Naughty Netherworld Press's Blog: Naughty Netherworld Press on Goodreads, page 8
September 23, 2025
The Wheels on the Stroller Teaser Tuesday
Date Published: 2025
Publisher: Serapis Bey Publishing
Ready…Set…Let’s Roll!
Excerpts
“The children in the yards play throw and catch! throw and catch! throw and catch! The children in the yards play throw and catch! through the neighborhood.”
“The parents crossing streets say ‘look both ways’ ‘look both ways’ ‘look both ways.’ The parents crossing streets say ‘look both ways’ through the neighborhood.”
About the Author
Claudia Kramer Kohlbrenner earned a B.S and an M.Ed. degree in the field of speech-language pathology and she also received extensive training in the teaching of reading. She maintained her American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) certification during her 35+ years of teaching and for many years after retirement. Claudia taught mainly in the public schools with students of all ages but primarily with special education and general education students at the preschool and elementary levels.
When teaching at the preschool level, Claudia encouraged busy parents to utilize the time spent carrying out daily routines as language-rich opportunities. Parents were counseled to talk about what was happening in a child’s “here and now” - while getting dressed, brushing teeth, taking a stroller walk! Claudia used available and self-generated rhymes and songs and involved as many bodily senses and movements as possible to facilitate developmental skills in preschoolers. She considers the repetition used in The Wheels on the Bus book and now in The Wheels on the Stroller to be a valuable learning tool for young children. According to early childhood research, repetition reinforces language processing, pattern recognition and a sense of predictability. It also provides children with opportunities to rehearse new sound and word sequences.
After retirement, Claudia’s love of rhyme inspired her to take a few children’s poetry writing classes. She was pleased to have several poems published in “Highlights High Five” and “Highlights” magazines, with two poems also published in children’s anthologies. The joy of reading to her sons long ago and now her grandchildren sparked her desire to write a children’s book as well. One day, after she and her young grandson enthusiastically sang and motioned along with The Wheels on the Bus book, grandma and grandson set out for one of their many adventure-seeking neighborhood stroller walks. As the wheels on his stroller went round and round, they greeted neighbors with tail-wagging dogs, watched squirrels scurry up trees and delighted in the “ding! ding! ding!” of an approaching bicycle along with other encounters- The Wheels on the Stroller was spontaneously born!
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September 18, 2025
Babymaking Reveal #rabtbooktours
Memoir
Date to be Published: December 11th, 2025
Publisher: Acorn Publishing
Making a baby is one of life’s most precious and natural acts. But sometimes, despite our deepest wishes and most sincere prayers, the body has other plans.
Vincentia Schroeter dreams of building a family of her own and expects an easy pregnancy. She imagines following in her mother’s footsteps, surrounded by the love of children. However, when complications mount, she must face the likelihood that her wish will never come true.
As her sisters bear children, and women all around her share their happy baby news, Vin grows more envious than ever. The frustration continues as hard truths test her patience and faith and medical professionals deliver devastating blows. The only thing she knows for sure is that she is determined to become a mother.
A story of one woman’s harrowing path through trauma and disillusionment, Babymaking is a heartfelt memoir of vulnerability, rupture, and repair. Vin’s journey reminds us that hope and unconditional love have the power to lead us to the place we were always meant to be.
About the Author
Vincentia Schroeter grew up in a small town in central California as the fourth of twelve children. Intrigued by the many different personalities in her family, she knew by the age of sixteen that she wanted to be a counselor. She put herself through college and graduate school in order to pursue her dreams.
Vin is the author of the award-winning self-help book, Communication Breakthrough: How Using Brain Science and Listening to Body Cues Can Change Your Relationships (2018). She also co-authored a training manual on somatic psychotherapy that has been translated into three languages.
After a forty-year career as a psychotherapist listening to clients’ stories of pain and trauma, Vin felt drawn to share her own story. She now lives in San Diego with her husband Steve and enjoys pickleball, painting, and time with family, including her dog, Ren.
Contact Links
Hook and Jill Book Blitz #rabtbooktours
Literary Fiction
An ageless fable grows up...
Wendy Darling learns. What appears to be good may prove otherwise, and what seems to be evil…is irresistible. In this startling new vision of a cultural classic, Wendy intends to live happily ever after with Peter Pan. But Time, like this tale, behaves in a most unsettling way.
As Wendy mothers the Lost Boys in Neverland, they thrive on adventure. She struggles to keep her boys safe from the Island’s many hazards, but she finds a more subtle threat encroaching from an unexpected quarter.…The children are growing up, and only Peter knows the punishment.
Yet in the inky edges of the Island, the tales Wendy tells to the Lost Boys come true. Captain Hook is real, and even the Wonderful Boy can’t defend his Wendy against this menace. Hook is a master manipulator, devising vengeance for his maiming. Insidious and seductive, Hook has his reasons for tempting Wendy to grow up. Revenge is only the first.
Deepening the characters so artfully sketched by J.M. Barrie, Hook & Jill reveals the dark side of innocence at which Barrie hinted in the figure of Peter Pan. It brings alive a daring Wendy who asks questions and seeks truth; it delves into the man, Hook, the iconic villain. Striding from fairy-tale and thrusting into reality, Captain Hook becomes a frightening force indeed.
About the Author
Andrea Jones is the author of the Hook & Jill Saga, an award-winning series of Neverland novels for adult readers.
Jones graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she studied Oral Interpretation of Literature, with a Literature Minor. In her career in television production, she worked for CBS and PBS affiliates, and corporate studios, also performing as on-camera and voice-over talent.
Jones is an editor of the Reginetta Press Classics Restoration program, which seeks to preserve the integrity of beloved old manuscripts before they are lost to time. The first project in the program is Peter and Wendy: The Restored Text. In tribute to J.M. Barrie, Jones corrected alterations made by modern publishers, returning Barrie’s timeless tale to its exact 1911 first edition text. This book is the basis of the Hook & Jill Saga, and Jones remains true to J.M. Barrie’s vision of his Neverland and its inhabitants.
Andrea Jones is known around the world as Capitana Red-Hand of the web-based pirate brotherhood, Under the Black Flag. She is also a member of the pirate re-enaction troupe, the Brethren of the Great Lakes. Her home port is near Chicago.
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Friday Book Blogger Special: My Ex Is A Vampire
Genre:
Fantasy Romance, Vampires, Young Adult
Length: 431 pages
Buy Link:
https://amzn.to/4psQG7NPublication Date:
October 1, 2025
Book Blurb:
Relationships bite!Jane Dela Cruz's life is anything but normal. By day, she's your average honor student, the girl next door who's dating the guy on the football team. By night, she hunts vampires with her family. She hates what she's been called to do, the gifts she inherited from her family bloodline. At the same time, she craves revenge and closure for past emotional scars.
Andy Santiago is the new kid in the swanky suburb of Sugar Land, Texas. Haunted by nightmares of red eyes and fangs, he hunts down vampires and attracts his share of trouble along the way. He keeps his life of vampire hunting a secret from his mother and finds himself in hot water when he finds out his new girlfriend is a fangirl for romantic vampires, which only exist in fiction.
When Jane's boyfriend and Andy's girlfriend get taken by the local vampire court and turned into vampires, they have to team up and figure out how to take down their exes. What they don't realize is that they will unravel a darker conspiracy that will change their lives forever. The First Line/Book Beginnings
https://www.rosecityreader.com/
https://readingismysuperpower.org/Jane thought she had the perfect plan. Step one: Hone in on some random hot vampire. Step two: Flirt up a storm. Step three: Lure him outside. Step four: Stab him right in the heart. It should have been that easy.
The Friday 56
http://www.fredasvoice.com/Saint Anthony’s Oddities was a moderately-sized place, located between a jujitsu dojo and a grocery store.
I am reading this story with an intent to have a review ready on its release date of October 1, 2025. It is currently available for preorder on Kindle.
Book Blogger Hop
Book Blogger Hop
September 19th - Do you know more than one language? If so, do you read books published in other countries?
(submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer) Well, funny you should ask. I do know a modicum of Spanish, which I have been studying on and off for decades. I doubt I will ever be conversationally fluent, but if you give me a book written for Spanish-speaking elementary school students, I'll do okay. I recently started studying Spanish again with the Lingo Legend app. You can download it from the Apple store or Google play. Enter my code when prompted, and we'll both get 1000 Ludos (Lingo Legend currency) which can be used to purchase neat things like fighting gear. QXES3
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September 16, 2025
Crush and Byte Teaser #rabtbooktours
(Grim Road MC)
Motorcycle Club Romance, Suspense, Age Gap
Date Published: September 19, 2025
One crazy grandma and a wild adventure with two sexy bikers… What happens when I fall for both?
River -- My life got derailed by a sneaky old woman in an assisted living home. The cloak-and-dagger story she frames is both unnerving and exciting. I thought Mrs. Walsh was living in her past, some heartbreaking episode of dementia… until I found the package she sent me looking for in a library in Vancouver. Next thing I know, I’m on a wild ride with two ridiculously handsome brothers -- Mrs. Walsh’s grandsons. I’ve spent my life feeling like the background character, but now I’m the star of the show. I’m a little scared, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued.
Crush -- The moment I see River, I know my life is about to change. She’s got that “sweet and innocent” thing that makes me wonder how I’m going to resist her. Or if I even want to. I know I’m a pawn in one of my grandmother’s games, and I’m OK with playing along. But what am I supposed to do when I want a woman my brother also wants? Something about River makes the risk worth taking, even knowing this arrangement could blow up in my face.
Byte -- River’s beautiful, courageous, slightly crazy… and the woman I want for my own. However she’s got just as tight a hold on my brother Crush as she does on me, and no one comes between me and my brother. Our grandmother’s a master strategist, but I don’t think her plans include the three of us getting stuck in a tiny cabin on the side of a mountain… or does it?
River
The public library in Vancouver, Washington looked like a cross between an urban mall and the Roman Coliseum. With more overdue notices and fewer gladiators. I had no idea why I was here. It’s not like I actually expected to find anything. I just couldn’t seem to resist the thought of an adventure.
At exactly four in the afternoon, I stepped through the revolving glass doors and tried to look inconspicuous. Not an easy feat, considering the purpose was to retrieve a mystery envelope for a possibly ex-CIA spymaster or some shit from behind an old, out-of-date encyclopedia, like the world’s nerdiest drop point. And maybe I was lost in my own fanciful musings. I had to smile. I was kind of having fun. It was like an adventure!
It wasn’t raining, for once, but the air still had the clinging, wet asphalt smell that was oddly comforting. I thought I should be nervous or something, but it was too much fun to think about to be nervous. I’d been assigned a quest by a cryptic, possibly delusional fairy godmother with a Parkinson’s tremor and a talent for psychological warfare. The thought made me stifle a giggle.
I drifted through the main floor, past the help desk and the “Local Authors” display, straight to the elevator. Behind me, a kid in a Spiderman backpack trailed his mom toward the children’s section, skipping along and looking excited. I definitely felt the same way.
The elevator doors closed on a guy in a T-shirt with a faded band logo and I rode in silence to the third floor. According to Mrs. Walsh, the reference section was tucked back behind geography, a quiet warren of study carrels and shelves no one under sixty ever browsed. I’d scoped it online the night before. I’m not dumb.
Mrs. Walsh had been explicit. “The 1986 World Atlas, behind the second row, center shelf. Not the 1992 edition. Only the ‘86.” If she’d specified a Dewey Decimal code, I might have laughed, but her face had been stone cold when she said it. Like there’d be real consequences for screwing this up, and not just “forgetting to refill the saltshakers in the dining room” level consequences.
When I found the book, I couldn’t suppress a little thrill zinging through me. I remembered the library in the group home I’d spent the most time in during my childhood had mystery series that I loved to read. Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden were my absolute favorites. I could see both amateur sleuths in my exact place.
The cover was two shades of dark maroon, sun faded at the edges, and heavier than I’d expected. I was careful as I pulled out the book, but my hands were actually trembling. There was no one else in the aisle, unless you counted the porcelain bust of some stern-faced man from a couple hundred years ago glaring from the endcap.
Just behind where the book had been, affixed to the back of the shelf with two strips of black tape, was a little metal box. Like an Altoid tin but with no writing on it, and bigger. My pulse thumped and I had to take a deep breath to keep from giggling in excitement. What the hell was going on? I probably should be alarmed instead of thrilled. There were so many questions I had a feeling I was going to have a hard time finding answers for, but I knew there was no way I wasn’t going to let this whole adventure play out on its own.
I slid the box free, tucked it in my back pocket, and hurried down the aisle, around the corner, and into the bathroom. Once safely inside a stall with the door locked, I slid the tin from my pocket and popped it open. I lifted off the top and tucked the lid into the base and braced myself for… what? A flash drive? A bloodstained thumb? Uranium? You know, just for kicks.
Nope. Inside the little box was a small phone. Not an old-ass flip phone like I expected, but a sleek, dark rectangle with no brand, already powered up. There was one unread message notification on the screen. In the box, there was a folded sheet of plain white paper and a sealed envelope. The paper was blank except for a single line written in bold Sharpie.
Remember the words. Do not write them down.
Yeah. I remembered.
I opened the envelope and stared at what looked like a find-a-word puzzle, only with no words listed to circle. Also, not all the symbols on the page were numbers or letters. Some were mathematical symbols or hieroglyphs. Yeah. That was hopeless. A small stack of one-hundred-dollar bills tucked inside another folded piece of paper looked at me like an accusation, like I was doing something naughty. I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t get a little thrill with the thought. The second paper had a number written on it. No dashes or spaces and it was too many digits for a phone number. Right. So much for written instructions. I stuffed the paper back in the envelope and tucked it inside my bra. Why? Because I’d always wanted to do that! It was like I was really smuggling something out of the library like a real spy. I giggled. So not telling Maggie about that.
I left the bathroom and, just in case, I put the metal box behind a row of obsolete encyclopedias a few shelves over, figuring that if I was being tailed by hostile librarians they’d have to earn their stripes.
She hadn’t really given me any instructions past finding the box and its contents but I was starting to get a bit of an eerie feeling. Not like I was in danger, exactly, but like maybe I should take Mrs. Walsh at face value until proven definitively otherwise. So, instead of sticking around, I went back to my apartment before I opened the message on that phone.
Call the contact listed in this phone. Use the video option.
I tried to remember if I’d actually committed to doing this, or if I was just being swept along by Mrs. Walsh’s gravitational pull. The only people who had ever really wanted something from me either needed a bath or a ride to physical therapy, not a covert op involving classified code words and burner phones.
But the truth was, I had nothing better to do. Literally nothing. My next shift wasn’t for three days. I didn’t own a car, so I either Ubered or bused everywhere. No long-term friends, no family, no one to say “don’t do it.” And what if it was real? What if Mrs. Walsh had once been the spook she said she was? Was this some kind of generational torch-passing, or did she just want a patsy for plausible deniability? I mean, given the whole no family, no friends situation I certainly fit the profile in either case.
I stared at the phone. The contact hovered, daring me to press “call.” Before I could think better of it, I did.
The phone rang once, then again. I thought it would go to voicemail, but on the third ring the screen flickered to life with the video call I’d just initiated.
For half a second, I almost dropped the phone. The screen showed two men in a small, windowless room. The older of the two had a full face that was deeply tanned and rough with more than a few days’ growth of dark beard. He wore a black long-sleeved shirt rolled to the elbows, his arms crossed on the tabletop like he was expecting a confession. The other man was maybe five or ten years younger than the larger man, with short, dark hair and glacial blue eyes. Neither looked amused and both looked more than a little confused.
“Who is this?” The big one asked. “Where did you get this phone?”
About the Author
Marteeka Karland is an international bestselling author who leads a double life as an erotic romance author by evening and a semi-domesticated housewife by day. Known for her down and dirty MC romances, Marteeka takes pleasure in spinning tales of tenacious, protective heroes and spirited, vulnerable heroines. She staunchly advocates that every character deserves a blissful ending, even, sometimes, the villains in her narratives. Her writings are speckled with intense, raw elements resulting in page-turning delight entwined with seductive escapades leading up to gratifying conclusions that elicit a sigh from her readers.
Away from the pen, Marteeka finds joy in baking and supporting her husband with their gardening activities. The late summer season is set aside for preserving the delightful harvest that springs from their combined efforts (which is mostly his efforts, but you can count it). To stay updated with Marteeka's latest adventures and forthcoming books, make sure to visit her website. Don't forget to register for her newsletter which will pepper you with a potpourri of Teeka's beloved recipes, book suggestions, autograph events, and a plethora of interesting tidbits.
Author Links
Author on Instagram & TikTok: @marteekakarland
Publisher on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok: @changelingpress
The 6th Heaven Release Blitz #rabtbooktours
Speculative Fiction; Visionary and Metaphysical; Christian Fiction
Date Published: September 17, 2025
Publisher: Acorn Publishing
Derek Hollinger has walked a long, hard road since a fateful encounter with an Indigenous shaman woman turned his life upside down. Now married to Kendal, his angel and savior, Derek desperately wants to be the man she deserves. But his obsession with his tattoos—what they mean and how to get rid of them—is tearing down everything they’ve built together.
Paralyzed by depression and self-loathing, Derek is convinced that only one person can help him now: the granddaughter of the shaman whose power inked him from head to toe. Enlisting the aid of his loyal friend and spiritual advisor, Father Mike, Derek treks deep into the heart of the Amazon jungle, where a final reckoning between good and evil awaits.
But God’s plan for Derek isn’t what he expects. And coming back alive—whole in mind, heart, and spirit—will require every ounce of his fortitude and faith.
About the Author
Writer, speaker, and certified life coach Monica Broussard is passionate about writing fiction that contains fantasy elements and keeps the reader intrigued about the lead character’s motives. She also writes an occasional article for her hometown’s magazine, SeaCliff Living. She belongs to American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and enjoys attending national writers' conferences.
Born in North Carolina on a Marine Corps base, Monica now lives in “Surf City,” Huntington Beach, California, with her husband of thirty-nine years. She has enjoyed various occupations, but her favorite job is the one she’s doing now—writing.
The 6th Heaven is book 3 in the 21 Tattoos Series.
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The Boys Are Back In Town Review #GoddessFish
THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN
Tanith Davenport
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Erotic Romance
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Avril Coker, ex-girlfriend of young rockstar Levi Eshton-Gold, is staying at the house of his father, rockstar Ty Eshton-Gold, having been abandoned by her parents due to a pregnancy. However, when Levi arrives home early from his tour with his voice destroyed, he soon makes it clear that he hopes to rekindle their romance.
Avril still feels a spark between them. However she also knows Levi is unaware of the real reason Avril is staying with his family – and the deranged fan who caused Avril’s miscarriage.
Ty, as the band’s manager, has plans to keep the band going, including a reality TV show and a new album which Avril herself will be singing on. As her and Levi’s passion soon reignites, Avril finds herself working to support Levi’s band Astral Shudder and to help Levi regain his voice – but can Avril and Levi see a future together, or will Levi’s career and his cruel fan keep them apart?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt
It wasn’t until they were finishing dessert that they heard a knock on the door.
“I’ll get that.” Ty stood and moved towards the doorway. “He must have lost his key.”
Lyra and Elspeth both stood and followed him, Avril trailing behind them uncertainly. This had the potential to be very awkward.
Ty unlocked the door and Levi stepped in, dragging his wheeled suitcase behind him. His eyes immediately locked onto Avril, a look of surprise crossing his face. Avril stared back at him, waiting to see if he would speak first.
She knew she looked different from when he had last seen her. Her blonde hair was now cut short and highlighted; she was wearing contacts instead of glasses, so her green eyes were brighter, more visible. She had had her ears pierced a second time, dangly earrings brushing the Astral Shudder tattoo on her shoulder. And she had stopped getting spray tans, so her skin was back to its natural alabaster shade.
Levi looked thinner than before, but his brown hair was still long, held back by a bandana that made him look like a young Axl Rose. He was wearing eyeliner, something he had rarely done in the past, but it brought out his brown eyes, which were fixed intensely on hers. And he was wearing leather trousers and a leather jacket over a t-shirt—he had always said he wanted a new leather jacket, and here it was.
She had always loved his leather trousers. The way they hugged his perfect ass as he moved on stage, the delicious scent they had given his skin. She could remember the way his hair had swayed as he sang, the way the sweat glistened on his taut muscles.
She remembered everything.
Elspeth stepped forward and pulled Levi into a hug, breaking the tension. Avril felt her shoulders relax. Maybe this would be straightforward after all.
“Darling. We’re so glad you’re finally home. You must be exhausted.”
Levi nodded silently, and Ty moved forward to take the case from him.
“We’ve saved you some dinner. Sit down and you can tell us everything.”
“No,” Levi answered haltingly. “I can’t.”
Something in Avril’s gut twisted painfully.
Levi’s voice, once rich and throaty, was now a rasp.
This is it. This is why they stopped the tour.
Levi’s perfect rock voice had been destroyed.
Free use image from Open Clipart Vectors
Ornery Owl's Review
Rating: Three out of Five Stars
The idea of a musician forced to return home due to a catastrophic, potentially career-ending medical issue is engaging. The drama between said musician and his ex, whom he returns home to discover his parents have invited to move in, is compelling.
Unfortunately, my Editor Brain took over very early in this tale and it became impossible for me to switch back to Reader Mode. This happens when I read stories that don't feel like they've gone through a thorough editing process. Although the manuscript was free of typos, the story feels unpolished and bogged down by minutia. For example:
"The kitchen, like every other room in the Eshton-Golds’ house—or mansion, probably—was huge, luxurious, and filled with every modern device."
Dispense with the filler. Call it a mansion. Also, throw out most of the em-dashes. They are strong contributors to the air of indecisiveness that plagues this work.
Also, Avril's ominous stomach pain turns out to be...
Gallstones.
Really?
Romance readers are not interested in gall bladder removals. Unplanned pregnancies, yes. Something life-threatening where the love interest's support plays a key part in recovery, yes. Not routine surgeries like removal of a faulty gall bladder. The author could squeeze so much more of the kind of drama that romance readers crave out of the story by timing things so Avril is pregnant with Levi's child.
The scenario could play out like my own real-life situation. I was told I couldn't get pregnant. After being nauseous for a month straight, I went to the doctor expecting to hear that I had something like stomach cancer. Imagine my surprise when she told me I was pregnant.
Or, perhaps, Avril is experiencing complications from the miscarriage she suffered. This can happen when something from the miscarriage was not completely expelled from the uterus. This could impact Avril's ability to become pregnant in the future. In such a case, Levi's support would be invaluable to her.
This story has the potential to be engaging, exciting, and unforgettable. In its current form, it reads too much like a work in progress that has been run through a spelling and grammar check but has not undergone a comprehensive editing process.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Tanith Davenport began writing erotica at the age of 27 by way of the Romantic Novelists' Association New Writers' Scheme. Her debut novel "The Hand He Dealt" was released by Totally Bound in June 2011 and was shortlisted for the Joan Hessayon Award for 2012.
Tanith has had short stories published by Totally Bound, Naughty Nights Press, Evernight Publishing and House of Erotica. She loves to travel and dreams of one day taking a driving tour of the United States, preferably in a classic 1950s pink Cadillac Eldorado.
Tanith's idea of heaven is an Indian head massage with a Mojito at her side.
www.facebook.com/TanithDavenport
www.twitter.com/TanithDavenport
Amazon UK: https://tinyurl.com/mr4tuh73
Amazon US: https://tinyurl.com/48xz4r5d
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER
Tanith Davenport will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.
Changing Woman's Hair Release Blitz #rabtbooktours
Marin Sinclair, Book 2
Suspense Thriller
Date Published: 09/15/2025
Publisher: RabbitHole LLC
About the Author
Drawing from her own life story in the Four Corners area of the Navajo Nation, author Jan D. Payne offers readers a journey into the heart of the American Southwest in a modern-day romantic suspense series. Writing characters who navigate diverse cultural influences to explore the lines between the seen and the unseen, the modern and the traditional, the present and the past—she creates a world where the impossible becomes possible, and mythical legends come to life.
Jan is a member of Western Writers of America and Women Writing the West. She and her husband live in northern Minnesota with their three big dogs—Kaibab, Rudi, and Orrin. Visit her website at: jandpayne.com
Contact Links
The Patron Saint of Lost Girls Release Blitz #rabtbooktours
Literary Fiction / Short Story Collection
Date Published: 09-16-2025
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
In this collection of linked stories, we follow Mary as she seeks to cope with and withstand hardship and confront her fears of exploitation, abuse, and death. Along the way, she delves into the complex yet nurturing relationships with her family and friends who teach her to love better, live fuller, and question power. The Patron Saint of Lost Girls presents an unflinching tale of life in the late twentieth-century postindustrial Midwest.
About the Author
Maureen Aitken’s short-story collection, The Patron Saint of Lost Girls, received a Kirkus star, the Nilsen Prize, and the Foreword Review INDIE Gold Prize for General Fiction. It will be reissued in September, 2025 by Wayne State University Press. Her stories have earned a Minnesota State Arts Board’s Artist Initiative Grant, a Loft Mentor Award, an award from Ireland’s Fish Short Story Prize, and two Pushcart Prize nominations. It was also nominated for a Minnesota Book Award. Her stories have been published in Prairie Schooner and New Letters, among others. This is her second story featured in The Missouri Review’s Blast section.
Contact Links
Scenes From a Song Teaser Tuesday #rabtbooktours
Music Fiction
Date Published: 09-30-2025
Publisher: Covfefe Press
For anyone who's ever said, "They're playing my song!"
On Halloween Eve, 1961, in his dingy Bronx walkup apartment, seventeen-year-old Jimmy Welton hears the opening notes of a song in his head. Jimmy’s still mourning his firefighter father, who taught him to play the guitar but recently died in a house fire, leaving his family destitute. Jimmy takes this song, about all he misses from his life now, to the New York amusement park where he works after school. There, he meets Mark Morgan, a rebellious teen with his own band, who eventually invites Jimmy to join them. And the rest is rock'n roll history...The GooseBumps become a worldwide phenomenon, and the songs they write and sing together become the backbone of rock musical history. And the song Jimmy first heard on Halloween, "Wrapped in Gauze", becomes the song that not only comforts him in that terrible time but also comforts others: Victoria, recently divorced and dealing with an unthinkable family tragedy; Carolyn, whose final flippant words to someone in pain can't be taken back; and Jack, battling back from unimaginable loss with the help of his cheeky therapist and a song he thinks he hates.
SCENES FROM A SONG is the story of a song that makes us smile, that breaks our hearts, that stays with us forever, and the very special band that started it all.
Mark went on, “Jimmy’s got a great new song we hope you’ll get up and dance to. It’s so new, we’re playing it here for the first time. I don’t even know it!”
The audience chuckled—they clearly liked Mark—but Jimmy was suddenly nervous as Mark swung the microphone toward him. They’d liked the first songs, and Jimmy had kept up fine with Kellen on guitar, but he and Mark hadn’t sung harmony yet, and the new song that Mark had generously allotted lead to him wasn’t coming up till later. He had to put “Bawk Bawk” over.
He took a deep breath and stepped up to the mike, trying to sound reassuring and confident. “Hi, folks. This is new, and, well, we hope you like it. It’s a dance song, and we’ll do all the moves up here, and you can just follow us. The song is called ‘Bawk Bawk’.”
He did the four-count lead-in and Kellen came in behind him, with Mark backing him up. Hammy bashed out a steady rhythm, and Jimmy launched into the vocal, trying to pump up the energy with exuberant gestures. He strutted, he clucked, he waved, he pumped his elbows together like a chicken.
The audience just about died laughing.
No one clapped. No one stomped their feet. No one got up and danced.
But they did laugh their heads off, all the time Jimmy was singing. They laughed so much they could hardly hear the vocal, though he kept going doggedly till the end. He remembered to do the high whistle and the click of his heels, and when he bobbed his head like a chicken for the final notes, the audience all but fell out of their seats. Jimmy began to feel like a fool.
Hammy played the last beats on the drums, and Kellen finished strumming his guitar with a flourish.
As the last notes died away, Jimmy gave an embarrassed nod to the audience. They finally stopped laughing.
They began to clap.
They began to cheer.
In a moment, the room was echoing with stomping feet and yelling patrons.
About the Author
SUSAN SLOATE is the author or co-author of more than 25 published books. This includes 3 editions of Forward to Camelot, a time-travel thriller about the JFK assassination that became a #6 Amazon bestseller, was honored in 3 literary competitions and was optioned by a Hollywood company for film production. She also wrote the autobiographical Broadway novel Stealing Fire, which became a #2 Amazon bestseller and Hot New Release, and Realizing You (with Ron Doades), for which she invented a new genre: the self-help novel.
Susan has also written young-adult fiction and non-fiction, including the children’s biography Ray Charles: Find Another Way, which won the silver medal in the 2007 Children’s Moonbeam Awards. Mysteries Unwrapped: The Secrets of Alcatraz led to her 2009 appearance on the TV series MysteryQuest for The History Channel. She has also been a sportswriter and a screenwriter, edited the popular Kyle & Corey young-adult book series, managed two political campaigns and founded an author’s festival to promote student literacy in her hometown outside Charleston, SC. She has appeared in multiple volumes of WHO’S WHO IN AMERICA, WHO’S WHO IN ENTERTAINMENT and WHO’S WHO AMONG AMERICAN WOMEN.
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