Mayra Calvani's Blog - Posts Tagged "kindle"

Rosemary McCracken is a Canadian journalist. Born and raised in Montreal, she has worked on newspapers across Canada as a reporter, arts reviewer, editorial writer and editor. She is now a freelance journalist who specializes in personal finance and the financial services industry. She advocates greater investor protection, and improved financial services industry regulation and enforcement.

Rosemary’s short fiction has been published by Room of One’s Own Press and Kaleidoscope Books.

Safe Harbor is her first published novel. It was shortlisted for Britain’s Crime Writers’ Association’s Debut Dagger in 2010.

Rosemary lives in Toronto with her husband, and makes frequent retreats to her stone cottage in Ontario’s Haliburton Highlands.

Rosemary's published stories include “Crazy” in Kaleidoscope Books’ anthology, Mother Margaret and the Rhinoceros Café; and “Putting Mother in Her Place” in Room of One’s Own, vol. 19:4, winter 1996. 

Her latest book is the suspense thriller, BLACK WATER, available from Imajin Books. Also on Amazon.

Q: Congrats on the release of your book, Rosemary! Tell us why readers should buy Black Water.

A: Take a look at a few comments that readers of Safe Harbor, the first book in the Pat Tierney series, made. “I can’t wait for the next Pat Tierney instalment,” one Amazon review wrote. “I look forward to seeing what trouble Pat Tierney gets herself into next,” another reviewer added.

Well, Pat is back! In Black Water, she leaves Toronto and heads out to Ontario cottage country where an elderly man has been brutally murdered. Her daughter Tracy’s friend Jamie is a suspect in the murder, and when Tracy asks her mother for help…well, Pat is a softie when it comes to family.

Pat is also fully committed to her clients. She’s a financial advisor with integrity and ethics. Because the financial services industry revolves around money, it provides opportunities for those who are clever and greedy enough to challenge the system. She doesn’t want to see people taken by these bad apples. She has the courage to stand up for what she believes is right.

This is probably why The Toronto Star called Pat “a hugely attractive sleuth figure.” 

Q: What makes a good suspense novel?

A: A good suspense novel grabs the reader’s attention in the first few pages, and keeps the tension mounting through the rest of the book. In Black Water, the initial grabber is a prologue from the point of view of Lyle Critchley. This elderly man drives into his detached garage one evening and the building goes up in flames. Lyle is trapped inside. The prologue sets the novel into motion, and it raises some important questions for the reader. Who set fire to Lyle’s garage? And why did this person want to kill Lyle?

Q: What is a regular writing day like for you?

A: I’m a working journalist as well as a fiction writer so I find it difficult to carve out a set chunk of time for fiction writing every day. My days are often shaped by interviews for my articles and publication deadlines. But because I’m now a freelancer, I have control of my schedule and I try to keep my summers free for writing fiction. I spend most of the summer at my country home in the beautiful Haliburton Highlands north of the city of Toronto, where I can get a lot of work done on a novel. I can often complete the work, and work on subsequent drafts when I return to my home in Toronto over the fall and winter.

Q: What do you find most rewarding about being an author?

A: I love seeing my books on a shelf, and picking them up and opening them. Ebooks are wonderful and they’ve brought my books to people all around the world. But there is just something so thrilling about holding a book in your hands that has your name on it.

And I’m thrilled beyond words when a reader tells me that he or she enjoyed my novel. That is the reason I write!

Q: What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received that you’d like to pass to other authors?

A: Keep writing. And take advantage of every opportunity to get your work published and launch your writing career. Enter writing contests, attend conferences for works in your genre, and network with other writers. And don’t let negative comments about your work get you down. They’re often just sour grapes.

BLACK WATER is available at http://www.amazon.com/Black-Water-Tierney-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00CWF2X8S

Catherine Astolfo retired in 2002 after a very successful 34 years in education. She can recall writing fantasy stories for her classmates in Grade Three, so she started finishing her books the day after her retirement became official. Her short stories and poems have been published in a number of Canadian literary presses. Her story, “What Kelly Did”, won the prestigious Arthur Ellis Award for Best Short Crime Story in 2012.

In the fall of 2011, she was thrilled to be awarded a four-book contract by Imajin Books for her Emily Taylor Mystery series (previously self-published), and has never been happier with this burgeoning second career!

Catherine’s books are gritty, yet portray gorgeous surroundings; they deal with sensitive social issues, but always include love and hope. They’re not thrillers, but rather literary mysteries with loads of character and setting. And justice always prevails.

Website: www.catherineastolfo.com

FB: http://tinyurl.com/kc4n5xw

Twitter: www.twitter.com/cathyastolfo

Q: What’s inside the mind of a mystery author?

A: Here’s an example. My husband and I were taking a wonderful sunny day drive. He smiled at me and asked, “What are you thinking, honey?” My answer: “I was wondering how long it would take someone to die after they’d been shot in the stomach.” As you can tell, please don’t ask a mystery writer what they are thinking unless you are prepared for a somewhat shocking answer! Our heads are full of crime, puzzles and mischief. Fortunately, it’s mostly fictional. We pick up ideas at the mall, in the newspaper, standing on a mountaintop, or from our fellow flawed human beings.

Q: Tell us why readers should buy SWEET KAROLINE.

A: SWEET KAROLINE is a roller coaster ride of psychological suspense, mixed with history, love and mystery. It has story lines that will appeal to everyone, male and female, from twenty-somethings to ninety-somethings. One of my endorsers probably says it best about why you should buy it. “Sweet Karoline is a multi-layered mystery, where nothing is as it seems. The story grips you on page one and leads you through a maze of history, twisted relationships, and ultimately the darkness of the human mind.”—Liz Bugg, author of Oranges and Lemons

Q: What makes a good psychological suspense?

A: Often, it’s the voice of the narrator that creates the tension, uneasiness, and excitement in a psychological suspense. Is the narrator reliable? Is s/he telling the whole truth? Whom can we trust? The uncertainty creates on-the-edge-of-your-seat thrills that most readers love. My new novel, Sweet Karoline, has also been classed as a literary mystery. These two sub-genres are a great match: the plot is somewhat secondary to the characters in a literary novel, while in a psychological suspense, the characters’ dialogue, actions and personalities are what drive the anticipation. I love reading psychological suspense and writing one was almost as much fun.

Q: What is a regular writing day like for you?

A: I’m not the sort of writer who has a strict schedule. Mostly, the writing day depends on what’s coming up in my life. For instance, with Sweet Karoline’s launch imminent, a lot of my writing involves guest interviews, blogs, tweets and emails. I like to spend my mornings doing that sort of work, then get into the creative swing during the early afternoon. (I’m not as awake in the mornings, I think, so the structure of the Internet helps keep me alert.) If I spend too many days unable to write creatively for one reason or another, I become restless and grumpy. So my family likes to make time for me to retreat to the laptop!

Q: What do you find most rewarding about being an author?

A: For me, there are two aspects to the rewards in writing. One happens during the process. When I have an idea, cook it in my head, let it flow onto the page, rework it and suddenly realize just how well it’s shaping up, I get the most amazing thrill. The only thing I can compare it to is looking at your child’s face and thinking how gorgeous s/he is. I read over what I’ve created and am immensely satisfied and happy. The second reward comes when someone else reads it and comes to the same conclusion. What a joy when a reader says, “I LOVED your book!”

Q: How did you celebrate the completion of your book?

A: I celebrated Sweet Karoline’s completion by calling my daughter and telling my husband. Then I handed it over to both of them for a first read. After that I sat down with a glass of particularly good red wine.

At a tavern one Friday night, astrophysicist Gabriel Diaz meets a mysterious young woman. Captivated by her beauty as well as her views on good and evil, he spends the next several days with her. After a while, however, he begins to notice a strangeness in her...especially the way she seems to take pleasure in toying with his conscience.

The young woman, Kamilah, invites him to Rize, Turkey, where she claims her family owns a cottage in the woods. In spite of his heavy workload and the disturbing visions and nightmares about his sister’s baby that is due to be born soon, Gabriel agrees to go with her.

But nothing, not even the stunning beauty of the Black Sea, can disguise the horror of her nature... In a place where death dwells and illusion and reality seem as one, Gabriel must now come to terms with his own demons in order to save his sister’s unborn child, and ultimately, his own soul.

Only $.99 on Amazon

Dream Realm Awards Finalist!

Reviews:

“Mayra Calvani is a masterful storyteller… Dark Lullaby is complex and compelling…” –Habitual Reader

“Dark Lullaby is an atmospheric paranormal horror that grips you from page one and refuses to let go until you’ve raced, breathless, to the end.” –ePinions

“Dark Lullaby is a page-turner. A horror story from the top shelf! You’ll love it.” –5 stars from Euro-Reviews

“This is a terrific horror…” –Harriet Klausner

“Dark Lullaby will capture you with its rich descriptions, its exotic location, and the need to uncover the dark secrets hidden within its pages.” –Cheryl Malandrinos, The Book Connection

"I loved this story, which started as a romance, then quickly evolved into a spine chilling horror, transporting you back to a land where folklore legends, based on truth are alive, and unimaginable creatures walk the earth." -Susan Keefe, Amazon Reviewer

"...this story is exactly the kind of creepy tale that's given me a new reason to keep the light on at night." -Relasped Catholic

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Excerpt

 

Late that night, sipping red wine on the second-floor balcony after a mouth-watering meal of barbequed fish, Gabriel was overwhelmed by the feeling of impending doom.

He gazed at the woods surrounding them. Far away from city lights and civilization, he had never experienced such perfect darkness before. Only the full moon illuminated them with its clear silver light. His eyes turned upwards to the sky and he held his breath. There, crossing the southern sky in all its splendor, was the Milky Way. An arm of it, anyway. Layers upon layers of stars created that milky effect. Never before had he seen such a magnificent, clear sky, not even in Arizona or New Mexico.

“Look!” Kamilah leaned forward, pointing with her finger to the woods.

And for the first time, Gabriel saw the little lights.

This was no trick played on his vision. There they were, going this way and that with uncanny rapidity, to and fro, making a little witch’s dance in the distance, as if they were electrons and neutrons trying to collide inside an atom. Unpredictable, erratic, volatile.

“Do you believe me now?” Kamilah quivered with excitement.

“The lights are real, no doubt. But your explanation of them is something else. Fairies? What did you call them—cin? Spirits of the forest?”

“That’s what people here believe. You know, two years ago a team of foreign scientists came here to study these lights, but they weren’t able to find any explanation for them. They were trying to compare them to similar lights seen in the mountains of Peru. The Peruvian villagers, though, believe them to be aliens. Spiritual beings from another world.”

Gabriel remained silent as he studied the strange phenomenon. For a moment the lights  vanished. Then they re-appeared.

Kamilah began humming a soft melody.

Gabriel felt goose bumps rise on his arms and legs. That music…. He listened, entranced. He began to feel sleepy.

“Stop singing,” he said.

“I did.”

He could still hear the lullaby, though the sound had now turned very distant. But it was no echo. It felt as if something deep within the forest itself sang.

“I’m going to take a closer look,” Gabriel said, standing up with the glass of wine in his hand.

“No! Don’t bother them! Sometimes they don’t like the intrusion. They might get mad.”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” He was surprised at the sudden anxiety in her voice.

“I mean it!”

“You’re such a superstitious fool! I’m going to have a closer look.” He downed the rest of the wine and put the glass on the floor. A protesting Kamilah followed him.

“You don’t know what you’re doing!” she kept saying.

Soon he was outside striding to where the lights hovered. For somebody who had felt so ill this morning, his body felt marvelously supple and strong. The mountain air was cold, but his limbs were infused with an inner warmth, a warmth that wasn’t just physical, but also came from his intellect. Gabriel needed to know what these lights were. He needed to understand them. He couldn’t really explain his fervor to comprehend.

“They’re gone,” Kamilah said.

His pulse raced. Midway down the clearing he halted, his eyes searching. Darkness enveloped him. Then he saw them again, right in front of him at the edge of the woods, as if they had moved closer in order to greet him.

He approached them, his pace quickening with each step until he was practically underneath the magical light dance. He had to bend his head back to look at them. He wasn’t aware of Kamilah behind him or of anything else. The trees, the grass beneath him, the cottage…everything disappeared. He was alone with the twinkling magical lights.

The lights seemed to lower themselves closer to him, the pinpoints dancing right above his eyes. Immobilized by the thrill of it, he was overcome with palpitations. He forced deep breaths, while never moving his eyes from the lights.

Once again a gentle, lovely lullaby reached his ears, distant at first, and then closer and closer, until the sound became deafening, and he had to cover his ears with his hands.

“Go away! Leave him alone! He’s mine!” Kamilah shouted behind him, anguish and misery warping her voice into an inhuman rumble.

The lights began swirling around his head. He felt his mind swimming in light, immersed in it. There was no feeling of malevolence, but there wasn’t benevolence either. He tried to define the emotions involved, but couldn’t. He lifted his hands and tried to touch them, but realized there was no matter to touch. His hands went through the lights as if going through a spectrum. In this illumination, oddly divine in nature, everything around him became visible with absolute clarity, as if the sun had abruptly risen and washed the world with iridescent white radiance. He had the sudden, bizarre feeling that the lights were trying to send him a message.

The lights vanished suddenly.

Absolute silenced reigned. Only Kamilah whimpered softly behind him.

He was stunned. He turned around slowly, unable to see her. When his vision adjusted to the blackness, he tried to speak, but couldn’t.

Kamilah was sitting on the grass with her legs tucked under her, her hands covering her face. Finally she rose.

“Why are you crying?” he asked, his voice shaking.

She threw herself at him and cried, hugging him like a lost waif.

“What’s the matter?”

But she cried harder, squeezed him harder.

“I thought they would hurt you!” she wailed.

He wrapped his arms around her, instinctively responding to her obvious fear and pain.

“I’m fine,” he murmured, staring in wonder at the darkness.

“What happened? What do you feel?” she asked, drawing away from him, her eyes pleading and probing.

“Nothing happened. I feel…. I can’t really explain. It’s indescribable.”

“But what happened when the lights covered your face? What did you feel? What did you hear? I need to know!”

“I cannot explain my feelings right now. Nothing happened. The lights…” He was at a loss.

“What did they say?”

“Say? The lights didn’t speak.” But he wasn’t a skeptic anymore. He didn’t have the right to mock her. He was awed, and deeply respectful of the unknown. All his beliefs had come tumbling down. He was unable to explain with his five senses what he had seen or felt. Yet it had been real, there was no question about that. He instinctively knew it had been real, and he had to accept that. The experience had involved other senses beyond the accepted five ones. Different concepts and ideas swirled in his mind, concepts and ideas which until now he had deemed impossible. Words like ‘spirit world’, ‘psychic’, ‘sixth sense’ raced through his mind as quickly as the dance of the lights.

“Are you sure? You didn’t hear anything?” Kamilah insisted.

“I’m sure.” The warmth had left him, and he felt very cold now. “Come, let’s go back inside.”

Together they crossed the clearing, Gabriel’s arm around her shoulders, Kamilah’s arms circling his waist.