Brenda Whiteside's Blog, page 75

DELICIOUSLY WICKED VILLAIN

WICKED WEDNESDAY
My newest release, The Power of Love and Murder, book four in the Love and Murder Series, held a double whammy of wicked fun to write. I have TWO villains in this novel. And although when the original idea came to me, the politics of late were not on my mind, I chose a crooked, evil politician as one of the villains.

But the other villain, FBI Special Agent Vince Elams, was the most fun. Vince is the villain you think twice about. He gives you moments of awww, that's why he's bad...should I feel sorry for him? Then he turns around and is rotten so you chide yourself for thinking any kind thoughts about him. Here's an intro to Vince, the first time we learn a little about him:

Vince rubbed his face, digging his thumb and finger into his eyes to reach a deep-seated fatigue. Finding dirt on opponents, uncovering weak spots on other equally ambitious politicians, greasing the pockets of dishonest corporate movers and shakers, and using his resources at the FBI for illegal purposes meant nothing. He considered the activities…a game he enjoyed.
Murder? Hadn’t mattered thirteen years ago. He touched the photo of his wife. “Sorry, Brita.” When she died, his life, anylife, had lost all significance. Back then, he’d sold his soul to the devil in the body of CEO and someday Senator Clyde Westingly, and there was no absolution to be found. So be it. He’d done Westingly’s bidding without thinking, as if some other force drove his body, taking him along for the ride. So many years ago. Hell bound for sure, yet he just didn’t have the stomach for murder anymore.
I hope you'll enjoy reading about Vince and all my other characters as much as I enjoyed writing them. The Power of Love and Murder releases worldwide on December 21, although you can pre-order the eBook edition right now.

Buy Links:

AMAZON:https://www.amazon.com/Power-Love-Murder-Book-ebook/dp/B01M3YVO4H/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478459500&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Power+of+Love+and+Murder+Whiteside
TWRP:http://catalog.thewildrosepress.com/all-titles/4774-the-power-of-love-and-murder.html
Barnes and Noble:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-power-of-love-and-murder-brenda-whiteside/1125058047?ean=2940156875115
KOBO:https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?Query=The%20Power%20of%20Love%20and%20Murder%20(Brenda%20Whiteside)&ac=1&acp=the%20power%20of%20love%20and%20mur&ac.title=The%20Power%20of%20Love%20and%20Murder&ac.author=Brenda%20Whiteside
Are:https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-thepowerofloveandmurder-2167218-149.html

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...

MUSE MONDAY
Thanksgiving week. Now it begins. In my world anyway. From today until New Years, it's my favorite time of the year. Some feel real stress with the holidays, and I'm sorry for them. Others are alone, and I wish I could reach out to all of those people and give a hug. This has been a year of strife for most of the country caused by people we don't even know personally. I've seen friends turn on each other and family members bicker. I don't have any deep, philosophical advice to cure our ills. All I can do is hope we can use this time of year to reconnect and soften our bad feelings. Not an easy proposition.

Last Christmas Eve at Mom'sWe'll have dinner at my sister's and brother-in-law's in Prescott. It will be small as our family fractures on Thanksgiving and eats in clumps of relatives at different houses. That's okay. As families grow, it gets increasingly difficult to all meet in one place for a holiday.

FDW and I will have Solstice with our son's family and Christmas Eve at my mom's. Solstice has a double whammy for me this year because...tada! the fourth book in my Love and Murder Series will release on Solstice, December 21. The Power of Love and
Murder is set in Flagstaff during the days around Christmas. Good timing. And it deals with crooked politicians. Again good timing. The book is up for pre-order right now! Again, good timing. Books make great gifts. If you'd like to give an autographed edition as a special gift, let me know. I can help you with that.

Pre-order my latest: Amazon

Find all my books here:  Amazon Author Page

Goofy Dogs and Christmas Fun by Paty Jager

MUSE MONDAY Please welcome Paty Jager to Muse Monday. Always a treat! When I decided I wanted to write a Shandra Higheagle Mystery that was set during Christmas, I immediately knew I wanted her dog, Sheba, involved.One of my favorite secondary characters in this series is Sheba. She’s a Newfoundland/Border Collie cross. She has the Newfoundland’s size and the Border Collie coloring.  While a Newfoundland is noted for their heroics of saving people from drowning, Sheba inherited the Border Collie’s timid tendencies. Granted, they aren’t timid when it comes to herding, but they can be timid in other ways. With these interesting traits, I’ve made Sheba a big, furry, goofball of a dog. She is submissive to everyone and hides when she’s scared. But you have to love her enthusiasm for life and being by Shandra’s side.While hashing out what I wanted to happen in the Christmas mystery, I came up with the idea of Sheba pulling a sleigh full of toys in a Christmas parade.  I also wanted her to bring a dead body in the sleigh to Shandra.  Playing off the big dog’s fearfulness, I had an antique car in front of her in the parade back-fire. She takes off, and when Shandra finds her several streets away from the parade, there is a body in the sleigh.But that isn’t all, Sheba has been stabbed. Not life-threatening but it means she saw the killer.That’s how the book starts and I am pleased with Sheba’s part in the book and how in the end she helps solve the mystery. So in a way you could say Yuletide Slaying is Sheba’s book.Blurb:Yuletide Slaying: A Shandra Higheagle MysteryBook 7 of the Shandra Higheagle mystery seriesFamily, Revenge, MurderWhen Shandra Higheagle’s dog brings her a dead body in a sleigh full of presents, her world is turned upside down. The man is a John Doe and within twenty-four hours another body is found.Detective Ryan Greer receives a call that has them both looking over their shoulders. A vengeful brother of a gang member who died in a gang war is out for Ryan’s blood. Shandra’s dreams and Ryan’s fellow officers may not be enough to keep them alive to share Christmas.Excerpt:Shandra jogged down the street calling for her dog. “Sheba! Sheba!”She expected people to step out and wonder who she was calling but from the closed signs in the businesses, it seemed everyone was at the parade. Everyone but her.“Sheba!” She glanced right and left at each cross street. She didn’t see the dog, the red sleigh, or any presents. Where could her furry mutt have disappeared?She passed the police station and called. “Sheba!”“Woof! Woof!”“Sheba, girl, where are you?” she called back and headed down the side street where she’d heard the bark.Sheba walked out of an alley behind the clinic. She still wore the harness and the sleigh appeared.Air whooshed out of Shandra’s lungs.A pair of boots connected to legs hung over the edge of the sleigh.
Buy Links:Amazon / Nook / Apple / KoboPaty Jager writes murder mysteries and steamy romance starring cowboys and Indians.blog / website /  Facebook / Paty's Posse / Goodreads/ Twitter / Pinterest

The Free Lover (and #FirstWoman) Who Ran for #President by Nicole Evelina

MUSE MONDAY While tomorrow's election is causing all kinds of controversy, there was a woman who might've stirred up more than Hillary Clinton. Read on for a fun pre-election day blog. Welcome Nicole Evelina.
Forty-eight years before women were granted the right to vote, one woman dared to run for President of the United States, yet her name has been virtually written out of the history books.
If you haven’t heard of Victoria Woodhull, don’t worry. Most people haven’t. She’s not in 99% of history textbooks. But she was the first woman to run for President in the United States (1872), the first woman to speak before a committee of Congress, the first woman to own a stock brokerage on Wall Street (along with her sister, Tennie) and one of the first women in the country to run a weekly newspaper. But we don’t need to remember any of that, do we? 
Ahem. Sorry, I get on my soapbox easily because I became a fan while researching my novel Madame Presidentess , which is based on her life. Her views on love and marriage played a huge part in her political career, and her adventurous personal life got her into trouble. 
You see, Victoria was an advocate of Free Love. In her day, it didn’t mean unchecked promiscuity as it later would in the 1960s; it meant she believed marriages should come into existence when two people fell in love and be dissolved when they no longer loved each other, without interference from the government or organized religion. Her second husband, Col. James Blood, introduced Victoria to this idea. (He was married when they met and likely justified leaving his wife and daughters for her under the tenants of Free Love.) 
While she was married to James, Victoria supposedly had at least one affair, or up to five, depending on which source you believe. Here’s a quick rundown: 
Representative Benjamin Butler – This story comes from a rumor that while he and Victoria were in Washington D.C. when she testified before a committee of Congress, she visited him at night. As if all two people can do after dark is have sex. Also, during that time, he was said to have gotten the committee to agree to let her speak “in exchange for feasting his eyes upon her naked person.” When asked about that rumor, he replied “half truths kill,” which many took as an admission it was true. I personally don’t think they had an affair. Benjamin Butler is described as toad-like, short and plump with an overly large head and sunken eyes engulfed in flesh. One of his eyelids drooped and he waddled when he walked. Yet, his vitality and power are said to have attracted many women to him. So, it’s possible, but I don’t buy it. I did, however, use this situation as the basis for Victoria’s affair with the fictional Judah DeWitt Reymart in my novel.Rev. Henry Ward Beecher - Rev. Beecher was one of the most famous and highly regarded preachers of the late 19th century in America. Despite this, he was widely rumored to “preach to as many as 20 of his mistresses on any given Sunday.” His promiscuity was an open secret.  Victoria tried to bring him into the Free Love movement because she knew he’d had an affair with Lib Tilton, the wife of Victoria’s own lover, Theodore Tilton. Victoria and Rev. Beecher spent a fair amount of time together when she was trying to sway him to her way of thinking (some of it at night and you know what that means), but nothing I’ve read seems to indicate they had an affair.Theodore Tilton – Here is the most likely and most widely accepted of Victoria’s possible lovers. He was known to be handsome and charming and had a reputation for extramarital. Theodore and Victoria may have met when both were a part of the suffrage movement. But they certainly met after she published a thinly veiled threat to expose the affair Rev. Henry Ward Beecher had with Theodore’s wife. Somehow, Mr. Tilton ended up writing for Victoria’s paper, and she commissioned him to write her biography. This is likely when their relationship began.Joseph Treat – Biographers of Victoria believe that Mr. Treat was in love with her, and when she turned him down, he wrote a malicious pamphlet telling his story and denouncing her as a fraud.Benjamin Tucker – He claimed to have been seduced by Victoria, who was much older. This claim is highly unlikely to be true.  He was paid $5,000 by Emanie Sachs to tell his story for her brutal (and mostly false) 1928 biography of Victoria.Between rumors of at least a dozen affairs and Victoria’s open embracing of Free Love in a time when women were meant to be paragons of virtue, it’s little wonder why Victoria wasn’t included in the history books. Today, she would still be controversial not only for her political opinions, but for her personal behavior. Regardless of her reputation, I count her as a strong woman who is worth getting to know.
Blurb:Rising from the shame of an abusive childhood, Victoria Woodhull, the daughter of a con-man and a religious zealot, vows to follow her destiny, one the spirits say will lead her out of poverty to “become ruler of her people.”
But the road to glory is far from easy. A nightmarish marriage teaches Victoria that women are stronger and deserve far more credit than society gives. Eschewing the conventions of her day, she strikes out on her own to improve herself and the lot of American women.
Over the next several years, she sets into motion plans that shatter the old boys club of Wall Street and defile even the sanctity of the halls of Congress. But it’s not just her ambition that threatens men of wealth and privilege; when she announces her candidacy for President in the 1872 election, they realize she may well usurp the power they’ve so long fought to protect.
Those who support her laud “Notorious Victoria” as a gifted spiritualist medium and healer, a talented financial mind, a fresh voice in the suffrage movement, and the radical idealist needed to move the nation forward. But those who dislike her see a dangerous force who is too willing to speak out when women are expected to be quiet. Ultimately, “Mrs. Satan’s” radical views on women’s rights, equality of the sexes, free love and the role of politics in private affairs collide with her tumultuous personal life to endanger all she has built and change how she is viewed by future generations.
This is the story of one woman who was ahead of her time – a woman who would make waves even in the 21st century – but who dared to speak out and challenge the conventions of post-Civil War America, setting a precedent that is still followed by female politicians today.

Nicole is a member of and book reviewer for The Historical Novel Society, as well as a member of the Historical Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, the St. Louis Writer’s Guild, Women Writing the West, Alliance of Independent Authors, the Independent Book Publishers Association and the Midwest Publisher’s Association.


Her website is http://nicoleevelina.com/. She can be reached online at:
https://twitter.com/NicoleEvelina http://www.goodreads.com/nicoleevelina http://pinterest.com/nicoleevelina/ https://www.facebook.com/nicoleevelinapage/ http://instagram.com/nicoleevelina http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyi5-knSn0Abm5ujfpcHgbg/videos?view_as=public

DAGGERS TO THE GUY WHO SPOILS MY VIEW

TRIPPIN' THURSDAY View has always mattered to me. Sitting inside this morning, the sun barely up, my fireplace the only light, I watched the rain coming down out my window.If you’re considering renting space at an RV Park, think about it. Think about how close the quarters are. Think about how much time you’ll spend outside. The outside time is so important.The out-of-doors ambience is why we chose this RV Ranch. This place is not the typical grid layout with gravel grounds, a square of Rainy view...one directioncement, and one spindly tree. Our Ranch is rustic with lots of old trees. But not all of the spaces are desirable…from my point of view.We chose our current spot on the RV Ranch because of the view out our back window and while sitting on the patio. Most all of the spaces have views of other RV’s. When we first moved our small fifth wheel to this park, we had to take a cramped space in the middle. We were surrounded by other trailers. We added our name to the wait list for any spots that might open on the fringe. It took a year, but we finally landed one at the rear of the park with the forest and Tonto Creek beyond. It’s narrow. Our patio abuts right up against our neighbor. But the space we have out the back is worth it. When we’re sitting on our patio we feel the open space, watch the hummingbirds and quail, and enjoy the old trees. My spoiled view the other way.And then the neighbor on the other side vacated and Charlie moved in with his big trailer that halls all his “stuff”. I immediately visited Charlie and told him my dilemma. He wasn’t very sympathetic. He’s parked on his allotted space and that’s where he wants it. Too bad, Brenda.What to do? We’re on the wait list again, but the only better spots than ours will take a death to get them. This RV Ranch is very popular in this area. People rent a spot and pay for it year-round, even if they only come on weekends or three months in the winter. We're at the end of Lazy Loop.So now, the only logical alternative is to send subliminal thoughts to Charlie…move, move, move. We’re working hard on it. FDW is much better at sending daggers than I am. Surely, Charlie won’t be able to take the atmosphere here much longer!

What Inspired Me to Write About Gangs by Christina Hoag

MUSE MONDAY I'm so pleased to have Christina Hoag as my guest today. And her post is so interesting. Read on and enjoy!
Having written both a nonfiction book and a fiction book about gangs, people often ask me why gangs?I first encountered gangs as a young newspaper reporter in New Jersey, when I was assigned to write a story about a notorious motorcycle gang delivering Christmas toys to a local hospital. I went to interview them in a small suburban house, very normal-looking apart from the bunch of Harley choppers out front and its rather gloriously hirsute occupants, who insisted they belonged to a “club” not a gang. I was fascinated by them and their chosen lifestyle. They had established their own society with its own rules, dress, language and culture within mainstream society. What drove people to do that? I wondered.  A side note: A couple years later, I saw one of “club members” at a New Jersey prison where I’d gone to interview an inmate for another story. So much for the “club,” I thought.Years later, on a magazine assignment, I interviewed gang members deported from Los Angeles to El Salvador, where they had landed like fish out of water because they’d left Salvador as babies and small children during the civil war. It was a country that they identified with, but really didn’t know. Some of them barely spoke Spanish. They had joined and formed gangs in Los Angeles because their families had moved to predominantly Mexican-American neighborhoods that had long-entrenched gangs.The Central Americans formed their own groups for protection, but because they weren’t U.S. citizens, they later were vulnerable to deportation when the government started cracking down on immigrants with criminal records. Thestories of the young men I interviewed were really rooted in an unusual outcome of both a civil war and the immigrant experience. They ended up staying in my mind to form the genesis of my novel, Skin of Tattoos.Talking to the young men in El Salvador also reignited that previous interest in gangs from when I had interviewed the motorcycle guys, and I started reading about and researching gangs in earnest over the following years. I covered numerous gang issues as a reporter for the Associated Press in Los Angeles, talking to gang members, people who worked with them, people who worked against them, ie. cops. Again, I was struck how they live in a parallel universe that is driven by values that are completely the antithesis of mainstream society, as in the more violent and feared you are, the more respect you gain.There are many factors leading to gang formation, but in essence, gangs are driven by the human need for belonging to and approval of a group, and because some sectors of our society feel excluded from mainstream society, they form their own societies instead. Gang culture is alien to most of our lives and an extreme consequence of socioeconomic marginalization, but everyone can relate in some way to feeling excluded, of needing to belong, of wanting approval. That’s the universal theme that’s inherent in writing about gangs.
About Skin of TattoosLos Angeles homeboy Magdaleno is paroled from prison after serving time on a gun possession frameup by a rival, Rico, who takes over as gang shotcaller in Mags’s absence. Mags promises himself and his Salvadoran immigrant family a fresh start, but he can’t find either the decent job or the respect he craves from his parents and his firefighter brother, who look at him as a disappointment. Moreover, Rico, under pressure to earn money to free the Cyco Lokos’ jailed top leader and eager to exert his authority over his rival-turned-underling, isn’t about to let Mags get out of his reach. Ultimately, Mags’s desire for revenge and respect pushes him to make a decision that ensnares him in a world seeded with deceit and betrayal, where the only escape from rules that carry a heavy price for transgression is sacrifice.
Says Kirkus Reviews -- “Hoag is a talented writer, summoning Mags’ world on the page with remarkable empathy and detail…A well-crafted, engaging novel about an ex-con trying to break free…surprisingly nuanced and wholly enjoyable. Readers will become quickly invested.”About the author:Christina Hoag is a former reporter for the Associated Press and Miami Herald and worked as a correspondent in Latin America writing for major media outlets including Time, Business Week, Financial Times, the Houston Chronicle and The New York Times. She also authored Girl on the Brink, a romantic thriller for young adults (Fire and Ice YA/Melange Books, August 2016) and co-authored Peace in the Hood: Working with Gang Members to End the Violence, a groundbreaking book on gang intervention (Turner Publishing, 2014).
www.christinahoag.com.
LINKS:Available in ebook and paperback on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2bSRjqPhttps://facebook.com/ChristinaHoagAuthorhttps://twitter.com/ChristinaHoaghttps://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7341116.Christina_Hoag

A Shiver from the Silver State by Mariposa Cruz

SPECIAL HALLOWEEN EDITION Fun with a spooky story and a great new book to check out.
I work near the McCarran loop which winds through the cities of Sparks and Reno, Nevada.  It circles through business districts and around tree-lined neighborhoods the average speed limit is 50mph. In the section near Rattlesnake Mountain around 9:00PM several motorists reported seeing, a young girl sprint across the busy road, her white nightgown flapping in the evening breeze.The public was outraged. What sort of parents would allow their daughter to wander near such a dangerous road in the dark of night? The authorities searched the neighborhood, but found no trace of the wayward little girl.  The site where she was seen was near a quiet meadow where the Donner Party camped before they made their fateful journey through the mountains.Reno is best known for its casinos, summer events and winter skiing. Step away from the glittering lights and the ring of the slot machines and you may hear the whispers of regret in the desert.For me Halloween isn’t simply a day, but a season to enjoy scary movies and spooky stories.  One of the things I love about Reno is its colorful past and ghost stories. What ghosts haunt your neighborhood?
Blurb for Ladies Man:Clark Stevens has always had a way with women, but his teenage daughter despises him.  When his daughter comes to live with him fulltime, he enlists co-worker, Julie Wahl, to coach him on parenting skills.As a single mom and paralegal, Julie, has successfully balanced family, work and swing dancing. After heartbreak on the dance floor, the last thing Julie needs is an office romance.  But she can hardly say no to a colleague in need, especially one with dark brown eyes and a killer grin.Excerpt:“This one’s great. C’mon.” Julie grabbed his hand. Before he could object, she had led him to the center of the dance floor. Julie introduced him to Moira and her boyfriend, Denton. The willowy redhead in the front line hugged her, and all the other dancers greeted her warmly.“I don’t know how,” Clark protested. He vaguely remembered stumbling through the Electric Slide at his cousin’s wedding. A significant amount of beer had been involved. How did he wind up in the middle of the dance floor with the most popular girl?“Watch me,” Julie told him. Okay, he could manage that. He’d be happy to spend the entire night watching her in her snug, faded jeans if it didn’t mean embarrassing them both on the dance floor.Links:Ladies Man Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/Ladies-Man-Rhythm-Romance-Book-ebook/dp/B01LVWZIT4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1473606804&sr=8-3&keywords=Mariposa+Cruz#nBlog: https://mariposacruz.blogspot.com/

Out of the Mouth

TRIPPIN' THURSDAYS
THE RV LIFE PART TWO

Our neighbors at the RV Ranch run the gamut of personalities from timid to tenacious, ages fifty to ninety-five, active to sedentary. We might not choose each other as friends if in a different setting. In
Posingfact, not everyone at the Ranch becomes a friend or even an acquaintance. Maybe because I'm a writer, I thoroughly enjoy mingling with all types of characters...er, people.

In the late afternoons, we gather around the fire telling stories and getting to know one another all over again each winter. We call it happy hour because of the social fun and not necessarily what we drink.

Our oldest happy hour personSo pull up a chair, grab your drink of choice be it water, coconut juice, or beer and eavesdrop on what I've heard over the last week.


It’s my way or the Nazi way.
I only buy one pot pie at a time. Don’t know if I’ll be around long enough to eat another one.
He got five quail with one shot.
Slow down. The speed limit’s five.
Be careful in the wood pile. A scorpion got me in the knee yesterday.
This poodle is the best duck retriever around.
Don’t go four wheelin’ with Edna. She’ll get you killed.
See that blood by the chair? That was the biggest damned rattle snake I’ve ever seen.
Did you hear the coyotes this morning?
He divorced his wife because he didn’t want to be married to a grandmother.
Leaves rained down. Did you see the size of that hawk? I think he was after that dove.

CREATING AN AUDIO BOOK by Joe Cosentino

MUSE MONDAY
Please join me in welcoming Joe Cosentino to Muse Monday. Tell us about your latest venture, Joe.
Writing a series of novels is like giving birth to a brood of kids. You struggle, fret, scratch your head, give up, ponder, try again, and love every minute of it. As an avid mystery reader and past professional actor, I joined the two to create the five Jana Lane mystery novels. I was overjoyed when so many readers loved the humor, romance, clues, red herrings, plot twists and turns, quirky characters, insider show business mayhem, revealed secrets, and shocking endings in the novels. It was also gratifying to hear that some readers preferred the e-books and others enjoyed wrapping their arms around the paperbacks. I was cursed by quite a number of readers who told me they began one of the novels with the intent of reading a chapter before bed, but unable to put it down they finished the book in the wee hours of the morning. However, I was in for a surprise when some of my family members, friends, and colleagues at my college, where I am a professor and department head, told me they have no time to read. That seemed incredible to me. Not reading is like not breathing. They said they spend their time at the gym, in the car, at work, and doing chores around the house. The solution came to me as if I were Jana Lane solving a grand mystery caper: do an audiobook that they can listen to while accomplishing all of their active tasks.After posting the book on Audible in search of a narrator/producer, I was incredibly fortunate to find Charissa Clark Howe. Charissa captured the essence of Jana Lane perfectly, and she also did a fine job with all the other characters in the novel: Brian (Jana’s husband), Rocco (Jana’s producer), Jackson (Jana’s best friend), Mark (Jana’s greatest fan), Tamara (Jana’s sister), Scott (Jana’s father), Simon (Jana’s agent) and more. Balancing humor, romance, and mystery perfectly, she hit every beat. I couldn’t wait for the ending, and when it came I was totally surprised! Since the novel takes place in 1980, Charissa’s delivery evoked that wonderful period. I could see the hairstyles, makeup, jewelry, fashion, as well as hear the music of that era. Charissa’s narration put me smack in the middle of the action.In PAPER DOLL I share my love of movies and moviemakers with my readers. I have always been fascinated with ex-child stars like Hayley Mills, Shirley Temple, Patty Duke, and Brooke Shields. My heroine, Jana Lane, is an ex-child star who has lost her self-esteem as an adult. Through the course of the book, Jana not only solves the mystery of her past, but also reclaims the courage and fortitude she had as a child. This is an important message for all of us.After reading PAPER DOLL, you’ll want to read the other four Jana Lane mystery novels. Sorry, they aren’t available on audiobook, only in ebook and paperback.I also have three other books on audiobook. DRAMA QUEEN, the first Nicky and Noah mystery (Lethe Press), is narrated by Michael Gilboe. It’s a comedy mystery about a college theatre professor (like me) who uses his acting skills to impersonate others and uncover murder mysteries. DRAMA QUEEN was voted Favorite Mystery of 2015 in the Divine Magazine Reader Poll. Also, the talented actor Joel Leslie, who has quite a following in the audiobook world, is narrating my THE NAKED PRINCE AND OTHER TALES FROM FAIRYLAND (releasing in November, Dreamspinner Press), and A HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS (releasing in December, Dreamspinner Press) which takes place on the gorgeous island of Capri.So grab the popcorn, curl up in your movie seat, and enjoy the audiobook of PAPER DOLL, the first Jana Lane mystery. As they say, your first is always special. PAPER DOLL, the first Jana Lane mystery Audiobook by Charissa Clark Howe on Audible: http://www.audible.com/pd/Mysteries-Thrillers/Paper-Doll-Audiobook/B01M0DENSP/ref=a_search_c4_1_2_srImg?qid=1475863028&sr=1-2 Audiobook by Charissa Clark Howe on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Paper-Doll-Jana-Lane-Mystery/dp/B01LZ2JWJI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1475863129&sr=8-1&keywords=joe+cosentino+paper+doll  Jana Lane was America’s most famous child star until she was attacked on the studio lot at eighteen years old. Now a thirty-eight-year-old beauty and mother of two living in a mansion in picturesque Hudson Valley, New York, Jana’s flashbacks from her past turn into murder attempts in her present. Jana visits the California movie studio she once called home. This sends her on a whirlwind of visits with former and current movie studio personnel. It also leads to a romance with the son of her old producer—Rocco Cavoto—the devilishly handsome filmmaker who is planning Jana’s comeback both professionally and personally. Jana uncovers a web of secrets about everyone she loves, including the person who destroyed her past and threatens to snuff out her future. Bestselling author Joe Cosentino won Divine Magazine’s awards for best mystery novel, best humorous novel, and best contemporary novel of 2015. As an actor, he has appeared in principal roles in film, television, and theatre opposite stars such as Bruce Willis, Rosie O’Donnell, Nathan Lane, Holland Taylor, and Jason Robards. Joe is currently Head of the Department/Professor at a college in upstate New York, and is happily married. http://www.JoeCosentino.weebly.comFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/JoeCosentinoauthor Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoeCosenGoodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4071647.Joe_CosentinoAmazon: Author.to/JoeCosentino

NOISES THAT CORKSCREW MY BRAIN #RVlife

TRIPPIN' THURSDAYS
 THE RV LIFE PART ONE


The welcome mat is out.I have an aversion to certain noises. Football on TV sends me running after an hour of the noise. The constant roar is so annoying. Televised car races affect me the same way, although I love a day at the races. There’s nothing like spending a sunny day sitting on a grassy hill with a good red wine and a roast beef sandwich while watching a car race. But NOT on TV.
Then there is another noise, a certain pitch a motor can produce that doesn’t just send me running; my scalp crawls, my eardrums tighten, and my head pounds.
FDW doesn’t have the same reaction. In fact, he barely notices. Of course, it helps that he has a high frequency hearing loss. Where am I going with this?
The new RV, fifth wheel, is working out well…for lots of reasons…except for a few glitches that have cropped up. The noise.
First it was the refrigerator. The motor hums, but not with a pleasant white noise hum. Oh no. It’s the hum that assaults my eardrums and corkscrews into my brain. Luckily, it doesn’t run 24 hours a day, and I can’t
hear it in the bedroom. But, big BUT, it has to stop.
FDW put it on a list of things to report to the manufacturer.
Then the temps dropped enough to turn on the furnace. Ahhhhhggggg. The fridge noise paled in comparison to the furnace. The whine is the most excruciating pitch. My whining about the whine is the only more obnoxious noise (according to FDW). But honestly, I couldn’t sleep.
The call was made, the repairman dispatched, and I’m on the way to my happy place. I’m pleased to report the repairman winced right along with me when we flipped on the furnace. See?? It not just me! Now, we wait for parts. We aren’t using the furnace. Wish I could shut off the refrigerator.
Meanwhile, we’re enjoying the life. Some of the Happy Hour Gang has returned, and we had our first cookout. Steaks were excellent, company was even better. Sadi got to visit, all by herself. The Big RV, as she calls it, is like her personal playhouse. And Nana lets her rearrange it anyway she wants.
As we work through breaking in this new fifth wheel, I’ll take you along the pros and cons of full time RV life!