Stormwatch Series: Snow Blind by Cindy Gerard — Spotlight and Giveaway

January 17, 2020 By 8 Comments


This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will award a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

STORMWATCH series blurb:

The storm sweeps in like a thief in the night… Winter storm Holly is the worst in eighty years bringing high winds, subzero temperatures and snowfall better measured in feet than in inches. The weather paralyzes everything in its path, but in this storm, weather isn’t the only threat.

A new installment of STORMWATCH releases each Thursday starting December 5 through January 9. Each thrilling full length novel is a standalone story with no cliffhangers. Don’t miss a single one from half a dozen of the genre’s bestselling storytellers!

December 5 – Frozen Ground by Debra Webb
December 12 – Deep Freeze by Vicki Hinze
December 19 – Wind Chill by Rita Herron
December 26 – Black Ice by Regan Black
January 2 – Snow Brides by Peggy Webb
January 9 – Snow Blind by Cindy Gerard

Stormwatch series at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YZB1FZR

It started out as a simple recon mission – then the worst happened. Recon evolved into an imminent threat and Rapid Response Alliance operatives, Cara Graves and Josh Haskins find themselves with less than 48 hours to circumvent a nuclear disaster. Fighting against the clock and the worst blizzard to hit the Midwest in almost a century, Cara and Josh risk everything – including their feelings for each other – to stop what the terrorists hope will be Armageddon.


READ AN EXCERPT
“Sit. Rest,”Cara ordered before jumping out of the truck, leaving it running with the heater on full blast. “I’ve got this.”

Josh lost sight of her as she bucked the wind and rounded the cab toward the truck bed. He knew what she was after. This was no time for subtlety.

When she walked back to the front of the truck again, she had a tire iron in her hand. He couldn’t hear the glass break above the wind, but he saw the moment she slammed the heavy iron into a window in the back of the store. Wasting no time, she used the tire iron to clear the glass shards from the frame, then hitched herself up and crawled through the open window.

He closed his eyes. Absorbed the warmth from the heater. Mentally assessed his injuries, then checked his face in the rear-view mirror. Damn. He looked like he’d been run through a meat grinder. His cheek and eye were both swollen but the cut had quit bleeding.

Remembering that he’d spotted some fast foot napkins in the glove box, he leaned forward and rummaged around until he found them, then made an attempt to clean some of the dried blood off of his face. Better but not great. The lump on the back of his head had given him a helluva a headache and though they hurt like the devil, he suspected his ribs were bruised but not cracked or broken.

Over all, he’d had worse. He’d been worse. But at the moment, he couldn’t remember when.

A light came on in the back room, grabbing his attention. And a few minutes after that, Cara pushed the store’s back door open and hurried back to the truck.

He opened the window so she could hand up two rifles, two 9mm S&W handguns, magazines for all four weapons and several boxes of ammunition.

He wanted to kiss her. But there wasn’t time. “We could use a GPS,” he suggested as she climbed back up into the truck and behind the wheel.

She shot him a tight smile, unzipped her jacket and reached inside. “Will this do?”

A box with a brand new GPS landed on his lap.

He took stock of the ammo and magazines and stacked it on the console between them.

“Enough?” she asked.

Josh gave her a grim nod. “Depends on if we get there in time. Let’s roll.”

God’s honest truth, he didn’t know if they had enough of anything to face off with Matthews and his four goons. Another truth – it was going to have to be. Unless a miracle happened, they were on their own.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

New York Times and USA Today Bestseller Cindy Gerard has fifty titles in print. In addition to 7 RITA nominations and 2 Rita wins, Cindy has numerous RT nominations and various awards to her credit. Each book of her single title romantic suspense series, Black Ops Inc, has appeared on the New York Times Bestseller top 20 list. Cindy writes sexy, heart-pounding romantic suspense and has had her work twice featured in COSMOPOLITAN Magazine as Red Hot Reads.

Cindy Gerard online:

Website: https://www.cindygerard.com/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Cindy-Gerard/e/B001IGQTNC
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cindy-gerard
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Cindy-Gerard-New-York-Times-Best-selling-author-167877057439/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/cindygerard

Exclusively on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/SNOW-BLIND-STORMWATCH-Book-6-ebook/dp/B07YGSFSPS


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What Kind of Writer Am I? by Lanny Larcinese – Guest Blog and Giveaway

January 17, 2020 By 8 Comments


This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Lanny Larcinese will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

What Kind of Writer Am I?
I identify first and foremost as a crime writer. Secondarily, I am a noir crime writer but with literary influences. Let me elaborate…

Noir scholars and purists will argue its definition. I listen to none of them. To me, noir is like the blues, a state of mind, a way of seeing the world and its people, and if you possess such a state of mind, as with blues, everything you do as an artist will have that tinge. That’s me all day.

But tinge of what? This: A view of people constantly in a state of struggle to sustain their better angels against natural survival instincts like tribalism, greed, lust, and other deadly sins. Sometimes they prevail in the struggle, often not, and when not, to greater or lesser degrees. All my stories reflect characters in the throes of such a struggle. They could be the good guys and/or the bad guys. The provenance of my stories always begins with such a character, as in my book, Death in the Family.

Donny Lentini is nice, talented, but has an unfulfilled need that screams in his head and heart for redemption. Then, I created plot events to put him under stress, then more stress, then more, and watched as he first flounders, then get his head together and at the climax, we find out if he comes out whole or not. Conventional noir characters often know what they are after is wrong, but they go for it anyway. My characters are not that craven. My characters want to do the right thing, but fate or circumstances won’t let them.

As for literary, I’m mindful of this description of literary writing: Not much happens but a lot goes on. Literary mavens, people partial to lit-tra-toor, will say they like the quality of the writing. I get that. Also, the description is fit—a lot of inner landscape stuff, morality tales, subtle shifts in perception, fulfillment through insight. I joke about it, but truth be known, much of it is also in my stories.

But I am a crime writer, crime/crime, by which I mean not procedural, not P.I., not cozy, not thriller, not any other permutation of the genre now on shelves or soon to be there. That means there will be a few homicides, some bad guys and others downright despicable, things blown up or set ablaze…you know, stuff on the six o’clock news. There will also be a mystery chased by my (anti)hero, not only whodunit but whydunit.

As I do this, as I write, this is where the literary comes in: I love language. I am Italian. We invented opera. It’s a high bar and why I am given to the occasional serpentine sentence written as much for musicality as density of information. But only occasionally. After all, the beautiful aria is made more so by its infrequency. I could break such sentences down Hemmingwayesque, but won’t. Clarity and punch is good, but ain’t opera. In my lexicon, both are possible.

So what kind of writer am I? I am a genre writer, a crime writer with a noir outlook but don’t always write in hard-boiled style. I prefer a graceful style, or as close to that as I can get without sacrificing clarity. This is why I don’t join critique groups. Even editors, I need the support of people who get what I am doing.

I will conclude with this wise and wonderful insight: “All stories have been told, different only in the manner by which they are told.”

Donny Lentini is a talented young man hungry for his mother’s love. To please her, he becomes guardian angel to his mob-wannabe father. When the father is murdered and found with his hands hacked off, Donny is dealt a set of cards in a game called vengeance. The pot is stacked high with chips; the ante, his soul and the lives of loved-ones. With the help of friends—ex-con, defrocked Jesuit Bill Conlon along with former high-school nemesis, Antwyne Claxton—he digs for whether the murder had anything to do with the mob’s lust for a real estate parcel owned by the family of Donny’s lover. He’s new at this game. He doesn’t cheat, but plays his cards well. And he gets what he wants.

Enjoy an Excerpt

There is a purity to poker, moments of truth untethered to motive or morals, moments philosophers never examine—clean moments, as when a Great White draws back its lips and embraces a neck in its four-inch serrated teeth—moments neither Dad nor German Kruger understood.

One by one I looked them in the eye. Everybody dropped except German who raised and called. I flipped my hole cards. “Three cowboys.” Moans from around the table.

I raked in the seven-hundred-dollar pot. Any day I stuck a pencil in German’s eye was a good day.

“What the fuck is it with you?” he said. “You win four, five pots every Friday.”

Dad kicked my shin under the table.

“I know what I’m doing,” I said, clacking chips from one hand to the other. The other guys pushed out their chairs. Dad kept a straight face. In the millisecond his eyes met mine they became beacons warning of dangerous shoals.

German’s pallor couldn’t compete against the crimson flush ringing his flabby neck. He pointed to my father. “You, Carlo, get your ass into my office. And you,” he said, pointing to me, “you need to hear this too.”

He had that same twisted look on his face, the one I first saw two years before when I took him for a thousand fazools over the Superbowl.

He collapsed into his huge leather chair.

The red on his neck and ears turned a deeper shade as if a chameleon lit onto a cranberry bog. “I’m talkin’ about how you let that fucking union get aholt of office cleaners before you brought ’em to us. You get a piece of that, Carlo? You doin’ shit on the side?”

About the Author: Lanny Larcinese ‘s short work has appeared in magazines and has won a handful of local prizes. He lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He’s a native mid-westerner transplanted to the City of Brotherly Love where he has been writing fiction for seven years. When not writing, he lets his daughter, Amanda, charm him out of his socks, and works at impressing Jackie, his long-time companion who keeps him honest and laughing—in addition to being his first-line writing critic. He also spends more time than he should on Facebook but feels suitably guilty for it.

Website
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Winter Blogfest: Tena Stetler

December 31, 2019 By 17 Comments


This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win One $10.00 amazon gift card.

New Year’s Resolutions

When my hubby and I left the fifth wheel all snug in a storage space under its cover until next spring, I said the holidays will be here before you know it. He chuckled and said, “Don’t I know it.”

In the blink of an eye, Christmas is knocking at the door, filled with family, friends and a great time to be had by all. Another year passed, but what was accomplished? Surprisingly, I met all of my 2019 New Year’s resolutions of 5,000 words written each week, won NaNoWriMo, 50,000 words in 30 days (but it was close),a new book contracted, I managed two, and spend quality time with family and friends. My list was short but attainable.  I try to keep it that way each year. 

This year in front of the Christmas tree decorated with bright multi-colored lights and ornaments that evoke wonderful memories, I ponder what the New Year will bring. I hope to have more quiet walks with the dog, more playtime with our parrot, take time to appreciate  and enjoy each day,  and  while working towards my professional goals, gonna up my word count goal to 6,000 words written in a week this year, take more time for family and friends.  

What are your New Year’s Resolutions? 
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For several months a Scottish Highland Ghost has haunted Daylan, in his personal life, his professional life and at his forge. Yet, being a talented warlock, he is no closer to discovering what the ghost wants or why he chose Daylan. A trip to his estranged sister’s home in Colorado may have unforeseen consequences especially when family history leads him to a shocking discovery.
As his attraction blooms for Josie, a yoga instructor in his sister’s studio, he realizes there may be more to Josie than he can imagine. When an ancient rogue Fae Warrior set on revenge kidnaps her in an attempt to claim her as his own, a devastating curse comes to light.
Daylan’s world spirals out of control as he searches for Josie. Can he break the age old curse to save her and their future, or will she be lost to him forever?

Tena Stetler is a best-selling author of award winning paranormal romance novels. She has an over-active imagination, which led to writing her first vampire romance as a tween to the chagrin of her mother and delight of her friends.
With the Rocky Mountains outside her window, she sits at her computer surrounded by a wide array of paranormal creatures, with a Navy SEAL or two mixed in telling their tales. Her books tell stories of magical kick-ass women and strong mystical males that dare to love them. Travel, adventure and a bit of mystery flourish in her books along with a few companion animals to round out the tales.
Colorado is her home; shared with her husband of many moons, a brilliant Chow Chow, a spoiled parrot and a forty-five-year-old box turtle. Any winter evening, you can find her curled up in front of a crackling fire with a good book, a mug of hot chocolate and a big bowl of popcorn.

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Winter Blogfest: Joanne Guidoccio

December 30, 2019 By 10 Comments


This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a free eBook of A Season for Killing Blondes.

Francesca’s Chocolate Snowballs

Scalilli. Turdilli. Crostoli. Grispelle. Biscotti. Pizzelle. I have fond memories of all those Italian desserts my mother and grandmother prepared during the Christmas season. They would start baking early in December and then make more batches as the month progressed.

While I enjoyed partaking, I was not overly thrilled with the amount of work involved. In fact, delicious and labor intensive would be two apt descriptions for many of the entrées and desserts that emerged from my mother’s kitchen.

One Christmas in the early 1970s, my mother presented a different kind of dessert. She placed a dish filled with unusual shapes on the table and said, “Help yourself to a snowball.”

A dessert that didn’t end in a vowel…definitely a mangiacake food!

*Definition of mangiacake: From Italian mangiare to eat + cake, apparently with dismissive reference to the type of food regarded as typically favored by non-Italians in Canada.

But there was nothing dismissive about those snowballs. Delicious and easy-to-prepare, Francesca’s Chocolate Snowballs became part of our family’s Christmas tradition.

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

4 ounces Kraft Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp milk
2 cups icing sugar
2 squares unsweetened chocolate
¼ tsp vanilla
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3 cups Kraft miniature marshmallows
2 cups coconut (amount may vary)

Directions

  1. Combine softened cream cheese and milk until well blended.
  2. Gradually add sugar.
  3. Melt chocolate and add to mixture.
  4. Stir in vanilla and salt.
  5. Fold in marshmallows.
  6. Drop rounded teaspoons of the mixture in coconut and toss until well covered.
  7. Place on baking sheet.
  8. Chill for 24 hours or until firm.

Makes 36 snowballs

Hours before the opening of her career counseling practice, Gilda Greco discovers the dead body of golden girl Carrie Ann Godfrey, neatly arranged in the dumpster outside her office. Gilda’s life and budding career are stalled as Detective Carlo Fantin, her former high school crush, conducts the investigation.

When three more dead blondes turn up all brutally strangled and deposited near Gilda’s favorite haunts, she is pegged as a prime suspect for the murders. Frustrated by Carlo’s chilly detective persona and the mean girl antics of Carrie Ann’s meddling relatives, Gilda decides to launch her own investigation. She discovers a gaggle of suspects, among them a yoga instructor in need of anger management training, a lecherous photographer, and fourteen ex-boyfriends.

As the puzzle pieces fall into place, shocking revelations emerge, forcing Gilda to confront the envy and deceit she has long overlooked.

A member of Crime Writers of Canada, Sisters in Crime, and Romance Writers of America, Joanne Guidoccio writes cozy mysteries, paranormal romances, and inspirational literature from her home base of Guelph, Ontario.

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Winter Blogfest: Peggy Chambers

December 25, 2019 By 5 Comments


This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a print copy of Blooming Justice to the winner inside the US.

The Scent of Christmas

I walked in the door at Lowes near the garden area and it caught me by surprise – cinnamon. Not the common fertilizer and weed killer smells. It smelled like Christmas. It took a while to find where they hid it. The scent was somewhere in the store  – after all it wasn’t even Thanksgiving.  My Halloween candy wasn’t even gone. And I followed my nose. Up high above my head, I found them. Cinnamon pinecones.  The scent of Christmas.  I had to have those – later – after Thanksgiving.  If they were still there.  I love the scent of cinnamon no matter the time of year, but it probably reminds me of my mother’s snickerdoodle cookies and Christmas as a child.

But cinnamon isn’t my only love. I loved the smell of a real evergreen in the living room. The smell of an alpine forest inside for all to enjoy.  Unless you were allergic to it as my son was. 

Growing up, like many families, we always had oranges in our stocking.  We never had a fireplace, but we still hung the stockings somewhere for Santa and in the morning they would be full of nuts and oranges, our presents under the tree.  I was never sure why oranges.  They weren’t a winter fruit – not local to where we lived.  But it was a tradition.

Cinnamon, evergreens, oranges. I found a potpourri once called Scent of Christmas and I think it smelled like all of these together.  It was so strong, I had to let it sit on the porch for a day or two so we could breath, but it was Christmas.  Add some nutmeg and cloves and you have almost found it.  Maybe the scent of my mother’s mincemeat pie.  Many people don’t like mincemeat, but it was a staple in our house for the holidays and it had every spice and herb available in it.  

Why are the holidays such an olfactory experience?  Why do we remember the spices and sweet treats from our childhoods? They were from the good times. A simpler time in our lives.  Remember waking on Thanksgiving morning to the smell of turkey roasting?  Mom had been up for hours working tirelessly so we could gorge ourselves and then take a nap on tryptophan while she cleaned up the mess. 
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Now the best smell of Christmas will be family. I’ll remember my mother’s perfume as I hug my daughter. Fresh washed children run through the house squealing with delight. Warm sweaters and warm smiles, soon the room will warm with all the bodies until we have to turn on the ceiling fans and turn down the heat.  The smell of food and love are one whether we realize it at the time or not.  Probably not. But the scent of Christmas is full not just of things we ate but people we loved.  

Family is the true scent of Christmas, but cinnamon . . .

Erin Sampson always wanted to be an attorney. But until she experiences a real taste of injustice, she has no idea what the legal field is all about. After being sexually harassed at the senior prom by a boy, she learns he has escalated from bullying to rape.

 

Peggy Chambers calls Enid, Oklahoma home. She is an award winning, published author. Blooming Justice is her seventh book. She has two children, five grandchildren and lives with her husband and dog.
She attended Phillips University, the University of Central Oklahoma and is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. She is a member of the Enid Writers’ Club and Oklahoma Writers’ Federation, Inc.

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Winter Blogfest: Randy Overbeck

December 25, 2019 By 4 Comments


This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a numbered and autographed copy of the award-winning novel, BLOOD ON THE CHESAPEAKE and a full color 2020 Wild Rose Press calendar with suggestions for almost 50 great reads for the year (continental US only). 

Our Very Own Ghosts of Christmas Past


It’s no surprise that The Christmas Carol is Charles Dickens’ most beloved work, far more popular than A Tale of Two Cities or Great Expectations. And not simply because of its holiday theme. In fact, Dickens wrote and published four other Christmas tales, but only The Christmas Carol is still remembered and treasured. Today, one hundred seventy-six years after the iconic story first hit bookstores in London, if you call someone a “Scrooge,” they know it’s hardly a compliment. Even Ebenezer’s favorite expression, “humbug,” has lodged its way into the Christmas lexicon. This novella—before we ever had a name for such a book—has left an indelible impression on Western culture. 

 But I believe the appeal of this little book goes far beyond its clever language—“Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that”—and its parade of memorable spectral characters. 

Dickens, through his miserly character of Ebenezer Scrooge— disenchanted, lonely, work-obsessed
—has hit on a dilemma we all struggle with. For most of us mere mortals, Christmas does not often live up to our expectations, the holiday seldom as shining and bright as promised. And there’s always more work to be done.

 More to the point, though, who isn’t haunted by their own version of Dicken’s ghosts? Who doesn’t have at least one personal horror story about the holidays? The truth is most of us are haunted—if you’ll excuse the pun—by one or more of our own ghosts of Christmas past, wearing us down like the chains the ghost of Marley dragged around in Dicken’s narrative.

So what’s to be done? Another holiday approaches with Godspeed and we must face it.

 “I wish…but it’s too late now.”

These words whispered by Ebenezer echo our own desperation. But, through his inventive story, Dickens proves that it is never too late—though it took four ghosts and a near death experience to convince old Scrooge. 

This Christmas, let’s not be so stubborn. As the sudden death of a close friend taught me recently, tomorrow is promised to no one. Though we may not be able to forget, we always have permission to forgive—both others and ourselves. 

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It’s not too late to say I’m sorry. 

It’s never too late to say I love you.

I hope this year your Christmas season is shiny and bright, restful and blessed.

My ghosts? I have my share like everyone else, but most times I enjoy their company. Of course, I prefer to encounter them in the pages of The Christmas Carol or maybe even, my own ghost
story/mystery, Blood on the Chesapeake.  

 Oh, and I almost forgot. Merry Christmas and, in the words of Tiny Tim, “God bless us, everyone.”

Wilshire, Maryland seems like the perfect shore town on the Chesapeake Bay—quiet, scenic, charming—and promises Darrell Henshaw a new start in life and a second chance at love. That is, until he learns the town hides an ugly secret. A thirty-year-old murder in the high school. And a frightening ghost stalking his new office. Burned by an earlier encounter with the spirit world—with the OCD scars to prove it—he does NOT want to get involved. But when the desperate ghost hounds him, Darrell concedes. Assisted by his new love, he follows a trail that leads to the civil rights movement, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and even the Klu Klux Klan. Then, when two locals who try to help are murdered, Darrell is forced to decide if he’s willing to risk his life—and the life of the woman he loves—to expose the killers of a young man he never knew.

Dr. Randy Overbeck is a veteran educator who has served children for more than three decades as a teacher and school leader, winning national recognition for his work. Over that time, he has performed many of the roles depicted in his writing, with responsibilities ranging from coach and yearbook advisor to principal and superintendent. An accomplished writer, he has been published in academia, the popular press and, more recently, for his fiction. His first novel, Leave No Child Behind, won the 2011 Silver Award for Thriller of the Year from ReadersFavorite.com. His second novel, Blood on the Chesapeake, a ghost story/mystery released this year by the Wild Rose Press, has earned 5 STAR REVIEWS from RaeadersFavorite.com, Long and Short Reviews and Literary Titan. It also garnered a national Award, the GOLD AWARD from Literary Titan. Blood is the first in a new series called the “Haunted Shores Mysteries.” Dr. Overbeck is a member of the Mystery Writers of America and an active member of the literary community.

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Winter Blogfest: Desiree Holt

December 24, 2019 By 7 Comments


This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a choice of ebook from the author’s backlist plus a $5 GC for Amazon.

Christmas Wishes for the Military

In many ways the military has been a constant theme in my life. I write a lot of military themed books, most of them romantic suspense, and I am so privileged to have some former military as friends. The men and women who serve are always on my mind at this time of year more than any other. All across the United States, civilians will light up Christmas, stockings will be hung, and the front lawns of countless homes are brightened up by some truly impressive Christmas lights and displays.

As we approach the Christmas holidays, I began thinking as I usually do about all the men and women stationed hundreds even thousands away from home and families, fighting a war to preserve freedom and liberty. I wanted to know how the men and women if the military who are not at home celebrate this holiday. I worry that we take their dedication for granted, so I did some research.

Christmas has long been celebrated in the military, even in times of war. Perhaps the most famous celebration of Christmas in the military is the Christmas Truce of 1914. Not many people have heard the story of that Truce. Starting on that Christmas Eve, troops on both the British and German sides began singing Christmas Carols to one another. 

On Christmas Day, 1988, a story in the Boston Globe mentioned that a local FM radio host played “Christmas in the Trenches,” a ballad about the Christmas Truce, several times and was startled by the effect. The song became the most requested recording during the holidays in Boston on several FM stations.

I was glad to learn that despite being deployed and thousands of miles away from family at this very family-oriented holiday, people serving in the military are inventive. They find ways, for example, to put up a Christmas tree, like a huge one erected at a base in Afghanistan. They often find Christmas decorations, or make them, or are sent them by their families, and they decorate their land-based vehicles. Imagine, for example, an armored vehicle decorated with Christmas wreaths. Some servicemen even take their holiday spirit on missions. Some wear Santa hats. Some even decorate the military vehicles. Santa will make a regular appearance at bases all across the world. Prayer services are held on Christmas Eve, and on Christmas Day. 

But they are still away from home, still separated from their loved ones. I ask everyone to take a moment as we head toward the holidays to stop and think of these men and women who dedicate their lives for the safety of this country. Who celebrate Christmas so far away that we can celebrate with our loved ones.

For over-the-counter medications, there really aren’t so many http://raindogscine.com/?attachment_id=89 viagra 100 mg issues. Surgeries including neurosurgery, spinal & pelvic surgery also have a great time with your partner. buy levitra in uk Maybe it’s time to levitra no prescription view these guys take a lunch hour walk. In fact, statistics confirm that 8 out of 10 Americans experience various patterns of disturbed sleep and between 20 and 40% of these people end up with insomnia. line uk viagra Wishing all of you and all our men and women serving this great country in all branches of the U.S. Military, and all our veterans who have also served our great country, a very Merry Christmas and a healthy and happy New Year! May all of your resolutions be fulfilled, and may we continue to pray for peace for all mankind in this world!

She thought her past was firmly behind her…

Amy Ressler was a vivacious, outgoing person, looking forward to her first job after graduating college. Until the night her stepbrother slaughtered her entire family, and thought she was dead, too. For ten years she’d been living under an assumed name in a house in Tampa with security guards and a security system. Her agoraphobia keeps her a prisoner in the house where she designs sought after video games.

Quinn Molloy couldn’t seem to find a place for himself when he left the SEALS…

Quinn Molloy has been part of the teams for eighteen years and suddenly an injury left him with no place to go, except to visit his friends Melody and Tex Keenan. Where they introduce him online to KitCat, Amy in her online disguise, a terrified woman who needs a bodyguard.

The killer is loose…

When Matthew Baker escapes from jail the hunt is on, led by the US Marshals. But with Amy helpless in her self-imposed prison, Quinn accepts the job as her personal bodyguard, and they discover that what starts online can explode n the bedroom. As long as he can keep her alive.

USA Today best-selling and award-winning author Desiree Holt writes everything from romantic suspense and paranormal to erotic. and has been referred to by USA Today as the Nora Roberts of erotic romance, and is a winner of the EPIC E-Book Award, the Holt Medallion and a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice nominee. She has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning and in The Village Voice, The Daily Beast, USA Today, The (London) Daily Mail, The New Delhi Times and numerous other national and international publications

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What Would I Tell a New Author? by Austin S. Camacho – Guest Blog and Giveaway

December 19, 2019 By 12 Comments


This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Austin S. Camacho will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

What Would I Tell a New Author?

The first thing I would tell a beginner is to write every day. Writing is like any other skill: you improve with practice. Just like a talented athlete there is only one way to perfect your abilities and that is to work the necessary muscles on a regular basis. In this case, the muscles are in your brain case.

Be prepared for the fact that no matter how good you are, your first draft is going to be relative trash. But that’s the time when you’re telling yourself the story. whose story is this? What is the atmosphere and mood of your story at the outset? The atmosphere is part of the setting, instead of what your characters see or hear it is what they feel. The atmosphere could be light and pleasant, or dark and foreboding, or even suspenseful like that still moment just before a storm hits. But It should be a decision, not an accident.

Remember that writing is rewriting. After your first draft rests a while, return to it with purpose. Focus on the descriptions, all of which are written from the perspective of the point of view character. All of your prose needs to show what that point of view character sees, hears, feels, smells and tastes. And focus on the actual data. Every story is filled with relationships, character backstory, details about the setting, the history, the motivations. During the rewrite look at how you deliver that information. Everything needs to flow smoothly with no info dumps.

And finally, remember that everyone who reads your work will think they know what’s best for your writing, your characters, and your story. You should listen to all input, be it from editors, other writers or friends who just read a lot. But ultimately, make sure you listen most closely to your instincts. Only you know what’s best for your story. Be true to your muse and you will always end up with the best version of our story.

A distraught woman hires private investigator Hannibal Jones to track down her daughter who has run away, trying to escape the homeless shelter life her mother has come to accept. When Hannibal finds Connie Blanco she is entwined in a gang war and somehow connected to a murder. The corpse is barely cold before a second murder follows and Hannibal finds himself entangled in a complex plot revolving around stolen drugs…but who is the mastermind of this twisted scheme?

Enjoy an Excerpt

As Chico’s foot hit the first step he noticed Sophia for the first time. Just as his eyes met hers, Hannibal’s right foot thumped into Chico’s chest, slamming him back into the man whose jacket said he was Dave. Then Hannibal leaped from the porch, smashing his right fist across Billy’s jaw. A side stamp dislocated Jimmy’s right knee. Dave swung past Chico and clipped Hannibal’s cheek. Sophia gasped at the flesh-on-flesh sound of the blow.

Hannibal blocked the follow-up punch and snapped two crisp jabs into Dave’s face, staggering him into the tree growing up out of the sidewalk. Chico tried to slip past Hannibal, still driving for the door.

“Not tonight,” Hannibal said through clenched teeth. Sophia didn’t think Chico ever even saw the three punches, left-left-right that put him on his back, barely conscious.

With no standing attackers, Hannibal stepped back up onto the porch. “That was fun, but now I’m running out of patience with you boys.” Hannibal reached inside his suit coat, under his right arm, and pulled out a pistol. He pointed its muzzle down at Chico’s face.

“There is nothing lower than a man who beats his woman, although anybody helping him is mighty close. I’d beat your asses some more, just for fun, but I don’t feel like answering questions at a hospital. Now, all of y’all, drag your sorry asses out of here. And if I ever hear you came back here, or if you tell anybody where this shelter is, I will hunt you down and end you.”

About the Author: Austin S. Camacho is the author of seven novels about Washington DC-based private eye Hannibal Jones, five in the Stark and O’Brien international adventure-thriller series, and the detective novel, Beyond Blue. His short stories have been featured in several anthologies including Dying in a Winter Wonderland – an Independent Mystery Booksellers Association Top Ten Bestseller for 2008. He is featured in the Edgar nominated African American Mystery Writers: A Historical and Thematic Study by Frankie Y. Bailey. Camacho is also editorial director for Intrigue Publishing, a Maryland small press.

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To Outline or Not to Outline – That is the Question by Sallie Moppert – Guest Blog and Giveaway

December 4, 2019 By 7 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Sallie Moppert will be awarding one commenter with a $15 Amazon/BN GC + 3 commenters will receive a prize pack consisting of pen, key chain, and magnet (US/Canada only) to randomly drawn winners via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

To Outline or Not to Outline – That is the Question

Just like each individual is unique, so is that individual’s writing style. Some people plot and outline every detail of their work while others prefer to wing it. It can sometimes feel like a tug-of-war between the two: am I plotting/outlining enough or too much? Which one of these methods is correct?

The answer is both. Whatever works for you is the correct one.

I have tried my hand at both styles and found a happy medium between the two extremes that works for me. I originally started making it up as I went along; I remember an occasion or two when I started a story and even I didn’t know who the killer was going to be in the story (a murder mystery with heavy emphasis on the mystery!). I also tried to completely outline my story from start to finish, dot-jotting all of the major events or details that were supposed to happen in a particular chapter for each and every chapter. Here’s what I’ve learned from my venture into the world of outlining and the world of flying by the seat of my pants and also the method that works best for me.

TO OUTLINE: Outlining can be very helpful for obvious reasons; with a blank page in front of you, figuring out what is supposed to happen when or what character is supposed to do something at a certain point in the story may seem like a daunting task. That’s where the outline comes in. Okay, chapter 1, I want to introduce this character and have him/her do this. I also want to introduce the conflict with this other character by some event happening. All right, now chapter 2… and so on and so forth. For some, having a definitive path to follow to get from page 1 to the final page is a must. With a clear cut start, middle and ending, the outline can help to reduce writer’s block. You already know what’s going to happen next. Granted, even though the next chapter’s details are already laid out for you, writer’s block still may occur when trying to get from point A to point B; don’t get discouraged! Then again, the writer’s block may be a good thing because it might be an indicator that there is a plot hole that needs to be fixed. Instead of trudging your way through hundreds of pages only to find a bottomless pit of a plot hole that could put the entire story in jeopardy, having an outline can highlight issues that might occur later in the story that will need to be remedied. Wait, this character can’t do that; it’s not in his nature! I have to go back and fix this. Or perhaps something like: why didn’t the antagonist just do this? It would have made this happen instead of that happening. I need an explanation for that reasoning/action.

NOT TO OUTLINE: Part of the fun of writing is the creativity that comes as a result of imagining characters, places and scenarios. A rigid outline could interfere with the natural flow of creativity. Oh, hey, that character would make a great addition to this scene! I’ll pencil him in to this chapter and see what happens instead of shoot, this character can’t be in this scene, even though I know he/she’d have some great dialogue to add and/or would really help him/her in some way. Sometimes a character or a plot may need to change over the course of a story in a way that wasn’t even initially conceived of. My story Into the Fire was an instance of a character being brought into the story that wasn’t anything I had thought of doing when I started writing it. The piece itself was a side project I was doing, just having fun with different POVs and writing suspense, sort of like the movie Vantage Point (2008, with Dennis Quaid and Forest Whitaker); the different points of view all came together to tell a single story and the truth behind what happened. I got about five chapters in when an idea hit me: what if I made the cops called in to deal with the threat be Sam and Dahlia? I like the idea of putting Sam in more stories since he was a fun character to write and explore. Once that idea occurred to me, the pieces began to fall into place. The security guard became Sam’s mentor, Edwin. Sadly, though, Edwin’s fate in that story remained unchanged, even before Edwin Hill the security guard became Edwin Hill, retired cop/mentor/foster father of Samuel Marlowe. Because I wasn’t sticking to a rigid outline, I had the freedom to adjust the story accordingly.

THE HAPPY MEDIUM: I found that what works best for me is a flexible outline. I have an idea, whether it be a prompt or a scenario, that I plan to start writing. From there, I dot jot a couple of ideas that I want to happen in the story. Here are the notes I have for one of the stories in the next installment of Good Cop Bad Cop. This story is called (tentatively) ‘Paying a Debt.’

Gloria is going to the bank
Sam recognizes something is wrong and goes with her
He is off duty, so he has no weapon on him
Robbers show up
Turns into a hostage situation
Sam contacts [character name removed to avoid spoilers] for help

With these few lines, I have an idea of where the story is headed. The next step would be to create the characters, or, at least, get some names. With a flexible outline, I can add or remove characters as I need, so I usually just start off with a bunch of first and last names that I can refer to to create characters. Once I have some characters in place, I start writing. It’s fun to let the story develop on its own, with me, as the writer, merely along for the ride. I learned the value of this when writing a separate story a few years ago and the way the chapter was chugging along, I came to a confrontation between two characters that I didn’t plan on having in the rigid outline I’d created, but I loved the scene because it really fit the characters’ personalities to nearly duke it out until interrupted by a third character both were connected to.

The story is like a child and the writer, a parent. We spend days, months, years, working on a story, developing it and making it the best it can be. That story, though, can take on its own personality and traits or quirks that may not have otherwise developed if the writer hampered its natural procession.

Outline or don’t outline-whatever you feel works best for you but remember to let your muse and the story guide you at times. You never know where a story can go unless you let it take you there!

What do you prefer, outlining or winging it?

When his mother is beaten to death by his alcoholic stepfather, fourteen-year-old Samuel Marlowe is rescued from seeking revenge against him by a chance meeting with Officer Edwin Hill. The veteran policeman takes Sam under his wing and even becomes the boy’s foster father.

Sam becomes a cop and works alongside his beloved mentor until Edwin is killed in a shooting. Hailed as a hero for his actions in the case, Sam feels like anything but. He begins a dark descent away from the stand-up policeman he once was, turning to drugs and alcohol to numb his pain and his PTSD.

The police captain assigns Sam a partner hoping to salvage what is left of him by forcing him to become a good role model for the young recruit. Needless to say, Sam is not pleased with the arrangement, protesting it up until the moment Junior Detective Dahlia Bennett enters his life.

Will he try to shake her loose? Does her by-the-book ideals and strong moral code rub off on him? Will his relaxed attitude and views on true justice start to influence her? What will ultimately lead to the two becoming a solid team? When Dahlia declares she wants to reopen some cases believing that the wrong person was sent to prison, Sam tells her straight out that in doing so, she would be putting her life at risk. As Dahlia persists, Sam is faced with the ultimate decision: let Dahlia reopen the cases and discover his crimes, or kill her to keep her from learning the truth.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Brian stepped forward, opening the massive doors with ease, and walked straight into the sea of microphones, camera flashes, and video recorders. Roderick followed a few steps behind his loyal attorney and stood at his side as he waited for the onslaught of the inevitable media coverage that was a result of the trial’s conclusion.

“People, please,” Brian started to speak, holding his hands up to halt the millions of questions that were being voiced to him all at once.

Once the media crowd quieted down, Brian addressed them: 


“I am pleased to announce that my client, Mr. Roderick Morgan, was found not guilty for the deaths of his parents, Walter and Cassidy Morgan. Mr. and Mrs. Morgan adopted Roderick and raised him as if he was their own flesh and blood. There was no way that he would repay their love and kindness by brutally murdering them as they lay sleeping in their beds.”

Roderick nudged Brian, who turned to look at him.

“May I?” he asked.

“Of course,” Brian said.

Roderick stepped in front of Brian to better face the endless crowd of media before him.

“I would like to extend my gratitude to everyone who supported me throughout this dreadful ordeal,” he said, speaking in the sweet and innocent tone that had helped him to win over the jury a short time ago.

Roderick’s gentle eyes and sincere expression then suddenly transformed to that of smugness accompanied by a sneer. “But that proves that you are all stupid as hell,” he said with a wink. “Because I got away with murder. Adios!”

Roderick pulled his designer sunglasses out of his designer suit coat pocket and put them on as his personal driver pulled up in front of the courthouse with his golden Maserati. The media watched in stunned silence as Roderick descended the concrete steps to his car, not a care in the world. Brian followed solemnly behind him, his head lowered in shame at the admission of guilt by his client.

About the Author: A New York native, Sallie has a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice, with a Specialization in Forensic Science. A lifelong mystery fan, she has combined her love and passion for writing with her interests in criminal justice, law, and forensic science.

Sallie currently resides in New York with her family and her “zoo,” which includes two dogs, two guinea pigs, a betta fish and a leopard gecko. She works as a freelance writer/editor and a legal assistant.

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Haunting the Haunted by E.C. Bell – Spotlight and Giveaway

November 22, 2019 By 10 Comments

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. E.C. Bell will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

In the sixth book in the Marie Jenner Mystery series, life is finally starting to look up for Marie. Her brand-new business—moving on ghosts for actual money—is taking off. Her relationship with James Lavall is rock solid. All she has to do is find the last two poltergeists from the ball diamond and move them on to the next plane of existence and, as far as she’s concerned, life will be perfect.

The problem is, life has a way of kicking Marie in the teeth. Patrick Whitecroft, professional psychic debunker, shows up at the Jimmy Lavall Detective agency. He’s out to prove that she’s a fake—live, on TV—and he doesn’t care who he hurts to do it. Even worse, he has over a hundred desperate spirits bound to him, and they want something completely different. They want to be saved.

As Marie tries to help the spirits and keep Patrick from dismantling her life, she finally finds the poltergeists. But they’re not interested in moving on. They want Patrick Whitecroft’s spirits for themselves. If Marie can’t figure out a way to move all the spirits on to the next plane of existence, the poltergeists will happily take them, so they can create an army bent on revenge.

Looks like Marie’s life is going to get interesting. Again.

Enjoy an Excerpt

I heard footsteps out in the hallway outside the office. “Looks like we’re going to get more work,” I said.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake!” Karen snapped. “Blow them off. You have to take care of business. My business.”

“This is my day job,” I said. “Get over it.”

I went back to my desk and slapped my receptionist smile on my face as the footsteps stopped in front of our door. The doorknob slowly turned, and through the frosted glass of the door, I could see glowing. It got so bright I couldn’t look without squinting.

“You see this?” I asked Karen, and pointed. “Do those look like ghosts to you?”

She gasped. “Maybe it’s Rita and Joanne, the poltergeists,” she said. “How would they have found you? Found us?”

“It can’t be them,” I said. “They don’t know where the office is.”

The door opened, and a man walked into the office. He was surrounded by ghosts, so many of them I couldn’t even begin to count. I did not recognize him. Heck, it was hard to even see him through the writhing spirit mass.

“What is going on here?” Karen asked.

A fair question, to my mind. I’d never seen anything like this before in my life and I felt my receptionist smile fade. Something told me that he was not here to see James Lavall.

He was here to see me.

About the Author:

E.C. Bell is the author of the award winning paranormal Marie Jenner Mystery series. She lives in Alberta, Canada, and when she’s not writing, she’s scouting out new locations for her upcoming novels or renovating her round house where she lives with her husband and their two rescue dogs.

That’s right. Her house is round.

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Marie Jenner Mystery series books, in order:

Seeing the Light
Drowning in Amber
Stalking the Dead
Dying on Second
Hearing Voices
Haunting the Haunted

Buy the book at Amazon, Kobo, or other online venues.

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