Effrosyni Moschoudi's Blog, page 50

An interview with Mike Markel

Today, it is an honor to present to you one of the gems of the writer group, eNovel Authors at Work.  Mike Markel is a man of many talents. A university professor by day, he writes dark detective stories in his spare time and has also published a few books on Technical Communication. His Detectives Seagate and Miner Mystery series features a troubled anti-heroine: Detective Karen Seagate is foul-mouthed, cynical, rude, depressed, and insubordinate. The first volume in the series, Big Sick Heart, was awarded the Book of the Month award from Pacific Book Review in 2010, when it was first published.

By now, Mike has delighted his fans with 3 more volumes in this series. Read on to find out all about them! In the interview that follows, you’ll find an author who’s gifted with wit and humor. Mike was an absolute delight to interview!

 

DISCOVER the Detectives Seagate and Miner Mystery series

 

Big Sick Heart (Volume 1)

Bad decisions have finally caught up with police detective Karen Seagate. Her drinking has destroyed her marriage and hurt her job performance, and the chief is looking for any excuse to fire her. Still, she and her new partner, a young Mormon guy who seems to have arrived from another century or another planet, intend to track down whoever killed Arlen Hagerty, the corrupt leader of Soul Savers. Clawing his way to the top, Hagerty created plenty of enemies, including his wife, his mistress, his debate partner, the organization’s founder, and the politician he was blackmailing. When Seagate causes a car crash that sends a young girl to Intensive Care, the chief thinks he finally has his opportunity. But even the chief can’t believe what Seagate does when she finally catches the killer.

 

 

 

Deviations (Volume 2)

Former police detective Karen Seagate is drinking herself to oblivion and having dangerous sex with losers from the bar when the new police chief tracks her down. The brutal rape and murder of a state senator by a lone-wolf extremist gives Seagate a chance to return to the department, but the new chief has set down some rules, and Seagate is not good with rules. At this point, she is just trying to stay alive. With nothing left to lose and nobody left to trust—not even her partner, Ryan—Seagate goes off the grid to find the killer. She doesn’t care that she will be fired again. She has much bigger problems, now that she has been captured inside the neo-Nazi compound.

 

 

 

 

The Broken Saint (Volume 3)

Seagate and Miner investigate the murder of Maricel Salizar, a young Filipino exchange student at Central Montana State. The most obvious suspect is the boyfriend, who happens to have gang connections. And then there’s Amber, a fellow student who’s obviously incensed at Maricel for a sexual indiscretion involving Amber’s boyfriend. But the evidence keeps leading Seagate and Miner back to the professor, an LDS bishop who hosted her in his dysfunctional home. Seagate takes it in stride that the professor can’t seem to tell the truth about his relationship with the victim, but her devout partner, Ryan Miner, believes that a high-ranking fellow Mormon who violates a sacred trust deserves special punishment.

 

 

 

Three-Ways  (Volume 4) FREE till Friday!

When grad student Austin Sulenka is found strangled, nude on his bed, the first question for Detectives Seagate and Miner is whether it was an auto-asphyxiation episode gone wrong. Evidence strewn around his small apartment suggests that he spent his last night with a number of different women. One was Tiffany, a former student who still resented the injustice of getting a C in the course when he promised her a B if she slept with him. Another was Austin’s beautiful girlfriend, May, who had never before encountered a man she could not totally beguile. Then there was his thesis adviser, Suzannah Montgomery, who might have inadvertently revealed to Austin some information about her past that could ruin her own career. These three women and their other partners had plenty of reasons to kill the philandering graduate student. As Detective Karen Seagate and her partner try to unravel the complicated couplings, she finds herself in a three-way relationship that threatens to destroy her own fragile sobriety.

 

 

STOP THE PRESS: THREE-WAYS IS FREE ON AMAZON TODAY (until Friday, October 17).

GRAB YOUR COPY HERE

 

Hello Mike and welcome to my blog!

Thank you Fros; I’m delighted to be here!

You know, I’m intrigued that a university teacher by day should write dark detective mysteries! Do you see yourself in any of your characters, or do any of them have traits you wish you had?

I made my protagonist a woman (which I am not) and gave her a significant drinking problem (which I don’t have) so that she wouldn’t become too much like me. But despite my best efforts, she’s foul-mouthed, depressed, insubordinate, and unwise—just like me.

What genres do you read mostly, and what are you reading now?

I usually read serious fiction, not crime books like the ones I write. I’m too impressionable and insecure to read other crime writers. I’d either end up writing like them because they’re better than I am, or I’d toss my laptop out the window, and laptops can be pretty expensive.

(chuckles) I bet! Do you have any advice for other indie authors?

Try to figure out why you want to be a writer. If it’s to make money or become famous, that’s probably a longshot. Don’t even bother. If it’s to express yourself, write but don’t publish it. If you need to write and be read in order to be happy, then I guess you should become an indie author. But don’t count on it working. Frankly, I find the whole process horrible. I’m preparing my fifth novel now.

I think every indie author will agree that the procedure is horrid. But I guess doing what we love makes the turmoil worth it… Choose a male and a female character from your book and tell us which actor/actress you’d wish to play them in a film adaptation.

Like all pre-famous writers, I wistfully think about someone turning my books into movies. My protagonist, Detective Karen Seagate, is definitely Sandra Bullock. Her partner, Detective Ryan Miner, is Bradley Cooper. Would you mind getting in touch with them for me? For some reason, my phone numbers for them don’t seem to be working.

Both favorites of mine! Sorry, I don’t have their numbers on me. I left them in my other phone book (laughs). Do you listen to music while you write and if so, what kind?

When I’m drafting, I listen to jazz, usually Miles Davis. When I revise and edit, I listen to classical music, usually Bach, Mahler, Schubert, Brahms, and Beethoven. I love Tchaikovsky but I can’t listen to him while I’m working because the melodies are too strong and I stop working.

Jazz and classical, huh? How extraordinary! Usually, authors tell me they go for pop or rock. I guess it depends on the genre… Tell us, if you could have one superpower what would it be?

I already have it. I’m StubbornMan. I think my books are good, and many of my readers seem to agree. Although I haven’t yet hit it big, I’m going to keep at it because I’m StubbornMan.

Hey, that’s a great superpower! I’m a firm believer that stubborness (or in other words, perseverance) is the best compass to finding success. What has been the most important lesson you’ve learnt so far in life the hard way?

I haven’t learned anything the hard way. I’m a university teacher, and I write detective books on the side. I haven’t had a real job since I worked as a lifeguard in the summers when I attended college. I don’t know anyone who’s had it easier than I have.

Thank you, Mike. It’s been a pleasure having you and good luck with Three-Ways. I’m sure your fans will lap it right up!

Thank you Fros. I hope your readers will take advantage of the opportunity to download Three-Ways during the promotion. It will remain FREE on Amazon till this Friday. Best of luck with your writing!

 

Who is Mike Markel?

Mike Markel teaches writing at Boise State University and is the author of many articles and eight books about writing and literature. He also writes the Detectives Seagate and Miner Mystery series, which is set in the fictional small city of Rawlings, Montana, home of Central Montana State University. That university is somewhat like Boise State University, but in Rawlings the weather is colder, the football team less successful, and the murder rate much, much higher. Mike lives with his wife in Boise.

Check him out on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Mike-Markel/e/B001HD1MTC/

Follow Mike on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mike-Markel-mystery-writer/111910452241789

Read Mike’s tweets: https://twitter.com/mikemarkel

Visit Mike’s website: http://mikemarkel.com

Mike is a member of eNovel Authors at Work: http://enovelauthorsatwork.com/mike-markel/

Multi-Author Spotlight Tour: Featured Author, Carmen De Sousa

Earlier this week, I featured author Dale Furse and her amazing fantasy series, Wexkia (note by the way, that the first book, Curse, is FREE on Amazon till today October 11th, so don’t miss out!)

Today, the same multi-author spotlight tour from BPIC Promotions is featuring the lovely Carmen De Sousa. I just read the blurb for Creatus and found it absolutely mystifying! If you enjoy fantasy or romance, chances are you’ll feel the same. Her other book, She belongs to Me, is already on my TBR list. I just had to grab that for my reading pleasure when I discovered it earlier on.

I do wish I had the time this week to feature also the other two terrific writers of eNovel Authors at Work, Amy Vansant and Christine Gabriel. But please don’t let my limited time deprive you from your reading pleasure! All you have to do is click on the tour banner and find out all about these authors too by visiting their tour stops on other blogs.

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway at the bottom of this post for a chance to win awesome goodies!

 

Click the banner to see a list of all the tour stops!


Meet the eBook Your Escape Authors



Carmen DeSousa

A romantic-suspense writer, my stories overflow with romance, mystery, suspense, a hint of paranormal sometimes, and of course, tragedy. After all, what would a great story be without a tragic event setting the stage? All of my novels are sensual, but not erotic, gripping but not graphic and will make you cry, laugh, love, and hope. Although some of my titles clearly include supernatural or ghostly beings, my writing dances on the edge of the paranormal, in a genre referred to as magical realism. My hope is that as you read my stories, you’ll wonder, “Hmmm…what if?”

 

 

Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ Website

 

 

Dale Furse

Dale has enjoyed many creative pursuits including playing guitar and singing in a band, acting and directing in theatre, writing novels, short stories, plays, songs and poems.

She also reads any genre so long as it’s a good story. Her writing is the highly imaginative, interweaving of Science Fiction and Fantasy where she forges tales that also take on an Action Adventure feel. After over thirty years of writing, she still delights in her journeys to unknown places, meeting unheard-of peoples.

Dale loves her family, friends and the wonderful people who read her stories.



Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ Website

 

 

Christine Gabriel

Christine Gabriel, a diehard Buckeye fan, grew up in the small farming community of Monroeville, Ohio where she spent much of her time writing imaginative stories. She has spent the last ten years managing a financial institution in Norwalk, Ohio in which she’s learned that compassion and love are her greatest gifts to give to others.

She has a small tribe of children who have become her biggest fans and most honest critics. She’s an avid animal lover and has been known to bring home a stray to cuddle with her while she writes. She’s also deathly afraid of earthworms and will cross the street in order to avoid one on the sidewalk. She loves vanilla coffee and can’t begin her morning without it, even knowing that doing so has consequential effects that could potentially cause a Zombie Apocalypse.

Christine’s most important view is that her readers are able to escape out of their realities and enjoy a little piece of her imagination. She holds each one of her readers close to her heart and loves them as if they were one her dearest friends. She currently resides in Norwalk, Ohio where she’s working on Crimson Moon, Book Two of The Crimson Chronicles series.

 

Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ Website

 

Amy Vansant

Amy Vansant is the author of the urban fantasy “Angeli – The Pirate, the Angel & the Irishman,” the first in a series scheduled to continue Jan. 2015, assuming Amy gets over this whole “need to sleep” hang-up.

Currently, she is finishing the romantic comedy “Slightly Stalky.”

Amy also served as the editor and one of the 26 authors of the humor anthology “Moms are Nuts,” which has been on Amazon’s best-sellers lists since its publication in April 2014.

Amy the former East Coast Editor of SURFER Magazine and freelance writer published in Modern Maturity, Caribbean Travel and Life, Yankee, Chesapeake Bay Magazine, McSweeney’s Internet Tendencies, Barnes and Noble Review and others. Long ago she wrote “The Surfer’s Guide to Florida,” which is currently out of print because the urge to drive up and down the coast interviewing surfers has long since left her.

She is a labradoodle mommy and professional nerd.

 

Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ Website

 

 

Carmen DeSousa

 

 

Creatus (They Exist): The Prequel

Creatus Series, Book 0

For four thousand years, creatus have concealed themselves from the humans who hunted them almost to extinction. Unwittingly, one creatus will endanger them all…

As with most of his family, Derrick Ashton knows his future and what position he’s destined to fill within his unique society. Everything changes, however, when he breaks one of his family’s strictest laws and falls in love–with a human.

In his quest to protect the woman he can never have, a twist of faith propels him into a new role that will cause dissension among his family and endanger the anonymity that they’ve strived for thousands of years to protect.

Now, he will risk everything to save the girl from humans and his own kind. The one thing he can’t save her from, however…is herself.

The Creatus Series is not your normal paranormal story…it’s a realistic romantic mystery based on the myths you’ve heard your entire life. Prepare to believe.

Amazon






She Belongs to Me: A Southern Romantic-Suspense Novel
Charlotte – Book One


A passionate romantic-suspense of love, betrayal, and obsession, She Belongs to Me will have you falling in love and wondering if you can trust anyone right up to the last page.

Charlotte police officer Jordan Monroe is used to being in control. Ever since his father died, he has provided for his mother and sisters and even hired his two brothers-in-law to help run his successful construction company. On a chance business trip, however, he meets the one person who throws his life into a whirlwind–Jaynee.

Jaynee has lived a tragic life and has sworn off all men. That is until a rugged southern gentleman lands in her seating area, refusing to take no for an answer. From the moment they meet, Jordan sweeps her off her feet, assuring her that happiness exists. But can she really escape her past?

Five years later, Jordan finds Jaynee on their back porch with a gunshot wound to the head. While Jaynee lies in a coma, Jordan has to go back to their beginning and figure out what went wrong. Did he push his wife to the edge, or has her past come back to haunt them?

 

Amazon

 

There are five books in my Southern Romantic-Suspense Collection. She Belongs to Me can be read anywhere in the collection, as long as you read before Charlotte Two. Find the whole series on Amazon!

 

 

Books by Carmen DeSousa
 
Creatus (They Exist): The Prequel, Creatus #0.5
She Belongs to Me: A Southern Romantic-Suspense Novel – Charlotte – Book One


Books by Dale Furse
 
Curse, Book 1 ~ Amazon US ~ Amazon AU
Secret, Book 2 ~ Amazon US ~ Amazon AU
Justice, Book 3 ~ Amazon US ~ Amazon AU

 

Books by Christine Gabriel

Crimson Forest (The Crimson Chronicles, Book 1)

 

Books by Amy Vansant

Angeli: The Pirate, The Angle & The Irishman, Book 1

So what or who is #eNovAaW?

eNovel Authors at Work is a group of indie authors who believe in paying it forward…

We are dedicated to helping one another to understand the challenges facing writers in the digital universe.

Everything we discover will find its way into these pages, to help authors and readers alike to navigate the ever-changing world of books.

Our goal is all about THE BOOK. We help each other to get our books noticed and expand our audiences. Indie Publishing is constantly changing, and we do our best stay informed.

Our members can participate in individual and group promotions.

Whether an author has published one book or ten, success requires diligence, dedication, and focus. We don’t know all the answers, but we are learning who to ask, who to listen to, and how best to use the tools available to sell BOOKS.

While we respect an author’s choice in what he or she writes, we do not promote erotica, gratuitous sex, or violence.

Right here is where you can subscribe to our newsletter (at the top of the sidebar on any page). eNovel Authors will only land in your mailbox when a good book is free 99 cents or a special deal . Now and again we’ll tell you about a new release, a blog hop, or a book we discovered that made us laugh or cry or dream.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

 

Book Review: Chasing Athens by Marissa Tejada

 Ava Martin leaves New York to start a new life with her husband in Athens, Greece. She settles well in this unknown world, learning the language and the eccentricities of life in the Greek capital while making new precious friends. It all looks like a fairy tale except disaster strikes when she least expects it. Her husband leaves their apartment out of the blue, announcing he wants a divorce. Ava is devastated but also torn. Should she head back home to her mother and try to pick up the pieces of her former life in New York or stay in this foreign city that she’s come to love so much?

Aided by her two closest Greek friends, she decides to stay for a while and give this new life a chance. With their support she does well, getting a job as a nanny while sampling the nightlife and the flirting habits of the Greek single male. When she winds up in Mykonos on a short break, the spitting image of George Clooney storms into her life to overwhelm her and her fragile emotional state even more.

I found this book to be an absolute delight. Full of hilarious episodes and peppered with humorous quips throughout, it makes a typical chick-lit read in this respect. But this book is not just about laughs. It tackles the sensitive issue of abandonment by a parent at a tender age, as well as the themes of heartache, forgiveness and new-found strength. All in all, this book is a gem and I’d recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys women’s fiction, and also wishes to open their eyes to a faraway world. Marissa Tejada does a remarkable job describing life in the city of Athens, as well the beauty of the Greek landscape; not just on the islands but also in the surrounding areas of the city.

I found it incredibly sweet that the author chose to include in the book a staggering amount of Greek phrases. Most of them are quoted needlessly which serves to indicate the author’s love for the language and the Greek people. Over the years, I’ve read a large amount of books written about Greece by non-Greeks. In their vast majority, they’ve been quite critical and at times, hugely unfair. This book makes a lovely change and is one of very few that has managed to speak honestly about the weaknesses of life in Greece without pointing the finger or criticizing. That coupled with the heavy quotation of Greek sentences as I mentioned earlier, makes this a book that predominantly expresses a genuine love for my country, hence promoting in a way, Greece and its culture. I’m already looking forward to this author’s next book. Marissa Tejada is definitely one to look out for!

 

My rating:

5 stars

A delightful chick-lit read that brims over with love for Greece

Do you enjoy romance that combines hilarity with serious undertones?

Then this gem of a book is for you!

Check it out now on Amazon

You may also want to check out the interview of Marissa Tejada on this blog.

Multi-Author Spotlight Tour: Featured Author, Dale Furse

Today, I’m presenting a multi-author tour from Book Partners in Crime Promotions. All four authors belong to the writer group, eNovel Authors at Work. Regular readers of this blog have heard me rave more than once about the benefits of membership in this group. I’ve also been chatting lots recently about the brains and brilliance behind it, the fabulous Jackie Weger. Please join me as to find out all about eNovel’s four terrific writers touring this week. Today’s featured author is Dale Furse and her fascinating, Wexkia trilogy. Note that book1 (Curse) is FREE today on Amazon! Don’t miss out folks!

This coming Saturday, I’ll also be hosting Carmen De Sousa and her breathtaking, Creatus  – a mysterious paranormal romance you won’t want to miss!

Note there’s a giveaway at the bottom of the post. There are some remarkable goodies up for grabs, so make sure to have a go! Good luck, peeps!

 

 

Click the banner to see a list of all the tour stops!


Meet the eBook Your Escape Authors

 

Dale Furse

Dale has enjoyed many creative pursuits including playing guitar and singing in a band, acting and directing in theatre, writing novels, short stories, plays, songs and poems.

She also reads any genre so long as it’s a good story. Her writing is the highly imaginative, interweaving of Science Fiction and Fantasy where she forges tales that also take on an Action Adventure feel. After over thirty years of writing, she still delights in her journeys to unknown places, meeting unheard-of peoples.

Dale loves her family, friends and the wonderful people who read her stories.



Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ Website

 

 

Christine Gabriel

Christine Gabriel, a diehard Buckeye fan, grew up in the small farming community of Monroeville, Ohio where she spent much of her time writing imaginative stories. She has spent the last ten years managing a financial institution in Norwalk, Ohio in which she’s learned that compassion and love are her greatest gifts to give to others.

She has a small tribe of children who have become her biggest fans and most honest critics. She’s an avid animal lover and has been known to bring home a stray to cuddle with her while she writes. She’s also deathly afraid of earthworms and will cross the street in order to avoid one on the sidewalk. She loves vanilla coffee and can’t begin her morning without it, even knowing that doing so has consequential effects that could potentially cause a Zombie Apocalypse.

Christine’s most important view is that her readers are able to escape out of their realities and enjoy a little piece of her imagination. She holds each one of her readers close to her heart and loves them as if they were one her dearest friends. She currently resides in Norwalk, Ohio where she’s working on Crimson Moon, Book Two of The Crimson Chronicles series.

 

Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ Website

 

Amy Vansant

Amy Vansant is the author of the urban fantasy “Angeli – The Pirate, the Angel & the Irishman,” the first in a series scheduled to continue Jan. 2015, assuming Amy gets over this whole “need to sleep” hang-up.

Currently, she is finishing the romantic comedy “Slightly Stalky.”

Amy also served as the editor and one of the 26 authors of the humor anthology “Moms are Nuts,” which has been on Amazon’s best-sellers lists since its publication in April 2014.

Amy the former East Coast Editor of SURFER Magazine and freelance writer published in Modern Maturity, Caribbean Travel and Life, Yankee, Chesapeake Bay Magazine, McSweeney’s Internet Tendencies, Barnes and Noble Review and others. Long ago she wrote “The Surfer’s Guide to Florida,” which is currently out of print because the urge to drive up and down the coast interviewing surfers has long since left her.

She is a labradoodle mommy and professional nerd.



Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ Website

 

Carmen DeSousa

A romantic-suspense writer, my stories overflow with romance, mystery, suspense, a hint of paranormal sometimes, and of course, tragedy. After all, what would a great story be without a tragic event setting the stage? All of my novels are sensual, but not erotic, gripping but not graphic and will make you cry, laugh, love, and hope. Although some of my titles clearly include supernatural or ghostly beings, my writing dances on the edge of the paranormal, in a genre referred to as magical realism. My hope is that as you read my stories, you’ll wonder, “Hmmm…what if?”

 

Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ Website

 

 

 

 

Dale Furse

 

 

The Wexkia Trilogy
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction and Fantasy

 

Buy at Amazon US

Buy at Amazon AU

Book 1: Curse

(Free 10/7-10/11)

Nell’s family reveals the frightening truth of her alien heritage. If that information wasn’t frightening enough, Nell’s life somersaults as ever-increasing evidence proves her family wrong.

She is something else.

With friend Sam by her side, she travels to an alien world where she must defend herself against her enemies and find a secret book that contains the truth about her ancestry – whatever that may be!

Author, Dale Furse takes us on a fantastic adventure to a world inhabited by bizarre beings. Confused by her life-changing experiences and facing an uncertain future, who can Nell trust to help her?

 

Buy at Amazon US

Buy at Amazon AU

Book 2: Secret

Who was responsible for the extinction of the wexkians?

In the sequel to Curse, Book 1 of the Wexkia trilogy, Nell embarks on a double quest: to find the missing pages of the Book of Wexkia and to locate the incarcerated Shahs – a wexkian just like her – but will she discover who caused extermination of her ancestors? With faithful friends in tow and surrounded by unseen enemies, she travels to the worlds of Corl, Linque and Gramlax where she hopes to find the answers to her endless questions.

But as Nell learns to control her growing powers, who can she trust? Will the risks she takes to unlock the secret of her race’s origins and expose the true adversary lead to war?

Using her vivid imagination, author Dale Furse, once again transports us to a world of bizarre beings and fantastic scenery, as we join Nell and her friends on their alien adventure.

 

 

Just Released!
Book 3: Justice
The final installment in the Wexkia trilogy
Amazon USAmazon AU

 

 

 

Books by Dale Furse
 
Curse, Book 1
Secret, Book 2
Justice, Book 3

 

Books by Christine Gabriel

Crimson Forest (The Crimson Chronicles, Book 1)

 

Books by Amy Vansant

Angeli: The Pirate, The Angle & The Irishman, Book 1

 

Books by Carmen DeSousa
 
Creatus (They Exist): The Prequel, Creatus #0.5
She Belongs to Me: A Southern Romantic-Suspense Novel – Charlotte – Book One

 

So what or who is #eNovAaW?

eNovel Authors at Work is a group of indie authors who believe in paying it forward…

We are dedicated to helping one another to understand the challenges facing writers in the digital universe.

Everything we discover will find its way into these pages, to help authors and readers alike to navigate the ever-changing world of books.

Our goal is all about THE BOOK. We help each other to get our books noticed and expand our audiences. Indie Publishing is constantly changing, and we do our best stay informed.

Our members can participate in individual and group promotions.

Whether an author has published one book or ten, success requires diligence, dedication, and focus. We don’t know all the answers, but we are learning who to ask, who to listen to, and how best to use the tools available to sell BOOKS.

While we respect an author’s choice in what he or she writes, we do not promote erotica, gratuitous sex, or violence.

Right here is where you can subscribe to our newsletter (at the top of the sidebar on any page). eNovel Authors will only land in your mailbox when a good book is free 99 cents or a special deal . Now and again we’ll tell you about a new release, a blog hop, or a book we discovered that made us laugh or cry or dream.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

The secret is out: how to talk to your blog readers

I cannot recall if I’ve mentioned this before but I’ve always been absolutely fascinated by the workings of the human mind (the subconscious in particular). I’ve always loved to read and practice anything that can reveal to me any new tantalising secrets, so over the course of nearly 30 years I’ve researched it all: meditation, affirmations, the Silva Mind Control Method, Neurolinguistic Programming, American self-help books of the early 20th century, self-hypnosis with binaural beats or subliminal messages etc.

Naturally, I’m always on the lookout too for marketing tips based on psychology, and so, when I stumbled upon an article on the subject of wording conventions that affect the mind of readers on a subconscious level, I was inevitably impressed. The article was posted on the site Men With Pens and is titled “9 Clever Writing Tips to Supercharge Your Blog Posts”. I found it greatly beneficial and thought I’d share it with you guys.

Basically, it suggests certain tweaks in our prose, as to liven up our form of address towards readers. They’re meant to make them feel closer to us, as if spoken to in a private conversation. These tricks make sure that what you say sounds more confident and at the same time impresses the mind of your reader and motivates them.

For example, did you know that contractions will make you sound more approachable and friendly?

This should be an interesting read for everyone, but if you’re a blogger, you’ll get the most value out of it. The article’s author, Ali Luke, is a writing coach. You can read her article, here.

If you have any relevant tips, please comment so that we may all benefit. Have a great week, everyone!

Greek chicken Soup with Egg and Lemon Sauce

A few weeks ago, my author friend Jackie Weger mentioned a Greek restaurant that she frequents in the States. She said it serves the most delicious chicken soup and asked me about it. I presumed she meant the Greek version that’s made with a creamy egg and lemon sauce. Other than being unbelievably yummy, this meal is ideal for chilly nights and for people fighting a cold.  As the summer is over and autumn is upon us, I thought the timing is perfect to introduce you all to this classic Greek  recipe.

Jackie, if you’re reading this, I  hope this is what you had in mind!

 

INGREDIENTS

A whole chicken cut in portions

½ cup of rice for soups

1 vegetable stock cube (or chicken stock cube)

2 lemons juiced

1-2 carrots sliced

Celery (a few leaves with their tiny stalks chopped up)

2 eggs (separate them and use 1 yolk and 2 egg whites)

1 small red onion (peeled and left whole)

A dash of olive oil, salt, pepper

 

PREPARATION

Wash the chicken pieces and place them in a pot of boiling water.

Add salt, olive oil, the stock cube, and the onion. Leave to simmer.

Check the chicken after about 45 minutes. When cooked, remove the chicken pieces, place in a platter and sprinkle pepper on top.

You can choose to remove the onion from the pot too or cut it into bits and leave it in.

Throw in the rice, the celery and the carrots and bring to the boil, then let simmer for about 20 minutes, until the rice is soft.

When the rice is done, prepare the egg and lemon sauce:

Beat the egg whites first with a fork or a whisker. Add the yolk, beat some more, then add the lemon slowly while beating.

Collect about half a cup of stock from the pot with a ladle. As you beat the eggs, add the stock SLOWLY.

THIS IS IMPORTANT and the reason is to slowly warm up the eggs.

If they get hot abruptly, the sauce will be ruined (it won’t thicken).

Once the egg mix is warmed up, remove the pot from the heat.

Pour the egg mix all over the soup and mix with a ladle.

Add pepper.

Enjoy with plenty of fresh bread.

NOTE

You can make a meal for 2 people only by using a few chicken bits instead of a whole chicken. For example, for two people, I use 1 whole chicken leg and 2-3 wings, only half a lemon and only 1 egg, as well as half a cup of rice. Bear in mind that most of the yumminess is in the skin, neck, and wings. Another variation I like is to serve the chicken in the soup. I.e. while the rice is boiling, I remove the flesh from the bones, remove the skin too, and at the end, before putting in the sauce, I mix the chicken meat in the pot with the soup.

 

KALI OREXI!!!!

A guaranteed method to gain Twitter followers by the thousands

In the beginning of September I reached the eagerly awaited number of 10,000 Twitter followers. This important milestone was something I’d been expecting for months, since I’d been gaining new followers at a standard pace. Except for a short-lived dip in my performance that I mention at the very end of this post, I’d been gaining anywhere between 1,000-1,200 new followers per month.

Now, when it comes to Twitter, not everyone has the same strategy. Some people, including authors like me, prefer to use this social media platform to build a quiet, familiar community where every single contact is carefully chosen. I surely appreciate the benefits of such an approach, since it’s guaranteed a timeline where it’s easy to find things of interest, and you feel as least estranged as possible towards the stuff you read.

For me, the benefits of such a strategy end there. Actually, to me personally, it’s unheard of to be an online marketer (as every indie author who aspires to success at any level should aim to be), and waste the incredibly powerful marketing tool called Twitter, only to make friends and feel – well basically – cosy.

From the word go, my strategy has been to gain as many followers as possible. This means that I follow back everyone with very few exceptions such as: overly sexy or pornographic accounts as they don’t relate to my brand and generally put me off, profiles that use foul language, profiles that feel weird or awkward and of course, spammers.

Now, I do admit this strategy means I must take the smooth with the rough. Still, the annoyance I occasionally experience from embracing such a motley crew of strangers is something I’m willing to tolerate as I strive to  expand my social media reach.

Other disadvantages of having over 10,000 followers for example can be:

It gets increasingly difficult to keep track. You can’t always manage to respond to your followers’ enquiries, RTs and mentions in a timely manner and to engage as much as you’d like to.


Your timeline becomes a messy tangle of everything and anything under the sun; and if you’re lucky it’ll be stuff you’re indifferent to, as opposed to things that will annoy or offend you. Sometimes it takes me to refresh my home screen repeatedly to find enough tweets that seem interesting or appropriate to RT. Having to wade through so much stuff written by virtual strangers, it also means you’re less likely to find the tweets of your friends or people you’re mostly interested in.

And now, to the strong points of my strategy. Why do I follow everybody back? Why is it so important to me to have a large number of followers?

Well, think about it. If like me, you’re on Twitter to promote a product, then it makes sense to want to appear popular.  Say, next time you send out queries to a bunch of literary agents, don’t you think it would be more impressive to say you have 10K followers as opposed to 300 or even 900? After all, both literary agents and publishers nowadays are looking to associate with authors who understand the online marketing game and who are well-acquainted with social media. So, a large number of followers is an ace up your sleeve and will win you that extra point everytime – as long as you have a good book to sell that is!

The other, obvious advantage of having many Twitter followers is that you can then use Twitter to promote your blog. Your blog is the center of your operations. Without an author platform, how are you going to get hits on it? And please don’t talk to me about Facebook! In case you haven’t heard, it is admittedly a waste of time and money to advertise on it, while Twitter, even with zero costs for advertising can yield a lot more sales given time. I was very lucky to read about this very early on as I designed my marketing strategy, and so I never invested too much of my time on Facebook. By now, I have accumulated just over 500 followers on my FB author page, where I get a measly 0-2 messages (or likes) from strangers interested in my books per month. On Twitter, that’s a daily occurrence.

Now that I have explained my reasoning behind my chosen strategy, I will outline in the following HOW I’ve been steadily increasing my Twitter follower count for the past 10 months.

Interested? Great!

So how do I do it? It’s very simple.

Basically, you need to do these things on a regular basis:

FOLLOW NEW PEOPLE

FOLLOW BACK

UNFOLLOW

ENGAGE

RETWEET

AUTOMATE YOUR TWEETS

I will now explain these one by one, along with the tools I use for some of them. This method is guaranteed to bring you new followers faster than you could ever magine. As I said, this method can yield anywhere between 1,000-1,200 new followers per month. Right now, I have about 10,900 followers (900 more than early September) and counting!

FOLLOW NEW PEOPLE

Once or twice a week, I choose one of my followers and I follow about 70-100 of this person’s followers at a time. The follower I choose has to be someone who mentions and RTs about me regularly, plus they must have the same interests as me (for example, a fellow indie author). Why? Because then their followers will know about me already (since that follower mentions and RTs about me a lot) so they’ll be most likely to follow me back.

FOLLOW BACK

Every 1-3 days, I go to my followers page to spot any new followers and I follow them back. This will diminish the chance that they’ll unfollow me. Some people are impatient and will unfollow you if you don’t follow them back in 24 hours but I don’t let that bother me. If they can’t pay me the courtesy to wait for up to 3 days, I’ll just follow someone else. After all, I’m not a bot! If they got this procedure automated, let them find other bots to befriend, right? Humans sometimes need time.

UNFOLLOW

Unfollowing is basically a clean-up of my follower screen if people haven’t followed me back after a week or more. I give people plenty of time to follow me back. People are not machines! They have sick children, a well-deserved holiday or just too much stress to manage it all in a timely manner. So give people time to follow you back. This practice involves the website JUSTUNFOLLOW.COM which is a lifesaver and dead-easy to use.

Sign on with your Twitter account and when it analyses your follower data it will bring you a screen where on the left column, you will see on top the NON FOLLOWERS. These are the people you want to get rid of and if you have a free account with this site, it will only allow you to unfollow 100 a day (Just keep pressing the little red no entry sign).

What I do, is use this site 1-3 times a week and always leave about 100 non followers in there. This is to ensure that I give everyone enough time to follow back. Normally I use this days after I last followed new people to make sure I don’t unfollow anyone too soon without giving them a fair chance to follow back.

ENGAGE

Every 1-2 days, I go to my NOTIFICATIONS and MENTIONS screens and respond to any enquiries from other tweeps (whether they follow me or not).

I make sure to do a ‘favorite’ on all tweets that have RT’d me, mentioned me, or done an #SO, #FF or #WW for me. I also RT all the tweets there that promote/praise me and fellow authors in some way but take care not to RT duplicates  (otherwise my followers will start to think I’m one vain individual which is definitely not the case).

Important: whoever asks me to RT for them, I always do, as long as it’s not a spam message.

I  may also RT but never click the links when people ask me to check out their book or new music track as soon as they follow me. That’s just bad manners (if not a sign of their false sense of self-importance!) and I hope to goodness they finally see the light and stop annoying people like that.

Let me tell you something: Twitter is just like the real world. You wouldn’t go up to someone at a party to introduce yourself and say “Hi! I’m a writer and here’s my book. Read it and tell your friends about it.”

Hello? Who does that? Noone will give a rat’s tail about your book when they first meet you. Be a friend instead. Talk about the weather. Swap pet photos. Show interest in them and their lives and then they might grow interested in you and what you’re selling. Simple, isn’t it? Look how nature works. Everything takes time. From your hand healing after a cut to growing a flower in a pot. Shortcuts are awkward, unnatural. Waiting patiently yields results. Remember that.

Needless to say, on the notifications screen, you’re bound to meet spammers. If a message sounds like spam, open their profile and see if they’ve sent the same tweet to others. If they have, just block them. Life is too short for spammers.

Speaking of the block button, what a lifesaver that is! It saves me from pornographic pictures, ghastly negative images of children getting abused or violated, atrocities of war, not to mention weirdos. Have you had one on your tail? It can be scary! There was one of them I’d been putting up with for a long time sending me weird rhymes, many a day. When I started to ignore him, he sent me a DM and asked me to tell him what I really really think of him. Thankfully, I managed to keep my big mouth shut and blocked him instead. I tell you, the birds outside my window never sung sweeter than they did that day.

When you engage with people on line, always appear courteous, cheerful and thankful. Positive vibes are magnetic. They draw people to you. Remember you put out your brand with every word. And the internet is eternal. If you say something wrong, that quote may come back and haunt you. So think twice before saying something innapropriate. Even if someone annoys you, it’s better to ignore them or even block them than enter into an awkward tweet battle. I still remember the day I RT’d a beautiful photo of the US flag commemorating September 11. This guy (a follower I couldn’t even recall) came from nowhere and started scolding me for my RT, saying that it was the American government that was to blame for the tragedy. I told him kindly that I don’t discuss politics but wish to just honor the dead. He retorted that I should study history and basically called me ignorant, at which point he got himself both unfollowed and blocked and that was the end of the story. Easy, clean, and painless!

RETWEET

This is self explanatory. Basically, every day, once or twice, RT as much stuff as you can but select them carefully. If you’re serious about selling something online, steer clear from profanity and pornography. Even if your genre is erotica, go for subtle, tasteful eroticism, especially in pictures. You don’t want to alienate or offend and you gotta look professional. As for the volume of your daily retweets, I haven’t counted but I’m sure I RT at least 50-60 tweets a day.

When you start getting thank you messages and RTs regularly from the people you often RT, it means they now remember you and you got a new avid supporter! Congrats! Remember: people have a natural tendency to reciprocate. The more RTs you do for a person, the more likely they become to do the same for you. Similarly, if someone RTs for you often, you gotta bend backwards to return the favor whenever you get the chance.

As always, it’s my pleasure to RT the tweets of all my friends but I eagerly seek to RT interesting messages from total strangers too. Paying it forward like this yields new followers. When I RT for strangers, I tend to follow that person too. So what if they don’t follow me back? Thank goodness for JUSTUNFOLLOW.COM, so you don’t have to worry when you pay it forward in this respect.

On the subject of retweets, a word of warning:

Think twice before you sign up for an automated retweet service. Last winter, I made the mistake to use an automated retweet service via a free site called Begware. It has now been renamed  PUZZLEFLIP but it’s still in beta mode and has restricted capabilities in case you want to give it a try.

Anyway: Begware used to pick up all the people who RT’d for me at the time and added them on my account as My Retweeters. Automatically, it then started to RT their stuff too in my name, basically as a means to return the favor. The good news for me was that it helped me gain followers by the bucketloads. The downside was that I had no control over whose stuff I retweeted.

Therefore, I kept seeing tweets issued in my name that contained overly sexy and even pornographic pictures and one friend also reported she opened one of my tweets and got to a site that was infected with viruses! Appalled, I cancelled the automated RT service after that and gained peace of mind ever since.

Yes it takes time in the day to RT manually but this way you have full control. I guarantee you that you CAN get 1,000-1,200 followers a month even if you don’t use an automated retweet service. When I used Begware I gained that many followers per month, just as I do now. The only difference is that back then, I never had to FOLLOW NEW PEOPLE; something I now do manually. Basically it’s up to you. My choice was to spend more time on Twitter daily but have full control over the content of my RTs and the peace of mind that nothing can hurt my brand if I can help it.

AUTOMATE YOUR TWEETS

This practice brings me to the second lifesaver: SOCIALOOMPH. You can use it to schedule tweets that will go live on Twitter at specific intervals or at the date and time that you choose. You can do this with a free account but every day you must submit the tweets anew. However, with a small subscription per month, Socialoomph allows you to keep your tweets permanently on the system in Queues that are never-ending. The automated tweet on the top of the queue gets tweeted and then returns to the end of the queue for next time. Nifty, isn’t it?

Basically, I’ve set up 3 queues on Socialoomph:

The first one tweets about my blogposts (author interviews, writing tips, travel articles, Greek recipes), basically anything that can win me an extra hit on my blog. So this queue coughs up one automated tweet per hour. This alone ensures that I have a presence on Twitter 24/7, even when I sleep!

The second queue is for tweets that direct people to other sites; sites that host my interviews or interviews of other authors for example. This is where I pay back the kindness of friends who promote me too. I play around with the frequency of these tweets but they can be about 4-6 every 24 hours.

The third queue is where I post promotional messages about my published books. These don’t come out often. Again, I tweak them every now and then but they are about 4 every 24 hours. This ensures that the majority of my tweets per day aren’t to make a fuss about my products. On the contrary, most of my tweets are meant to inform or entertain while having a connection with my brand; be it my chicken casserole recipe, a handy author tip or the stunning photos from my last trip to Corfu.

As it happens, a great portion of my automated tweets is dedicated to promoting the work of fellow authors; something I enjoy doing. By helping each other and sharing useful information, I believe that we all grow together and we all benefit. The way I see it? As we walk the path of adversity that will take us to success, the town we’re all bound to come by is called Service To Others. There are no shortcuts, folks. You gotta hit that town or be ready for dissapointment. It’s as simple as that.

Now, a word of warning about automating your tweets:

It may be handy but there’s a catch! Twitter expects the majority of your daily tweets to be done manually, not through an automated service. Therefore, if you’re going to have your Twitter account cough up tweets even while you sleep, it comes with a price. This means that you HAVE TO use Twitter every day to tweet manually too!

Thankfully, you don’t have to tweet necessarily; you can simply RT a bunch of other people’s stuff. Twitter doesn’t care if you issue manual tweets or just RT, as long you use it manually for a while every day. If you don’t, the next day you’ll find that your automated tweets didn’t go through, say, via Socialoomph. If you keep this up for a number of days, chances are Twitter might notice and block your account – so beware!

Do keep this in mind when you’re going to be offline for a number of days. In order to avoid problems with Twitter, I hold my queues on Socialoomph on the days I’ll be offline so that no automated tweets will be issued.

Before I end this long-winded speech, one last tip.

Have you ever heard of the TFF ratio?

Your TFF Ratio (Twitter Follower-Friend Ratio) is the ratio of your followers to friends (or people who you follow). The higher the ratio, the more of a big-shot you appear to be on Twitter.

Basically, you want to look popular which means you must always have a TFF ratio above 1, i.e. always having more followers than friends (people you follow). Also, please note: FOLLOWERS – FRIENDS = FANS  (you can also see the number of your fans on the JUSTUNFOLLOW site).

For more info on the TFF ratio, and to check out where you and your Twitter buds score, look here.

I’ve just done mine and it said ‘1.04 Keepin it real’. That put a smile on my face, I tell ya…

Hope you find this report useful, folks! It’s all guaranteed to work; every action tried and tested. If you follow my method, don’t forget to return in the next couple of months and tell me how you’re getting on. I’d love a chance to cheer alongside you! Make sure you note your progress in a journal every 3 days (max every week) as to keep track better. I seem to get about 100 new followers every 3 days or so. Here’s hoping you get even more! Good luck!

Note: Although I said I’d been gaining 1,000-1,200 new followers per month, there’s been a period where I didn’t gain even 1,000 monthly but somehow I made  up for the losses later on. The reason for the big dip in my performance is that early on this year I got hit badly with frozen shoulder and could barely lift my arm, let alone use the computer comfortably for a couple of months on most days. I mention this as to clarify things in case anyone is wondering why in 10 months I only got 10K followers and say, not 12K. Still, assuming you don’t face any problems of the sort, this method can yield even 1,200 in a single month – I know, ‘cos it happened to me on many occasions.

Aegis Rising by S.S. Segran #AegisTour

 Today I’m hosting another gem for Masquerade Tours; book 1 in the riveting sci-fi adventure Aegis Rising by S.S. Segran. This one is a #1 Amazon bestseller, folks! In her guest post below, the author offers her best tips on marketing, social media use and the craft of writing. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to enter the giveaway at the bottom of this post for a chance to win some goodies!

Tips for marketing

This is an entirely new field for me. When I completed Aegis Rising, I told my dad, “Alright, I’m done!” He said, “Actually, it’s just the beginning.” I learned very quickly that one half of the publishing process is writing the book, and the other half is marketing and publicity. My dad spearheaded the marketing effort and I tagged along to pick up what I could, and here are some of my observations: As independently-published writers, it is essential that we learn as much as possible about the workings of the 800-pound gorilla in the publishing universe, i.e. amazon.com, to build our author platform. Have a website to support your work and design a media kit, and do press releases. Network with local libraries, local bookstores (if you have print version of your novel available), book clubs and writers’ groups. Reach out to local media to share compelling news about your work. Create a book video teaser and/or trailer to put on YouTube and other video-sharing websites like Vimeo. Reach out to book bloggers as well to talk about and review your book. Set up an author account on Goodreads and promote your book there. Search for book-promotion sites, then test and select the ones that work for you. Keep track of and analyze your sales data at regular intervals and change/fine-tune strategies and techniques accordingly.

Tips for social media

From my observations, social media is icing on the cake for your marketing strategy rather than the driver behind it. Social media isn’t really going to sell your books, but it is a great means to make your brand known. With that said, it is essential in today’s marketing landscape that you have at the minimum the following social media channels set up: Facebook, Twitter and Google+. As I mentioned, while social media may not drive sales, it’s the kindling you put in place in anticipation of your book catching fire, at which point it may convert and begin creating sales!

Tips for writing

Here are some techniques I’d like to share: Have a vision for what you want your book (or series) to look like, even down to the cover design and synopsis; create the arc of the story and allow sufficient room within this arc for creative “wanderings”; have your story timelines and novel timelines outlined, as well as create chapter capsules (which are the content of each chapter summarized in point form); make bullet points for the key elements of each chapter, then use those when you start writing; utilize mindmaps to visualize connections for the events and characters, and use storyboards for more complex scenes. I hope you find these useful!

 

Title: Aegis Rising
Series: Aegis League Series #1
Author: S.S. Segran
Publication Date: November 15, 2013
Genre: Sci-Fi Action/Adventure






                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     


Synopsis

Over a remote northern forest, a small plane carrying five teenage friends flies into a freak storm. Struck by lightning, the aircraft crashes and the passengers find themselves cast into a life-changing adventure.

In a hidden valley, a mysterious people gaze at the stormy sky as a glowing object with fiery wings disappears behind a mountain ridge. The astonishing sight reignites an ancient prophecy foretelling the arrival of five chosen ones destined to become bearers of light against a dark storm gathering on humanity’s horizon.

In a distant city, a secretive organization led by a shadowy figure initiates a sequence of cataclysmic events designed to wreak havoc across the planet, beginning with a remote mining site in northern Canada.

As the three worlds collide, unlikely heroes arise. Armed with powers entrusted to them by the ancient prophecy and the resilience of their life-long bond, the five teens take a stand against a malevolent foe.

Buy Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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Author Bio

S.S.Segran is the bestselling author of AEGIS RISING, the first book in the Aegis League Series. In crafting the premise for the novel, she drew from the inspiring imagery of the Pacific Northwest, the intriguing potential of the human mind and above all, her abiding love for adventure, science fiction and mystery stories. She enjoys drawing, horseback riding and is an ardent fan of parkour and freerunning. S.S.Segran is a proud member of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets in British Columbia.

S.S.Segran is also the founder of Aegis League (www.aegisleague.org), a non-profit organization whose goal is to support youths living in places and conditions that deny them opportunities to grow. The mission of the organization is to provide life-skills training and micro-loan funding to help them launch small businesses in the communities where they reside. Partial proceeds from the sale of her books go to this cause.

Social Media Links
Website  | Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads | YouTube

 
 

Enter the giveaway for a chance to win some goodies!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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BOOK REVIEW: Creatures of Snow by Teresa Carlson

First impressions were excellent with this book. I got hooked from the very first pages and loved the prose too – the teenage characters sounded like every day people although they were supposed to be living on another planet. I also found it to be delightfully Harry Potter-ish, in the sense that there were magical elements in the plot and the youngsters came together in an academy where they experienced obscure and supernatural situations.

The characters were also amazingly vivid; Teresa Carlson has a rare gift for description and prose. Nothing felt awkward or rushed where it came to these elements.  Personally, I found the plot rather confusing and a bit strange for my liking as the story progressed, but this is just down to my personal preferences. Having said that, I fully appreciated the originality of the story and the solidity of the plot. This is why, although this book wasn’t really my cup of tea, I’m giving it a well-deserved four-star rating.

I am confident that this book will excite and delight young adult readers in general, as well as big fans of Sci-Fi and Fantasy.

 My rating:

4- stars

A well-written fantasy & Sci-Fi adventure for YA

Do you enjoy Sci-Fi & Fantasy for YA? Then, give this well-written, highly imaginative book a try.

Check it out now on Amazon.

NEW RELEASE: Tales of the Mantequero by Jenny Twist

Today I’m very excited to present to you a fascinating collection of novellas by my dear friend and precious beta reader, Jenny Twist from England. Years ago,  Jenny made a new life for herself when she moved to Spain with her family. There, she was inspired by a local myth; The Mantequero. Much like a vampire, this male, attractive being can be dangerous for innocent damsels except, instead of blood, The Mantequero sucks fat from the plump ones among them!

Back in January, I hosted a guest post by Jenny which you can refer to for more details on this fascinating Spanish myth. At the time, Jenny had only published one novella on the subject (“Mantequero”) but further to insistent demands from her readers for a sequel, last January she published a second one titled,  “Disappeared”.

By now, Jenny has been awfully obliging to her readers’ unquenchable thirst for the adventures of The Mantequero. She has already published a third sequel, “Sins of the Father”, and in a few days will be releasing a single book that incudes all her three novellas together plus some brand new, mouth-watering material. This thrill-packed gem is called, Tales of the Mantequero.

The book is available on Pre-order until the launch date, October 3rd.

 

. . .In the south of Spain at the beginning of the twentieth century, village people still believed in this particular fabulous beast. Sometimes they called it a mantequero, and sometimes a sacamantecas; it was a monster which looked like a man, but which lived in wild places and fed on human manteca or fat . . .

  Some people still do . . .

This book is a compilation of the three Mantequero stories: Mantequero, Disappeared and Sins of the Father; with the addition of two new stories: The First Mantequero and The Last Mantequero.

EXCERPT

Sebastián was nine years old when they caught the Mantequero.

It had been a dreadful year. The spring rains never came and then a hot wind blew in across the sea and withered the crops. The grapes turned to raisins on the vine. The tomatoes were tiny, wrinkled bags. Even the beans failed to grow fat.

The people had taken to stealing what they could from the lord’s land. They knew they could be shot if they were caught but if they did not do it they and their families would die anyway. So they did it.

The long summer wore on and the starving people suffered in the stifling heat; carrying water to the fields to try to save what few crops remained. The houses were like ovens and at night they slept outside on the roofs and balconies.

And then, when it seemed that things could get no worse, the Mantequero came amongst them stealing what little fat they had left on their bones.

Nobody had seen him but everybody knew he had come. Sebastián heard the women whispering among themselves, telling how Rubén Abalafeo had heard a noise in the night of a shutter banging closed and how he found his mother the following morning, thin as a skeleton, staring into space and unable to say what had happened to her. Or of Geraldo Plácido, who had heard something climbing up the wall of his house and slammed the shutters just in time.

After that everybody locked themselves in their houses after dark and made sure the shutters were closed. Night after night they huddled together in the suffocating heat, afraid to let in the cool night air in case something worse came in with it.

But what frightened them most of all was what happened to Rosalita, the daughter of José María Carmen. She had been the plumpest, prettiest girl in the village once, and many a young man had his eye on her as a future wife. She had broad, child-bearing hips and round, firm breasts and was not afraid of hard work. Even now, when everyone was starving, she was still fairly plump. It was said her father was particularly good at finding food on the Lord’s land and that he even stole meat from the eagles’ nests.

Rosalita had obeyed her father and locked herself in, but one night, unable to breathe for the heat, she had flung open the shutters in desperation and the Mantequero came in.

José came home that night to find his pretty daughter completely stripped of fat.

Sebastián heard the horrified whispers of the women. “She was just skin and bones and her breasts were empty bags, hanging like flaps. It is certain the Mantequero came for her.”

“Well, she would have been a feast for him,” said Lola Gonzalez, hastily crossing herself as she spoke. “Perhaps he will be sated for a while.”

So, who is Jenny Twist?

Jenny Twist was born in York and brought up in the West Yorkshire mill town of Heckmondwike, the eldest grandchild of a huge extended family.

She left school at fifteen and went to work in an asbestos factory. After working in various jobs, including bacon-packer and escapologist’s assistant (she was The Lovely Tanya), she returned to full-time education and did a BA in history at Manchester and post-graduate studies at Oxford.

She stayed in Oxford working as a recruitment consultant for many years and it was there that she met and married her husband, Vic.

In 2001 they retired and moved to Southern Spain where they live with their rather eccentric dog and cat. Besides writing, she enjoys reading, knitting and attempting to do fiendishly difficult logic puzzles.

She has written two novels – Domingo’s Angel – a love story set in Franco’s Spain and harking back to the Spanish Civil War and beyond – and All in the Mind – a contemporary novel about an old woman who mysteriously begins to get younger

She has also written an anthology of short stories – Take One At Bedtime – and co-written the anthology Bedtime Shadows – with the inimitable Tara Fox Hall.

She has contributed short stories to many other anthologies, of which two – Doppelganger and Uncle Vernon have recently been released as short ebooks.

Her first self-published ebook, Away With the Fairies, was released in September 2012. Her second,

Mantequero, was released in June 2013 and the long-awaited sequel, Disappeared, was released in January 2014. Take One at Bedtime was republished independently in May 2014 and Domingo’s Angel in July 2014. Sins of the Father, the third in the Mantequero series was released in August 2014.

CONNECT WITH JENNY

amazon.com/author/jennytwist

https://sites.google.com/site/jennytwistauthor/home

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jenny-Twist-Author/291166404240446

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4848320.Jenny_Twist

Twitter: @JennyTwist1

Preorder your copy of this tantalising mythical gem, here