Finishing That Book

Every week I post  blogs focusing on various authors describing their books and their writing process. This week I am going to do something a little different.  I am going to turn the camera around.  For many years writing has been a part of my life—for 30 years as a television journalist and for the past 15 as a fiction writer. I somehow stumbled into writing as teenager and I don’t think I ever want to quit. Fiction writing was my first choice and I wrote my first manuscript when I was in high school. Scribbled on notepaper, it was naturally going nowhere; so once I learned to type, I began transcribing. I have to admit that I still do some writing on tablets and in notebooks. For many years I have kept a small notebook in my purse or in my car and whenever I’ve gone to lunch alone, I take some time to work on whatever story I’m writing. In recent years I’ve also taken to carrying around my work on my I-pad so it’s handy in case I have some free time to edit.

The editing process has always been tough for me, and I’ve discovered it’s that way for many other writers. We all love to put things down on the printed page, but that editing… sigh… just takes time. One thing I know, though: the editing process can make all the difference in the world on whether a book sells or simply sits inside your computer as the query letters pile up. As a television newswriter with often an hourly deadline to meet, I learned that no matter what, it paid to take the time to edit. In recent years, having given classes on editing, I know this whole process should be simple, but every book is different and every book needs editing in a different way. With all that in mind, here are some ideas and tips for editing your own book:

Edit carefully. To me, the editing process must go through at least three passes. First, I look for obvious mistakes, misspellings, name mistakes where one character is Harry at the beginning and Jeff by the ending. Perhaps the name of the closest town undergoes a name change. 

Edit more than once. In the next pass, I look at the basics and mechanics of writing. Yes, some of that can be done with a simple editing program, but I suggest being more careful and doing the job on your own. That means learning and knowing the basic rules of grammar, which is always good for any writer. Learn the rules and make a steady practice of using them and knowing your weak points. That not only helps with your current book but any book  you might write in the future.

The next pass is for polishing. Could something be phrased better? Does the writing sing? Where are the passages where I struggled? Did I finally succeed in getting the words just right?  If there were things you wanted fixed, do it now.

Read your book out loud. The  final pass in editing is one of the most important. I usually suggest that writers complete the process by re-reading your manuscript out loud and listening to the words.  Why? Very simple. If you stumble over reading a word or a sentence, you will notice. Does the sentence need to be rewritten? Is it so long you lose your place halfway through? Did you stumble over a misspelled word or grammatical error? Does the sentence make sense or confuse you even while you read it?

Reading out loud can help you pick out words that might be misspelled, awkward phrasing or missing words. It is also useful for dealing with dialogue and whether it makes sense or sounds stilted. Yes, it might seem odd to have to do this, but believe me, I have always found it valuable.  Reading back a story out loud is the ONE thing I suggest to writers when they do any writing—whether it is a book, or even something as simple as this blog. For years when I was working as a television newswriter I almost always re-read my copy out loud before it went to the anchor or reporter. It was one of the early suggestions I received from a wise old news guy, and I never forgot the lesson. I did that in a busy newsroom with other people around and as a result I got used to reading EVERYTHING I write out loud.  (Yes, I even read this blog out loud– with only the cats listening—and that reading helped me catch a couple of missing words!) In the newsroom most of us did it because we knew our words were going to be read by a reporter or anchorman and the sentence couldn’t afford to be confusing. We couldn’t afford to make simple mistakes that might trip up a person who could be reading the copy for the first time live on the air with thousands of viewers watching. It had to make sense coming out of the anchor or reporter’s mouth. That’s what you want for your readers.

This is even more true for writing dialogue.  The words should sound as though they were spoken by the hero and the heroine. No one speaks alike so by reading your story out loud, you can hear the words your hero and heroine are speaking and whether they sound different.

Soon I will finish my latest book. Doesn’t that sound great? After months of research, months of planning and many more months of writing, it is finally about to go out the door.

While it is great to finally be able to think about sending it off in an email to my editor, it is still sad, scary and with a note of trepidation that I will hit the send key on my computer and know that it is gone. Will it be good enough for the editor to immediately send me the final okay? Will she want more work or changes? 

Heavy sigh… Who knows?

One thing I know—I will be happy to be finished with the editing process. And that’s why I am discussing it today. A good job of editing can make all the difference in the world on whether a book sells or sits inside your computer. Having given classes on editing, this whole process should be simple to me, but every book is different and every book needs editing in a different way.  

As stated earlier, the editing process has helped me as I finish my next book—number three in what I call the Dead Man Trilogy—a series set on a ranch in New Mexico.  

Here are the blurbs for my first two book in the series:

A woman on a mission, a man with secrets to hide...

When tabloid reporter Cere Medina decides to dig into the mysterious cold case death of Marco Gonzales, she hopes it will save her career. Instead, she unearths enough secrets to make a small town explode. Not to mention putting her on the wrong side of the town's fascinating sheriff.

Sheriff Rafe Tafoya doesn't need anyone digging up the past. He's come back to his hometown of Rio Rojo, New Mexico seeking peace and quiet. But Cere's arrival puts his town--and his heart--in danger.

Behind it all lurks the ghostly presence of Marco, who has everyone playing by a dead man's rules...

Free spirit Freeda Ferguson goes searching for her father and finds intrigue instead. Attorney Patrick Sanchez wants only to close a door in his family's past and has no time for Freeda or adventure. When a dead man's shadow and secrets from the past bring death to their present, Patrick and Freeda find themselves drawn into a dangerous search for truth. As a small town seeks treasure, they must seek answers.

Both are available for sale at my buy links below and will soon be followed by Dead Man’s Secrets.

Good luck with your editing!

Buy Links:

Amazon:

Dead Man's Rules, Book 1
Dead Man's Treasure, Book 2

Barnes & Noble:

Dead Man's Rules, Book 1
Dead Man's Treasure, Book 2

Social Contacts:

Email:             RebeccaGrace55@gmail.com

Blog:               My Writing Corner

Websites:  

   Fiction:         Rebeccagrace.com

   Non-fiction:  Writethatnovel.com

Bio:  Rebecca Grace is an Emmy award-winning former  broadcast journalist who currently writes fiction. She has focused on the writing process nearly every day of her adult life. During the work week, she worked in the news department of television stations from Denver to San Diego to Seattle, though she spent most of her working career at network affiliates in Los Angeles--KABC, KCBS, and KNBC. On weekends, she devoted her time to writing novels as well as books on writing. She has presented writing workshops at national conventions and  taught a wide variety of online writing classes with her frequent co-author, Sue Viders. In recent years she has focused on writing fiction full time.  

Any comments or questions? I always love to hear from readers.

Getting Into The Story

I've said it before, but it bears repeating--one of the reasons I began doing a blog on writing and writers was because I loved the idea of learning about fellow writers--why they write and how they write. Today's guest in My Writing Corner, Mary Georgina de Grey has a wonderful story to tell. Her newest book is Then Time Stands Still and it was released in September.

Welcome, Mary. Please tell us a little about how you got started as an author:

After writing a children’s adventure story in my early 20s, which sank immediately, I wrote no fiction until about ten years ago. I was writing languages courses for schools and one editor asked me to produce a pack of French short stories and poems with questions and exercises – and I was off on my writer’s journey: I enjoyed dipping into fiction so much, I had to write a novel. But my life was busy, and it wasn’t until lockdown that I began to write seriously. 

As a linguist, it seemed logical to use the countries I’d lived and worked in. Stuck at home, I wanted to travel, and Italy glowed in my mind as a really desirable place to visit, and so my first published novel began. Then The Earth Moved was published in 2023.

What do you find is the most challenging part of being an author?

Getting published, of course, but then once that’s happened, other things challenge you. I’m very focused, and when I’m in the story, I have to force myself to do the marketing – but then I do enjoy some of that.

 I designed my own website and that was fun. I think what I do most on Facebook and in my newsletter is to give background to my books. And I do a lot of research, so I’ll have taken interesting photos, and then I enjoy creating text to accompany them. For instance, with this new book, Then Time Stands Still, the background is about the food, the customs and the architecture of Zaragoza (Spain), where it’s set. I think getting the balance between writing and marketing is the most difficult.

How do you develop characters?

Sometimes it begins with a news headline, but generally, I’ll be in a place or read about it, and if it sparks my interest, a shadowy character lodges itself in my mind. But it needs filling out. I write a bio for each of the main characters, feeding in past traumatic events, good qualities and bad, which will shape the way they react to what happens. Then I may choose an aspect of the character and push it as far as I can to increase the intensity – you want the person to stay with the reader long after they’ve finished a book.

Of course, I might get an idea from someone I know, but it’s never them – more like a characteristic they have. I live with the main character for a long time before really writing anything, often working on the what ifs in the middle of the night – light out, just thinking. I find it impossible to make notes in the night but somehow all these thoughts come together.

Tell us about your road to publication

Being published for non-fiction did not help to find a publisher or an agent but it did teach me self-discipline and how to work with an editor, not be too precious about my creations. I submitted to both agents and publishers and The Wild Rose Press (TWRP) was the first to ask to see the MS – I’d suggested I could write a series in that each book would be set in a different European country, and each heroine would be strong and determined to make the most of her life, despite a few earlier setbacks.

I’ve been lucky with my editor, Eilidh Mackenzie, who has taught me so much.

What is your book that will be featured today and how did you come up with the idea to write it.

This is my third published book, Then Time Stands Still. The second with TWRP and is the story of a young woman archaeologist, Amancia. She’s talented, mixed race and held back in her career by caring for her family after her father’s death. The idea came during a writing exercise with my Writers’ Circle in a session on setting and how to make it come alive to the reader. 

Having worked and lived with mixed-race people in Bristol in England, I know that the path isn’t always smooth, and this was something I wanted to talk about.

I’ve always been interested in archaeology, but I still had to do a huge amount of research to get an authentic feel to the story. But you know, the research also suggested lots of plot points.

Let’s get a blurb:

English archaeologist Dr Amancia Harding has looked after her family for five years. Now it’s time to take care of herself and leading a team on a dig in Spain is the perfect way to propel her career forward. Her good intentions are threatened when she meets vineyard owner Max Serrano.

Damaged by war in Ukraine and a tragic event in his past, Max has given up on relationships and taken refuge in making wine, but the attraction he feels to Amancia forces him to confront painful issues. There’s also the gulf between their two cultures to consider if a relationship is to have any chance of success.

Ambitious and fiery in character, can either accept that compromise is sometimes necessary to find happiness?

How about a quick excerpt?

She warmed at the sight of her oldest friend. They’d been at primary school together and, although they’d studied at opposite ends of the country, the friendship had continued right through university. But five years ago, they’d both returned to Bristol, and here Lizzie was, to provide the support that friendship demanded. Just seeing her made Amancia feel better, stiffening her backbone. Despite the rubbish day she’d had, she found herself grinning.         Sliding onto the rough wooden chair, she pointed to the wine. “Not sure about this, Lizzie. I might get seriously into it, the way things are going.”         The other woman laughed. “I did feel for you for a couple of minutes, when you texted me the result.”         “Only a couple of minutes?” What did she mean? Surely this was the one person she could count on for support.         “Well, I decided it’s for the best.”         “What? I thought you were my friend.”         “I am – and you can stop being sorry for yourself because I’ve got some good news.” She paused dramatically, watching Amancia’s face. “Hope you really are prepared to leave your job at the museum – like right now.”         “How did you know what I’d decided?”         “I didn’t but I knew you had to come to that decision sooner or later and I think it’s the right move.” Amancia began to protest but Lizzie wasn’t having it. “I’m only judging from what you’ve been saying recently and it’s clear you’re not appreciated – or not enough.” She grasped her friend’s hand and pulled it towards her, turning it to reveal the dark stain on the inside of the wrist. Her eyes flicked to Amancia’s chin and back to the wrist. “Not appreciated – and not only by the museum.”         “What? – oh this? I dropped a stone exhibit, tried to grab it before it hit the floor, and this was the result.” Her laugh sounded artificial to her own ears and wouldn’t have convinced a stranger, let alone her best friend.         “Don’t lie to me, Amancia. He did this, didn’t he?” She reached across and gently touched the almost invisible bruise on her friend’s jaw. “And when did this happen?”         Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. “Three days ago. I … I couldn’t believe it, but he’s under terrible pressure just now, and I know I annoyed him. It was such a silly argument. Please, Lizzie – can we not talk about this for the moment? I’ve had a tough day, and I’m meeting him later – maybe. That’s more than enough of James.”         Lizzie gave her a long, hard look.

What are you working on now?

I’m on the third of the novels for TWRP, Then Love Burned Bright. It is set in France, and I’ll soon be organizing a research trip to Toulouse and Bordeaux to make sure my memories of the area are up to date. I’ve found the internet to be very helpful as well. 

I’ve also started what I call the ‘Island Series’, and the first is likely to take place on the Isle of Arran in Scotland. A recent visit inspired me to set something there.

What advice do you have for beginning writers?

• Read a lot in different genres, fiction and non-fiction, and some psychology won’t come amiss. Reading in your own genre can be helpful and you begin to respect others, seeing how cleverly they handle a difficult transition or an emotional situation.  

• Here are three books I have recently read:
  
  
• Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
• A modern version of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid
• Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris

None of these is about writing but such reading will feed your imagination.

• Writing is hard work, so settle down at your desk and write – and ditch perfectionism at this stage. Find out what’s most comfortable for you – paper or computer – and write. I like to get through the first draft quickly because I love editing. Writing friends have recommended participating in NaNoWriMo – 50K words in one month – to get going,

• What helps you? Make a plan, a pathway to the end you envisage. If you haven’t envisaged an ending, this is probably the first step. Your plan can be quite sketchy, but don’t be afraid to tackle a later scene that’s already fully formed in your mind as soon as it arrives there.

• Courses and books are useful. I’d recommend a series of books by Janice Hardy. If you are writing romance, her book on Show Don’t Tell is hugely helpful for the beginner.

Here are the buy links for Then Time Stands Still followed by Mary's social contact information.

Buy Links:

Wild Rose Press
Amazon
Walmart
Target
BooksAMillion
Indie Bound
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
Google Books
ITunes

Social Contacts:

Website: https:// https://marygeorginadegreyauthor.com/ 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086424198194
Email: marygeorginadg@gmail.com for newsletter and other enquiries.'

Thank you, Mary, for being my guest today. Are there any questions or comments for Mary?

Living and Loving the Writing Life

Writers come into the writing life in so many different ways. It's why I always love to ask my blog guests about how they got their start. Today's guest, Julie Ranson, says she didn’t call herself a writer until she was in her 50s. She says it all happened suddenly and quite organically, truth be told. After experiencing a searing personal crisis, she pondered writing that story one day--not yet, though. Julie says she started blogging. You can find her essays at https://julieranson.medium.com.

Julie tells us she lives, hikes, and drinks wine in Virginia. While she writes, Julie says she listens to music with her two rescue dogs. She considers herself blessed to have family nearby. Let's find out more about Julie and her featured book.

What do you find is the most challenging part of being an author?

Because I’m retired, theoretically I have all the time in the world to write books. This is not even close to true. I can find the most boring things to putter around doing instead of writing. In a nutshell, carving out the time and finding the motivation to create is the most challenging part of my author life.

How do you develop characters?

I like to start building my characters with a Character Biography document. This overview of each of my most important characters includes physical, emotional, and psychological characteristics. I like to sort out exactly what bothers my characters, what motivates them, and where they want to be in a year. Not only does this overview provide the foundation for my characters’ progress through the plot, but it also motivates me to love each character and create a great story for them.

Tell us about your road to publication.

To be honest, when I contemplated giving writing a go in 2019, I thought I’d write a memoir. Putting that aside, the overwhelming urge to write remained, so while working full time, I studied writing craft. Getting ready for work every morning, I’d watch YouTube authors. And it was motivating to think “I can do that” while I applied mascara.

I stumbled across Shut Up And Write when they were hosting a month of writing prompts. I was desperate for an outlet (and ideas), so I posted a creative response for five weeks. I shared them with my husband, who kindly said, Whatever you do, never stop writing. Wow! And just so you know, he wasn’t the type to offer hollow praise. I was doing something right. But did that mean I could actually finish a novel and get it published?

Was that even what I wanted at the time? Once I did finish She Danced Anyway, I knew I wanted to find a traditional publisher. I’ve been fortunate to discover a great team at The Wild Rose Press.

What is your book that you will feature today and how did you come up with the idea to write it?

My debut novel, She Danced Anyway, is a historical fiction story set in 1920s New York City. During that writing prompt event I mentioned earlier, a prompt suggested listening to a favorite piece of music. I chose Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, which I fell in love with as a teenager. Yes, I was a total dork who didn’t always fit in. Surprise!

I wrote a scene featuring a young woman named Elizabeth in the 1920s in New York City.

I liked her so much; she stole into my slumber. Dreams about how to make Elizabeth come more alive took over some waking hours, too. So, I enrolled in an online Creative Writing course at the community college where I was an administrator. Elizabeth starred in the short story that was my final exam.

I finished my first draft of “She Danced Anyway” during NaNoWriMo in November 2020.

Logline: Elizabeth wants to work and dance in 1920s New York. Will she avoid the trap of marriage and live the independent life she dreams of?

Blurb: 

No one thinks Elizabeth Alter can manage independent living, and even she questions a future of eating only toast. She watches friends test society’s boundaries, desperate for similar courage to push back.  

She loves dancing, but the city’s harridans and preachers want promiscuous dancing, wild jazz, and skimpy dresses ended and send the police often.

In 1920s New York City. Elizabeth works at the public library. She befriends co-worker James, to whom she introduces the delight of dancing. James imagines a traditional future, while Elizabeth dreams of dancing and living alone.

After a violent altercation with her mother, Elizabeth flees to her grandmother. She meets George, a piano player, and embarks on a tumultuous flirtation.

Caught in the crosshairs of society’s narrow expectations, will Elizabeth chase her dreams? Or will her own heart conspire against her?

How do you come up with your plots?

First of all, I think perhaps my writing is part perspiration and part art, or shall I say, inspiration. I actually use an Excel spreadsheet to line up natural story beats with my plot ideas. Though I’ve completed two novels, I can’t say that my technique is magic, but it does work for me. I am a planner, because I cannot just start a story without a somewhat detailed vision of where I am going. If I get stuck in the planning stage which takes me a few days before I start to write, I throw up my hands and start Chapter 1.

My characters sometimes put on the brakes and suggest I make a right turn and it’s then that I must return to the spreadsheet to ensure the rest of the outline gets “in line,” if you know what I mean. I’ve found that my plots require at least one major switch while I am writing a novel. 

If you’re wondering where I get ideas for a story’s twists and turns, well… from my twisty brain, of course!

What’s your next project or what are you working on now?

The Wild Rose Press offered me a contract for my second novel, a contemporary Christmas romance called His Christmas Muse. It will be released on December 9, 2024. I’m now working on book 2 in the His and Hers Christmas series.

Thank you Julie for being my guest today. Check back with My Writing Corner the week of December 10, 2024 to read a book spotlight on Julie's His Christmas Muse.   

In the meantime, She Danced Anyway in e-book and paperback can be found at many online retailers.  Following are a few of their buy links:

Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/She-Danced-Anyway-J-J-Ranson-ebook/dp/B0CZS966N3/

Barnes and Noble:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/she-danced-anyway-jj-ranson/1145344323?ean=9781509254491

Social contact information:

Website: www.juliejranson.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556781356858

X: https://x.com/JulieJRanson

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jjranson_writer/

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliejranson/

LinkTree (all the links): https://linktr.ee/jjranson

Any comments or questions for Julie?

A Touch of Magic

It's always great to have a former blog guest featured again. It means the author has a new book out and I always look forward to new releases. My guest today is Mickey Flagg and I am pleased to welcome her back and feature her newest release, Night of the Crescent Moon, which is part of The Champion Chronicles series. It is now available for pre-order and will be published on October 2, 2024.

Mickey's imaginative world is full of mystical warriors, witches,  not-so-normal vampires, and now she has added teenage ghosts! She has published  five novels in the paranormal genre--tales about the paradox of love is a passion, and there is always a twist of fate involved. 

Mickey is also a contributor to a book on urban music education and has published a piece in Still Standing, a web-magazine about loss and healing. She is a life-long New Jersey resident, a member of Liberty States Fiction Writers, NJ Author Network and NJRW.

Mickey, what is your book that you will feature today and how did you come up with the idea to write it?

Thanks for having me on your blog today, Rebecca. 

Night of the Crescent Moon, book four in my paranormal series The Champion Chronicles, takes place sixteen years after book three, His Soul to Keep. Although I loved creating Michael, a mystically enhanced vampire who gains redemption, creating his troubled teenage son, Lukas, had always gripped my heart. 

Michael’s story is set in the early 2000s. I wanted to continue the series, but didn’t know where I wanted it to go. Then I had an idea about a minor character introduced in the first three books. I kept seeing the teenager Martine Kendrick, now as a powerful good witch. Once it hit me that she’d be the perfect love-match for Lukas, I knew I had to bring the two of them together as adults, with baggage, of course 😊. That said, the plot for Night of the Crescent Moon started to take shape. 

The idea to write this book meant that world-building in book four had to expand to include the Second and Third Realm where threats to innocent humans abound. The use of magic plays a subtle role in Martine’s life, in Lukas’s as well. Although Michael’s unprecedented journey was the crux of the first three books, moving the storyline into the present switches that focus to Lukas and Martine. There are new characters introduced as well as established characters revisited.     

I’m a pantser, not a plotter. But the idea to finally create Lukas and Martine’s story totally reignited my imagination. Since writing Night of the Crescent Moon in 2021, I’ve written four additional novels in the series. Book 5 is with my editor at TWRP. I hope readers enjoy these tales that explore paranormal romance with a twist of fate as much as I enjoy writing them.  

Let's get a Blurb:

Some wounds never heal. 

Martine, a good witch and ER nurse must enlist Lukas, a mystical warrior to save her patient who is under the spell of a dark witch from the Second Realm. But she pushed Lukas out of her life years ago. When Lukas agrees to return to the realm where he was once held captive, he faces unexpected danger to bring the dark witch back to lift the spell.  Many assist Lukas, but few are trusted through his travels in a realm with ugly memories.  Will Lukas succeed in saving her patient from a fate worse than death? Will Martine open her heart, or lock Lukas out again?  

Want more? How about an excerpt?

Curious about what her daughter knew and proud of her powerful talents, Mary asked, “So what did the old one say?”

“Something about a dark witch slipping into our world, and you know that witch wasn’t the friendly Tabitha type. She mentioned the crescent moon. And she used the word fornication. Piecing it all together, between the legend and what was in her mind, I get dark witch on a fertility mission. Having sex with a human for the specific purpose of getting pregnant. Jeez. I hope the old one makes it because she looked pretty weak.”

“And the old one just happened to be at the ER, at the same time as your John Doe. At the very hospital you work in.”

“One and the same,” Martine answered.

“Martine. I urge you to listen to me. You shouldn’t get involved.”

“Too late. I see need. I help.”

“I don’t care.”

“But I do,” Martine replied, more intense than usual. “Mare, he’s an innocent. Used in a terrible way.”

“You don’t know that, and you aren’t going to stick around him to find out.” Mary didn’t care if she looked like a cat ready to pounce on an unsuspecting mouse in the house. “The violation of Unwritten Law is never acceptable. The witch purposely jumped dimensions, knew what she wanted and went for it. We all sensed something, it was the only topic of discussion in our healing circle last night.” She had to convince her daughter, saying with a sigh, “Martine. You’re jumping into something you can’t fix. Again.”

“You’re crossing a line, Mare.”

“No I’m not. I know what you carry in your heart, in your soul. I know the sadness, the devastation.”

“It’s not what you think.”

“Honey, it’s exactly what I know to be true. You can’t interfere because he’s marked by her. She can find him and use him again if she wants to… if what they did last night doesn’t result in conception.” 

The shake of her daughter’s head was predictable, also unwise. “It’s a ridiculous piece of folklore. The night of the crescent moon crap. How does it go again? I remember you and Granny Martha saying it on All Hallows Eve, like a fairytale turned nightmare or something.”

Mary recalled the stories as well, whispering the rhyme. “On the night of the crescent moon, a male child strong will be conceived. And after all his time within, ‘twill be on the night of a crescent moon received.” She rubbed her forehead and let out a sigh. “It’s been said Second Realm witches and warlocks believe this child will be raised like a prince and then sacrificed for the sake of the immortal sorcerers.”

Her daughter’s hand flew up in the air. “It’s just fantasy and folklore. Special births and sacrifice. Pfft!”

With a tilt of her head, Mary studied her daughter. Too thin and too stubborn. “Whatever you may or may not believe, if there are issues in the Second Realm, let’s say a move against the Third Realm vampires? The next ones they’re coming after are those of us who chose to stay in the human world.”

Want even more? Well, you'll have to buy the book!  Thank you, Mickey for being my guest today.  Here are the buy links and contact information for Mickey and her new book:

Pre-order Buy Links:

Amazon: Night of the Crescent Moon (The Champion Chronicles): Flagg, M: 9781509256884: Amazon.com: Books

Barnes and Noble:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/night-of-the-crescent-moon-m-flagg/1145982465?ean=9781509256884

Social Media Contacts:

Facebook: (1) Facebook

Instagram: Mickey Flagg (@mickeyflagg) • Instagram photos and videos

X-Twitter: Michele Flagg (@flagg_michele) / X (twitter.com)

Website: M. Flagg | Author of Paranormal Romance (mflagg-author.com)

Amazon Author Page: Amazon.com: M. Flagg: books, biography, latest update

Any questions  or comments for Mickey?