From our house to your’s

CMash Reads will be taking today off since here in the U.S., we will be celebrating Thanksgiving amongst family and friends.   I have been Blessed over this past year and have much to be thankful for.  I am looking forward to being surrounded by loved ones, eating delicious food (especially the dessert), laughing, talking, remembering those who are not with us this year, and celebrating life.   I hope your day is full of the same.

As some of you might have heard, Hurricane Sandy is affecting the East Coast of the U.S.  To all family and friends, that will be affected, please be safe!!!

Here in RI, we have been preparing.  As of right now, 10:30am Monday, we have all needed supplies, my Kindle is charged, and we are sitting here waiting to see what the impact on us will be.  Locally, they are predicting major power outages, which could be up to a week.   If you don’t see any daily activity, other than my prepared posts, you can assume I am offline.

 Stay safe!!!!

…of Murder Takes Time by Giacomo Giammatteo

1 Tea Time with Marce Leave a Blog Post Comment

An email has been sent to the winner and she has 48 hours to respond with digital version requested or another winner will be notified.  Didn’t win??  You have a 2nd chance.  Stop by Saturday when Giacomo Giammatteo kicks off his virtual tour with Partners In Crime Tours.    There will be another giveaway and another chance to win!!!!!!!

Hosted by Marce from Tea Time with Marce
(click above image to bring you to her blog)

Hi and Welcome to CMash Reads!!!

Marce invited me  to be today’s guest blogger for Thrill Week, and asked if I would talk about Partners In Crime Tours and a debut author that I have had the privilege of getting to know during the tour process.

First, a little bit about Partners In Crime Tours (PICT).  PICT was founded in May/June of 2011 by Molly from Reviews By Molly and it was during that time, that she extended the invitation to me to become a partner in the company.  This past July, the reins were turned over to me, with Molly assisting me when needed.  PICT is a virtual tour company for authors of mystery, suspense and crime novels.  Within this past year, we have grown, gained recognition and have become so busy that I had to hire a second Tour Coordinator, Gina from Hott Books.  I have had a vision for PICT for awhile and one of the ideas came to fruition last month, with the creation of a monthly newsletter.  If you would like to see the latest news from PICT, you can sign up for the bulletin on our site.

PICT recently teamed up with ITW (International Thrill Writers) and just finished a tour at the request of Harper Collins for the newest Laura Lippman, And When She Was Good novel.

Our hosts are phenomenal and we have over 120+ book bloggers on our mailing list.  They write professional, honest, credible reviews and blog with integrity.  And as I state in my invitation email, they choose which tours they want to participate in.   I truly think we have a great group and in appreciation, I will be running contests for our hosts, the active one is for a $50.00 GC to Amazon.

If you are interested in becoming a host/reviewer and/or would like more details, please contact me at CMash@Partnersincrimetours.net.  Hope to hear from you!!

Our clients range from publishers, authors and agents.  I have had the honor to coordinate tours, for both the publishers and authors with debut novels, that have blown me away!  One such author is Giacomo Giammatteo, Murder Takes Time, which his tour officially kicks off on Sept. 15th, here on CMash Reads.

SYNOPSIS:
A string of brutal murders has bodies piling up in Brooklyn, and Detective Frankie Donovan knows what is going on. Clues left at the crime scenes point to someone from the old neighborhood, and that isn’t good.

Frankie has taken two oaths in his life—the one he took to uphold the law when he became a cop, and the one he took with his two best friends when they were eight years old and inseparable.

Those relationships have forced Frankie to make many tough decisions, but now he faces the toughest one of his life; he has five murders to solve and one of those two friends is responsible. If Frankie lets him go, he breaks the oath he took as a cop and risks losing his job. But if he tries to bring him in, he breaks the oath he kept for twenty-five years—and risks losing his life.

In the neighborhood where Frankie Donovan grew up, you never broke an oath.

This book was amazing!!  Kept me turning the pages.  Since I am scheduled to post my entire review on Sept 15th, I will give a sneak peak for those participating in Thrill Week.

This book pulled me in within the first few paragraphs and never gave me the chance to get away.  I had to keep turning the pages.  It is a debut novel that was written as if it was penned by a seasoned author.  A debut writer that I am sure you will be hearing more about.

Giacomo has graciously accepted my invitation to be part of Thrill Week, and has not only written a guest post, but offered one lucky participant the chance to win and read his novel.

GUEST POST

The Impact of Reviews

I have always enjoyed writing, but I wasn’t one of the people you hear about who felt they were destined to be a writer since childhood. Even if I had been, it would have been tough. I got married at 17, and never finished high school. Back in those days, even dreaming of being a writer without an education was ridiculous.

So I took pleasure in helping my sister with her homework, and later, helping my kids. It wasn’t until my youngest son showed an interest in writing that I started thinking about actually writing something myself. We both loved reading fantasy books. We would read the books, and then discuss them. Dissect them, is more like it. Before long we decided we could write one, and started on a plot.

It was about that time that girls came into my son’s life, and I was left alone with the writing. Fortunately, I never lost the “bug.” I still didn’t give it serious thought, but after finishing three epic fantasies, I was happy with what I’d written. I made a few half-hearted attempts to get representation with agents, but met with the usual rejections, so I put the books on the shelf and went on with life.

The Bug Bites Again
A few years after that, I got the bug again, but this time with a different genre. My first book, Murder Takes Time, has a lot of my own life in it, but the story is built around a mystery. It was while writing this book that I felt, for the first time, that I had what it took to be a writer. There were scenes that brought tears to my eyes while I wrote them, and others that made me laugh out loud.

I finished the book in two months, took another few weeks to do a quick edit, and then sent it out to everyone I knew, asking for an honest review. I did more than ask for honesty, I begged for it. I told each one of them, “you don’t have to say anything nice, but you have to find something wrong.”

I was fortunate to get 29 beta readers for this project. Some of those were family members, but for those of you who are thinking, “oh yeah, family members,” all I can say to that is you don’t know my family; they were brutal.

Once I felt comfortable that I had a good story, I did several more rounds of editing and polishing, then I prepared it for submitting to agents. This time I felt certain I’d get scooped up by several of them. Stupid me. After 103 rejections, I finally decided that I was going to do it myself.

A New Strategy
Self publishing was a scary prospect, venturing into unknown territory, exposing my soul to readers and reviewers waiting to rip it apart. I was confident, but…at the same time, nervous. After all, 103 agents said it wasn’t good enough. Who was I to say otherwise?

It’s difficult to describe the anxiety after you put your “baby” out there, and wait on reviews. Even worse when you have to spend an hour or so each day working on trying to get reviews, and then wondering if they’ll be good or not. New authors live and die on reviews, so it’s more than just an ego thing, it’s a stepping stone to success.

The Impact of Reviews
Reviews are like drugs to an author. A negative one can, and will, bring your mood crashing down, and a positive review lets you walk in the clouds, if only briefly.

But out of everything that a good review does for an author, the thing that means the most to me, is reading a review that says they couldn’t put the book down. Or seeing someone talk about how involved they were with the characters, or how they could smell the food being cooked in Mamma Rosa’s kitchen.

The Bottom Line
Reading a review like that means more to me than anything, because it reminds me of how I feel when I read a good book. And to me there isn’t much better in life than that feeling. Except maybe my wife’s lasagna, with a good bottle of wine.

Ciao, and thanks for listening,
Giacomo

Giacomo Giammatteo is the author of Murder Takes Time, and A Bullet For Carlos. He lives in Texas where he and his wife have an animal sanctuary with 41 loving “friends.”

THANKS TO AUTHOR, GIACOMO GIAMMATTEO,
I HAVE ONE (1) EBOOK EDITION TO GIVE AWAY.
PLEASE FILL IN RAFFLECOPTER BELOW.

THIS GIVEAWAY/ENTRY WILL END ON SEPTEMBER 13TH
AND IS BEING HELD AS PART OF THRILL WEEK.

CRITERIA TO ENTER:
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PLEASE REMEMBER TO LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
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ONE COMMENT PER PERSON.

DISCLAIMER
Giveaway copies are supplied and shipped to winners
via publisher, agent and/or author. This blog hosts
the giveaway on behalf of the above.
No items that I receive
are ever sold…they are kept by me,
or given to family and/or friends.

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 **PER PUBLISHER**
ONE WINNING BOOK PER HOUSEHOLD
PLEASE NOTIFY ME IF YOU HAVE
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a Rafflecopter giveaway

Overview of Dark Isle

When evil begets evil, a choice is forced on Quinn, the one person who can see
the danger. Does she save the ones she loves, or does she save the world from
Chaos?

As the realms of Fae and human collide, Quinn’s future has never
looked so grim, or so damn impossible.

Genre- Urban Fantasy

Overview of Enemy in Blue

The streets aren’t safe when your enemy wears a blue uniform and a gold
badge.

What if the good guys weren’t good?

What if a cop went
rogue and killed an innocent man?

Will justice be served?

Genre- Thriller

Overview of Land of the Noonday Sun

Genre- Contemporary Romance
Overview of This Time Forever

Delaney Brannigan and Blake Morrisson
met at the Cedar Cove annual costume dance, known only to each other as the
leopard and the cowboy–but, as Delaney soon discovers, the cowboy she’d
thought had ridden off into the sunset never to tempt her again, is none other
than the man she came from New York to find and discredit. Against her will,
Delaney is drawn deeper and deeper into an overwhelming attraction to Blake–an
attraction she can’t give in to if she wants to keep the one thing she values
more than anything else.

Genre- Contemporary Romance

Overview of Cassidy Jones and the Secret Formula

Fourteen-year-old Cassidy Jones wakes up the morning after a minor
accident in the laboratory of a world-renowned geneticist to discover that her
body has undergone some bizarre physical changes. Her senses, strength, and speed
have been radically enhanced.

Lives are put at risk when they find themselves embroiled in a dangerous,
action-packed adventure. Soon they are forced to confront a maniacal villain
willing to do anything – including murder – to reach his own ambitious goals.

Genre- YA/MG Superhero

Overview of Gray Justice

Gray Justice is the fast-paced debut
thriller from Alan McDermott. When a killer walks free from court, the victim’s
father sees just two options: accept the judge’s decision; or take on the
entire British justice system. Tom Gray chooses the latter and his crusade
attracts instant worldwide media coverage. It was just what Tom was hoping for,
but it brought him a lot more than he bargained for.Gray Justice is much more than a simple tale of revenge: it’s a rollercoaster
ride with an ending you’ll never forget!

Genre- Thriller

Overview of Gone at Zero Hundred 00:00

“Their lives are in the hands of two 18-year-olds…”

A Prominent P.I. is
gunned down – killed by a sniper – and it’s broadcasted on live TV.

Now,
her daughter, along with her childhood pal, are thrust into a complex and
riveting thriller forced to take on a secret club whose members call themselves
The Privileged Ones.

Murder. Teen abductions and illegal underground
parties.

They’re chased by men in ski-masks, nearly gunned down by
members of a cartel, and the only way to bring down this criminal enterprise; is
to crash a Mardi Gras bash and stop their private cruise ship from sailing off
into the sunset.

Overview of Allegiance

After exposing one of the most notorious rings of police corruption in history,
lawyer Cruz Marquez planned on starting a new life south of the border. That
plan unraveled when an extremist group of Minutemen captured and tortured him
and his wife.

Genre- Thriller

Overview of Curbchek Reload

…. of Section 132 by Helga Zeiner

26 Susan Varney Easy entry for fans of this blog post

An email has been sent to the winner and she has 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen.  Thank you to all that entered.

007/25  Addendum:

Due to a nonresponse from the winner, and according to the rules and regulations, another winner has been chosen.  The winner is:

50 Nicole Gingery Follow @CherylMash on Twitter

The winner has been emailed and has 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen.

For a while, well quite a while, Gina, from Hott Books and Hott Designs, has been itching to give me a new look.  And lately I have been thinking that since I am coming up on my 3 year Blogiversary, I also wanted a change, for a  modern, book themed looking blog.   And that’s exactly what I told Gina, along with some color choices, and voila!!!…my new blog.  I saw the final look at the same time you did!!  So…be honest….what do you think?  I know I love it but there will be some tweaking along the way, so would really love your input for ideas.

I think she did an extraordinary job!!!!!  Knowing her work, she does the graphics for my Partners In Crime Tours tour banners, I knew that she was going to do a fantastic job, and she did!!!  She also asked for your input, since it really is for you, how you feel when you visit, what you like or don’t like when looking at it, because as you know, as editors of a blog, we work behind the scenes.  It’s  our followers that see the actual blog look so I want you to like what you see when you visit.  So let us know what you think!!

Gina:  Fantastic job, Thank you so much for all the work you put into designing the new look.  I truly do love it!!  Your work is amazing!!  And if anyone is thinking of changes for your own blog,  click on her design button on the left sidebar.

P.S.  If by chance you have my old blog button on your blog, don’t forget to grab the new one.  Would greatly appreciate it!!!!!