Diane Bator's Blog, page 56

Round Robin Blog Fest July 25

Hope you're all keeping cool this summer! 
It's a hot summer here in Southern Ontario. I've been going for walks early in the morning and gardening in the evening if it cools off at all. I'm luck to get to hang out on the shores of Georgian Bay some weekends as well, which sure helps to beat the heat!

Today's question for our Round Robin Blog Fest is:  
How do you develop a character who is different in personality from all the other characters you have developed, or from yourself?

Hoo boy! Do I have a character for this one!
I'm not sure where Enid Walsh who appears in my novel All That Sparkles came from, but I do know who inspired her. Way back when, I worked in a bank. If you want to see a parade of characters, a bank can be a good place to be. Banks, coffee shops, and grocery stores...

One day while I was at work this woman came in that I can still picture to this day!
She was tall and heavy set wearing a bright yellow dress and the thickest blue eye shadow I've ever seen. She also carried a small purse dog and had a voice that carried to the four corners of the building, which was important when she announced that she really needed to pumice her feet because they looked awful in her sandals. Fortunately, she didn't just tell everyone about her feet once or twice, but several times. It was very hard not to laugh.

So how does Enid fit into this? 

Enid Walsh is a seventy-something gossip columnist in Glitter Bay who takes liberties with the truth and follows Laken Miller in All That Sparkles like a moth after wool. She is bold in appearance and in everything else she does. She also doesn't do anything for someone else without a price.


An older woman wearing a wide-brimmed purple hat and a pale violet cardigan over a faded red blouse took a few timid steps inside. She reminded me of Sammy when I’d first found him. Nervous and unsure.Sammy took a few quick sniffs and gave a low growl.“Stop that.” I held him tighter. “I’m sorry. He’s never like that with anyone.”Not that I knew of anyway.Blue curls beneath the woman’s hat. Not grey-blue, but a bold robin’s egg. Her gaze darted around the room like she was either searching for or afraid of something. Or someone.Since Gill still hadn’t returned, I took a deep breath. “Can I help you?”“That depends.” She eyed both Sammy and me. “Do you work here?”My face grew warm. “Well, no, but Gill’s busy.”“I see.” Her shoulders lowered an inch. “I heard a rumor that Tilly…”I didn’t know what to say.“She’s not here.” Gill snarled behind me. “What do you want, Enid? You know you’re banned from setting foot in here.”I raised my eyebrows just as Sammy leaped from my arms and nearly pulled the leash from my hand. When he ran toward Enid, I stopped him short. Rude, but effective.“I’m fully aware of my standing around here.” She straightened her purple hat, puffed her chest and stood straighter. “I heard of Tilly’s passing and simply wanted to extend my condolences.”Sammy ignored the taut leash and crept closer to Enid’s blue leather shoes.“You don’t simply do anything,” Gill said. “What do you want?”She pursed her pale pink lips. “Is it true she was murdered?”“Get out.” His face reddened as he threw a teacup in her direction.With the grace of a dancer, Enid stepped aside to narrowly miss a hit to the shoulder. The cup shattered on the floor, which made Sammy run around and wind his leash around my ankles.“Gill, stop that!” I tried to lunge toward him, but the leash bound my legs. I stumbled forward with no idea what to do next.
Click on the image for buy links!I do hope you'll stop by to meet Enid, Laken, Sage, Sammy, and the rest of the gang in Glitter Bay!
You can also check out these amazing authors and see who their interesting characters are:

Fiona McGier http://www.fionamcgier.com
Diane Bator http://dbator.blogspot.ca/
Anne Stenhouse  http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/
Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea
Connie Vines http://mizging.blogspot.com/
Dr. Bob Rich https://wp.me/p3Xihq-1Y4
Helena Fairfax http://www.helenafairfax.com/blog
Beverley Bateman http://beverleybateman.blogspot.ca/
Rhobin L Courtright http://www.rhobincourtright.com

An Introduction to Diane Bator's Wild Blue Mystery series!

Welcome to Packham and the Wild Blue Mysteries The ladies of Packham are going to drive the sleuths of Wild Blue Detective Agency to drink-- if they don't get them killed first.
The Bookstore Lady will always have a spot in my heart. Mostly, because it was the first book I had published, aside from a novella called Murder on Manitou. The image at the top of this blog was created by one of my very good friends and fabulous editors Laura LaRocca who has stood by me from the start. I keep this on my wall as a reminder of how far I've come!

How did this series come about?  Oddly enough, it all started with a dream about a cat. That scene appears in The Bookstore Lady where Danny Walker and Katie Mullins are getting to know each other. As I wrote the scene, those two characters came to life and the rest of the book evolved from prompts in writing group meetings.

Why is the series called Wild Blue Mysteries?
Wild Blue is the name of the Detective Agency Danny and his partner Leo Blue set up for a sting operation where Danny first meets Paulina Chourney. Once the whole case takes them back to Danny's home town of Packham, they start to shift gears and try to escape from the city. Where Danny finds it agreeable and even buys a century home in the country, Leo finds it harder to enjoy small town life until he meets Christina Davidson who runs the local bakery.

Why doesn't Katie go back to using her real name, Paulina Chourney, after the bad guys are caught?
Partly because her character has been known as Katie by the locals who are a little set in their ways. Also because she's afraid of becoming that person she was before her life changed so drastically. Paulina was drawn into a world of corruption and money. Katie lives a simpler life running a bookstore and living with an elderly woman writer who loves a good mystery--and to mete out justice of her own.

Why do all of the books feature different pairs of main characters?
Danny and Katie start to become a couple in The Bookstore Lady - once Danny tracks her down and tries to save her from her former bosses. With meddling writers and henchmen who love nothing more than a good fight, he's got more than enough action on his hands. 
In The Mystery Lady, Danny investigates Lucy Stephens, a local mom and mystery writer. Leo Blue meets Lucy in this book as well, but the chemistry isn't quite right.
The Bakery Lady became Leo and Christina's story. Not a fan of the small town and its nosy inhabitants, it isn't until Leo goes to the local tattoo parlor and hangs out with Clancy Davidson, that he meets a secretive woman who changes his mind about small towns and romance. Christina Davidson takes no nonsense and has a history that draws him in like a bear to honey.
The Painted Lady is a continuation of Leo and Christina's story with more life altering secrets coming to light, including an art forgery and murder.
Book five, The Frightened Lady, will take the story back to Danny and Katie who have run into their own obstacles once again. This time with a woman who confesses to a murder that took place many years earlier and an angry man who stalks Katie.
After that... well, I guess we'll see what new ideas come along.

***Be sure to read through to the bottom for a fun treat!!

Here are the list of Wild Blue Mystery novels to date. I hope you check them out!
Book 1: The Bookstore Lady
Danny Walker is tracking Paulina Chourney who fell deep into the dark side of life and is lucky to get out before her boyfriend Maddox kills her. She escapes Maddox and arrives in a small town, which she sees as a blessing in disguise since the men she worked for would never think to look for her in a lazy, backwater place like Packham. She changes her name to Katie Mullins, makes a deal on a little bookstore and joins a local writing group then successfully fades into anonymity. Until Danny Walker shows up to visit family and figures out who she is.When Paulina catches her 80-year-old landlady sneaking out in the middle of the night, the bad guys catch up to her and Danny disappears, she has to choose between spending her life on the run or standing up to face her past. Hopefully before the quirky townsfolk turn her death into a spectacle.


Book 2: The Mystery Lady
Danny Walker used to enjoy chasing criminals, but after being kidnapped and nearly killed, he longs to close the Wild Blue Detective Agency and live a simpler life. Forced to take leave from the police force, he has a long way to go to convince the shrink he's even close to sane, especially when he helps his former partner solve a series of murders, which endangers the woman he's tailing.Wanna-be writer Lucy Stephen never wrote about murder until her husband moved out and thinks some man in a blue car is stalking her. When her husband and his girlfriend take her kids on vacation, Lucy discovers a hidden package of jewelry her husband desperately wants. The more she learns about the assorted pieces, the more Lucy realizes she may never see her kids again and needs to fight back with the help of the man who stalks her.


Book 3: The Bakery Lady
From the moment Leo Blue meets the tattoo artist 's sister Christina, he's drawn into a web of bread dough and lies. Christina Davidson has returned to Packham with a duffle bag full of secrets. Leo soon discovers her biggest secret is Christina's alter ego and her husband who stands accused of murdering an up-and-coming artist. He promises to help set things straight and plans to bring husband and wife together for Christmas—even if it costs him his sanity and the love of his life.









Book 4: The Painted Lady The pieces of Christina Davidson's life have built up into place over the past few months, despite the one last secret she's trying hard to hide. When Leo Blue returns to town, then people from her past turn up, her carefully constructed walls begin to crumble and the only people who can help her now are the men of the Wild Blue Detective Agency.Leo Blue can't escape Packham nor the life of a private detective no matter how hard he tries. Six months after the murder of artist DJ Gage, the prices of Gage's paintings soar. When a woman winds up dead and a forgery is discovered in the local art gallery, Leo has to find a murderer and a forger.







Where to find me and my Books (Here, obviously!)
Website:  http://penspaintsandpaper.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dibatorFacebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Diane-Bator-Author/263599617046736?ref=hl
BWL Publishing:  https://bookswelove.net/bator-diane/
AND NOW THE TREAT!!



Click here to hear my Virtual Storytelling Session for the Orangeville Public Library and Community Living Dufferin! (about 15 min long)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZ-D_osk6GE&fbclid=IwAR2GU86agQBT0zjVOmQiTAAazueXpDcIld5niFbuHl0OSthqrvW8r6lsVnk

Hope you enjoy!

Diane

Jack Byrne discusses The Liverpool Mystery series

Welcome to mystery author Jack Byrne!

I am married with two kids and although I was born and raised in an Irish catholic family in Liverpool UK, I now live in Hungary. I had no career as such, most working people don’t, we move from job to job, if we are lucky we have a skill, but still move from job to job. I have done everything from factory work, to setting up and running my own businesses, some more successful than others.  I currently run a small English language school in a lovely town set around a lake. I gained a Bachelor's degree in English at the age of forty, when I left school at sixteen I had no qualifications.

I am two and half books into the four novels that make up The Liverpool Mystery Series, each can be read independently, but reading all of them will help you get more out of each one. The first book I wrote was Under The Bridge set in Garston, Liverpool. I am currently querying that with agents and publishers so am holding off on self publishing it. 
The Morning After is the second and will be available for pre order very soon, it was writing this book that I realised this was a series all along. I am currently writing Fire Next Time and The Wicklow Boys will follow. Each are stand alone novels and you can read them in any order, like our lives they are a moment in time, connected to what happens before and after. 
Website and other links to your social media pages: (These are the most informative.)https://www.facebook.com/Jack-Byrne-553321885196623/ https://jackbyrne.home.blog/

Tell us about your life outside of writing.I spend my time between teaching and looking after two kids, 2 cats and a dog. I enjoy spending time with my family, a few beers with friends, and reading about how the world is going to pot. Nothing has beaten The Wire and Sopranos yet, though I waste my time trying to find a substitute.
Do you have a work in progress? My work in progress is called Fire Next Time and is centered around a young guy who’s life is turned upside down when he witnesses the arrest of a climate change protester who later dies in police custody. The main character Charlie becomes involved in the movement and uncovers some disturbing information about the arresting officer, as a result the most immediate danger to his life is not climate change.  
What was the most difficult section/piece you ever wrote? What made it difficult?In Under The Bridge a father grieves for his son who committed suicide in the British Army while serving in Northern Ireland. One of my brothers committed suicide at the age of 19 while serving in the Army in Northern Ireland, so I am not ashamed to admit the tears flowed while writing those scenes.
What sort of research do you do for your work?Having lived a varied and eventful life, a lot is drawn from experience, but I do research historical facts for context and timeline. I also try to walk the routes, see the buildings, and taste the atmosphere of settings.
Which books and authors do you read for pleasure? Is there an author that inspires you?The list is long and wide, Emile Zola’s Germinal was an early world changer, all of Dickens. An amazing book passed hand to hand in working class communities especially in Liverpool ‘The ragged trousered philanthropists.” by Robert Tressell. Classics thrillers from Le Carre, Follet, and so many more. 
Was there a person who encouraged you to write?
No. I wrote a novel about 30 years ago. A couple of family members read it and enjoyed it. I thought it was ok, but I didn’t have confidence in myself or my writing. I gave it to my best friend at the time, he never bothered to read it. Then recently I started writing again, and a teacher who worked with us read it, and kept asking for the next chapter- suddenly I had an audience that wanted to read what I was writing, and the floodgates kinda opened. So thanks Ronan!



 Under the BridgeA body is unearthed close to the docks. Ann, a cub reporter, is assigned to what should be a routine story. Her friend Vinny struggles to overcome his demons and uncover the secrets connecting a Liverpool/Irish gang, a vanished father, and the police war in Ireland. Despite threats, together they unravel the threads of police corruption, crime, and murder.
The Morning AfterOne day 35 years apart changes everything. 1981 in Liverpool, riots and unemployment set the scene for a group of friends. A robbery, a watch, and an old man’s death changes their lives forever. 2016 – Brexit and austerity dominate the news. A car crash and a drug overdose force Vinny to face a secret that has haunted him since childhood.
Fire Next TimeThe world is burning. Liverpool FC are heading for their first title in 30 years and Charlie Dwyer is happy, until his world is turned upside down by the death of a climate protester in police custody. Charlie is drawn into climate rebellion unaware the most immediate danger to his life is not global warming.
The Wicklow BoysWhere the story begins… The last will be first will be last and the last will be first. Chronologically, the first in the series, the last to be written. Vinny searches for the truth about his father and finds a story of ambush, betrayal, and flight. In Ireland, Vinny discovers that all history is a matter of life and death.
THE ONE ROAD 
Click here to get your free prequel to the series:   https://bit.ly/TMAjackbyrne  

David Albertyn tells us more about Undercard

Welcome to Escape with a Writer Sunday, David Albertyn!
I had the pleasure of not only reviewing this book, but meeting the author who is a really great guy! I have to say I can easily see this book as a movie…
The choices we make have a ripple effect on others whether we realize it or not. Tyron Shaw's return to Las Vegas after his stint in the military brings the consequences of the choices he and his circle of friends to the surface. Undercard is a riveting novel with well-rounded characters and a story that will keep you guessing until the end. I definitely look forward to reading future novels by this author! (as well as attending future events!)  
David Albertyn (1983) was born in Durban, South Africa, and grew up in Toronto, Canada. He studied at Queen’s University and the Humber School for Writers, and coached tennis until the publication of his first novel, “Undercard” (2019), which was a finalist for the Forest of Reading Evergreen Award, and made 49th Shelf’s Top Fiction List of 2019 and CrimeReads’ list of “8 Debut Novels You Should Read This June” (2020). Among many sports, he primarily competed in track and field growing up, then in tennis as an adult. When he completes a draft of a novel, he does as much yoga and running in nature as he can, promptly burns out, and as soon as he’s recovered, it’s time to work on a new draft. His goal is to write visceral novels that are both thrilling and meaningful. 
What would you say are your strengths as an author?I think making a story exciting and entertaining is something I’ve had for a long time. Particularly action scenes I’ve been studying and writing since I was a child. When I came across a great chase, fight, or shootout in a book, I would read it over and over and try to analyze how the author had made that reading experience so thrilling, then I would try my best to emulate their techniques.     I would also say that cutting between multiple perspectives, and between past and present, like I do in Undercard, is a strength of mine. I believe this might have come from studying Film at university and editing short films.     Where I’ve worked very hard to develop my writing is stylistically, and particularly in descriptions and detail. It’s been a lot of years of intense effort to shore up that side of my writing.     But what I would say is my best strength as an author is that I really dig deep in my writing. I dig deep within myself and use a lot of emotion to breathe life and depth into my characters. Writing is by no means an effortless experience for me. It takes a lot from me.
How often do you write, and do you write using a strict routine?I don’t always write. I take breaks between drafts to recover, and when I am promoting a release, like I am with Undercard being recently released in the US now, I try to put all my energy into that. But when I am in a writing phase, I do follow a fairly strict routine. I try to get up early (it used to be 6 am although increasingly it’s 5 am) and write first thing in the morning. I’ll try to have a session of an hour or two to start the day. Then if I have the time and the energy, I’ll try to get in two more sessions of about an hour over the course of the day. Occasionally I can do four sessions in a day, but that is a lot for me. I usually write five to six days a week, leaving a day or two to refresh my mind.
Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?That’s a very good question. I try not to think about results too much and just focus on what I can control, but I hope that in five years I have at least one, and ideally two, more books that I’m truly proud of. I’m very proud of Undercard, and if I could create two more books that I feel the same way about, that I’ve poured my heart and soul into and feel like I’ve created something worthwhile, then I’ll feel very happy.
If you could offer one piece of advice to a novice writer, what would it be?I’ve said this in other interviews, and I’d like to say something different but I’m going to say it again because I think it’s the most important thing when it comes to writing, or any skill: keep improving. Improving is more important than any short-term success. Finding ways to continuously improve at your writing is what will make your writing experience richer, will make your work more interesting, and will create opportunities for you over time. Try different things. Push yourself in new ways. Don’t be afraid of setbacks. Don’t be afraid of failure. Know that anything good that was ever written took multiple drafts. Know that anything great that was ever written took near countless drafts. It is in all of us to improve. You can do it, and you will be rewarded for it.
What would you consider to be the best compliment a reader could give your book?These are great questions, Diane. I never really thought about that before. I think the best thing anyone could say to me about my book is that it affected them. It meant something to them. Reading it was a worthwhile experience that they won’t forget. Hearing that would mean a lot to me. But just to be clear, I’m not going to turn down a compliment. Any compliment I’ll take, and I’ll appreciate it.
What are you working on now?Right now I’m working on a murder mystery dramedy set in the tennis club world. I think it could be very funny. I’m really working hard on making it as funny as possible—a deviation from Undercard, which I tried to make as visceral, gritty, and intense as possible. There is also a lot of sex in it. I feel like it could really be a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to finish it so I can share it with everybody.
Where can you find out more?instagram.com/davidalbertyntwitter.com/DavidAlbertynfacebook.com/DavidAlbertynWriterlinkedin.com/in/david-albertyn
UNDERCARD
Set over the course of twenty-four exhilarating hours,  Undercard  is the story of four childhood friends, now in their early thirties, unexpectedly reunited by a high-profile prizefight in a Las Vegas casino . . . and an even higher-profile murder.

When Tyron Shaw returns to his hometown of Las Vegas after eleven years in the Marines, he’s surprised to discover that two of his best friends from childhood are all anyone is talking about: Antoine Deco, three years out of prison, hasn’t lost a boxing match since his release, and tonight is fighting in the undercard to the fight of the decade; and Keenan Quinn, a police officer who killed an unarmed teenager and escaped punishment from the courts, is the subject of a protest tomorrow morning.

Tyron has trouble reconciling either story with his memory of these men, and the situation escalates when he runs into the love of his life, Naomi Wilks, a retired WNBA player, basketball coach, and estranged wife of Keenan. As Tyron reconnects with his old community, he will learn over the next twenty-four hours that much has changed since he left Las Vegas . . . and there is much more that he never understood.

The Reef, an aquarium-themed casino and the hottest resort on the Strip, is the backdrop for this bullet-paced narrative, where loyalty to one’s friends, one’s family, and one’s community are ever at odds, and every choice has deadly repercussions. 
https://davidalbertyn.com/undercard/#buy-now-undercard
“A rich, exhilarating story…Albertyn creates a pressure-cooker scenario for his characters, but manages amidst the adrenaline to bring out moments of insight and humanity.”—Dwyer Murphy, CrimeReads Editor-in-Chief
“[Albertyn] successfully generates a gritty, dark atmosphere in the novel that draws on the best elements of noir to keep readers edgy and absorbed. His interiors are dark and gloomy, and his exteriors make us feel agoraphobic and threatened in a vague, undefined way.”—New York Journal of Books 
“Fast-paced, fearless, and psychologically astute, Undercard is at once a terrific thriller and a sharp commentary on our turbulent times.”— David Bezmozgis, author of Immigrant City
“Undercard is a dizzying rollercoaster of suspense and action that examines the complexities of brotherhood and the consequences of tragic masculinity. Albertyn’s pitch-perfect understanding of the bonds of friendship gives this novel a powerful emotional center. If The Hangover were a serious suspense novel, it would be Undercard.”—S. A. Cosby, author of Blacktop Wasteland    

Lancelot Schaubert tells us about Bell Hammer and Of Gods and Globes 2

Welcome to today's featured author Lancelot Schaubert!

  Tell us about your life outside of writing.
I'm an artist chaplain in NYC who makes it easier for people to make what they feel called to make. We use grants, community development, and intense human resources inserted into hyper concentrated weekends to bolster portfolios and create time for projects that wouldn't get greenlit via traditional funding or production. We're also there for counseling and therapy. NYC is insane during covid, but so are a ton of places. Doing everything we can through the literary journal to support neighbors and artists. My bride's a knitter and is teaching me to knat, but she also makes things. Have a big, rowdy family mostly based in Illinois (a la BELL HAMMERS). I watch film when I can, but mostly read — particularly through the classics. Love tea. Will travel. Send soup and juggling circus bears.
Do you have a work in progress? Several. I'm working on a horror novel that's basically Little Red Riding Hood meets that 80's film The Warriors. A YA dystopia that's something like The Circle meets The Giver with a bit of Tripods, Little Brother, and Ready Player One thrown in for spice. A children's book that's an inverted Narnia. A Pratchette-esque, Gaiman-esque fantasy satire of two buddy cops possessed by each other's bounty, an angel and a demon. Other odds and ends — couple comics, couple scripts, couple stories. I treat it all like an orchard. The first two I mentioned are the closest to done.
What was the most difficult section/piece you ever wrote? What made it difficult? Piece: I once wrote a story all in the future tense just to see if I could. The future tense itself made that hard.Section: writing BELL HAMMERS from interviews of two grandpas who died in the writing of the novel in back-to-back Christmases. It was extremely cathartic, but I was laughing and crying while typing, which doesn't usually happen: I'm not that often emotional while writing. Or at least not in that extreme.
What sort of research do you do for your work? I'm always reading the classics. I look for oddly specific details from the crafts or sectors of society in the characters. I travel to places. I interview folks directly involved in those industries. I'm always reading writing books, not because writing books are particularly brilliant or earth shattering, but because I always pick up one or two tricks of the trade I didn't know prior.
Which books and authors do you read for pleasure? Is there an author that inspires you? I read everything Rowling wrote. Then I read everything she read: mainly Lewis, Tolkien, Potter, and the Greeks (Aechylus and Homer are her bread and butter for her stories). Then I started reading everything Lewis wrote which is basically the cannon plus Chesterton and MacDonald. That keeps me busy, but I also read Le Carre, Rothfuss, Sanderson, Gaiman, King, and lots and lots of metaphysics, history, some political stuff, literary theory, prayer journals, lives of the saints, weird mechanical journals and how-to books like Country Wisdom and Know-How: Everything You Need to Know to Live off the Land.
Was there a person who encouraged you to write?My dad and grandpa taught me to write stories. My grandmas read to me. My mother bought me books. But honestly most of the teachers I had held me back in reading, even shamed me for being a boy — all women. Many of the men made fun of me for reading. Closest I came was getting encouraged to do theater by one teacher named Lisa Stephenson when they heard me recite a Robert Burns poem in the original brogue. First real encouragement came from professor and author Jackina Stark, who has been a mother to me and is the reason — a million times over — I made progress and haven't quit. My first day of class with her, some jock said, "Jackina, you think I can be a famous author?"She said, "I don't know, Matt, do you like working with sentences all day long?"He said, "No."She said, "No."And I thought to myself, "I do." She's stuck with me ever since.
Lance's website.Submit to Lance's literary journal The Showbear Family Circus.
Free resources for writers.
Two excerpts of Lancelot Schaubert's debut novel BELL HAMMERS sold to The New Haven Review (Yale’s Institute Library) and The Misty Review, while a third excerpt was selected as a finalist for the last Glimmer Train Fiction Open in history. He has also sold poetry, fiction, and nonfiction to TOR (MacMillan), The Anglican Theological Review, McSweeney’s, Poker Pro’s World Series Edition, The Poet’s Market, Writer’s Digest, and many similar markets.
Spark + Echo chose him for their 2019 artist in residency, commissioning him to write four short stories on top of the seven others he sold them.He has published work in anthologies like Author in Progress, Harry Potter for Nerds, and Of Gods and Globes — the last of which he edited and featured stories by Juliet Marillier (whose story was nominated for an Aurealis award), Anne Greenwood Brown, Dr. Anthony Cirilla, LJ Cohen, FC Shultz, and Emily Munro. His work Cold Brewed reinvented the photonovel for the digital age and caught the attention of the Missouri Tourism Board who commissioned him to write and direct a second photonovel, The Joplin Undercurrent, in partnership with award-winning photographer, Mark Neuenschwander.
BELL HAMMERS
PRANKS. OIL. PROTEST. JOKES BETWEEN NEWLYWEDS.
AND ONE HILARIOUS SIEGE OF A MAJOR CORPORATION.Remmy grows up with Beth in Bellhammer, Illinois as oil and coal companies rob the land of everything that made it paradise. Under his Grandad, he learns how to properly prank his neighbors, friends, and foes. Beth tries to fix Remmy by taking him to church. Under his Daddy, Remmy starts the Bell Hammer Construction Company, which depends on contracts from Texarco Oil. And Beth argues with him about how to build a better business. Together, Remmy and Beth start to build a great neighborhood of "merry men" carpenters: a paradise of s’mores, porch furniture, newborn babies, and summer trips to Branson where their boys pop the tops of off the neighborhood’s two hundred soda bottles. Their witty banter builds a kind of castle among a growing nostalgia.
Then one of Jim Johnstone’s faulty Texarco oil derricks falls down on their house and poisons their neighborhood's well.

Poisoned wells escalate to torched dog houses. Torched dog houses escalate to stolen carpentry tools and cancelled contracts. Cancelled contracts escalate to eminent domain. Sick of the attacks from Texaco Oil on his neighborhood, Remmy assembles his merry men:

"We need the world's greatest prank. One grand glorious jest that'll bloody the nose of that tyrant. Besides, pranks and jokes don't got no consequences, right?"
You can preorder BELL HAMMERS from:Your Local BookstoreBook Depository
Abe BooksWalmartAmazonTry a free sample of Bell HammersGoodreads PRAISE FOR LANCELOT SCHAUBERT AND BELL HAMMERS ::
“BELL HAMMERS is written in a style not unworthy of John Kennedy Toole and William Faulkner – the vivid characterization of Southern ethnography commingled with stark, episodic spectacle breathes with the spirit of quintessential Americana. It is a text I would happily assign in an American Novel class and would expect it to yield satisfying discourse alongside works in the canon, whether beside the sardonic prose of Mark Twain or the energetically painful narratives of Toni Morrison.”  — Dr. Anthony Cirilla

“Schaubert’s words have an immediacy, a potency, an intimacy that grab the reader by the collar and say, ‘Listen, this is important!’ Probing the bones and gristle of humanity, Lancelot’s subjects challenge, but also offer insights into redemption if only we will stop and pay attention.”  — Erika Robuck, national bestselling author of Hemingway’s Girl

“Myth, regret, the lore of our heritage and the subtle displays of our castes — no one so accurately and imaginatively captures the joys and sorrows of life in the Midwest as Schaubert does here. BELL HAMMERS is a Tree Grows in Brooklyn as told by Gabriel Garcia Marquez if Marquez lived in rural Illinois and only told stories to his grandkids. Seriously a delight to read.” 
— Colby Williams, author of the Axiom Gold Medal winning book Small Town, Big Money

“Loved BELL HAMMERS because Lancelot wrote about people who don’t get written about enough and he did it with humor, compassion, and heart.” — Brian Slatterly, author of Lost Everything and editor of The New Haven Review

“I’m such a fan of Lancelot Schaubert’s work. His unique view and his life-wisdom enriches all he does. We’re lucky to count him among our contributors.” — Therese Walsh, author of The Moon Sisters and Editorial Director of Writer Unboxed

“Lancelot Schaubert writes with conviction but without the cliché and bluster of the propaganda that is so common in this age of blogs and tweets. Here is a real practitioner of the craft who has the patience to pay attention. May his tribe increase!”  — Jonathan Wilson Hartgrove, author of Common Prayer and The Awakening of Hope

“Lancelot's attentive, thoughtful, a bit quirky, and innovative. He continues to impress me. He ‘sees,’ and BELL HAMMERS is full of details that enable his audience to see. Bravo, Lance.”
— Jackina Stark, author of Things Worth Remembering and Tender Grace

“Schaubert’s narratives are emotionally stirring with both a vulnerable sensibility and rawness to them. BELL HAMMERS will take you on a journey full of open wounds, intimate successes and personal delights. Lancelot’s words have a calmness, a natural ease but the meaning is always commanding and dynamic.”  — Natalie Gee, Brooklyn Film Festival

“BELL HAMMERS is the kind of story that makes you a better person and stays with you long after you put it down."  — F.C. Shultz, author of The Rose Weapon

OF GODS AND GLOBES II:  A COSMIC ANTHOLOGY By: Lancelot Schaubert (Goodreads Author), Kaaron Warren (Goodreads Author), Howard Andrew Jones (Goodreads Author), F.C. Shultz (Goodreads Author) (Contributor), JT Glover (Contributor), Carole McDonnell (Contributor), Emily Munro (Contributor), Brandon Ketchum (Goodreads Author) (Contributor), Anthony G. Cirilla (Contributor)
ABOUT OGAG 2::
Once more, my friends and colleagues and I have banded together to compose literature connecting astronomy and mythology: to write Of Gods & Globes II. Each one of us chose a name that connected astronomy (science fiction) and mythology (fantasy) such as "Janus" and wrote forth.

But why on Earth -- or off Earth -- would we do such a thing?

Well for starters, in his introduction to Bernard Silvestrus's Cosmographia, Winthrop Wetherbee III (which, let's be honest, is a doozy of a name but PERFECT for anyone destined to study and teach Latin) said that the thinkers of the classical and middle ages offered up: The idea the events of earthly life were governed and predetermined by the orderly disposition and activity of the heavenly bodies and could, in part, be foreknown through the careful analysis of celestial phenomena... Adelhard of Bath, in the De eodem et diverso, extols the power of the Arts to guide the soul in its earthly journey; they teach her to recognize her special relation to the rest of creation, to know the nature and intuit the divine pattern of the universe. For the soul's basic affinity is with the divine rationes of things...

Man, like the universe, lives and moves through the interplay of rational and irrational forces... which evokes preoccupation with the archetypal implications of myth and the themes of classic literature. We had such a successful launch last time that we decided to come together and write even more stories around this theme. We have continuations on a couple of new universes, hilarious new additions, heartbreaking horror stories, and flirtatious little romps.

In the spirit of drawing on themes of myth and classic literature and of the tidal influence of the constellations, I rounded up sci-fi and fantasy writers to write about cosmic influence. The fantasy writers took a more mythological approach, speaking of the symbolic (or perhaps godly) Mercury and Mars and Neptune. The sci-fi writers tell you what it's like to live on Jupiter and Uranus. All of them, though, speak of the influence of what one writer called "the music of the spheres." These are stories Of Gods and Globes. They're quite the ride: I enjoy each of these stories differently. They made me laugh and cry and chilled me to the bone with terror and one of them made me long for a home that... well for a home I don't think I've ever been to before.

Come fly with us. Let's fly. Let's fly away.

Or, if you prefer, to appeal from Sinatra to Sinatra:

Fly me to the moon
Let me play among the stars.
Let me see what spring is like
On Jupiter and Mars...
Fill my heart with song
And let me sing forevermore
You are all I long for
All I worship and adore

Lancelot Schaubert Brooklyn, New York 2020


PRAISE FOR THE AUTHORS::
"The entertainment value, and the hints of even greater revelations about the past of the iconic characters, and the world, make me very interested in how Howard Andrew Jones continues the story." -- TOR

"Kaaron Warren proves that horror fiction can do more than just deliver dis­turbing imagery and violence. It can also compel us to confront our own assumptions and moral principles, to look outside the ordinary." -- LOCUS

"Lancelot Schaubert's words have an immediacy, a potency, an intimacy that grab the reader by the collar and say, 'Listen, this is important!' Probing the bones and gristle of humanity, Lancelot's subjects challenge, but also offer insights into redemption if only we will stop and pay attention." -- Erika Robuck, bestselling author of Hemingway's Girl

Round Robin June 27 Likable Villains

Happy Summer! I hope you're all doing well now that the sun is shining and Covid restrictions are easing all around the world. It's certainly been an odd year so far! Personally, I've been working from home, writing, and sitting in on Zoom meetings that have totally fascinated me (not so much the work ones as the writing ones!) I've been blessed to meet writers from all over Canada and the US who have been so supportive and motivating.I've also been able to spend a couple days each weekend at our favorite place on the shores of Lake Huron starting last week.
This month's Round Robin question comes from our good friend Dr. Bob Rich:Do you have any charming, likable villains? Say something about them. 
Oh boy, do I!Gary del Garda smokes, drinks, gambles, parks across the street in his dark Buick to help keep Gilda out of trouble and is the godfather of Sandstone Cove crime. He’s also one of the best allies Gilda could have when it comes to solving crimes. Gilda first meets him in book one of my Gilda Wright Mystery series, Dead Without Honor:
Book 1“Excuse me, Miss.” A dark car pulled up to the curb and a man in his mid-fifties peered out the window. Scars marred his face and his eyes hid behind dark sunglasses.Her gurgling stomach and common sense made her take a wary step back out of his reach. “Yeah. Can I help you?”“You’re Gilda Wright,” he said. “I’m Gary. I knew your dad quite well. I’m sorry for your loss. He was a good man.”She winced. “I know who you are. My dad arrested you a few times, didn’t he?”Gary Del Garda, local bookie and gangster as well as Chloe’s father, flashed a wide smile and waved a hand. “Bygones. I earned every second he had me handcuffed and I had a lot of respect for the man behind the badge.”Gilda stood her ground. “What can I do for you, Mr. Del Garda?”“Gary. Please.” He put the car in park. “I hear you work for Mick Williams.”“At Yoshida’s. Yes, why?” She glanced up and down the street, hoping to have a witness in case he tried anything. Kidnapping topped her list. He could hardly do a drive-by shooting now he’d parked in front of her, could he?“Relax,” he said. “All I want is a little information.”“Like what?” she asked.“I’m looking for Mr. Williams so we can settle a little business matter.” He pushed up his sunglasses. “You wouldn’t happen to know where I could find him, do you?” Book 2“No, I don’t.” Her breath stuck in her chest.“I’ve seen you with him in Café Beanz.”Gilda tensed, ready to run. “I work for him. That doesn’t mean I know where he goes when I’m not with him. It’s not like I’m his wife or anything.”“Considering he’s dating my daughter, Chloe, that’s a good thing.” He winked and lowered his sunglasses. His eyes the same murky blue as the lake. “When you see him, let him know I’m looking for him. We have some business to discuss.”“I’ll do that.” She wiped her sweaty palms on her shorts. Had Mick hired Gary Del Garda to kill Walter? Nah, too obvious.
While Gary has never been a full out baddie in my Gilda Wright series, he's not exactly a good guy either. He was partly responsible for the death of Gilda's father and has made it his mission to watch over her from afar ever since. Until she started getting herself involved in mysteries, that is. Suddenly, he's become her “fairy godfather” as her good friend Kane Garrick calls him. Here’s an excerpt from my newest Gilda Wright Mystery, Dead Without Shame:
When she hopped into the passenger seat, Kane stood next to her. “Let me give you a hand. That seatbelt sticks. I’ve been meaning to get it fixed but haven’t found a mechanic I can trust.”“There’s a stereotype. Have you asked Gary? I’m sure he knows someone.” She shrugged.He chuckled as he buckled her in. “You mean your infamous fairy godfather? Gary del Garda is the town mobster, love, of course he knows someone. He probably has three mechanics who pay him off, yet he still gets his fancy cars fixed for free somewhere else to be safe.”She sighed. “Gary’s not like that.”“He’s your friend. Of course you don’t think so.” Kane closed the door then walked around the back of the Jeep before he got in. “Even you’re not naïve enough to think Gary doesn’t try to hide that stuff from you. He thinks the world of you.”Gilda gazed out the window. She’d heard the rumors and saw things with her own eyes that made her cringe. Gary had watched out for her since she first stumbled over a dead body in Yoshida Martial Arts. Apparently, he’d made a vow to her father to watch over her.
Book 3While he may be a bad guy to the rest of the world, there are many times Gilda forgets who he really is, like in Dead Without Pride:
Shawn nudged him. “Are you crazy? Did it escape you that you’re threatening Gary del Garda? This guy can make you disappear so no one will ever find you. Ever.”Gilda stared at her wineglass. Over the past few months, Gary had become like family to her. She was jarred when Shawn reminded her of his occupation and capabilities.


In book one, Dead Without Honor, Gilda suffers a sparring match gone wrong in karate class and walks—or rather limps home alone. Gary is the first person who reaches out to her:
Gary sat on the hood of his car, smoke curling around his head. He flicked a cigarette into the gutter and walked over to Gilda for a closer look. “Whoa. Did you get the number of the horse and buggy that hit you?”“Ha. Ha.” Even her cheeks hurt. “I’m not in the mood for dealing with you. I’m going home to soak in a whole lot of ice.”“You’re in no shape to walk anywhere,” Gary said. “Get in. I’ll give you a ride.”“It’s only a few blocks. I’ll get there on my own.” She stumbled away from him, the weight of her duffle bag throwing her off balance.He shook his head and sighed. “Stubborn little mule. You’re just like your father. I’m not going to try anything funny. I swear on your daddy’s grave. You’re badly hurt and my only concern is to get you home safe.”Gilda hesitated. If she sat in his car now, she might not stand again for days.“You could call for a police escort, if it makes you feel any better. I’ll even loan you my phone.” Gary took a phone out of his pocket and handed it over.She rolled her eyes, unable to speak. Book 4“Come on, honey. If your old man had ever seen my Chloe as beat up as you, he would’ve made sure she got home safe, no matter whose kid she was. I owe him that much.” He pocketed the phone then grasped the handles of her duffle bag. “Of course, he also would’ve arrested the so-and-so who did it to her, but that part’s way out of my league.”She let go of her bag and let him toss it into the backseat. When he opened the car door, she eased her weary body onto the passenger seat. She was in no shape to fight anymore. All she wanted was to go home, sit in a warm bath and cry. “Thank you.”



While Gary does many bad things in the world as a whole, most of them Gilda does not want to hear or know about. As the series goes on, we learn not only does he have a soft spot for Gilda, but also for the people close to her, including her mother. That is one story line that may come out more in book five. Hint, hint!  For now, let’s hop over and see what kind of villains my fellow authors have written about!
Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_seaFiona McGier http://www.fionamcgier.com/Judith Copek http://lynx-sis.blogspot.com/Dr. Bob Rich https://wp.me/p3Xihq-1W6Connie Vines http://mizging.blogspot.com/Diane Bator http://dbator.blogspot.ca/Helena Fairfax http://www.helenafairfax.com/blogRhobin L Courtright http://www.rhobincourtright.com

Linda Watkins presents Summer Girl and Storm Island

Escape with a Writer Sunday welcomes Award Winning Novelist Linda Watkins!Linda, I'm in love with your dogs!!


USA Todaybestselling author, Linda Watkins, who resides in Sedona, Arizona, is the author of the multi-award winning Mateguas Island Series and the critically acclaimed, award-winning, Kate Pomeroy Gothic Mystery Series.
In addition to these novels, she has also penned the award-winning contemporary romance, Summer Girl, A Novel and three novellas (Sarah & Zoey, A Story About the Power of Unconditional Love, The Night of the Sciurus, A Western Michigan Tale of Terror, and The Witches of Storm Island: Book I, The Turning), all of which have received excellent editorial and customer reviews.
Linda is a voting member of the Horror Writers Association, The Authors Guild, The International Association of Crime Writers (N.A.) and The Great Lakes Association of Horror Writers.
The adopter of three rescue dogs, Linda is serious about animal welfare and, all profits from The Mateguas Island Seriesare donated to her charitable trust, The Raison d’Etre Fund for Dogs, Dedicated to Rescue and Research which is administered through Schwab Charitable.
To find out more about Linda and her works, please visit her book website http://www.lindawatkins-author.com/, her blog, http://www.lindawatkins.biz/ where she posts book reviews and other items of interest, or her website dedicated to the Mateguas Island Series, http://www.mateguasisland.com/.
Tell us about your life outside of writing.I’m a single woman who lives with three dogs – Chelsea, Chomps, and The Bear. Prior to COVID-19, I volunteered several days a week at the local humane society, walking and socializing dogs. Obviously, I’m a dog person. I also enjoy hiking in the red rocks of Sedona where I live.
Do you have a work in progress?Yes, I do. I am currently working on the 4th book in the Kate Pomeroy Gothic Mystery Series. The WIP doesn’t have a title yet!
What was the most difficult section/piece you ever wrote? What made it difficult?The most difficult piece I’ve ever written was in my novel, Summer Girl. The section I refer to involved the graphic description of the sexual abuse of a child. I knew when I was writing this that I had to walk a very fine line between conveying the absolute horror of the act and, at the same time keep it from going so far overboard that I turned my readers off. I started off by writing the episode in as much graphic detail as I could. Once that was done, I re-wrote and re-wrote it, softening some parts and emphasizing others until I had what I wanted. Most of the time when I was editing, I was crying. While not a victim of sexual abuse myself, I did suffer physical and emotional abuse as a child and young woman. The trauma experienced by my heroine (Andie), brought my childhood experiences back and, in a sense, that was cathartic for me.
What sort of research do you do for your work?All kinds. The first two novels in the Kate Pomeroy Series jump back and forth in time – from present day to the 1600s and back again. I had to do historical research regarding the City of New York, modes of transportation, clothing, etc. for the 17th century segments. In the 3rdnovel in the Kate Pomeroy series, Abducted, I had to do research into drug addiction and geographical research into the country of Turkey.The Mateguas Island series was easier. That series is set on an island off the coast of Maine and, at the time I wrote the 1stnovel, I lived on such an island. Therefore, I had first-hand knowledge of what island life is like.
Which books and authors do you read for pleasure? Is there an author that inspires you?Stephen King, of course. He’s been one of my favorite authors for decades. As a member of the Horror Writers Association, I am privileged to receive works being promoted for Bram Stoker Awards. Thus, I get to read many new and established writers in the genre. My favorite novel, however, is The Magus by John Fowles. No matter how many times I read it, I always learn something new. I also loved The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein – best dog book ever – and The Lightkeepers by Abby Geni.
SUMMER GIRL, A Novel https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H6NPMXL
Does First Love, True Love, Ever Really Die?Andi Martin asks herself that question as she sits on the porch of the Sloane Cottage, her mind flooded with memories of the summer of '65 and a boy, once loved, but never forgotten.Jake Chambers is also on a collision course with the past as he returns to Cutter Island for the first time in more than a decade. And, as the ferry approaches the wharf, he finds his mind filled with thoughts of a summer long forgotten and a girl destined to haunt him forever.Summer Girl is the story of Andi and Jake - a story of love, loss, survival, and - most of all - HOPE…







STORM ISLAND, A KATE POMEROY MYSTERY  
  https://www.amazon.com/Storm-Island-Pomeroy-Mystery-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B07H7VQ9JV
  A body found hanging from the ceiling fan in the tower room of the old manor house on Storm Island.
For nineteen years, Kate Pomeroy has suppressed that memory. A second-year-resident in surgery, she thinks she has her life under control. But a curious conversation overheard while taking a catnap launches her on a descent into a world filled with nightmarish visions that cause her to doubt her own sanity.Sent to Storm Island to rest and recuperate from an apparent breakdown, Kate is forced to come to grips with memories of the summer her mother died as well as new terrors that plague her mind. Even the blossoming of an unexpected romance with islander, Jeremy Bradshaw, cannot keep her fears at bay for long.The discovery of a strange little silo, hidden deep in the woods, spurs Kate to action as she tries to unravel its mysteries. But is the silo real or just another illusion created by her tortured mind?
Storm Island, A Kate Pomeroy Mystery, is the first book in a series of mysteries involving the young doctor. The second book in the series, The Tao of the Viper, A Kate Pomeroy Mystery, was published in October 2019 and the third book, Abducted, A Kate Pomeroy Mystery, was published in March 2020.
My three websites are mentioned, with links, in the bio, but I’ll include them here, too.http://www.lindawatkins-author.com - main book website (thru Author’s Guild)https://lindawatkins.biz - (book reviews, thoughts, etc.)http://mateguasisland.com - (website for the M.I. series).
Social Media:FB:  https://www.facebook.com/LindaWatkins.Author/ and https://www.facebook.com/KatePomeroyGothicMystery/Twitter:  https://twitter.com/SplatlandLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/Amazon Author Page:  https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00HQOY94Q

Joseph Badal tells us about Payback and Justice

Escape with A Writer Sunday Welcomes Joseph Badal!!

REVIEW: The Motive (The Curtis Chronicles,#1) When Joseph sent me The Motive, I wasn't sure what I was getting into! This novel is definitely a wild ride with some great twists. Not for the faint of heart, there are several explicit and graphic scenes that made me cringe due to their stark realism. That said, I'm looking forward to reading more of is books when I get the chance.Enjoy finding out more about this #1 Best-Selling Author!!

Joseph Badal is the author of 16 award-winning suspense novels, including Payback, which was released on May 12. He has written four stand-alone novels and twelve books comprising three series: the Danforth Saga, the Lassiter/Martinez Case Files, and the Curtis Chronicles. He is an Amazon and Barnes & Noble Best-Selling Author, a two-time winner of the Tony Hillerman Prize, a three-time Military Writers Society of America Gold Medal Winner, an Eric Hoffer Prize Winner, and a two-time “Finalist” in the International Book Awards competition.Joe is a frequent speaker at writer, civic, and business conferences, and has taught several master classes in writing.Prior to his literary career, he served six years in the U.S. Army, including tours of duty in Vietnam and Greece, from which he received numerous decorations.After his military service, he worked for thirty-six years in the banking & finance industries and was a founding director and senior executive of a New York Stock Exchange-listed company for sixteen years.Joe is a member of International Thrillers Writers, Sisters in Crime, Croak & Dagger, Military Writers Society of America, Public Safety Writers Association, and Southwest Writers Workshop.
 What would you say are your strengths as an author?I want my readers to experience roller coaster-like tension throughout my books. I try to deliver brief moments of calm sandwiched between suspense and action that keeps the reader hooked and wanting more. My plots are advanced on the foundations of strong, well-developed characters to whom the reader can relate, rather than being super heroes who leap tall buildings in a single bound.
How often do you write, and do you write using a strict routine?I approach writing as a profession, not a hobby. Just like going to work every day at an office, I write every day. I aspire to hone my craft through commitment to it. This translates to writing for at least four hours a day, six days a week. I should clarify that when I refer to "writing," I include research, editing, and drafting under that definition. I also spend at least two hours per day on marketing and promoting my work.
Five years from now, where do you see yourself as a writer?Where I see myself and where I hope to be are two different things. I am confident that I will have had 20 books published by 2025, which works out to be one book a year since my first book was published in 2003. It would be gratifying if my readership will have doubled in that time. As to what I hope happens in the next five years, I would be thrilled if one or more of my novels is the basis for a movie and/or television series.
If you could offer one piece of advice to a novice writer, what would it be?I have been asked this question many times over the years and my answer has never changed. Never, ever fall in love with your storyline to the point that you cannot see its flaws. It's not enough to write a good story. Your work must be "mechanically" solid. You must edit your work over and over until it is as clean as you can possibly make it. Then, have it edited by a professional editor who has one goal in mind: to make you the best writer you can be. Do not hire an editor who is concerned about your thin skin. Find one who will be critical and will explain why he/she recommended changes.
What would you consider to be the best compliment a reader could give your book?There are many ways that a reader compliments me and my work. Just buying a copy of one of my books is a wonderful compliment. Of course, writing a good review is also gratifying. But nothing gives me more pleasure than when readers tell me they could not put my book down.
What are you working on now?I just finished Payback, a standalone thriller released by Suspense Publishing on May 12. The Carnevale Conspiracy, the 7th book in my Danforth Saga, has been submitted for editorial review by the publisher. I am currently in final edit of Everything to Lose, the 4th book in my Lassiter/Martinez Case Files series. This series features two female homicide detectives who investigate dangerous, often diabolical cases while dealing with personal issues that would defeat most people.
PAYBACK 
 When Bruno Pedace learns that his investment banking partners are setting him up to take the fall for their own corrupt practices, he does what he has always done—run away. But the documents he takes with him put a target on his back. He changes his name and, for nine years, goes underground, until an assassin tracks him down in California and badly injures him.
Befriended by Janet Jenkins, a courageous woman who works in a battered women’s shelter, Bruno, for the first time in his life, with Janet’s help, fights back. He constructs an ingenious financial scheme to get payback for the crimes perpetrated by his former partners.
In PAYBACK, award-winning, Amazon #1 best-selling author Joseph Badal weaves a story about a sympathetic protagonist who, when pushed too far, finally pushes back. This is a story about revenge that includes assassins, corrupt Wall Street investment bankers, a Mafia capo, Asian gangs, and heroic cops. And, to top it all off, it is a story about friendship and love.


“Payback has everything: an intriguing, single-minded protagonist; cunningly evil bad guys; well-drawn settings; a possible romance; and, best of all, a complex plot based on dark revenge. Author Badal never runs short of clever ways to challenge readers' assumptions as the absorbing, action-filled plot brilliantly unfolds.”-- Anne Hillerman, New York Times best-selling author
“Badal's expertise in the world of high finance shines in this gripping story. With a finely tuned, fast-paced plot, the narrative in PAYBACK hurtles forward to a satisfying conclusion. Highly recommended.” --Sheldon Siegel. New York Times and Amazon best-selling author of THE DREAMER.


JUSTICE (The Curtis Chronicles #3)
Amazon #1 Best-selling author, Joseph Badal, delivers “Justice,” the third in his Curtis Chronicles series, with the same relentless tension that is a trademark of his award-winning suspense novels.
In “Justice,” Matt and Renee Curtis return, along with their maniacal tormentor, Lonnie Jackson. On a trip to Costa Rica with their friends Esteban and Alani Maldonado, Matt and Renee believe they are beyond Jackson’s reach. They soon find out how wrong they are, however, when Jackson orchestrates the kidnapping of Renee and Alani and transports them to his human trafficking headquarters located in Nicaragua.
Matt and Esteban recruit former special operations soldiers living in Costa Rica to help them rescue their wives, sending readers on an action-packed journey.
As with all of Badal’s novels, “Justice” is a bold and complex thriller. It weaves an intricate plot involving multiple international locations, a human trafficking organization, the CIA, Special Operations, corrupt politicians, Bulgarian organized crime figures, Swiss bankers, and a compelling cast of engaging, inspiring, and diabolical characters.
The Curtis Chronicles is an epic series that delves into the age-old conflict between good and pure evil, where each book leaves you begging for more.
"Another thrill ride by acclaimed suspense author Joseph Badal. It's relentless from start to finish. Badal just gets better and better."--David Morrell, New York Times Bestselling Author of "Murder As a Fine Art"
"'Natural Causes' by Joseph Badal is a first-rate thriller, a powerhouse of a story that will keep you turning the pages into the wee hours. The pacing is relentless, with a sense of menace that grows almost unbearable. Lassiter and Martinez are two homicide detectives for the ages. I loved it!"--Douglas Preston, #1 Bestselling Coauthor of the Famed Pendergast Series 5
Website: http://www.josephbadalbooks.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joseph.badal.5Twitter: @JoeBadal
 Instagram: joseph_badal

Robert Crawford talks about Tatterdemalion and The Doll Maker

Welcome to writer Robert Crawford!
      Tell us about your life outside of writing.There’s really not a helluva lot to tell. Probably moreso than most in our craft, I identify as a writer. The way I have my pattern set up now, I’m a political blogger by day and a novelist by night. I aggregate news and so forth, write political commentary on my blog then when I go to bed at night. I write my fiction. I used to enjoy following the Red Sox in the spring and the New England Patriots in the winter but with the pandemic, all sports have been put on hiatus.

Do you have a work in progress?LOL! A good writer always has irons in the fire. Like you, I’m juggling multiple series. Yet, since beginning the first book in the Scott Carson series in November 2012, that’s been the one series that’s occupied most of my fiction-writing time. In fact, I even started a spin-off from one of the characters. Last spring, I’d finished the first draft of a new series taking place in contemporary Wisconsin entitled The River Never Speaks, the first in a trilogy that I’m currently shopping around various publishers and literary agencies. Yet of all my protagonists, Scott Carson speaks to me most readily and in an Old New York English that greatly appeals to me. He’s primarily a 19th century character who keeps finding himself in the middle of one murder mystery or another. In Tatterdemalion, Carson basically gets hog-tied into going to Whitechapel by Buffalo Bill Cody to hunt down Jack the Ripper.The book on which I’m working now and have been every day since March 14th is tentatively entitled Nemesis, which, although I’ve written and started other sequels to Tatterdemalion, is what I call a “direct sequel” because, while it picks up 12 years after the events of that seminal novel, it actually spans over two decades when Jack the Ripper, whom Scott thought had died at the end of the first book, comes back for revenge. So, yes, while I have many irons in the fire at all times, I also have to regrettably admit that for every novel I complete, there are six or seven others I never do or have yet to complete.
What was the most difficult section/piece you ever wrote? What made it difficult?Two scenes spring to mind and there were both death scenes. I had to kill off a character in my novel, American Zen . There really was no way around it. The rest of the story as it had to be told would’ve been impossible to tell without that death. But it was a character to whom I’d really grown emotionally attached and as I wrote his death scene, I admit, I cried a little after I drafted it out. I really grew to love that guy.The second is Mary Kelly’s death near the end of Tatterdemalion. No spoiler there because she was Jack the Ripper’s final victim. But early in the book, she enters the story applying for a cook position working for Bill’s team and then eventually becomes almost like a member of the team and even goes on an operation with them to try to flush out Jack the Ripper. Carson, a 21 year-old lab rat who actually invented moving pictures working for Buffalo Bill’s show in 1887, falls madly in love with her. Her death is obviously a major dramatic spike in the book, probably the biggest, and that and the denouement not only determines the course of the rest of the story, it completely alters the trajectory of Carson’s life and even basic psychology in that and well into the series.My WIP, Nemesis, replaces his ongoing guilt with a need for vengeance when he realizes he didn’t actually take Jack the Ripper’s life. Yet that still leaves the death of Mary Kelly, the love of Scott’s life, unavenged. So the two take turns being predator and prey as they stalk each other well into the 1920’s when Carson goes to Hollywood to become a cameraman.
What sort of research do you do for your work?Well, because I’m always operating on a shoestring budget, I can’t go traveling like other authors used to before the pandemic hit. So I’m restricted to the internet and getting my historical data from trusted sites. When that doesn’t give me the depth of research I need, I also go to Amazon and get affordable books that expound at much greater lengths and depth for my research. I once bought an 800 page book about the history of Central Park for another sequel I was writing ( The Doll Maker , which takes place 5-6 months after Tatterdemalion.), even though I only wound up using maybe 1% of the information in the book.
Which books and authors do you read for pleasure? Is there an author that inspires you?I read literally dozens of authors for pleasure, too many to name. I’m in the middle of Anne Holt’s 1222 , which is actually the eighth entry her Hanne Wilhelmsen series. Before that, I’d read the first in a startling new series by Swedish author Niklas Natt och Dag, The Wolf and the Watchman , which takes place in the filthy, corrupt and incredibly dangerous world of 1793 Stockholm. And, of course, I’m currently enjoying your Death Without Honor on my Kindle.But since you’re asking me to name any that actually inspire me, I’d have to say Caleb Carr. His Alienist and Angel of Darkness duology (third entry was supposed to come out last September then it mysteriously got pushed back three years, so I don’t know what the hell’s going on with that.), Carr showed me the rich world of late 19th century New York City, which not only got me interested in historical psychological thrillers but also in the history of my home town. He also showed the literary possibilities of genre fiction. Since reading The Alienist for the first time in 1996 (exactly a century after the story takes place), I’d harbored a desire to write a comparable novel. It took me over 16 years to find the right story. Tatterdemalion wouldn’t have been possible without Caleb Carr and his Alienist epics.
Was there a person who encouraged you to write?There were several, hardly any of them being in the business. Since 1980, I’d begun writing and later became friends with X. J. Kennedy the poet, novelist and academic. Since 1977, I’d written virtually nothing but poetry and it was Joe Kennedy who’d exhorted me several times during our correspondence to try my hand at prose. 17 years later in 1994, I’d written my first novel (somehow, it got me a literary agent) and, once I’d shown myself that I could write a 100,000 word story from start to finish, I was bitten by the bug and I haven’t stopped since. By 1996 I’d stopped writing poetry for good. I can’t really say that aside from my readers and the occasional author that anyone has given me any real encouragement aside from the Keep your nose at the grindstone and shoulder to the wheel bromides that are cheaper than talk usually is. There have been a few bestselling novelists who have helped and encouraged me on Facebook such as Alex Shaw, Jenny Milchman, Ruth Downie, Noel Hynd and precious few others. But bestselling authors always stop short of introducing you to their agent without reading your work, which they also never seem to have time for. Essentially, it’s usually the same old story of elitists who look down their noses at self-published and indie authors like us. And that’s fine. It’s not as if I need their encouragement, anyway. Stephen Crane once wrote about “the itch in the fingers” and that about sums it up perfectly. There are those who want to write and there are the ones who need to. I’m the latter. Writing is intellectual respiration for me.
Tatterdemalion "In the fog-slicked back alleys of 1888 Whitechapel, an unprecedented evil abides. Scotland Yard, Parliament and even the Crown are jittery: Since the Trafalgar Sq occupation and brutal crackdown the year before, confidence in the police has never been lower or the threat of revolution higher as the first City Council elections approach: Opportunism breeds like rats for anarchists and newspapermen recklessly exploiting the murders for their own political and financial ends. Desperate for a solution, Queen Victoria grants harried Chief Inspector Fred Abberline her permission to use legendary showman Buffalo Bill and his friends Annie Oakley, Sitting Bull and others to bring Jack the Ripper to ground, all of whom having their own motives for doing so. Vividly narrated by Cody’s young official cinematographer Scott Carson, Tatterdemalion is the tale of how Buffalo Bill’s posse, aided by Sigmund Freud, Arthur Conan-Doyle and his real-life Baker Street Irregulars pursued history’s most elusive serial killer. By the harrowing conclusion, no one in this ad hoc investigatory team will ever see innocence the same way as these legends use 19th century frontier justice and modern science on, in Carson’s words, an emerging 20th century evil, 'rendering redundant the necessity of embellishment or dramatization.'”https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R9NVK7B
The Doll Maker
      "Jack the Ripper was just the beginning.
      In 1889 New York, 22 year-old Scott Carson retreats to his parents’ basement on 69th Street. Unwilling to venture back into the world, the reclusive engineering genius is still licking his wounds after winning his final battle with Jack the Ripper and trying to reassemble his shattered psyche. Then his friend Jacob Riis, desperate to get him back into the land of the living, shows him a photograph given to him by a detective that seems to be of a dead girl sitting on the lap of an adult hidden by a shroud.     Carson quickly realizes this person who’d had delivered the photo to NYPD HQ on Mulberry Street may be a more advanced photographer than him and his interest is piqued. Riis introduces him to this detective, Angelo Delmonico (of the famous restauranteur family) and he finds the scientific-minded detective and he are of a similar mind regarding this new killer. Together with teenager Kelley McCarthy, a pioneering female urban explorer 'who goes where even the rats don’t go', the trio chase an ingenious and elusive serial killer who is murdering little girls and turning them into human dolls."https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FTV8C5X?ref_=pe_3052080_276849420

Amazon author page- https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B008MMC2P4Facebook author page-https://www.facebook.com/RobertCrawford59/Facebook wall- https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100014835313550Facebook author group- https://www.facebook.com/groups/1976477142420097/Twitter accounts- @MikeFlannigan59, @Cinemaboy88, @KindleindaWindTatterdemalion product page- https://www.amazon.com/Tatterdemalion-Veracious-Account-Buffalo-Ripper/dp/1096466880The Doll Maker product page- https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FTV8C5X
MassWriter (@KindleindaWind) | TwitterThe latest Tweets from MassWriter (@KindleindaWind). Thriller author, political blogger, unpaid but highly-motiv...

Victoria LK Williams presents Murder for Neptune's Trident and Mist Across the Waves

Welcome author Victoria LK Williams!

I write what I like to call  Cozy Mysteries with a Tropical Twist.  My series are set in small South Florida towns, with fun characters and a dog/cat or two.  Two of my series are cozy paranormal mysteries.
You can find me writing from our South Florida home, looking into the garden, watching the birds and squirrels fight over their next meal while I write. My two cats, Miss Marple, and Fletch, often join me at the desk and each has their assigned spot. I'm not sure they are there to supervise my writing or watch the birds.Victoria and my husband of 37 years share a love of gardening, and together we have written a gardening handbook for Florida gardeners. We are now empty-nesters, which gives me plenty of time to dream up the next story.Until then, you can read any of my current titles in the  Citrus Beach Mystery  series,  Sister Station  series,  Storm Voices  series,  Mrs. Avery's Adventures  series. And the new  Beach House Mysteries !
Tell us about your life outside of writing.Outside of writing, I spent my days in the garden. No, really, I do. I own and run a landscape gardening business where I design, install, and maintain small gardens, container gardens, and refurbish tired landscapes. I then come home to my hubby and two cats. We are generally homebodies, and spend time in the pool, reading and of course writing. I have a grown son who recently got married, so we are true empty-nesters.
Do you have a work in progress?Yes, I am currently working on book 4 (of 6) in my Beach House Mystery series. I am so in love with this series. It's about murder, mermaid legends, and some great characters. The series is paranormal cozy and quite different from my other series.
What was the most difficult section/piece you ever wrote? What made it difficult?In book 1 of the Beach House Mystery series, Mist at the Beach House, I killed off one of my more important characters. This was the first time I've ever killed a character that wasn't a victim or villain. I'm not ashamed to admit I cried as I wrote the scene.
 What sort of research do you do for your work?I research titles, to be sure mine is unique, then I try to find at least one thing that is unusual that will blend in with the story. It could be a piece of history, a weapon, or a legend. I use Pinterest to capture a lot of what I'm looking into using in the story.
Which books and authors do you read for pleasure?Hands down, my favorite author is Nora Roberts, followed closely by Agatha Christie. From there, I read authors I know to support them, and after that, it's whatever catches my attention.
Was there a person who encouraged you to write? Not one person, but a group of 20! I was in a business group, and we were all talking about what we would love to do if there was nothing to hold us back. I didn't even think the words pop out, surprising even me. "I want to write a book and have one stranger read it." That group of friends asked me constantly (nagged!) how the writing was going. Finally, I sat down and started writing Murder for Neptune's Trident (Citrus Beach Mystery series). That was six years and 18 books ago. I am very thankful for their encouragement and support.

              Murder For Neptune's Trident
My First Book (free): https://books2read.com/CitrusBeachMystery-1

Who killed JJ Travels? What does it have to do with Neptune's Trident?
A simple errand for a client leads Megan Cassidy into more trouble than she could have ever thought possible.
Before she knows what has happened, she’s a witness to a murder and a target for bullets and speeding trucks.
Who knew there could be so much going on in this little southern town, where your neighbors watched your back and "Mom & Pop" businesses populated Main Street?
When FBI Consultant, Aiden Tory, arrives to solve the murder, Megan pushes her way into the investigation. Together, they discover JJ hid secrets about their tropical paradise. Secrets that got him killed.
With her dog, Barney, helping to sniff out clues, they follow the leads, discovering the past can come back to haunt you.

Mist Across the Waves My latest book (preorder): https://books2read.com/BeachHouseMystery-2
Morgan knew she didn't want to go out to sea...now she knew why.

The simple act of a surprise birthday party brings trouble from the depths off Pearl Island, and Morgan is forced to solve a murder and confront the threat to the island. It's her destiny to protect Pearl Island, and it's residence, just as it's Cora's destiny to try and destroy Morgan.

The sea witch is full of trickery and malice as she tries to lure a group of ocean salvage divers with the promise of gifts from the sea. But Morgan, with the help of her friends Gabe Holleran and the Colbright sisters, plans her own sleight-of-hand.

Who will win this battle? As Morgan tries to find the murderer, she also finds more about the history of Pearl Island and the roles the Seaver Family has played in the battles against the tricks and deceptions of the sea witch.

Website:  https://www.VictoriaLKWilliams.comAmazon Author Page:  https://www.amazon.com/Victoria-LK-Williams/e/B00FCVOINMBooks2Read: https://books2read.com/ap/xL5O9R/Victoria-LK-WilliamsBookBub:  https://www.bookbub.com/authors/victoria-lk-williamsPinterest:  https://www.pinterest.com/vlkwcbm/Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7314336.Victoria_L_K_WilliamsFacebook Author Page:  https://www.facebook.com/SunSandandStoriesPublishing/Twitter:  https://twitter.com/CitrusBeachMystGoogle Play:  https://play.google.com/store/books/author?id=Victoria+LK+Williams Blog: Pen in hand, words on page:  https://wordpress.com/view/victorialkwilliams.blogLinked In:  www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-lk-williams-426a399