Michele E. Gwynn's Blog, page 14

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Sometimes, you just have to have fun. Had dinner with my brother. We had a good time at Chuy's goofing around before we got our table. Hope everyone had a fun Cinco de Mayo.

We All Need a Good Laugh

With so much bad news in the world all the time, now and again, we just need a good laugh. This had me in tears today...of laughter! It also occurred to me that it's a fine example of good writing; short, succinct, and hilarious. Enjoy, and remember to NEVER leave the seat up.  (P.S. Be sure to read the hashtags!)

F R E E Download of NEED ME

Let the Mating Games begin!

NEED ME, a HOT New Release from Love, Lust, and Lipstick Stains is NOW FREE May 3 - 5 on Amazon.com.

Download NEED ME on Amazon
Download this extraordinary collection of sexy, contemporary romances - over 600,000 pages of scintillating alpha males and strong, seductive women in one book!

Enjoy these tales from 9 Bestselling Authors (myself included). Curl up, shut out the world, and browse each story for your next favorite book boyfriend. And when you're finished, when the afterglow has faded, pop over and leave a review.


*Teaser created by M.E. Gwynn, Cover courtesy of Love, Lust, and Lipstick Stains, Background Image © Katarzyna Bialasiewicz | Dreamstime.com File ID: 53020384 License:Royalty Free

A Two-fer of a Sale!

Two great reads for $2 Bucks! Celluloss, the second book in an epic alien trilogy, and Darkest Communion, a 5 Star Reviewed Top Pick for The Romance Reviews - An 800 year-old love triangle bound by a gypsy curse... Get yours, now through the end of May. 

Celluloss
Amazon: www.amazon.com/Celluloss-Harvest-Trilogy-Book-…/…/B00RB67RIE
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1083793244
Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/…/1122932233;jsessionid=B5E03…
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/celluloss

Darkest Communion
Amazon: www.amazon.com/Darkest-Communion-Michele-E-Gwy…/…/B017EBN662
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1079806326
Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/darkest-communi…/1122929824…
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/darkest-communion

New Release; Need Me Box Set from Love, Lust, and Lipstick Stains

It's time to CELEBRATE!

NEED ME is now LIVE on Amazon. I'm so honored to be included in this set with greats like Samantha Holt and Amelia James. Such august company!

If you love contemporary romance with HOT, alpha males, you need this set!

It's a limited edition collection of 9 full length contemporary stories. Over 600,000 words of hot alpha males to keep you reading for hours! DOWNLOAD NEED ME ON AMAZON .

Includes
Mine, Not Hers by Betsy Anne
Gun Shy by Ashley Bostock
Hunting Laura by J.A. Bailey
Once Written, Twice Shy by Carey Decevito
Darkest Communion by Michele E. Gwynn
Not Another Soldier by Samantha Holt
Let it Ride by Amelia James
Love's Fate by Tracey Smith
Dreaming With A Broken Heart by Mary J. Williams

Alien Encounters in the Harvest Trilogy on Audio

The entire Harvest Trilogy is available on audio! Yes, you can now purchase Harvest, Celluloss, and Census on Amazon/Audible or iTunes.

Love UFO tales? Creepy aliens? Terrifying mysteries? Then this is the series for you! The series begins in the fictional town of Farley, Oklahoma, and moves south to the very real cities of Schertz and Marion Texas! We are being watched. We are being judged. And they're already here!

Download on Amazon/Audible Download on iTunes

Hug an Author, Write a Review

Visit Author Michele E. Gwynn on Amazon and Write a Review
     Writing is a labor of love, one in which the writer is doing something he or she is either deeply passionate about or weirdly driven to do. I like to call my own wordy creations 'weirdly passionate' because I have so many stories running around inside my head that I simply can't stick to only one genre. I love criminal mysteries. I love speculative science fiction. I love love so I can't rule out romance, and hey, sex isn't so bad either so romances bordering on, and diving into, the erotic zone are not out of the question either. I enjoy theological discussions, therefore I write about angels. I enjoy ghost stories so I write about those too....

Whatever the subject, I write. And I'm even happier knowing YOU enjoy what I write. Each time someone downloads one of my books, whether by purchase or through Amazon's KDP library, I'm thrilled. I'm downright giddy when you leave me reviews. I'm talking fangirl, squealing, jumping up and down like Tom Ellis just walked into the room kind of giddy. (He's my latest crush...check him out Monday nights on NBC's Lucifer. --> You see why! Gorgeous!)

So if you'd like to hear me alert dogs three counties over with my high-pitched happy squeal, drop a review onto any of the above titles you've read. As an Indie author, reviews mean everything to me. They mean you took the time to read something I created, wrote, edited, rewrote, cried over, laughed at, held close to my chest afraid to let it go out into the world, and then, finally hit publish, thus giving it virtual wings. Every single time I've felt as if I were standing in front of the class naked. That's how personal writing is to a writer.

Let me know which characters you loved, which ones you loved to hate, which scene made you laugh, cry, squirm uncomfortably in your seat, hide under your covers, or maybe even spiced up your love life. (Don't forget you're obligated to name any babies made from reading one of my hotter titles after me...hehe).

Finally, I hope this little note finds you well, happy, and prosperous. Have a fantastic day knowing that I truly appreciate you all...

News and Stuff

I have been absent a bit, but for a good reason. I'm working on completing The Redemption of Joseph Heinz, and in between all that, I published out my premiere psychological thriller, Split, through Paper Gold Publishing's box set, The Edge of Madness .

After that, I've been writing an erotic comedy titled Hiring John which will debut in June in a Crazy Lady Author box set, Erotically Incorrect (alongside a sweeter box set titled Romantically Incorrect), and also working on a fan fiction short for the hugely popular Barry Eisler assassin series, John Rain, titled A Cell in San Antonio. This is why I need a tan! Or, I need to move me and my laptop outdoors, poolside. Can someone bring me Fruity Parrot? (Coconut rum, pineapple juice, a little cherry liquor)



Once these three are complete, I will begin working on the full-length novel for my new series, The Ghosts of Cardiff, Murder in the Vale, The Beginning. Originally, a short was released with my previous publisher, but I unpublished it after we parted ways knowing I was going back to write the full story. Who doesn't love a hot priest with a crisis of faith working with a non-believing, single female detective to solve crimes with a supernatural bend? Get ready for Father Cai Sayer and Detective Sheila Leeds...

Oh, yeah, and there will be a new ghost story for a Halloween box set with Paper Gold Publishing. No title yet, but it is set in New Orleans. This is how we writers keep busy....

I'm excited to share that my Darkest Communion will be included in a set through the fabulous ladies over at Love, Lust, and Lipstick Stains - a collection of contemporary romances. What an honor to be included with so many wonderful authors. I'll announce it and share the links as soon as it's published out in May.

Did you know you can follow me on Instagram at AuthorMicheleEGwynn?

Finally, now through April 13th, you can download Waiting a Lifetime on Amazon for only $0.99. (KindleCountdown). You can also grab Darkest Communion on Barnes and Noble, iBooks, and Kobo for $0.99, and Camael's Gift (Book one in the Angelic Hosts Series) is FREE on all retailers! Yes, FREE!


Now available on audio: Don't care to read, but love to listen? Get the entire Harvest Trilogy, Harvest, Celluloss, and Census on audiobook through Amazon/Audible and iTunes. Book one narrated by Ron Phillips, and books two and three narrated by Lawrence D. Yaklin.


You can also get Camael's Gift on audio through Amazon/Audible and iTunes. Book two in the series, Camael's Battle, is in production with the talented Paul Stefano. 

Some Secrets You Just Don't Want to Know...

Hello, all!

Please enjoy a sneak peek at my new, PREMIERE, psychological thriller and short story, Split. This dark and twisted tale can only be found in the box set, The Edge of Madness presented by Paper Gold Publishing (contains 15 Thrillers and Horror novels and novellas). You can grab yours on Amazon, iBooks, B&N, and Kobo.



And now....the prologue...



SPLiT
by
Michele E. Gwynn

Disclaimer
This story is a work of fiction. All characters, settings, and situations are products of the author’s imagination and in no way are representative of or related to real persons. This book is the exclusive property of the author who holds all rights to it, and cannot be shared, copied, offered by any site for free in any form without the express permission of the author. Any attempt to pirate this book will be taken seriously, and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Copyright violations are serious charges carrying a punishment ranging from $200 to $150,000 for each work infringed. Infringer pays for all attorneys’ fees and court costs. The Court can issue an injunction to stop the infringing acts. The Court can impound the illegal works. The infringer can go to jail. Please respect the author’s work.
Some Secrets You Don’t Want to Know…
There was something wet under my right hand. I looked down. Whatever it was looked dark, but I couldn’t see it. I hadn't turned on the light. I reached for the switch and flipped it on. It was blood...and mud and grass. It was still fresh! I immediately washed my hands with soap. When I looked back down, there was only a smidge of it left on the sink. My mouth dropped open. It couldn't be! I ran out of the bathroom, turning off the light as I went. I got out as quickly, and as quietly as I could manage, shaking like I was. He couldn't be alive! There was no way. He was dead! I must be freaking hallucinating. I needed to calm down. I needed to get a grip. I'd just drive to Starbucks, get my Mochachino and figure this out. It would be okay. I spun my tires on the slick road before they gripped the asphalt, and the car took off. I felt myself falling apart. I needed to pull it together. I’d gone inside his house looking for answers, but I left with more questions, and that goddam, silent house refused to give up its secrets.
"In the middle of the journey of our life, I came to myself in a dark wood where the straight way was lost." Dante’s Inferno, Canto I, pg. 11, ~ Dante Alighieri
PROLOGUE
I couldn’t sleep. Tossed and turned until the sheets wrapped around my legs, and put a strangle hold on me like a hungry boa constrictor. The headaches, lately, had been increasing in their intensity, and Tylenol was just not doing the trick anymore. I finally got up and walked, silent as the grave, to the kitchen. I looked out of the kitchen window and stared at the light of the moon shimmering off the surface of the lake about fifty yards away. I thought about the call I'd received earlier that day from Aaron. He wanted to talk. “What the hell for?” I said. “I miss you, Jen.” Like a thousand times before, it seems, I struggled not to fall for that bullshit line. I usually failed, mostly because I missed him, too, although he was a worthless, cheating, abusive piece of crap. But this time, it was different. This time, my heart remained cold as stone, and my mind was clear and sharp. No more hormonal befuddlement. No more sentimentality. Something finally died inside of me, and left this pissed off, empty, bitter shell. And it felt good. In fact, I felt elated since I was no longer a slave to my feelings. Thank God for small miracles, I thought.He tried to wheedle and whine which didn't work. Then he got royally pissed. Said if he couldn't have me then no one would. I told him to go to hell. He started ranting about how he was coming over, and I had better have changed my mind by the time he got here or else! Bring it! That's what I said before I hung up. My head began to pound, but I calmly walked through the house like I was in some slow-motion dream. I thought about all the times he humiliated me, hurt me, degraded me, and made me feel like I was worthless. I thought about every affair he had, every poignant insult to my womanhood, every slap, punch, all of it. I’d had enough. It was over. And now, he was threatening me. How dare he threaten me? I would take no more!I realized, in some far recess of my mind, that I was standing before the closet and holding a Nine West shoebox in my hands. It seemed as if I were remembering doing this, and not actually doing it right then and there. Inside the shoebox was a 9mm automatic handgun that used to belong to my father. He taught me from an early age how to care for, clean, and shoot a gun "For safety" my Dad used to say. I took it out of the box, and let it rest in my palm. It felt reassuring to hold it, and I turned it over several times admiring the lines. It was kind of big for my hand, but I knew this gun well. I always kept it loaded, but with the safety on. Funny, that during the entire time I’d been with Aaron, I never once let him know I had it. In the beginning, I just didn’t think to tell him, and then as time went on, I was afraid he might use it on me. Now, I took the safety off. I walked back out to the living room, sat down in the tan easy chair facing the front door, and waited for what seemed like hours listening to the clock ticking away on the coffee table.He finally showed up, pissed off, and pounding on my front door. He yelled over and over for me to open up, let him in, and when I didn't, he started kicking it in. It sounded far away to me, and in no way did I feel the least bit alarmed by what should have been very loud noise. I felt quieted by the buzzing of warm bees inside my skull. They buffered all the shouting and the kicking. They calmed me, and separated me from the moment. I waited with a serenity that would have scared anyone who knew me if they’d still been around, and also would have clued them in on my surreal state of mind. Somewhere, in my waking nightmare, I pictured his face. I saw him snarling and spitting words like a rabid animal, and it was not a human face. It was the face of a monster. It was Satan, himself, incarnate. The devil was at my front door.I slowly raised my right hand, and steadied it with my left. I tilted my head to the side, and aimed about three feet down from the top of the door. He was about six foot-three inches tall so this would put me right at the center of his chest. My heartbeat slowed, my breath held, and my line of sight focused intently on my soon-to-appear target. One beat, (the door cracked). Two beats (the door shattered). Three beats (the monster appeared wearing a white, Frankie Goes to Hollywood t-shirt, ripped jeans, and Doc Martins). An eerie inner silence drowned out the explosion as the bullet flew like a missile straight into his chest. In slow motion, blood, bone, and meat splattered out in a spray that covered the walls, the floor, and some even landed on me. It didn't seem real. The bees kept buzzing on.The monster’s face changed to that of shock, confusion, and pain, and that monster descended, face-first into my Berber carpet. Down he went, with all my agony, sorrow, anger, and mistreated love - all going down with him. He bounced once when he hit the floor. I sat there watching him as the life left his body, bleeding out into my rug. I saw the light leave his eyes, and felt nothing.It was an hour before I moved. Throughout that time, the scene replayed itself over and over again like an old VHS cassette that couldn’t move past one snag in the tape. It took another few hours for me to decide to wrap and dump his body in the lake, clean the carpet, walls, and myself, and drive his car back into the city, wipe it clean, and then take a taxi back home. I cleaned the 9mm, and placed it back into its shoebox with the safety on. I drank a hot cup of tea, and then went to bed as if nothing ever happened. But I couldn't sleep. My head hurt. I tossed and turned, and then got up. Now, I looked out on the very calm waters of the lake. Not a single ripple, and it was so very quiet. No bees buzzing around my skull with their fuzzy bodies tickling my brain. I thought about what I needed to do the next day at work, and mentally picked out my wardrobe. I cleaned the kitchen floor until I was exhausted enough to sleep, and then, for extra measure, I took a Xanax that I had left over from a car accident earlier in the year, one I’d rather not think about. I laid down, closed my eyes, and finally, I slept. 

Need Your Vote for Readers Choice

 ***ANNOUNCEMENT** (Great News!) Three of my books have qualified for nomination into The Romance Reviews Summer 2016 Readers Choice Awards, Round One -- The Nomination Round (Deep voice-over). But I need YOUR help! Please pop over to these links and vote to nominate each book.
Round One ends March 31st. Every book must get 50 nominations each to continue on to the second round. If you've read them and like them (or plan to read them), please take a moment to nominate them. As an author, writing is my passion.....As a reader...reading is your passion. We belong together....it's a committed relationship. Have I told lately that I love you? Seriously, my book makes your butt look FABULOUS! :D
Exposed: The Education of Sarah Brown: http://www.theromancereviews.com/view...
Darkest Communion: http://www.theromancereviews.com/view...
Waiting a Lifetime: http://www.theromancereviews.com/view...