The story behind my latest series by J. S. Marlo

 

Wide of the Mark

(Coming in March 2026)

   

 

  

To buy any of my books, visit

J. S. Marlo's Books

I'm presenting you my latest series: Indomitable Spirit

    They possess the mental strength and the discipline to get up when it’s hard, when it hurts, and when they can’t, but in the face of insurmountable odds, they will need an indomitable spirit to survive, to prevail, and to give love a fighting chance.

The first instalment of the series, Wide of the Mark, is coming next month (March 2026).

    Assisting with the capture of a military doctor who kept a dead woman in his house is a thorn in Colonel Amelia Matheson’s side compared to the devastating news of her daughter Hope’s disappearance.

     On the hunt for the perpetrators who kidnapped her deaf daughter from the groomed trails during a solo biathlon training session, Amelia enlists the help of Morgan Anchor, a local sheriff who once sold her out. To find Hope, Amelia and Morgan must untangle a web of secrets, including their own, and trust each other again. 

     Held captive in a remote cabin in the mountains, Hope fights the storm of her life using her wits and her skills. Scared but unafraid, she sets out to escape and save the man that her mother sent to rescue her – a man who is not who he appears to be.

The second instalment, Blown Away, will be released in the Fall of 2026, and the third, which is currently untitled, in 2027.

So, what possessed me to write that series?

My children were athletes. For nearly two decades, I drove them to the pool and the hockey rink almost every morning, every evening, every day, and every month of the year. They learned to do their homework on buses or planes, and have breakfast or supper in the car. Camping trips and vacations were scheduled around their training camps, competitions, and tournaments. I sweated on hot and humid pool decks and froze in unheated hockey rinks. I watched them push their endurance to the limit, achieve thrilling victories, and suffer heartbreaking losses.

They eventually stopped playing competitive sports to build careers and families. I thought my “driving/watching years” at the pool and at the rink were over, but was I ever wrong! My oldest granddaughter, who lives five minutes away (eight minutes if I hit all the red lights),  followed both in her mother’s and her uncle’s footsteps. Driving her to the pool and the hockey rink, and watching her win a breaststroke race and score a goal brings back lots of wonderful memories.

One day, a good friend of mine asked why none of my fictional characters were athletes. I'll admit that it was a fair question, which got me thinking...

And this is how the Indomitable Spirit Series was born.

Stay Warm & Happy Reading! 

Hugs!

JS

 

 

J. S. Marlo's Website

To Thesaurus or Not to Thesaurus by Deb Loughead

https://www.facebook.com/people/Debra-Loughead-Author/61577095528637/

How much do I love the online thesaurus? I remember a fellow participant in a writing class once upon a time back in the mid 90s, telling me that a good writer would never need to use a thesaurus. Because using one for some reason makes you less authentic. Or something absurd like that. I begged to differ then and I still do now, scoffing at her claim as my well-thumbed and dog-eared Roget’s awaited my next writing session on my desk at home. 

Roget’s Thesaurus has been around forever, created way back in 1805 by Peter Mark Roget, who was a lexicographer and physician, among other things. It has been the go-to for synonyms for actual centuries! It became a bit of a debate at the time, but most classmates agreed that having a thesaurus on your desk could be extremely helpful, if you didn’t let it bog down your writing with uncommon, pompous or pretentious words a là Conrad Black. 

I’m not sure about you, but whenever I’m deep in writing mode, I don’t have time to stop and think, which sounds bizarre, but it’s true. When my busy brain is leaking words and I’m forced to start wracking said brain for a synonym, well that’s just counter-productive to the task at hand. When brilliant words and sentences are flashing out of my fingertips like Captain Marvel’s cosmic energy blasts, I don’t have a lot of time to pause and figure out a substitute for a word I might have already used too often. Especially since there are so  many possibilities floating around out there. So I turn to my smart phone, tap in the word that requires a synonym, and presto, dozens of words fill the screen instantly, saving me so much precious time. 

Back in the day, of course, you actually had to open a book and turn the pages to locate the word that needed an upgrade. Hence my poor, tattered, and now apparently entirely vanquished Rogets Thesaurus, probably discarded during one of my mad book purges, some of which I still regret. I actually just looked up synonyms for the word ‘vanquished’ to see if I could use it appropriately in that previous sentence, and yes, it really kind of works in a variety of different ways. I might have also chosen to use ‘demolished’ or ‘pulverized’ or ‘destroyed’ or ‘annihilated’. Then again, I might have used jettisoned. I’d better look up synonyms for that one. 

Hmmm. There’s ‘relinquished’ or ‘abandoned’ or ‘forsaken’ or ‘ditched’.

And wow, here I am, lost yet again in the black hole of the internet, overthinking, wasting time doing deep searches that aren’t even necessary. Might be time to head out and buy myself an actual brand new softcover edition of the good old Roget’s Thesaurus. 

Might just turn out to be a time saver in the long run!

https://www.facebook.com/people/Debra-Loughead-Author/61577095528637/

 

Small Packages

Good Things Come In Small Packages

My husband says, "You know, Julie, it IS possible for the UPS or FedEx guy to drive PAST our house once in a while." 

And I say, "Oh, but how fun is it when he doesn't!"

With the exception of bills (which are mostly online anyway) and junk (bonfire fodder), getting mail is usually fun for me. It just isn't quite what it used to be, I guess. I mean, I have to send myself packages, which isn't the same as getting something unexpected from a friend or family member. Buuut, if an Amazon order happens to get backordered long enough, I might forget about it, and when it suddenly shows up, it's a fun surprise then!  

Getting mail as a kid was so different. I remember writing to my cousin in North Dakota every week and anxiously awaiting her reply. We were the same age and had EVERYTHING to talk about. Long-distance phone bills, however, were a thing. A not-okay thing for families living on a budget. A tight budget. 

So, I wrote. And wrote. And wrote. And wrote.

I let my voice spill over the college-ruled paper, front and back, until I had said it all. Well, for the moment, at least. Then I counted the days. One... two... THREE days it took for a letter from Detroit Lakes, MN, to get to Enderline, ND. With good weather. Then, at least one more foot-tapping, finger-thrumming day to give her a chance to write back. And agony of agonies! One... two... THREE more days it took for her letter to reach me. I watched out the window, waited for the mail lady to stop, then marched down the driveway as she got out of my way, opened the treasure trove, and claimed my prize. 

I devoured my cousin's words in a frenzied flash, and often finished reading it before I'd made it back up the driveway. Always wishing she'd written more (To be fair, she wrote at least as much as I did. We were both talkers.) I would re-read it and re-read it, listening to her voice, laughing with her, shaking my head at the latest drama, and seeing her sitting next to me.

What a treasure that little envelope held for me. A prize in the mailbox. A gift. Just words.

Now, I try to write my stories with the same vim and vigor, hopefully expanding my audience as I go. My second Forever Fields book is well underway and, if all goes as hoped, should be available to become a special prize from me to you in your mailbox (or your inbox) by the end of the year! 

A small package full of good things. 

 

Cod deworming, Sable Island, and the dark underbelly by donalee Moulton

 

I belong to a group of mystery writers. We’re all women, and together we share the joys and the frustrations of trying to make characters toe the line, plots hold together, and suspense build with just a little push from us. We recently posed a group of questions to each other about the writing life. My answers are below.

ORDER HERE 

1) What type of crime have you not dealt with in your stories or novels?

I don’t do gruesome, at least I haven’t to date. That is partly because I dread having to do research into some of these topics. It’s also because I would prefer not to dwell on the dark underbelly. That said, I can see a time coming when the underbelly may demand a scratch or two.

2) What is the most interesting police procedural/investigator/researcher you have encountered?

Right now, and in keeping with the times, it would be AI and how AI can be used to provide information about a crime scene. I understand this is the tip of a very big iceberg.

3) Do you prefer amateur vs. professional sleuths?

At present, I’m leaning toward amateur. I have more freedom and flexibility with how my characters do things – and how they can mess up. But there is a shift in the wind. I have been writing stories with two new main characters: one is a lawyer and the other a private detective.  Mind you, the lawyer sells sex toys.

4) Most authors have a first unpublished novel or story cavorting with the dust bunnies under the bed or in the attic. Have you ever considered dusting off that first attempt and rewriting it?

My first novel was a joint effort with a friend. We had entered a 48-hour novel-writing contest. We had great fun, but the dust bunnies are well deserved.

5) Do you have a secret passion that has lain dormant for most of your life?

I would love to be a rock star. One problem: I can’t sing.

6) If you woke to find a genie sitting on the edge of your bed willing to grant you three wishes, what would they be?

I’m assuming I can’t wish for more wishes. I’d have to consider this opportunity carefully. I don’t want to make a wish I’d regret or overlook one I’d really rather have. In the end, my wishes will deal with health and happiness. And maybe a unicorn.

7) In terms of nature, what is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen?

Sable Island, Nova Scotia, a thin crescent of shifting sand at the edge of the Continental Shelf that wild horses, grey seals, and one-of-a-kind plants, birds, and insects call home. There are also more than 350 shipwrecks surrounding this Graveyard of the Atlantic.

8) Name a profession you would not want to have and tell why?

Cod dewormer. Really, really don’t want to do this.

                         

BWL Publishing New Releases February 2026

 

https://glrockey.com/books/missing/

Nashville the setting, suspense the game, TV news director Jack Carr weaves his way through a tangle of greed, country music, murder, and a knockout undercover agent, Gillian Phoenix.

Review Snippets:
“Alcohol, sex, greed and just plain nasty human habits are the gist of this first-person account about a newscaster, his love life, kidnapped children and eviscerated organs. Readers who pick up this book will not be able to put it down.” – 4 Stars – Faith V Smith, Romantic Times

“…runs the gamut of emotions along with just the right amount of twists and turns designed to keep the reader twisting and turning -, and reading – As a serious writer, Rockey has the ability, as they might say in Tennessee, to “run with the big dogs,” when it comes to spinning the kind of yarn that could easily enter today’s best seller list.” – Peggy Russell, The Hinckley Record

https://www.amwesterling.com/index.html

Penniless and tainted by scandal, Miss Laura Courtenay must resort to any means necessary to provide for herself and her toddler brother. Coerced into participating in an ill-fated scheme, Laura finds herself in London’s Newgate prison where an unexpected visitor offers her temporary freedom if she plays the part of his wife. She agrees, seeing it as an opportunity to perhaps prove her innocence.

As stipulated in his grandfather’s will, Lord Evan Clarke must marry by his thirtieth birthday in order to become the Earl of Stonefield and take his place in the House of Lords. As the deadline looms, he concocts a ploy to fulfill the will’s stipulations. However, Evan quickly discovers his marriage of convenience includes a little boy, a growing attraction to the wife he must soon return to Newgate, and the horrifying realization he’d witnessed her father’s financial ruin.

EDITORIAL REVIEW by Victoria Chatham

A PROPER DECEPTION by A.M. Westerling

The Honorable Laura Courtenay is living in conditions no lady should endure. Responsible not only for her own well-being but also for that of her three-year-old brother, Reuben, Laura earns a small income sewing and mending for several households. The son of one of her clients lures her into a dubious scheme, promising her a tempting sum. The scheme fails, and Laura is imprisoned.

Evan Clarke needs a wife to fulfil the requirements of his grandfather’s will, not so much for the inheritance as for the title that will allow him to take his seat in the House of Lords. He plucks Laura from the horrors of Newgate Prison, makes her presentable, and introduces her as his wife to his grandfather’s lawyer, who does not believe they are married.

Within this story, A.M. Westerling not only highlights the plight of women in the Regency era but also captures the sights, sounds, and nuances of its society. Her characters are well-rounded, and the plot has several twists, making it a satisfying read from start to finish. Anyone who enjoys Regency romances in the style of Mary Balogh or Julia Quinn is sure to enjoy this one.

https://www.amazon.ca/Brewery-Penny-Cross.../dp/B0GFXSFB2V

The village of Sixpenny Cross hosts a weekend-long Medieval Fayre, but Winnie Hatherall is relieved when the knights, their companies, vendors, and visitors pack up and head home.

All notions of chivalry are shattered when Langston Oldrieve, owner of the Black Knight Brewing Company and winner of the Fayre’s jousting tournament, is found dead in his brewery. A frantic phone call from his wife when she is accused of his murder has amateur sleuth Winnie racing to Virginia’s aid. Who else might have wanted Langston dead? Local rumours suggest the brewery is struggling financially. Was that the reason for the growing resentment between Langston and his brewmaster and rival jouster, Peter Eversleigh?

Winnie and her sister, Amy, ask questions of people who are unwilling to answer, but then Wizard Lothar Goodwynne reads the Runes for Winnie. What they reveal leads her and Amy along an unexpected path.

Editorial Review by J.L. Cartwright

Once again Victoria Chatham has delighted this reader with her wonderful characterizations and the familiarity and fun of being part of the witty and humorous byplay between sisters Winne and Amy, along with Detective Inspector Anthony and his assistant Rachel. The main characters in this series have the kind of familiarity that you can only find in the best of British Detective Fiction. A Body in the Brewery is fascinating reading, and the activities in the Brewery combined with the preparation for the jousting and performing, along with the costuming required for the jousters and the squires handling the horses in the stables create the diversity of events, which effectively confuses the motivation while all the activities work together to create a complex and challenging puzzle. It is a genuine pleasure to watch Winnie as she very cleverly manages to poke her nose into the investigation while still keeping just on the right side of Detective Inspector Anthony while continuing to frustrate him with her oh so clever discoveries.

Accountant with Benefits : Tribe, Jeff: Amazon.es: Books

Sherry Strong’s coolly calculated career progression did not account for the romantic heat generated during her ‘voluntold’ assignment with Rolling L Ranch CEO Matt Logan.

All business’ was a verbal contract Sherry’s head had demanded, but one her heart refused to accept. Would that cold commitment protect progression toward junior partner, or prevent Sherry from discovering her truest life’s pathway?