Paul Austin Ardoin's Blog, page 5

Cyber Tuesday eBooks

I firmly believe in the old adage "it takes a villiage." I know it was originally referring to childrearing, but it can be applied to every new or daunting endeavor. Like, for instance, becoming an author just to prove you can. One of the first things I did was seek out a community of other authors. They've been my lifeline, my sounding board, my most honest critics, and friends. They also write really great books. So for this Cyber Tuesday (yep, we're making it a thing), I'm highlighting some of their recent works. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Death Trims the Tree by Tess Baytree 

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Penelope Standing isn't feeling the joy. A stolen rolling pin, sabotaged decorations, and a rude pastor may ruin Christmas. But everyone's favorite pet sitter is fighting back!

The Bone Shard Emperor by Andrea Stewart (The Drowning Empire Book 2)

Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy

Sarah J. Maas calls it "One of the best fantasy novels I've read in a long time." In this action-packed magical fantasy epic, a heroine at the head of a powerful empire confronts a raging battle as she’s forced to do whatever it takes to restore peace.

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New Look! Ceremony Gets an Update

My cover artist, the brilliant Ziad Ezzat, just completed the first redesign including the USA TODAY Bestselling Author tagline! While he was at it, we updated the imagery to be more, well, mysterious.

I liked the clean lines of the original, minimalist covers, but I heard from multiple people that they just didn't look like murder mysteries. And while the old adage says "Don't judge a book by its cover," we can't help it. They ended up being confusing and misleading instead of giving readers the visual preview of the novel. 

I'm not one of those people who is afraid of admitting when something isn't working. I cannot explain how much I value early reader critiques and incorporate the feedback into subsequent revisions. Nor am I one who constantly second guesses in the pursuit of perfection. I like to think that I live somewhere in the happy medium. And these covers seem to hit the sweet spot. Ziad managed to keep the things I really liked (menacing syringe, simple color scheme) while giving it a clear mystery novel vibe.

Stay tuned for the updated cover of Book 2, Everything's Gone Green, coming in March!

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Meet Me in Vegas

In-Person Book Signing in Vegas!

If you can make it to Las Vegas this weekend, be sure to head to the Conference Center at Bally's Las Vegas on Friday, November 12 from 10AM-4PM! Dozens of USA Today and New York Times Bestselling Authors (including one of my favorites, Mark Dawson) will have tables set up to sell signed books, and to sign books you might bring with you. 

Meet me at Table 131 in "Adventure Avenue"—and I'll be sharing the table with Michele Pariza Wacek, author of the thrilling new novel The Third Nanny.

I'll have limited quantities of my books available. So if you want my paperbacks at a discount (all 7 Fenway books for just $75!), come early!

The Third Nanny by Michele Pariza Wacek

Everyone has something to hide. Including the nanny.

Janey hadn’t heard from her sister Kelly since she ran away from home eight years ago. Until the day the letter arrived. A disturbing letter.

But before Janey could make contact, Kelly disappeared again. And the only clue they had to work with was in Redemption, Wisconsin, where Kelly had worked as a nanny. The family has secrets, and the more Janey digs, the more twisted the story becomes.

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An Upstaged Weekend

The Upstaged Coroner, the fourth book in the Fenway Stevenson series, was set in a university theater department on the California coast, and focused on a professor and director named “Virgil Cygnus.” He was loosely based on Professor Homer “Murph” Swander, who taught Shakespeare and directed plays at UC Santa Barbara for more than three decades, and was the founder and director of the American Shakespeare Company.

He passed away a few years ago, but his 100th birthday would have been on Friday, October 15. When he turned 70, he wrote a letter that he wanted his former students to celebrate at the Royal Shakespeare Company’s main stage in Stratford-upon-Avon, but COVID prevented that from happening. A group of us, students in the early 1990s, planned to meet at Girvetz Theater at UCSB where we staged the plays, but the Alisal Fire shut down the freeway near UCSB, so we had to improvise—we ended up at a last-minute conference room in Anaheim, only a few blocks away from Disneyland. There were only a handful of us there (yes, all vaccinated), but we also hosted a Zoom call and his former students from all around the world participated. We had callers from Oregon, New York, Florida, and one former student from Wales.

Murph was passionate about Shakespeare, and often railed that the plays were meant to be performed, not read like literature. He also taught me that each of Shakespeare’s characters, no matter how small the part, was a real person with real motivations and real emotions. The creative choices we made as actors all needed to be justified outside of the...Read More

Giveaway! First in Series Crime Fiction & Thrillers

Looking for another heart-pounding thriller series to add to your To-Be-Read pile? Check out this BookSweeps contest! The first Fenway Box Set is included, along with mysteries and thrillers from other bestselling authors like Willow Rose, Lena Bourne, Kathryn J. Bain, and more. 

Enter for the chance to win an eReader or one of 50+ series starters from a bunch of best-selling and award-winning mystery, suspense, and thriller writers! (It's open internationally, too—not just for US or UK readers!). Hurry—the contest ends October 13.

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Spooky Good Reads

If you're like me, as Halloween approaches, I often step beyond my almost-cozy comfort zone and seek out novels on the spookier side—thrillers, creepy settings, unreliable narrators, and paranormal activity. Here are some of my favorites to get into the Halloween spirit!

An Occupied Grave By A.G. Barnett • ★★★★★

When mourners gather in the village of Lower Gladdock, the grave is found to be already occupied. The victim is soon linked to a tragedy that tore the village apart five years ago.

The Woman in the Window By A.J. Finn • ★★★★

Those familiar with Paula Hawkins' masterful The Girl on the Train will recognize many of the same tropes here: the alcoholism and denial that makes the narrator unreliable, and the sense that there's always very present physical danger lurking right around the corner, in spite of what others in the narrative say.

Sadie's Spirit

USA TODAY Bestseller Alert!

You did it! So many of you bought my 99¢ Fenway Stevenson collection over the weekend, and it was enough to bump me into the USA TODAY Bestseller List! I'm thrilled and amazed and awed. You are truly incredible fans and I cannot thank you enough for your continued support and excitement over this dream of mine. Thank you.

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Ceremony Cast of Characters

Meet the team in my new series, Murders of Substance. You can buy Book 1, Ceremony, from my author store or from your favorite ebook retailer.

THE CORE TEAM

Recurring characters in the series, including federal investigators for the Controlled Substance Analysis Bureau (CSAB - pronounced See- Sab).

• Dr. Kep Woodhead: A forensic toxicologist in his early fifties, Dr. Woodhead is a both an expert in poisons and a “supersmeller”—he can detect and specify scents far beyond the olfactory range of most humans. His brusque manner rubs many people the wrong way, including…

• Bernadette Becker: A recently demoted case analyst who has been assigned to manage Dr. Woodhead on relevant cases. Becker is Woodhead’s fifth “handler” in the last twenty-four months. Freshly separated from her husband of nearly fifteen years, Becker is trying to get back on her feet both personally and professionally. 

• Lieutenant Maura Stevenson: Becker’s immediate supervisor runs the CSAB Homicide Liaison Unit and joins Woodhead and Becker on important cases, greasing the wheels with local law enforcement agencies, cutting through red tape, and getting needed resources.

• Curtis Janek: a young, enterprising tech analyst and researcher for the CSAB unit. Janek is a computer whiz and wants to climb the ladder at the bureau.

• Barlow Finnegan: Bernadette’s estranged husband and soon-to-be ex.

• Sophie Finnegan: Bernadette’s twelve-year old daughter.

THE CASE

Victims, suspects and other characters in Milwaukee

• Thomas Kyme: Found dead in a reconstructed chapel on the Kilbourn Tech campus said to have been...Read More

Ceremony Cast of Characters

Meet the team in my new series, Murders of Substance. You can buy Book 1, Ceremony, from my author store or from your favorite ebook retailer.

THE CORE TEAM

Recurring characters in the series, including federal investigators for the Controlled Substance Analysis Bureau (CSAB - pronounced See- Sab).

• Dr. Kep Woodhead: A forensic toxicologist in his early fifties, Dr. Woodhead is a both an expert in poisons and a “supersmeller”—he can detect and specify scents far beyond the olfactory range of most humans. His brusque manner rubs many people the wrong way, including…

• Bernadette Becker: A recently demoted case analyst who has been assigned to manage Dr. Woodhead on relevant cases. Becker is Woodhead’s fifth “handler” in the last twenty-four months. Freshly separated from her husband of nearly fifteen years, Becker is trying to get back on her feet both personally and professionally. 

• Lieutenant Maura Stevenson: Becker’s immediate supervisor runs the CSAB Homicide Liaison Unit and joins Woodhead and Becker on important cases, greasing the wheels with local law enforcement agencies, cutting through red tape, and getting needed resources.

• Curtis Janek: a young, enterprising tech analyst and researcher for the CSAB unit. Janek is a computer whiz and wants to climb the ladder at the bureau.

• Barlow Finnegan: Bernadette’s estranged husband and soon-to-be ex.

• Sophie Finnegan: Bernadette’s twelve-year old daughter.

THE CASE

Victims, suspects and other characters in Milwaukee

• Thomas Kyme: Found dead in a reconstructed chapel on the Kilbourn Tech campus said to have been where Anne...Read More

Help Me Reach the Bestseller List!

I have a shot at making the USA Today Bestseller List! The 99¢ boxset of my first three books is topping charts this weekend—but I need a push to get me over the top. If you’ve been waiting to buy my books and want a great deal, or know a mystery fan who would appreciate some new reading material, can you do me a $1 favor and buy The Fenway Stevenson Mysteries from your favorite retailer?

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