Stephen White - Alan Gregory discussion
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Dustin wrote: "The Kult by Shaun JeffreyI recently read this one with another group - 6 free copies have been offered if we choose it as a group read. I will message group members about it soon..."
As I said to Justin, as I live in the UK, and if it won the poll, I was prepared to send the books via Amazon as it's cheaper for me regards postage if the recipients live abroad. It is a little gory I guess, and it spans a few genres, from mystery, thriller to horror.
The book was also optioned for film at the end of last year by Gharial Productions, and shooting is scheduled for September of this year. Although the book was based in the UK, the film is going to be shot in the US, so there are a few changes to the story to account for this. OK, spam over :)
Hello everyone, I'm John Stipa from Virginia, just joined this group. Dustin has been the best. Willing to help a nobody from nowhere create awareness for his work. My novel, No Greater Sacrifice is one of the suggestions for an upcoming read. I figured you might like a taste to throw you over the edge:=========================================
Working in silence, they continued their probing until David’s knuckles scraped something hard. He peeled back layers of sod and soon uncovered a circle of stones about four feet in diameter.
“Renée, come here, I’ve found it.” He illuminated the area.
“Where are my tools when I need them?” she said.
“Kinda tough getting a crossbow through airport security,” he said, removing enough dirt to reveal the central stone. “Bingo. One Ninnion Tablet.”
The words had barely left his mouth when spotlights all around them torched the night. Blaring sirens deafened their ears followed by dogs barking and approaching footsteps.
A deep voice boomed from the darkness. “RESTEZ OÙ VOUS ÊTES. STAY WHERE YOU ARE!”
Two uniformed guards appeared from behind the glare of the spotlights, each struggling to restrain a Doberman pinscher barking ferociously and straining against a leather leash. “Put your hands in the air.”
Renée raised her arms. “Shit.”
Like a squirrel caught in oncoming traffic, David flinched in several directions at once, feverishly playing his light about.
“What are you doing?” she said. “We’re caught.”
“Renée, why are Polish security guards yelling at us in French? And check out their uniforms and shoes. They’re not here to arrest us.”
The shirts looked authentic at first glance, but they were actually just generic button-downs. “We can’t rush them,” Renée said through clenched teeth. “The dogs will rip us apart.” She glanced at the circle of stones below them. Maybe… “Hey, do you trust me?”
“Absolutely.”
“When I count to three, jump in the air and land as heavy as you can. Got it?”
“What?”
“Just do it, David. Been here before.”
As the guards reached down to untether the snarling dogs, Renée counted. “One, two, three!”
In unison, they jumped high in the air and crashed to the ground. There was a dull cracking sound, then…THOOM!
Renée and David disappeared from sight.
======================================
Looking forward to interacting with all of you.
--John
http://www.amazon.com/No-Greater-Sacr...
Mod
:-) Really, it's not spam. You have my full permission :-)
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Dustin, thanks for all the work you have done to find authors/books for us. I think I would be fine with any of the books you mention, and Kult or No Greater Sacrifice would be great, but since I had already asked my local library to obtain No Greater Sacrifice that would be my first pick.
Mod
message 59:
by
Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado
(last edited Apr 27, 2010 08:02AM)
(new)
Mod
I'd love to participate in a group discussion about my novels. I write a mystery/suspense series based on a homicide detective in Eugene, OR, and I explore provocative social issues. The first two books in the series, THE SEX CLUB and SECRETS TO DIE FOR, have garnered terrific reader response. The third story, THRILLED TO DEATH, will be out next year.
Here's a link to a book review that says why my series makes for great discussions.
http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.com/20...
message 60:
by
Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado
(last edited Apr 27, 2010 08:04AM)
(new)
Hi, I'm Julie. Dustin's been working really hard on promoting my book here, so I thought I'd give you a sample. Actually, it's a complete short chapter.
Mutual Interest
Sam strode quickly away from the San Francisco restaurant. He didn’t like the way a certain young man inside was watching him. His long hair and short beard reminded Sam of that hippie kid back home. Could even be him; Sam hadn’t seen him in a long time.
He reached his truck and glanced back. The young guy wasn’t far behind. He decided it would be best to face him and find out what he wanted.
“What do you want?” he snapped as the other approached him.
“Excuse me sir. I’m a reporter for the Bay Guardian.”
“Really? How long have you had that job?”
“Not long. I’m new at this. I heard you offer that girl a ride up to Fort Bragg and I was wondering if I could get a ride up there with you? I’d pay for half the gas, of course.”
“What do you want to go up there for?”
“I’m doing a story on the serial killer and I want to go up and ask a few questions.”
“Got any leads?”
“A few. Why?”
Ignoring the question, Sam considered the request carefully, “Okay. Get in.”
And another one:
Chapter Five
The Usual Suspects
Sheriff’s Deputy Rick Johnson stirred his coffee patiently as he considered the young man sitting across the table. He did not like having his lunch break interrupted by amateur detectives who thought they knew everything. Why couldn’t he have given the information by phone, like everyone else, so the people back at Headquarters in Ukiah could throw it away, like they did all the others?
That was the trouble when a big, showy case like this happened in a small town. Everybody got all excited and wouldn’t let the Department do its work. And then some rich guy had to put a big reward out, and, well, after that everybody thought their next-door neighbor was a serial murderer. The folks back at Headquarters had to deal with about ten calls a day from people who thought they knew who it was. And no two of them ever identified the same person as the killer.
This case was a pain. So far six young women had disappeared in the last three months, two of them local, and the rest from elsewhere in Northern California. None of them had left any evidence. No one had witnessed the kidnappings. The girls had simply gone out and never come home.
He took a sip of his coffee and looked up at the man across the table. He was younger even than he had first thought. Not much more than a kid. The beard made him look older. He was dressed casually, in a t-shirt and jeans, but something about him seemed unusual. It wasn’t the longish hair; Rick had worn his own longer before he joined the force. Maybe it was those blue eyes. So sincere. Reminded him of himself, a long time ago, when he was still young and idealistic. When he’d thought a career in law enforcement would be a good way to help people. Before the real world had crushed all his youthful ideals.
He forced himself to meet his informant’s eyes. “So what makes you think you’ve found the killer?”
“I’m hearing women scream. Isn’t that enough?”
“You said you live out in the country. How do you know they aren’t mountain lions?”
“I’ve lived there all my life. I’d have to be deaf not to know the difference.”
“Well, you know we’ve gotten lots of tips, and they all lead in different directions. We’ll need more than a few screams in the night. Probably some concrete evidence before we raid the place.”
“I understand. I’ll get you some.”
“Don’t try breaking into his house or anything. I’d hate to have to prosecute you if you’re wrong.”
“I won’t. I’ll just watch, and if he leaves something solid around, I’ll get it to you.”
“You do that. Now I’d like to finish my lunch, if you don’t mind?”
“I’ll see you later.” The stranger stood up and left the coffee shop. Deputy Johnson wondered if they were all like that, the crank tipsters. So earnest. If only he had given his real name, instead of that ridiculous alias, then perhaps he would have believed him . . . .
And then he thought of a different possibility. Weird, but possible. Serial killers sometimes baited the police if they could get away with it. The smart ones did, anyway. Gave them a little extra thrill, or something. It seemed unlikely, incredible even, but . . . what if the killer practiced misdirection like a stage magician? What if the killer had just been talking to him?
That kid needed watching.
Mod
btw, in case everyone hasn't noticed, I'm giving priority to any Goodreads Authors willing to give us free copies :-) The Serpent and the Stag is only available as an ebook and Julie has offered to give us a code to read for free if we choose it as a group read.
One nice feature of Smashwords is that you can read the book on whatever device you have. I favor my somewhat-obsolete Palm TX...Smashwords has three different formats that I can read with free software.
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That works too! My phone's at least that old, and although it can do texting, I don't. And my Palm isn't a phone at all, but a pda that's been out since '05. More like a tiny computer.
Thanks, Dustin.Now I know what can go on the back cover of the print edition. (I'm still working on that issue.)
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The cover is my own design, but it's limited by what I could do at the time. (Being married to an artist does not help.) But if I can find or take the right photograph, yes, I would like to change the cover.
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I don't want to promise a date at this point, but I just sent for my first proof copy. (fingers crossed) If it looks good, then maybe within a couple weeks, I can get you something.
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Congratulations on the book! Actually, I like that misty, vague photo on the cover, but then, I love fog.
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http://your-taxes.com/books/wpress/
Very nice! I lived in Sacramento years ago but never knew about the tunnels.
Thanks! I started out writing about the Mendocino Coast, since that's the main setting for The Serpent and the Stag, but after a few posts I started thinking about my current project, and those tunnels are important to it.
The fog photo in my blog is a standard Wordpress theme, which I hope to replace by another nice foggy photo in the future. As you can guess, I love the fog too.Oh, and Dustin: About the cover....my husband is making noises about painting me a cover. I don't know if, or when, that will happen, so I think I'll leave the cover alone for the time being.
I just reworked the website and got a new url on it. Let me know what you guys think: http://www.theserpentandthestag.com/
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I didn't change the blog page....that's at http://www.julieannmaahs.com/wpress/The addresses are actually layered. http://www.theserpentandthestag.com is the same as http://www.julieannmaahs.com/Serpent is the same as http://www.your-taxes.com/books/Serpent .
So all I did was add new names to each level. The Serpent page looks very much like it did before, but now has navigation buttons (some of which don't really work yet).
Yes. The only page I changed was for the book. I'm keeping that blog the way it is till I get a better picture than the one it has now.
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I think one showing the wild Mendocino rhododendrons blooming in the fog would be really nice. (That's a Serpent tease, btw.) And I've seen some really pretty ones of the redwoods in the fog. If I go there the right week, I can probably take a good picture of Pudding Creek in the fog.
message 87:
by
Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl, Colorful Colorado
(last edited Jul 02, 2010 10:15AM)
(new)
Mod
I'll be interested to see what your group makes of 'The Day the Ravens Died' which I believe you managed to get Boulder library to stock.
All the best Paul Rix [oldgeezer:]"
Hi Timothy/Paul :-) Yes. Boulder Library does now have this title and I actually have it checked out now. I loved that very first part/ Prologue about the mom & the crash. Now I've gotten into some military stuff which honestly doesn't interest me as much. I'm trying to look the book over or read a good portion of Ravens before offering it as a group read :-) I'll keep you posted, but be warned, I'm a slow reader.
Thanks for the update Dustin, I hope you enjoy it. I'll be happy to talk to any readers via this site, as the best, Paul Rix [oldgeezer:] aka Timothy Pilgrim.
Stephen White - Alan Gregory
Books mentioned in this topic
The Day the Ravens Died (other topics)The Serpent and the Stag (other topics)
The Serpent and the Stag (other topics)
The Serpent and the Stag (other topics)
The Sex Club (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Shaun Jeffrey (other topics)Shaun Jeffrey (other topics)
Nathan Henrion (other topics)
Ed Lynskey (other topics)
Darcia Helle (other topics)
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The next Goodreads Author Group Read will probably start June 1st (and will most likely be a printed copy). If there is enough interest, we may do an ebook before then. Those are just my thoughts so far - we'll see what feedback the poll brings in the next couple of days. So if you're interested in a printed copy in June, please vote for either The Kult or No Greater Sacrifice. If you're interested in an e-book before June vote for either Two Lane or The Serpent and the Stag. I know we have a lot of group reads going on right now and everyone doesn't have to participate in each one or any for that matter :-) but I also want to take advantage of Goodreads Authors willing to join our discussions. This is not set in stone yet - the poll is just to gather feedback and interest.