Sandra Cox's Blog, page 248

Southern Christmas Show

We went to the Southern Christmas Show. It was amazing. Decorated Christmas rooms. Christmas dollhouse displays. Performers.  Vendors, from all over the South,  for everything you could possibly want or not realize you wanted:)
If you are thinking about going let me tell you what not to do. Don't pick one of the busiest days and get a late start. Even though I'd been warned I couldn't believe the number of people. It was like being at a popular amusement park, wall to wall people. But it was all kinds of fun.



~*~Did you see this article about the little boy who helped save his family from the tornado?http://news.yahoo.com/boy-s-tornado-warnings-helped-save-family-145430893.html

SBB: Nymrod Resurrection

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:            For years I'd used the old house for everything from a hay barn to a tractor shed.  The split shake roof was next to nonexistent.  Rafters and studs rotten and termite honeycombed from subflooring up.  Termites long gone, courtesy of nearby mounds of fire ants.  The hackberry tree off its back porch looked solid until that hail and windstorm.  A blue-white crack of lightening split through its rotted heartwood, toppling the trunk across what was left of the wobbly canted bricks of the chimney.  The storm cleared leaving the shaky stump of the fireplace and knobby chimney jutting up out of a tumbled pile of bricks.  Bright sunshine slashed across pearly teeth in a decomposing skull; the neat bullet hole bull’s-eyed just below the hair line.
            It wasn’t long before Lucky was pawing at the back door.  Yelping that peculiar excited bark I've learned not to ignore.  The last time it was a possum with her litter.  "Okay, come on...show me what you found."
            He gave a sharp high-pitched yip.  Pulled away for a few yards.  Stopped, looked back, made sure I was following.  Then took off across the soy bean field toward the airstrip.  Stopped ever so often.  Looked back, checked to make sure I was still coming with him.  He disappeared over the top of the low rises behind the hangar.  When I topped the rise, I saw the storm damage to the old house with Lucky up on the tumbled chimney’s pile of bricks—tail wagging, looking down.  Getting closer, I spotted what had gotten him so riled.  Pieces of field mouse chewed cloth poked out from under the bricks.  After pulling back several, it didn't take an expert to recognize the mildewed remnants of clothing sunk against desiccated skin gnawed down to gleaming cheek bones.  I left Lucky to guard.  Hurried back to the house.  Brought back my digital camera.  Photoed the body, the surrounding area, the smears of hydraulic fluid on the runway and grass with the matching set of wheel marks.  Each set in landing gear positions, adding up to a pair of choppers.  We'd stumbled into the muck of someone's cockamamie conspiracy, and someone was already on my case.  I called Gray before I called the local sheriff. 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.netwww.amazon.comwww.barnesandnoble.com One randomly drawn commenter will win a $20 Amazon gift card.
The tour dates can be found here:  http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/10/super-book-blast-nymrod-resurrection-by.html

My Editor Is A Zombie

My Editor is a Zombie
Thank you to the lovely Sandra Cox for asking me to tell my story! And to think I tell the authors I work with that I don’t bite…
The time: A cold, wet evening on the first of November, perilously close to Hallowe’en, the night when all manner of spooks and psychos and undead monsters stalk the streets. The place: Leicester, England, at the headquarters of Zombie Earth: Apocalypse (http://www.zombieearth.co.uk/). The person: Rebecca Hill, Ellora’s Cave editor and, for one night only, blood-thirsty ghoul with a craving for human flesh.*
Zombie Earth: Apocalypse is something like a computer game come to life – a mixture of urban orienteering, finding clues to the next location, and fending off hordes of slavering zombies, some of whom can move surprisingly fast for dead people.
My fellow zombies and I assembled at HQ for professional makeup, plenty of fake blood made of syrup and food colouring, and a stern reminder that we should not actually attempt to bite anyone. Being on the diminutive side, I was dressed as a little girl, in a fluffy pink dressing gown and clutching a teddy bear. Once teddy and I had been thoroughly zombified, we were led off to our location, a pub (not open to the public), where the weary participants were tantalised with the promise of a drink and a wee before the “landlord and landlady” (Zombie Earth actors) opened the door to reveal yours truly, lurching and moaning.
I’ve never seen anyone move so fast! In dim lighting and to adrenaline-addled people, I’m told that I did indeed look like a child, which added an unsettling element to the shock of a zombie attack. The majority of people left needing the toilet rather more urgently than they had when they came in. One quite large, tough-looking young man left on the verge of tears of fright after I cornered him and offered him my cuddly toy, and it was hilarious to see people pushing their friends out of the way in order to get back out of the pub door! Be warned: in the event of a zombie uprising, your friends and family will almost certainly sacrifice you to save themselves.
It was a surprisingly exhausting evening but tremendous fun, and I’d recommend it to anyone who has a theatrical streak, or likes to see grown men cry. Although I still smell faintly of syrup – that’s stuff is hell to get out of your hair.
Now, how I came to become a zombie is a story for another day…
* Any suggestion on Sandra’s part that this is a normal state of affairs should be ignored.
 Note Zombie Contacts ~*~
Curious about the difference between a labyrinth and a maze. Find out at CJ's Blog: http://ponyexpressgraphics.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-labyrinth.html?showComment=1384816076644

It's Friday

It's Friday. It's also the HH's bday, so we'll be partying down...sedately.
Blogsters, have a perfect weekend. I hope to hear all about it Monday. And speaking of Monday, my editor, the zombie, will be posting.

Why, When and Will

1. Why do some books sell better at Barnes and Noble than Amazon and vice - versa?

2. Why was the government allowed to shut down the country without being held accountable?

3. When is lab grown meat going to be available? (Okay, I know those of you who are meat eaters really don't care about this one:)

4. When will there be an Alzheimer's break through? (Hope they hurry on this one, my memory's not getting any better.)

5. Why don't we ban together and boycott over-priced, stale popcorn at the theater?

6.  Why is Monday the first day of the week. It's a nasty day. Why not start with Tuesday?

7. Why do CEO's get raises when there's 'no money' for the laborers?

8. When is the car that can be programmed to drive itself going to be available for sale? Will we be able to afford it?

9.Why do some people call you while they're using the facilities?

What's on your why and when list?

~*~Why Moms Yell

Friends

"We'll be friends till we're old and senile. Then we'll be new friends."

Title: Reclaim My HeartAuthor: Donna Fasa...

Title:  Reclaim My Heart
Author: Donna Fasano
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Pages: 282
Formats: Paperback, eBook, AudioCD
ISBN: 978-1477817988
Purchase Now: Paperback § eBook  § AudioCD

About the Book:
Sixteen years ago, Tyne Whitlock cut all ties to her past and left town under the shameful shadow of a teenage pregnancy. Now her fifteen-year-old son is in trouble with the law, and she is desperate for help. But reaching out to high-powered attorney Lucas Silver Hawk will tear open the heart-wrenching past in ways Tyne never imagined.Forced to return to the Delaware Indian community where Lucas was raised, Tyne and Lucas are tempted by the heated passion that consumed them as teens. Tyne rediscovers all the reasons she found this man irresistible, but there are scandalous secrets waiting to be revealed, disgraceful choices made in the past that cannot be denied. Love is a powerful force that could heal them both—if the truth doesn't rip them apart.A note from the author:
On becoming a Montlake Author:Let me tell you about my wonderful publishing experience! I have to back up a little bit… to this past spring. I self-published a romance titled Reclaim My Heart. The book received great reviews immediately, and it sold well from the beginning. Very well. In fact, during the first week of August I was enjoying a mug of coffee while perusing the USA Today Bestseller's List (my usual Thursday morning routine), and I nearly choked when I saw that Reclaim My Heart was sitting at #123 on the list. A couple of days later I was contacted by an editor from Montlake. She told me she'd read one of my books months before and had been keeping an eye on me. She said she'd read Reclaim My Heart and loved it. Now, what author doesn't love to hear that? She made an offer I couldn't refuse.

The Montlake editor and the design team loved the cover that was on the indie version of the book; however, Amazon had trouble licensing the rights to the image. So we searched for weeks before finding the picture that's on the current cover. I love it! And I hope my readers do, too.

I'm happy to be writing romance novels for Montlake. I feel wanted and appreciated, and it can't get much better than that in the publishing industry!
~DonnaBio:
Donna Fasano is a three time winner of the HOLT Medallion, a CataRomance Reviewers Choice Award winner for Best Single Title, a Desert Rose Golden Quill Award finalist, and  a Golden Heart finalist. Her books have sold over 3.6 million copies worldwide and have been published in nearly two dozen languages. Her books have made the Kindle Top 100 Paid List numerous times, climbing as high as #17.Website • Blog • Twitter • Facebook • GoodreadsExcerpt: 

"Please, Lucas." He couldn't dismiss the tone of those two small words, nor could he ignore the magnitude of emotion clouding her expression. He had no choice but to relent."Sit down," he murmured. He closed the door of his office and then returned to perch himself on the corner of his desk. He steeled himself before asking, "What's on your mind?"She seemed to shrink a little as a thousand thoughts ran though her head. Seconds passed, and still she didn't speak. Lucas witnessed the phenomenon almost on a daily basis. The people who wound up in his office often felt as if they were carrying the world on their shoulders. He knew her anxiety would eventually discharge, and from the looks of it, he wouldn't have to wait long.Finally, she pressed her hand to her chest. "I can't breathe.""Relax. Do you want some water?"She shook her head, a lock of her long, platinum hair falling over her forearm. "No. I need to get this out. I promised you I'd hurry."He couldn't keep his brows from arching a fraction. She hadn't kept her promises in the past. Why would he expect her to now?Tyne ran her tongue along her full bottom lip, hesitated another moment, then blurted, "I need a lawyer."Lucas closed his eyes and stifled a sigh. He could have guessed as much, of course. He'd worked hard to get himself into the privileged position of being able to pick and choose his clients. The last person he wanted to represent was Tyne Whitlock."A good lawyer, Lucas." Common sense told him Tyne wasn't attempting to flatter him. She was speaking purely out of desperation."Look, Tyne—" Something made him stop. He sighed, and then he stood, taking his time rounding his desk and sitting down. The leather-upholstered arms of the chair were cool and smooth under his fingertips."I know some of the best attorneys in the city." He plucked a pen from the cup on his desktop. "And many of them owe me a favor or two." He reached into his inside jacket pocket, pulled out one of the business cards he always kept handy, and turned it over, poised to write. "Let me give you some names and numbers—""I don't want just any attorney." Her chin lifted. "I want you. Why else would I have come here?"His gaze lowered to the small white card in his hand. With much deliberation, he set down the pen and the card, and then he looked her directly in the eyes.Every muscle in her body appeared board-stiff."Listen to me—" he kept his tone calm "—when people find themselves in trouble with the law, or victimized, or wrongfully sued, or unjustly accused, they tend to get lost in a strange, I don't know, franticness. A recklessness that they almost always regret. Believe me when I tell you that no situation is hopeless, and circumstances are rarely as desperate as they might be perceived. Whatever trouble you're in, don't let panic and fear haze your thinking.""You don't understand.""I think I do," he rushed to assure her. "I see it every day. Honest, hardworking people finding themselves in dire straits. And this unfamiliar territory throws them. They grasp at help from the first source that comes to mind.""But—""Just like that old adage warning that only a fool acts as his own lawyer, it's also foolish to choose an attorney in haste. You and I have a past, Tyne, and even though all of that took place years and years ago, the fact remains that we have a history. I don't believe I would be the best person to represent you in a court of law. You need someone who'll be totally unbiased. Let me give you some names. I'll make some calls for you myself—""Stop!" She lifted her hands and scooted to the edge of the seat. "You don't understand. And I can't make you understand if you won't shut up for a minute."His eyebrows arched and the frustration in her statement had him leaning back a bit. She frowned. "I'm sorry. Really, I am. I had to stew all day yesterday." She fisted her hands in her lap. "I didn't expect to reach anyone on a Sunday, but do you know that your firm doesn't offer an emergency number on the answering machine?" She exhaled with force. "I'm a nervous wreck just being here. Seeing you. But all that aside, I shouldn't have snapped at you. Please accept my apology."He didn't react, didn't move. He just waited for her to continue."The thing is… what you need to know…"Once again, she grew terribly cautious, and Lucas found that extremely curious. What the hell was it she found so hard to tell him? What kind of trouble was she in?She blanched, but then her spine straightened. "I'm not the one who needs a lawyer. I want to hire you, yes. But I'm not the one needing representation. It's my son who's in trouble." A nerve at the corner of her eye ticked, but her gaze never veered from his as she added, "Ourson, Lucas."
Tour list can be found at http://iam-indeed.com/archives/7735

The Ring

Greetings everyone. Did you have a great weekend? Of course you did. There's no other kind, right? Did you see Thor? CH sure is pretty to look at isn't he?

Today, I’m very pleased to have on my blog longtime friend and author Jaclyn DiBona who's introducing her first release The Ring. Jaclyn and I were part of the FTHRW crit group before either of us were published. Friends, please welcome Jaclyn DiBona.BLURB One arrogant doctor from the past, one strong-willed doctor from the future collide in an explosive response. Both convinced they know best, both determined to prove they’re right.  
In 2011, strong-willed Doctor Jessica Madison mourns her godfather. Raised by Jacob, she discovers why his inflexible attitude in raising a child belongs in the nineteen century. He leaves her a gold and ruby ring capable of transporting her through time. Knowing her insatiable curiosity, he warns her about disrupting history. No way can she ignore the chance to see life in 1898.
In 1898, Doctor Alexander Eliot is head surgeon at Boston City Hospital. Alexander believes most women are devious. He is engrossed in fighting for innovated ideas for improving his hospital. He yearns to find a woman whom he can trust, one who understands and accepts his idiosyncratic personality––his angel by day and a tigress by night. He promises himself he'll find his perfect woman.
When Jessica and Alexander meet, their attraction is explosive and their words collide. Can he give up the past and forge ahead into the future, or will their love be lost in time. 
EXCERPTApril 26. 2011Beacon Hill
Boston, Massachusetts 
"Damn you, Jacob. If you hadn't been so stubborn. If you'd just listened to me in the first place––" Jessica Madison fought back tears. She clutched the arrangement of her beloved godfather's favorite purple lilacs to her chest and swallowed hard. Even though her head throbbed from the fragrance of the spring flowers, she refused to leave any other kind on Jacob's coffin.Her pounding head matched the rhythmic drumming of rain on the canopy over the burial plot. She placed the blooms on the cold, gray steel of his final resting place. Pulling a tissue from her pocket, she wiped tears running down her cheeks.Alfred Carter, Jacob's trusted lawyer, nudged her arm. "I apologize for intruding on your sorrow." He glanced at the casket and cleared his throat. "We need to review Jacob's will. He insisted you hear his last wishes right after his service."He had to be kidding. She took a deep breath before she said something she'd regret. Her stomach grumbled reminding her in addition to not sleeping, she hadn't eaten since yesterday. Alfred knew Jacob had requested no farewell luncheon after the services. She wondered why Alfred insisted on rushing the reading of the will. Unlike Jacob, she found Alfred pushy and annoying.A clap of thunder boomed overhead, and a shudder rippled through Alfred's thin shoulders. He glanced again at the coffin. "Please, Miss Jessica. Jacob's last wishes were most emphatic.""Jacob always claimed thunder is the sound of angels bowling in heaven." She patted Alfred's arm. "Do you think they're giving him a sendoff?"Alfred grimaced. He must have thought she'd lost her mind in her grief."Sounds like Jacob. Regardless, I dislike loud noises and cemeteries make me nervous."As the rain slowed to a drizzle, mourners hurried toward the rows of cars. "I'm pleased so many of Jacob's friends came to pay their respects," she murmured."Yes, yes," Alfred muttered and tugged her arm.Alfred needed to honor Jacob's last wishes. This she understood, but hearing the will read would make Jacob's death all too real, too final. She didn't care about Jacob's money and holdings. She'd give up everything for a few more years with him.Alfred opened his umbrella, took hold of her arm, and urged her toward the gray limousine waiting to drive them to Beacon Hill.http://www.amazon.com/The-Ring-Jaclyn-V-Bona-ebook/dp/B00C4HP5H0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382709152&sr=8-1&keywords=THE+RING+BY+JACLYN+V+DI+BONABIO: Jaclyn DiBona is a long-time member of Romance Writers of America, and an active PRO member of the New England Chapter of RWA, where she served as treasurer for four years. An avid reader and co-chair wizard critique, she helped fellow authors and beginner writers at From the Heart Critique Group and served as a judge for RWA’s Golden Heart Contest and other RWA romance contests for many years. Jaclyn has completed three novels and is working hard on her fourth. They include a time travel, a romantic suspense, and two contemporary romance. She met the love of her life at age sixteen. After Lou graduated from MIT, the couple raised three children in Milton, Massachusetts. For ten years, she volunteered in Milton's grade school library helping students to correct poor reading habits and to enjoy the love of books. Jaclyn enjoys espresso and reading romance novels, and she would love to hear from her readers. Her first book, The Ring, publisher Desert Breeze Publishers came out in April in eBooks and in print books in October and is available with Amazon.com  Her second book, THE WHIMS OF FATE will be out in 2014 in both eBooks and in print at the same time by The Wild Rose Press. 
~*~To our Veterans and their families: a sincere and heartfelt thank you.  

Friday and Thor

Happy Friday!
Looky what's coming out today.....Am I going to see you at the theatre?

Miss Redmond's Deception

I got my cover for my Regency. What do you think? I even have a release date! February 27, 2014.
Blurb:
When Captain Richard Greyston encounters three figures in a graveyard, he takes them for a spectral visitation until he realizes it is two young ladies—in their nightgowns, no less—and their spinsterish companion. A spinster with slender limbs and an enchantingly velvety voice.
Pembra doesn’t care a whit for the captain’s opinion of her, even after circumstances force them into a sham betrothal. But when a gypsy warns her that his life hangs in the balance, she begins to realize that her heart is not so uninvolved as she might like to pretend.

~*~Can Vitamin D prevent diabetes? See:http://health.yahoo.net/experts/dayinhealth/can-seven-cent-vitamin-prevent-diabetes