Michelle L. Levigne's Blog, page 36
February 14, 2023
RELEASE DAY: Book & Mug Mysteries #2, DANCING ON MY GRAVE
RELEASE DAY!!!!
Now available in Print, Ebook, and Audiobook!
Book & Mug Mysteries #2
Becca Sheridan comes home from overseas with big hopes, but Conrad Price, the center of those hopes, has changed. For one thing, he has kicked her square dancing club, the Four Corners, out of Windows on the River, the venue they have used for years. It's little comfort that he also kicked out the Tippy Toes tap dancing club, led by Becca's high school rival, Simone Radcliffe -- because now Conrad and Simone are an item.
Or are they? Over the months that follow, Conrad seems to be two people. His grandmother, Sarah Fontaine, grows afraid of him. Then estranged Fontaine relatives return to Cadburn Township, wanting to take away the family busines. Is Conrad trying to fix the family rift, or make it worse? Is he trying to get back together with Becca, or does Simone still have him wrapped around her glittery fingers?
When Sarah dies on vacation, and there is no body to bury, Becca starts asking questions she should have asked months ago. A Fontaine uncle vanishes, then there's a dead body in Cadburn Creek. Is Conrad trying to make things right with Becca or not? And just what is in the letters Sarah left behind, to be read at the settling of the family trust?
When Four Corners is allowed to return to Windows on the River, Becca should be dancing for joy. But something just doesn't feel right. What else will she uncover as she and friends from Book & Mug dig into what has been hidden all these months in Cadburn Township?
Pssssst!!!
Check my goodies page at www.Mlevigne.com, to find out what might be FREE today, to celebrate the release of the newest troubles and twists and turns in Cadburn Township .....
February 13, 2023
Upcoming release sample: DANCING ON MY GRAVE
“I’m just fed up enough, I don’t care about client privacy,” Eden said. “Miss Sarah asked me to try to figure out what he did when he was with his brother in Virginia. She’s afraid Conrad got dragged into something, and he’s cutting off everybody to protect them. Especially her.”
“Well, that sounds more like the Conrad we know,” he admitted.
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“He just never struck me as someone who would be too proud to ask for help.”
“Huh.” He considered that for several moments. “You could be right.”
“I know I am.” She smirked at him. The brief light moment faded. “She’s scared for him, but until I get some answers, some information on this brother of his … I have an awful feeling the name and information he gave me on this supposed brother Steve will prove to be false.”
“Which means Conrad is in big trouble. Bigger trouble. Miss Sarah sure doesn’t need that.”
February 11, 2023
Ye Olde Dragon's Library: Episode 07
In this episode, Ash gets through the Giants' Graveyard and finds her way underground, following Fang the bunny.
She meets Blaz, the border crossing guard, charged with keeping problematic magical items, creatures and maybe even people, from crossing into other magical territories and upsetting the magical balance. He needs to test her before he can let her cross out of the kingdom of Alfordia ... and that's where the episode ends.
Does Blaz catch your interest? Would you be interested in some stories about him, his training, the odd things or dangerous people or creatures he runs into in his duties as border crossing guard? Do you think, just from this tiny introduction, that he deserves a book of his own? Or just a few short stories? Maybe some freebies for friends and supporters of the podcast?
Let's chat!
https://yeoldedragonbooks.com/ye-olde-dragons-library-storytelling-podcast/
Want to support the podcast?
Find us on Patreon: Ye Olde Dragon's Library
February 9, 2023
Upcoming release sample: DANCING ON MY GRAVE
“Any estimate how long it’ll take to get things fixed?” Olivia asked as she got to work on the first few orders.
“Doesn’t matter.” Tom Bedford leaned on the counter with a hangdog expression. “The sign says all clubs and meetings and events are canceled until further notice. Supposedly, they found mold when they went looking for the leak.”
“Supposedly?”
“Whoever is doing the repairs isn’t anybody we know. We just know what was on the sign, and what people have overheard.” He shrugged. “Bottom line is, we gotta find some other place to meet. Conrad was in a lousy mood, came darn near cussing us out, just because we wanted some real answers.”
“That doesn’t sound like Conrad,” Kai said, more to himself than anyone else.
Eden agreed with him, when he stopped by her apartment after closing up the shop for the night. She let him know that despite Conrad saying he would call her nearly a week ago, she had yet to hear from him. He wasn’t answering texts or voicemails or emails. He was never available, and just when someone caught sight of him, he ran off, like he knew people were looking for him. Rufus had reported that he was always in a bad mood, he had lost weight, and he smelled like he had taken up smoking, the few times they were in the realty office at the same time. He hardly ever saw Conrad, who seemed to be avoiding everyone. It didn’t matter if Rufus responded to the phone calls and emails he ignored, or if he couldn’t fix any client problems without checking with Conrad, or tried to fix any problems at all, Rufus always seemed to be in the wrong.
February 8, 2023
Off the Bookshelf: THE COMPLETE SOOKIE STACKHOUSE STORIES, by Charlaine Harris
Okay, let's be honest, I'm just not into vampire stories or vampire romance, or anything that paints bloodsuckers as heroes. Especially romantic heroes. Morning breath is bad enough, but morning breath with blood on it? Ewwwww!That being said, I've heard enough praise for and enjoyment of the Sookie Stackhouse books, and the True Blood TV show, I was willing to give this collection of short stories and novellas a chance. Especially when I learned this is the author of my favorite murder-solving librarian, Aurora Teagarden. And yeah, I found the book at Ollie's ... what booklover can resist a sale price?
When I finally picked it up off my to-be-read-bookshelf and started reading ... I devoured it. Fun, well-written, thought-provoking in places.
What I found especially enjoyable were the foreword pieces by the author, giving readers a solid marker for where each story fits into the long story arch of Sookie's adventures, and character and relationship development. One tough chick with a sense of irony and humor, who's still very human despite the company she keeps.
Did I mention I devoured this book? I mean, picked it up after dinner Wednesday night, and finished reading it 12:30am Friday ... yeah. Haven't done THAT in years. Thanks for the adventure!
February 6, 2023
Upcoming release sample: DANCING ON MY GRAVE
“Get your facts straight,” Faith Evans said. “There’s some big pipe leak over there upstairs, lots of the flooring torn up. They’re just angry that nobody bothered letting us know, so we could make other arrangements or just not meet tonight.”
“Huh. The leak can’t be too bad. Heinrich sure would have let everybody on the street know, if there was a leak at his place.”
That earned a few chuckles from some of the square dancers. Heinrich had a reputation as a curmudgeon, and that was being generous. Anything that inconvenienced or irritated him was aired to everyone on the street. He didn’t seem to care if he drove away customers from his coins and gems shop, or the other shops in the lobby of the Windows building. Just yesterday, he had gotten into a shouting match with Spencer Wilcox, owner of the electronics store at the end of the building. Heinrich had let everyone know the security cameras were down again. Spencer rightly pointed out that making the breakdown public knowledge just encouraged anybody who wanted to try to break in.
February 4, 2023
Ye Olde Dragon's Library: Episode 06
Ash makes what few farewells she can safely make without her enemies (Lathia and her servants who don’t want to go on the quest with her) finding out. Then she slips out of the castle in the night and follows her new companion, Fang the bunny, down a tunnel Fang has just dug. It's a long, claustrophobic journey in the darkness ...
Maybe Ash shouldn't trust Fang? True, Hazel the hedge witch put them together, but she also admitted that they need to get out of the castle, and out of the country, more for Fang's sake than Ash's.
Should Ash have politely declined and taken her chances with Lathia trying to make her do all the work of the quest? Should she have done something else, gone somewhere else?
Weigh in, please!
What do you think will happen next for Ash? What kind of trouble could she get into, crossing the Giants' Graveyard at night, with all the perils I mentioned? Do you think any of them will catch up with her? And just who was raiding the old miser's orchard, when there weren't even any apples to steal?
Remember to come back next week for Episode 7!
February 2, 2023
Upcoming release sample: DANCING ON MY GRAVE
Tuesday, June 28
“I tell you, Becca isn’t coming home soon enough,” Dave Alderman grumbled, stomping through the door of Book & Mug that evening.
Kai looked around in time to see nearly a dozen people coming into the coffee shop, and more coming out of the door of the Windows building. The evening had grown to that odd half-light when the streetlights were flickering and warming up but weren’t needed yet, the twilight not quite setting in. He recognized a good number of the people as members of Four Corners, the square dance club that met every Tuesday night at Windows on the River. But at 7:30, they should just be getting started, not finishing up for the night.
“What do you got that’s good?” Greg Wells called out as he stomped through the door behind Dave.
“Good for cooling down some hot heads,” his wife, Ginny, added.
“What happened?” Kai stepped up to the counter as Olivia moved up to handle the influx of customers.
“Got kicked out.” Dave hooked his thumb over his shoulder at the building across the street.
“For what?”
February 1, 2023
Off the Bookshelf: WRITING WITH SOFT WORLDBUILDING, by Hans Arthur
What is soft worldbuilding, you may ask?That's the first lesson, defining "soft" and "hard" worldbuilding.
Of course, for those who are new to writing fiction at all, maybe you need to learn what worldbuilding is.
Worldbuilding is ... well, creating the world where your story takes place. The culture, technology, history, religions, medicine, art, industry, food, etc.
The depth and intricacy of the details essentially define if you're going soft or hard. Are you someone who likes the world to be spelled out, all the layers defined, the history solid and established, the backstory for all your characters, whether main or secondary or tertiary or even the ones who only appear in one scene and never again? Yeah, then you're into hard worldbuilding.
If you would rather focus on characters, and let their growth and discovery and how they face challenges move the story forward, and you only explore the bits and pieces of their back story and fragments of the world around them as they affect the story ... that's soft worldbuilding.
These are simplistic definitions, of course. But the explanations and examples in this short book are helpful in figuring out just how much work you need or want to put in before you actually start writing the story. And might just save you a lot of headaches in the long run.
Bottom line: it all depends on the kind of story you're writing, and you would be wise to figure out at least that much before you sit down and write the first word.
January 30, 2023
Upcoming release sample: DANCING ON MY GRAVE
That evening, Kai came upstairs for a break and reported some fuss across the street for an hour or so. Heinrich, the most troublesome of the shop owners in the Windows building, had grumbled and stomped up and down the sidewalk, insisting the security cameras, one inside the lobby and one outside by the doorway, were broken. He had online access, and nothing was visible on the screen. When the security firm that maintained the cameras came out to do repairs, they discovered someone had sprayed the motion sensors and the lenses with black paint, rendering them useless. And no one saw the vandalism being done.
Eden made note of the incident, and sent an email to the security firm, to find out if they had contracts with other businesses in Cadburn, and if any other security cameras had been attacked. Her first reaction was to blame it on more petty nastiness from someone who supported Roger Cadburn and feared Conrad would run against him in a few months. Yet how would rendering the cameras useless harm Conrad?
She was gathering more questions to ask him, the next time he could be nailed down to one place and forced to talk.
