An Idea Evolves and Unorthodox is Born…

Hi everyone, S. Peters-Davis here. Thanks so much for stopping in:)

It’s getting closer to the release date of Unorthodox, A Kendra Spark Novel – book one in the series, and I admit to being geeked – happy, excited, and anxious at the same time. Happy I wrote my first book in this genre blend and excited the release date is fast approaching. But I’m also anxious as the first book in any series does that to me; it’s the foundation for character introductions, relationships, and story threads. All of those components need to be strong enough to evolve throughout the series.

Every book an author writes shares a piece of them, of their life, of their family and friends, and people who’ve touched them in some way…besides the creative imagination that speaks for itself. There’s a number of ways information comes to us: experience, education, books, research, listening in on conversations, TV, movies, and observing (among many others)…nothing you haven’t heard before.

So then an idea forms to light the way…

I picked up a crime suspense-thriller book and was pleasantly surprised to find it was generously laced with paranormal. My love of mystery, suspense, crime stories and the paranormal had me wondering if I could actually combine them with an element of romance for a story? *grins* Wheels churned for a while…mostly because as much as I loved reading crime books, I’d never written one.

I took an online Forensic Science course, stacked up on books about police and FBI procedures, conferred with others who wrote crime stories, joined Sisters in Crime organization and researched everything I thought might be pertinent to start my story.

As I considered my protagonist, I decided she would need some sort of job that made her familiar with a criminal mind, something giving her access and knowledge on what to research…like an author; ) Why not have the main character be a suspense, mystery writer? Hmmm

Finally, Kendra Spark, suspense, mystery romance author, introduced herself to me one night in a dream, and I knew it was time to write.

A writing buddy (close friend of mine) spent four days at an intense writing retreat with me. We brainstormed on a story she was plotting out and also on my story – at that point we didn’t have our titles or a complete list of our characters. Brainstorming with someone who understood my voice and style, my audience, and my mixed genre ended up playing a critical part in my novel writing. By the time we left our writing sanctuary, we had established our characters, main plots, along with a few subplot threads, and our titles.

Unorthodox…a new paranormal, suspense-thriller romance with a generous dollop of supernatural releases September 15, 2017.

Book Tagline:  Kendra’s ability of communicating with the dead is requested by her FBI criminal analyst friend to stop a killer from murdering agents.

Series Tagline: Kendra sees ghosts, and then her BFF, Jenna, becomes one. The two friends and FBI agent Derek Knight fight for justice to the victims of heinous crimes.

Book Description:

Kendra Spark, suspense-mystery romance author and communicator with the dead, is requested to hop on the first flight to D.C.

Jenna Powers, FBI criminal analyst and estranged best friend of Kendra, gets ghosticized in a fatal accident before relaying all the details of the FBI killer case.

Derek Knight, a dedicated FBI Special Task Force agent, takes lead on the case.

The investigation into the FBI agent killings continues as Kendra, Jenna – yes, even after death – and Derek work together on the case before Director of the Special Task Force Jackson Powers’ number is up. He’s Jenna’s father and the end-game of the killer’s target list.

Somehow the elusive killer remains undetected, until Kendra’s unique ability produces results and a final possibility at stopping his killing spree before it’s too late.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Unorthodox-Kendra-Sparks-Novel-Book-ebook/dp/B073MZZPVM/

**Don’t forget to check out “Books We Love Frequent Reader Bundles” right here: http://bookswelove.net/books-we-love-frequent-reader/

About the Author:

S. Peters-Davis writes multi-genre stories, but loves penning a good page-turning suspense-thriller, especially when it’s a ghost story and a romance. When she’s not writing, editing, or reading, she’s hiking, RV’ing, fishing, playing with grandchildren, or enjoying time with her favorite muse (her husband) in Southwest Michigan.

She also writes YA paranormal, supernatural novels as DK Davis.

Website – http://suda788.wixsite.com/spetersdavis1     

Twitter – https://twitter.com/spdavis788   

FB – https://www.facebook.com/susan.petersdavis

LinkedIn – https://www.linedin.com/in/susan-davis-8660542/

BWL Author Page – http://bookswelove.net/authors/peters-davis-s/

JUST ONE MORE THING…by Victoria Chatham

Is she a wife or already a widow? Until she knows, ship-wrecked Lady Juliana will not surrender to the captain who steals her heart.

AVAILABLE HERE

I recently had one of those mornings when I woke up really early. One of those instantly awake occasions instead of the usual dragging myself into consciousness mornings. Because I needed to leave home no later than 9.00 AM that day for my round of appointments and activities, I decided there were things I had time to do without waiting for the alarm clock to go off.

I showered but didn’t get dressed yet. Went to the kitchen, put the kettle. While it boiled for my morning cup of tea, I dusted and vacuumed the living room. Once that was done and the tea made, I checked the time. Oh good, only 7.15 AM. Still time to get some other stuff done. I sorted laundry, put that in the washer, poured tea, turned on my laptop. I guess y’all can see what comes next. Yes, folks, I went down the rabbit hole of ‘just one more thing’.

Peter Falk

Emails led to links, which led to more links. It wasn’t idle procrastination either, I was researching information for my Work in Progress. Who knew lamb bones could be used to buff marble? With a mug of tea in hand and one eye on the clock, I continued on my merry way. When the washer warbled that the cycle was finished, I checked the clock which told me it was 8.00 AM. Yes! I had time to put the washing in the dryer and have another cup of tea before getting dressed. 

What I should have done, of course, was to have got dressed and applied my makeup then. Unlike Peter Falk’s Lieutenant Columbo, who’s last minute line of ‘just one more thing, sir’, being the question that usually tripped up and caught the murderer and tied up the case, because of my ‘one more thing’, my day slowly unraveled.

But it’s not that day that concerns me now. No, it’s how that line has inserted itself into more recent detective series. I enjoy watching a good series on TV or Netflix and have heard that line repeated in Hawaii Five-O, the BBC’s Inspector Frost and Death in Paradise, especially the series with Kris Marshall playing the hapless Humphrey Goodman. In fact, the role of Humphrey, with his crumpled clothes and air of distraction could have been modeled on Columbo. In my case ‘one more thing’ was one thing too many which caused me to rush through my day. There’s also the old adage of less haste, more speed. From now on I think I’d better pay attention to both!

  

You can find Victoria’s books at Books We Love on her 

Books We Love Author Page 

or at 

 www.victoriachatham.com

Vancouver’s Spirits

 RELEASE DATE SEPTEMBER FIRST

 Stillwaters Run Deep 
Book Two

Vancouver’s Spirits

Available From Amazon

Frank Talaber, The Writer:

The Mad Muse inside keeps my pencil writing. Yes, I still actually use a pencil to write down story ideas first before using the laptop. Currently living in Chilliwack, BC. I usually write urban fantasy, crime, mystery, science fiction and romance (the really hot stuff, read my novel Shuttered Seduction available through BWL and Amazon, see links below). But enough of me, on to the novel.

Vancouver’s Spirits, The Novel:

Vancouver’s mayor is found brutally slain in Stanley Park against Pauline Johnson’s memorial. His family and wife are missing with no clues to go on Carol Ainsworth’s first big detective case begins.

Toss in a hot male reporter, who goes on a hot date to a bar in Stanley Park and ends up in a strange part of town, with no memory of getting there. A vengeful Biker, who will stop at nothing to wreck justice on those who killed him. A sexually starved succubus, who will also stop at nothing to return to our realm. A boatload of out of sync demi-gods who have returned and have never seen concrete and electric lights. Finally toss in a disappearing, slightly deranged shaman who just happens to hold all the clues. Only Carol has to prove he actually exists and find him before a gang war threatens to explode on the streets of Vancouver.

Yes, it’s going to be a fun night in the park.

My BWL Author Page and Links to where to buy my novels 

 http://www.bookswelove.com/authors/talaber-frank-suspense-urban-fantasy-canada/



Smashwords Site

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/553807

Kobo Site

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/raven-s-lament-3

Amazon Site

https://www.amazon.com/Frank-Talaber/e/B00UC407R0

My Facebook Author's Page

https://www.facebook.com/FrankTalaber/

My Twitter page

https://twitter.com/FrankTalaber

Taking Time to Be Mindful by J.Q. Rose

Deadly Undertaking by J.Q. Rose
Romantic suspense available in eBook or Paperback

Taking Time to Be Mindful by J.Q. Rose

Grandsons on the shores of Lake Huron--a moment captured with my camera

Time is flying by too quickly. When the sand in an hour glass slips through to the bottom, we can just turn it over and start again. But time doesn't stop for us. We ride it like a rocket ship through the ages and stages of life. At times we need to slam on the brakes of that rocket ship (if they have them?) and take time to be present in the moments of our lives.

I'm slamming my foot down on those brakes this week to be mindful of the moments in my life. I came to this realization because school begins next week for one set of grandkids and the week after Labor Day for our other kids. The summer flew by. Each child is growing up too quickly. This summer I have two grandsons who have their drivers licenses! How did that happen?

Can you see these children all grown up? As they grow, their time with us shrinks. Friends, sports, activities in school will fill up their lives.  Time spent with the grandparents is squeezed into little moments when they are free, instead of the entire long, luxurious days of summer.
 

Appreciate every moment

I decided this week I'll take the time to appreciate the present. I will be mindful of every moment and imprint it on my mind to keep in my heart forever. I want the experiences and to capture each one so one day I can pull them from my memory box and I will savor the memories.

How many of these summer days and evenings do we take for granted? What gorgeous sunsets have we missed this year?  And what delicious food have we just scarfed down and not even tasted?

I hope you have the opportunity to take time to be in the present and appreciate those moments by immersing yourself in the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures of each one. 

Click here to connect online with JQ at the J.Q. Rose Blog

Chili Run by Stuart R. West

Run, don't walk (or at least click here), for thrills and laughs.

More about author Stuart R. West than you ever wanted to know!

Stuart R. West is a lifelong resident of Kansas, which he considers both a curse and a blessing. It's a curse because...well, it's Kansas. But it's great because…well, it’s Kansas. Lots of cool, strange and creepy things happen in the Midwest, and Stuart takes advantage of them in his work. Call it “Kansas Noir.” Stuart writes thrillers and mysteries usually tinged with humor, both for adult and young adult audiences.

Amazing Blurb-o-Rama!

When Wendell Worthy decides to blow off laundry for the day, he has no idea he'll soon be running across downtown Kansas City in his tighty-whities.

But a murderous, psychotic drug dealer has his brother and the ransom's a cup of chili that has to be delivered within two hours. The catch? There are rules in place: no rides, no money, no help. And Wendell has to do it in his underwear. Regardless of the rules, he knows he can’t go it alone.

The only person downtown who might help is Alicia. Too bad their one and only date ended in disaster. Wendell can run like the devil’s on his tail, and he’s gonna’ need to, because all sorts of hell’s about to break loose.

Chili Run: The perfect thriller for the reader on the go.

Where you, too, can add this book to your collection and proudly show it off on your coffee table!

*Stuart R. West's Books We Love Author's Page: http://bookswelove.net/authors/west-stuart-r/ 

*Amazon Chili Run page

*Stuart R. West's (totally inconsequential) blog: Twisted Tales from Tornado Alley

*And the rest (like on Gilligan's Island): Facebook, Twitter

Welcome to Peculiar County by Stuart R. West

Peculiar County, my first YA book for Books We Love, is a cross genre affair. Nominally it's a ghost tale, sure, but it also encompasses nostalgia (in my opinion, all effective ghost stories should be somewhat nostalgic), suspense, romance, humor, paranormal, murder mystery, and a coming of age tale. It's also my attempt at evoking the early sixties in a Midwest small town; a turbulent time not only for my fifteen year old heroine, but the entire world.

Pardon me if I get a bit writerly, but here we go...

The year the book's set, 1965, can be seen as a metaphor for my young heroine, Dibby Caldwell. The first major shock of the sixties had happened two years earlier: the assassination of US president John F. Kennedy. The tragedy portended the end of the easy-going fifties, a time of silly, blinders-on innocence. The world wasn't adequately prepared for the radical changes of post 1963: hippies, the Vietnam War, rampant drug use, free love. Bell bottoms, for God's sake! Culture shock at seismic levels.

On a smaller, more personal front, Dibby's experiencing similar unsettling changes. Fifteen years old, hormones are rattling her to her core. Not just changes to her body, but of her self-perception, an awakening of sexuality and adulthood. The arrival of "cool" bad boy, James--representative of the new, scary times to come--really triggers matters.

But, hey, Peculiar County's also a fun ghost story and murder mystery. It ain't Dostoevsky.

A tale for all age groups, it's perfect reading for the upcoming fall season.

Here. Blurbs always say it so much better:

Growing up in Peculiar County, Kansas, is a mighty...well, peculiar experience. In 1965, things get even stranger for Dibby Caldwell, the mortician's fifteen year old daughter. A young boy's ghost haunts Dibby into unearthing the circumstances of his death. Nobody—living or dead—wants her to succeed. James, the new mop-topped, bad boy at school doesn’t help. Dibby can’t get him out of her head, even though she doesn’t trust him. No, sir, there's nothing much more peculiar than life in Peculiar County…except maybe death in Peculiar County.

Peculiar County...click here for the most peculiar--not to mention, inexpensive--road trip you'll take this year.

Stuart R. West's Books We Love Author's Page: http://bookswelove.net/authors/west-stuart-r/