M.P. McDonald's Blog, page 5

Seeking Vengeance--It's LIVE!

Sam Brennan has lost everything. Pushed past the breaking point, his solitary goal is to seek vengeance against the people responsible for robbing him of everyone he's ever loved.

 Molly Flynn is a single mom and a paramedic whose shameful secret has her avoiding intimate relationships. When her brother shows up at her back door with an injured friend, tending to the angry man's gunshot wound is the last thing she wants to do.

But there's something about Sam that touches Molly's heart. He's got physical injuries, yes, but Molly can clearly see his heart has been ripped to shreds. She realizes she must help heal this grief-stricken man before he makes a deadly mistake.

Seeking Vengeance by M.P. McDonald on Amazon

Seeking Vengeance Worldwide link 

Seeking Vengeance-Prologue

Here is a sneak peek at my next book. I'm looking at a possible release as soon as this upcoming week. I'm super excited as this is the first non-Mark Taylor book that I'll be publishing. I hope fans of the Mark Taylor Series will enjoy it. I think they will--even the guys. Yes, there's some romance, but it doesn't over-power the story, plus there's some action. And motorcycles! :DPrologue
Sam Brennan tossed back his fifth shot, craving relief from the pain. As the heat of the alcohol burned into his belly, the numbing effects spread like a warm blanket. He poured another, held the glass at eye level and admired the flickering of the fireplace flames through the amber liquid. Beautiful. He downed the whiskey in one long gulp, hardly tasting the bite anymore.A log popped and sent a shower of sparks swirling up the chimney. Whose idea was it to build a fire anyway? It was too damn cheery. Sam stepped back and flung the shot glass at the flames, feeling a measure of satisfaction at the explosion of glass against the back wall of the fireplace."Sam? Is everything okay?"He turned to find Cynthia, his partner’s wife, regarding him with concern. She dried a pink bowl as she spoke. A few hours ago, the bowl had held some kind of salad. The 'guests' had raved over it between offering their condolences. He was sick of everyone's concern. Sick of holding it together. Sick of being strong. "Everything is just peachy, don'tcha think?""Why don't you come back to our house tonight, Sam? Stay a few days until—""Until what? Until I get over this?" He stalked towards her but stopped short, as even in his drunken haze he recognized her suggestion was only an attempt to help. Her husband, Dave, had already offered their guest room. After five years at the same field office for the ATF, they were as close as brothers, but right now, the thought of being in Dave’s home was unbearable. Cynthia held her ground, shaking her head in sympathy. "No, that's not what I meant." She tossed the towel over her shoulder and held the bowl in front of her, hugging it against her stomach. Tears swam in her eyes and he felt like an ass. Cynthia and Dave had taken care of the details he couldn't face. "Dave's missed you and wants to be there for you." Sam’s undercover status had taken him out of the office for several months and he had missed the camaraderie too, but that was before. Before his world fell apart. "I know. Dave’s a good guy." Sam’s breath hitched as he stifled a sob. Good old Dave—the guy had everything and right now, Sam hated him. He hated that Dave had a beautiful wife and two adorable children. They were the perfect family. Guilt crept through his grief. It wasn’t Dave’s fault and he wouldn’t wish his hell on anyone, let alone on his best friend, but at the same time, staying with Dave and Cynthia in their picture book home was the last place on earth Sam wanted to be tonight. "I...I can't. Not tonight." Waves of pain crashed over him, drowning him in their intensity. His knees buckled and he sank to the floor."Sam!"He felt Cynthia's arm drape over his shoulders as she eased down, kneeling beside him. "It's okay. Let it out. You'll feel better."That was a lie. He'd never feel better. Not now, not ever. If crying would help, he'd cry buckets, but it wouldn't. Nothing would. He put his arm around Cynthia's waist, giving her an awkward hug. "I'm okay. Jus' too much to drink."She pulled away, searching his eyes, but he averted his face. "Sam..."He stood, pulling Cynthia to her feet as well. His years of working undercover had taught him that he could hide any emotion. His life had depended upon it. Now, he clung to the lessons learned, certain that if he let go and vented his grief, he'd lose his focus—lose the singular emotion that kept his heart beating.Revenge.

Cover Shake Up

After over three years of the same cover for No Good Deed, I decided I might try a change. I love the cover I've had, don't get me wrong, and I may go back to it, but my thinking is that after this long, it's become almost invisible. I'm hoping that those who weren't attracted to the old cover might be intrigued by this one. If it doesn't work, I won't have lost anything and I have a couple of other alternate covers I might try. That's the beauty of indie publishing--when something stops working, we are free to try something else.

Finally Finished!

Over four years ago, when I was sending out No Good Deed to agents and waiting to hear back, someone told me that a good way to pass the time was to write another book. So, I started a completely unrelated book. It didn't have a title but it was shaping up to be a romantic suspense. I think I wrote about 7,000 words or so before I started running into info about self-publishing. Then I spent my time reading all about it, and a few months later, self-published No Good Deed. The romantic suspense was abandon, forgotten in the excitement of self-publishing.

Before long, readers were asking for a sequel to No Good Deed, so I began writing March Into Hell. It seems every time I'd finish a Mark Taylor book, I'd go back to the romantic suspense and pound out a few more pages. I even tried to make it into a dystopian book at one point, but gave up on that idea. The longest I spent writing on it was between Genesis and March Into Madness. I think I got it up to about 35k at that point--about half-way through. Every time, I had to go back and try to figure out what was happening before I could actually write. Readers of the Mark Taylor Series began asking for another book after Mark Taylor: Genesis, so once again, I set aside the romantic suspense. (I'm sensing a pattern here!)

As I got close to finishing March Into Madness and began contemplating my next writing project, I vowed that I would finish the romantic suspense and I even designed a cover and gave the book a name--Seeking Vengeance. That helped a lot, but once again, I faced the daunting task of trying to figure out where I was going with Seeking Vengeance. (SV). Last night, I finally had a few hours to finish up the manuscript. There still needs to be editing, of course, but it felt so good to finally write 'The End', and know I was almost done with it.

For a brief moment this morning, I considered submitting this to agents. I haven't had that urge since No Good Deed as all the other books were part of the same series and it didn't make sense. As a stand alone book, Seeking Vengeance could have been submitted, but then I realized that the desire was just a remnant wanting to be 'validated' by someone in the industry. The feeling passed quickly as I remembered that how much I've come to need the control of marketing my own books. I think I would go crazy if I couldn't respond quickly to marketing trends, not to mention, readers are the toughest, but most satisfying validation of all.

I'll post the cover and description of the novel in a few days.

Thrilling Thirteen--What Books Are In It?

We've been promoting Thrilling Thirteen and its incredible price of just 99 cents, but even a 99 cent book must contain something you want to read, right? I agree, so here are the actual descriptions of each book. I think they sound pretty fantastic and I'm sure the set includes several books for just about everyone who loves thrillers--and even a few for those who never tried thrillers before. These are complete books, not samples, but I keep thinking of this as a sampler set. It allows readers to sample 11 authors for one low price, and not only that, it allows readers to sample a genre they may not have tried before. It's like a thriller buffet.

A Touch of DeceitFBI agent Nick Bracco can't stop a Kurdish terrorist from firing missiles at random homes across the country. The police can't stand watch over every household, so Bracco recruits his cousin Tommy to help track down this terrorist. Tommy is in the Mafia. Oh yeah, it gets messy fast. As fast as you can turn the pages. 


Russian Hill A killer is loose in San Francisco, and he's collecting body parts. SFPD has no witnesses and no suspects, but FBI Agent Abby Kane believes a dead hiker found ten miles north of the city is the key to solving those crimes. The detective involved with the case thinks Abby might be chasing a ghost down a rabbit hole, but the
more Abby digs, the more she begins to think the killer is playing a game and there's an audience cheering him on.
Arctic Wargame Canadian Intelligence Service Agent Justin Hall—combat-hardened in operations throughout Northern Africa—has been demoted after a botched mission in Libya.  When two foreign icebreakers appear in Canadian Arctic waters, Justin volunteers for the reconnaissance mission, eager to return to the field. His team discovers a foreign weapons cache deep in the Arctic, but they are not aware that a spy has infiltrated the Department of National Defence.  The team begins to unravel a treasonous plan against Canada, but they fall under attack from one of their own. Disarmed and stripped of their survival gear, they are stranded in a remote location. Now the team must survive the deadly Arctic not only to save themselves, but their country. 
Look For Me Three-year-old Mallory Scott has disappeared from her home in the exclusive Bal Harbour neighborhood of North Miami. With no eye witnesses and very few clues, Rick and Rachel Scott have experienced every parent’s worst nightmare. After weeks of looking for their daughter, Rachel’s hopelessness and desperation has grown out of control at the lack of leads in her daughter's case.
When another toddler vanishes in a nearby city, Rachel begins to wonder if there is a connection. She leaves her socialite life and high-profile real estate career to help find him. As the search for Mallory and the missing toddler continues, Rachel uncovers a startling secret that will change her life forever--and she discovers just how far she is willing to go to find her own daughter.


The Last Horseman Sandy Banks is the last of The Four Horsemen, a vigilante group of ex-cops determined to right the injustices of a broken court system. But now the project is disintegrating, putting him in the middle of chaos. Betrayed by his final partner, blackmailed by the project head and pursued by federal agents bent on busting the case wide open, Sandy scrambles to escape this mayhem with his soul intact. 


The Diplomat Justin Hall is in Lagos, Nigeria, to handle the exchange of a Canadian diplomat who has been taken hostage for ransom by local rebels. The dangerous exchange goes sideways, and Justin wonders if he can trust his team. He turns to an old asset, a woman working for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. With her help and after the arrival of Carrie O’Connor, Justin’s partner in
the Canadian Intelligence Service, they discover the unexpected truth about the diplomat’s kidnapping. With time running out and no one else to turn to, Justin and Carrie are thrust into a game of shadows as they devise a clever plan to turn the tables on the kidnappers. 

The RecruiterWhat would happen if a military recruiter refused to take no for an answer? In this gripping thriller, Samuel Ackerman has one dream: to become a Navy SEAL. But after dropping out of the legendary unit's training program known as Hell Week, he is forced to become a recruiter in his small hometown. In order to earn a return trip to SEAL training, he must have a successful
turn as a recruiter. As he soon proves, he will stop at nothing to get what he wants.

Mark Taylor: Genesis Mark Taylor's life changes forever when he finds an antique camera in an Afghan bazaar. Back home in Chicago, he discovers that the camera has a strange and unique ability--it produces photographs of tragedies yet to happen. Gifted with powers to change destiny, what drives him to risk his life for others? And when presented with photos of 9/11 a day before it happens, what else can he do but attempt to save lives and thwart catastrophe? In this prequel to No Good Deed, find out how Mark Taylor was gifted with powers to change destiny. What drove him to risk his life for others, and why d
id everything go so wrong on that fateful September day?


In the Shadow of El PasoCarl is a Yankee cop in a small Texas border town. Isabella is a beautiful Mexican woman that everyone in town loves, including the hapless Pete and the wealthy, powerful Jack...but most of all, Carl. Part romance, part police procedural, IN THE SHADOW OF EL PASO contains two short stories. Both stories explore love, race, class and the ambiguity that exists on the southern border.

Don’t Close Your Eyes Three very different women have been murdered and NYPD Detective Stephanie Chalice wants to know why. Her case begins on the Roosevelt Island tram. The conductor has been shot, but lying next to him is the real mystery: a woman who might appear to have died of natural causes if not for the handwritten note stuffed in her mouth that simply reads "Look back!” When a second woman is found dead with a rag in her mouth and another cryptic note found nearby, Chalice realizes that a psychopath is stalking Manhattan, on the prowl for a very special type of woman. Part of the murderer’s twisted game is leaving intentional clues for the police, clues designed not only to taunt, but also to do something much worse. Chalice will uncover startling truths about who she really, but will it help her to discover the killer’s real purpose before another woman dies?


Quicksilver A young man disappears in the wilderness of the California mother lode. He leaves behind a gold-
flecked rock and a vial of liquid mercury. He is a misfit in the modern world, a throwback to the Gold Rush days. A venture capitalist--whose gold country is Silicon Valley--hires forensic geologists Cassie Oldfield and Walter Shaws to track his missing brother. Following one of the 'lost rivers' of California, Cassie and Walter plunge into the dark history of the legendary lands, into the dark past of the brothers, into a poisonous sibling feud that threatens both lives and the land. And the question then becomes: which brother is on the hunt?
Least Wanted Stephanie Ann "Sam" McRae's busy, but orderly life as a Maryland lawyer takes a chaotic turn when two clients are accused of murder. A poor, black girl is accused of killing her mother. A young man suspected of embezzlement is accused of murdering his boss. The cases collide in a bizarre way involving girl gangs and computer pornography. Sam ventures into the heart of DC's suburban ghettos to find answers. A maniacal killer who'll do anything to hide them stalks her. After a nearly disastrous confrontation, Sam must do business on the run. As the body count grows, Sam races to learn the truth and clear her clients before she becomes the next victim.
Absence of Light A major earthquake sees ex-Special Forces soldier-turned-bodyguard Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Fox on a transport plane headed for the scene of devastation. The way things are coming apart at home with Sean Meyer, she welcomes the chance to get away. Tasked as security advisor to the specialist team at the center of relief efforts, Charlie knows it won’t be easy. The team members are willing to put themselves in constant danger as a matter of course. But what kind of other risks are they prepared to take? As Charlie soon discovers, it’s not just the ground beneath her feet that cannot be relied on. Her predecessor died conveniently while investigating rumours that the team were on the take, Charlie’s been instructed to quietly uncover whether his death was as accidental as the official verdict suggests. If it was an accident, why are they so obviously lying to her? Charlie must move with care through a shifting landscape to find the answers before there are more than just earthquake victims buried in the rubble. And when disaster strikes she will learn not only whom she can trust, but whether she can survive the darkness that comes with a total absence of light.

Marketing a Boxed Set--What I've learned

It's been about a week since we launched Thrilling Thirteen and I feel like I've had a crash course in marketing. Someone please tell me where I can pick up my diploma! I've learned about keeping the message simple. 13 Thrillers by bestselling authors for a buck. That's it. The product description gives more information, and the "Look Inside" shows synopsis of all the books. There's not enough room on the product page for that,but not only is it easy to read on the Look Inside, when you buy the set, it's there for reference.

A cool thing I learned was about doing teasers. Leading up to the launch, we all posted teasers that had just a scrap of info along with a startling picture relevant to each book teaser. You can see some if you scroll down from this post. I think they look fantastically thrilling. I'll admit that I wasn't sure how they would work, but, I've had several people contact me asking what it was all about. Of course, I could only smile and tell them they'll find out on 4/29. That was fun. :D
   
One more thing, and it may be the most important of all. I had already learned this, but on a smaller scale. Support comes from unexpected places. For instance, other authors were generous in sharing our posts and re-tweeting. It's one reason I love being an indie author. I guess as fellow authors, they know how important that kind of support is and I'm thankful for it. It may not seem like much, but retweeting, sharing blog posts and liking and sharing Facebook posts help so much. Sometimes it takes several times seeing something before a person actually investigates it. For example, a few months ago, I was browsing and saw the book The Martian. The cover caught my eye, but I was in a hurry or got distracted and didn't read the blurb. A few days later, I saw it again. This time, I did investigate and it sounded good, but the price was a bit high for me, so I passed it over again. The next week, Amazon issued the refunds from the class action settlement from some major publishers. Suddenly, I had $42 that I could only spend on ebooks. For a reader, that is like manna from heaven. No guilt buying! Woo-hoo!  I went browsing again, having forgotten about The Martian, but once again, spotted it and this time, I bought it with my refund. It was an awesome book, by the way. (But not as good as Thrilling Thirteen! ;) )

So, even though it may seem like I'm posting an awful lot about Thrilling Thirteen, and you may have run across my Facebook posts more than you care to, this is why. You never know when everything will align and a reader will decide the book is just what they're looking for.

Available at:
Amazon
Barnes&Noble
Kobo
iTunes

Thrilling Thirteen

I hope you have all been wondering about the teasers I've been posting over the last few weeks. I finally get to reveal what they're all about. I have joined with a group of Kindle Bestselling authors and we have created an thriller anthology called Thrilling Thirteen.  For just 99 cents. Yep, you read that right. For less than a buck.  Thrilling Thirteen includes ten thrilling novels, two page-flipping novellas and an action-packed short story collection from the minds of bestselling and award winning authors. It is a available at Amazon, Barnes&Noble, iTunes and Kobo



Editorial ReviewsReviewA Touch of Deceit: " Couldn't put it down and now I want more."- Stephen Carpenter, creator of NBC's hit series Grimm

Absence of Light: "Fox is arguably one of the most enigmatic − and coolest − heroines in contemporary genre fiction." - Chicago Tribune

Russian Hill: "There is that element of danger and evil that twists throughout creating at times, a tenseness that keeps you on the edge of your seat." - Seattle PI

Don't Close Your Eyes: "Edge of the seat tension with a killer on the streets of New York and homicide detective Stephanie Chalice hot on the trail." - Coffee and Crime

Look For Me: "If you've never read any of this authors work, first of all shame on you and second of all get started with LOOK FOR ME AND "LOOK" forward to enjoying the rest of the series." - Mystery Thriller Maven Reviews

Quicksilver: "As Oldfield and Shaws help one of the brothers locate the other in the lovingly-described Sierra wilderness, the tension mounts... A splendid story for science thriller fans" - ScienceThrillers.com

Mark Taylor: Genesis: "A must read for current Mark Taylor fans, taking us up to a post-9/11 timeframe just before the start of No Good Deed." - Big Al's Books and Pals Book Review Blog

The Recruiter: "It's a tight, well-written and suspense-filled joy-ride." - IndieReader

Least Wanted: "Sam McRae is back and as brash as ever, with a colorful cast, a relentless plot, and enough twists to leave you breathless." - Scott Nicholson, best selling author

Arctic Wargame: "Unique characters in an unusual place, which is becoming more important to the entire world." - Larry Bond, New York Times best selling author

Authors participating in the anthology:


A Touch of Deceit(Nick Bracco Series) - Gary PonzoRussian Hill(Abby Kane FBI Thriller) - Ty HutchinsonArctic Wargame(Justin Hall Series) - Ethan JonesLook For Me (Rachel Scott Adventure)- Traci HohensteinThe Last Horseman- Frank ZafiroThe Diplomat(Justin Hall Series)  - Ethan JonesThe Recruiter (A Thriller) - Dani AmoreMark Taylor: Genesis(Mark Taylor Series) - M.P. McDonaldIn the Shadow of El Paso - Frank ZafiroDon’t Close Your Eyes(Stephanie Chalice Thriller) - Lawrence KelterQuicksilver(Forensic Geology Series) - Toni DwigginsLeast Wanted (Sam McRae Mystery) - Debbi MackAbsence of Light(Charlie Fox Thriller) - Zoe Sharp

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