t be that beautiful.

“But I am not a man.” The angel’s smile made the silver light around him glow brighter. He extended his large, white wings and then folded them behind him, where they disappeared. 

I had never seen eyes so blue or such luxurious abundance of silver white hair. Seth was tall and broad-shouldered. No wonder Hecate wanted him for herself.

The bright light slowly faded from around him, and he sat next to me and adjusted his long white robe over his knees.

I stared at him for a moment, at a loss for words.

He laughed. “Well, you created me… you shouldn’t be surprised.”

I shrugged. “Okay, do you mind if I ask you some personal questions for my readers?”

His blue eyes scanned my face. “You already know the answers but go ahead.”

“Why did Hecate come after you… after… Emma.” I felt almost ashamed to ask him the question.

“Don’t be sad. Emma is with Mathias and me doing good work. We are all quite pleased with our existence now.” Seth smiled. “As for Hecate, every two hundred years, Hecate had the chance to woo and win a morally good man. Once they were mated, she could produce a demon seed and bring dark evil into the world. The witch disguised herself as a woman that could have been Emma’s twin. She called herself Trivia and almost had me in her clutches. Kane, Brogio, Selene, Snow Blood, and his pack were able to trick her into revealing her true self to me.”

I nodded my head. “Will you tell our readers how you became an angel again?

Seth looked off into the distance and shook his head absentmindedly. “Patience, Mathias. I see you lurking in the trees. I told you I’d only be ten minutes or so.” He turned to me. “He is so impatient, that one. He’s always on to the next mission. Such a slave-driver.” He scratched his alabaster chin. “Now, where was I. Oh, how did I return to God? He created me with special love. He wanted an angel that embodied his own love of mankind. Each one of us has a purpose of sorts. Michael is God’s warrior. Mathias is his timekeeper. He made me to love humans equal to His own love of them. Because I loved them so much, I became vulnerable to a human’s love for God. I fixated on Emma, a woman so pure of heart, and fell hopelessly in love with her. I gave up my immortality to be with her. When I fell from heaven so that I could be with Emma, God’s heart was broken. He sent Mathias to be my protector here on Earth. After my near-fatal encounter with Hecate and with some convincing from Mathias, God reinstated me because He wanted me back. I hope that doesn’t sound too vain. I don’t mean it to be. That’s just the truth.

Mathias snorted from the trees, and I could see his faint outline as it blended among the forest. He was the largest horse I’d ever seen. As he emerged from the trees and stomped the ground, his wings spread out over the clearing and appeared to overpower it.

“He’s still your protector, I see.” I glanced at Seth, who stood as I spoke.

“Always. We are paired by choice.”

I looked behind Mathias and could see the faint outline of a feminine body leaning against a large oak tree. “Is that Emma?” I stood next to Seth.

“Yes. A choice we have been granted.” His smile lit up the dark sky, and his white light surrounded him.

“Wait, are you leaving? I have more questions.” I put out my hand to touch him, but he backed away and spread his wings.

“Another time, perhaps? Maybe someday you will write a story about the three of us, and we can spend more time together.” He rose from the ground, and Mathias joined him. They both disappeared, and a slender female figure shot up into the heavens behind them.

The forest grew cold and barren without them.
 
If  you haven’t read the Snow Blood and Moon Blood Series, check out Carol McKibben’s author page on Amazon. Moon Blood, Book 5 will be released on March 13, 2020, and both series will be complete. More books involving characters from these series will be available at the end of 2020.