Wednesday, January 29, 2014

The Freedman and the Pharoah's Staff by Lane Heymont on tour...

Lane will award a randomly drawn commenter an Amazon gift certificate worth $25 during this tour.

Be sure to comment. Then follow the tour link at the end of this post, comment at other stops to increase you chances of winning.

BLURB:

Jeb, a former slave, rescues his brother-in-law Crispus from the Ku Klux Klan, only to be drawn into a world of Creole Voodoo, racism, time travel, and redemption.

Verdiss, the leader of the Ku Klux Klan has gained possession of the Pharaoh's Staff, a magical artifact from ancient Egypt and concocted a diabolical plan far more insidious than himself.

In the end, Jeb and Crispus must stop an entire people from eradication and each find redemption for their own past sins.





Excerpt:

Small rib bones clattered on the wooden table, where several black and red candles burned, their flames dancing like a company of elegant danseuses. There was a sense of power in the air. The old conjure-woman felt its prick at the back of her throat as she studied the animal bones. La’Rita was a Haitian woman with a cape of dreadlocks. She would have been beautiful were it not for the boils covering her face—and that her eyes were devoid of any color. La’Rita leaned over the table, shifting her weight in the chair. Shelves and desks filled with jars of grotesque, rotten items surrounded her. Foul-smelling roots and herbs filled some. Rancid liquids filled others to preserve the dead animals they held. Leather-bound books occupied some of the shelves, many etched with strange, archaic symbols.

“Ah, yes,” La’Rita whispered as she looked deeper into the bones. Images danced and twirled across the table, outlined by the dim candlelight. Her empty eyes poured over the phantasms, one by one. Stiff metal birds soared through the open sky, dropping massive pipes. La’Rita shuddered, feeling a sinister force was responsible for the contraptions. The form of an ancient staff passed through her vision. It held within it a great power. Metal boxes on wheels and metallic belts rolled across broken and burning landscapes, fire bursting from their elongated snouts.

Her body shook, spasms rushing up from her feet.

Apparitions whirled around La’Rita, changing, appearing, and dissipating into air. The tremors grew. La’Rita’s entire body shook. She struggled to stay in her chair.

A grizzled man wisped by her eyes. Then the fit ceased. He’d gone by fast enough that La’Rita hadn’t a chance to notice his features. Only his dark skin. She squinted her eyes, spotting the faintest aura in the air. A man with a fine mustache. La’Rita’s head throbbed as if a miner were taking a pick to it. The room shook. Was it her moving or the room?

Her gaze met the phantasmal man’s wretched eyes. The ghostly image made La’Rita sick to her stomach. Utter evil oozed out of this simple-looking man. Too much to bear. Her eyes rolled back. Darkness descended.


AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Lane earned a BA in Liberal Arts with a focus on literature and history. He also holds a double minor in psychology and business. He is a literary assistant with The Seymour Agency, and also has several short stories. He is a member of the Horror Writers Association, Historical Novel Society, and International Thriller Writers.

Links:



Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Untangle My Heart by Maria K. Alexander

Untangle My Heart is Free on Amazon for the Duration of this Tour!

Maria will award a $25. Amazon Gift Certificate to a randomly drawn commenter during this tour.

BLURB:

When her marriage ended in tragedy, Kate DiFrancesco rebuilt her life, but has never gotten over the pain of what she lost. Seeking the help of an ex-lover ignites feelings she’s promised never to have again. She’ll need to untangle herself from dangers in her past in order to break the hard shell around her heart.

Edward Weston has a lot to prove, both to his stuffy upper-crust British family, and to  himself. Working alongside Kate, a woman he had a casual relationship with, stirs unexpected feelings. Helping her family makes him realize what he's missing. For the first time, he wants more than a one-night stand.

When Kate is threatened, Edward must overcome feeling unworthy to protect the woman he loves and fight for the family he never thought he’d have.

Excerpt:
“Good morning,” he said. “Ready to go?”

“I’m all set.” She swung her laptop bag over one shoulder and grabbed the handle of her suitcase with her opposite hand.

“I’ll take that,” Edward said, reaching for the suitcase.

“I have it,” she snapped and held firmly onto the handle. His old-fashioned ways sometimes annoyed her and today was one of those days. Why was he always trying to be nice to her? It would be easier to maintain her distance if he wasn’t so damned considerate. Damned British manners. “I don’t need your help.”

He raised an eyebrow at her outburst but let go of his hold on the suitcase. “Fine. I see someone didn’t get her coffee this morning.”

“Wrong. I had two cups.” And a restless night of sleep with alternating dreams of Edward and Lucas. Frustrated from tossing and turning all night, she’d gotten up at four and started baking.

“I made biscotti if you’d like some.” She handed him a white bakery bag, hoping her offering of food would compensate for her irritable mood.

He opened the bag and pulled one out. “Are they safe to eat or did you use arsenic instead of sugar?”

Rather than dignify him with an answer, she leaned forward and took a bite. It was still warm and the chocolate chips melted in her mouth. Edward’s gaze studied her mouth as she chewed and for a minute Kate thought he may take a nibble out of her.

“Perfectly safe. I swear,” she said after swallowing.

He popped the other half in his mouth. “Not bad.”

“Not bad, my ass,” Kate said.

“That’s pretty fine, too.”
 


AUTHOR Bio and Links:

A romantic at heart, Maria K. Alexander spent hours as a young girl getting lost in and wishing to be one of the heroines in the stories she read. Books gave her the ability to go to another world where she loved meeting new characters, learning about their problems, and watching them fall in love.

Maria blogs and shares her writing journey with her critique partners at: http://thevioletfemmes.com.

When not writing, Maria loves to read, bake, downhill ski, visit the beach, and watch romantic comedies. Maria lives in New Jersey with her husband and children, and writes in her “spare” time between juggling a full-time job and her kids’ busy schedules.

 You can keep in touch with her at: http://mariakalexander.com.

Web Links

Website: http://mariakalexander.com

The Violet Femmes Blog: http://thevioletfemmes.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MKAlexander1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Maria-K-Alexander-Author/201236689917319

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/mariakalexander

Amazon Buy Link: http://amzn.com/B00GVKRLOG


Use the following Rafflecopter code for drawing entries:


 <a id="rc-d514c76" class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/d514c76/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>

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Follow the tour and comment often. The more you comment, the better your chances of winning. Tour dates can be found here:
 http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/12/virtual-super-book-blast-untangle-my.html

 

 

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Blood and Gold Book Blast

Book 3 in the Craige Ingram Mystery Series

by Hawk MacKinney


Hawk will be awarding a $25 Amazon gift certificate to a randomly drawn commenter during this tour. 

BLURB:

Blood and Gold, the third book in The Craige Ingram Mystery Series, once again tests the instincts and skills of retired Navy SEAL/part-time private investigator Craige Ingram. Lust, greed, body parts and unrestrained wild sex parties are what await Craige Ingram when he leaves the comforts of his South Carolina home to visit his former SEAL buddy, Detective Spinner Krespinak. Set in the Colorado underbelly of a sordid sable and faux glitz ski mecca, Detective Spinner Krespinak suspects drugs have made their way to the snowy playground that is Aspen. An Olympic ski hopeful is brutally murdered, Spinner vanishes, and Craige Ingram is shot as events spin out of control with a Catch-22 no one anticipates.


Excerpt:
The drive up the narrow mountain rutted road was a risky, hands-on-the-wheel icy slid-and-skid.  With a grim set to his jaws, Spinner didn’t say a word the whole way.  They parked among the jumble of squad cars.  Craige avoided the taped-off areas while Spinner huddled with Loopy.  Silently they paced-off and studied the layout of each room of the mansion…each room except the one where death waited to greet Spinner.  No one except Craige and Loopy knew how Spinner wasn't as detached as he appeared.  Spinner traced and retraced his steps.  Seeing beyond Spinner’s detached veneer of the professional, Craige could read the surly stir of emotions Spinner was struggling to control.
           
Finally…there was nothing left except to face the grizzly business of felony homicide and the dead.  Spinner went back to where Loopy was busy.  As though wanting to avoid seeing what waited in that room, he said, “Any ideas about the time of death?”
           
Loopy said, “Only a rough approximation at this point.  I'd approximate somewhere between eight in the morning and two or three in the afternoon.  We haven’t moved the bodies yet, but from what indications of livor mortis I could see, I’m leaning toward it being earlier.  Central heat was off…fireplace ashes are still warm.  Once we determine algor mortis changes in the body temps, I’ll be able to narrow that some.  We've already picked up thirty to forty different sets of prints.  Could easily be twice that before we finish.  Most so smudged they're no good.  The rancher who lives at the valley turnoff said cars were going back and forth all night.  How it wasn't the first time they had all-night mountaintop blowouts up there.  We bagged used condoms from all over this place—bedrooms, baths, all over the house.  We’ll compare DNA with that of the victims.  See if we get any matches that narrow down any persons of interest.  Looks to be marijuana and freebase by the fireplace and in the breakfast room.  And what is likely Mexican black heroin on the carpet in the den.  Lord only knows what else we'll turn up.  I’ll be surprised if we don’t find Silk or S-K.  There's at least a case of empty aerosol cans, probably for heavy-duty huffing.  We'll see what the lab tells us…hopefully that’ll fill in more details.”
           
Spinner said, “Before Frannie left for Denver last night, Ski came by and borrowed my wheels to get here.  Brought them back about noon.  Christy and the two men had to be alive at the time Ski left.  Depending on road conditions, it takes about an hour to get from here back into town.  The low last night was below zero, but there was no heavy weather—no wind.”  His eyes flashed hurt and anger, a silent reckoning stirring somewhere deep and hidden.  “Ski would party 'till the last minute.”  Spinner hesitated.  “Least, I’d like to think it was that.  I wouldn’t like thinking he'd use me as an alibi.”  The thought of the possibility was a heart-pain that sliced deep into his soul.  “Give me a few minutes before you zip them up.”
           
Loopy nodded. “No hurry.  Take what time you need.”
           
A very still Spinner turned a masque-face back to the bed…emotions churning his features.  A lump knotted his throat.  Looking down at Christy’s lifeless body, the bullet hole a vulgar insult to a death mask of frozen beauty…it seemed somehow otherworldly.  “…never could trust your flighty-canary way of life.”  The niche occupied by carefree fun-loving Christy seemed stark and empty.



AUTHOR Bio and Links:

With postgraduate degrees and faculty appointments in several medical universities, Hawk MacKinney has taught graduate courses in both the United States and Jerusalem. In addition to professional articles and texts on chordate neuroembryology, Hawk has authored several works of fiction.

Hawk began writing mysteries for his school newspaper. His works of fiction, historical love stories, science fiction and mystery-thrillers are not genre-centered, but plot-character driven, and reflect his southwest upbringing in Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma. Moccasin Trace, a historical novel nominated for the prestigious Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes Book Award, details the family bloodlines of his serial protagonist in the Craige Ingram Mystery Series… murder and mayhem with a touch of romance. Vault of Secrets, the first book in the Ingram series, was followed by Nymrod Resurrection, Blood and Gold, and The Lady of Corpsewood Manor. All have received national attention.  Hawk’s latest release in the Ingram series is due out this fall with another mystery-thriller work out in 2014. The Bleikovat Event, the first volume in The Cairns of Sainctuarie science fiction series, was released in 2012.

"Without question, Hawk is one of the most gifted and imaginative writers I have had the pleasure to represent. His reading fans have something special to look forward to in the Craige Ingram Mystery Series. Intrigue, murder, deception and conspiracy--these are the things that take Hawk's main character, Navy ex-SEAL/part-time private investigator Craige Ingram, from his South Carolina ancestral home of Moccasin Hollow to the dirty backrooms of the nation's capital and across Europe and the Middle East."

Barbara Casey, President
Barbara Casey Literary Agency

Links:

www.hawkmackinney.net




Sunday, January 5, 2014

A New Year in Wind River Valley...


One print copy of Fateful Waters will be awarded to a randomly drawn commenter from the December 8, 2013 and this Pavilion Party. Names from all Party posts, including 2/2/14, will be eligible for a $25. Gift Certificate from Barnes & Noble. Increase your chances at print copy and the gift certificate by commenting on this blog, also post a comment on my A to Z Review Blog.


Excerpt:
            Christmas came and went peacefully for the population of the Valley, including Jax and Garrett. Time was slipping away from Jax. Maggie and Sid planned to drive her to Denver on the 29th. There, she would board a flight back to Raleigh. A lot needed to be accomplished before classes started following the New Year. One of her roommates had graduated at end of the fall semester. She and Jessica had petitioned to have Jess fill the accommodation, but there was no guarantee.
            Two days before her planned departure, the weather was holding up well. The air bit at any exposed patch of skin, but every star in the heavens was on full display. Snow glistened like small crystals, and during the daylight hours, the white clad mountains were breath taking. There hadn’t been any new snow since Christmas. She always ran the risk of being snowed in when coming home for the holiday break, but it was worth the risk. Butterflies were harassing her midsection as she dressed for dinner at Sally’s place. She and the other guests for the evening were stand-ins for Sally’s looming New Year’s Day event. Dexter’s little blond, blue-eyed bombshell was hosting both sets of parents, and the dinner tonight would be a dry run.
            Oblivious to any perils or pitfalls, Jax accepted the invitation. As a matter of course, she offered to bring a dish or desert. Sally politely refused. She wanted to do the whole enchilada, which, according to her, was the point of the dinner. Jax conceded the food issue. Then she asked what time she should arrive and for directions to Sally’s place. She managed to step right into the snare, and she felt like the fly invited to dinner by the spider, stuck and praying for a way out. “OH! I forgot to tell you.” Sally feigned a memory lapse. “Garrett said he’d pick you up at six, and for you to please be ready.” Then she paused to giggle. “He told Dex that he didn’t want to hang around too long, or he’d spend the evening removing buckshot from his rear end.”

            Though Maggie hadn’t said a word, the look she gave Jax said it all. It worried her, the idea of Jax going anywhere alone with Garrett. His history with young girls nagged at her. Jax attempted to reassure her. “The only reason Garrett is escorting me, instead of Alicia, is to avoid a repeat of the incident at the Christmas party.” Maggie wasn’t buying the flimsy excuse, and she wondered if her daughter really believed it.
            Jax hadn’t seen or heard from Garrett since the aforementioned party, and a week had passed. She speculated that Alicia must be back on track and keeping him occupied.

If you missed any of the excerpts on the December 8, 2013 Pavilion Party, all are listed on my new blog  http://autohorjmanton.blogspot.com/

Buy Links: Wind River direct link: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/328170

Author Links:
Writing Blog: http://jackieanton.com/
FB Adult Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/authorjmanton?ref=hl Stop by and give us a like.
Wind River Refuge book teaser: http://youtu.be/ig3jvBzFKsE
A to A Review blog http://bookreviewsbyjackie.com/
Email: talesbyjackie@gmail.com

Saturday, January 4, 2014

A Character interview with Jax from Wind River....


One print copy of Fateful Waters will be awarded to a randomly drawn commenter from the December 8, 2013 and January 5, 2014 Goddess Fish  Pavilion Parties Names from all Parties including 2/2/14,  and this blog through the above dates  will be eligible for the book and a $25. Gift Certificate from Barnes & Noble.



Wind River Refuge” is due for release as a paperback within weeks of this post. Yours truly was so relieved to wrap this story up. The e-book version has been updated to reflect the final edit and revision reflected in the paperback.


            Recently, I did a presentation to a group of middle school aspiring writers. We were discussing the inspiration and character development for my family friendly “Backyard Horse Tales.” In my search for a subject for this post, I chose to share a bit about my character development for “Wind River Refuge.”

            My heroine needed to have an internal conflict to overcome to face threats on her life, and stand up to her dominating male counterpart. One of the techniques I use is to interview my character. You would be surprised what pops out. Note: nothing from this interview is repeated in the book; it is only a character study.

Jax Character:

Q: Jax is an unusual name. Is there a story behind it?
Jax: By little brother, Bobby, was just learning to talk. He couldn’t pronounce my given name, so he called me Jax. The name stuck, that’s what my family called me from then on. That is who I am!

Q: You seem a bit agitated about my question.
Jax: I went through several years of verbal abuse from my aunt over my nickname. It was her opinion that the name wasn’t lady like, but neither was I.

Q: I see that you have a juvenile record, and spent two years in a detention facility. Was it an awful experience?
Jax: Lock up was the only place that I’d felt safe in years. Girls were kept in a different section of the prison from the boys. All the guards, medical staff, and teachers were women. We ate at regular hours, showered everyday, had designated exercise periods, and we went to classes to keep up our educations.

Q: Did you have any trouble with other inmates?
Jax: No there were a lot of others with similar backgrounds. Most of the others sort of tread lightly around me. The gossip was that I had killed a man and would be in the penitentiary if I were a few years older.

Q: But, Jax, you didn’t kill your abuser.
Jax: Well, that was just luck. Whoever it was that circulated the story really kept the hardcore gals from messing with me.

Q: Were you aware that your grandmother was working on an early release and change of venue for you?
Jax: I knew she had her attorney working on it, but I never held out much hope.

Find out how Jax ended up in juvenile detention and why fate chooses her to solve an unspeakable string of crimes.


            I took some time away from writing, editing, and revising a few days ago. Finally, I completed the author interview on Smashwords. The link to the interview is included in the following list. Take a look while you read the synopsis of Wind River Refuge, and add any questions you would like answered on my email. I will do my best to answer them in a timely manner.



Connect with Jackie Anton:
The link for the Smashwords Interview
 and Smashwords profile page are not functioning on this blog. Please go directly to Smashwords.com and plug in my name to access my profile page, or copy and past into your browser. https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jackieanton