Month: October 2019

Cursed Collectibles, An Anthology by Jace Killan

 

 

Jace lives in Arizona with my family,
wife and five kids and a little dog. He writes fiction, thrillers and soft
sci-fi with a little short horror on the side. He holds an MBA and work sin
finance for a biotechnology firm.Jace volunteers with the Boy Scouts, plays and writes music, and enjoys
everything outdoors. He’s also a novice photographer.

 

 ~ Facebook ~
~ Amazon ~
Spend an afternoon antiquing and it’s
not hard to figure out why picking has become one of America’s fondest
pastimes. It’s treasure hunting while connecting with history. But what if
those treasures hunt us back?

 

From old books, to vinyl records, antique mirrors, vintage figurines, or a
Bob’s Big Boy piggy bank, curses have no limits.Featuring stories from D.J. Butler, Joy Auburn, Martin L. Shoemaker, Jessica
Guernsey, John D. Payne, Jen Bair, Karen Pellett, Steve Ruskin, Tanya Hales,
Lauren Lang, Frank Morin, Mike Jack Stoumbous, Kelly Lynn Colby, Jace Killan,
Jo Schneider, Gama Ray Martinez, Martin Greening, Chris Abela, A.J. Mayall,
Heidi A. Wilde, Shannon Fox, Lauryn Christopher, and Mark Leslie Lefebvre.

 

All proceeds of this book go to the Don Hodge
Scholarship Fund for writers
Q & A With the Author:
1.     When did you write your first novel?
a.     2017
2.     What drove you to write / why did you become an author?
a.     Always wanted to be an author. Meeting a tribe of writers helped it
along.
3.     How do you create your characters?
a.     I use those around me for inspiration.
4.     What is one thing you love about Fall / Autumn?
a.     It’s almost not hot.
5.     Who is the person or group of people that most support you in your
writing?
a.     The Superstars Tribe.
6.     What is your favorite Halloween Memory?

Binging
Season 1 of Stranger Things.

 

 

To view our blog schedule and follow along with this tour visit our Official Event page 

 

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2019 Margaret Margaret

Death at the Dakota: A Trudy Genova Manhattan Mystery by Marni Graff

Marni Graff writes two award-winning mystery series: The Nora Tierney English Mysteries and The Trudy Genova Manhattan Mysteries. She teaches writing workshops and mentors the Writers Read program, and is Managing Editor of Bridle Path Press. 
 
 
 
Graff also writes the crime review blog Auntie M Writes, http://www.auntiemwrites.com.

 

 
Nurse Trudy Genova is making plans to
take her relationship to NYPD detective Ned O’Malley to the next level, when
she lands a gig as medical consultant on a film shoot at the famed Dakota
apartment building in Manhattan, which John Lennon once called home. Then star
Monica Kiley goes missing, a cast member turns up dead, and it appears Trudy
might be next. Meanwhile Ned tackles a mysterious murder case in which the
victim is burned beyond recognition. When his investigations lead him back to
the Dakota, Trudy finds herself wondering: how can she fall in love if she
can’t even survive?
Readers of Death Unscripted, the first
book in the Trudy Genova Manhattan Mystery series, will find the same pleasures
in this sequel: fast pacing, engaging characters, twists and turns on the way
to a satisfying close. From the award-winning author of The Nora Tierney
English Mysteries, this second series is a winner. Once again M.K. Graff
reveals her talents in crafting this delightful mix of amateur sleuth and
police procedural.
Part procedural, part cozy, Death at
the Dakota is a well-crafted and highly entertaining mystery.- Bruce Robert
Coffin, #1 bestselling author of the Detective Byron mysteries.  
I fell in love — not only with
co-protagonists, Trudy and Ned, the richly detailed and historic setting of The
Dakota, and the unique cast of characters, but with the unusual plot of Death
at the Dakota. Sherry Harris, Agatha Award nominated author of the Sarah
Winston Garage Sale Mysteries

 


  
~ Universal Amazon Link ~ 
  
Q & A With the Author:
     1.     When did you write your first novel?  I wrote my first novel when
we were still living on Long Island, a mystery set at the Frick Museum in NYC.
Unfortunately, our house burned down and I lost the entire manuscript, as well
as my first computer and all the files. I have not rewritten that one. Instead
after our move to NC, I set about writing a series set in England, being a real
Anglophile and lover of all things British. That became The Blue Virgin and was
published in 2010. 

2.     What drove you to write / why did you become an author? I’ve always
loved to read and written poetry and stories since in junior high. I thought at
one point in high school I might go into acting but realized pretty quickly I’d
rather be the person who wrote the words and story the actors performed. That
led to me learning screenplay format and writing a few of those, but my drive
was to entertain readers with a book the way I’d loved reading since a child.
It’s still what drives me to write: the idea of sharing my stories with a
reader, taking them into a fictional world that might closely mirror a real
place, but choosing the characters and what happens to them.
3.     How do you create your characters? I spend a long time developing each
character. Those for a series, like Trudy Genova and her boyfriend, Ned
O’Malley, have entire backgrounds I’ve created for them, with aspects of their
childhood, where they grew up, went to school, etc. I always decide what my
characters’ needs and fears are, too. These things help me figure out how each
one will react in the circumstances I throw them into! In Trudy’s case, she’s a
nurse with a nose for murder, which often frustrates Ned. But she feels she’s a
good judge of people and has a natural curiosity that can put her jeopardy at
times. She also has a feel for wanting to help people, hence going into
nursing, and a sense of justice and fairness that equals Ned’s and is part of
their attraction. They ‘get’ each other on that level, even though they are
vastly different. I use the same technique for minor characters, maybe not just
in as much depth.
4.     What is one thing you love about Fall / Autumn? Besides the cooler
weather, I love the feel that reminds me of going back to school with new
things on the horizon. It’s my favorite season–of course, my birthday is in
October so I’m prejudiced!
5.     Who is the person or group of people that most support you in your
writing? My husband is super-supportive, but the people who really help are my
writing group. We’ve been working together for 15 years now and the others are
novelists, too, so while we write different genres, we understand the rhythms
of a long term exploration of character, plot and setting. We meet yearly and
go over our entire draft novels for each other; in between, we are available on
email for checking scenes and running ideas past each other. I’d be lost
without them.
6.     What is your favorite Halloween Memory? I grew up with a friend whose
birthday is October 30th, so she always had a great Hallowe’en costume party,
bobbing for apples, other games, making popcorn balls, and eating caramel
apples, the whole nine yards. Great memories. We are still friends and when I
bring a new book on tour to my hometown library, she comes out to see me and
buys a book–and she always leaves a review! I’ll be there in October on tour
with Death at the Dakota and we’ve already set up lunch for our October
birthdays.
 

 

To view our blog schedule and follow along with this tour visit our Official Event page 

 

 

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2019 Margaret Margaret

The Temple of the Exploding Head Omnibus by Ren Garcia

 

Ren Garcia is a Science Fiction/Fantasy author and Texas native who grew up in western Ohio. He has been writing since before he could write, often scribbling alien lingo on any available wall or floor with assorted crayons. He attended The Ohio State University and majored in English Literature. 
 
Ren has been an avid lover of anything surreal since childhood. He also has a passion for caving, urban archeology, taking pictures of clouds, and architecture. He currently lives in Columbus, Ohio with his wife, and their four dogs.

~ Website ~
  
Three books in one:
The Dead Held Hands
The Machine
The Temple of the Exploding Head
Starfarers and explorers, the League
settled on Kana thousands of years ago. They found it to be a paradise, a
perfect, virtually uninhabited planet waiting just for them in the cradle of
space.
Lovely Kana … it was too good to be
true …
But, all was not as it seemed.
Simmering beneath the ground was a demented god who had soaked Kana in blood
for untold ages, luring in victims, lying to them, and rejoicing in their
suffering as they died at the hands of his dark angels.
And there will be blood again … From
his Temple in the ground, the Horned God stirs.
When Lord Kabyl of Blanchefort, a
young man troubled by the weight of the world, dares give his heart to a girl
from a mysterious ancient household, one that pre-dates the League itself, he
comes to know the shadows of the past that hover over her.
He comes to know of the Horned God,
and for love he is destined to face him. All roads lead to the Temple of the
Exploding Head, a place of evil and death, rooted in the ancient past, but also
tied to the distant future.
“We were evil once,” she said, “and
the gods are still punishing us…”

 

Q & A With the Author:
1.       When did you write your
first novel?[Ren Garcia]    I wrote Sygillis
of Metatron in 2007
2.       What drove you to write /
why did you become an author?[Ren Garcia]  I’m not sure
anything in particular drove me to start writing. I had stories in my head, I
wanted to get them out.
3.       How do you create your
characters?[Ren Garcia]  I don’t have a set way of
creating a character. Sometimes I have a thought in my head, iced with a few
details. Sometimes things from my life (childhood, college, etc) combine and
out comes a character. On a few occasions, the needs of the story call for the
creation of a character. That sort of thing.
4.       What is one thing you love
about Fall / Autumn?[Ren Garcia]  I I love
windbreakers. I love wearing them, and Fall gives me the excuse to get them out
again.
5.       Who is the person or group
of people that most support you in your writing?[Ren Garcia]  I
really have no idea. My books seem to appeal to an eclectic group.
6.       What is your favorite
Halloween Memory?[Ren Garcia]  I’m pretty sure I saw
Bigfoot on Halloween when I was a kid. We were going to the local
graveyard—what we were going to do when we got there I can’t recall. But, as we
approached, we all heard a terrifying cry. And then we saw it—a huge, lumbering
“thing” moving through the graveyard, headed towards the woods. Yeah, that made
an impression to be sure.

 

 

 

To view our blog schedule and follow along with this tour visit our Official Event page 

 

 

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2019 Margaret Margaret

Love is Death by L.P. Masters

 

Born and
raised in the rainy streets of the Seattle Area, L.P. Masters spent her fair
share of time staring out rain-streaked windows and writing books. Masters has
always had extremely vivid dreams, which often spark inspiration for her
novels. In 1999, after one such dream, Masters began her first writing project.
She has participated in National Novel Writer’s Month every November since
2010. Writing isn’t the only thing she can do with a pen in her hand, she also
enjoys sketching and drawing—with varying degrees of success. Masters now lives
in the slightly-less-dreary city of Spokane Washington with her husband, four
wonderful daughters, and two crazy dogs.

Gina’s plan
for her afterlife is simple: survive as long as possible. The afterlife is a
ghost-kill-ghost kind of place. When she meets newly-dead Alec, she can’t help
her desire to protect him. Before she knows it, she finds herself falling for
him, despite the little voice in her head telling her it’s a bad idea.Alec’s goals don’t mesh well with Gina’s plans. Determined to save his living
sister from a murderer, he’s willing to disobey the laws of a well-established
cult in the afterlife. If the cult finds out, they’ll kill him. Again. He’s
hesitant to accept Gina’s help and threaten her afterlife, but he’s guaranteed
to fail without her. Together they embark on a perilous mission, but the most
dangerous aspect of all is the threat of falling in love. Because in the
afterlife… love is death.

Q & A With the Author:
  1. When did you write your first novel? I started writing when I was 12 years
    old. Most of my stories at that time would have been categorized more as
    short stories or novellas. I didn’t start writing longer novel-length
    stories until I was closer to college age.
  2. What drove you to write / why did you become
    an author?     I LOVE telling
    stories. I LOVE creating characters and taking them through experiences.
    I’m always thinking about what could be, what should be, what would be. I
    have a passion for theme and always want my readers to get something out
    of my stories, even if what they get is, “Don’t be as dumb as that
    character was.” Usually my themes are deeper than that, but if they get
    that much at least, I’m happy.
  3. How do you create your characters? A lot of times they create themselves.
    I often really work on their names, because the names are really
    important for my feelings toward the characters. I start writing the
    characters, not really knowing who they are, and eventually I find out.
    After a while I like to know a lot of history about them, so I do a lot
    of character interviews. If I try a character interview before starting
    the story, though, I often feel like I’m trying to force the character to
    be what I want him or her to be, instead of allowing the character to
    develop who they’re supposed to be.
  4. What is one thing you love about Fall /
    Autumn?     So hard to pick
    one, but I’ll play by the rules, so I’m going to say the colors.
  5. Who is the person or group of people that
    most support you in your writing?     My
    family. When I was younger and first starting out, it was definitely my
    mom. After I got married, my husband has been very supportive. My mom is
    still very helpful for me. I also have a group of friends I made doing
    NaNoWriMo, and we meet throughout the year. We’re always helping and
    supporting each other.
  6. What is your favorite Halloween Memory? One Halloween when I was pretty young,
    I dressed up as a pumpkin. I wore my mom’s orange T-shirt, stuffed full
    of pillows to make me round. As we were going out to trick-or-treat I
    lost my balance and fell into a ditch. (Thankfully it was dry.) My sister
    ran over to me and helped me up and asked, “Are you okay, Pumpkin?” We
    all thought it was pretty funny.
 

 

To view our blog schedule and follow along with this tour visit our Official Event page 

 

 

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2019 Margaret Margaret

Unmasking the Duke by Donna Hatch

Donna Hatch is the author of the
best-selling “Rogue Hearts Series,” and a winner of writing awards such as The
Golden Quill and the International Digital Award. 
 
A hopeless romantic and
adventurer at heart, she discovered her writing passion at the tender age of 8
and has been listening to those voices ever since. She has become a
sought-after workshop presenter, and also juggles freelance editing, multiple
volunteer positions, and most of all, her six children (seven, counting her
husband).
 
 A native of Arizona who recently transplanted to the Pacific
Northwest, she and her husband of over twenty years are living proof that there
really is a happily ever after.

~ Facebook ~ Website ~
~ Amazon ~
~ Goodreads ~ Twitter ~
The last thing Hannah Palmer wants to
do is flirt with men in a crowded ballroom, but when her sister, the Countess
of Tarrington, throws a Masquerade Ball, Hannah can’t say no to the invitation. 
 
Taking comfort behind her disguise, she dances with a charming masked
gentleman, matching him wit for wit. When the glorious evening culminates in a
kiss, and the two remove their masks, Hannah is horrified to discover the man
she’s been flirting with all night is her most despised neighbor, the Duke of
Suttenberg. 
 
No matter how charming the duke was at the ball, and how wonderful
the kiss, he is the last man she could ever love.

 

 

 

Q & A With the Author:
When did you write your first
novel?
My first pathetic attempt was when I
was in 7th grade. It was basically fan fiction. Around that time, I attempted
screen plays too. I wrote my first novel that later became published (in
incarnation of it, at least) when I was in 9th grade.
What drove you to write/why did you
become an author?
I’ve always loved making up stories
and have been writing them down since 3rd grade. At the time I thought they
were epic but now I look back on them and want to put a sack over my head.
Fortunately, I never attempted to get them published—I just kept writing for
fun. Then one day, I attended a workshop at a local library where an author
spoke of her writing journey and had just published her first book. That really
awoke a dormant desire to see my stories in print.
How do you create your characters?
It’s different with each story.
Sometimes, they come to me fully formed and I just need to listen to them.
Other times, I have to work at it with personality types, backstory
development, and character interviews.
What is one thing you love about
Fall/Autumn?
I love so many things about autumn!
Cooler weather is high on my list which means fuzzy socks, sweaters, jackets,
and spending more time outdoors hiking, walking, or just sitting on the porch
swing. Also, I adore leaves turning all those gorgeous shades of red, gold, and
rust. Autumn means hot apple cider and all of those amazing smells of cinnamon,
nutmeg, apples, candles, and firelight. Plus, Fall means Halloween with all the
fun decorations as well as costumes. Yes, I love dressing up! But one of the
best parts of Fall is gathering with family at Thanksgiving. My grown children
can’t always come home for Christmas, so they often come home for “Thanks-mas”
where we celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday, then spend Friday decorating the
house for Christmas so we can celebrate Christmas on Saturday. Usually everyone
leaves on Sunday so they can return for jobs and college. We get in every
family tradition that we can during the time we have.
Who is the person or group of
people that most support you in your writing?
My sisters-in-law were always super
supportive and encouraging. Once I got published and brought home that first
royalty check, my husband got on board and stopped viewing it as a time-consuming
and expensive hobby, and started seeing it as a career—one that pays horribly,
but still offering a monetary payoff. Now, one of my nieces is my one of my
go-to proofreaders as well as one of my staunchest supporters. I also couldn’t
have done it without my local RWA group, my online Regency research group
the Beau Monde, and my local American Night Writers Association
chapters. Also, I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a shout out to my awesome,
wonderful, amazing critique partners, beta readers, and proofreaders. They say
it takes a village to raise a child; it also takes a village to raise a book.
What is your favorite Halloween
Memory?
One of my favorites was when my third
child was about a year old. After a dinner of baked potato soup, I put the baby
in a stroller and followed around my older two children from house to house. My
seven-year-old son was a ninja, my six-year-old daughter was a fox with big,
fluffy tail, and the baby was a fuzzy bear complete with little bear pads on
his feet. I guess animals were popular in our family. I enjoyed chatting with
the neighbors, seeing everyone dressed up, and enjoying my neighbors’ reaction
to our costumes. The weather was perfect—cool enough that the costumes weren’t
too hot but not so cold that we needed to wear jackets over them. After
trick-or-treating and gathering enough candy to get a small country high on
sugar, we went home and drank hot apple cider and handed out candy. I’m not
sure why that stands out in my memory except that it epitomized the perfect
Halloween. 

 

 

To view our blog schedule and follow along with this tour visit our Official Event page 

 

 

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2019 Margaret Margaret

The Scarecrow by Cas Peace

Cas lives in the lovely county of Hampshire, southern UK, where she was born. On leaving school she trained for two years before qualifying as horse-riding instructor. During this time she also learned to carriage-drive. She spent thirteen years in the British Civil Service before moving to Rome, Italy, where she and her husband, Dave, lived for three years. They enjoy returning whenever they can. Cas supports many animal charities and owns two rescue dogs. She has a large collection of cacti and loves gardening. She is also a folk singer/songwriter and is currently writing and recording nine folk-style songs to accompany each of her fantasy books. You can listen to and download all the songs from her website: http://www.caspeace.com 
See the video of her performing live at the King’s Envoy book launch here: http://www.caspeace.com/cas-peace/the-wheel-will-turn

~ Author Facebook ~

 ~ Facebook ~ Website ~
  ~ Blog ~ Amazon ~ Reverbnation ~

Pure evil rises once again in Albia…
 
Three years have passed since Baron Reen’s trial. A
terrible accident on the island of his exile has transformed him into a
nightmarish scarecrow creature with dark, mysterious powers. Staging his own
suicide, Reen breaks free of his prison and, with the help of the former queen
Sofira, embarks on a ruthless quest for vengeance against his worst enemy, the
woman responsible for the overthrow of his schemes and his own ruination:
Brynne Sullyan.
 
Sullyan is tasked with investigating Reen’s suicide.
The missing body and a series of disasters in Port Loxton—a vicious murder, a
brutal ambush, and a devastating fire—raise suspicions in her mind. She probes
deeper, determined to uncover the truth, unsuspecting of the evil that’s about to
be unleashed…




This book is on special offer for this week on Amazon!!! Check out the discounted price below!
Q & A With the Author:
1.     When did
you write your first novel?
I
have been writing stories and poetry since I was a child, but my first novel
wasn’t written until I was in my late twenties. It was a children’s adventure
novel and its main characters were unicorns and other mythical forest dwellers.
I was very proud of it but, unfortunately, unforeseen events in my life meant
that I never finished it. I do still have it, however, and may revisit it one
day and bring it to a conclusion!
2.     What
drove you to write / why did you become an author?

I was driven to write because I loved creating different worlds to
escape into. I did it to release tension in my life or as a form of escapism.
My writings were never meant for others to see, although I did show some of my
poetry. I never intended or thought I would ever become an author, but one day
when I was bored, I started writing out a little scene I’d had in my head for
years. That simple act seemed to open a floodgate in my mind, and that innocent
little germ of an idea became my triple-trilogy fantasy series, Artesans of
Albia. So – writers beware!
3.     How do
you create your characters?
I
create my “good” characters to be people I’d love to be, or to spend time with.
None of them are based on anyone I actually know, although King Elias from my
Artesans novels is based on English actor Sean Bean’s portrayal of soldier
Richard Sharpe from the Bernard Cornwell “Sharpe” TV series. My “bad”
characters are also drawn mainly from my own imagination, rather than being
based on real people. Some of their names, however, are inspired by people I
don’t like!
4.     What is
one thing you love about Fall / Autumn?

In England, the feeling of the air is often softer and mellower than at
other times of the year. We can get energizing, chilly bright mornings that
soften into warmer sunny days, ending with beautiful sunsets – that is, when we
don’t get the remnants of US coast hurricanes, that is!
5.     Who is
the person or group of people that most support you in your writing?

I really couldn’t pick one person – everyone I know has been supportive
of my writing, even if they don’t read or appreciate the fantasy genre. From my
family to the far-flung friends I have made through being an author, no one has
been less than encouraging and helpful. I guess I’m very lucky – I’ve never had
the bad experiences that I’ve heard some authors complain of.
6.     What is your favorite Halloween Memory?

 

                Halloween in England is not the festival it
is in the US, although we are beginning to adopt some US activities. Guy Fawkes
Night, November 5th, was always more exciting because of having fireworks,
making straw “Guys” to put on the bonfire, and begging “Penny for the Guy”
around the neighbors. Recently, many English villages have begun to have
scarecrow competitions around Halloween, and we have entered these in our
village. Everyone gets very inventive, and they are great fun. My best creation
so far was “Guy Dog”!

 

To view our blog schedule and follow along with this tour visit our Official Event page 

 

 

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2019 Margaret Margaret