Giveaway, Guest Author, Harlequin, Harlequin, Showcase

Guest Author B.J. DANIELS showcase & giveaway ENDED

CMash October 13, 2013 Leave a Comment

WELCOME B.J. DANIELS

AUTHOR NAME

B.J. Daniels wrote her first book after a career as an award-winning newspaper journalist and author of 37 published short stories.

That first book, ODD MAN OUT, received a 4 ½ star review from Romantic Times magazine and went on to be nominated for Best Intrigue for that year.

Since then she was won numerous awards including a career achievement award for romantic suspense and numerous nominations and awards for best book.

Daniels lives in Montana with her husband, Parker, and two Springer Spaniels, Spot and Jem. When she isn’t writing, she snowboards, camps, boats and plays tennis.

She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Thriller Writers, Kiss of Death and Romance Writers of America.

To contact her, write: B.J. Daniels, P.O. Box 1173, Malta, MT 59538 or email her atbjdaniels@mtintouch.net
Connect with B.J. at these sites:

Q&A with B.J. Daniels

Writing and Reading:
-Do you draw from personal experiences and/or current events?
I draw mostly from personal experience. With FORSAKEN, I had done a newspaper article about an old sheepherder and his “tender,” the young man who took care of camp while the sheepherder took care of the sheep.

So when I began to write my book, I remembered that old sheepherder (I think he said 3 words total) and the poor young man who couldn’t shut up after traveling 150 miles with the sheep over 3 months back in the Beartooths with only the sheepherder as company. J

So I remembered that and it gave me the idea for the book. Other books come from overhearing conversations, news, newspaper stories, or just my own crazy thoughts. J

-Do you start with the conclusion and plot in reverse or start from the beginning and see where the story line brings you?
I write by the seat of my pants, so I just start writing at the beginning and hope for the best. For FORSAKEN, I knew I would have a mystery and a romance and 2000 sheep back in a remote part of the Beartooths. That’s about all I knew. As I meet the characters, they tell me the story.

-Your routine when writing? Any idiosyncrasies?
I write every day. My goal is 10 pages. Once I get those done I can quit for the day. Idiosyncrasies? Hmmm. I have to have a Coke Zero or I can’t write. J

-Is writing your full time job? If not, may I ask what you do by day?
Writing is my full time job. When I’m not at the computer I’m thinking about my characters. There aren’t any days off because of that.

-Who are some of your favorite authors?
Oh gad, I love so many of them. Off the top of my head…Lisa Gardner, Gillian Flynn, Harlan Coben, T. Jefferson Parker, so many more. I read anything I can get my hands on.

-What are you reading now?
Deadwood by Dani Amore

-Are you working on your next novel? Can you tell us a little about it?
I am always working on my next novel. J MERCY is the fifth book in the Beartooth, Montana series. The series began with UNFORGIVEN, then REDEMPTION, then FORSAKEN. ATONEMENT comes out in March and then MERCY. MERCY is about a US Marshal who goes rogue to catch a serial killer. It isn’t your usual serial killer kind of book though and it’s going to be a lot…sexier than some of the others. That’s all I can tell you because I haven’t written it yet.

Fun questions:
-Your novel will be a movie. Who would you cast?
I would love to see the Beartooth series as a TV series or movie. I think Tom Selleck could be my sheriff. Or Sam Elliott. The younger hero? Collin Firth.

-Manuscript/Notes: hand written or keyboard?
Keyboard. I can’t imagine not working on a computer.

-Favorite meal?
Anything Mexican

-Favorite food?
Chile Rellenos (that would be peppers and cheese)

-Favorite beverage?
Coke Zero. J

Thank you for stopping by CMash Reads and spending time with us

Thank you for having me. It’s been fun.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Danger runs high and passions burn hot in Montana’s wild country

Big-city detective Bentley Jamison is a long way from home in the Beartooth wilderness when one of local rancher Maddie Conner’s ranch hands goes missing. Towering mountains and a small, tight community are as unfamiliar to Jamison as herding sheep, but he’s never shied away from a challenge. As the new deputy sheriff, he’s sworn to protect every inch of this rough terrain—starting with unraveling a mystery that has left Maddie a wide-open target.

Maddie’s as beautiful—and untamable—as the land around them. Like Jamison, she won’t back down from danger. But desire that flares hotter than their tempers only raises the stakes when a fierce storm traps them in the high mountains. Caught in a killer’s sights, Jamison and Maddie must trust one another, because now survivaland loveare all that matter.

BOOK DETAILS:

Genre: Romantic Suspense
Published by: Harlequin HQN
Publication Date: Sep 24 2013
Pages: 384
ISBN: 9780373777808

PURCHASE LINKS:

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No items that I receive are ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.

ADDENDUM

I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. I am an IndieBound affiliate. I am providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.

Guest Author, Partners In Crime Tours, Showcase

Brian Anthony & Bill Walker

CMash October 11, 2013 1 Comment

WELCOME B. ANTHONY & B. WALKER

BRIAN ANTHONY is a writer and award-winning filmmaker. His first feature film, Victor’s Big Score, was praised by Variety as “A tremendous calling card for writer-producer-director Brian Anthony.” As a writer-producer Anthony has contributed to shows for American Movie Classics, Arts and Entertainment, and Fox Syndication, including Beneath the Planet of the Apes and Lost in Space Forever. A veteran film historian, Anthony has been interviewed on network television regarding film history, and co-authored the acclaimed biography of the film comedian Charley Chase, Smile While the Raindrops Fall, in 1998. Brian is an expert art and book restorationist, and you can see his work at Anthony Restorations.
Connect with Brian at these sites:

BILL WALKER is an award-winning writer whose works include novels, short stories and screenplays. His first novel, Titanic 2012, was enthusiastically received by readers, and Bill’s two short story collections, Five Minute Frights and Five Minute Chillers, are perennial Halloween favorites. A highly-respected graphic designer, Walker has worked on books by such luminaries as Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Dean Koontz, and Stephen King. His most recent novel, A Note from an Old Acquaintance, was published in 2009.
Connect with Bill at these sites:

ABOUT THE BOOK

When John Wilkes Booth shoots Lincoln with a bullet cursed by the notorious Chicken Man, a local voodoo practitioner, he unwittingly sets in motion a chain of events extending far into the future. Instead of killing Lincoln, the bullet puts the president into a coma for sixty-eight years, his body remaining limber and ageless. When he awakens in 1933, Abe Lincoln is a man out of time, a revered icon…and a political pariah. FDR and J. Edgar Hoover not only do not want him around, they want him to retire. But their plan to be rid of him backfires and Lincoln is on the run, a fugitive from justice.

Determined to reach Chicago and retrieve the small fortune left in trust for him by his long-dead son, Lincoln discovers that Hoover has confiscated all his money, leaving him destitute. With Bureau of Investigation agent Melvin Purvis in hot pursuit, Lincoln finds his way to a hobo camp where he befriends a young runaway, who agrees to accompany the former president back to Washington. There Lincoln hopes that Hannah Wheelhouse, the Chicken Man’s granddaughter, can help him find the peace he longs for.

Then fate deals Lincoln another strange hand when he and the boy end up as hostages to infamous bank robber John Dillinger. Instead of leaving them by the side of the road after the robbery, Dillinger takes a liking to Lincoln and invites him to join the gang, promising him he’ll get all his money back.

Will Lincoln survive long enough to recapture his fortune and get away, or will he be hunted down in a manner unbefitting a martyred President?

In this inventive and entertaining novel, history gets a work-out, the action is flat-out, and almost everyone gets rubbed-out!

READ AN EXCERPT

CHAPTER ONE

March 3, 1934

Lake County Jail

Crown Point, Indiana

Counselor Louis Piquett felt a trickle of cold sweat roll down between his shoulder blades and silently cursed God, the courts, and the governor of the state of Indiana. He couldn’t afford to be nervous today, yet his head pounded and his stomach churned from the breakfast he’d eaten at a roadside diner on the way to the jail. He fought back a wave of nausea and cranked open the Ford’s passenger side window, letting the raw March air wash over his face. He closed his eyes and breathed it in.

“You okay, Louis?”

Piquett turned toward his law partner, Arthur O’Leary, and nodded. “Right as rain. Just wish you’d turn down the blasted heat.”

O’Leary’s lips curled in a lopsided grin, which gave his narrow hawk-like face an air of mirthful menace. “Sorry…you know I’m always cold.”

Piquett took off his fedora and wiped his forehead with a wrinkled linen handkerchief. “Yeah, I know. You should go see the doctor about it.”

O’Leary grinned, and Piquett gazed out across South Main Street at the late-Victorian pile that was the Lake County Jail and Courthouse, his eyes scanning the mounted machineguns and the dozens of National Guardsmen manning them behind a four-foot high wall of fifty-pound sandbags.

“You’d think they were expecting the Kaiser’s army,” O’Leary said, chuckling.

“They just don’t know what to make of our client, Arthur. Lord knows, I sometimes wonder about him myself.”

“He doesn’t belong here, that’s for sure,” O’Leary said, shaking his head.

“Unfortunately, his enemies think otherwise. You and I both know he didn’t kill that federal officer.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Piquett stared back at his partner, his dark eyes like flints. “I know what you meant.” The handkerchief came out again. “You take care of the guards, like I asked you?”

O’Leary nodded. “There won’t be a search.”

Piquett patted the left side of his suit jacket. “They find this on me and we’ve got a lot more trouble than we ever bargained for.”

O’Leary shot his partner a look of annoyance. “Nobody’s got a gun to your head, Louis.”

Despite the rumble in his guts, Piquett smiled. “That’s why I like you, Arthur. You always look at the bright side.” He glanced at his watch. “Time to go. Wish me luck.”

O’Leary nodded, and Piquett eased himself out of the Ford and closed the door. He hesitated a moment then leaned in through the open window. “If I’m not out in twenty minutes, you get on out of here. You remember where I put the emergency funds?

“I remember.”

“Good. Keep lookin’ at that bright side, Arthur.”

Piquett slapped the roof of the Ford and strode toward the jail. Passing through the narrow opening in the sandbags, he gave the soldiers a cordial nod, climbed the steps and disappeared into the building.

Following an official clearance, and after passing through a succession of remotely-controlled gates, he stood before the final door separating him from his client. The lone guard, seated at a scarred oak desk, motioned toward the open logbook lying in front of him. Piquett picked up a pen off the blotter and signed his name with a flourish.

“Morning, officer,” he said, handing back the pen.

The guard, a scrawny young man with greasy black hair and a dull look in his eyes, took back the pen with a smirk spreading across his face.

“Yeah, well, it ain’t so good for that client a yours, counselor.”

Piquett’s trial-winning smile widened. “Well, we’re all innocent in the eyes of the law, until proven guilty, officer. That’s the very foundation on which our great and glorious nation resides. Besides, you never know how a day’s going to end, until it’s over.”

The guard frowned, his puzzled expression making him look even less intelligent. “You mind standing back and raising your arms, counselor?” he said. “Gotta search ya.”

Piquett’s stomach rolled over, but he managed to keep the grin plastered to his face, even as he felt the sweat break out anew.

Just then an older guard stuck his head in the doorway.

“He’s clean, Jeff.”

The younger guard’s frown deepened. “But Sheriff Holley said we was to search every visitor ‘fore I pass ’em through this point.”

The older man leaned into the room, his face flushing. “And I’m tellin’ you he’s clean.”

Piquett watched the tense exchange between the two guards and said a silent prayer.

The younger guard appeared to think about this for a moment, the gears in his mind grinding slowly. Then he sighed and shook his head. “You say he’s clean, Irv, then fine, he’s clean.”

The older guard nodded, giving Piquett a knowing look the younger guard missed then left the room. The younger guard stood and threw the lever that operated the automatic doors. There was a loud “clunk,” followed by the whir of machinery. The door slid open and clanged to a stop.

Another guard appeared on the other side of the open doorway and motioned for Piquett to follow.

They passed through a corridor lined with empty holding cells. At the end of the hall Piquett spotted a wooden chair facing one of the cells. The guard motioned for him to sit. For a fleeting moment, Piquett toyed with the notion of turning around and leaving, going back to the car and driving away–maybe take that vacation he’d always promised himself. But then, whatever was left of his tattered code of ethics took over and he eased himself into the chair.

“Thank you, officer,” he said to the guard. “I’ll let you know when we’re done.

The guard nodded, retraced his steps down the corridor and disappeared around the corner. Piquett kept his eye on the corridor for another moment then turned toward the cell.

His client sat in a matching hardback chair dressed in a white shirt, charcoal-gray vest and matching pants. He was impossibly tall–even sitting down–and impossibly…there. The face he’d grown up admiring, the face that graced the penny and the five-dollar bill now sat watching him with a look of bemusement, gray eyes twinkling in the harsh glow of the bare bulb hanging from the ceiling.

“Good morning, counselor,” Lincoln said in his high, soft-spoken voice.

“Good morning, Mr. President.”

“Please, Mr. Piquett, I do not think it fitting to refer to me by that hallowed moniker, especially when viewed in the harsh light of my present circumstances.”

Piquett felt his face redden. “I’m sorry, sir, you’ll have to forgive me. I much admired your administration, your achievements.”

Lincoln smiled revealing gaps between his teeth. “And while my achievements may make me immortal, I am an inconvenient reality whose presence is a reminder of things some would prefer to forget. As far as those demigods who now reside in Washington are concerned, I am a man out of time and out of step with the problems of the day.”

“I disagree, Mr. Lincoln.”

Lincoln slapped his knee and chuckled. “You know what’s truly ironic, counselor? The tenor of Washington has not changed all that much. I suspect the streets are cleaner and summers are more tolerable nowadays, but those puffed-up politicians have raised backstabbing to a high art. Practice makes perfect. Did you bring it, Mr. Piquett?”

The abrupt shift in the conversation flustered the lawyer for a moment. “Y-yes, sir.”

He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small package wrapped in butcher paper and tied with twine. He handed it through the bars and Lincoln took it with his large, calloused hand. The package disappeared into his pocket.

“Thank you, counselor, you’ve been most helpful. And I appreciate all that you’ve done. I was especially inspired by your performance in the courtroom during my arraignment last month.”

Piquett puffed with pride. “It was an honor, sir. I just wish I could’ve done more.”

Lincoln stood and thrust his hand through the bars. “You’ve done more than any man could ask. If I have need of you again, I will surely call on you.”

The lawyer grasped his client’s hand, feeling the strength in the older man’s grip.

“Where will you go?” Piquett asked.

Lincoln’s expression turned melancholy. “Back into the history books where I belong, counselor…if they’ll let me….”

Ten minutes later, as O’Leary guided the Ford through the crush of late morning traffic, Piquett thought about the small wrapped package he’d given Lincoln and wondered–in spite of his sordid lack of ethics–if he’d done the right thing, after all.

* * *

Jail Handyman Sam Cahoon went cold all over when he felt the barrel of a pistol jabbing into the small of his back. But it was that high voice in his ears that sent his heart racing.

“I’ve got to be going, Sam,” Lincoln said, “and I need your help. Please don’t make me use this. I know only too well what it can do.”

Lincoln guided him over to the locked steel door leading to the adjoining room and motioned for Sam to call out to the guards. A large black man rose from a nearby table where he’d been playing solitaire and joined them. When Sam continued to hesitate, Lincoln kicked the door with his foot, sending a booming sound reverberating around the Day Room, which now fell silent.

“That you, Sam?” came the voice from the other side of the door.

Sam looked to Lincoln, his eyes wide with fright. Lincoln pressed the barrel harder into the handyman’s back and nodded.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Sam said. “I’m done in here.”

“All right,” the voice replied.

A moment later came the rattle of keys and the door swung inward. Lincoln kicked the door hard, sending the startled guard behind it sprawling, then he shoved Sam Cahoon aside and grabbed the guard, who was scrambling to his feet.

“Y-you out of your mind?” the guard sputtered.

“So they tell me, son. Now you go on and get us into the guardroom, and no tricks.”

The guard’s hands trembled, causing him to fumble with the keys. Lincoln jabbed the barrel harder into the guard’s back, eliciting a moan of fear from the man.

“Hurry, now.”

“I g-got it,” the guard said, slapping the key into the lock and twisting it. They burst into the guardroom, where a civilian fingerprint technician and one other guard sat drinking coffee and chewing on jelly donuts, their eyes as round as saucers. Lincoln spotted two Thompsons with fully loaded drum magazines sitting on the windowsill and nodded to the black man.

“Mr. Youngblood, we shall require those fine instruments of destruction.”

The black man chuckled and grabbed them, handing one to Lincoln, who then held up the pistol he’d used for all to see. A sly grin spread across his face. It was a crudely carved wooden gun blackened with shoe polish, the words “Colt .38” etched into its side.

Both the guard and the fingerprint technician shook their heads in disgust.

Lincoln’s grin widened. “Well, now, it does seem one can fool some of the people all of the time.” He put the wooden gun back into his pocket and waved the barrel of the submachine gun towards the exit door.

“Mr. Youngblood, take this officer to one of the cells.”

“Yes, sir.”

Youngblood manhandled the guard out of the room and returned moments later.

Lincoln looked at the fingerprint technician, who sat frozen, the jelly donut still hanging from his mouth.

“What’s your name, son?” Lincoln asked.

The young technician yanked the donut from his mouth.

“Uh, Ernest Blunk, sir. You gonna shoot me?”

“I have no desire to kill anyone, Mr. Blunk, but I am getting out of here. It’s your choice.” Lincoln’s gaze was implacable and Blunk nodded soberly and stood up.

“All right, gentlemen,” Lincoln said, “shall we take our leave?”

After a short trip down two corridors and one flight of stairs, they emerged into the alley. Lincoln eyed the narrow passageway in both directions, noting the way was clear. He smiled and turned to Blunk, who stood with his arms wrapped around himself, shivering in the cold.

“Where’s the garage, son? The one with the private cars.”

“Down the alley, around the c-corner, behind the courts.”

“Let’s go.”

The garage was in a shed-like building with a sliding wooden door that reminded Lincoln of an old barn. The door shrieked on its rusty rails as Youngblood slid it open. Inside it was toasty warm and reeked of gasoline and spilled oil. A lone mechanic lay under a late-model Chevy, banging away at a water pump and cursing under his breath. Another man sat behind a desk in the small glassed-in office. Just then a woman walked into the garage.

“Mr. Saager, is my car–” She stopped in mid-sentence when she spotted Lincoln and Youngblood wielding the two Thompsons and fainted dead away, her limp body slapping against the grimy concrete.

Youngblood handed his Thompson to Lincoln, picked up the woman and deposited her inside the office on a battered sofa. The black man motioned for the man at the desk to move and the man scrambled out the door with his hands in the air.

“What’s the fastest car in here?” Lincoln asked, handing Youngblood back his Thompson.

The man from the office looked around and nodded toward the mechanic under the Chevy.

“Hudak’d know best.”

“Ask him to join us.”

The man eased over to the Chevy and gave the mechanic’s leg a nudge with his foot.

“What you want, Saager?”

“We got a man here asking about fast cars.”

“What do I look like, a salesman? I’m up to my butt in work here, in case you hadn’t noticed, and I got to get this damn Chevy out of here by two.”

Saager looked to Lincoln and shrugged. Youngblood raised the barrel of his Thompson and Saager paled a few shades whiter. He kicked the mechanic harder and said. “You get on out here, Hudak, if you know what’s good for you.”

The mechanic slid out from under the car, the curses on his lips dying away when he spotted the two men and their machineguns.

“Damn!”

“What’s the fastest car in here?” Lincoln asked.

Hudak jabbed his finger toward a sleek brand-new car parked in a corner, its jet-black paint gleaming under the hooded lights. “That there Ford. Got a real honey of a V-8.”

“That’ll be fine, Mr. Hudak.”

“But that’s Sheriff Holley’s new car.”

Lincoln laughed. “Even better. Mr. Blunk, you will drive. Mr. Hudak, you and your partner will disable all the other vehicles in the garage.”

Hudak looked incredulous.

“Now, Mr. Hudak.”

The mechanic walked toward the Chevy, shaking his head. When he reached the car, he opened the hood and started gingerly pulling wires.

Youngblood rolled his eyes, grabbed a hammer and pushed the mechanic aside. “Not like that–like this.” He swung the hammer down onto the spark plugs one by one, shattering them then pounded holes in the carburetor. He handed the hammer to Hudak. “Now, go to it, my man. Just like the boss says.”

In moments every other car was disabled and Blunk pulled the Sheriff’s car up to the door, the engine revving with a throaty roar. Lincoln and Youngblood climbed in and Lincoln hung his Thompson out the window at Saager and Hudak. Neither man moved.

“All right, Mr. Blunk. Let us proceed.”

The car pulled into the alley and then out onto East Street. Lincoln swiveled his head back and forth, looking to see if anyone followed. “Nice and slow,” he said. “It wouldn’t do to draw attention to ourselves.”

They passed the courthouse and Lincoln smiled when he spotted all the soldiers. They swung around a parked bus and pulled up to a stoplight. A bank sat on one of the corners and Lincoln stared at it. “Mighty tempting to procure us some traveling money, but I think we’ve worn out our welcome here, Mr. Youngblood.”

Yes, sir, Mr. Lincoln,” the black man said, grinning from ear to ear. The light turned green and the car sped out of town. When they reached State Road 8, Lincoln relaxed and began singing an old hymn. His singing voice was surprisingly tuneful and brought a smile even to Blunk’s dour face.

“Where we going, anyway?” Blunk asked when Lincoln had finished singing.

“Wherever the winds of fate shall take us.”

Youngblood laughed as the car sped off down the road.

The Great Emancipator was free

BOOK DETAILS:

Genre: Alternate History
Published by: Lowtide Books
Publication Date: 10/5/13
Number of Pages: 352
ISBN:
978-0-9897457-0-3 (Hardcover)
978-0-9897457-1-0 (Paperback)
978-0-9897457-2-7 (ebook)

PURCHASE LINKS:

Watch the trailer:

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DISCLAIMER
No items that I receive are ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.
ADDENDUM
I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. I am an IndieBound affiliate. I am providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.

Giveaway, Guest Author, JKS Communications, JKS Communications, Showcase

Guest Author LOUISE GAYLORD showcase & giveaway ENDED

CMash October 10, 2013 Leave a Comment

WELCOME LOUISE GAYLORD

AUTHOR NAME

Louise Gaylord is an acclaimed national award-winning author who established herself with her very
first book, a suspenseful murder mystery centering on a young, sharp female assistant district attorney.
This was the cornerstone of what has become her popular Allie Armington mystery series, the idea for
it sparked when Louise herself spent three months on a grand jury panel.

The series has grown to four novels, with stories ranging from the Southwest (“Anacacho” and “Spa Deadly”) to New York (“Xs”), to the most recent (“Dark Lake”) featuring her beloved Adirondacks.

In the middle of establishing her mystery writer credentials, she expanded out of the genre with an insightful character study novel, “Julia Fairchild,” and then the delightful “Recipes from Camp Trillium.” The cookbook features worldwide recipes from Louise’s family and guests during years they visited her in New York’s Adirondack Mountains.

Her first Allie Armington Mystery, “Anacacho,” won the 2003 National Benjamin Franklin Award for Best Mystery/Suspense sponsored by Publisher’s Marketing Association in Los Angeles. The San Francisco Book Festival awarded Louise with best audio book in 2010 for “Spa Deadly.” “Recipes from Camp Trillium” won the Dan Poynter’s Global eBook Awards, in which “Julia Fairchild” and “Spa Deadly” were also finalists. And most recently, “Dark Lake” was recognized in the General Fiction category of the Los Angeles Book Festival.

Louise’s newest book, “Sutton Place,” will be published August 27, 2013, by Little Moose Press,
Beverly Hills, California.

Louise lives in Houston, Texas, though she might be found writing almost anywhere in the world.
Connect with Ms. Gaylord at these sites:

Q&A with “Sutton Place” author Louise Gaylord

What will fans of “Julia Fairchild” like about your newest book, “Sutton Place?”
“Sutton Place” is the prequel to “Julia Fairchild”. The reader learns in detail about the incidents that drove Julia from New York to New Mexico.

Three months serving on a grand jury panel inspired your Allie Armington mystery series. How did you come up with Julia’s character?
Julia just “grew like Topsy” in my mind. She’s a composite of all the strong women I have known. Lies, family secrets, obsessions – will Julia ever catch a break? She catches her break in “Julia Fairchild”.

Your mystery novels are known for having very unexpected twists and surprise endings. How do you keep readers on their toes?
I don’t outline so sometimes I even surprise myself! I really write to amuse myself. One of my writing instructors said I should have fun when writing. I have a friend who writes a chapter here and then a chapter there. I can’t do that. I have to write in a linear fashion.

As a successful, award-winning mystery writer, you stepped out of the genre to work on a few other books, including Recipes from Camp Trillium. What’s your favorite dish to stir up in the kitchen?
Grandma Betsy’s Chicken. My mother put Lawry’s seasoning and Worchester sauce on everything. This made a nice, simple one-dish meal to serve all. To make it, you just need chicken, Worcestershire sauce and Lawry’s® Seasoned Salt. Then add any vegetable of your choice. Cut up potatoes, mushrooms, onions or red bell peppers, carrots, almost anything except greens. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Quarter the chicken or cut it into single-serving pieces. Place the chicken skin side up in an aluminum foil-lined pan. Throw the vegetables all around it. Douse it with Worcestershire sauce and sprinkle with seasoned salt. Bake that for 25 to 40 minutes, or until the juices run clear.

You studied art history in college after your grade-school teachers encouraged you to do
something with your painting skills. How has painting helped you write?
I’m a very visual person. So I can imagine a scene as if I’m painting it and portray that in words on page. A lot of people who write also paint. I noticed though that I never had a problem dropping the paintbrush to go play tennis or golf. But once I started writing I couldn’t leave my computer.

You’re churning out books left and right. What are you working on now?
An Allie Armington Mystery. The working title is: “A Cruise to Die For.” Stay tuned!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Just When Things Seem to be Going So Well…

…a horrific incident from Julia Fairchild’s past — one she thought had been buried long ago —comes
charging back into her life. Then a promising romantic weekend goes bad, which makes staying at Sutton Place more than Julia can handle. So she flees her home, her family…her life. But apparently, she can’t go far enough.

The Fairchilds were a happy family of wealthy New York stock, with two loving daughters. Until the
secrets started to surface.

The first secret was revealed when Julia was told the truth about her father. Her reaction to the
revelation sent her spinning out of control.

The second secret concerned the parentage of Julia’s sister, Ariel. How Ariel responded to the
revelation astounded the rest of the family.

Now Julia is building a superb reputation at one of New York’s finest hospitals. The future looks bright
until a romantic weekend turns into a disaster. Fleeing home and family, she moves to New Mexico
and starts to pull her life together.

Just when it looks like things are heading toward happily-ever-after, events in New York draw Julia
back to Sutton Place, where she learns of Ariel’s secret life and finds herself facing her worst
nightmare.

Sutton Place moves a mile a minute and never lets you see what’s coming around the next turn.

BOOK DETAILS:

Genre: Suspense
Published by: Little Moose Press
Publication Date: August 27, 2013
Number of Pages: 261
Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-9893988-1-7
Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9893988-2-4
eBook ISBN: 978-0-9893988-3-1

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Guest Author RAYMOND KHOURY showcase & giveaway ENDED

CMash October 9, 2013 1 Comment

WELCOME RAYMOND KHOURY

RAYMOND KHOURY

RAYMOND KHOURY is a New York Times bestselling author of several novels, including The Last Templar, The Templar Salvation and The Sanctuary. Born in Beirut, Khoury and his family fled to Rye, New York when he was 14 to escape Lebanon’s civil war. Khoury worked as an architect and investment banker before becoming a successful screenwriter and producer for networks such as BBC. Today, he focuses on his writing career. Rasputin’s Shadow is his sixth book.
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ABOUT THE BOOK

On a cold, bleak day in 1916, all hell breaks loose in a mining pit in the Ural Mountains. Overcome by a strange paranoia, the miners attack one another, savagely and ferociously. Minutes later, two men—a horrified scientist and Grigory Rasputin, trusted confidant of the tsar—hit a detonator, blowing up the mine to conceal all evidence of the carnage.

In the present day, FBI agent Sean Reilly’s search for Reed Corrigan, the CIA mindcontrol spook who brainwashed Reilly’s son, takes a backseat to a new, disturbing case. A Russian embassy attaché seems to have committed suicide by jumping out of a fourth-floor window in Queens. The apartment’s owners, a retired physics teacher from Russia and his wife, have gone missing, and further investigation reveals that the former may not be who the FBI believe him to be.

Joined by Russian Federal Security Service agent Larisa Tchoumitcheva, Reilly’s investigation of the old man’s identity will uncover a desperate search for a small, mysterious device, with consequences that reach back in time and which, in the wrong hands, could have a devastating impact on the modern world.

Packed with the twists, intrigue, and excitement that Khoury’s many fans have come to expect, Rasputin’s Shadow will keep readers turning pages long into the night.

BOOK DETAILS:

Genre: Historical Thriller
Published by: Dutton
Publication Date: October 8, 2013
Number of Pages: 384
ISBN-978-0-525-95313-5

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Guest Author SHANNON RICHARD showcase & giveaway ENDED

CMash October 7, 2013 Leave a Comment

WELCOME SHANNON RICHARD

SHANNON RICHARD

Grace King knows two things for certain: she loves working at her grandmother’s café and she loves the hunky town sheriff. She always has. As she bakes him sweet treats, Grace fantasizes about helping him work up an appetite all night long. But whenever she thinks she’s finally getting somewhere, he whips out some excuse to escape. Growing up, he never looked twice at her. Now Grace won’t rest until she has Jax’s undivided attention.

Jaxson Anderson can’t deny that his best friend’s kid sister is the sexiest woman in Mirabelle, Florida. Unwilling to burden Grace with his painful past, Jax keeps the sassy blonde at arm’s length. Yet one heated kiss crumbles all of his carefully built defenses. But when a town secret surfaces, threatening to destroy everything they have believed in, can the man who defended Grace from bullies as a child protect her now?
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ABOUT THE BOOK

Shannon Richard grew up in the Panhandle of Florida as the baby sister of two overly protective, but loving brothers. She was raised by a more than somewhat eccentric mother, a self-proclaimed vocabularist who showed her how to get lost in a book, and a father who passed on his love for coffee and really loud music. She graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor’s in English Literature, and still lives in Tallahassee where she battles everyday life with writing, reading, and a rant every once in a while. Okay, so the rants might happen on a regular basis. She’s still waiting for her Southern, scruffy, Mr. Darcy and in the meantime writes love stories to indulge her overactive imagination. Oh, and she’s a pretty big fan of the whimsy.

BOOK DETAILS:

Genre: Romance – Contemporary
Print Length: 400 pages
Publisher: Forever
Publication: Date: October 1, 2013
ASIN: B00BAXFZTC

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Guest Author CHERYL RAINFIELD showcase & giveaway

CMash October 6, 2013 Leave a Comment

WELCOME CHERYL RAINFIELD

CHERYL RAINFIELD

“I write the books I needed as a teen and couldn’t find.” – Cheryl Rainfield

Cheryl Rainfield is the author of the award-winning SCARS, a novel about Kendra, a queer teen sexual abuse survivor who uses self-harm to cope; STAINED (Oct 1) about Sarah, a teen with a port-wine stain and body image issues who is abducted and must rescue herself; the award-winning HUNTED, a novel about a teen telepath in a world where any paranormal power is illegal; and PARALLEL VISIONS, about a teen who sees visions of the future–but only when she has an asthma attack. She’s also the author of two hi-lo books for reluctant readers: The Last Dragon and Walking Both Sides. Cheryl Rainfield is an incest and ritual abuse survivor, a feminist, queer, and an avid reader and writer. She lives in Toronto with her little dog Petal.

Cheryl Rainfield has been said to write with “great empathy and compassion” (VOYA) and to write stories that “can, perhaps, save a life.” (CM Magazine) SLJ said of her work: “[readers] will be on the edge of their seats.”
Connect with Cheryl at these sites:

ABOUT THE BOOK

In this heart-wrenching and suspenseful teen thriller, sixteen-year-old Sarah Meadows longs for “normal.” Born with a port-wine stain covering half her face, all her life she’s been plagued by stares, giggles, bullying, and disgust. But when she’s abducted on the way home from school, Sarah is forced to uncover the courage she never knew she had, become a hero rather than a victim, and learn to look beyond her face to find the beauty and strength she has inside. It’s that—or succumb to a killer.

BOOK DETAILS:

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication date: 10/1/2013
Pages: 304
ISBN-13: 9780547942087

PURCHASE LINKS:

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Guest Author JESSICA LEMMON showcase & giveaway ENDED

CMash October 5, 2013 Leave a Comment

WELCOME JESSICA LEMMON

JESSICA LEMMON

Jessica Lemmon has always been a dreamer. At some point, she decided head-in-the-clouds thinking was childish, went out, and got herself a job . . . and then she got another one because that one was lousy. And when that one stopped being fulfilling, she went out and got another . . . and another. Soon it became apparent she’d only be truly happy doing what she loved. And since “eating potato chips” isn’t a viable career, she opted to become a writer. With fire in her heart, she dusted off a book she’d started years prior, finished it, and submitted it. It may have been the worst book ever, but it didn’t stop her from writing another one. Now she has several books finished, several more started, and even more marinating in her brain (which currently resides in the clouds, thankyouverymuch), and she couldn’t be happier. She firmly believes God gifts us with talents for a purpose, and with His help, you can create the life you want. (While eating potato chips.)
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Sadie Howard would never admit there’s such a thing as love at first sight, but she can’t deny the connection between her and sexy Adonis Aiden Downey. She also can’t deny she loves to kiss him-his mouth might be his most precious asset. Despite every promise to herself not to get involved any deeper than a first date, she can’t keep from seeing more of Aiden . . . in more ways than one.

Aiden Downey had no idea the hot blonde from the club would trigger his protective, gentle nature, but the moment she drops her guard and he sees the real Sadie Howard, he’s a goner. When a family crisis puts the brakes on their budding romance, can Aiden find a way to hold on to her? Or will he lose the best thing in his life just as quickly as he found her?

BOOK DETAILS:

Print Length: 89 pages
Publisher: Forever Yours
Publication Date: September 3, 2013
Sold by: Hachette Book Group
ASIN: B00DLC88C6

PURCHASE LINKS:

ONCE BURNED Sadie Howard never dates a guy more than once-but Fate has other plans for her when it comes to Aiden Downey, the one that got away. Aiden loved her, left her, and broke her heart. Yet suddenly she’s bumping into him at every turn, driven to distraction by his wicked grin and rock-hard body. Now she can’t resist finishing what they started-as long as she doesn’t let herself fall in love . . .

TWICE AS TEMPTING
Aiden Downey threw away the best thing he ever had when he let Sadie go, and now he’s determined to win back the woman he’s always wanted. Sadie agrees to let him into her life-and her bed-as long as there are no strings attached. But Aiden’s not about to make the same mistake again. Can he convince her to take a second chance on a once-in-a-lifetime love?

BOOK DETAILS:

Print Length: 288 pages
Publisher: Forever
Publication Date: October 1, 2013
Sold by: Hachette Book Group
ASIN: B00AG0VMYM

PURCHASE LINKS:

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I HAVE ONE (1) EBOOK COPY TO GIVE AWAY.
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I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me, in exchange for my honest review. No items that I receive are ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.

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I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. I am an IndieBound affiliate. I am providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.

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Guest Author KENNETH JOHN ATCHITY

CMash October 4, 2013 Leave a Comment

WELCOME KENNETH JOHN ATCHITY

KENNETH JOHN ATCHITY

The author of The Messiah Matrix, Kenneth John Atchity, at the age of ten began instructions in the Latin language from a multi-lingual Jesuit mentor and went on to continue his study of Latin, and to begin Homeric Greek, and French at the Jesuit high school, Rockhurst, in Kansas City, Missouri. He won an Ignatian Scholarship to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he graduated as an English/Classics major and won the University Honor Program’s prestigious Virgilian Academy Silver Medal for his nationally-tested knowledge of Virgil’s Aeneid.

At Georgetown, he added to his four years of high school Homeric Greek with studies of Attic and Koinaic Greek as well as further studies in Homer and four more years of Latin. He spent his junior year summer at King’s College, Cambridge.

Atchity received his Ph.D. from Yale in Comparative Literature, after adding Italian to his seven languages, focused on the study of Dante under Harvard’s Dante della Terza and Yale’s Thomas Bergin. His dissertation, Homer’s Iliad: The Shield of Memory, was awarded the Porter Prize, Yale Graduate School’s highest academic honor. His mentors at Yale included Thomas Bergin, Thomas Greene, A. Bartlett Giamatti, Richard Ellinger, Eric Segal, and Lowry Nelson, Jr.

He was professor of literature and classics at Occidental College in Los Angeles, 1970-87, served as chairman of the comparative literature department, and as Fulbright Professor to the University of Bologna. His academic career included books on Homer and Italian literature, and dozens of academic articles and reviews. During his years at Occidental, Atchity was a frequent columnist for The Los Angeles Times Book Review, where he reviewed the novels of Umberto Eco, Doris Lessing, Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, Carlos Fuentes, and many others.

In a second career Atchity represented writers of both fiction and nonfiction, accounting for numerous bestsellers and movies for both television and big screen. In the tradition of Dominick Dunne, Sidney Sheldon, and Steven Cannell he has drawn on his professional experience with storytelling to write The Messiah Matrix.
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Q&A with Ken Atchity

Do you draw from personal experiences and/or current events?
As all novelists do, I draw from both. Oddly enough my novel unwittingly predicted the pope’s resignation and the election of an Argentine Jesuit. But it also reflects my adolescent experiences growing up Catholic and wondering if God would really send someone to hell for eating meat on Friday or stealing $5.00 worth of peas instead of $4.99 worth.

Do you start with the conclusion and plot in reverse or start from the beginning and see where the story line brings you?
I do both. I start wherever the sharpest image begins and work backwards or forwards accordingly. That’s the beauty of this computer age—you can go either way. Write the scene you feel like writing today, and put it wherever it’s supposed to go later.

Your routine when writing? Any idiosyncrasies?
Although I’m a morning person, I write any time of day I can steal an hour or two from my editing, managing, coaching and producing. On an ideal day, I write from five to seven a.m. Over the years I’ve taught myself to write anywhere, and particularly love writing on the plane. I use a stopwatch to make sure I get my two hours in every day.

Is writing your full time job? If not, may I ask what you do by day?
I’ve never written full time. I write when I have something to say or have a story to tell, which has, I admit, gotten to be more and more often. My day job is coaching other storytellers on how to get their stories to their maximum audiences in today’s challenging and changing world—and editing, managing, representing, and producing stories.

Who are some of your favorite authors?
Aside from my own clients, my favorite authors go back to Homer, Virgil, Dante, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Sterne, Wallace Stevens, Thomas Hardy, Melville, Garcia-Marquez, and Carlos Ruiz Zafón.

What are you reading now?
Preparatory to writing The Hong Kong Reversion, I’m rereading Ian Fleming’s wonderful James Bond books as well as James Patterson, and Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning. I read all day, for joy, for research, and because my dayjob is helping storytellers find their audiences.

Are you working on your next novel? Can you tell us a little about it?
I’m currently working on AFI, Inc., the first in a series of memoirs, prior to completing The Hong Kong Reversion, a thriller set in Hong Kong.

Your novel will be a movie. Who would you cast?
I’d die to have Claire Danes as Emily Scelba.

Would you rather read or watch TV/movie?
Yes.

Favorite food?
My grandmother’s Syrian beans.

Favorite beverage?
Vodka martini.

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Messiah Matrix by Kenneth John Atchity is a fast-paced contemporary thriller in which a young Jesuit priest becomes romantically entwined with a vivacious archaeologist as they pursue the hidden history that links Jesus Christ with Augustus Caesar. A year before it occurred, the novel predicted the resignation of the pope and the election of an Argentine Jesuit to succeed him. In a story that will leave readers breathless and hungry for more, Atchity weaves a compelling tale about the foundations of today’s Roman Catholic Church lying deep in the religious rituals of the ancient Roman Empire.

From the first page to the last The Messiah Matrix takes the reader on a riveting adventure from the ancient city of Caesarea in Israel to Rome’s labyrinthine catacombs and beyond, and provides gripping evidence for all those who have ever wondered about the historical existence of the Christian Savior. The Messiah Matrix is a tour de force of modern drama and intrigue, classical scholarship, and early church history that will change the way you understand the birth of Christianity.

The Messiah Matrix may prove to be one of the most controversial novels ever written. Graeco-Roman scholar, professor, and producer Dr. Atchity is perhaps the only author alive today capable of creating this ground-breaking work.

READ AN EXCERPT

Prologue

The three-wheeled truck, having weathered World War II and every day after, carried its battle scars proudly as it hovered on the curb of Via del Plebiscito. Its V-shaped bumper was as jagged as a saw. Behind the wheel its latest owner, Zbysek Bailin, waited patiently, as though he were long accustomed to assassination on a rainy Wednesday evening.

A red umbrella rounded the corner from the Piazza del Gesù. Zbysek took in a breath and turned the ignition key. The engine coughed to an idle, purred raggedly awaiting further command from its driver. The silver-haired man ambled toward the intersection of Via degli Astalli that flanked the rear of the massive church. Purposely leaving his headlight off, Zbysek shifted into gear and bounced into the street. His foot pressed on the reluctant accelerator, the ancient vehicle climbing all too slowly up to speed.

The man had reached the intersection, and as he passed beneath the streetlight Zbysek thought he might well be deaf—he was so lost in thought he didn’t seem to hear the rumbling truck, even as it barreled toward him at full speed.

Clutching tight to the shaky steering wheel, Zbysek was hunched forward in the cab, eyes intent on his target. All he could see was the man’s bent back, crawling up Via Astalli like a praying mantis.

In seconds the truck had jumped the curb and was upon him.

The man swung around with his books and umbrella, a look of sudden shock on his face—the smile erased. His coat fell open.

For the first time, Zbysek saw his victim clearly in the light of the street lamp—the crisp white collar and the purple piping on his black vest.

His target was a monsignor!

Zbysek hauled at the wheel—but it was too late. His head struck the roof as the vehicle jerked over the body and slammed straight into the lamppost, thrusting Zbysek into the windshield and cracking his head on the glass. He climbed clumsily out of the cab and fell to his knees beside his victim. “Forgive me, father,” Zbysek finally choked out.

The old man’s face was twisted with pain. His narrowed eyes were glistening, blood trickling from his lips. He reached his hand toward his Angel of Death. He seemed to want to speak. Zbysek lowered his head to hear. The monsignor’s final whispered words confused and frightened him, and he leapt for the three-wheeler and fled from the scene.

I/1

Unholy Thursday

Father Ryan McKeown’s mood was less than reverential as he headed for the confessional where he was to perform his priestly duties. The lines of penitents in Gesù were short today. Perhaps because there’d been no major holidays recently or any coming soon, the “occasions of sin” were easier to avoid. Just as Ryan was about to step into the polished mahogany cubicle, a bedraggled man burst into the nave. The man headed for the first confessional, and knelt briefly. Moments later he unceremoniously leapt to his feet to join a short line at the next confessional booth, causing bowed heads to look up in curiosity. Ryan was bemused. Could a man’s sins be so grave he feels the need to come clean of them to several confessors?

Ryan settled himself behind the ivory baffle and listened, in turn, to an old man cursing God because his arthritis no longer allowed him to play bocce; to a teenager who abused himself fourteen times in the past seven days, using the image of his teacher, a nun, as inspiration—Father Ryan, doing his best to repress a smile, told him to say the rosary and promise never to sin again; and to a seminarian barely out of high school who asked if having concerns about his faith meant he should quit the seminary.

“Doubts are not in themselves a sin,” he told the young man. “Thomas, though he doubted, went on to become a great apostle and martyr. Not to mention Mother Teresa, whose troublesome doubts dogged at her heels even more persistently than Calcutta’s poor. I can tell you, it’s what you do with doubt that matters.” He questioned whether his comments had been of any service, or whether he should have simply referred the seminarian to a therapist. He’d often wondered where he’d be today if he himself hadn’t rejected psychotherapy as an option.

He was removing his stole to leave when a tardy penitent thumped down on the kneeler and activated the tiny red light. Ryan slid open the grate. In the obscure light he could see only enough to determine that his supplicant was a male. “Yes, my son?”

“Are you Father Ryan?” the man asked.

“Yes,” Ryan answered, before he could consider how the penitent could know his name.

“Thank God I’ve found you.”

Ryan realized he was speaking with the lost soul who’d been playing musical confessionals. “How long has it been since your last confession?”

“I killed a priest.” Ignoring the sacramental protocol, the man blurted it out in a coarse accent that Ryan had never heard before. Then, remembering the ritual formalities, the man added, “I don’t remember my last Confession. Many years ago, in Tirana.”

So the accent was Albanian. “What do you mean you killed a priest?”

“I hit him with my truck. He was a monsignor. I tried to help him. His eyes…oh my God! I got scared and drove away.”

Ryan’s heart went out to the man on the other side of the grate. The anguish in the man’s voice was dreadful. “An accident, no matter how grievous, is not a sin,” he said. “You simply have to—”

“It wasn’t an accident,” the immigrant interrupted. “I was paid to run him down.”

Ryan fell silent. What fate had led this man to his confessional today among so many hundreds in the Holy City?

“They didn’t tell me he was a monsignor.” Now the man was choking, the guttural sound poignantly wretched. “Oh, my God, I am damned to hell for all eternity.”

“Why would you accept payment for such an act?”

“I was desperate—I am desperate. My family has no money, my children need doctors—” The man’s explanations gave way to wrenching sobs. Then he regained control. “He looked at me. He told me words I didn’t understand. But I will hear them for the rest of my life.”

Reflexively Ryan slipped into his persona as an investigative scholar. “What were his words, my son?”

The poor man’s scream echoed in the hollowness of the empty church. “No!”

“It’s all right to tell me,” Ryan said. “You’re protected by the Seal of the Confessional, Holy Mother Church’s—”

“You don’t understand! It was Holy Mother Church…that paid me!”

BOOK DETAILS:

Genre: Romantic Thriller
Published by: Story Merchant Books
Publication Date: January 2013
Number of Pages: 353
ISBN: 978-095721-890-1

PURCHASE LINKS:

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I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me, in exchange for my honest review. No items that I receive are ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.
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I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. I am an IndieBound affiliate. I am providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.