C.W. Hawes's Blog, page 5

Lone Star Blog Tour

We’re in the final days of the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles Lone Star Blog Tour.

Take a visit of the Lone Star Literary Life Tour page for links to all of the reviews and to enter the giveaway. That’s free stuff, folks. And who doesn’t like free stuff? Especially when it’s good free stuff.

Ruthie Jones wrote a great review of Death Wears a Crimson Hat. Read it on her blog, Reading by Moonlight.

Karen Siddall wrote a marvelous review of Ten Million Ways to Die. Read it on her blog, Boys’ Mom Reads!

It’s so very satisfying when readers pick up my book and get lost in the story and fall in love with the characters.

To bring someone happiness and pleasure is a very great joy.

So head on over to the blog tour page, read the reviews of all the books, enter the giveaway, and most of all — read the books!

The Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles series features some absolutely amazing writing. So get moving to Magnolia Bluff today.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

 

 

 

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

 

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

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The post Lone Star Blog Tour first appeared on CW Hawes.

Nine Years and a Blog Tour

Nine years ago this month I published my first four books. And the subsequent adventure has been very interesting to say the least.

That I’m still writing and publishing is a testimony to perseverance and perhaps just doggone stubbornness. 

In the past 9 years I’ve witnessed many authors come and go. And some of them were super writers. Which makes me sad to think of all that talent going unused. But that is the way it goes, unfortunately.

I haven’t gotten rich. In fact, I’ve yet to rich $5000 in royalties from my books. Nevertheless, I’ve had a lot of fun. I’ve written stories that have provided entertainment for the folks who read them.

And when the dark days come, and they do, the days when you wonder is it worth it, I read a few of the reviews I’ve gathered over the years and tell myself — yes, it’s worth it. Telling the stories that collect in my head is worth the work to make them available to others to also enjoy.

We writers have a tendency to work alone and for indie authors, at least most of us, I don’t think that’s a good thing.

After 9 years, I think working with an active group of likeminded writers is the key to success. You probably won’t get rich, but you will have the support to keep on going and the advantage of working together to promote each other — and that is a definite key to success.

Lone Star Blog Tour

I am very fortunate to be one of the charter members of the Underground Authors.

The group was started by the late Caleb Pirtle III. His initial vision was to get together a group of writers who were actively writing and publishing to cross promote each other’s work.

Now, we not only promote each other’s books, but we also write a multi-author crime series: the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles.

Going on right now is a blog tour of the series hosted by Lone Star Literary Life. Here’s the link for you to check out the tour: https://www.lonestarliterary.com/content/magnolia-bluff-crime-chronicles-underground-authors

Going Forward

Next year, my intention is to launch a Kickstarter campaign, write the next Justinia Wright mystery, start a new series, and write some short stories.

Whether I do the above, or decide to do something else — I do know I’ll be writing.

Because as Harlan Ellison said, “Writers write.” It’s as simple as that. And I’m a writer.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

 

 

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

 

 

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

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The post Nine Years and a Blog Tour first appeared on CW Hawes.

Bye Baby Bye is Here!

The latest addition to the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles is Kelly Marshall’s Bye Baby Bye, which releases Wednesday, 22 November.

Last year we met Madison Jackson, a conservation officer with the Texas Department of Fish and Wildlife.

In the attempt to seek justice for a brutally murdered young girl, a victim of sex trafficking, Madison herself becomes the victim of sex trafficking.

Justice tells the story of Madison’s harrowing attempt to find justice for the dead girl — and to free herself from sex slavery.

Now, a year later, Madison’s young daughter is missing. Madison can only assume that her drug cartel husband, even though in prison, has ordered the kidnapping.

Meeting after meeting with government officials bears no fruit. In a last ditch effort to find her daughter, Madison, with a few friends and Texas Rangers, returns to Mexico.

“This novel…is a quick read that is well-paced and boasts emotional heft…an effective thriller.” —Kirkus Reviews

Get your copy on pre-order today!

Bye Baby Bye goes live Wednesday, November 22nd on Amazon.

Comments are always welcome. And until next time, happy reading!

 

 

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

 

 

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

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The post Bye Baby Bye is Here! first appeared on CW Hawes.

A Magnolia Bluff Deep Dive with CW Hawes and Richard Schwindt

Recently I sat down with my fellow Underground Author, Richard Schwindt, and talked about the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles series: its past and its future. We also talked about my writing.

I had a lot of fun in this interview. Richard asked some thought-provoking and probing questions. A few not easily answered.

Give the video a watch. You’ll learn about the creation of Magnolia Bluff and where it might be headed. You’ll also get to know me a bit better.

 

The Underground Authors’s short story anthology, Beyond the Sea, is on Amazon. Proceeds go to charity.

You can find my latest contribution to the series, Ten Million Ways to Die, on Amazon.

 

And the entire series is on Amazon.

 

Richard Schwindt’s books are also on Amazon.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

 

 

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes

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The post A Magnolia Bluff Deep Dive with CW Hawes and Richard Schwindt first appeared on CW Hawes.

Inflicting Pain — We Love It

This post is going up on Halloween. So happy Halloween to all who celebrate.

And if you’re catching this post the day after Halloween, then a blessed All Saints Day to you.

One thing that seems to be ingrained in us, part of our DNA, is a desire to inflict pain. And if we aren’t inflicting it, we love to watch someone else or something else dishing out pain to another.

I think that’s why the small screen, the big screen, and video games have become so violent. It is our love of dishing out copious amounts of pain to others. We love doing it and we love watching it.

Our indifference to others who are suffering is part of this human trait to inflict pain and suffering. It’s the flip side of the coin, so to speak.

Over on the Threads that Bind blog, I posted an article describing several rather nasty methods of torture. Torture being nothing more than our desire to inflict pain taken to the next level. Take a look at the link below:

Oh, the Pain! The Pain!

The article makes for good Halloween reading and could be a resource for writers.

Epicurus believed eudaimonia (the good life, a life of well-being, a life of living and doing well) was a life of continuous pleasurable experiences that was free from pain and distress.

In other words, according to Epicurus, reducing or eliminating all pain and distress from our lives goes a long way to our achieving that ultimate state of pleasure which is the good life.

And isn’t that what we seek each and every day? The absence of pain? Of course it is.

We take painkillers; over-the-counter and prescription.

We might use illegal drugs to kill pain and induce a temporary state of euphoria.

We buy things to give ourselves to lift our spirits.

We may even inflict pain on others because we get a little high watching them suffer.

Where people get Epicurus wrong is that they miss his point that virtue is an intrinsic part of achieving the state of happiness, which is a life of pleasure and an absence of pain. For Epicurus, pleasure is only good if it doesn’t bring about any pain.

For that reason, he didn’t advocate marriage or having children because both too often bring pain into a persons life. The same with having sex. It isn’t bad, it just results too often in pain. So it’s best to avoid it.

I believe Epicureanism is a fitting philosophy for Western first world people seeking meaning and purpose in life. It fits well with our sensibilities. We want lives free from pain and filled with pleasure. Epicurus shows how to get the good pleasure that never produces pain.

A pursuit of Epicurean pleasure might also eliminate, or at least diminish, our love of inflicting pain on others. And that just might make this world a little better. Who wouldn’t want that?

Comments are always welcome. And until next time, happy reading!

 

 

 

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

 

 

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

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The post Inflicting Pain — We Love It first appeared on CW Hawes.

Ten Million Ways to Die — Now Live!

If you’ve ever had children, or gotten a puppy, or kitty, you know the feeling I have of love towards my newest baby: Ten Million Ways to Die, the 18th book in the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles series.

It might seem silly to some to equate a book launch with a newborn human, dog, or cat, but you see there are people, real people, within the pages of that book. And they are the children given life by my imagination.

In this virtual world in which we find ourselves, where people fall in love with AI apps, I don’t think anyone should find it strange that people can and do fall in love with the people they find within the pages of a book.

People love their dogs, their cats, their children, their spouse, their partner, Mr. Darcy, Heathcliff, Eudora and Doc, Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, and Klara.

And so it is with authors. At least some authors. Doyle grew to hate Sherlock Holmes. Christie hated Hercule Poirot. But I think most authors have an affinity for, if not love for, their characters. Their virtual children.

I know I do. I love Tina and Harry Wright of the Justinia Wright mysteries. And Bill Arthur of the Rocheport Saga. Plus Pierce Mostyn, Dotty, and Helene of the Pierce Mostyn Paranormal Investigations series. And Lady Dru and Dunyasha from the alternative history world of Lady Dru Drummond.

In my opinion, if an author doesn’t love his characters with an intense love, then neither will the reader. 

So today, I give you a story involving two characters I love dearly: Harry Thurgood and the Reverend Ember Cole.

Ten Million Ways to Die is a mystery in which amateur sleuths Harry and Ember must solve a murder in order to get police detective Reece Sovern off their backs.

Ten Million Ways to Die is also the story of the blossoming love between Harry and Ember.

But the story is also a tale of revenge, justice, and misguided love.

Ten Million Ways to Die is live today on Amazon.

It’s also available on Kindle Unlimited. If you’re a KU subscriber, you’ve already paid to read the book. So go ahead and do so. You don’t want to waste your money, do you?

You can listen to me read a scene from the book here: https://youtu.be/kIpDKf2VkwE 

Comments are always welcome. And until next time, happy reading!

 

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

 

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

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The post Ten Million Ways to Die — Now Live! first appeared on CW Hawes.

Snippet Time 2: Ten Million Ways to Die

Last week I gave you a snippet of Ten Million Ways to Die, the 18th book in the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles. Chapter 3 to be exact.

This week, I’m giving you another snippet to further whet your appetite. In this one, Harry decides to talk to the phone scroller man to see if he can determine if there is a threat to his secret life. One that would make it not so secret. Enjoy!

And here again is the link to my reading of a portion of Chapter 2: https://youtu.be/kIpDKf2VkwE. I think you’ll enjoy it.

Just remember on Monday, October 23rd, Ten Million Ways to Die, the 18th book in the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles goes live.

Now, without further ado, here is another snippet for your reading pleasure.

***

4

Tuesday, 10 October
1:11 pm

The lunch crowd was thinning out. Only three remained of the eleven who’d come through the doors of the Really Good. And one of those three was the man who constantly scrolled through his phone.

Harry was sitting at his corner table observing the stranger. The man didn’t look like a Fed. So perhaps he was private. Then again, perhaps he was a tourist.

But if he was a tourist, he doubted the man would have sat at a table drinking coffee for four or five hours.

“Even if the coffee was really good.” Harry smiled at his joke.

No, this guy wasn’t a tourist, or even someone just passing through. He was working for somebody. The question was, who?

Harry stood and crossed the floor to the man’s table.

When he reached it, he said, “Hello. I hope you’re enjoying the coffee.”

The man looked up from his phone. “It’s good.” His attention returned to the device in his hand.

Was that a touch of humor in his eyes? Harry asked himself, before saying, “I’m Harry Thurgood. The owner. Today’s lunch specials are roast beef au jus and cassoulet made with goose, salt pork, and kielbasa. Or I can serve you up a mean chili or a cheeseburger made with local beef. What do you say?”

The man looked up from his phone, looked out the window at the gray sky and misty drizzle, then turned back to Harry.

“Now that you mention it,” he said, “chili would hit the spot.”

“Texas-style with no beans? Or Yankee-style with beans?”

“This is Texas, right?”

“Yes, sir, it is.”

“I’ll take it Texas-style.”

“One bowl coming right up. Beans on the side?”

The man thought for a moment and shook his head.

Harry walked around the end of the counter and up to the window, looking into the kitchen. He gave Miguel the order and turned around to observe the man.

The guy was back, looking at his phone.

Near as Harry could tell, his mystery customer wasn’t carrying a gun. At least not in a shoulder holster. Nor did it appear, from what Harry observed, the guy was taking pictures.

His accent had a trace of the east coast.

So what was he doing sitting in the Really Good scrolling through his phone hour after hour?

Who do I know from the east coast who could have traced me to Magnolia Bluff?

“Order up, Mr. Thurgood,” Miguel announced.

Harry took the bowl of chili and plate of cornbread sticks, butter, and honey over to the man. He set it down, walked back to the counter, got himself a doughnut and coffee, and made his way back to the man’s table, and sat down.

The man looked at him over a spoon of chili, and said, “I’m not looking for company.”

Harry took a bite of his doughnut, chewed, swallowed, and said, “I’m not either. What do you want?”

The man put the spoon of chili in his mouth and slowly chewed. After he swallowed, he nodded and said, “This is good. And I don’t want anything. Just enjoying your coffee and passing the time. No law against that, is there?”

He’s a cool one. Matter-of-fact tone to his voice. “No, there isn’t. Glad you like the chili. It’s an original Texas recipe that one of the women in town gave a friend of mine before she passed away. The woman, that is. Not my friend.”

The man nodded, and spooned chili into his mouth.

Harry continued. “Glad you like the coffee. It’s from Sumatra. But as for you just passing the time drinking coffee and scrolling the hell out of your phone, I don’t think I believe you.”

The man shrugged.

Harry went on. “Your accent isn’t local, and no one has ever sat in my shop for five hours scrolling through their phone.”

“First time for everything.” The stranger put butter and honey on cornbread and took a bite. He nodded his satisfaction.

When he swallowed, he said, “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to eat in peace.”

Finally. Now he’s getting annoyed. He’s not completely unflappable. Harry stood. “Sure thing. And the chili’s on the house.”

“Thanks,” the man said, and turned his attention back to his phone.

Harry took his doughnut and coffee and walked back to his table. He sat and pondered what this guy’s presence meant. Wondered if it was the beginning of trouble.

***

I hope that has you salivating for more. The book goes live on Monday, October 23.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

 

 

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

 

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

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The post Snippet Time 2: Ten Million Ways to Die first appeared on CW Hawes.

Snippet Time: Ten Million Ways to Die

 

On Monday, October 23rd, Ten Million Ways to Die, the 18th book in the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles goes live.

The book is my second contribution to this ongoing multi-author crime fiction series. And I am very proud of it. I think it is a bang up mystery, and my beta readers agree. Which is always a good thing when your beta readers think you’ve produced a dynamite book.

To whet your appetite, I’m giving you a snippet. Last week, I gave a link to the Meet the Author podcast where I read a section from Chapter 2. If you didn’t catch that, you can do so here: https://youtu.be/kIpDKf2VkwE

Today, Chapter 3 comes your way. In this section, we see some behind the scenes machinations on the part of Scarlett Hayden, who is in love with Harry Thurgood, to break up Harry and Ember. 

There is a scene with Mary Lou Fight and her ongoing attempt to run both Harry and Ember out of town. 

And a scene with Ember questioning Harry’s secret life.

Secrets. Deadly secrets. Secrets to die for. Enjoy the snippet!

***

3

Tuesday, 10 October
10:33 am

In a palatial spread on Sandalwood Drive, the enclave where the monied folk in Magnolia Bluff live to avoid mingling with the Great Unwashed, Mary Lou Fight was looking at photographs in her living room, which was larger than Harry Thurgood’s coffee shop by quite a stretch.

Across from her sat a nondescript man. A little taller than average. A little bit broader built than average. Dishwater blond hair, what was left of it. Facial features no one would probably bother to remember.

His suit came off a department store rack quite sometime ago and hadn’t been altered. Nor had it ever seen the inside of a dry cleaners.

Mary Lou looked up from the photographs. “Hunter, I’m surprised. These are worthless. They don’t tell me anything I don’t already know. Everyone knows he sits in his coffee shop and talks to the little strumpet. And this one…” She held up the color glossy print. “Who cares if he ran a red light? This is not like you at all. What else have you found? And don’t tell me nothing.”

“He’s very good, Mrs. Fight. Honest. I can’t even find anything to prove his name isn’t Harry Thurgood.”

“If you’re trying to get more money…”

“No, it’s not like that, Mrs. Fight. Honest. I don’t know who he knows, but whoever it is they are good. Very good.”

“And who do you think he knows?”

“Well, if my theory is correct and he paid for a new identity, then we are talking, for an ID this good, someone who works with organized crime.”

“You mean like on that nasty TV show?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“I see. So he is a criminal.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. But he probably has connections.”

“Keep digging. If you need money to loosen tongues, let me know. I want him to pay.”

“I will, Mrs. Fight. I’ll keep digging. Everyone has a dirty diaper. I’ll find his.”

“Good. Because I want him gone. I want him in jail so he can never come back. So he can never have his precious little harlot. I want him locked away with a lot of mean and nasty criminals who will humiliate and emasculate him. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mrs. Fight.”

“Good. Now, go.”

“Hunter left, and Mary Lou, using her walker, slowly made her way to the floor-to-ceiling picture window. The window that looked out onto her world. And it was her world. Everything she saw, and much of what she didn’t see. Her husband, Gunter, owned the bank, and in owning the bank, he controlled the lives of many of the good folk of Magnolia Bluff. And Mary Lou controlled Gunter. Together, they controlled almost everyone in Magnolia Bluff. Everyone except for Harry Thurgood. And that made her angry.

He had thwarted her attempt to get rid of that little minx, Ember Cole, who had the audacity to stand in the pulpit of her church. A church she couldn’t even go to anymore because of Harry Thurgood. He had threatened her and thwarted her. Humiliated her in her own town, and that made her blood boil.

She clenched her fists, and in a voice barely above a whisper, but filled with a venom that would make a rattlesnake hide under a rock, she said, “No one humiliates me, Harry Thurgood. No one.”

***

Across Burnet Reservoir, in a very large Prairie-style home on the northwest shore, nestled among the trees, Scarlett Hayden stood at her picture window and looked out on her world. The resort that made a rich widow even richer.

She’d been standing there a long time. Long enough for her martini to have lost its icy coldness.

Even though the resort was full, something not uncommon for October, a last hurrah for the tourists, the day was starting out quiet. The Smiths, her very efficient caretakers, had handled everything this morning, leaving her with little to do and a lot of time on her hands.

Scarlett hated the quiet days. Hated them because she always found herself thinking of Harry Thurgood. Daydreaming about what life would be like waking up with him beside her in bed. She wanted him more than anything. But he was only interested in that skinny Ember Cole.

The couple of times he’d visited had convinced her he’d enjoyed her company. And he would’ve stayed the night. But it was always Ember on his mind.

Her martini was thoroughly warm now. She walked to the kitchen sink and poured the gin and vermouth down the drain. She watched the liquid and her dream flow away.

“Maybe I need to get reacquainted with the football team,” she said out loud. “Maybe the high school team as well as the college team.”

She barked a harsh laugh and shook her head. “No. If I want the star quarterback, then I’m going to get the star quarterback. I deserve the best and I’m going to get the best. I’ve had my fill of the milk. I want, no, I deserve the cream.”

That decision made, she fixed herself a fresh martini. Drink in hand, she walked to the sofa and stretched out on it.

Scarlett took a sip of the ice cold liquid. “I just have to figure out how to get him away from Ember.” The glass returned to her lips and she took another sip of gin, scented with a trace of vermouth. “But how?”

She stared at her genuine Tiffany lamp. The monochromatic yellow-green hues of the glass and the arachnid-like raised veins coming down from the clawed top she found to be soothing.

After some time, she took a swallow of her drink, and said, “There’s always Mary Lou and her goddamn groupies. She knows everything. Maybe I need to get back into her good graces. After all, Mary Lou wants Ember gone as badly as I do.”

Scarlett took another swallow of the martini. “And then there’s Daphne. Women always tell their hairdresser everything. Getting close with her would definitely give me an additional information highway to drive down.”

The rest of the martini disappeared in one long gulp.“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. If I were good friends with Ember…” She shrugged. “Why not? If I can poison her opinion of the coffee man and get her to dump him…”

She pursed her lips at the thought, and a big smile spread across her face.

***

Ember Cole stood up and stretched.

Scattered across her desk top were sheets of paper, her Bible, the New Testament in Greek, and several commentaries.

Her eyes came to rest on the statue in the far corner of her office that Harry had given to her at Christmas.

“Why give me a statue of Mary and Jesus?” she’d asked him. “You do remember I’m not Catholic?”

He’d chuckled. “I remember,” he’d answered, and added, “It’s religious art and you’re religious, aren’t you?”

“I am.”

“So there you have it. And don’t throw it out, or give it away.”

“What makes…”

He’d held his hand up. “It’s valuable. Like very valuable. And incredibly old.”

“Really? How old?”

“Let’s say that it might have been used by the Druids.”

“The Druids? They weren’t Christian.”

“No, they weren’t.”

“And?”

“As I said, it is incredibly old.”

“I see. You aren’t going to tell me. Okay. So why give it to me? And how did you get it in the first place?”

She remembered he’d smiled at her and said, “I want you to have it because I love you. As for how I got it, let’s just say it’s a family heirloom.”

She didn’t believe him, but knew she wasn’t going to get anymore out of him. So she’d put the thing on a table in the corner of her office, even though she thought it was one of the ugliest works of art she’d ever seen.

“Dull, crusty black metal. Skinny, ugly figures that don’t even look like real people.”

Harry had laughed at her description.

The statue was wood, and the wood was overlayed with a black metal. It stood a little over two feet in height from the base to the top of Mary’s crown.

The Mary figure was tall and skinny and seated on a backless chair. The baby Jesus was seated on her lap, and he was wearing a crown as well, just like his mother.

The statue reminded her of pictures she’d seen of Medieval depictions of Jesus and Mary. Highly stylized. Not at all realistic.

The statue wasn’t the only gift Harry’d given her, which made it easier for her to accept the ugly thing.

She walked over to it, squatted before it, and said, not for the first time, “I wonder what makes you so special other than you being old?” She stood. “Sure wish Harry would tell me what’s up with you. Maybe Father Lee would know something.”

Ember walked back to her desk and sat. Not Father Lee, she thought. Harry. He needs to tell me about his past.

Then she shook her head. “No. If he tells me his dark secret, then I’ll have to tell him mine. And I’m not ready to do that. Not yet. Maybe never.”

Her eyes darted to the statue. Mystery man. Mystery art. So many secrets. So very many secrets.

***

I hope that has you salivating for more. Stay tuned and you may get your wish.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

 

 

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

 

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

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The post Snippet Time: Ten Million Ways to Die first appeared on CW Hawes.

Ten Million Ways to Die

In 20 days, on October 23rd, my newest book and the latest edition in the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles, goes live. Ten Million Ways to Die.

I love the cover. And without me realizing it, the cover artist, Crispian Thurlborn of Wyldwood Books, told me I’d chosen the cover that had the same color palette as my first book in the series, Death Wears a Crimson Hat. Who knows? Might become a trademark.

I’m excited about this book. It’s a great story and a puzzling and exciting mystery. It’s also one of the longest books I’ve written: clocking in at around 73,000 words.

Harry Thurgood and Reverend Ember Cole are still dancing the two-step around their feelings for each other. 

Mary Lou Fight is still bent on getting Ember out of the pulpit of her church. And wants Harry to pay for wrongs Mary Lou thinks he’s done to her.

Reece Sovern, Magnolia Bluff PD Investigator, thinks Harry is at the bottom of all that is going wrong in the little town.

But when Brother John’s Traveling Salvation and Holiness Extravaganza, featuring the divine voices of the Reston Family Singers, comes to town — then the fireworks truly begin.

The other week I had the privilege of being on the Meet the Author vodcast/podcast with my fellow Underground Authors Breakfield & Burkey and Joe Congel.

We had a great time. The link to the video is below. The show was great fun.

https://www.youtube.com/live/vZgftI2JRTY?si=HBh2AiJ5UopM4XMp&t=2809

Ten Million Ways to Die launches Monday, 23 October. Mark your calendars. It will be on Amazon.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

 

 

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes 

 

Justinia Wright Private Investigator Mysteries on Amazon!

Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon!

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The post Ten Million Ways to Die first appeared on CW Hawes.

A Whole Lot of Good Books Cheap

The Underground Authors’s Freebooksy promo is in full swing. Right now through Friday.

Your visit to Magnolia Bluff, Texas will never be cheaper.

My best selling novel, Death Wears a Crimson Hat, is free. Who doesn’t like free?

And most of the other books in the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles are 99¢.

Jog on over to Amazon. There you’ll find the entire series. Seventeen (17) books to satisfy your inner crime solver.

Get the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles on Amazon today!

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

 

 

CW Hawes is a playwright; award-winning poet; and a fictioneer, with a bestselling novel. He’s also an armchair philosopher, political theorist, social commentator, and traveler. He loves a good cup of tea and agrees that everything’s better with pizza.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider buying me a cup of tea. Thanks! PayPal.me/CWHawes

Share This!
The post A Whole Lot of Good Books Cheap first appeared on CW Hawes.