Michele E. Gwynn's Blog, page 10

October Newsletter Winners Announced

Hello one and all!

Happy Halloween! I don't know about you, but I'm just giddy. It's my favorite time of year, and it's Halloween. There's a change in the air, cool nights have arrived, and everything is gorgeous.

Today, I'm pleased as punch to announce the winners of my month-long series of newsletters to my wonderful subscribers. CONGRATULATIONS...



Winner of Census (eBook) is Jana - turtle642...


Winner of The Harvest Trilogy on Audio is l.e.hoppe...


Winner of $10 Amazon gift card is mom124...
Winners have already been notified via email. (Psst, check your emails. There are treats in your inbox!) 
Thanks to everyone for participating. And stick around, because it's holiday season and there are more fun giveaways on the way in November and December. 
Want to be eligible for these fun giveaways? Just click SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER in the tabs above. Sign up and you'll automatically receive an exclusive sci-fi romantic novelette. 
NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON   13 HAUNTING TALES FROM AUTHORS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE
More Treats from my Spooktacular Fellow Authors

$0.99
FREE

$0.99
$0.99 $0.99
  

Trick or Treat for Prizes with the Cheap Thrills Books Halloween Hop

Don't miss us in the Halloween Hop hosted by Cheap Thrills Books!Participate and enter to win tons of prizes from over 100 authors and bloggers, including Amazon gift cards, it’s a great way to spend your Halloween Weekend!
Visit my Facebook Page to Enter and Win a Prize Pack of a $10 Amazon Gift Card and a Kindle eBook copy of my 5-Star Rated Paranormal Romance, Darkest Communion. 
Michele E. Gwynn's Facebook Page CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT!

Checkpoint Series Book Three Teaser and Book Two Sale

The Checkpoint, Berlin Detective Series goes deep....into St. Petersburg, Russia! A cold case heats up for the Kommissar in The Redemption of Joseph Heinz, Coming Soon, but please enjoy this exclusive teaser excerpt that you will only find here on my web page.


Chapter TenSt. Petersburg
The Hotel Kseniya

Dawn arrived gray and thick with the promise of snow. Heinz showered and dressed quickly, heading downstairs to the dining room for a quick breakfast of boiled egg, toast, and hot coffee. It was still mostly dark outside, but the kitchen staff was busy with cooking up the morning meal. The older woman with the mole who’d served him the night before was not in the dining room. Instead, a young man of around eighteen took Heinz’s order, returning promptly. Only two other people sat in the small room eating. They were a young couple with heads bent together whispering low and smiling often. Honeymooners or at the very least, lovers who still found adventures in foreign countries to be exciting so long as they had each other. Heinz envied them. Not a care in the world. He looked forward to enjoying that very same feeling with Birgitta in a few short weeks. He finished his meal, paid the fare, and left.

Outside, the temperature was far colder than the day before. The thick, dingy gray clouds overhead blocking out the sun promised snow. Heinz pulled his overcoat tighter around his body as he retrieved his rental car from the parking garage across the street. The Kseniya did not boast its own. Once again, he found the corner convenience store where he purchased bottled water and snacks to hold him over during his vigil at the dock.

The drive to port was slow. Traffic was heavy, and one accident along the way pushed three lanes of cars into one lane inching along as everyone rubbernecked to see what had happened. At the turnoff to the docks, Heinz noticed a black limo ahead of him. It pulled through the entry and drove smoothly to Warehouse 214. The large, muscular man from the day before got out of the passenger side and pushed the buttons on the alarm unlocking the bay door. Heinz kept his eyes straight ahead, using his peripheral vision as he drove past and pulled into the parking lot surrounded by chain link fencing. He backed into a spot near where he’d parked the day before, but this one offered a slightly better view of the warehouse. Several more vehicles drove past, dock workers on their way to punch in, as the limo glided inside the warehouse. Today, however, the door did not close immediately. Instead, it remained open for a full thirty minutes.

 A large truck turned onto the dock and drove straight to the warehouse where it pulled inside. It was the type of truck that would usually transport produce of some type. The side logo showed a bright yellow ear of corn with a smiling face. The Cyrillic writing meant nothing to Heinz, but he photographed it with his camera zooming in on the driver, an older man with heavy jowls and graying brown hair, and then on the license plate. Noting the time, he wrote it down in his notebook. As he scribbled the information, the driver hopped out and came around to the back. He yanked the lock sideways, and slid the metal door up. A girl ran out, screaming for all she was worth, onto the dock. Joseph looked up, and saw the brawny muscled man chase her, catching her easily, and lifting her up into the air. He hauled her back inside, one hand clamped over mouth. He glanced left and right, clearly angry, as he moved fast to get back inside the warehouse. Loud words were exchanged between muscle man and the truck driver with the driver backing down, head bent in submission. He appeared afraid.

Heinz wrote down the details. Young girl, approximately 15-17 years of age, long dark hair, blue dress, no shoes, hands tied. Distressed. For Heinz, this changed everything.

The warehouse door closed, and remained closed for two hours. When it once again began to open, the limousine came out first, heading to the main road. The produce truck with the bright yellow smiling corn cob came out after it, stopping as the muscled man who arrived in the limo hopped out to close the door and lock the warehouse. The driver sat in the truck waiting. Heinz knew beyond a doubt that the truck contained at least one kidnapped teenage girl, if not more. It was surely on its way to deliver its cargo to a brothel where the girl or girls would be drugged and prostituted.

Turning the key in the ignition, Heinz prepared to follow them. This was the clue he’d been waiting for. This was, undoubtedly, what had happened to Marlessa Schubert. This, he told himself, was why he was here.

He pulled out as soon as the truck was in motion, careful to hang back just enough to remain undetected. Heinz flipped on the GPS in the rental as an afterthought checking to make sure he’d remembered to input the address to the hotel. Getting lost in St. Petersburg was not something he wanted to experience.

For the next half hour, he tailed them, all along thinking hard about what, if anything, he would be able to do once the produce truck arrived at its destination. He had no weapons, no backup, and as the vehicle in front of him slowed to turn into an upscale neighborhood, Heinz knew he was running out of time.

Stay tuned for book III, The Redemption of Joseph Heinz COMING SOON!
Need to catch up on this series? Grab book one, Exposed: The Education of Sarah Brown on all major retailers here: https://books2read.com/u/b5NDG3

ON SALE through November, book two, The Evolution of Elsa Kreiss available now on all major retailers here:
https://books2read.com/u/bWpQx3

Meet the Guardian of Dreams

It's LIVE! Right in time for Halloween, Guardian of Dreams is now available on Amazon. This set is filled with ghostly tales that will haunt you including my NEW & Exclusive to this set short story, Cavanaugh Road.



A life for a life. Someone must pay the toll.
On a stormy afternoon in 1951, tragedy strikes ending the dreams of a teenage girl along a lonely stretch of country road in Fort Smith, Arkansas. The truth hidden, twenty years later, another life meets its fate on Cavanaugh Road. Jake Williams has little time left to enjoy his freedom. The threat of the draft looms as his eighteenth birthday passes. With his older brother, and his best friend already deployed to Vietnam, each day is a gift. He has his job at the diner and his brand new, used Javelin. The only thing missing is a girlfriend. One night, Jake spies a pretty blonde outside of the diner, but before he can reach her side, she disappears without a trace. Intrigued, he decides to find out who the new girl is, but fate steps in, delivering devastating news to his family, and issuing a summons he can’t ignore. Despairing and desperate, he takes off down Cavanaugh Road where a near-death car wreck changes his life. It’s there, injured and shaken, that Jake comes face to face with his destiny. The beautiful girl, the one who has captured his heart, is suddenly there to save him. She promises to take him home. But things are not what they seem, and long-held secrets begin to unravel right under Jake’s nose, within his own family. As his days grow shorter, the mystery deepens, and the answers lie around the bend, in an old family plot, on Cavanaugh Road.  
Download this ebook today and start reading, but don't forget to leave a light on....
Guardian of Dreams on Amazon $0.99 New Release

Battle of the Beasts Beastly Creatures; One Angel Stands Tallest Among Them

It's BATTLE OF THE BEASTS BEASTLY CREATURES week! This week, all other worldly creatures battle it out for supremacy in the paranormal realms. And none other is more fierce, more noble, and let's face it, more badass than my own archangel, Camael. 

Come vote this week for Camael if you'd like to see him battle it out in week 4 with the winning vampire and werewolf. Let's make this an epic event for the ages!

Vote Here: http://pnrlovers.com/battle-beasts-week-3-beastly-creatures/

Fall Into Romance with Michele E. Gwynn

Welcome to the Fall Into Romance Blog Hop and Giveaway!
I fell in love with the romance genre when I was only 13 years old. My older sister introduced me to Harlequin Romances and Silhouettes (remember those?). I went through boxes of them like candy, but a few romances stayed with me over the years. I became a true appreciator of Jane Austen after reading Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. After that, Mister Nicholas Sparks grabbed my heart with Dear John and The Notebook. Reading these stories is a real emotional high every bit as addicting as steamy romance novels. 
Speaking of...if you LOVE Nicholas Sparks' novels, then have I got a book for you! My 5-Star Rated Contemporary Romance...
WAITING A LIFETIME


Wade Walker thought he had his life all figured out until he met Melissa Ryan. Shy didn't begin to describe Wade's best friend's little sister. Robbed of the full use of her legs after a car wreck when she was but a girl, Melissa always felt her disability was an insurmountable disadvantage when it came to the dating game, but Wade was both intrigued, and persistent. It seemed that despite all her efforts to avoid it, love had found her. But was it too little too late? His ex girlfriend, Arlene, refused to let go, and fate conspired to keep them apart leading to tragedy one stormy night. Still, they say love is patient, but can it wait a lifetime?


WIN ONE OF 5 COPIES OF WAITING A LIFETIME EBOOK (AMAZON KINDLE)SIMPLY SIGN UP FOR MY NEWSLETTER HERE: SUBSCRIBE. (If link fails, click the SUBSCRIBE tab at the top of my blog). ALL NEW SIGNUPS WILL BE ENTERED AUTOMATICALLY FOR THE DRAW.  (Psst. New subscribers also get a FREE sci-fi romance novelette.)
Once you've entered, HOP over to the next name on the list after mine (Patience Saduwa) to check out her giveaway. Good luck!
');

Battle of the Beasts

 ***CALLING ALL VAMPIRE LOVERS****
I NEED YOU! Marku Anghelescu NEEDS YOU!Alas, this author has been laid up in the hospital with a bad knee, and I've missed my early promo days for this Battle of the Beasts, but there is STILL TIME. (Voting ends at midnight EST-a mere two hours away!)
PNR LOVERS SITE: http://pnrlovers.com/battle-beasts-week-1-vampires/
Please, jump over to PNR Lovers and vote for my sexy, hot, badass vampire as the best beastie. Just click the cover of Darkest Communion. I appreciate it, and let's get my bad boy up there!
Good news, Darkest Communion is listed currently at ONLY $0.99.
https://books2read.com/u/m2JWGm
 #markuanghelescu #vampire #sexybeast #contest

Action Required for Once Upon a Midnight PreOrders

****ATTENTION****ATTENTION****ATTENTION*****
HAVE YOU PRE-ORDERED THIS BOX SET? If so, you may be receiving an email from Amazon shortly.

Amazon glitched in a most hideous fashion and deleted our marvelous set. This triggered a refund on all pre-orders. We, the authors, have managed to get it all straightened out. The box set is live once again, but EVERYONE WHO PREORDERED WILL NEED TO PREORDER AGAIN. You will only be charged the one time. Amazon will explain this in your email alert.

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IL888AG
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01IL888AG

In the meantime, WE NEED YOUR HELP. PLEASE, IF YOU PREORDERED, STOP BY THE AMAZON LINKS BELOW AND PREORDER AGAIN. This is the ONLY way you will receive this amazing box set. (Because stinky Amazon canceled your previous order and refunded you). Please help us in our effort to raise funds for the Epilepsy Foundation by presenting to you, dear reader, this one of a kind, limited edition, EXTRAORDINARY box set of 20 FULL Paranormal Romance tales from 20 New York Times, USA Today & Amazon Bestselling Authors. You win, the Epilepsy Foundation wins....it's a win-win! Remember, the set launches October 11th (next Tuesday). Thanks for all you do. We couldn't do this without your help. Blessings!

(This glitch was isolated to Amazon. If you ordered through Barnes & Noble, Kobo, or iBooks, your preorder is intact).

Writer Wednesday Blog: Write wherever you are

Happy Hump Day, folks. It's midweek, and today it hit me that no matter what's going on in my life or where I happen to be, I can still write. It is my fall-back, my go-to, my inner peace most of the time. It's also therapy.

And since I happen to be going through physical therapy right now, it is the moment in between grueling sessions that allows me to reset.

Yep, I'm doing inpatient therapy. I had a little scare Saturday night with my right knee. Thankfully, I don't require surgery, but the injury was severe enough to knock me off my leg for a bit, and therapy was called for to get me up on it again. The good news is I'm surrounded by the most awesome group of physical therapists. I'm truly in good hands, and am already up and moving around. In between my physical and occupational therapies, I sit calmly with my laptop and write. This let's my body rest up while my brain takes over. The distraction is essentially a recuperation downtime. By the time I go to the next session, I'm ready. Of course, by the end of the day, I'm fried. Sleep has never been so good.

Now, you don't have to go and beat yourself up just to get a little writing downtime. If you love to write, and it is your sanctuary, make it a personal reward in between performing all the important daily tasks on your to-do list. It's important to pace yourself in anything you do, so if you're dealing with high-stress situations, break them up with a little writing. Plan out 15-30 minutes (depending on your schedule) twice to three times a day where you open up your latest work in progress and jot down a few more paragraphs. Work breaks, commuting (bus or train), lunch at a cafe, the back of the office, out on the patio.....it doesn't really matter because you really can write wherever you are.

No Tricks, All Treats October Newsletter Number One

My Favorite Month Has Arrived!Hello everyone!

First, let me welcome all my new subscribers. I'm so happy to have you here. Hope you enjoy yourselves with all the book deals & giveaways I have coming up this month.

A little update. I had an unfortunate accident this past Saturday night that sent me to the emergency room. This led to incarceration..er..hospitalization in what turns out to be a rather fabulous physical rehab facility that is helping me get my poor knee healed so I can get back up on my feet. What a pain in the knee! Still, I'm well, and no surgery was needed, and that is a blessing.

This month, I have two newsletters coming your way, and one special new release announcement. This is unusual as I generally stick to one newsletter a month except during holidays when I might put together a very special giveaway because who doesn't deserve treats and awesome book-related presents? As always, I will never share out your information. Our communication is between you and me only. Not a secret, just special. (wink, wink)

Check out the AH-Mazing book deals below from Scandalous Spirited Reads (I'm a participating author) and a select few of my fellow authors. It's all about the paranormal this month which means there just HAD to be an upcoming New Release of the ghostly variety too.

And it just wouldn't be a true treat without a FABULOUS GIVEAWAY! See the details below, and good luck to everyone. I hope you FALL into this month with a happy heart. Now let's get started celebrating Halloween! Taken
New Release
by Laxmi Hariharan
$0.99 Buy Now Buy Now/$0.99 Hearts of Darkness
New Release Box Set
Multiple Authors
$0.99 Buy Now Buy Now/$0.99 Shifters in the Shadows
New Release Box Set
Multiple Authors$0.99 Buy Now/B&N Buy Now/Kobo Buy Now/iBooks Buy Now/Amazon STUFF YOUR EREADER ALL DAY LONG WITH FREE & $0.99 BOOKS COURTESY OF SCANDALOUS SPIRITED READS! (OCTOBER 5TH ONLY)
CLICK HERE TO VISIT SITE COMING THIS HALLOWEEN FROM PAPER GOLD PUBLISHING
A NEW 'GHOSTLY' BOX SET RELEASE; GUARDIAN OF DREAMS
Included in this fantastic collection of SPIRITED tales is my new short story, Cavanaugh Road. (Stay tuned for the Big Release Announcement)

A life for a life. Someone must pay the toll.

On a stormy afternoon in 1951, tragedy strikes ending the dreams of a teenage girl along a lonely stretch of country road in Fort Smith, Arkansas. The truth hidden, twenty years later, another life meets its fate on Cavanaugh Road.

Jake Williams has little time left to enjoy his freedom. The threat of the draft looms as his eighteenth birthday passes. With his older brother and his best friend already deployed to Vietnam, each day is a gift. He has his job at the diner and his brand new, used Javelin. The only thing missing is a girlfriend.

One night, Jake spies a pretty blonde outside of the diner, but before he can reach her side, she disappears without a trace. Intrigued, he decides to find out who the new girl is, but fate steps in, delivering devastating news to his family, and issuing a summons he can’t ignore. Despairing and desperate, he takes off down Cavanaugh Road where a near-death car wreck changes his life. It’s there, injured and shaken, that Jake comes face to face with his destiny. The beautiful girl, the one who has captured his heart, is suddenly there to save him. She promises to take him home. But things are not what they seem, and long-held secrets begin to unravel right under Jake’s nose...within his own family. As his days grow shorter, the mystery deepens, and the answers lie around the bend, in an old family graveyard on Cavanaugh Road.October Giveaway #1 is reserved for newsletter subscribers. If you'd like to participate and be eligible for my giveaways, CLICK SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER in the tabs above, and sign up. Then sit back and wait for the goodies to come to you!