What a fantastic way to start off the New Year…I am thrilled to be hosting today’s guest.  I was so excited when Deb from Joan Schulhafer Publishing contacted me to read and review this book.  Today’s author has been on my “authors to read” list for quite a while and can’t wait to read her latest novel.  So without futher ado, please help me give a very warm welcome to NYTimes Best Selling author, Ms. Mary Burton!!

MARY BURTON

A Central Virginia native whose family’s Richmond roots run as deep as the nation’s, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Mary Burton also resided in Alexandria, Virginia, where she is now setting her novels SENSELESS (Janaury 2011) and MERCILESS (February 2011). She graduated from Virginia’s Hollins University and began a career in marketing. After a decade she left her job and began writing. Her first novel, a romance, was published in 2000.

Following that book, Burton wrote sixteen novels and novellas for Harlequin and Silhouette before entering the dark world of multiple murderers and their motives with Senseless, Merciless, Dying Scream, Dead Ringer and I’m Watching You, as well as her novella Christmas Past, which appears in the 2008 New York Times bestselling holiday anthology Silver Bells.

Her commitment to realism has led to eye-opening interviews with law enforcement, to forensic seminars and to the firing range. She is a graduate of the Henrico County Citizens Police Academy and the Richmond FBI Citizen’s Academy, and has participated in Sisters in Crime’s Forensic University program. Recently, she attended the Writers Police Academy in Jamestown, North Carolina. There she attended seminars on autopsies, undercover work and the motives behind murder.

Mary Burton is an avid baker and an accomplished cook. When not writing, researching or baking, Mary practices yoga, enjoys her miniature dachshunds Buddy and Bella, volunteers at the University of Richmond’s Culinary Arts Program, attends professional conferences, and visits with readers and booksellers.

Mary Burton is now at work on her next novel set in Alexandria.
Visit Ms. Burton at her website here.

A Tasty Guest Post

Happy New Year!

This is my favorite time of year.  I love the new beginnings and the excitement of the year ahead.   This year I’m thrilled to see the release of THE SEVENTH VICTIM my seventh romantic suspense for Kensington.

THE SEVENTH VICTIM is set in Austin, Texas and tells the tale of a photographer Lara Church who is the lone survivor of a serial killer called the Seattle Strangler.  She’s been moving around the country for seven years using her 150-year-old bellows camera to take images.  But as the book opens, she’s decided to stop running from her tragic past and to rebuild her life.  What she doesn’t realize is that the killer never forgot her and he’s now arrived in Austin to finish the job he started all those years ago.  When the killer strikes again in Austin, Texas Ranger James Beck takes the case and soon a killer, who shows his victims no mercy, ties the two together.

I really enjoyed researching the Austin area.  It’s a fun eclectic place that’s not only the center of government for Texas, but also home of the Texas Rangers.  Recently I returned to Austin and had the chance to visit many of the places that are featured in THE SEVENTH VICTIM.   I strolled down Congress Avenue just as Lara might have done, I drove down I-35 following the route my killer took and made my way into Hill Country so I could see where Lara lived.

There’s no substituting a walk in my character’s shoes down Congress Avenue, or through the halls of the state capitol, over the rugged terrain at Enchanted Rock.  I pick up the sights, smells and sounds that I hope add a richness to the story.

The tradition continues!  Baker extraordinaire and bestselling author Mary Burton is once again sharing her favorite holiday recipes. This treat honors the protagonist of her next novel, THE SEVENTH VICTIM, with a recipe both delicious and memorable.

Lara’s Church Lady Maple Cookies:
1/2 pound (two sticks) butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup toasted walnuts (optional)

Cream together butter and brown sugar.
Add the egg and mix well.
Add the maple syrup and vanilla.
In a separate bowl mix together flour, salt and baking soda.
Slowly blend dry ingredients into butter- sugar mixture.
Spoon cookies onto a greased baking sheet, leaving room between them because they will spread.
Bake at 325 degrees for 12-15 minutes.
Sit back and enjoy!

It’s true.  I’ve forgotten how many people I’ve killed already but the number keeps rising—least in my novels.  I’m delighted to say that no one has yet expired as a result of my passion for baking.

This one’s a family favorite that the kids expect to see multiple times during the holiday season.

I hope your family and friends enjoy Lara’s Church Lady Maple Cookies as much as mine do.

Happy Holidays!
Mary

ABOUT THE BOOK

If At First You Don’t Succeed
It’s been seven years since the Seattle Strangler terrorized the city. His victims were all young, pretty, their lifeless bodies found wrapped in a home-sewn white dress. But there was one who miraculously escaped death, just before the Strangler disappeared. . .

Kill
Lara Church has only hazy memories of her long-ago attack. What she does have is a home in Austin, a job, and a chance at a normal life at last. Then Texas Ranger James Beck arrives on her doorstep with shattering news: The Strangler is back. And this time, he’s in Austin. . .

And Kill Again. . .
He’s always craved her, even as he killed the others. For so long he’s been waiting to unleash the beast within. And this time, he’ll prove he holds her life in his hands—right before he ends it forever. . .
Be on the look out for my review in the near future.

THANKS TO JOAN SCHULHAFER PUBLISHING,
I HAVE ONE (1) COPY OF THIS BOOK TO GIVE AWAY.
OPEN TO U.S. AND CANADA RESIDENTS

CLICK HERE FOR THE ENTRY PAGE

DISCLAIMER
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.

When Caitlin, from The Hachette Book Group, contacted me about today’s guest, I thought what better way to usher 2012 out and celebrate 2013!!  Raise your glass and help me count down…5….4….3….2…..1

Welcome James Patterson!!!!!!

JAMES PATTERSON

In January, 2010, The New York Times Magazinefeatured James Patterson on its cover and hailed him as having “transformed book publishing.” Timemagazine named him “The Man Who Can’t Miss,” and he is a two-time Children’s Choice Book Award “Author of the Year” nominee, a designation decided on by more than 15,000 children and teen readers.

In the past three years, James Patterson has sold more books than any other author (according to Bookscan), and in total, James’s books have sold an estimated 260 million copies worldwide. Since 2006, one out of every seventeen hardcover fiction books sold was a Patterson title. He is the first author to have #1 new titles simultaneously on The New York Times adult and children’s bestsellers lists and is the only author to have five new hardcover novels debut at #1 on the list in one year—a record-breaking feat he’s accomplished every year since 2005. To date, James Patterson has had nineteen consecutive #1 New York Times bestselling novels, and holds the New York Times record for most Hardcover Fiction bestselling titles by a single author (76 total), which is also a Guinness World Record.

From his James Patterson Pageturner Awards (which rewarded groups and individuals for creative and effective ways of spreading the joy of reading) to his websiteReadKiddoRead.com (which helps adults find books that kids are sure to love) to his regular donations of thousands of books to troops overseas, Patterson is a lifelong champion of books and reading. His critically acclaimed Maximum Ride series debuted on the New York Times bestsellers list at #1 and remained there for twelve straight weeks. The series has so far made ninety-four cumulative appearances on The New York Timesbestsellers lists, proving that kids of all ages love page turners. He captured the attention of boy readers with Daniel X series, and his third series for readers of all ages debuted in December 2009 with Witch & Wizard, which spent five consecutive weeks atop the New York Times bestsellers list.

Patterson is the creator of the top-selling new detective series of the past dozen years, featuring Alex Cross and including the Hollywood-adapted “Along Came a Spider” and “Kiss the Girls,” starring Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman. He is also the creator of the #1 new detective series of the past five years, featuring Lindsay Boxer and theWomen’s Murder Club, from which the ABC television drama series was adapted. He has authored books behind six films on the Hollywood fast-track, including the upcomingMaximum Ride movie forthcoming from Avi Arad, the producer of X-Men and Spiderman.

He is the author of novels — from The Thomas Berryman Number (1976) to Honeymoon(2005) — that have won awards including the Edgar, the BCA Mystery Guild’s Thriller of the Year, the International Thriller of the Year award, and the Reader’s Digest Reader’s Choice Award. And, he has won a Children’s Choice Book Council’s Children’s Choice Awards “Author of the Year” award (2010).

One of Forbes magazine’s Celebrity 100, James made a guest appearance on the popular FOX TV show “The Simpsons” in March, 2007.
Visit James Patterson at his website here.

ABOUT THE BOOK

The next explosive book in James Patterson’s #1 bestselling Private series!

For Hannah Shapiro, a beautiful young American student, this particular nightmare began eight years ago in Los Angeles, when Jack Morgan, owner of Private–the world’s most exclusive detective agency–saved her from a horrific death. She has fled her country, but can’t flee her past. The terror has followed her to London, and now it is down to former Royal Military Police Sergeant Dan Carter, head of Private London, to save her all over again.

In central London, young women are being abducted off the street. When the bodies are found some days later, they have been mutilated in a particularly mysterious way. Dan Carter’s ex-wife, DI Kirsty Webb, is involved in the investigation and it looks likely that the two cases are gruesomely linked.

Dan Carter drawn on the whole resources of Private International in a desperate race against the odds. But the clock is ticking… Private may be the largest and most technologically advanced detection agency in the world, but the one thing they don’t have is the one thing they need–time.
Watch for my review in the near future.

Purchase links:    Amazon     B&N     IndieBound

THANKS TO CAITLIN, FROM THE HACHETTE BOOK GROUP, I HAVE
ONE (1) COPY TO GIVE AWAY.       U.S RESIDENTS ONLY

CLICK HERE FOR THE ENTRY PAGE

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

Even since finding this wonderful world of book bloggers, I have met so many “new to me” talented and gifted authors.  And because of that, I have tried to help writers have a platform here at CMash Reads.  Today is such a day, as Chris Allen stops by and visits, and tell us about his newest novel.  I ask, please help me give a warm welcome to Chris Allen!!

CHRIS ALLEN

Chris writes escapist action thrillers for realists, having seen and done it all.

Serving in three Commonwealth armies across two decades and four continents, one of the paratrooping elite, Chris saw the world from under a billowing parachute, often by night, entering foreign countries with the usual passport-stamping obligations eschewed.

Exiting military life with injuries, Chris transitioned into humanitarian aid work during the East Timorese emergency, served with three major law enforcement agencies in Australia, protected Sydney’s most iconic landmark in the wake of 9-11 and between 2008 & 2012 was the Sheriff of New South Wales, one of the oldest law enforcement appointments in the land.

Chris’s creative literary brainchild, Intrepid, the sword of Interpol, is the culmination of his military and law enforcement insider experience. Intrepid is the Intelligence, Recovery, Protection and Infiltration Division: the razor-sharp, ultra-secret, black ops division of Interpol, established to operate across the world, regardless of borders, politics or race.
You can connect with Chris at his website, Facebook, Twitter, GoodReads, YouTube and Pinterest.

GUEST POST

A New Year for Those Who Serve

The Christmas and New Year period is a very trying time for military families, especially those with young children. The absence of a loved one who is necessarily in harm’s way only serves to intensify the impact of protracted separation upon the family unit.  So, it becomes incredibly important for the families at home to have strong support both from their own immediate networks and the community, just as much as the deployed servicemen and servicewomen require the best possible support along with our thoughts and most sincere best wishes for a safe return home.

I’m a first generation Australian, with a strong British lineage on both my Dad’s and my Mum’s side of the family, specifically England and Wales. I grew up on the stories my father told of my grandfather and my uncles during both world wars and as a young lad, those things really resonated. I felt a strong pull towards military service very early on and, as I got older, I became serious about it.  That childhood interest grew into a real sense of duty. It was almost inevitable that I would choose a military career.

We have an eclectic mix of military service throughout the family, soldiers, sailors and airmen, but I feel the strongest link to my father’s eldest brother, Stanley, who served with the British Parachute Regiment during the Second World War. Sadly, I never met Uncle Stan but you can imagine the sense of pride and accomplishment I felt when, many years later as a young Captain, I was chosen for a highly coveted attachment to British Airborne Forces. In terms of my family history, I really felt as though I had come full circle at that point.

A couple of years later, when injuries I’d sustained in service caught up with me, I was medically retired having reached the rank of Major. Then, following a sojourn into the world of humanitarian aid during the emergency in East Timor in 1999, my post-military career has predominantly been in law enforcement and government security roles.

I’ve often been asked if there are any moments from my military career that have found their way into my novels. There are hundreds of experiences I draw on and many of them appear in my Alex Morgan adventures. However, one in particular came to mind when I was writing my first novel, Defender: Intrepid 1 that was so perfect for the story, that I decided to include it almost verbatim – from real life onto the page.

I don’t want to spoil it for anyone reading Defender, but this incident involved a number of parachute jumps we were doing while I was attached to 3PARA in the UK. The Regiment was required to trial the new low-level parachute being considered for introduction into British Airborne Forces. These particular ‘chutes are designed to deploy, as the name implies, at very low levels. We’d jumped a few times on this day at a much lower altitude than we usually would have – so the margin for error was significantly reduced. That is, jumping out of the aircraft at low altitude means less air time and much less time to rectify a problem in an emergency. In essence, you jump with a large parachute on your back (the Main) and a much smaller parachute on your chest (the Reserve) – although despite the fact that we were still jumping with Reserve parachutes, at such low altitude they were more or less along for the ride rather than being of any actual use.

On this one jump, when I exited the aircraft into the full blast of the aircraft’s slipstream and carried out all of the drills familiar to every paratrooper, my Main parachute wasn’t in the mood to comply. In fact, it was belligerently refusing to participate in the activity at all. I thought at the time that it must have had something against Australians! Realizing that the ground was rapidly on its way up to meet me and my Reserve parachute was nothing more than a passenger, my only option was to somehow convince the Main parachute to do what it was supposed – fly!

After a few thought provoking seconds where I engaged in a macabre parody of riding an invisible bicycle while trying to pull apart the support chains of a children’s playground swing, I managed to get some air into the canopy and the recalcitrant parachute deployed. I emerged from a rough landing unharmed, albeit a little shaken and stirred.

Episodes like these are written these stories for lovers of the action thriller genre who enjoy gritty realism served with a healthy dose of escapism; a perfect excuse to escape over the Christmas & New Year holidays without ever having to leave your chair.

I consider myself very fortunate to be able to spend Christmas at home with my family and friends. Many others are not so fortunate.  Many of the characters I have written about in these books are exactly the types of men and women who will be away from their loved ones over the holidays, most probably in harm’s way. Therefore, while we celebrate the season in safety and contentment, enjoying the dangerous adventures of our fictional heroes – whoever they may be – on a movie screen or from the pages of a book, it’s very timely to spare a thought for those brave individuals all over the world who protect others as their day job. Spare a thought too for their loved ones who know only too well what the sacrifice of service really means.

Merry Christmas.

ABOUT THE BOOK

His orders are simple: ‘The safety catch is off. Return that girl to her family and drag those bastards back to justice. Dead or alive. It makes no difference to me.’

Alex Morgan – policeman, soldier and spy for Intrepid, the black ops division of Interpol – is on the hunt for Serbian war criminals. But these guys were never going to let it be that simple. An assassination attempt is made on the presiding judge of the international tribunal. Days later, the judge’s daughter, the famous and beautiful classical pianist Charlotte Rose, vanishes in mysterious circumstances.

The girl is not just a pretty face and the daughter of a judge, however. She’s also the goddaughter of Intrepid’s veteran commander, General Davenport. It’s up to Morgan and the Intrepid team to track the kidnappers and the missing woman before the very fabric of international justice is picked apart at its fraying edges.

Part James Bond and part Jason Bourne, Alex Morgan must walk the line between doing the right thing and getting the job done. And this time he’s got permission to make it personal.

Get your copy of Hunter: Intrepid 2 from all the usual suspects at http://momentumbooks.com.au/books/hunter/.

THANKS TO THE AUTHOR, CHRIS ALLEN, AND MOMENTUM BOOKS, I
HAVE ONE (1) EBOOK EDITION TO GIVE AWAY.      OPEN TO ALL

CLICK HERE FOR THE GIVEAWAY ENTRY PAGE

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

OK…trivia questions.  Who comes to mind with the “crooner”?  What about “ole blue eyes”?  The “RAT PACK”?   I know some of you remember, I know I do.  That’s why when Jaime, from Finn Partners, contacted me regarding today’s guest, I wanted to meet and also have the opportunity to introduce you to, today’s guest.  Please help me welcome Mr. Franz Douskey to CMash Reads!

FRANZ DOUSKEY

Franz Douskey’s work has appeared in nearly 200 publications, including: Rolling Stone, The Nation, The New Yorker, New York Quarterly, Las Vegas Life, and the Minnesota Review. His fourth book, West of Midnight, reached number 24 on the Amazon Best-Sellers list in 2011 and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Douskey, who taught creative writing at Yale University for five summers, served as president of IMPAC University, in Punta Gorda, FL. Douskey resides in Hamden, Connecticut.
Visit Mr. Douskey at his website.

GUEST POST

The Close Ties of THE RAT PACK by Franz Douskey

 Let’s start with Sammy Davis, Jr. In the late 1940s Sammy performed with his father and his uncle in the Will Mastin Trio, a very energetic and talented musical group.  Frank first saw the trio in Las Vegas.  While in Vegas, the Will Mastin Trio, Nat King Cole, Count Basie, and many other famous African American entertainers were not allowed to stay in the hotels or casinos where they performed.  Even if they were booked for shows over several nights, they were required to find lodging elsewhere. When Frank learned about this, he told Jack Entratter, manager of the Sands Hotel, if Sammy and Nat can’t stay here when they’re booked, then I don’t play here.

Frank had a lot of swag.  If he went, that meant all of Frank’s pals would stop coming around too.  Frank had a powerful impact and inspired change.

In November 1954 Sammy Davis Jr. lost his eye in a car accident. He was so depressed that he considered quitting show business. Unwilling to allow his friend to give up, Frank set Sammy up in his house, took care of his expenses and got him back on track.  This is how one link of the Rat Pack got to be close.

Frank knew Dean Martin from his years performing with Jerry Lewis.  Dean and Frank became close friends, a friendship that never wavered until Dean passed away.

Peter Lawford and Frank were under contract with MGM in the late 1940s.  Peter’s position became strong when Peter brought his brother-in-law, future President John F. Kennedy, to Vegas and introduced him to Sinatra.  Kennedy and Frank became fast friends, with Frank campaigning for him in 1960 and chairing the inaugural committee in 1961. However, their friendship didn’t last very long. President Kennedy was coming to visitCalifornia and planned to stay with Sinatra. Frank built an addition at his house for JFK that included a helipad.  Bobby Kennedy told JFK that Frank was associated with the wrong people and advised him it was a bad idea to stay with Sinatra.  It was Lawford’s job to call Frank and tell him that Kennedy was going to stay at Bing Crosby’s house instead.  When Frank hung up he went outside with a pickaxe and began to tear up the concrete helipad. Frank never spoke to Peter again, and that was the end of his short reign as a member of the Rat Pack.

The fifth member of the Rat Pack was Joey Bishop.  A quiet taciturn fellow, Bishop didn’t like parties, didn’t like staying out late, didn’t like booze and did not get involved with any of the young women who were always around.  Joey was there for a few years, then faded away.

Frank, Sammy, and Dean remained life-long friends. There was a brief time when Sammy was doing cocaine and Frank told him right out not to come around while you’re on that stuff.  Frank did not approve of drugs nor did he trust anyone who was involved with them. Sammy, Dean and Frank went on one final tour, The Summit, but Dean really wasn’t there.  Since his son’s loss in a plane crash, Dean had become more distant, almost ghostlike.  Frank told Dean, “Look, if you’re not going to give the people what they came here for, just go home.  I understand.  I’ll say you had stomach problems and are going into a hospital.”  Dean went home, but The Summit went on, and Liza Minnelli replaced Dean.

Despite their ups and downs, for a few good years Frank, Dean, Sammy, Peter and Joey were THE RAT PACK, the wild bunch who could do no wrong and had a great time doing it.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Walter Winchell, a popular and influential 20^th century newspaper and radio commentator, once wrote: “The closest person to Frank Sinatra is Tony Consiglio.”  Tony’s full account of his relationship with the iconic crooner has never been revealed – until now. Sinatra and Me: The Very Good Years is based on dozens of hours of interviews over the span of eight years, concluding with Tony’s death in 2008.  

Sinatra and Me, which features dozens of never-before-published photos of Sinatra and Consiglio, and details a period of time that spans from the 1930’s into the 1970’s. It takes an up-close and personal look into the exciting world of one of America’s greatest icons.

Not many people were allowed inside Frank Sinatra’s inner circle. But Tony Consiglio was a boyhood friend of Sinatra’s who remained his friend and confidant for over sixty years. One reason Sinatra valued Tony’s friendship is that he could be trusted: Sinatra nicknamed him “the Clam” because Tony never spoke to reporters or biographers about the singer. From the early days when Sinatra was trying to establish himself as a singer to the mid-1960s, Tony worked with Sinatra and was there to share in the highs and lows of Sinatra’s life and career. Tony was with Sinatra during his “bobby-soxer” megastar days in the 1940s, and he remained loyal to Sinatra during the lean years of the early 1950s, when “the Voice” was struggling with a crumbling singing and acting career-as well as his tumultuous marriage to Ava Gardner. Tony also had a front row seat to Sinatra’s comeback in the 1950s, starting with his Academy Award–winning role in From Here to Eternity and a string of now-classic hit recordings. Tony’s friendship with Sinatra allowed him to rub elbows with the Hollywood elite, including Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, Kim Novak, Ava Gardner, and many others. It also brought him close to the political world of the early 1960s, when Sinatra campaigned for John F. Kennedy and then helped plan the Kennedy inauguration. Tony was even at the Kennedy compound in Hyannis, Massachusetts, when the election results came in. Sinatra and Me will shed new light on the real Frank Sinatra-from the man who knew him better than anyone.
Watch for my review in the near future.

Purchase links:    Amazon     B&N     IndieBound

THANKS TO JAIME, FROM FINN PARTNERS, I HAVE
THREE (3) COPIES OF THIS BOOK TO GIVEAWAY
OPEN TO U.S.  AND CANADA RESIDENTS ONLY

CLICK HERE FOR THE ENTRY PAGE

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

Now that the hustle and bustle of the holidays are winding down and some are facing the long, cold days of winter, it’s time to snuggle up with a good book.  Today’s guest contacted me and I invited him to visit us here at CMash Reads.  It is my pleasure to introduce Mr. Stephen Bradlee!

STEPHEN BRADLEE

Stephen Bradlee is the pen name for a Hollywood film executive. He has ghostwritten celebrity autobiographies and has worked primarily as a script doctor. He is married and lives with his wife, their daughter and their dog.
You can visit Stephen at his website, Facebook, Twitter and GoodReads.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Sherry Johnson is young, beautiful, bright and athletic. She has everything going for her, except for one thing.
She is addicted to love. Her life is a vicious circle of nightly trysts and morning regrets.
Her addiction got her kicked out of college, cost her the love of her life and has left her in complete despair.
But still Sherry keeps falling in love. And falling. And falling.
Finally, as Sherry struggles to pull herself up from a bottomless abyss, she realizes that she will have to
learn to love the one person she has loathed for most of her life. Herself.
Based on the True Story of a Young Woman’s Battle with Sexual Addiction.

Read The Prologue:

Purchase links:  Amazon     B&N      Smashwords

THANKS TO AUTHOR STEPHEN BRADLEE,
I HAVE ONE (1) EBOOK TO GIVEAWAY.
OPEN TO ALL

CLICK HERE FOR THE ENTRY PAGE

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

I am sure everyone is busy with last minute shopping and the hustle and bustle of  Christmas.  Have a reader on your list who likes a good suspenseful read?   I am here to help, you still have time to purchase today’s guest’s novel.  She is taking time, out of her busy schedule, to visit as she begins her virtual tour with Partners In Crime Tours.  Please, help me in giving a warm welcome to Cindy McDonald!!

CINDY McDONALD

For twenty-six years my life whirled around a song and a dance: I was a professional dancer/choreographer for most of my adult life and never gave much thought to a writing career until 2005. Don’t ask me what happened, but suddenly I felt drawn to my computer to write about things I have experienced (greatly exaggerated upon of course) with my husband’s Thoroughbreds and the happenings at the racetrack.
Surprised? Why didn’t I write about my experiences with dance? Eh, believe it or not life at the racetrack is more…racy. The drama is outrageous—not that dancers don’t know how to create drama, believe me, they do but race trackers just seem to get more down and dirty with it which makes great story telling—great fiction.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Vic Deveaux’s glory days as a winning jockey have ended, but he refuses to accept that pile of horse hockey! When the West family asks Vic to take an easier position at their Thoroughbred farm, Westwood, he becomes enraged and teams up with two greedy stable hands in a scheme to kidnap the youngest son, Shane. Things turn ugly when Vic discovers that his new-found friends have murder on their minds. Suddenly Vic finds himself between a rock and a hard place. He has betrayed his good friend, Eric West, but will he participate in his son’s murder as well? Not content to sit at home and wait for her men to bring her brother home, Kate West convinces homicide detective, Carl Lugowski, to check out a hunch at an old abandoned mansion. Soon they’re trapped in a hornet’s nest of a notorious biker gang. Oh yeah, Vic’s deception has placed the West family in more danger than they know what to do with!

Purchase links:   AMAZON link     GoodReads link  

Read an excerpt:

Follow Cindy’s tour here, where you can enter to win a copy of Dangerous Deception!

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

Today I am taking a big step, no make that a huge step.  When our friend Rebecca, from The Cadence Group, contacted me about today’s guest, I read the synopsis and thought this sounded like a great read!  Then I realized it was in the genre of YA.  But am thinking you will also agree with me, once you hear from the author.  I ask,  that you help me in welcoming, Jeffrey Blount to our group!

JEFFREY BLOUNT

Jeffrey Blount is an Emmy award-winning television director and an award recipient for scriptwriting on multiple documentary projects.  Born and raised in rural Virginia, he now lives in Washington, DC with his wife, Jeanne Meserve. They have two children, Julia and Jake.
Connect with Mr. Blount at his website, Facebook and Twitter.

GUEST POST

Shared Emotions

For me, writing is an emotional endeavor.  I don’t see how it could be any other way.   I sit alone with my plot line and my characters and I create a world.   Inside that world are feelings like passion, fear, anger, hurt, love and joy.   I have them, like items in a museum, strategically laid out to create a coherent experience for the reader.  If I do it well, then readers should, as they read, experience emotions similar to those I experienced as I wrote.   I believe I was successful at this with my recent young adult novel, Hating Heidi Foster.

 It is a novel filled with raw ecstasy and despair.   Many times, I found myself overcome with emotion.  Sometimes before I even began writing, knowing in my head what I was about to put my characters through; sometimes as scenes unfolded, the characters growing and reacting in ways that I hadn’t foreseen.   At any rate, when it was done, I was worn out.   I was simply drained.  But it was a good kind of exhaustion.

I am happy to say that readers are feeling the same way.  One reviewer wrote, “Heart wrenching and then heartwarming story.  A good but highly emotional read.”  Others have written, similarly moved.  Others I have spoken to about all the emotion and here’s where I’m going with all of this, the part that really saddens me.  As the author, I am not always able to share in the moment.  Why?  Because I’ve been there already.   Many, many times.

What I would really like is to experience what the reader is feeling as they tell me about a passage or a scene that touched them.  I want to feel what they feel at the moment we are having the discussion.  To share.  But, for the most part, I can’t.  Because I have lived with the characters for so long and altered their journeys so many times, I’ve lost much of the emotion.  This fact leaves me wanting and missing something in these precious moments.   It’s the only part of the writing process that I wish to be different.   However, I still want and really need these shared moments, because every author wants to know, not only that they succeeded in bringing something special to the reader’s life, but how.   If only because it makes us better at our craft.

ABOUT THE BOOK

From the Author:
As Hating Heidi Foster begins, Mae McBride stands by on a riverbed watching as her mother offers up the ashes of her father to the river’s fast moving current. She thinks of the great loss in her life and the cause of that loss. She thinks of Heidi Foster, her best friend since second grade.
Heidi Foster is home alone listening to music through her ear buds when fire sneaks into her bedroom and she has nowhere to run but her closet. There she waits for the painful end she knows is about to happen, but she is saved by Eddie, the father of her best friend. Heidi makes it out of the burning house, but Eddie does not. When Mae finds out, she blames Heidi for not being smart enough to get out of the house. She blames her father for putting Heidi ahead of her. She blames her friends for taking Heidi’s side. She begins to unravel amid that blame and her uncontrollable and atypical anger.
At the same time Heidi is beset by guilt, falls into depression and stops eating properly. She is wasting away physically and emotionally while waiting for Mae to let her back into the friendship that she misses so dearly.
Mae, consumed by her hatred of Heidi, the confusion regarding her father’s motives, the perceived desertion of her friends and her mother’s grief, loses more and more of herself.
What could possibly bring these two teenagers back to each other? A miracle?
Note: With the holidays coming up, this would be a great gift idea
for teenage daughters and granddaughters.
Purchase Links:   Amazon    B&N    IndieBound

THANKS TO REBECCA, AT THE CADENCE GROUP, I HAVE ONE (1)
COPY OF THIS BOOK TO GIVE AWAY.   OPEN TO US RESIDENTS ONLY

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The holidays, is the time of year, when family and friends gather and today 2 such friends are stopping by.  They were here back in June and stopping by to tell us about the latest book.  So please help me give a warm welcome back to Caitlin from Caitlin Hamilton Marketing and author Rebecca Yount!!!

REBECCA YOUNT

REBECCA YOUNT trained from childhood as a concert pianist, is a published poet, and worked in education reform in Washington, D.C., but she always wanted to write. Coming from a family of writers, it wasn’t hard for her to put pen to paper, but it took an actual unsolved murder to give her the idea for her first novel. On a home exchange in England — something she and her husband regularly do — a villager told her about a local murder that remained unsolved, even by Scotland Yard. Sitting under a tree in a fallow field one day, she began to imagine what might have happened. The result was A DEATH IN C MINOR. In 2010 Rebecca underwent open heart surgery, which left her unable to write for two years. When she returned to writing she decided to publish the entire Mick Chandra series herself as e-books. She lives in northern Virginia with her husband, author and columnist David Yount.
Her website iswww.rebeccayount.com.

GUEST POST

MIND THE GAP:
TEN THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU FIRST VISIT ENGLAND

I was forty-eight before I first visited England.  Career, child rearing, and mortgage and college tuition payments postponed the holiday that my husband, David, and I had long dreamed of.

Although I traveled extensively across North America as a young teen and later as part of my job, I had yet to set foot in Britain and Europe.  On the plus side I had yet to suffer from jet lag.

When we first arrived in London in March, l990, I told David, “I’ve come home.”  Indeed, I can claim forebears in England, Scotland, and Normandy, harkening back to the 9th century.  But even my ancestors could not save me from the mind-dithering effects of jet lag getting to the Old Sod.

After checking into our B & B, we hastened to a neighborhood pub that David had found in the Michelin guide.  I was determined to eat “English,” so I ordered steak and ale pie with chips and peas — two standard sides.  The publican asked me, “Would you like fresh garden peas, or mashed peas?” For some reason — probably prompted by the jet lag — I could not even begin to wrap my head around that.

“What’s the difference?” I asked.

She actually rolled her eyes.  “Well…mashed peas are garden peas that are mashed.”

So, number one on my list of ten things to prepare for is:

l.  Know your peas:  The English eat peas by the load, so be certain to specify which kind of peas you prefer when the publican asks.  That way, you are spared the eye-rolling.

2.  And, for heaven’s sake, know your English:  What’s the difference between chips and French fries?  There isn’t any, except the former is English, the latter American.  Here are some other “Englishisms”:

0 Plaster = Bandaid;
0 Bap = A sandwich bun (not to hit);
0 Bonnet = hood of a car or other vehicle (not a hat);
0 Boot = trunk of a car (not footwear);
0 Hob = kitchen oven;
0 Boob tube = a woman’s tight, strapless dress top (not a TV);
0 Rubber = eraser (not condom);
0 Brilliant = okay, good, under control (not intelligent);
0 Cheers = thank you, have a good day, excuse me (not the bar in Boston);
0 Mate = male friend, (not partner, husband, or lover);
0 Bang on = harangue or nag (not hit on something);
0 Fry Up = full English breakfast consisting of two eggs (any style), toast (brown or white), baked beans, grilled tomato and mushrooms, bangers (English sausage), and back bacon           (lean, not streaky, bacon);
0 Snog = make out;
0 Frogs = the French.

And these are just a few examples of Englishisms.  It is not a bad idea to carry a portable English slang dictionary with you, as one would carry a French dictionary in Paris.

George Bernard Shaw got it right: England and America are two countries divided by a common language.

3. Be prepared to weather a heat wave:  Yes, yes, I know.  You mainly hear about the cold, rainy weather in England.  But what you may not realize is that the occasional spring or summer can be sweltering.

A few years ago David and I exchanged homes with a couple in Aylesbury, just north of London. After two perfect summer days, the weather turned viciously hot and the temperature rose, in fahrenheit terms, to three digits. This would not be an all-out disaster in America because we have access to air conditioning.  To say that there is no a/c in England is an exaggeration, but not much of one.  David and I were reduced to standing in the frozen food section of the local supermarket to try to cool down.

Then there’s the story about how it rained 19 out of 21 days when we were staying in Durham for a three-week exchange. But that’s for another time.

4.  In rural areas, beware of three-legged pets:  This is a back-handed way of warning the traveller about narrow, visibility-challenging roads.  England is a country that offers one-way rural roads for two-way, speeding traffic.  And heaven help you if a combine comes at you in the opposite direction. Since combine drivers are disinclined to apply their brakes, your only recourse is to drive into the nearest field.

Three-legged pets are domestic animals who have been struck by vehicles on these narrow, winding roads, lose a leg to surgery, then hop around on three appendages (competently, I might add).  In my crime novel, A Death in C Minor, I honor these brave beasties by having a three-legged dog, Molly, discover the murder weapon.

5.  Demand your right to ice: Pubs in England are licensed by the government, so the amount of liquid served is regulated.  Every glass has a line at its top to indicate the required level of beer, wine, or soft drinks. Ice is regarded as an enemy by Her Majesty’s government, because it displaces some of what you are drinking. This poses an obvious dilemma to us Americans since, goodness knows, we want our drinks to be cold.

Instead of declaring to the publican, “Go ahead, cheat me.  Displace the liquid,” I have learned to ask for “an American Coca Cola.”  Invariably, the server will ask, “What’s that?” And I answer, “A coke with lots and lots of ice, and a slice of lemon.” Typically, I get what I want.  On home exchanges to Britain we take along our own ample-sized ice trays.  Forget automatic ice makers in England.  You’d have a better chance of finding the Holy Grail.  You can purchase bags of ice at supermarkets, but make haste on Friday and Saturday evenings, or the local revellers will beat you to the punch.

6.  Be polite:  Even when complaining, be nice about it.  The Brits already have a negative image of Americans as Neanderthals who don’t know which fork to use at the dinner table.  They will, however, respond positively to good manners. Tossing in some self-deprecating humor doesn’t hurt, either.

Once, while converting our American dollars to British pounds, I said to the cashier, “We’d like to exchange our worthless American currency for your inflated pounds, if you please.”  The poor man could scarcely stop laughing.  On another occasion, when David and I went to the old historic Haymarket theater to see a play, I looked around and said, “I wonder when the fire marshall was here last?”  Not only did the audience in our section laugh, but some actually gave me a round of applause.  So remember: good manners + self-deprecating humor.

7.  Never say “yuck,” when a Brit confesses a fondness for Marmite.  That would be equivalent to their disdain for peanut butter.

There are additional tips about traveling in England, such as: 8) don’t expect the men to be wearing bowler hats; 9) don’t expect thick fog, as in the Jack the Ripper movies; and 10) don’t expect to see charming Cockney chimneysweeps dancing on rooftops. Those are remnants of the past.

Finally, should you happen to encounter Her Majesty, do not speak until spoken to!

Otherwise, have a lovely time.

ABOUT THE BOOK

In THE ERLKING, New Scotland Yard Detective Inspector Mick Chandra is back in London. His American girlfriend, Jessica Beaumont, has moved in with him and is busy trying to revitalize her career as a concert pianist. Mick is setting up a drug sting operation when he learns he has been reassigned to the Yard’s Pedophile Unit.

Children in north London have begun to disappear. The situation is dire. With Mick’s record for solving cases the Yard hopes that adding him to the team will bring about a quick resolution.

Someone who calls himself “The Erlking” is behind the disappearances. Rumors abound that The Erlking is head of a ring in which a prominent member of the government is involved. Mick and his team need a big break.

To write this book Rebecca researched real-life cases and consulted Scotland Yard. In this new Mick Chandra mystery, she takes readers into a dark and disturbing world, reminding readers that while redemption is not always possible, justice is, especially when Chandra is on the case.

THANKS TO AUTHOR, REBECCA YOUNT,
I HAVE ONE (1) EBOOK TO GIVEAWAY

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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.