Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Some Ghostly Tales to Enjoy

Just in time for Halloween we have some wonderful ghostly tales of romance from a group of talented authors. It's an anthology called The Good, The Bad and The Ghostly. Here's an overall look, along with blurbs on the individual stories.

What do you get when you combine cowboys and ghosts? A collection of eight (stand-alone) amazing stories from the Old West with haunts of every variety.
Get your love of alpha cowboys on and feed your addiction for the bizarre (and sometimes spooky) world when you purchase The Good, The Bad and The Ghostly.

Bestselling and Award-winning authors are pleased to save you more than 75% on this fantastic boxed set! (Price if books sold separately).
Buy link: http://mybook.to/GoodBadGhostly


Wild, Wild Ghost by Margo Bond Collins


When Ruby Silver traded in her demon-hunting rifle for a badge at the Tremayne Psychic Specters Investigations, she didn't want another partner—losing the last one was too traumatic. But when a new case in the Texas Hill Country pairs her up with the slow-talking, fast-drawing Trip Austin, it will take all their combined skills to combat a plague of poltergeists in this German-settled town.


Comes An Outlaw by Keta Diablo


Wen a tragic accident claims her husband's life, Jesse Santos must find a way to keep the ranch, the only home her 12-year-old son has ever known.  The ranch hands have abandoned her, a gang of cutthroat ranchers want her land and an ancient Yaqui Indian insists a spirit has taken up residence in the house.



After a fifteen year absence, her husband's brother, Coy, returns to his childhood home. He doesn't plan on staying, and he certainly doesn't intend to settle down with a widow and her son…no matter how pretty she is.


He's an outlaw, after all, and made a decision to put an end to his gun-slinging days long ago. Will his conscience let him walk away from family, or will his heart overrule his head?



Long A Ghost and Far Away by Andrea Downing
 When Lizzie Adams returns as a ghost to a life she led in the 1800s, she is surprised to find herself on a ranch in Wyoming, but delighted to learn she was married to a handsome and loving man.  The reasons for her return become clear when she discovers how she died, yet the unresolved issues surrounding her death leave her unable to either live in the 1800s or return to her present life.


Colby Gates misses the wife he loved, yet a ghost is a poor substitute. Re-married to a woman he doesn't care for, and with outlaws searching for buried gold on his ranch, the spirit of his wife is a further complication.


Perhaps if the questions surrounding Lizzie's death can be answered, the two can be together.


For all time.


A Ghostly Wager by Blaire Edens

Even a skeptical detective needs a little otherworldly help.

Nineteen-year old Annabelle Lawson hops a train to Reno to escape a marriage to a man twice her age. Alone and nearly destitute, she spots an employment advertisement that might change her life. If she can use the dreams that have haunted her for the last four years to land a job with the mysterious Treymane PSI Agency, she might be able to buy a train ticket home to Kentucky.

Agent Cole Swansby is an up and coming detective for Tremayne PSI. There’s only thing that can sink his career: if the boss realizes he’s a skeptic. He’s solved dozens of cases using old-fashioned logic, but he doesn't believe in the paranormal. Now he’s under tremendous pressure to solve a new case before the president of Midas Mining shows for a week of R&R at The Blade Saloon.

Cole can’t solve this case without some otherworldly help, though, and Annabelle is just the woman for the job. As the two of them are drawn deeper into the mystery of the woman in green, they may not be able to banish the ghost without losing their hearts. To each other.



How the Ghost Was Won by Erin Hayes



From orphan to saloon girl to ghost whisperer, Hattie Hart has been and seen a lot of things in her time. Her new job as a detective with the Tremayne PSI Agency takes her out to the remote town of Carolina City, Nevada on a vague assignment to investigate the disappearance of a US marshal.

Except, when she arrives, she meets the devilishly handsome Grant Madsden, a US marshal who is alive and well. Certainly not missing, but certainly the man of her dreams. So why did her boss send her out to this small boomtown when there’s nothing for her to investigate?



She soon discovers that in Carolina City, there are strange happenings from the afterlife that threaten to kill her or worse. She’ll have to race against time to save her life, the town, and the US marshal she was sent to find—and maybe, if she's lucky, her heart.



McKee's Ghost by Anita Philmar



His fiancée called off their engagement after being accosted by a ghost in his house. Now, a beautiful ghost detective has shown up at his ranch, saying his brother has hired her to take care of the unwanted spirit.
Konnor McKee is more than happy with P.S.I Agent Ruth Oliva Wilson. One look and he's hooked. Now, if he can only get some help from a ghost, he might be able to secure himself a bride after all.

With the return of his ex- fiancĂ©, his life is turned upside down by an angry ghost, a vindictive woman, and a sexy medium. Konnor doesn’t know which way to turn.
Can he get everyone out of this alive and marry the P.S.I Agent? Or has he lost all hope of a happy future because of the ruthless ghost of one of his ancestors?



A Ride Through Time by Charlene Raddon



Ghosts. Murder. Love.  P.S.I. Agent Burke Jameson travels to Eagle Gulch, Colorado to investigate a report of ghost activity at a house where a murder took place in 1881. When his vehicle carrying his P.S.I. equipment dies, and a riderless mare appears, he mounts up, hoping the horse will lead him to her fallen rider. What he finds is a whole new life beyond his imagination.
Clorinda Halstead believes she’s a widow. After all, she was the one who shot her husband, Horace, on a violent night in 1881. He deserved it, the jury concluded. Living with the town marshal and his wife, all Clori wants is to be left alone. Then a stranger, Burke James, joins the household and nothing is ever the same again.


How did Burke find his way through time to the year 1881, and who is haunting the lovely but distant Widow Halstead? Can Burke find the ghost of Eagle Gulch without his P.S.I. equipment? And how will he ever choose between going home to his own time and a life of love and happiness with Clorinda?



The Ghost and the Bridegroom by Patti Sherry-Crews



Life is looking rosy for Abbott Foster when he brings his new bride to his ranch in Arizona. But when he is unable to consummate his marriage due to a malevolent spirit in the bedroom, he is forced to call in Psychic Specters Investigations.



Agent Healy Harrison doesn’t want to accept this case. She has her own demons and likes her quiet life, lived in the anonymity of St. Louis. But Tucson is where she finds herself—with instructions to “Have an adventure! Have a romance!” Things get interesting when she meets handsome Pinkerton detective, Aaron Turrell. Is this the romance she’s meant to have, or when their two cases intersect, will it drive him away?
Want more?  Here's an excerpt from Long a Ghost and Far Away:

        Colby pulled the bedroom door shut behind him and got a kettle on the cook stove before reaching up for his whiskey. Was she play-acting? She used these made-up words, cursed like one of the hands, and genuinely seemed puzzled. 2016, she had said! What must that be like, that year? Not only another century, another millennium, a foreign country to him, a place he could not envisage.
      The bedroom door creaked open, and she stood, head peeping out, somewhat embarrassed. “Ummm, you, Colby, husband dearest? This stupid get-up you have me in, this corset, a few of the hooks in the front are too tight for me to undo. Would you mind?”
      He couldn’t help his mouth turning up into a small smile, remembering the number of times he had undone her corset prior to some precious and wild time together, passionate love-making during which she let herself go, and became everything he wanted her to be. He strode over to her, grinning.
     “All right, look, you needn’t think this is so damn funny. Where I come from, people undress each other all the time.”
      “Really?” He lifted a brow, amusement puckering his mouth.
      “Yes. And you’d be surprised, you here in eighteen whatever year, how we all lay about practically undressed on beaches and…and….”
      His hands lay on her naked shoulders for a moment, obviously having an effect on her train of thought. He felt the familiar fine skin beneath his hand, the warmth of her body, and looked into those hazel eyes to which he had so often fallen victim—their depths, their flashes of color changing with the light. His hand moved to the long silky hair, a deep brown that showed glints of copper. Lizzie looked at him perplexed. Was she remembering, too? Was her body telling her what he knew to be, that she loved him, had always loved him?
     “Who are you?” he whispered. “2016? Elizabeth, oh, Lizzie….”
      As he bent toward her, just brushing her lips with his, she seemed to snap awake.
     “Okay, look, just get me out of this thing and give me a shirt maybe, a pair of jeans, something I can be comfortable in. This, this is just screwy, this whole thing.”
      Colby snapped the last hook and eye undone and, as he did so, Lizzie gasped and turned to hold the corset against her before she ended up standing there bare-breasted with just the pair of bloomers on. She faced the mirror.
      Her mouth hung open.
      She gasped.
     “Where am I?”
      Colby shook his head. “Buffalo, Wyoming, I told you.”
     “No, no! Look!”
      He came up behind her and looked in the mirror. Where the two of them should have been, Colby’s reflection came back alone.
      Lizzie extended her hand and waved it in front of the mirror. Nothing.
      Colby took her by the shoulders and moved her in front of him. The mirror showed him alone, his hands in mid-air like a begging puppy.
     “What the…Oh, my God! I’m a ghost!”


 WEBSITE AND BLOG:  http://andreadowning.com


Twitter:  @andidowning  https://twitter.com/AndiDowning



Thanks to all the authors for the ghostly tales. I just got this book, and I'm looking forward to reading them all!  Any questions or comments?



Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Imagination... Take me Away

 By Kathy Clark (writing as Bob Kat)


Where would you go if you could travel back in time?  Who would you want to meet?  What historical event would you like to witness?  What era’s pop culture, fashion and music would you like to experience?  Of all the concepts, I think time travel would be the most amazing adventure.

That was the idea that sparked our Young Adult series TIME SHIFTERS.  How would it be for four teenagers to be able to go back and see how average people lived, and, along the way, experience the feelings and textures of different times and places?  What kind of challenge is it for them to do without things they thought they couldn’t live without while having to deal with issues (such as no electricity and child labor) that they’ve never thought about?


Bob and I have had over forty books published (as Kathy Clark and as Bob Kat), but most were written for adults…about adults.  Writing a YA presented new outlooks on everything from friendship to romance to problem solving.  Obviously, a sixteen-year-old is going to react differently to almost everything than an adult would.


And even though dragons and witches and vampires are very popular, we wanted our teens to be real.  No magic spells or mythical creatures save them.  Instead, they have to deal with their issues using only their own ingenuity, creativity, and the friendship they share.


My favorite books when I was growing up were Trixie Beldon and Nancy Drew mysteries, as well as Agatha Christie and Mary Stewart.  I wanted our teenagers to be 21st Century versions of the very interesting and intelligent characters from those famous novels. 


Having never written a book with lead characters under the age of twenty-one, we were a little nervous about capturing the innocence, insecurities, and youthful logic of teenagers.  But the four characters we created became so real to us that we easily slipped into their heads and their hearts.  Their vulnerabilities and dreams are so pure and yet so heart-breaking as they discover the cruelties of the real world.


Basically, this series allows Bob and me to do a little time travelling, too, as we go back to the memories of our own teenage years and hang out with our four new friends, Kelly, Austin, Scott, and Zoey as they learn how to love and live and survive in a world that’s not always kind.


Come along.  Whether you’re twelve or ninety-two, you’ll enjoy the trip. 


Visit us at our website www.LoveRealityRomance.com or write us at Kathy@Nightwriter93.com.  We would love to hear where and when you think our teenagers should travel to in the next book.  Reviews are always appreciated.


Bob Kat loves to hear from their fans.  Write us at TheThrillOfSuspense@gmail.com and tell us where you’d like to have Kelly, Scott, Austin and Zoey travel to next.
 
Email:         LoveRealityRomance@gmail.com
Sign up for our Newsletter at http://nightwriter93.us4.list-manage2.com/subscribe?u=36aefea91512cdbd3abf603cf&id=b02a931508
Twitter:       @93NightWriter
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Kathy-Clark-Reality-Romance-1608739986057729/
Goodreads:  www.goodreads.com/author/show/150098.Kathy_Clark
Pinterest:   www.pinterest.com/BobKat1993/
Wikipedia:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Clark_(American_author)
Link to purchase NOT MY LIFE on Amazon:  http://lrd.to/not-my-life
Link to purchase ANOTHER CHANCE on Amazon:  http:// lrd.to/another-chance


Here's More about Bob Kat:

Long ago and far away (in Alvin, Texas) Kathy Clark began her career writing and performing plays for the neighborhood kids.  She charged a nickel, but the attendees got a free bottle of ice cold Coke along with their entertainment.  Flash forward a few years and Kathy Clark still loves telling stories. 

She started writing solo for such publishers as Harlequin and Dell.  In 1993, she met and married her prince charming, and after his career as a business executive, he became her co-writer.   Together they have had fourteen books published, bringing her total to thirty-seven.  Their books are about real people caught up in unexpected and extraordinary circumstances, and just happen to fall in love in the process…just like Kathy and Bob did!

They write adult romance and romantic suspense under the pen name Kathy Clark and YA romance/time travel/mysteries under the pen name of Bob Kat. 

They currently live in Colorado Springs near their five sons.  When they’re not plotting their next book on what they call their Authors’ Deck with a glass of wine, they love to travel to far-away places…always together.


NOT MY LIFE is #5 in the Time Shifters YA romance/time travel/mystery series.  The first four books have won numerous Readers’ Favorite and other awards. 

Our latest adult romantic suspense series, Austin Heroes had book #2 ALMOST FOREVER released in July and book #3 ANOTHER CHANCE to be released in November.  We are currently working on a new adult romance series called Breathless that is set in Cripple Creek, Colorado.

We love to hear from our readers and encourage everyone to leave reviews.  Add your name to our newsletter at  http://nightwriter93.us4.list-manage2.com/subscribe?u=36aefea91512cdbd3abf603cf&id=b02a931508  and receive updates on our books, household hints, recipes, and contests. 
Thank you, Kathy and Bob for being today's guest bloggers!  Any comments or questions?

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Journey into A Reading Adventure

As we move into the cooler days, what could be better than a cozy chair beside a fire and a good book? It's always fun to find authors with different backgrounds and unusual experiences that give us some wonderfully unique stories. Today we visit with author Larry Farmer. Did you always want to be a writer?


Most always. The first thing I ever wanted to be, pre-school, was an artist, painter. I was horrible and it confused me why I wanted it so much, the way I did. But then I was successful quickly in music and in writing and thought, that also is art, so that must be it. Loved Arabian Knights growing up, Greek myths, and Beattrix Potter at a very young age. Then books like All Quiet On The Western Front and Dr. Zhivago at later ages. I knew I wanted to do something like that.
 
Where do you get story ideas?

Almost all of my stories that I’ve published so far are accounts of my life. I’ve been in the Marines, Peace Corps, lived abroad, and want to write about things I experienced and have seen.
 
Tell us about your writing process. Do you plot carefully or wing it?

I wing it more than anything. Since I’ve pretty much lived what I write about, I try to get out my experiences and feelings, then include love stories too in the process. I take poetic license a lot, but mostly have the foundation of life experiences that I try to get out, then go back and make cohesive and interesting.
 
How do you normally come up with characters?


Almost all of my characters are based strongly on real life characters, either myself, or those I’ve come across. I may use poetic license, but it is all based on real people and situations in my life.
 
Tell us about your latest book,  and what made you want to write it?

My latest is based on people and events I came across in what is happening now in the Middle East. I’ve lived and travelled in the Middle East, have friends that have also lived or travelled there, and then low and behold there is so much going on there now that I wanted to give a more in depth background, past and present, about it. I have links to people living through all this now going on with ISIS and Hezbollah in the Middle East. I felt obliged to talk about it through real experiences of people in fictionalized accounts.
 
How did you come up with your characters for this book?


All are based on true stories, with poetic license included in the presentation.
 
What do you like best about your current hero?


There are two heroes, the main one a girl from Texas, white Christian girl, caught smack dab in the horrors over there, seeing it first hand and just hoping to survive, while witnessing the horrors going on all around. These are based on true accounts. This girl finds ways to survive in the day to day cruelty and suspense. The other hero is a fictionalized account of her husband that she followed over there after he felt unwelcomed because of his Arab background in America after 911. He also is based on true accounts and not only must take up for his American, Christian wife, but being a Shiite Muslim, must also survive horrors from radical Sunni Muslims. In the process they watch the emergence of radical jihadists that take advantage of legitimate desire to overthrow brutal dictatorships. It is almost a different phase of the old Cold War scenarios between the US and Soviets, except, the jihadists take advantage of aid to rebels, to emerge over the dictators and also the rebels while aid is flowing that they can manipulate into their own causes, with tortures and beheadings as a side trade as they do so. The two main heroes living amongst such genocide revolution, have to survive and keep their sanity and perspective too.
 
What about your heroine?


The heroine grew up in traditional rural Texas. With a rugged an independent nature. She needed all of her cultural DNA along with her Christian upbringing to survive mentally and spiritually in the horrors going on now in the Middle East.
 
How about a blurb?


After 911 everything changed. Not just in America, but everywhere. Not only did Max find being an Arab-American difficult in Texas, but his new Christian and Texan bride Olivia found life even more difficult when they moved to the Middle East. Hello Arab Spring. But it got worse. Hello ISIS. Was this the end of times?
 
How can readers reach you or find you online?

larryfarmerwrites.com is my webpage. It has my bio, my contact information, and links on how to buy my books.


Thanks, Larry, for being my guest.  Any comments or questions for Larry? 

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

The Joys of Indie Publishing

Today I am going to take a break from my normal blog spotlight on fiction and look at the world of non-fiction and indie publishing. Several years ago my critique partners and I wrote a book on characters that we were lucky enough to get published. It was eventually picked up by Random House. After that book was published, one of the co-authors (Sue Viders) and I decided we wanted to continue offering non-fiction books on writing. We both taught writing classes (together and separately) so over the years we developed quite a bit of content as we studied writing and learned new methods that we could take to our students. We could see what worked and what didn't. We also could see where students needed more help and look for different concepts we could use to get the information across to them. We wanted our second book to be on plotting since we had focused the first on characters.
 
When we began compiling our lessons into books, we debated on how to get the works published. Since Sue had just had a good experience with the Amazon Direct Publishing program, we decided to go there with our new writing booklets. We titled the overall concept, Let's Write a Story because that was exactly what we were doing with our students--helping them write a story. As an artist, Sue developed the cover and our logo -- Dottie the Writing Mouse. Our first KDP book, Let's Write A Story: Seven Ways to Plot was published through Kindle in December 2015. But we wanted to do more than an electronic book. We got busy editing, and the print version was made available in June.


We still wanted to do more. We went back to our roots in developing characters and our latest book, Creating Memorable Characters, was published through KDP in July. The print version will be coming soon.  



We're currently in the process of finishing our next book which details our simple method of creating plots -- The Plotting Wheel. We love teaching writing classes and working with students and fledgling writers, but we also love the idea that we can get our class information out to more readers and would-be writers via Kindle Direct Publishing.



The publishing world has changed so much since we started out as writers and we applaud every new avenue that helps get the written word out to readers. We're by no means experts in indie publishing, and we are still learning, but now we get to teach and reach more beginning writers every day.


Buy Links & Contact Info


 Seven Ways to Plot




Creating Memorable Characters




Contact me:  beckygmartinez@gmail.com


   

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...