Chris Redding's Blog, page 25
December 8, 2013
Celebrate the Season with Imajin Books' 25 Days of Christmas Giveaways
This Christmas season, Canadian publishing house Imajin Books decided to do things a bit differently. Instead of only 25 days of contests and discounts as in past years, they're holding various events from December 1st to January 3rd. Okay, so they can't count, but they believe readers deserve to be rewarded. And we agree!
From December 1-25, Imajin Books will be awarding random prizes to those who leave comments on their Facebook page. So drop by, check out their posts and leave a comment or question.
Want to win even more? Check out their Share the Imajin Books Buzz contest. You could win a Kindle Fire HD or Kobo equivalent, or one of two $50 Amazon gift cards. This contest also runs December 1-25. To enter, visit the Rafflecopter contest widget below or at http://www.imajinbooks.com/contests-events. You can enter multiple times a day.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
December 5, 2013
The Girl from Long Guyland
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Laila Levin enjoys a successful marriage and a thriving career as an I.T. executive in Austin, Texas, but she can't quite shake her lifelong sense of not truly belonging anywhere.
When her company announces a major layoff, Laila finds herself caught between an unscrupulous CEO and her promiscuous boss. Then news of her college roommate's suicide stirs up a dark secret involving three devious friends from her past. One has betrayed a vow, another wants to rekindle their romance, and the third is out for revenge.
Suddenly for Laila, it's 1969 again. She's only seventeen, and she's left her sheltered home in Long Island for college in Connecticut. Amid protests of the Vietnam War, she's tempted by the sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll that rule her generation. Laila gets swept up in a deceptive love triangle with two older locals and initiated into their unethical hippie family. Too late she realizes her search to belong has led to tragedy.
Laila must now juggle the demands of her perplexed husband and her baby boomer past forcing her to make choices that endanger her survival and challenge her conscience.
She learns that the lines between right and wrong are often blurred, and sometimes you have to risk everything to be true to yourself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EXCERPTEasy Rider
Bridgeport, Connecticut, 1969
The guy in the passenger seat of the Mercedes ordered Joey and me to get into the back seat of the car. He had a bushy mustache streaked with grey, and a sparkling diamond stud in his ear. He brushed my cheek with his finger and said, “I’m Angel,” then poked the driver’s arm. “Get a move on.”
I caught the driver winking at me in the rearview mirror and realized it was Rojo.
“You got it, boss.” Rojo said, and stepped on the gas pedal.
I clung to the plush leather seat as Rojo sped the car down the icy roads.
Angel turned up the volume of the radio and sang along to Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” in an off-key raspy voice. When the song ended, he leered at me through rimless spectacles. “So, what’s a nice girl from Long Guyland doing with a couple of jerks like Ben and Chris?”
Did he know I’d been with both of them? Did everyone know?
I-I guess I’m not as nice as you might think.”
Angel laughed. He had perfect white-chicklet teeth and a sexy smile. “You’re cute, honey.”
Joey cleared his throat. “Laila’s a classy chick. Too good for those dudes, if you ask me.”
Angel whacked Joey’s head with his hand. Not hard, but enough to show he called the shots.
“No one asked you, jerk-face. Let her speak for herself.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AUTHOR Bio and Links:Lara Reznik grew up on Long Island but escaped to New Mexico in 1970 in a Karmann Ghia that she and her boyfriend jump-started cross-country. As an English major at the University of New Mexico, Lara studied under esteemed authors Rudolfo Anaya and the late Tony Hillerman. She also attended a summer program at the prestigious Iowa Writers Workshop.
Ambidextrous from birth, Lara preferred her right-brained creative side, but discovered she could make a better living with her left-brain skills, so entered the I.T. field in 1985.
Lara published her first novel, The Girl From Long Guyland in November 2012. The novel ranked #1 during its recent Amazon Kindle promotion and has over 115,000 Kindle downloads. In addition to her novels, Lara has written and optioned three screenplays that have garnered semifinalist and finalist wins in the Austin Heart of Film, Southwest Writers, TV Writer, Chesterfield and Writer's Digest contests. Currently, Lara is working on a new novel based on her screenplay, The M&M Boys.
LINKSAMAZON LINK:
http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Long-Guyland-ebook/dp/B00A45OYD0/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1369930673&sr=8-1&keywords=THE+GIRL+FROM+LONG+GUYLAND
https://www.facebook.com/LARAREZNIK23?ref=hl&bookmark_t=page
WEBSITE
https://www.larareznik.COM
Brenda Maxfield
I think my YA actually picked me! I teach high school so I’m plunged into teen drama every day. I really appreciate my students: what they share with me and what they teach me. So, writing about teen life was a natural outgrowth.
2. Do you plot or do you write by the seat of your pants?
I’m a mix. I do plot the overall story line, and I know where I want the story to end up. But my characters take over! Often, they’ll do something totally unplanned and I’ll cry, “Wait! You can’t do that.” But they talk right back and tell me that they most certainly can – and in fact already did! I’ve learned to leave them alone when that happens. Ha! I do admire those writers who can plot down to the last detail. Wow, totally amazing.
3. What do you know now that you are published that you didn’t know pre-published that you wish you knew?Hmmm. I’ve learned so much, and I continue to learn. I think one happy thing I’ve learned is how wonderfully generous and knowledgeable my fellow writers are. We all know that writing can be lonely work, yet I can’t count how many times wonderful writers have stopped in (via Internet) and given friendship and support. I appreciate them so much!
4. How many rejections have you received?I haven’t kept count! Ha! Plenty. It’s part of the game. The trick is to see rejections as proof that you’re going forward as an author. (Which, admittedly, is sometimes easier said than done.)
5. What was the best writing advice someone gave you?Put butt in chair. Write. That’s really what it comes down to, isn’t it? Produce those words. You can edit them later.
6. Describe your book.Seeking Christmas is a short story about forgiveness. I often hear my teen friends talk about their struggles to forgive absent parents or parents who neglect or abuse them. I’ve seen their determination to put it all behind them and go forward with their lives. It’s hard. More than hard. In Seeking Christmas, Courtney wants to do the right thing, not only for herself but for her brother. But she finds that the right thing is often the hardest thing of all.
7. What’s your writing schedule?I get up very early and attempt to get 1,000 words written before school starts. After school, I work on editing, social media, promotion, etc. (Will someone please figure out how to add 3 – 4 hours to the day?)
8. What is your favorite word?I love this question! I don’t really have a favorite word, but I do love words. When I teach vocabulary at school, I sometimes have the students repeat a word aloud over and over because it feels so good on the tongue. They think I’m nuts, but it’s fun!
9. What’s your favorite food?I adore pizza. Now, that I’m vegan, I’ve learned to love pizza without cheese. (Sounds impossible, but actually, it’s quite good!)
10. What would you like to learn to do that you haven’t?I’ve often thought it’d be cool to learn how to fly an airplane. I’ve been on hundreds and hundreds of flights, and I think it’d be fun to do the driving!
Author BioMy passion is writing! What could be more delicious than inventing new characters and seeing where they take you?
I've lived in Honduras, Grand Cayman, and Costa Rica. Presently, I live in Indiana with my husband, Paul. We have two grown children and three grandchildren, special delivery from Africa.
When not teaching, I love to hole up in our cabin and write -- often with a batch of popcorn nearby.
I enjoy getting to know my readers, so feel free to write me at: contact@brendamaxfield.com.
Join my newsletter gang: http://mad.ly/signups/85744/join. Visit me to learn about all my books: www.brendamaxfield.com
Book BlurbSeeking Christmas (an Ocean Mist short story Two)
The Christmas season has eighteen-year-old Courtney crossing the state line with her little brother Dennis to rendezvous with the man who deserted them years ago. Courtney remembers him only as the tall man who ran away. Dennis doesn’t remember him at all.
Courtney is furious, but Denny is curious. Will their meeting result in a happy Christmas memory or another miserable disappointment?
Seeking Christmas Purchase Links:Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/ky7oxzu
Barnes and Noble: http://tinyurl.com/jvktfxz
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/373439
Contact Links for Brenda Maxfield:
Website: http://www.brendamaxfield.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorBrendaMaxfield
Goodreads Page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6570620.Brenda_Maxfield
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrendaMaxfield
Blog: http://www.brendamaxfield.wordpress.com
Email: contact@brendamaxfield.com
Amazon Author Page: http://tinyurl.com/psj82bj
Newsletter Sign-up: http://mad.ly/signups/85744/join
December 3, 2013
Timeless
Old Louisville
I tried to go to sleep. My new life would be better in daylight. I could at least get a better look at my surroundings. Falling asleep would make the day come sooner.
But it didn’t work. Even though my eyes were shut tight, I couldn’t relax. Time went by. I don’t know how much time. And then I heard a faint noise.
It was the giggling of a child.
Could it be television from someone’s room?
But it didn’t sound like television. It sounded real, as if a child was playing in the hall maybe. It was a high-pitched laugh, like a little girl’s. My skin prickled, and my stomach tightened. Another chilly sensation swept over me. I was being watched. But there was no one in my room with me.
Tossing back the covers, I jumped out of bed and ran to the nearby window. Could the sound be coming from outside? A streetlamp pooled light on the sidewalk. Gray fog swirled in the air making the deserted street below seem spooky as if from a B-rated horror movie. I shivered at the thought and turned to hop back into bed.
At that moment, a flash of white raced past me, and I caught it out of the corner of my eye. I heard the giggling again, louder now. Looking back at my bed, I spotted a little girl standing on the other side of it. She was dressed in white and her slender hand reached toward my doll as if she wanted to touch it and play with it.
“Hey!”
She looked up, startled, and smiled at me as if she knew me. And then she ran from the bed toward the door to the parlor which was shut. My heart raced. I followed her, flinging open the door to stare out into the empty parlor with the gray streetlights creating a defused, half-light glow in the room.
How had the little girl gone through the door? It had been shut! How could she have disappeared so quickly? Was I dreaming? Hallucinating? I pinched myself to see if I was awake.
I was. The floor was cold even through my socks. I crossed the parlor and unlocked and opened the outer door to the hall. All was quiet except for the deep tick-tock of a grandfather clock at one end. I bit my lower lip and retreated to the parlor, making sure the door to the hall was locked.
Standing silently for a moment, listening for laughter, I let my heart settle into a normal rhythm. What was the matter with me?
Thinking back at the vision of the little girl, I realized something was wrong about it. The child’s clothes were more fitting for the nineteenth century, not the twenty-first. In fact, her clothes reminded me of the lacy frills of my doll. And the girl’s hair was long, curled in dark blond ringlets down her back, and she wore a white ribbon in her hair. Her body didn’t seem solid. It was transparent, almost ghost-like.
Ah, shit!
Timeless BlurbWhen Beth Abbott receives a surprise inheritance from her birth mother, she travels to the family’s nineteenth century mansion in Old Louisville, now a bed and breakfast. There she meets the resident ghost, a little girl whose crying not only scares, but also intrigues guests. Beth sets out to discover the identity of the ghost and why she appears happy to Beth, not sad.
Jeff Halstead, a man with several secrets, runs the bed and breakfast. But he’s more than that to Beth, and she feels their connection immediately. A psychic medium who doubts his skills, Jeff slowly uncovers the truth of their past lives. Will he be in time to reveal the identity of Beth’s enemy? Will the love they shared in the past follow them into the future?
Jan Scarbrough Bio
Jan Scarbrough is the author of the popular Bluegrass Reunion series, writing heartwarming contemporary romances about home and family, single moms and children, and if the plot allows, about another passion--horses. Living in the horse country of Kentucky makes it easy for Jan to add small town, Southern charm to her books, and the excitement of a horse race or a big-time, competitive horse show.
Jan also contributes to the Ladies of Legend series, a collaboration with writers Maddie James, Janet Eaves and Magdalena Scott. Set in fictitious Legend, Tennessee, these romances bring together the small town family atmosphere so many readers enjoy.
Leaving her contemporary voice behind, Jan has written a medieval romance MY LORD RAVEN, and several sensual Medieval romantic short stories. Her Gothic romance, TANGLED MEMORIES, was a Golden Heart finalist. TIMELESS is her newest Gothic romance.
A member of Novelist, Inc. and the Romance Writers of America, Jan has published with Kensington, Five Star, ImaJinn Books, Resplendence Publishing and Turquoise Morning Press.
Follow me on Twitter @romancerider
Website: http://www.janscarbrough.com/November 27, 2013
Elysa Hendricks Interview
I've been writing as long as I can remember. I've always been a storyteller, so I'm pretty sure as soon as I figured out that those funny squiggles on paper were words I began writing down the stories in my head.
2. Do you plot or do you write by the seat of your pants?
I'm definitely a panster or as I prefer to say "I write into the mist." If I plot out my entire story before I start writing, I tend to lose interest. Heck, if I know everything that's going to happen, why write it? Besides, even when I plot things out, my characters always object and do what they want anyways.
3. What drew you to the subject of MUST LOVE CATS: The Nine Lives of Thomas Cash Riley?I adore cats and I wanted to write a book that featured a cat as more than just a pet. Thomas Cash (TC) Riley fit the bill. Though the book is a romance between two humans, TC has his own story to tell.
4. What was the name of the first novel you wrote? Did you try to publish it?My very first novel CHILDREN OF THE MIND (btw - Orson Scott Card's book by the same name came out years after I wrote mine) will probably never see publication. I didn't realize it until long after I shoved the manuscript under the bed, to be guarded by killer dust bunnies, that the story borrowed way too heavily from Star Trek: Next Generation. Maybe someday I'll pull it out and see if I can salvage it, but right now I have too many other stories in my head clamoring to be written.
5. How many rejections have you received?Let's just say that if my husband would agree to it, I could probably paper a room with them.
6. What was the best writing advice someone gave you?No matter what, keep writing. Never give up. Never surrender.
7. If you could ask your readers one question, what would it be?What can I do to make my books more appealing to you?
8. What’s your favorite quote?"There are three rules to writing. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." Somerset Maugham
9. What three things would you want with you on a desert island?Assuming there's food, water, and shelter of some kind, the only other three things I'd need to survive would be my husband, paper, and pencils. Oh, an eraser would be helpful, too.
10. What do you do when you are not writing?I'm not very adventurous, so my non-writing pastimes are pretty bland. I read. I walk. I putter around in the garden. And I do crafts like beading and needlework. Other than when I'm reading or watching TV my mind is always "writing." I often wonder what people who don't write, think about.
Author Bio:Elysa Hendricks is 5'6" tall. She has curly hair and brown eyes. She's an author, a wife, a mother and a daughter. Everything else is subject to change without notice.
Her "real life" motto is: Boring is good. Excitement is vastly overrated, so she saves the adventure and excitement for the characters in her books.
You can learn more about her books at: http://www.elysahendricks.com
Book Blurb:MUST LOVE CATS: The Nine Lives of Thomas Cash Riley - Book a
Killed in a car wreck Thomas Cash (TC) Riley is given one last chance to redeem himself for living a selfish, unfulfilled life.
With the help of a lonely little girl and a brash young boy, can TC bring together two damaged people, remember his past, and save his soul in the allotted time?
And can he do it all as a cat?
Buy Links:Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Must-Love-Lives-Thomas-Riley-ebook/dp/B00FXCWTHW
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/366089
November 26, 2013
The Scottish Selkie – audio book
I have always found selkies fascinating. These fey beings from Celtic mythology, mainly of Scotland and Ireland, shape shift from seal to man. My interest in Celtic mythology is equaled only to my interest in Celtic history. My favorite Celitc King is Kenneth Mac Alpin. So naturally, I combined my favorite Celtic beings and my favorite Celtic King and wrote a novel containing both of them. It’s called The Scottish Selkie and it’s now available as an audio book.
http://www.audible.com/search/ref=a_mt_ps1zx_tseft?advsearchKeywords=the+scottish+selkie&filterby=field-keywords&sprefix=the+scottish+selkie
From ancient druid lore, springs the tale of a mysterious, dark warrior, a fiery Pict Princess, and the shadowy secret standing between them. A bow and arrow carrying Pict beauty takes vengeance on a royal target but fails at her attempt to slay the Scot King, Kenneth Mac Alpin. To save her life, she is forced to wed the king’s cousin, Malcolm. Just as the Scot warrior and the Pict princess begin to forge a bond, Malcolm must reveal his incredible secret and choose between two worlds, one with Bethoc or one without.
Here is the book trailer with the talented, voice actor, Dennis Kleinman reading the blurb:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLOm5ucN5AoThe voice actor for The Scottish Selkie, Dennis Kleinman, has the smoothest, sexiest, so-very-masculine voice. This links to two excerpts from the audio book, The Scottish Selkie:
https://soundcloud.com/dennis-kleinma....Here is a pinterest board of the World of The Scottish Selkie:
http://www.pinterest.com/corneliaamiri/the-scottish-selkie/Contest:
I I’m giving away an audio book of The Scottish Selkie, a 19.00 value. To enter the contest, just comment below with your email, so if you win I can send the audio book of The Scottish Selkie to you.
I You can visit Cornelia Amiri on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CelticRomanceQueen and or her website at http://CelticRomanceQueen.com and twitter at @corneliaAmiri, and her email is CelticRomanceQueen@gmail.com
November 25, 2013
VAULT OF SECRETS
Hawk McKinney
BLURB:
Vault of Secrets is a compelling tale of intrigue, murder, deception and redemption that leads retired Navy SEAL/part-time private investigator Craige Ingram in search of the connection between seemingly random murders and a banking conspiracy. Working with the local homicide investigator, who just happens to be a former Navy buddy, Craige Ingram's attempts to protect a lonely widow and solve the case before another person dies are only thwarted by a psychotic killer whose motivation is based on pure pleasure. The instincts and skills Ingram and his buddy acquired as Navy SEALS are tested to their limits.
One randomly drawn commenter will win a $20 Amazon Gift Card.
EXCERPT:
Predawn risers were at Duke’s breakfast diner in booths and at tables. The aroma of fried eggs, pancakes, grits, bacon and country ham filled the air. Gray caught Craige up on Sedgewicke’s autopsy reports—chronic degenerative heart condition, sky high cholesterol and arterial disease.
“His heart wasn’t what killed him. Got us a crafty one here,” Gray sighed. “CDC Atlanta verified Fred’s gas chromatography runs on the poison.” Handed Craige the folder.
Craige’s eyes zeroed to the big, bold word—ACONITE. “Lethal dose of aconite in Royce’s tissues,” Craige said. “Gives the how but not the way it was slipped to Sedgewicke.” He looked through the rest of the toxicology report. “Not very original. Rome’s Julio-Claudian's treacherous family of brigands was in some ways a lot more honest than most of us and far more sophisticated with aconite. They called it wolfsbane and used it often. Wife of old Octavian Augustus, a determined old dowager, the Empress Livia, it was rumored to be her favorite method for eliminating rivals. She kept her supplier on call. Augustus wouldn’t eat anything except food prepared by his own slaves. Livia wanted her son Tiberius to succeed to the purple. She was afraid Augustus meant to be rid of Tiberius, so she dusted her husband’s figs with the bane. People do get away with murder and simple makes for better odds.” Craige glanced at the next page. “This gone beyond your office?”
“Only CDC,” Gray said. “Your crack about possible killings we don’t know about keeps troubling me.” He scratched his wiry mustache. “Marshall’s suicide, Sedgewicke murder, two women dead, the Stanley break-in.”
Craige closed the folder, his face stony serious. “I’ve never done, what I’m about to do. Ask you for a favor...”
“No…” Craige’s monotone hardness surprised Gray. “But I gather that’s about to change.”
AUTHOR INFORMATION:With postgraduate degrees and faculty appointments in several medical universities, Hawk MacKinney has taught graduate courses in both the United States and Jerusalem. In addition to professional articles and texts on chordate neuroembryology, Hawk has authored several works of fiction.
Hawk began writing mysteries for his school newspaper. His works of fiction, historical love stories, science fiction and mystery-thrillers are not genre-centered, but plot-character driven, and reflect his southwest upbringing in Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma. Moccasin Trace, a historical novel nominated for the prestigious Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes Book Award, details the family bloodlines of his serial protagonist in the Craige Ingram Mystery Series… murder and mayhem with a touch of romance. Vault of Secrets, the first book in the Ingram series, was followed by Nymrod Resurrection, Blood and Gold, and The Lady of Corpsewood Manor. All have received national attention. Hawk’s latest release in the Ingram series is due out this fall with another mystery-thriller work out in 2014. The Bleikovat Event, the first volume in The Cairns of Sainctuarie science fiction series, was released in 2012.
www.hawkmackinney.nethttp://www.amazon.com/Vault-Secrets-Hawk-Mackinney/dp/1933300256/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384707403&sr=1-4
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/vault-of-secrets-hawk-mackinney/1103301288?ean=9781933300252
November 21, 2013
INTO THE FIRE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BLURB:
The Virus changed them, but that was only the beginning… …death…mutation…insanity…corruption…terror… …all that remains is hope.
In the wake of destruction left behind by the Virus, it took Dani and Zoe months to find each other. But their reunion was short-lived. Dani has been taken, and though little distance separates them, they might as well be worlds apart.
From the moment she hears Dani’s scream, Zoe’s only goal is to save her best friend. She and her companions scramble to come up with a rescue plan, but when a ghost from Jake’s past reappears, lines are blurred, decisions become harder, and secrets are revealed…and some secrets are best left buried. To keep heartache and fear from consuming her, Zoe must cling to her determination. She will see Dani again.
Dani awakens inside the final hold-out of civilization: the Colony. Remnants of the former world surround her—electricity, safety, social order—but all is not what it seems. As she faces her most manipulative adversary yet, she loses sight of who she is and who she can trust. Friends become enemies, enemies become allies, and allies will betray her. Dani will have to decide what she’s willing to do and whose lives she’s willing to risk if she is to have any chance of breaking free.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EXCERPTI froze. He’s leaving. I glared at Jake’s back, but feeling his misery, my anger quickly subsided. “We can figure something—”
“Stop!” He pulled his arm back and slammed his fist into the wall, denting it. “There’s nothing to figure out. My sister will not be used as a pawn.” His face fell. He leaned back and brought his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”
He’s already made up his mind. Instantly, I started to question everything about Jake and me…about us. My reservations from the first time I met him—the first time he saved me, opened his mouth, and pushed me away—flared to life, and I chided myself for being so naïve. I knew something like this would happen.
The questions jumped off my tongue before I could contain them. “What about Dani? What about me? You’re just going to leave?”
When he didn’t respond, reality burst overhead like a looming storm cloud, clearing away the fog that had settled in my heart and mind. How could I have been so stupid?
The conversation we’d had on the dock back in St. Louis resurfaced from under a month’s-worth of foolhardy emotions. Jake’s words replayed in my mind.
“For whatever reason, I know you don’t want to let me in…or maybe you just don’t know how…what are you afraid of?”
This. This feeling of inexplicable loss was what I’d been afraid of—the living lump of hysteria swelling in my throat, the desperation in my heart. I couldn’t swallow it away.
Biting the inside of my cheek as hard as possible, I willed myself to calm down. Keep it together, Zoe.
Jake strode past me to Becca, pulling her up to her feet.
Lunging at him, I pushed against his chest as hard as I could. “You’re leaving?” He stumbled away from Becca, and I pushed him again. “You’re going to kill Dani!” I shoved against his shoulder. “You’re going to kill us all if you take her!” I smack his chest. “I won’t let you ruin everything.” I won’t let you break my heart! I pushed, shoved, and slapped him again and again. “You son of a bitch!”
Jake gripped my arms firmly, immobilizing me and forcing me to look up at him. His eyebrows lifted with sympathy…or is it sorrow? I was too upset to differentiate between his emotions and mine.
“Let go,” I warbled.
As he opened his mouth to speak, a gunshot cracked through the air, and Jake yanked me down to the floor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AUTHOR Bio and Links:.jpg)
Lindsey Fairleigh lives her life with one foot in a book—as long as that book transports her to a magical world or bends the rules of science. Her novels, from post-apocalyptic to time travel and historical fantasy, always offer up a hearty dose of unreality, along with plenty of adventure and romance. When she's not working on her next novel, Lindsey spends her time reading and trying out new recipes in the kitchen. She lives in the Napa Valley with her loving husband and confused cats.
Lindsey Pogue has always been a little creative. As a child she established a bug hospital on her elementary school soccer field, compiled books of collages as a teenager, and as an adult, expresses herself through writing. Her novels are inspired by her observations of the world around her--whether she's traveling, people watching, or hiking. When not plotting her next story line or dreaming up new, brooding characters, Lindsey's wrapped in blankets watching her favorite action flicks or going on road trips with her own leading man.
The authors will be awarding a $15 Amazon GC to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Links: Website: http://www.theendingseries.com/
Blog: http://aftertheending-ae.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheEndingSeries
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AfterTheEnding
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/series/99139-the-ending
Buy links:
Amazon:
Into The Fire (The Ending, #2) - not available yet
After The Ending (The Ending, #1) - http://www.amazon.com/After-Ending-ebook/dp/B00BJDUBLU
Barnes & Noble:
Into The Fire (The Ending, #2) - not available yet
After The Ending (The Ending, #1) - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/after-the-ending-lindsey-fairleigh/1114702967
November 20, 2013
AN INNER FIRE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Grayce Walters, animal acupuncturist, harbors a secret. She hides her intuitive gifts from the world until she becomes embroiled in arson on Seattle’s waterfront.
As a key crime witness, Grayce must convince the attractive, logical, by-the-numbers fire investigator, Ewan Davis,that the fire she witnessed is part of a larger criminal conspiracy. Grayce embarks upon a mission to gather proof of the dangerous threat. She enlists the help of her cross-dressing best friend, her street-wise assistant, and Davis’ poodle, to conduct her own investigation.
As her feelings for Davis shift between white hot passion and cold fear, Grayce must risk exposing her secrets to save Davis’ life. Davis must accept things, he can neither see, nor understand to solve the mystery and finally find the love he has stopped believing in.
With nudges from the protective poodle, Grayce and Davis confront shocking betrayal and international crime on the rain soaked streets of Seattle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~EXCERPT
“Grayce, you’re exhausted. You had a big week, your trip to LA. You need to get some rest. I’m going to take you home.”
“I am tired but something is wrong. When I’m with you, I experience overwhelming sensations. I know you’re in danger.”
He pulled both her hands back into his, he had to touch her. “Grayce, you’re absolutely right. I’m in danger, but not from that thug.”
Her whole body stiffened. “Someone else has threatened you?”
He squeezed her hands and gazed into her eyes, trying to communicate his need for her. “Yes, there is a person who is a threat to me.”
She gasped. “Who?”
I’m not tense from the investigation but from trying to deny what is between us. Don’t you know when we’re together the room vibrates? All those sensations you’re feeling are between us.”
“What?”
He didn’t usually have to convince women they were attracted to him. Grayce definitely needed some convincing, judging by the astonishment in her voice.
“All the strain is us trying to ignore what’s happening.”
“You think everything I’m feeling is…is an attraction between us?”
By the shock on her face, Grayce wasn’t driven by desire for him.
“Don’t worry, my feelings aren’t hurt.” At least, not that he would admit. “I’m going to give you time to realize what a wonderful guy I am.” He liked a challenge and convincing Grayce Walters was going to be a challenging pleasure.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Descended from a long line of storytellers, Jacki spins adventures filled with mystery, healing and romance.
Jacki’s love affair with the arts began at a young age and inspired her to train as a jazz singer and dancer. She has performed many acting roles with Seattle Opera Company and Pacific Northwest Ballet.
Jacki has set An Inner Fire in Seattle, her long-time home. The city’s unique and colorful locations are a backdrop for her romantic mystery.
Although writing now fills much of her day, she continues to volunteer for Seattle’s Ballet and Opera Companies and leads children’s tours of Pike Street Market. Her volunteer work with Seattle’s homeless shelters influenced one of her main characters in An Inner Fire.
Jacki’s two Golden Labs, Gus and Talley, are her constant companions. Their years of devotion and intuition inspired her to write dogs as main characters alongside her strong heroines.
A geek at heart, Jacki loves superhero movies—a hero’s battle against insurmountable odds. But her heroines don’t have to wear a unitard to fight injustice and battle for the underdog.
Her debut novel, AN INNER FIRE, releases November 14, 2013
The author will award a $25 Amazon GC and eBook copy of "An Inner Fire" to one randomly drawn commenter and to one randomly drawn host during the tour. LINKS: WEBSITE: www.jackidelecki.com
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/Jacki.Deleck
TWITTER: http://twitter.com/jackidelecki
AMAZON AUTHOR CENTRAL: www.amazon.com/author/jackidelecki
GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/jackidelecki
LINKEDIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/jacqueline-delecki/34/839/741
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Inner-Fire-Jacki-Delecki-ebook/dp/B00GGPX3CA/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1&qid=1384887947
BN: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/an-inner-fire-final-jacki-delecki/1117323174?ean=2940148883265
November 18, 2013
NYMROD RESURRECTION
Hawk McKinney
BLURB:
Investigating an unlikely murder, Ex-SEAL and part time PI Craige Ingram discovers an officially sanctioned assassination. His investigation quickly stirs beyond the dirty backrooms of the nation’s capital with more killings across Europe and the Middle East. The dead woman is somehow connected to stolen artifacts from a time before Babylon. As he probes apparently unconnected clues, he locks horns with an enigmatic enticing secret agent with her own agenda and her own way of doing things. Craige faces train wrecks and deadly assassins doing business with a rich mercenary selling biotoxins, rare stamps, deadly nerve gases, and smuggled nuclear material to the highest bidder. As Craige peels away at the shadowy Operation Nymrod, he finds an elusive power-hungry dead-set mind – a driven obsession with a frightful arsenal of bioweapons ready to fulfill ancient prophecies with a very personal Armageddon that makes the monstrous last day of the twin towers of the World Trade Center pale in possibilities.
EXCERPT
On the second-floor landing I spotted familiar faces from the department's forensic team. The smell was worse inside. With that first look I didn't need to be told that the pulpy lump with swollen pumpkin dimples where eyes should have been was one very bloated dead body. The corpse was well into being recycled. It no longer looked human. The body had been cooking in the sweltering oven of a Dixie mid-August scorching summer in this dreary one-flight walkup of apartments with no AC and painted-shut windows. Near the peeling paint archway and a worse kitchenette beyond I spotted Gray huddled with just over five feet plus, roly-poly Coroner-Medical Examiner Fred Dinkins.
"What you got?" I asked.
Gray indolently heaved a getting-paunchier fried chicken and beer belly and idly mumbled, "We’re not quite sure...." threw me that MacGerald we-got-trouble look. "Right now all I know for sure is, it's no run-of-the-mill homicide."
There was more in his look than his words. It was all over his face that things weren't going the way he liked. I’d known that from the moment I disconnected from his call. He wouldn't have made the call for a squabble between drifters over street drugs or a grocery cart of scrounged throwaway clothes. When a corpse is concealed, long term or otherwise and left to rot, decomposition can alter forensic evidence until it tells other stories—but not usually ones you want to hear. Dinkins had his work cut out for him and his crew. It’s one way perps buy themselves time, and concealment usually means there’s considerable more that went down. In my wildest night-stalks I could never’ve imagined how right-on-the-money that would prove to be. Ignorance is bliss…our SEAL team learned real quick. It can also get you killed.
Without looking up Dinkins said, "One more pitiable devil that died alone.” Piercing blue eyes peered over his ever-present black wire-rim glasses perched unsteadily on the end of his nose. In low-key measured words, "Prelim exam leads me to believe the corpse is female, but we'll wait till we get the body to the morgue, see what the autopsy and lab tests tell us. I don’t want any second guessing the evidence. Besides, we’re about finished up here."
The dreary apartment was busier than it’d seen in decades with double shifts of the forensic techs bustling-sorting the whens and hows of death. The cracker box kitchen adjoined a corner next-to-nothing squalid dinette area furnished with a dirty Masonite wobbly table barely big enough for two. In the front room the melon-round, no-neck head squatted square on the bloated chest of the oozing corpse. The whole misshapen inhuman mess had sagged into the soggy sofa.
One randomly drawn commenter will win a $20 Amazon gift card.AUTHOR INFORMATION:
With postgraduate degrees and faculty appointments in several medical universities, Hawk MacKinney has taught graduate courses in both the United States and Jerusalem. In addition to professional articles and texts on chordate neuroembryology, Hawk has authored several works of fiction.
Hawk began writing mysteries for his school newspaper. His works of fiction, historical love stories, science fiction and mystery-thrillers are not genre-centered, but plot-character driven, and reflect his southwest upbringing in Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma. Moccasin Trace, a historical novel nominated for the prestigious Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes Book Award, details the family bloodlines of his serial protagonist in the Craige Ingram Mystery Series… murder and mayhem with a touch of romance. Vault of Secrets, the first book in the Ingram series, was followed by Nymrod Resurrection, Blood and Gold, and The Lady of Corpsewood Manor. All have received national attention. Hawk’s latest release in the Ingram series is due out this fall with another mystery-thriller work out in 2014. The Bleikovat Event, the first volume in The Cairns of Sainctuarie science fiction series, was released in 2012.
"Without question, Hawk is one of the most gifted and imaginative writers I have had the pleasure to represent. His reading fans have something special to look forward to in the Craige Ingram Mystery Series. Intrigue, murder, deception and conspiracy--these are the things that take Hawk's main character, Navy ex-SEAL/part-time private investigator Craige Ingram, from his South Carolina ancestral home of Moccasin Hollow to the dirty backrooms of the nation's capital and across Europe and the Middle East."
Barbara Casey, PresidentBarbara Casey Literary Agency
www.hawkmackinney.net
www.amazon.com
www.barnesandnoble.com
