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VBT – Body of the Crime
About the Author
Jennifer Chase is a multi award-winning crime fiction author and consulting criminologist. Jennifer holds a bachelor degree in police forensics and a master’s degree in criminology & criminal justice. These academic pursuits developed out of her curiosity about the criminal mind as well as from her own experience with a violent sociopath, providing Jennifer with deep personal investment in every story she tells. In addition, she holds certifications in serial crime and criminal profiling. She is an affiliate member of the International Association of Forensic Criminologists.
Her latest book is the mystery suspense, Body of the Crime.
WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:
WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK
About the Book
Title: BODY OF THE CRIME
Author: Jennifer Chase
Publisher: JEC Press
Pages: 397
Genre: Mystery Suspense
BOOK BLURB:
Three grisly murders linked to five old cold cases, dubbed the Flower Girl Murders, pushes detectives to their limit to find a clever and extremely brutal serial killer, leaving a California town demanding justice. The District Attorney’s Serial Special Task Force retains the help of the reclusive Dr. Chip Palmer, a forensic expert and criminal profiler, to steer them in the right direction.
Palmer is known for his astute academic interpretations of serial and predatory crimes, along with his unconventional tactics that goes against general police procedures. He is partnered with the tough and beautiful D.A. Inspector Kate Rawlins, a homicide detective transplanted from Phoenix, and the chemistry ignites between the team—turbulent and deadly.
The Flower Girl Murders leaves three homicides, five cold cases, two seasoned detectives, three suspects, and one serial killer calling all the shots. The investigation must rely on one eccentric forensic scientist to unravel the clues to solve the case. But at what cost?
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Book Excerpt
I HATED THE CURIOUS AND often skeptical looks, which came from the audience in the gallery. I gently eased my body into the chair and faced them directly. It felt more like I was a participating target in a firing squad than a courtroom proceeding.
Shifting from side to side in the cushioned seat, I fidgeted with my tie. It was the only thing I could do under the circumstances.
I waited patiently trying not to nervously tap my fingers.
At least the chair was comfortable as I rested my forearms and hands on the armrest. It was not easy to avoid looking at the two burly sheriff deputy bailiffs stationed at the back corners of the room. They watched everyone with an extreme somber, statue-like presence. I was not even sure if they actually blinked or not.
All eyes in the courtroom fixated on me.
The room fell into complete silence. The audience readied themselves waiting for the show to begin. At least that was what I had imagined in my own mind.
I realized when the prosecutor had finally called my name to testify and the bailiff escorted me into the courtroom that I had forgotten to change my shoes. Dirt and mud had affixed deep into the crevices of the heavy-duty rubber soles, which donated little chunks of dried soil as I walked from the back of the courtroom to the witness area. There were little piles of mountain soil left behind with every stride. It looked like I had stolen shoes from a homeless person.
It was only yesterday that I had taken an extra-long walk down a wooded path that was barely passable even for the native wildlife, but I did not let the rugged terrain scare me out of adding another specimen to my collection of California sediment. In the process, my shoes sunk deep into the mud. At one point my foot had slipped from the left shoe and then plunged my sock-clad foot directly into the sticky muck.
I was all too aware of how disheveled I looked only two months before my fortieth birthday. It was not appealing. My appearance did not give the impression that I was an expert at anything, but somehow I managed to muddle through with an air of authority.
Crime scenes never lied, and it was my job to explain the scientific facts to the non-scientific community; but in the end, it was up to the jury to make the right choice of guilt or innocence. Twelve good people ultimately shouldered the justice burden, and I was just the messenger of facts—good or bad.
VBT – Penchant for Vengeance
About the Book
Title: Penchant for Vengeance
Author: Robert Downs
Genre: Mystery
Charlottesville, Virginia, Police Detective Luke McGinty has a closet filled with demons, along with a few skeletons; a steady job, but no steady partner or girlfriend; and is still married to his wife Sallie, even though she’s been dead for three years. Then his detective work takes a turn for the worse when a body is discovered at the downtown mall. One dead body isn’t enough, though, and another one turns up. When ties to a cold murder case in another county present themselves, Luke realizes that, if he doesn’t tread carefully, he could end up short more than just a few answers…
Author Bio
Robert Downs aspired to be a writer before he realized how difficult the writing process was. Fortunately, he’d already fallen in love with the craft, otherwise his stories might never have seen print. Originally from West Virginia, he has lived in Virginia, Massachusetts, New Mexico, and now resides in California. When he’s not writing, Downs can be found reviewing, blogging, or smiling. To find out more about his latest projects, or to reach out to him on the Internet, visit the author’s website: www.RobertDowns.net. PENCHANT FOR VENGEANCE is his fifth novel.
Links
Author website http://www.RobertDowns.net
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/RobertDownsBooks
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4821934.Robert_Downs
Giveaway
Giveaway for 2 paperbacks and 2 eBook copies of “Penchant for Vengeance” during the book tour.
Book Excerpts
Excerpt #1
Traffic was light—Charlottesville, Virginia, despite being a college town, had a curfew—the morning was dark, and a light mist filled the air, adding drops of water to my bright yellow 1974 Camaro. I took the back roads, rather than using US 250 to reach the downtown mall, with Regal Cinema located near the center, off Main Street. I reached the scene in less than ten minutes, including parking, without using a siren, or running a single red light. The body, however, wasn’t nearly as successful as I was.
“Can’t you guys pick a more reasonable hour?” I asked. “Crime should wait until at least nine o’clock.”
“Why don’t you get your butt out of bed like everyone else?” a cop said.
The man didn’t look familiar, nor did his crew cut, wide shoulders, and pressed uniform. His face lacked wrinkles, and his scowl provided more menace than a rabbit with a semi-automatic weapon.
“I did. I’m here, aren’t I?”
I’d flashed my shield to get in, and now I wanted to flash my nine-millimeter. The early hour meant a yawn preceded one hand wrapped around the thick neck of my competition. I preferred reasonable solutions since reasonableness was all I had left. “What do we know?” I asked.
“We know you don’t belong here,” Nelson Rivers said.
Like his name implied, he preferred headlocks to handshakes and shaved heads over full-haired ones. He and I had respectfully disagreed on multiple occasions, so often I couldn’t remember the last time we’d ever agreed on anything other than the day of the week. He had hands the size of pencil sharpeners, and he pushed more buttons than he allowed pushed in return. What he needed was a little less mouth and a lot more action.
I ignored his comment. Ignorance was a hard emotion to pin down, but it seemed to rear its ugly head quicker than the other ones. And crime scenes brought out a special kind of ignorance. I had a few emotions left in my system, despite the hour, and I wanted to save them for the victim, who appeared about my age.
Excerpt #2
The body was bent like a pretzel. Wounds that were possibly from a knife or a whip slathered the body from the neck to the pubic region, deep enough to resemble tattoos. Some were spaced closely enough to disfigure the top half of the body, rendering an exact age nearly impossible. A crime of passion entered the forefront of my mind, and it clung to the roof of my mouth. The victim probably knew his killer intimately, or was, at the very least, an acquaintance.
The wounds stood out for me: a multitude of lacerations that made me unable to look away. When I scanned below the belt, I noticed the mutilated genitalia, rendering the man much less of one. I didn’t like the look of the scene, with the body splayed at an obscene angle, dropped right outside the glass front doors of Regal Cinema to render two of the doors nearly impassable. It resembled something. I just wasn’t sure what. I’d probably blocked it out of my mind, being that I frequented this particular cinema and watched more movies than I cared to admit.
I hoped it never came back, the thought I had blocked. It always did in the end. That was what hurt the most: Movies exacerbated the oddities of life.
Killers were usually born not made, but sometimes, it was the other way around.
The victim’s hands were positioned above his head, forming a triangle, as if he prayed in death to some higher power. Positioned that way by the killer, his hands rubbed up against each other, his head tilted slightly upward. The wounds to the victim’s hands told me he had put up a struggle, knowing that death was inevitable, yet he had wanted to live all the way to the end. But it wasn’t enough. It often never was.
The lack of blood told me the victim wasn’t killed here, and other than a nude body covered in wounds and dried blood, like strokes from a brush, with his hands pointed toward the sky, there were no other obvious signatures. His head was shaved with only a small area of stubble on his chin. His height and weight fell in the average region, his eyes were black, and his lips formed a permanent grimace. He had defensive wounds on both his wrists and the back of his hands, and his skin was as white as a first-floor apartment.
“Who’s the victim?” I asked.
“Victim’s name is unknown, until we run some tests,” the ME said. “Other than being male, and probably between thirty-five and forty years old, I’m out of guesses.”
Addie Ferguson, the ME, had a knack for guessing ages, along with her serious attention to detail. A short woman, with a few extra pounds she could never seem to get rid of, she preferred ankle-length skirts, black boots, and blue blouses.
“Have we got a time of death?”
VBT – THE EXILED OTHERKIN
The Exiled Otherkin
by D. Lieber
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GENRE: Fantasy Romance
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BLURB
Exiled from Faerie when her father dies, half-Fae Ember is surprised by how much the human realm has changed since she was there last. She takes a dangerous job on a merchant airship, hoping a life on the move will keep her well-hidden. Sure, she misses her brother, but years of apathy have numbed her emotions.
When the optimistic and naïve Reilley follows her, it’s annoying to say the least. But when she starts feeling responsible for him, long-stifled emotions crack the ice around her heart.
Faeries, pirates, and traveling players meet in this steampunk fantasy adventure as Ember tries to cope with feelings long forgotten and a past that pursues her.
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EXCERPT
Men and women dashed around the room, gleaming with sweat and smudged with black smears. The fires burned low. A large furnace at the center of the room had a thick chimney leading from it into the ceiling. Some people were moving piles of what looked like coal, while others tended a huge machine. It consisted of a number of large metal coils attached to gears. Some of the coils were wound tight while others were loose. The gears attached to the coils were meshed with gears that had magnets on them. Ropes, made of a material I couldn’t identify, were threaded through the center of the magnet gears.
We passed through engineering and climbed to the main deck. The wooden deck sprawled before us. The chimney from engineering came up through the floor and reached toward the cloth bubble above us.
Shy pointed to a cabin on the left. “That’s where you’ll bunk with the rest of the deckhands, Ember. I still have inventory to do. I trust you both can get settled?” He disappeared below deck.
I walked toward the cabin, and Reilley followed.
“I wish we were bunking together, Ember,” he said, slumping his shoulders. I didn’t respond and entered the cabin, shutting the door in his face.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links
D. writes stories she wants to read. Her love of the worlds of fiction led her to earn a Bachelor’s in English from Wright State University.
When she isn’t reading or writing, she’s probably hiking, crafting, watching anime, Korean television, Bollywood, or old movies. She may also be getting her geek on while planning her next steampunk cosplay with friends.
She lives in Wisconsin with her husband (John), retired guide dog (Samwise), and cat (Yin).
Links
Website: www.dlieber.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dlieberwriting
Google+: www.google.com/+DLieber
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15163863.D_Lieber
Book Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zM2fewELAj0
Publisher: http://www.blackrosewriting.com/sci-fifantasy/theexiledotherkin
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0779C96ZZ/
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-exiled-otherkin-d-lieber/1127108556
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RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY
D. Lieber will be awarding a fancy homemade bookmark (US ONLY) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Enter to win a fancy homemade bookmark – a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Q&A With…
Tell us about you as a person.
I’m a bit eclectic. You can find me equally at home at a museum of natural history as walking through the woods or at a baseball game. I love learning about different cultures, traveling, learning foreign languages, watching foreign television, or listening to foreign music. I’m the type to get excited about little things, and my goal is to make real connections with people in this life.
If you could hang out with one famous person for one day, who would it be and why?
I’m hesitant to choose a famous person I admire. I mean, what is he or she turns out to be a jerk? I’d rather experience a specific time period or place. I’d like to spend a day on Montmartre during the Belle Époque or maybe go to a historical world’s fair.
What’s the story behind your latest book?
After getting into steampunk, I really wanted to write a steampunk story. I don’t recall why I decided to put faeries in it, though I remember thinking very hard and the idea hitting me like a smack on the head. Once I had the two main characters clearly in my mind, it flowed fairly easily with not too many bumps in the process.
What is your writing process?
It depends on the story I’m writing. I like to write by the seat of my pants with only a vague idea of where the story is heading, but that only works with certain stories. For instance, that was fine for The Exiled Otherkin, but I had to plot everything ahead of time for my detective story. I prefer to be alone in my house with absolute silence and no interruptions when writing, though again there are exceptions. If I need to evoke a certain mood in a scene, I may listen to instrumental music of different genres.
Tell us about your main character.
My protagonist, Ember, is a half-Fae who is exiled from Faerie when her father dies. When readers first meet her, she is an apathetic sort. She has actively tried to cut off her emotions for many years in order to protect herself and those around her. The only person she’s really close to is her younger brother, Pika. She’s not opposed to being close to men physically, though emotionally is out of the question. She’s a strong person, able to take care of herself in most situations. It will take a soft, nonthreatening presence to catch her off guard.
If your book was to be turned into a movie, who would play the lead role and why.
I don’t believe in choosing an actress before auditions. The best person for the role may be someone unknown.
What are you working on next?
The next story readers are likely to see is called Intended Bondmates:
Vampires may feed on humans, but nothing is as irresistible to them as fae blood.
Runa has long given up on being content with her life. Her only goal is to protect Mikhail until he awakens and gains his full magic. For the last thirteen years, ever since tragedy struck when they were children, she has protected him as was expected of his werewolf guardian. Though she has started looking for a mate, she can’t imagine what will happen once she’s free of Mikhail. But when he requests to be unbound from her before his awakening, she’s given the chance to return to her intended bondmate.
She expects a warm welcome from Konner, not foreseeing his bitterness at having been abandoned. Konner isn’t the only one who is bitter. His brother’s guardian, Rowan, has had to protect both faelings while she was with Mikhail.
It’s up to Runa to find a way to soothe these two demanding males if she hopes to make up for her past betrayal.
What advice do you have for other writers who want to get the word out about their book?
Stay active. Go to conventions, interact on social media, and support other authors.
What is your favorite book on your shelf right now?
My favorite book is The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. I’ve never read anyone who could weave so many plot yarns together in such a colorful tapestry as Dumas.
Do you have any special/extraordinary talents?
Talents? Probably not. There are a lot of things I work to be good at. I love to sing and knit.
You are given the choice of one super power. What super power would you have and why?
I’d want to be able have a way to make people understand each other’s intentions, almost like a universal language. I think the world would be a lot more peaceful if people tried harder to understand each other.
List 5 things on your bucket list:
In no particular order:
- Climb Machu Picchu on a llama
- Mount the Glastonbury Tor
- Meditate under a tree at a Himalayan Buddhist monastery
- Bathe in a hot spring in Japan
- Get access to the Vatican Archives
Where can readers find you on the web?
They could go to my website, www.dlieber.com, and subscribe to my newsletter. They can also connect with me on Facebook, www.facebook.com/dlieberwriting or Google+, www.google.com/+DLieber. And I always love to hear what they think on Goodreads, https://www.goodreads.com/dlieberwriting.
Any final thoughts?
Purchase links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Exiled-Otherkin-D-Lieber/dp/1612969534
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-exiled-otherkin-d-lieber/1127108556?ean=9781612969534
VBT – Noble Magic: The Chronicles of Eledon Book Four
About the Book
Title: Noble Magic: The Chronicles of Eledon Book Four
Author: Joni Parker
Genre: Fantasy
Lady Alexin (Alex) battles a band of mortal wizards known as the Octagon, discovers the mysteries of the five legendary diamond eggs, and finally comes into her true powers gifted to her by her conquests and the gifts of her Titan ancestors. Tasked with the seemingly impossible, Alex must find a way to restore the entry points to Seaward Isle or see its inhabitants face certain destruction as the grid holding Eledon together threatens to fall apart.
Author Bio
Joni currently lives in Tucson, Arizona, but she was born in Chicago, lived in Japan, graduated high school in Phoenix, and got married in New Jersey. Not only was she married to a career Navy sailor, but she also completed 22 years of active duty service herself. She holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting, an MBA, and a Master of Military Arts and Sciences (MMAS) from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. After her husband passed away, she returned to the work in the Department of Homeland Security until she discovered her love of writing. She retired again and has written two series, “The Seaward Isle Saga,” a three-book series, and “The Chronicles of Eledon” with “Spell Breaker,” “The Blue Witch,” “Gossamer,” and “Noble Magic.”
Links
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ParkerJoni
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJoniParker
Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+JoniParker
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0747SFZLG/ref=pe_820620_248963730_em_1p_0_ti
Book Excerpt
From chapter 2:
A few minutes later, the Chamber Elf opened the door and led them inside. The members sat in large chairs around three sides of the room while the senior member, Lord Ashur, sat alone on one end—his long white hair dangled over his bright red robe. Alex and Prince Darin saluted and knelt before him.
“Rise, both of you. Prince Darin, I see you’re with the Keeper again. What’s this adventure? I sent the Keeper to check on the cottage, not to explore.” Lord Ashur leaned forward in his large chair and gazed with amusement from under his white, bushy eyebrows.
“I apologize for the interruption, my lord, but Lady Alexin arrived with an escort of a dozen rebels, now in our custody. Apparently, they were searching for some documents, but couldn’t find them. The Keeper did. And I’d like your permission to review them.”
“Keeper, show me these documents.”
Alex unrolled the scrolls, handing him one at a time. She smiled as she watched his eyebrows move up and down.
He passed them around to the other members. “How did you find them when the rebels couldn’t?”
“They were locked inside a vault in one of the bedrooms. I missed it the last time I was there. Not only did it have these scrolls, but it also had this.” She held up the black bag and pulled out the gold chest, handing it to him.
Lord Ashur gasped and stared at the beautiful chest. “What’s in here?”
“Open it.” Alex stepped back so Prince Darin could see.
He flipped the top open and pulled back the velvet cloth. “Oh my stars!” He picked up one of the large diamonds in his hand. It flashed rainbows on the ceiling and walls.
The members stared and gasped and gathered around his chair for a closer look.
“How many are there?” Lord Mesner stared at it, captivated by its beauty.
“Five.” Lord Ashur cocked his head to the side. “Could these be the legendary Diamond Eggs?”
“May I?” Lord Root asked. “I saw them before they were stolen and disappeared. I took my Elves to see them in Weston—they’re the Crystals of Life. Years ago, my uncle, Lord Dormus, brought them to Eledon from his visit to the Star Elves.” He slid off his chair and rambled over; his blue velvet robe dragged along the floor. Lord Root was the Pixie Elf representative on the Council and the newest permanent member. He wasn’t much taller than Alex’s knees.
Book Blast – WHEN I FELL FOR YOU
WHEN I FELL FOR YOU
by Candace Shaw
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GENRE: African American Romance
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BLURB:
Has a wedding planner with a commitment phobia finally found the man to make her fall head over heels in love?
Reagan Richardson loves planning extravagant, classy weddings as the head planner of Precious Moments Events. Though the notion of walking down the aisle has never entered her mind … considering none of her boyfriends have ever lasted long enough thanks to her. However, meeting Dr. Blake Harrison changes all of that in a glance and she finds herself in uncharted territory.
Blake knows all about Reagan’s fear of commitment but that doesn’t stop him from pursuing the ravishing beauty. Breaking down the wall guarding her heart isn’t as easy as he thought but being with Reagan has stirred emotions in him that no other woman ever has. Can he convince her that history isn’t going to repeat itself this time around?
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Excerpt
“And you’re going to try parasailing? I’m driving the speedboat.”
The thought of being attached to a parachute high above the ocean while dragged by a speedboat made Reagan nauseous. “I’m still contemplating, but I will go jet skiing with you.”
“Perfect. Can’t wait either way. I don’t care what we do as long as I see your fine bod in a bikini.”
Heat rushed to her cheeks. Blake always knew what to say to make her weak at the knees. Now she had to go shopping to find a sexy new bikini and a cover-up considering it was a family outing. She couldn’t be too sexy.
“You just concentrate on keeping me safe on the jet ski and the parasailing.”
“So, that’s a yes to the parasailing?”
“Mmm … only if you go really slow.”
“I’ll drive at whatever speed you can handle,” he said in a low, deep voice. “Just scream out my name when you’re comfortable and want me to go faster.”
“You have a dirty mind, Doc.” Not that I care.
“What?” he asked in an innocent manner. “That’s your mind in the gutter. Just want to make sure you can handle the excitement and stamina of it all. It’s a very … uh, thrilling adventure.”
“I bet it is.”
“Can’t wait for you to find out.”
“Are we still discussing parasailing?” she asked, crossing and uncrossing her legs. This conversation was causing her to have the urge to jump in the car and speed to his bed where he’d just finished his nap.
“Were we ever talking about parasailing?”
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Candace Shaw writes romance novels because she believes that happily-ever-after isn’t found only in fairy tales. When she’s not writing or researching information for a book, you can find Candace in her gardens, shopping, reading or learning how to cook a new dish.
She lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her loving husband and is currently working on her next fun, flirty and sexy romance.
Social Media and Website Links
Website: https://candaceshaw.net/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCandaceShaw
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Candace_Shaw
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/candace_shaw/
Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/+CandaceShaw08
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5829266.Candace_Shaw
Book Bub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/candace-shaw?list=author_books
Buy Links for When I Fell for You
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2v5UEqB
Amazon Ca: http://tinyurl.com/y74377jx
Amazon UK: http://tinyurl.com/ycvnl3ps
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/when-i-fell-for-you/id1273128330?mt=11
Kobo: http://tinyurl.com/y72erpfl
Nook: http://tinyurl.com/yb8t5o2x
Smashwords: http://tinyurl.com/y93qqya4
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RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY
THE AUTHOR WILL BE GIVING AWAY:
$10 Amazon/BN GC
VBT – MURDER IN ROCK & ROLL HEAVEN
Murder In Rock & Roll Heaven
by Robin Ray
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GENRE: Mystery/Sci-Fi
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BLURB
No one ever “re-dies” in Heaven; unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened to singer Amy Winehouse. Her death, an unprecedented event in Heaven’s history, has thrown a once docile world into unfortunate chaos. Because of the new uneasy alliance between angels and citizens, a freshly-arrived detective in the rock & roll town has been tasked with investigating the prime suspects, the members of the 27 Club – Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison. To make matters worse, a powerful angel from one of the upper levels of Heaven will soon arrive to make her ten-year inspection, a task that fills the other angels with dread since she has the power to banish anyone of them to the underworld. So, with time running out, the PI and his newly acquired sidekick, both aided by rock legends such as Eddie Cochran, Mama Cass, Kurt Cobain, Karen Carpenter and others, must quickly uncover the mystery that threatens not only to close Heaven’s doors forever, but promises to send a ripple effect through the entire universe that can rip it apart.
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Book Excerpt
Plants of varying shapes and sizes sprouted everywhere, some just knee high, some as tall as mango trees. Rows of narrow pipes across the ceiling misted the foliage every minute. A few customers were sampling some of the edible flowers while others were reading manuals or informational tags about the unusual plants. Towards the back, the good PI spotted an employee who was busy pulling off the dead leaves from several botanical specimens. The clerk, he noticed, was very colorful with her psychedelic bamboo slippers, purplish pants, flowery blue and white tunic, rows of bangles on each wrist, several beaded chains around her neck, and a pink strip of cloth enmeshed in her long brown hair. As Gregory neared her, he could hear her humming along to the music playing over the virtual speakers high up in the corners of the center.
“Excuse me,” he introduced himself, “I was told Janis Joplin works back here.”
The employee turned and glanced at him. “You found her, babe.”
“Hi, Janis,” the PI introduced himself. “I’m Gregory Angelicus. And…”
“Oh, Lord,” she moaned, flinging the twigs in her hand down. “Another angel. What’d I do now?”
“Oh, no,” he stated quickly, “I’m not an angel. I just wanted to ask you a few questions.”
“About what?” she asked, eyeing the intruder with suspicion through her circular yellow sunglasses.
Gregory looked around momentarily. “Is there some place we can talk?”
“Sure,” she answered, crossing her arms. “You’re standing in it.”
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AUTHOR Bio and Links
Robin Ray emigrated to the U.S. from Trinidad & Tobago at the ripe old age of 12. Already steeped in the rich culture and mysteries of his native land, it would only be a matter of time before he, too, became a musician and storyteller. After a short stint at Iowa State University, he became a nurse for practical purposes but never abandoned his musical and literary aspirations. Eventually, he did play guitar in several bands, committing himself to localized tours and album releases. Leaving the music world behind, he delved headfirst back into his second love – writing. To date, he has authored six screenplays, two novels, seven novellas, around fifty short stories and many poems. Thus far, he’s published six books – five fiction and one non-fiction, all available in paperback and e-book formats. His latest novel, Murder In Rock & Roll Heaven, can be purchased from the following Amazon link.
https://seattlewordsmith.wordpress.com/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1720363.Robin_Ray
The book is on sale for only $0.99.
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RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY
Robin Ray will be awarding a $30 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Enter to win a $30 Amazon/BN GC – a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Guest Post
The genesis for “Murder In Rock & Roll Heaven” took place when I’d initially wanted to write a book of interviews of the dead; specifically, me having casual conversations with artistic, musical and scientific legends like Mozart, Beethoven, Da Vinci, Tesla, Einstein, Tchaikovsky, Turing, Benjamin Franklin, Mahavir, Hendrix, and many others. During my research, I discovered another Seattle author had already published a book of interviews of some of these people, so I nixed my idea. Around that time, I took a gander at Amazon’s Kindle Scout program which accepted only full length novels to be considered for publishing. I thought I’d give that a try since I’d already written a novel (“Commoner the Vagabond”) and authoring a new one should be a little easier. I wasn’t sure what kind of book I was going to commit myself to writing, though. When I noticed there was a mystery bookstore in Seattle, I thought it’d be nice to add one more title to their shelves, hedging my bet they’d carry it especially if the setting for it was Seattle. That was when I came up with the idea of combining my two stories, essentially creating meetings with past legends in the midst of a murder mystery.
“Murder” was a fairly traditional story with non-traditional elements. First, it’s a murder mystery, that means there was a killer or killers on the loose and a detective and his sidekick would be on their trail. The non-traditional elements included the victim and suspects (dead rock stars) as well as the setting (Heaven). Because the story was both supernatural and scientific in nature, it incorporated elements such as the soul, karma and angels, as well as extra-high radio frequency transmissions and interdimensional travel.
Before I wrote the actual story, a lot of research had to be done. First, the setting. What was Heaven going to look like? Would there be roads or just fields of clouds? When I came up with the idea that, because Heaven was so vast it could be intimidating, it’d be simpler if it was broken up into bite-sized chunks, that is, a Heaven for rockers, a Heaven for lawyers, a Heaven for chefs, etc. Also, according to tradition, since Heaven had seven layers, I thought it’d be interesting if the first level would be designed in a way that was familiar to the newly deceased to help in their reorientation to the new world. I began designing a world that appeared normal and would have roads, trees, houses, parks, rivers, etc. During this design, I thought about Woodstock, NY. For all intents and purposes, Woodstock is an artistic community, a village popular with musicians, artists, bohemians and painters. That’s when I decided that Rock & Roll Heaven should look like Woodstock because many musicians were already familiar with it.
Once I had the setting, I needed the population to fill it. Rock & roll, being fairly young, probably has about 4,000 deceased artists related to the genre. It wasn’t just about the musicians, either. There would be record cover designers, studio engineers, record producers, talent managers, and other folks aligned with the industry. Naturally, I had to consult several lists of the deceased. For the artists with speaking parts (Elvis, Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Shannon Hoon, Layne Staley, Eddy Cochran, etc) I watched TV interviews they’d conducted as well as listened to their stage banter and read their biographies. For a while, I agonized about what the angels would look like. Since it was all about the new arrivals to heaven not being disoriented, I thought the angels should also look human, albeit very clean and almost stoic since they were the guardians of the afterlife.
To help give some reality to the supernatural elements presented in the book, I had a closer look at those areas in quantum physics which dealt with interdimensional travel, the properties of subatomic particulate matter, and extra high radio frequency waves as being three-dimensional, but immeasurable, elements. Diving head first into this scientific world was an eye opening experience, to say the least. I began to see how the LSD “mind expansion” experiments of the 60’s were related to the cosmos as a whole. The fact that old drugs like the South American ayahuasca allowed their users to “tune in” to frequencies and warped experiences outside of our five senses gave some credence to the fact that we really only use a portion of our brain.
Perhaps one of my favorite bits of research for “Murder” had to do with what people would be eating and wearing. Once I realized there would be no animal products in Heaven, that meant no gasoline engines, no plastics, no electronics, no leather belts, no shrimps on the barbie, and no Kobe beef. I thought it’d be cool to have a plant which had so many uses that it’d be the staple of Heaven, and I found that flax fit the bill. It could be used for linen and clothes, paints, food, soaps and detergents, writing paper, furniture stain, lamp oil, and several other items. I hope people enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Pre-order Blitz – ONE SUMMER NIGHT
About the Author
Caridad Pineiro is a transplanted Long Island girl who has fallen in love with pork roll and the Jersey Shore, but still can’t get the hang of tomato pies. When Caridad isn’t taking long strolls along the boardwalk to maintain her sanity and burn off that pork roll, she’s also a NY Times and USA Today bestselling author with over a million books sold worldwide. Caridad is passionate about writing and helping others explore and develop their skills as writers. She is a founding member of the Liberty States Fiction Writers and has presented workshops at the RT Book Club Convention, Romance Writers of America National Conference as well as various writing organizations throughout the country.
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About the Book
Title: ONE SUMMER NIGHT
Author: Caridad Pineiro
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Pages: 352
Genre: Contemporary Romance
BOOK BLURB
An offer that’s impossible to accept . . .
Maggie Sinclair has tried everything to save her family’s business, including mortgaging their beloved beach house on the Jersey Shore. But now, she’s out of options.
The Sinclair and Pierce families have been neighbors and enemies for almost thirty years. That hasn’t stopped Owen Pierce from crushing on Maggie, and he’s determined to invest in her success. Now he has to convince her that he’s more than just trouble with a capital T…
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Book Excerpt
Tracy Parker was in love with being in love.
That worried her best friend and maid of honor Maggie Sinclair more than she cared to admit.
In the middle of the temporary dance floor, Tracy waltzed with her new husband in a satin-and-lace designer gown, gleaming with seed pearls and twinkling sequins. But the sparkle dimmed in comparison to the dreamy glow in Tracy’s eyes.
The sounds of wedding music competed with the gentle rustle of seagrasses in the dunes and the crash of the waves down on the beach. The fragrance from centerpiece flowers and bouquets battled with the kiss of fresh sea air.
Connie and Emma, Tracy’s two other best friends and members of the bridal party, were standing beside Maggie on the edge of the dance floor that had been set up on the great lawn of Maggie’s family’s beachfront mansion on the Jersey Shore. Huddled together, Maggie and her friends watched the happy couple do a final whirl.
“She’s got it so bad,” Maggie said, eyeing Connie and Emma with concern past the rim of her rapidly disappearing glass of champagne.
“Do you think that this time he really is The One?” Connie asked.
“Doubt it,” Emma replied without hesitation.
As the DJ requested that other couples join the happy newlyweds, Maggie and her friends returned to the bridal party dais set out on the patio. Grabbing another glass of champagne, Maggie craned her neck around the gigantic centerpiece piled with an almost obscene mound of white roses, ice-blue hydrangea, lisianthus, sheer tulle, and twinkling fairy lights and examined the assorted guests mingling around the great lawn and down by the boardwalk leading to the beach.
She recognized Tracy’s family from their various meetings over the years, as well as some of Tracy’s sorority sisters, like Toni Van Houten, who in the six years since graduation had managed to pop out a trio of boys who now circled her like sharks around a swimmer. Although the wedding invite had indicated No Children, Toni had done as she pleased. Since Tracy had not wanted a scene at her dream beachfront wedding, Emma, who was doing double duty as the wedding planner for the event, had scrambled to find space for the children at the dinner tables.
“Is that Toni ‘I’ll never ruin my body with babies’ Toni?” Connie asked, a perplexed look on her features. At Maggie’s nod, Connie’s eyes widened in surprise, and she said, “She looks…happy.”
A cynical laugh erupted from Emma. “She looks crazed.”
Maggie couldn’t argue with either of their assessments. But as put-upon as their old acquaintance seemed, the indulgent smile she gave her youngest child was positively radiant.
Maggie skipped her gaze across the gathering to take note of all the other married folk. It was easy enough to pick them out from her vantage point on the dais where she and her friends sat on display like days’ old cakes in the bakery. They were the last three unmarried women in an extended circle of business and college acquaintances.
“How many times do you suppose we’ve been bridesmaids now?” Maggie wondered aloud. She finished off her glass and motioned for the waiter to bring another.
“Jointly or severally?” asked Connie, ever the lawyer.
“Way too many,” replied Emma, who, for a wedding planner, was the most ardent disbeliever in the possibility of happily ever afters.
Maggie hadn’t given marriage a first thought, much less a second, in a very long time. She’d had too many things going on in her life. Not that there hadn’t been a few memorable moments, most of which revolved around the absolutely worst man for her: Owen Pierce.
But for years now, she’d been dealing with her family’s business and its money problems, which had spilled over into her personal finances. As she gazed at the beauty of the manicured grounds and then back toward her family’s summer home, it occurred to her that this might be the last time she hosted a celebration like this here. She had mortgaged the property that she had inherited to funnel money into the family’s struggling retail store division.
Unfortunately, thanks to her father’s stubborn refusal to make changes to help the business, she spent way too much time at work, which left little time for romance. Not to mention that none of her casual dates had piqued her interest in that direction. Looking down from her perch, however, and seeing the happiness on so many faces suddenly had her reconsidering the merits of married life.
“Always a bridesmaid and never a bride,” she muttered, surprising herself with the hint of wistfulness in her tone.
“That’s because the three of us are all too busy working to search for Prince Charming,” Connie said, her defense as swift and impassioned as if she were arguing a case in court.
“Who even believes in that fairy-tale crap?” Emma’s gaze grew distracted, and she rose from her chair. “Excuse me for a moment. Carlo needs to see me about something.”
Emma rushed off to the side of the dance floor, where her caterer extraordinaire, Carlo Teixeira, raked a hand through his thick brown hair in clear frustration. He wore a pristine white chef’s jacket and pants that enhanced his dark good looks.
Emma laid a hand on Carlo’s forearm and leaned close to speak to him, apparently trying to resolve a problem.
“She doesn’t believe in fairy tales, but her Prince Charming is standing right in front of her,” Connie said with a sad shake of her head.
Maggie took another sip of her champagne and viewed the interaction between Carlo and Emma. Definitely major sparkage going on, she thought.
“You’re totally right,” she said with an assertive nod.
Connie smiled like the proverbial cat, her exotic green-gold eyes gleaming with mischief. “That’s why you hired me to represent your company as soon as I finished law school. Nothing gets past me.”
“Really? So what else do you think you’ve seen tonight?”
Raising her glass, her friend gestured toward the right of the mansion’s great lawn where some of the fraternity brothers from their alma mater had gathered. One of the men slowly turned to sneak a peek at them.
“Owen has been watching you all night long,” Connie said with a shrewd smile.
“Totally impossible, and you of all people should know it. Owen Pierce has absolutely no interest in me.”
She set her glass on the table to hide the nervous tremble of her hand as her gaze connected with his for the briefest of moments. Even that fleeting link was enough to raise her core temperature a few degrees. But what woman wouldn’t respond like that?
In his designer tuxedo, Owen was the epitome of male perfection—raven-black hair, a sexy gleam in his charcoal-gray eyes, broad shoulders, and not an ounce of fat on him, which made her recall seeing him in much, much less on a hot summer night on Sea Kiss Beach. She had been staying in the quaint seaside town on the Jersey Shore with her grandmother that summer, much as she had all her life. As they also had for so many years, the Pierce boys had been residing next door for the entire season.
The two beachfront mansions had been built side by side decades earlier, before the start of the Pierce and Sinclair rift. The cost of waterfront real estate had escalated so drastically since their construction that neither family was willing to sell their beloved home to put some distance between the warring clans.
Well, make that the warring fathers, because as far as Maggie was concerned, she had no beef with Owen. They had played together down on the beach as kids. She couldn’t count the many sand castles they’d built or the time they’d spent out in the surf.
But after her mother had died, things had changed, and the carefree spirit of those halcyon days had disappeared. The Pierce boys had stopped coming down to the Shore for the next few years, and combined with the loss of her mom, it had created an emptiness inside her that hadn’t really gone away.
By the time the Pierce brothers returned years later, the feud had gotten worse, and Owen and Jonathan had been instructed to stay away. But an ill-timed and half-drunk kiss with Owen on a moonlit summer night had proved that staying away was impossible. It had also helped the emptiness recede for a bit. Since then, fate had seemed to toss them together time and time again in both their business and personal lives, keeping alive her fascination with him. She felt not quite so alone when he was around, not that she should get used to that.
Owen Pierce had left her once before when she’d needed his friendship the most: right after her mother’s death. His on-again, off-again presence in her life proved that she couldn’t count on him.
Owen stood next to his younger brother, Jonathan, who couldn’t be more different. While Owen was clean-cut and corporate, Jonathan had the scruffy hipster look going on. It was appealing in its own way, but not to her.
“Trust me, Maggie. Your families might be at war, but Owen would clearly love to sleep with the enemy,” Connie said.
She blew out a frustrated sigh. “More reason to avoid him. You know I’m not the kind to sleep around.”
Emma returned, color riding high on her cheeks, but not in a good way.
“Something wrong?” Maggie asked.
Emma kneeled between the two of them and whispered, “It seems the groom had a bit too much to drink and Tracy caught him being hands-on with an old flame.”
“Not Amy? Tracy always lost it if she spotted him with Amy,” Maggie whispered.
“Definitely Amy. Now Tracy is refusing to come out and cut the cake. I have to say, this takes the cake, literally. Married a few hours, and already there’s trouble.”
“Ever the hopeful romantic, Em,” she kidded.
“If you think you can do better, why don’t the two of you come help me talk Tracy off the ledge?”
Caridad Pineiro is giving away a $25 Amazon Gift Card!
Terms & Conditions:
- By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
- One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive $25 Amazon Gift Card
- This giveaway ends midnight September 29.
- Winner will be contacted via email on September 30.
- Winner has 48 hours to reply.
Good luck everyone!
ENTER TO WIN!
Book Blast – DARK GENIUS
Dark Genius
by H. Peter Alesso
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GENRE: Fiction
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Buy link for Dark Genius:
BLURB:
To the insatiably curious—science is the greatest adventure. So, when scientists at CERN announced the discovery of the ‘God’ particle in 2012, all the world wondered, “How did they find it?”
A decade later, despite his past academic failures and egregious family circumstance, Andrew Lawrence embarked on a journey of discovery, competing against rival scientists to be the first to solve the greatest unsolved mystery of the universe—dark matter—and win the ultimate prize; the Nobel.
Emma Franklin, a PhD candidate at Harvard, developed software for detecting particle reactions using a quantum computer. To the amazement and excitement of the scientific community, her work revealed two possible bumps in the energy curve that were not predicted by any established theory.
At MIT, Lawrence created a model that predicted the scattering processes of a dark matter supersymmetry particle. Though his early work was disparaged, he improved his theory and found that it predicted the data Emma had discovered. Their professional collaboration deepened into a personal relationship, but when critical data was stolen, Emma found evidence that incriminated Lawrence. Though she withheld the impeaching material from the authorities, she felt she could no longer trust him.
Despite their troubled partnership, and notwithstanding the complexities of nature, Lawrence and Emma persevered against the egos, jealousy, and envy of rivals, on their exhilarating quest to find the ‘Holy Grail’ of physics
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Book Excerpt
I thought all was lost—now I have a second chance.
With a profound sense of relief, Andrew Lawrence slide his tablet into his shoulder holster and walked briskly along the Boston sidewalk. His past academic failures and egregious family circumstances were behind him. He was ready for a fresh start.
Tall, slender, and dark-haired, he listened to the clicking and clacking of shuffling shoes on the pavement as students jostled alongside him. The hint of autumn from the cool morning air brought a frenzy of activity to the sprawling campuses of both MIT and Harvard which nurtured a flourishing rivalry among their ambitious students. He could feel the undercurrent of tension for the start of the fall term.
By the time he crossed Longfellow Bridge, his adrenaline was pumping. He noticed several eight-man sculls already rowing down the Charles River, their school colors plainly visible. Squinting his eyes against the glare, he could make out the MIT and Harvard boats vying for the lead, stroke by stroke.
Striding across the rambling campus, his lips concealed a secret smile as he contemplated a revolutionary solution to a problem he had been daydreaming about. When he swung around a corner, he ran smack-dab into a young woman. Her armload of books, papers, and assorted technology flew into the air and scattered across the walkway.
“Sor . . . sorry.”
“You should be,” the woman said, her face screwed into a tight scowl. “Your head was in the clouds.”
Lawrence opened his mouth, but before he could speak, she pointed down and said, “See what you’ve done?”
She stooped and frantically tried to corral her absconding belongings.
“Let me help,” said Lawrence, grasping some loose papers about to blow away.
Spying her tablet on the grass, she exclaimed, “Oh no! All my work.”
Carefully, she picked up the device and turned it on, tapping her fingers impatiently until the screen lit up. She heaved a sigh and looked Lawrence directly in the eyes. “You’re lucky. Sooo . . . lucky.”
Lawrence mumbled another apology and helped her pick up the last few books.
As she struggled to reorganize her treasures, Lawrence brushed a strand of hair away from his eyes and for the first time cast an appraising glance at the young woman.
She was attractive.
It wasn’t that she was a striking beauty—though her smooth white skin, olive green eyes, and classic profile complemented the hazelnut hair that cascaded over her shoulders. Nor was her carriage especially eye-catching, though she displayed an appealing youthful vitality. No, what seemed most appealing was her confident determined poise, as if she possessed a special hidden talent.
“You really should use a backpack.”
“The lining ripped,” she retorted.
Seeing the logos on her tablet’s screen, Lawrence asked, “Harvard? Math?”
“I can tell by your tone that you’re MIT,” she said, her eyes flashing.
Lawrence grinned, “Physics.” As an afterthought, he asked, “What are you doing on this campus?”
“Well, Mr. Physics, that’s none of your concern.”
Something in the way she said it, caused him to laugh.
They faced each other in a stand-off for a long moment—saying nothing.
Then the young woman heaved a sigh, gathered her possessions to her chest, and brushed past him.
Lawrence watched her figure disappear into the crowd.
Damn. I didn’t get her name.
As he turned to leave, something shiny on the ground caught his eye. It was a flash drive.
Picking it up, he spun around and called, “Wait!”
But she was gone.
He looked at the memory stick, thinking . . .
I’ll have to crack her password, if I’m going to see her again.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links
As a scientist and author specializing in technology innovation, H. Peter Alesso has over twenty years research experience at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). As Engineering Group Leader at LLNL he led a team of scientists and engineers in innovative applications across a wide range of supercomputers, workstations, and networks. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a B.S. and served in the U.S. Navy on nuclear submarines before completing an M.S. and an advanced Engineering Degree at M.I.T. He has published several software titles and numerous scientific journal and conference articles, and he is the author/co-author of ten books.
http://www.hpeteralesso.com/images/pete2.jpg
Email: h.alessocomcast.net
Website: http://www.hpeteralesso.com/Default.aspx
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/413852.H_Peter_Alesso
https://twitter.com/hpeteralesso
https://www.amazon.com/H.-Peter-Alesso/e/B001HCY45M/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3?qid=1482982330&sr=1-3
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RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY
The author will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
