Sandra Cox's Blog, page 257

Changing Seasons

The daylilies are nearly gone, replaced with coneflowers and black-eyed Susans.
Good thing they like water. We've only had a handful of days since spring arrived that it hasn't rained. I wish we could send the excess to the drought stricken areas of the country that are dealing with those horrific wildfires. Ridde me this. Why don't we have man made, interlaced aquifers running through the country to draw on when its needed?

~*~The hh is going to the hospital to have his knee manipulated today. It's supposed to be the equivalent of fifty therapy sessions. All kinds of fun....well maybe not.

~*~
Dog and her kittens abandoned at animal shelter:http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/dog-nursing-two-kittens-left-outside-animal-shelter-164322177.html?vp=1 

~*~
Window Of Opportunity

SBB: Cassie Scot Paranormal Detective

BLURB:Cassie Scot is the ungifted daughter of powerful sorcerers, born between worlds but belonging to neither. At 21, all she wants is to find a place for herself, but earning a living as a private investigator in the shadow of her family’s reputation isn’t easy. When she is pulled into a paranormal investigation, and tempted by a powerful and handsome sorcerer, she will have to decide where she truly belongs.My parents think the longer the name, the more powerful the sorcerer, so they named me Cassandra Morgan Ursula Margaret Scot. You can call me Cassie.            I've been called a lot of things in my life: normal, ordinary, and even a disappointment. After the Harry Potter books came out, a couple of people called me a squib. Since I haven't read them, I have to assume it's a compliment.             Personally, I prefer normal, which is why the sign on my office door reads: Cassie Scot, Normal Detective.            You have to understand that around here, when your last name is Scot, people are easily confused. Not only are my parents powerful practitioners, but I have six talented brothers and sisters. Plus, my family hasn't always been known for its subtlety. When weird stuff happens around here, the people who are willing to believe in magic are prone to suspect the Scots.            The day I opened for business I got a call from an old woman who swore her cat was possessed by the devil. She also swore she'd read my web site, which clearly stated the types of work I did and did not do. Exorcisms were on the No list, and while I hadn't specified pet exorcisms, I would have thought it was implicit.AUTHOR Bio and Links: Award-winning author Christine Amsden has written stories since she was eight, always with a touch of the strange or unusual. She became a “serious” writer in 2003, after attending a boot camp with Orson Scott Card. She finished Touch of Fate shortly afterward, then penned The Immortality Virus, which won two awards. Expect many more titles by this up-and-coming author.LinksWebsite: http://christineamsden.com/wordpress/Blog: http://christineamsden.com/wordpress/?page_id=200Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChristineAmsdenFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Christine-Amsden-Author-Page/127673027288664?ref=hlGoodreads:http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1030664.Christine_AmsdenGoogle+ https://plus.google.com/u/0/117845642477854934607/postsChristine will be awarding a $10 Amazon gift card to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.The tour dates can be found here:    http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/06/virtual-super-book-blast-cassie-scot.html

Suspense Blurb Blitz Tour

BLURBS:SHE DARED TO CHALLENGE A MERCILESS KILLERRaised in an atmosphere of violence and unpredictability, Ellen and Gail Morgan have banded together, survivors of a booze-fertilized battleground, forming a fierce united front against an often cold and uncaring world. When their parents are killed in a car crash, Ellen becomes the mother figure for Gail.
When fifteen years later Gail is brutally raped and murdered in her shabby New York basement apartment, practically on the eve of her big breakthrough as a singer, Ellen is inconsolable. Rage at her younger sister's murder has nearly consumed her. So when her work as a psychologist wins her an appearance on the evening news, Ellen seizes the moment. Staring straight into the camera, she challenges the killer to come out of hiding: "Why don't you come after me? I'll be waiting for you."  Phone calls flood the station, but all leads go nowhere. The police investigation seems doomed to failure. Then it happens: a note, written in red ink, slipped under the windshield wipers of her car, 'YOU'RE IT.' Ellen has stirred the monster in his lair … and the hunter has become the hunted!Defective:Therapist Melanie Snow is driving to her office when her Honda is struck by a dark-colored van and sent spinning into a ditch, where it catches fire. The driver never stops. A passerby pulls Melanie from the car just seconds before it explodes. Waking from the coma nine days later, she is devastated to find she is blind. As Melanie struggles to cope with her new reality, life as a blind woman, her fragile state of mind is further threatened by a madman who is stalking and strangling disabled women. The first two victims were mentally challenged and Detective Matt O’Leary, who carries a torch for Melanie, (even though Melanie is engaged to someone else) tells himself she is not the killer’s targeted prey. But then a woman who lost a leg to cancer is murdered, and another physically disabled woman is stalked. Even with a whole town in terror, Melanie refuses to live her life in fear and reopens her practice in the basement of her home. She has a living to earn. And Detective Matt O’Leary must find a way to keep Melanie safe until the monster is caught. But how? Her door is now open to the public and the killer can just walk through anytime he chooses. And he does.Excerpt from NOWHERE TO HIDE:NOT ALONE

It was nice to be alone. As she brushed her hair, Gail launched into her favorite fantasy of buying her sister a white Ferrari. Ellen's birthday was coming up in May; she'd have the car delivered right up to her door, a big red bow tied on the antenna ... dream on, girl she told herself, grinning at her reflection in the mirror.

Tiger padded into the room just then, winding his sleek, warm body around her bare ankles, purring like an old washing machine.

I owe her so much, Tiger, Gail said, reaching down to stroke the cat's soft, glossy fur. If it wasn't for...

Suddenly, Tiger's back arched under her hand and he hissed. Gail's heart leapt in her breast and her hand drew back as if burned. "What the...?" But Tiger, fur standing on end, had already fled the room. Gail turned in her chair just in time to see his electrified, retreating tail...

Then she caught a movement from the corner of her eye. Turning, she froze at the sight of the closet door slowly opening.

Chapter One

August 6, 1979
As he made his way along the darkened corridor, breathing the stale, hot air, his progress slowed by the long, heavy skirt he wore, he had to stoop. At seventeen, though narrow-shouldered, he was nearly six feet tall.

Sweat was trickling down between his shoulder- blades, and under the wig, his head felt squirmy, so he took the wig off and stuffed it into his pants pocket, under the skirt.

And then he was there. He could see the thin beam of light shining through, projecting a tiny star on the wall. It was coming through the place where two Sundays ago, when they were all at Chapel, he had made a peephole. He'd made it by simply pounding a nail through, then drawing it cleanly back out so that there would be nothing detectible on the other side - no more than a black dot.

A giggle floated through to him and the smile froze on his face, his fists clenching involuntarily. No, it can't be me they're laughing at. They can't see me. They don't know I'm here. I'm invisible, remember? Calming himself, he slowly brought his face to the wall.
AUTHOR Bio and Links: In addition to her critically acclaimed novels, Joan Hall Hovey's articles and short stories have appeared in such diverse publications as The Toronto Star, Atlantic Advocate, Seek, Home Life Magazine, Mystery Scene, The New Brunswick Reader, Fredericton Gleaner, New Freeman and Kings County Record. Her short story Dark Reunion was selected for the anthology investigating Women, Published by Simon & Pierre.Ms. Hovey has held workshops and given talks at various schools and libraries in her area, including New Brunswick Community College, and taught a course in creative writing at the University of New Brunswick. For a number of years, she has been a tutor with Winghill School, a distance education school in Ottawa for aspiring writers.She is a member of the Writer's Federation of New Brunswick, past regional Vice-President of Crime Writers of Canada, Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime.www.joanhallhovey.comDefective on Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/Defective-A-Novella-ebook/dp/B00CO81XAW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1367880554&sr=1-1&keywords=DefectiveNowhere to Hide on Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/Nowhere-to-Hide-ebook/dp/B0045Y2F4G/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1335885750&sr=1-1Praise for Joan Hall Hovey’s Books“…suspense that puts her right up there with the likes of Sandford and Patterson..." Ingrid Taylor for Small Press Review "...Alfred Hitchcock and Stephen King come to mind, but JOAN HALL HOVEY is in a Class by herself!…"
J.D. Michael Phelps, Author of My Fugitive, David Janssen
"…CANADIAN MISTRESS OF SUSPENSE …The author has a remarkable ability to turn up the heat on the suspense… great characterizations and dialogue…" James Anderson, author of DeadlineJoan will award one randomly drawn commenter a $50 gift certificate for sunglasses at Sunglasses Shack (US/Canada only).The tour dates can be found here:  http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/06/blurb-blitz-suspense-from-joan-hall.html

Monday

So who went to see the 4th of July fireworks over the weekend? Show of hands. We hadn't been in several years, but this year we popped popcorn to take with us and toddled on into town. It was pouring down rain. We were in the car so it wasn't a big deal. It was a new experience: watching  them burst into color through the rivulets of rain running down the windshield.

If you're interested here are some wonderful pictures of women 's contributions to the WWII War Effort. :http://news.yahoo.com/photos/wwii-women-and-the-war-effort-slideshow/
  Thanks, Sonya, for bringing this link  to my attention.

It's The Weekend.....

Happy 4th of July

NEWS

The HH and I are going to be grandparents. The boy and his wife are expecting. Babies' first picture below. And yes that's a plural. She's expecting twins. 

Tall, Dark, and Undead

Here's my cover for Tall, Dark and Undead. What do you think?
Release date:To be announced. 





On a personal note, please stop by tomorrow...I have news!

Monday

I was so productive last weekend, it was awesome. This weekend....didn't do jack. Well I did do my edits for Tall, Dark, and Undead but that was it on my plus side of the Weekend Productivity Ledger. I trust you fared better. And if not, hope you had a darn good time.

I ran across an interesting link for Hobbit Houses at Fiona Biedermann's blog... If interested you can check it out here.

Has anyone seen Life Of Pi? We watched it this weekend. I can't say I liked it. I can't say I didn't like it. But it did stay with me. I wish I'd seen it at the theater. The scenes were breathtaking.

Fabulous Weekend

News Coming Next Week.....
And for the cat people: Here's Cats 101: The Bengal.