The Poseidon Project by E. William Podojil – Interview and Giveaway

January 16, 2025 By 4 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $25 Amazon/BN.com gift card. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

If you could apologize to someone in your past, who would it be?

EWP: I’d apologize to someone with whom I was in a relationship. It didn’t end well, but we both ended up better off.

If you could keep a mythical/ paranormal creature as a pet, what would you have?

EWP: Anything that flies; dragon, phoenix, griffin, so my pet could take me places.

How do you keep your writing different from all the others that write in this particular genre?

EWP: I try and keep my books about people, all types of people, which is real life. People are the variables that can make a situation good or bad. I try to write about a diverse set of characters, how they are challenged, how they interact, clash, agree.

What are the best and worst pieces of writing advice you ever received?

EWP: The best piece of advice: Go for it and try. Worst piece of advice: You can’t do anything until you get an agent.

Are the experiences in this book based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

EWP: Many of my own experiences are woven through my stories, but so far, none have been based upon real events or people. I’m working on a project now that attempts to do that, so we’ll see how it goes.

The Poseidon Project is an international suspense thriller and the first book in The Herb Society Mysteries series

Molly Halloran and her friends have a secret past. Their bucolic retirement is suddenly upended when Molly’s husband is abducted and held for a steep ransom. Now she, her friends, her tech executive son, Lukas and his Air Force pilot boyfriend must race against the clock and travel halfway around the world to meet the kidnappers’ demands. But when they learn why her husband has been abducted, they realize how high the stakes truly are. Molly and her friends now must face their past in order to save the future. But not only their futures; the world’s.

Enjoy an Excerpt

The Spectrum’s engines roared, providing thrust to power the plane to takeoff speed as it lurched ahead down the runway. The plane’s power was evident as the acceleration force held them in their seats. This plane was designed to go fast, and the cabin was surprisingly quiet. As they hit takeoff speed, Taylor pulled back, and the nose lifted off the ground, followed shortly by the rest of the plane. The landing gear retracted immediately into the fuselage.

The passengers quietly stared out the large porthole windows as the Goose climbed out of Tucson. It was almost dusk, and Lukas spotted thousands of saguaro cacti dotting the sides of mountains that cast distorted shadows that looked like goblins. The exhilarating views captivated everyone. That is, for everyone except Donna, who sat rigid in her seat, hands clenched and her eyes squeezed shut. Lukas shot her a thumbs up in thanks to Donna—already not a fan of flying, but all in for a fifteen-hour flight halfway around the world just to support her friend. The plane’s angle leveled off, and soon Taylor emerged from the cockpit, curious how well the passengers had settled into their home for the next fifteen hours. Linda and Betty had their eyes shut, as Donna distracted herself with her laptop.

Taylor walked back to the crew stateroom for a few minutes. He and Diego had a brief conversation before Diego walked up to the cockpit. Lukas moved toward the back of the plane to set up his inflight internet connection and workspace. Linda and Betty awoke, startled and disoriented after their brief power nap, while Donna adjusted their seats to face each other, a small table between them. Betty remarked that it reminded her of a train.

“How’re you doing?” Taylor asked Lukas.

“Just trying to get set up here. I’ve got a lot of work to do on the way to Dubai. I need to connect with my team in Croatia to get some data and ideas on how I can get this ransom together. It’s still early morning there, so I’ll wait a few hours.”

“Why don’t you get some sleep until then?” Taylor suggested. I’m gonna try to myself. You mind?” Taylor pointed to the empty seat next to Lukas.

“Of course not.” Lukas stood to let him in. Taylor sat and reclined his seat. “I changed my mind. I’ll let the kids do the first leg, then I’ll replace one of them, and we rotate like that.”

Lukas saw that his mom and her friends were already starting to doze off, no doubt tired from the frenetic day. “Why don’t you sleep with me?” Taylor said, and then caught himself. “I mean not with me but next to me—you know what I mean. You make me all tongue-tied, Dr. Halloran.”

“Sure, I could use a nap. I’m relieved we’re finally on our way.” Lukas reclined his seat to the same angle as Taylor’s. The cabin was mostly dark, except for the LED accent lights that glowed a cool blue.

Taylor reached out and touched Lukas’ hand. “Is this okay?” He then intertwined his fingers with Lukas’. “This is better than okay. Sleep tight.” Lukas raised their joined hands and kissed the back of Taylor’s. Pretty soon, their hands were on each other’s thighs.

Heat rose from Taylor’s athletic legs.

Despite the sadness, stress, and emotion of this week, Lukas appreciated the kind soul sleeping next to him. As he was resting, Lukas suddenly felt a rush of panic. What am I doing? Random memories of Drew raced through his head as he tried to calm himself. He tried to rationalize his thoughts. Yes, I just met this guy. Yes, I promised myself I’d never get hurt again. But he’s such a nice man. What if he’s psycho? He pulled his hand away from Taylor and eventually calmed his mind and drifted off to sleep. When Lukas woke up, he noticed his mother sitting with her eyes open, staring at nothing, either deep in thought or terrified of something. Lukas walked over to her. “Ma, are you doing okay?”

“I think I’m okay. I just have a lot on my mind.”

“I know. This has got to be tough for you…” “Honey, I’m not talking about your father. Of course, I’m concerned about him, but it’s only a matter of time until we can see him, hopefully.”

About the Author

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E. William Podojil has worked as a writer, advisor and international business executive while living in the Netherlands and the United States. He studied screenwriting at UCLA. His first novel, The Tenth Man, was published in 2004, by Haworth Press. His latest novel, The Poseidon Project, will be published by Wild Rose Press in August, 2024 as the first book in the Herb Society Mysteries series.

Podojil currently resides in Northeast Ohio with his husband and three sons. He travels extensively and writes about his experiences on his website.

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Beautiful Evil Winter by Kelly K. Lavender – Spotlight and Giveaway

January 8, 2025 By 5 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding a $15 Amazo”n/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops.

Can a novel about an American couple’s quest to adopt a Russian baby be called a Multi-Award-Winning Suspense Thriller? Yes.

“…The book is difficult to put down, enticing you to read a few more chapters before bed. In the end, the book leaves the reader satisfied, but the story never fully leaves your mind.” The US Review of Books

In the late 1990s, a time in Moscow reminiscent of the unforgiving gun-slinging days of the frontier west, mild-mannered Ethan and hot-blooded Sophia board a Russian bound plane. Armed only with a homespun plan, the desperate American couple hopes to to adopt a baby boy.

What can go wrong? Maybe, an innocent ill-fated encounter with the Mafia or maybe, being marked as a target for mob revenge. Perhaps, having to rely on a first-time adoption coordinator to complete the process and shelter them from harm. Honestly, what won’t go wrong?

Crippled by circumstances – confined and monitored in a Moscow apartment, no language skills, no cell phone, no clue, no landline, no gun, no nearby family and a baby to protect, they have to find a way to out. Everything and anything can go wrong. How can they prevail?

Enjoy an Excerpt

Will it happen this time? The ban announced last night—will it ruin everything? Dad says Russian law takes effect the moment it’s ratified. I’m so worried, Ethan.” I rub my eyes and lean my head back while the American jet engines roar in the background. My head throbs and my hands sweat as we try to begin our thirteen- hour journey. We’ve been sitting on the tarmac for two hours due to a mechanical problem.

Ethan grabs my hand and squeezes it softly, then leans over to plant a kiss on my forehead. I gaze at his face,; bags frame his red eyes. I look out the window to distract myself. It’s a sunny, cold day, the sky clear of clouds and full of promise for flight.

“One step at a time, Sophia. We’re closer than we’ve ever been. Remember that,” he says soothingly. Turning back to him, my body becomes rigid as anger spills over me like hot molten lava.

“You’re thinking the same thing I am! We should be overjoyed at the prospect of meeting our son! This is a time for celebration, a time for effervescent bottles of uncorked champagne! But this do- it-yourself adoption is a nightmare! How much longer can we handle disappointment after disappointment? The closer we think we are…the farther away we are,” I vent.

The conversation with Natasha on the phone last night burns in my brain.

“Adoption very risky in Russia now. The ban make Mafia watch money very close.”

How could she say that on the eve of our trip?

I play back what Natasha said.

“This trip big gamble for you. I work to keep adoption away from Mafia. If I do not, police arrest you for human trafficking or Mafia take you. Better to go to prison. My name not appear anywhere, only yours. Phone will be disconnected. And I never know you.”

About the Author: Kelly’s fascination with fiction began in middle school when she entered a book-reading contest and won. As an ardent fan of the resonating narrative and the cliffhanger, she decided to dedicate herself to becoming a skilled writer. When college professors spotlighted her writing in the classroom, it anchored her interest in becoming a novelist.

After earning a business degree, she continued to pursue her education at UCLA, via the UCLA Writers’ Extension Program, where her work earned praise from an award-winning author. A rickety project trip to Russia, to adopt a baby boy, provided the inspiration for her debut novel, Beautiful Evil Winter.

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Scars and Secrets by Thomas Grant Bruso – Spotlight and Giveaway

January 7, 2025 By 8 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess fish Promotions. Thomas Grant Bruso will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Ralph Ashton gets more than he bargained for when police question him about the death of his ex-boyfriend Elijah Ray, whose body is discovered at the edge of the Saranac River.

When the local police visit Ralph and ask him about a critical piece of case evidence, Ralph becomes a prime suspect. He sets out to learn what happened to Eli the night he left his apartment and is startled to learn about his former boyfriend’s shady past.

As Ralph pursues a dangerous investigation, he discovers things about Eli he did not know while they were together.

Ralph’s life starts to unravel when he loses more people close to him as his mother lies in a hospital bed dying of cancer. Is learning about the truth of Eli’s death worth jeopardizing his safety?

Enjoy an Excerpt

The Saranac River empties into the mouth of Lake Champlain and a sliver of late-evening sun shimmies and slices across shavings of broken ice like a school of shiny fish.

I straighten the blue-and-white striped silk tie my last boyfriend gifted me and stare out at the early November landscape. The ground is dusted with newly fallen snow, and the river, a swollen malignant serpentine of icy water, snakes through a vista of evergreens and sycamores.

I catch my hard stare in the reflection of the large picture window of my therapist’s office.

Dr. James Matheson, basketball tall with peacock-blue eyes and warm brown skin, dressed in a rosy-pink dress shirt and charcoal-gray suit, coaxes me back to the present. His voice is butter soft and attractive, musically inclined and bilingual. Spanish on his mother’s side, I think.

My thoughts unravel like vines on a branch, disoriented, a broken fuse box with faulty wiring. I blow out a loud breath and turn to the long-legged and handsome therapist, my hands packed in the pockets of my khakis so he won’t see them shake. Men make me nervous and weak-kneed.

Dr. Matheson is patient and smiling, waiting for me to speak, to say something, since I’ve been standing in silence for the last fifteen minutes, staring out at the dismal day passing by.

I think about my mother who lies in the hospital dying. I’ve just come from visiting her, before my scheduled therapy session. Dr. Matheson wants to discuss it, from his stone silence and sensitive stares.

I glance at my wristwatch. I’ve been in Pretty Boy’s office for almost an hour, and I haven’t said much or given the good old doc enough to judge or dislike me or cancel my next session. I am surprised he has not asked me not to come back. Maybe he’ll call County Hospital and admit me to the psych ward on the fourth floor if I open my mouth and let him into my dark, sad life.

He does not reach for the phone. He sits poised in the high brown leather chair behind his polished cherry wood desk, with many medical certifications on the wall behind him.

He stares across the room at me, grins, keeping a professional manner, waiting for me to give him his money and time’s worth.

I drag myself toward the overstuffed leather chair across from his desk and collapse into it, as if it is my home base.

About the Author Thomas Grant Bruso knew he wanted to be a writer at an early age. He has been a voracious reader of genre fiction since childhood.

His literary inspirations are Ray Bradbury, Dean Koontz, Stephen King, Jim Grimsley, Karin Fossum, and Joyce Carol Oates.

Bruso loves animals, reading books, and writing fiction, and prefers Sudoku to crossword puzzles.

In another life, he was a freelance writer and wrote for magazines and newspapers. In college, he won the Hermon H. Doh Sonnet Competition. Now, he writes and publishes fiction and reviews books for his hometown newspaper, The Press-Republican.

He lives in upstate New York.

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Lethal Impulse by Steve Rush – Spotlight and Giveaway

January 6, 2025 By 4 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Steve Rush will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

He’s riddled with guilt. She’s annoyed with the status quo.

The death of a crime boss’s daughter forces Detective Neil Caldera to leave NYC. He seeks refuge in the tranquil embrace of a small town, where he finds himself entangled in the labyrinth of a teenage girl’s murder.

Tess Fleishman’s pale skin and extreme weight loss portrays a disease she wants others to see. While inside, a compulsion for Neil fuels her passion to have him or destroy him.

As Neil delves into the heart of the town’s secrets, will truth deliver solace? Or will Tess prevail?

Enjoy an Excerpt

Tess set the camera on the rear seat. She pictured the murder scene planned at the barn. “You can thank me when it’s over. I need your help with this next part because the doctor told me I’m not to lift anything over twenty pounds. This leukemia drains me.” She popped open the trunk.

“I heard about your diagnosis.” Vanessa embraced Tess. “I thought about going into oncology once I complete medical school. If I get accepted. That is a long way off. What has the doctor said about your prognosis?”

“We view my future differently. I’m hoping for remission.” Tess gestured to the trunk. “Climb in.”

Vanessa glanced inside the trunk. She retreated two strides. “Do I have to get in there? It looks grimy. Why did you not bring your car?”

“We’re documenting an abduction and murder, Vanessa. We can’t let anybody see my car or you with me. It will ruin the surprise. It’s only until we get to the barn.”

Vanessa clambered into the trunk. Tess swathed towels around Vanessa’s wrists and ankles before she bound them with paracord. Vanessa thanked Tess for the use of towels to prevent ligature marks on her skin.

Tess grinned. “A killer must focus on details, Vanessa.”

About the Author:

Steve Rush is an award-winning author whose experience includes tenure as homicide detective and chief forensic investigator for a national consulting firm. He worked with the late Joseph L. Burton, M.D, under whom he mastered his skills, and investigated many deaths alongside Dr. Jan Garavaglia of Dr. G: Medical Examiner fame. His specialties include crime scene reconstruction, injury causation, blood spatter analysis, occupant kinematics, and recovery of human skeletal remains.

Steve’s book Kill Your Characters; Crime Scene Tips for Writers was named finalist in the 2023 Silver Falchion Award for Best Nonfiction and Honorable Mention in the 2023 Readers’ Favorite Awards. Lethal Impulse won the 2022 Public Safety Writing Association’s Writing Competition for an unpublished novel, longlisted in the 2022 Page Turner Awards and joint first prize in the 2020 Chillzee KiMo T-E-N Contest.

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Publishing credits:

Kill Your Characters; Crime Scene Tips for Writers, Genius Books, June 2022
Blood Red Deceit, Wings ePress, (thriller) September 2023
After Her Deceit, Wings ePress, (thriller) October 2024
Lethal Impulse, The Wild Rose Press, (romantic suspense/crime thriller) October 2024
Upcoming 2025 releases:
The Shocking Truth (crime thriller) presale 02/15/25, and Deadline 4:59 (crime thriller), Wings ePress

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Winter Blogfest: Nikki Knight

December 27, 2024 By 2 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win an e-ARC of Live, Local, and Long Dead. 

Happy Radio New Year by Nikki Knight

New Year’s Day is my favorite holiday.

​It’s not the joy of welcoming a new year, or the excitement of a clean slate and fresh starts, though that’s definitely good thing.

​No, I love New Year’s because it’s the best day with my work family.

​For the last twenty years, I’ve been a weekend and fill-in anchor at a top New York City radio station, part of a small but dedicated team that covers when the full-timers are off. We’re the folks who keep the station going at the same high level while our colleagues take vacations, celebrate with their families, or recover from illnesses. And we’re just as good as they are, because the expectations are the same.

​Most of us weekenders and freelancers have other lives. I’m a stay-at-home mom Monday through Friday, and several of my colleagues have small children or other family responsibilities. Others are semi-retired after storied careers. Still others have full-time jobs – my regular on-air partner is a teacher.

​We come from all races, faiths, backgrounds, and experiences.

​But we’re all news people.

​And we choose to spend our holidays with our colleagues. Yes, for family or professional reasons, but also because we love the work and the team.

​And that’s why New Year’s Day is so special.

​From Thanksgiving to Christmas Week, regular staffers take a lot of time off, whether it’s holidays, family events, or just burning a few leftover days. So we fill-ins get a lot of work. By New Year’s, we’ve all been working straight out for weeks. We’re exhausted, but we’re in a groove together, dealing with whatever this year’s huge story is (there’s always one holiday tragedy/controversy/disaster) and getting the news out.

​Now, on January first, the work is almost over. We’re just about ready to go back to our lives outside the newsroom, and we know we probably won’t spend much time together again until the summer fill-in season. And being journalists, we know how much can happen in those six months.

​All of which makes New Year’s a fun – and very precious – day. One more shift, knowing it won’t happen again for a while, if ever. Enjoying the bond, the shared dark humor, and the feeling of being part of something bigger and more important than ourselves.

​It’s not really a party, but it’s not NOT a party, either. Folks bring leftover holiday cookies and candy, and everyone’s running on the darkest-roast coffee and highest-caffeine soda we can find. And at some point, we’ll raise those paper coffee cups and soda bottles in a toast to each other that’s a little jokey, but also very real:

One more year under our belts…and another started the right way.

​Together.

​May your year start so well!

 

LIVE, LOCAL, AND LONG DEAD: Vermont DJ Jaye Jordan’s Green-Up Day ends in murder when not one, but two, bodies turn up in an old park — and one of them was much too close to both her ex and her current man when it was alive and bodacious. Now Jaye, with the help of a colorful (and diverse) cast of townies, will have to clear her men’s names, unravel a World War II-era mystery…and get Grandpa Seymour to the Senior Prom on time.

 

Nikki Knight describes herself as an Author/Anchor/Mom…not in that order. An award-winning weekend anchor at New York City’s 1010 WINS Radio, she writes short stories and novels. Her stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Mystery Magazine, and Black Cat Weekly, online, and in anthologies – and been short-listed for Black Orchid Novella and Derringer Awards. Active in writers’ groups, she’s served as Vice President of the Short Mystery Fiction Society and is currently Co-Vice President of the New York/Tri-State Chapter of Sisters in Crime. As Kathleen Marple Kalb, she writes the Ella Shane and Old Stuff mystery series. She, her husband, and son live in a Connecticut house owned by their cat.

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Winter Blogfest: Joan Donaldson-Yarmey

December 26, 2024 By 1 Comment

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a digital copy of Sleuthing the Klondike.

December

The word December comes from the Latin word decem which means ‘ten’. In the Roman calendar, which began with the month of March, December was the tenth month. The days between the end of December and the beginning of March (cold and snowy in the Northern Hemisphere and hot and sunny in the Southern Hemisphere) were originally unnamed. Eventually, those days were given the names January and February and they were considered the first months of the calendar year. Although December was now the twelfth month in the Gregorian calendar, which was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII, its name was kept.

December has the shortest daylight hours and longest nighttime hours on December 21 and that day marks the beginning of winter. It is the opposite in the Southern Hemisphere, with December 21 having the longest daylight hours and shortest nighttime hours. That day marks the beginning of summer.

The Anglo Saxons had two names for the month of December. One was ‘Winter Monath’, which is self-explanatory, and the other was ‘Yule Monath’ which is the custom of burning a Yule log as part of the pagan Yule celebrations. Yule, at the time, meant the observance of the Winter Solstice. It is now synonymous with the word Christmas and the celebration of the birth of the baby Jesus. When the Anglo-Saxons converted to Christianity they changed the name of ‘Winter Monath’ or ‘Yule Monath’ to ‘Heligh Monath’ meaning ‘Holy Month’.

For the Native American first peoples, the full moon in December was called the ‘Full Cold Moon’ because of the cold winter months that followed it.

There are other important holidays observed in December along with Christmas. The Jews celebrate Hanukkah, which takes place on the 25th day of Kislev on the Hebrew calendar and lies between late November and late December. This is in recognition of the rise of Jews against their Greek/Syrian oppressors, as well as, the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the 2nd century AD.

The Buddhists celebrate Bodhi Day on December 8. A man named Siddhartha sat under a Bodhi tree and meditated for three days until he found the root of suffering and liberated himself from it. On the third day he discovered the answers he sought and became enlightened. He was then known as Buddha or the ‘Awakened One.’

A Hindu festival, Datta Jayanti, commemorates the birth day of the Hindu Deity Dattatreya or Datta, which is the combined form of the Hindu male divine trinity of Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma. The festival takes place between November 30th and December 3rd in the temples throughout India.

December is a month full of historical events, festivals, and observances of special days. And it marks the end of the old year and a time to look forward to the new one.

Helen Castrel has just arrived in Victoria, British Columbia, from England and she hires Baxter Davenport of the Davenport & Son Detective Agency to go with her to Dawson City and help find her second oldest brother, David, whom she hasn’t seen since she was eleven years old.

David had been trouble to the family since he was young and was sent to Canada as a remittance man ten years ago. The last communication her father, Charles Castrel, received from David was late last summer when he sent a telegram from Victoria, British Columbia, saying he was on his way to the Klondike gold rush at Dawson City. Since then Charles Gastrel has heard nothing from his son, not even a letter stating where his remittance money was to be sent. Helen needs to find David to make sure he’s alive and to deliver a message from their father.

Baxter Davenport isn’t sure about travelling north with two women. He will have a job to do and doesn’t need to be looking after them. Plus, he doesn’t like the idea that Helen Castrel is excited about being a sleuth along with him. He soon finds out that both women can look after themselves.

Mattie Lewis, Helen Castrel’s lady’s maid, insisted on accompanying Helen, not only to look after her but because she has worked for the family for years and remembers David better than Helen does. She also has her own motive for wanting to find David.

The three head north armed with an old photograph and a recent description they obtained from David’s former landlady. They arrive in Dawson City where the gold rush is in full swing. There they are challenged by deceit, fraud, and danger in their quest to find David.

Joan Donaldson-Yarmey began her writing career with a short story, progressed to travel and historical articles, and then on to travel books. Between 1990 and 2000 Joan traveled through and researched the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, the territory of the Yukon, and the state of Alaska and wrote seven books them.

She called these books her Backroads series and in them she described what there is to see and do along their back roads. Once she was finished travelling she switched to fiction writing and has had four mystery novels published: ‘Gold Fever’ is a stand-alone mystery/romance; and ‘Illegally Dead’, ‘The Only Shadow In The House’, and ‘Whistler’s Murder’ are three novels in her Travelling Detective Series.

Romancing the Klondike, Rushing the Klondike, and Sleuthing the Klondike are her Yukon Historical Novels. Joan has also published two Canadian Historical novels for two young adults: West To The Bay and West to Grande Portage. The third one will be out in 2025. She has had two holiday romances, The Twelve Dates of Christmas, and Single Bells (both written with her sister Gwen Donaldson) published. In the continued variety in her writing, Joan has also written Cry of the Guilty, Silence of the Innocent, a two book sci/fi series. The titles are: The Criminal Streak and Betrayed.

Joan was born in New Westminster, B.C. Canada, and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. Since she loves change, Joan has moved over thirty times in her life, living on acreages and farms and in small towns and cities throughout Alberta and B.C. After seventeen years on Vancouver Island she is now back in Edmonton.

Joan belongs to Crime Writers of Canada and Writer’s Guild of Alberta.

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Winter Blogfest: Susie Black

December 26, 2024 By 16 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win an ebook copy of Death by Sample Size, book one in my award-winning Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series. 

Why Jews Eat Chinese Food on Christmas by Susie Black

What makes the holiday season most special are the traditions we create and share; and in that way, make them uniquely our own. Even those of us who do not celebrate Christmas have still found ways to participate in the joy of the season. For us Jews, eating Chinese food on Christmas day has become an international tradition that started in New York in the 1930s. They say that necessity is the mother of invention. Jews looking for a special way to celebrate a day off on December 25th in a friendly place with a welcoming atmosphere featuring exotic food they didn’t normally eat were hard-pressed to find any restaurants open except those whose proprietors did not celebrate Christmas either. In most neighborhoods, Chinese restaurants were the only ones open on Christmas Day. And so, as many things in life come to be, out of necessity or by process of elimination, a delightful tradition was born.

My maternal grandparents were married on December 25th and every year celebrated their anniversary by following this tradition. They, in turn, passed it down to my mother who continued it when she married and had children, and passed it down to us. I cannot recall any Jew I knew who did not go out for Chinese food on Christmas day.

Chinese food was the first foreign food I was introduced to as a small child. I spent the early years of my childhood in Linden, New Jersey, a bedroom community southwest of Manhattan. One particularly cold and snowy Christmas day my father was under the weather, so rather than go out to eat in a Chinese restaurant like we normally would, my mother brought in take–out Chinese food instead. We ate Chinese food often throughout the year, and my mother frequented a neighborhood Chinese take-out. We got to know the owner, a kind and generous older Chinese man who always paid me special attention. That evening, I accompanied my mother to pick up dinner. When it was our turn to order, I told the owner I didn’t want to eat his food any longer because he put worms in it. He wasn’t offended, but he asked me to show him the worms. I pointed to some translucent squiggly-looking worms in the chow mein he was about to put into a container as part of our order. He asked my mother if I could come back to the kitchen with him. She said yes. We went into the kitchen, and he sat me on a stool next to him in the preparation area. He showed me how he cut the onions and how he cooked them. When they were done, he explained they were not worms, but the same thin onion strips he just cut that when cooked, only looked like worms to me (I was about 5 years old). When I was still not completely convinced, he gave me one to taste, and then I was sold. He and I were BFFs after that…I always got extra fortune cookies and almond cookies.

As an adult with a family of my own, we have continued this holiday tradition. We have Chinese food at Christmas every year. As our son lives overseas, most of the time it is just my husband and me. But we also have enjoyed sharing this tradition with both our Jewish friends as well as Gentiles who celebrate the holiday with us. Sharing our tradition with those of other faiths is the most special for us because it truly embodies the fraternal spirit of the season in the sweetest possible way.

The good news is you don’t have to be Jewish to eat Chinese food on Christmas…but it helps. Whichever way you celebrate the holiday, may your traditions bring you and yours the joy that comes with the sense of belonging that binds us humans together.

 

Mermaid Swimwear President Holly Schlivnik discovers the Bainbridge Department Store Easter Bunny slumped over dead and obnoxious swimwear buyer Sue Ellen Magee is arrested for the crime. Despite her differences with the nasty buyer, Holly is convinced the Queen of Mean didn’t do it. The wise-cracking, irreverent amateur sleuth jumps into action to nail the real killer. But the trail has more twists than a pretzel and more turns than a rollercoaster. And nothing turns out the way Holly thinks it will as she tangles with a clever killer hellbent on revenge.

 

Named Best US Author of the Year by N. N. Lights Book Heaven, award-winning cozy mystery author Susie Black was born in the Big Apple but now calls sunny Southern California home. Like the protagonist in her Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, Susie is a successful apparel sales executive. Susie began telling stories as soon as she learned to talk. Now she’s telling all the stories from her garment industry experiences in humorous mysteries. 

She reads, writes, and speaks Spanish, albeit with an accent that sounds like Mildred from Michigan went on a Mexican vacation and is trying to fit in with the locals. Since life without pizza and ice cream as her core food groups wouldn’t be worth living, she’s a dedicated walker to keep her girlish figure. A voracious reader, she’s also an avid stamp collector and sailor. Susie lives with a highly intelligent man and has one incredibly brainy but smart-aleck adult son who inexplicably blames his sarcasm on an inherited genetic defect.

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Winter Blogfest: Kate Damon

December 23, 2024 By 11 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a digital copy of my book. 

 

My Most Meaningful Christmas Gifts by Kate Damon

At age eight, I received a most meaningful gift. It was a beautiful doll with blond hair and eyes that opened and closed. I had worked hard for that doll. To get on Santa’s “good” list, I cleaned my room and did my chores, along with everyone else’s chores. When I opened the box Christmas morning and saw two big blue eyes staring back at me, I was elated.  I felt as if I could make every dream come true if I wanted it bad enough and was willing to work for it.

At twelve, I received a most meaningful gift.  It was an angora sweater. A year earlier, I had received toys for Christmas. “Graduating” to clothes was a big deal. I remember feeling so grown-up and that gift told me that others saw me that way, too.

At seventeen, I received a most meaningful gift.  It was a heart-shaped necklace from my boyfriend.  I believed at that moment that love would last forever. The chain snapped less than a week later, and we broke up soon after. That gift taught me that some things are meant to last for only a short time, and that we must enjoy them while we can.

In my twenties, I received a most meaningful gift.  Our oldest son was born just before Christmas. It was a gift that both elated and humbled me and I wanted so much to be the perfect mother.  But as I walked the floor that Christmas day with a colicky baby, I realized the futility of that goal. I soon learned that no child ever said that his or her mother was perfect, only that she was the best.  

In my thirties, I received a most meaningful gift.  That Christmas my husband’s company was on strike, and we were down to our last fifty cents.  As I filled our three children’s stockings with nuts and oranges, I dreaded the following morning when they would see how little Santa had left.  Much to my surprise and delight, I never heard one of them complain. If anything, they seemed to be more appreciative of the few gifts they did receive.  That was the year I learned that sometimes less is more.  

I received the most meaningful gift during our saddest year. Our oldest son died a few months before Christmas, and I couldn’t even bring myself to put up a tree.  I cried most of that day and I don’t remember what presents I received, but I do remember one important gift.  For it was that year that I learned that we’re stronger than we think we are, and though we lose so very much with the death of a loved one, we can’t possibly count all the blessings that remain.      

I don’t know what gifts are in store for me this Christmas, but I do know this: the gifts that touch our hearts are the ones that stay with us the longest.

 

The verdict is in; a famed athlete is headed for prison. The jurors have done their job and are free to go back to their lives.

But after being sequestered for three months, life as most jurors knew it, no longer exists. 

HAROLD ASHMAN’s house is almost destroyed when a reporter drives through it. Exotic dancer, CEECEE LAINE, discovers that her boyfriend is two-timing her, and she no longer has a job. Actor ALEX MANNING learns his career is down the tubes, and 72-year-old, HELEN RYDER, discovers her family is plotting to put her in an old folks home.

Then things take a turn for the worse. When jurors start dropping like flies, CeeCee, Helen, Harold and Alex are convinced there’s a killer on the loose. Now the feuding foursome must find the killer before he finds them—or before they save him the trouble by killing each other.

 

When Kate Damon is not writing, she and her husband enjoy RVing, spending time with family and friends, raising Monarch butterflies, and playing a wicked game of bridge. Writing as Margaret Brownley, she has published more than 40 novels and is a New York Times bestselling author. Known for her memorable characters and humor, she is a two-time Romance Writers of America Rita  finalist. Not counting the book she wrote in sixth grade, and the puzzle of the missing socks, this is her first mystery

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Winter Blogfest: Randy Overbeck

December 23, 2024 By 2 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win an e-copy of Scarlet at Crystal River, a Christmas Mystery or any of my novels. Winner’s choice.  

Which Giving Reflects the True Meaning of Christmas? by Randy Overbeck

Christians have been celebrating Christ’s birth for more than 2000 years, honoring this event by doing what God did, showering those we love with gifts. According to the Biblical legend, the Magi may have started it with their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, but by now, the giving of presents to show our love and appreciation of those around us has become an accepted, and expected, part of the holiday celebration. (Some might argue this tradition has simply caused Christmas to become overly secular and super-commercialized, but that’s a discussion for another time.)

But what about the practice of giving to those less fortunate?

It would be logical to think this tradition of generosity is a natural development of the true Christmas spirit. After all, Christians believe God did give the ultimate gift—his only son—to those less fortunate, all of us on earth. Those of us who grew up with Salvation Army Santas manning the kettle and ringing the bell for donations or who participated in school canned food drives or who contributed to the Marine Corps “Toys for Tots” program at Christmas were taught that such altruism was simply an extension of the real Christmas spirit. Lately, even companies and corporations have gotten into the act of philanthropy at Christmas. Not only do they donate to the poor, but companies like Subaru, Amazon, Target and Chick-Fil-a spend millions in advertising each Christmas to promote their efforts to bring families together, to feed the hungry, to help animal shelters—in other words, to give to those less fortunate.

However, according to annuls of history, this practice of altruism has a more recent origin—though 180 years is only recent compared with twenty centuries. In mid-nineteenth century England (and much of the rest of the civilized Christan world) Christmas was celebrated mostly in small towns, where life was close and interactions were personal. In the crowded, major cities of the time, where life was impersonal and interactions often anonymous, Christmas was largely ignored.

One author and one novella changed that. In 1843, Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol, a runaway bestseller, and it became so popular, its message changed the culture. Before this, the idea of sharing your time and treasure at Christmas with those less fortunate was not a thing. But Dickens’ exposure of the parsimonious and money-hungry Ebeneezer Scrooge struck a chord that still reverberates today. Slowly, in the 1850’s beginning in London and spreading outward, the idea of Christmas started to take on a different, more layered message. Not only was the holiday the time to celebrate those you love and cherish, but it also became the time of year to share your bounty with others in need. (For a more extensive discussion of this transformative Christmas tale, you might want to check out this episode of my podcast, GREAT STORIES ABOUT GREAT STORYTELLERS https://www.authorrandyoverbeck.com/podcast/episode/7f9d3d6e/what-you-didnt-know-about-dickens-a-christmas-carol

It may not have as long a history, but I’d argue this practice comes closer to the true meaning of Christmas than giving your wife another bottle of cologne or gifting your teen son or daughter with another video game. That’s why each Christmas I select several charities who serve those less fortunate and give them a special donation. Now I’m not rich. After all, I’m living on a teacher’s pension and I’m a struggling author, but I do what I can.

In the true spirit of Christmas, I suggest you do the same.

All Darrell Henshaw wanted was to enjoy his honeymoon with his beautiful wife, Erin, in the charming town of Crystal River on the sunny Gulf Coast of Florida during the holidays. Only a pair of ghosts decide to intrude on their celebration. And not just any ghosts, the spirits of two young Latino children. Unwilling at first to derail the honeymoon for yet another ghost hunt, Darrell finally concedes when a painting of the kids comes alive, weeping and pleading for his help. 

When he and Erin track down the artist, they discover the children’s family were migrant workers the next county over. But when they travel there, their questions about the kids gets their car shot up and Erin hospitalized. Torn between fear and rage, Darrell must decide how far he will go to get justice for two young children he never even knew.

Dr. Randy Overbeck is an award-winning educator, author and speaker. As an educator, he served children for more than three decades and has turned this experience into captivating fiction, authoring the bestselling series, the Haunted Shores Mysteries, winner of nine national awards. Last year, the Wild Rose Press released his newest work, an atmospheric amateur sleuth mystery, CRUEL LESSONS, which has captured two more national awards including mystery of the year. He hosts the popular podcast, “Great Stories about Great Storytellers,” which reveals the unusual and sometimes strange backstories of famous authors, directors and poets. He is also a speaker in much demand, sharing his multi-media presentations about ghosts and the world of writing with audiences all over the U.S. As a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Dr. Overbeck is an active member of the literary community, contributing to a writers’ critique group, serving as a mentor to emerging writers and participating in writing conferences. When he’s not researching or writing his next thriller or historical suspense or sharing one of his programs, he’s spending time with his incredible family of wife, three children (and their spouses) and seven wonderful grandchildren.

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The Angel Scroll by Penelope Holt – Spotlight and Giveaway

December 5, 2024 By 8 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $25 Amazon/BN.com gift card. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

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ONE ANCIENT PROPHECY, TWO HEARTBROKEN LOVERS, AND A WORLDWIDE SCAVENGER HUNT FOR THREE MIRACULOUS PAINTINGS.

After her husband’s death, New York artist Claire Lucas has baffling dreams and waking visions as she channels an enigmatic and healing painting of a holy man in India at the deathbed of a young woman. When widowed antiquarian Richard Markson announces that Claire’s canvas is one-third of three paintings prophesied by the Angel Scroll, a recently discovered Dead Sea parchment, she is pulled into an international scavenger hunt to find the stolen scroll and the paintings it predicts.

As she pursues the paintings with Richard across historic and holy sites in America, Israel, and Europe, Claire encounters a series of remarkable teachers. A Buddhist, a Benedictine monk, and a professor of early goddess worship all provide rich explanations for the artist’s compelling and perplexing psychic experiences — until she assembles the incredible triptych and deciphers its inspirational message for the modern world.

Enjoy an Excerpt

In Benares, India, the sweltering night dragged on. Moonlight slid through the bedroom window and bathed the young, Christlike figure who sat cross-legged on the floor. Only a loincloth covered his slender hips, and his long, coarse hair was coiled in a topknot on his crown. He’d been watching the young woman on the low bed for hours. She was feverish, her breathing shallow, as she squinted at him now through half- closed lids. Her husband held her hand and shot the young man a pleading look. “Please let her live. I’m a rich man. I can pay you. I can help the poor of Benares, the poor of India.”

“To thwart death is not to conquer it,” the young master said, and the husband buried his head in the bed’s embroidered cover. In a single, fluid movement, the holy man rose and stroked his host’s bent head, His long, graceful fingers raking the dark hair, slick with perfumed oil, revealing a channel of pale, moist scalp.

Beyond the bedroom, in the narrow hallway, the master found his three companions propped against a wall and dozing. He tapped the closest with a calloused foot, and one by one the sleeping men awoke. “Is she well now?” the tall one asked, stretching.

“She will be dead come dawn,” his master whispered, as the four men stepped into the dusty and deserted Indian night.

The phone rang. Claire woke up and realized her face was wet. She’d been crying again. She eyed the clock—9 a.m. She cleared her throat, picked up the phone, and tried to sound awake. “Hello?”

“You still sleeping?” Claire held the phone away from her ear to stop Deirdre Vetch’s whine from piercing her brain. “You’re coming to the gallery to talk about the painting, right? We must talk.” Deirdre’s verbal pummeling began.

About the Author:

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Penelope Holt was born and educated in England and now lives in New York. She is a novelist, playwright, business writer, and marketing executive, whose work has been performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, York Arts Center, and New York’s American Folk Theater. In addition to writing fiction, The Angel Scroll, and The Apple, based on the controversial Herman Rosenblat Holocaust romance, Holt is a prolific writer, editor, and co-author of non-fiction, including Business Intelligence at Work A Personal Operating System for Career Success, Singing God’s Work, the story of the Harlem Gospel Choir, and many other works. She is married with two children.

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