2-week Winter Hiatus

Writing

I have several projects lined up for 2016.

That's all I have to say, for now.

Cheers

New Release

A BACKWOODS JUSTICE MYSTERY SET is now available.

iBooks | Nook | Kobo

CAPTIVITY
A small-town sheriff tracks a psychopath targeting members of a retired mariner’s family.

BETRAYAL
A reporter furthers his budding career as a crime scene photographer by filming new construction being set ablaze by his older brother, who has a dark secret of his own.

PAYBACK
A deadly game of geocaching goes awry when hidden clues to the whereabouts of a kidnapped victim are swept away in a flash flood.

Interwoven novels of mystery, murder, and suspense.

What's Happening

I was busy promoting MAGIC MOON: A Mystery, the first book in the Bad Mojo series, throughout the 5-day Free event (Nov. 11-15) with Amazon's KDP Select program, so I needed to put my work-in-progress on hold.

To everyone at these promotional Twitter addresses...

@DigitalBKToday | @KindleEbooksUK | @bookpugUK | @KindleFreeBook | @FreeReadFeed | #BookBuzzr | @Amazon | @FreeKindleDaily | @kindleebooks | @zwoodlebooks | #BookGiveaway | @novelspot | @Kindlestuff | @KindleBookKing | @kindlepost | @4FreeKindleBook | @ereaderperks

...Thank you, for your help in making this event a success.
_____________

I had hoped to use these sites to promote my books...

Centsless Books | Awesome Gang | Book Daily | Kindle Nation Daily | eReader Utopia | Flurries of Words | eBook Lister | Addicted To eBooks | Just Kindle Books | Digital Book Today | Ebooks Habit | Ereader Café | Free Books Hub | Freebooksky | Daily Cheap Reads (also in UK) | Book Bub | Free eBooks Daily

...But for one reason or another I couldn't. Maybe next time.

Cheers

Kindle Unlimited

BAD MOJO

Don’t mess with Bonnie June. She’ll put a spell on you. Or worse.

>+<

All 13 dark tales in the Bad Mojo series are available exclusively through Amazon.

#1 MAGIC MOON December New Orleans, Louisiana
Moved by the success of her debut crime novel, twenty-seven-year-old BJ Donovan can’t handle the thought of being a one-hit wonder and never feeling special ever again. Using her position as the executive chef and owner of a popular restaurant in the French Quarter to blend in with the community, she embarks on a killing spree by means of voodoo magic. Traveling across the country under the guise of a book signing tour, she uses details of the murders to help maintain her best-seller status with an upcoming episodic thriller series.

#2 METAMORPHOSIS MOON January St. Augustine, Florida
BJ goes on a murderous rampage after someone at a writers retreat steals her handwritten manuscript of a new novel containing details of a true crime that were never made public.

#3 MOURNFUL MOON February Savannah, Georgia
With a little help from BJ, Alma LeJeune exacts revenge on the descendants of the people who had willingly participated in the unfair conviction and public hanging of a young Irish woman in 1735.

#4 MASTERMINDS MOON March Key West, Florida
Made the brunt of a sick joke by The Six, a group of snobbish writers, BJ shows them what make believe is all about when she uses the legendary Robby the Doll, a child’s toy created by voodoo magic, to hit back.

#5 MESMERIZING MOON April Charleston, South Carolina
Possessed by the ghost of a female serial killer from the 1800s, Alma drugs traveling businessmen then feeds their dismembered body parts to her pet, a great white alligator.

#6 MALEVOLENCE MOON May Salem, Massachusetts
A strange conversation between BJ and the descendant of a Salem witch leads Alma to believe that BJ is being drawn into a web of lies and deceit.

#7 MAYHEM MOON June Cincinnati, Ohio
BJ grows suspicious of an elderly woman’s true motives after she asks her to help get her granddaughter away from her cruel husband, a notorious gangster.

#8 MESSENGER MOON July Chicago, Illinois
After a devastating hurricane hits New Orleans BJ decides to get on the road and finish her promotional tour, unaware someone is lying in wait.

#9 MEANNESS MOON August Portland, Oregon
BJ is about to wage war on two animal abusers when something extraordinary happens.

#10 MAKE-BELIEVE MOON September Hollywood, California
A playwright’s misuse of BJ’s thriller series infuriates her.

#11 MASQUERADE MOON October Las Vegas, Nevada
An unexpected invitation to a murder mystery dinner party makes BJ wonder if she is the intended victim.

#12 MONSTER MOON November Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
BJ soon regrets her decision to help a woman who claims she had just escaped from a torture chamber in the desert.

#13 MELANCHOLY MOON December Chalmette, Louisiana
Bonnie June is coming home, but to what end?

Author Note:
To get the full effect of the series the stories must be read in numerical order.

These stories are also available in a set: BAD MOJO: THE COMPLETE SERIES
______________________________

Excerpt from Chapter 1 of Book 1, MAGIC MOON: A Mystery

Virgil awoke late at night to find his wife gone. He kicked off cold and clammy bedcovers, box springs screeched when he got up. A steady breeze, weighed down with humidity, carried the vanilla-like fragrance of Joe-Pye weed and the barely audible sound of laughter through an open window.

He stood behind fluttering white sheers and watched Marie trot across the back yard, her long black curls bouncing with each footfall. The opaque security light above the barn doors cast an eerie pallor through the limbs of an old elm draped with Spanish moss. He noticed her belly, in the narrow space between her shirt and shorts, seemed rounder than normal. He lazily scratched his ass, wondered what the hell she’s doing.

A man stepped out of the shadows, and drew her into an embrace. They kissed for a moment, then entered the barn.

Marie came back out. She turned her head side to side, looked up. Virgil leaned back without thinking.

The man clasped her hand. “C’mere, baby.” He brought a shiny metal flask to his lips and took a long swig.

She giggled again. “Gimme some.”

“Sh! Not now.” He pulled her into the barn, loosely swung one door shut, the other already latched at the top.

>+<

Virgil slipped through the half closed door. Stood beneath the loft and listened to the rough’n ready sounds of raw lust. Glossy photos in his dog-eared girlie magazines flashed through his mind. He hiked the leather rifle strap onto his shoulder, gripped the sides of the wooden ladder. Slowly mounted the rungs; aware one always squeaks.

He found them in a clearing behind short stacks of hay. Virgil recognized him. He was the same slick salesman who’d come sniffing around last April trying to sell them some kitcheny crap. He didn’t know if his wife got any. He’d left the house to spend the rest of the mild and sunny morning planting eggplants to be sold at the farmers market and to local chefs.

A July heat wave made the guy come a-knocking again.
______________________________

Writing - Updated 11/4

Update:
This project is on hold.

Previous:
Put on my writer hat.
Started a new series.
Something different.
That's all you're getting. :)

Special Announcement

My mystery novel, Killing Summer, is still available through Kindle Unlimited. Thank you to everyone who has downloaded a copy so far. The response has been overwhelming.

To @FreeEbooksDaily, @Goodkindles @DigitalBkToday, @KindleEbooksUK, @KindleFreeBook, @FreeReadFeed, @FreeKindleDaily, thank you for your support.

Killing Summer
Synopsis:
On a hot night in July a young woman named Summer is murdered. She’ll be found one month later by two roofers, her lifeless eyes staring at the moldy interior of a rundown tool shed. The men responsible for her being there are two unlikely partners in crime, each with something to prove. One is the cowardly son of a decorated police officer. The other is a bully with a violent history. High on drugs and alcohol, neither knows who dealt the deathblow. Fearing a confrontation, one of them agrees to pay the other for his vow of silence. But as time goes by, a hard life takes its toll on him. In order to put an end to the blackmail he’d have to take a risk. A risk that could easily backfire. Driven by hate and anger, he writes an anonymous letter to the sheriff recounting that killing summer.

Chapter 1:
Stripped down to their underwear and socks, the two men walked into the chilly, snake infested waters of White River swatting mosquitoes every step of the way. Moving slowly through a shallow, rocky area with only their head and shoulders above the surface, they stayed close to the bank using their hands to feel around under submerged boulders. A half a mile or so upstream from where they had slung the rest of their clothing over a tree branch, the man in the lead, twenty-seven-year-old Kevin Rayland, took a deep breath, and dove under the water.

More than happy to play the role of spotter, Jasper Monroe kept a watchful eye out for game wardens who don’t care the practice of noodling has been legal in Missouri for quite a while. Since most flathead catfish are on the nest when they’re noodled, wildlife fanatics continue to argue that too many eggs are being destroyed, and this ridiculous and dangerous style of fishing must end.

They weren’t there to hand-fish. Not today. If they get caught, not tomorrow either.

Kevin shot up out of the water, gasping for air. Swiped a hand down his face. “Found one.”

Jasper got behind him, and tucked his hands under Kevin’s arms to help him keep his balance while he twisted sideways to put his leg in the catfish hole. “Yep, it’s empty.” Jasper let go. Kevin fell backward, scraping his knee. Went under again trying to gain his footing. Angrily smacked the water with the side of his hand.

“Take it easy. Don’t be stirring up any damn leeches.” Jasper broke off a sturdy twig full of stiff brown leaves, stabbed the end in the ground above the hole to mark the spot. Piled rocks around the base for added support. “Let’s get this over with.”

In the waning daylight the men trudged back to their starting point, on guard for venomous snakes swimming about. “Good thing it rained,” Kevin whispered. “It turned the water brown. Maybe they won’t see us coming.” He shuddered, knowing how easy it would be to encounter snakes or beavers that have taken over abandoned holes. A sock won’t prevent sharp teeth or fangs from sinking into his flesh. Snapping turtles can also inflict a lot of misery by biting off a finger or two.

When they reached the rocky shoal, Jasper remained in the water. “Go on, get her.” Focused on the lengthening shadows in the surrounding woods he thought he saw movement. He leaned in, squinted his eyes, then pulled back. “Hurry the hell up,” he said in a low tone.

Kevin ran over to the boulder where they’d hidden the twenty-something ticket taker. He grasped her by her wrists, dragged her to the water’s edge. Jasper took hold of her hands, pulled her headfirst into the water. Kevin jumped in, reached under and found her feet. Her long hair flowed across her face like corn-yellow seaweed stems. The water washed blood from her wounds and marked her passing, as they floated her to the hole in the riverbank.

Jasper crossed her arms over her bare chest then pressed down hard, pushing her under. Banged her head against the rocky wall several times trying to find the opening.

“What’re you doing?”

“I don’t think she’s going to fit.”

“Sure she will. You’re just too chickenshit to duck under and do it the right way.”

“Oh yeah?” Jasper went down, and worked her head and shoulders into the mouth of the hole. Shoved her in as far as she’d go. Jumped up and sucked in a lungful of air. “There’s not enough room for her feet.” He glanced at the concave bank of the meandering river. “I don’t see anything we can use to cover her with.”

“So what? It’d take one hell of a drought for the water to recede enough for someone to see her feet sticking out of there. That could be many years from now. I don’t see the little waterfall up ahead going dry any time soon. Besides, it won’t be long before critters start feasting on her.”

“Whatever. Frickin’ knowitall. C’mon, it’s getting dark. I sure as hell don’t want to be in here when it is. I could use a smoke and a beer, anyway. If we hurry, we’ll have time to stop by Roadhouse Redd before the fireworks begin.”

Jasper raced ahead.

Kevin stood still waiting for the ripples to subside. He looked intently at the muddy water trying to see through it. Tried to imagine lying in that dark hole for all of eternity. Tried to remember exactly why Jasper thought they should remove her clothes. Tried to remember where they stashed them. He felt sorry for her. Just a little. What was her name? Carly? Charley? He shook his head in disdain. What woman goes off with two guys she’d just met? Harley, was it?

Screw it. It isn’t my fault why she tripped and fell down.

Killing Summer
Get it while it's hot!
And if you love the story, please consider posting a review on Amazon. Thank you.

Halloween Horror

Spooky Movies

2000 ** THE CELL – RICKY 6 – BATTLE ROYALE – GINGER SNAPS
2001 ** JEEPERS CREEPERS – THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE – SESSION 9 – FRAILTY
2002 ** THE GRUDGE – THE RING – 28 DAYS LATER – DOG SOLDIERS
2003 ** OPEN WATER – DEAD END – WRONG TURN – JEEPERS CREEPERS 2
2004 ** SAW – THE ORDEAL – SHUTTER – DEAD BIRDS
2005 ** THE DESCENT – THE DEVIL'S REJECTS – BOO – WOLF CREEK
2006 ** TAXIDERMIA – THE HILLS HAVE EYES – THE HOST – SILENT HILL
2007 ** THE MIST – PARANORMAL ACTIVITY – VACANCY – TRICK 'R TREAT
2008 ** EDEN LAKE – LET THE RIGHT ONE IN – MARTYRS – SPLINTER
2009 ** DRAG ME TO HELL – THIRST – ZOMBIELAND – THE COLLECTOR
2010 ** THE CRAZIES – PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 2 – LET ME IN – MY SOUL TAKE
2011 ** THE RITE – INSIDIOUS – PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 – 11-11-11
2012 ** CHERNOBYL DIARIES – SILENT HOUSE – PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4 – SINISTER
2013 ** THE CONJURING – WORLD WAR Z – THE PURGE – MAMA – INSIDIOUS 2
2014 ** ANNABELLE – AS ABOVE, SO BELOW – THE PURGE: ANARCHY – TUSK – DELIVER US FROM EVIL
2015 ** INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 3 – THE GREEN INFERNO – HIDDEN – IT FOLLOWS – SINISTER 2 – CRIMSON PEAK

Exclusively On Amazon

KILLING SUMMER is now available only through Amazon’s KDP Select | Kindle Unlimited program.

Blackmailed for murder, unable to prove his innocence, a man involves a rural sheriff in his plan for revenge.

Available exclusively on Amazon

New Mystery Book Releases

WHAT YOU SEE: A Jane Ryland Novel by Hank Phillippi Ryan

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0765374951/httpwwwmarkes-20

WHEN SECRETS STRIKE by Marta Perry

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00TXM1EAQ/httpwwwmarkes-20

MURDER BY SUSPICION: An Ellie Quicke British Murder Mystery by Veronica Heley

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0727885243/httpwwwmarkes-20

THE THAMES RIVER MURDERS (Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries Book 10) by Ashley Gardner, Jennifer Ashley

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B012TXYXU8/httpwwwmarkes-20

AUTUMN THORNS (Whisper Hollow) by Yasmine Galenorn

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00SI02BHO/httpwwwmarkes-20

DEATH ON THE PRAIRIE (A Chloe Ellefson Mystery) by Kathleen Ernst http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0738744700/httpwwwmarkes-20

A SHADOWED EVIL: A Hawkenlye Medieval Mystery by Alys Clare http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0727885200/httpwwwmarkes-20

A PERILOUS ALLIANCE: A Tudor mystery featuring Ursula Blanchard by Fiona Buckley

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1780290764/httpwwwmarkes-20

THE CORPSE WITH THE DIAMOND HAND (A Cait Morgan Mystery) by Cathy Ace http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1771511443/httpwwwmarkes-20

Special Offer

MAGIC MOON, Book One in the Bad Mojo Series, is Free for a limited time on all venues.

Synopsis:
Moved by the success of her debut crime novel, twenty-seven-year-old BJ Donovan can’t handle the thought of being a one-hit wonder and never feeling special ever again. Using her position as the executive chef and owner of a popular restaurant in the French Quarter to blend in with the community, she embarks on a killing spree, by means of voodoo magic, and uses details of the murders to help maintain her best-seller status with an upcoming episodic thriller series.

Opening scene:
Virgil awoke late at night to find his wife gone. He kicked off cold and clammy bedcovers, box springs screeched when he got up. A steady breeze, weighed down with humidity, carried the vanilla-like fragrance of Joe-Pye weed and the barely audible sound of laughter through an open window.

MAGIC MOON
New Orleans, Louisiana

What's Happening

Curious to know if Bad Mojo really is a good story, I gathered up all of the “moon” books in the series, put them into one book, set it for Free, then let it run wild for most of the summer.

The results? Not only was the book downloaded many times on all venues, but it received four beautiful reviews on Amazon. I am stoked!

The first book, Magic Moon — originally titled Serial Quiller, then Long Night Moon — was written in only one month. I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning typing, then headed off to work an eight-hour shift. The story grabbed me from the beginning and wouldn’t let go until I typed The End.

This happened at the same time I learned about Amazon Kindle eBooks. Previously, I had wasted more than ten years of my life trying to get New York and/or California to sit up and take notice of my work. The final straw was when I waited a full year to hear back from a well-established literary agent in New York City on the full manuscript I had mailed to her. Mailed, as in “through the post office using my hard-earned money”. I sent her an email. She responded by telling me to email the full MS. Two hours later, she sent me a form rejection. The only clue provided was that the story wasn’t suspenseful. So my mystery novel (genre clearly stated in the query) was rejected based on the 5-page sample (mailed with the query) that had gotten me the “request for a full” in the first place??? What the hell? This was the day I deleted everything filed under Query Hell, and focused my attention on eBooks. I have no regrets other than never getting back those 10+ years.

But I digress.

At the same time Bad Mojo: The Complete Series came off free I put Magic Moon on Free with all retailers. I haven’t decided yet if I want this book to be permafree, since it is a full-length novel. The rest of the moon books are short ‘episodes’.

Like last September, I’m getting my books ready for the upcoming holiday shopping season. I’m making a few new covers, changing prices, and tweaking blurbs. Some of the new stuff will go up as early as next week (after Captivity comes off Free).

The Lodger was the last new story I wrote this year. While I have a few others in various stages of beginning or ending, I’m not releasing anything until after the New Year. I want to have something available at that time, especially with all the new eReaders that will be underneath the Christmas tree.

On November 1, I’m setting one more book at Free, and letting it run until mid-January 2016. I’m currently making a new cover and changes to the content.

I am able to type faster now (since breaking my wrist last January). I still make a lot of errors, which slow me down and irate the hell out of me, but not as many as before. So this is a good thing.

I have a full-time job. Putting out freight for a major retailer. The job is physically demanding. Just wanted everyone to know one of the reasons why I’m not cranking out one story after another on a regular basis.

Big changes are on the horizon.

Cheers

Captivity

The free event for my mystery novel Captivity, book one in the Backwoods Justice trilogy, ends September 21, 2015.

About This Book:
The gruesome discovery of a woman’s corpse in the small, tourist resort of Point Jove, Missouri draws Sheriff Josh Wolfe, a widower who enjoys tinkering with his award winning hot rod, into the most perilous case of his career. Hounded by the townsfolk and media, Wolfe exhausts every conventional method for solving the crime.

The investigation comes to a standstill. Then, four more residents disappear. Everyone is convinced Rhone County is harboring a serial kidnapper who chooses his victims by chance. Wolfe believes the people are not only related to one another but are somehow tied to the last surviving member of the county’s namesake. Time is not only running out for Sheriff Wolfe but for his lover, dissatisfied wife of a homebuilder, held against her will at the Rhone family’s abandoned sawmill where spilled gasoline awaits a lighted match.

Kindle | iBooks | Kobo | Nook

Upcoming Conferences

OCTOBER 2015

October 2-4
New Atlantic Booksellers Association Fall Conference
Somerset, NJ

October 9-17
Litquake
San Francisco, CA



October 15-17
Vegas Valley Book Festival
Las Vegas, NV

October 17
Twin Cities Book Festival
St. Paul, MN

October 22-November 1
International Festival of Authors
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

October 23-24
Boston Book Festival
Boston, MA

October 29-November 1
Killer Nashville
Nashville, TN

October 30-November 1
Magna Cum Murder
Indianapolis, IN

NOVEMBER 2015

November 6-8
New England Clam Bake
Goffstown, NH

November 7
Murder and Mayhem in Milwaukee
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

November 13-15
Crime and Justice Festival
Melbourne, Australia

November 15-22
Miami Book Fair International
Miami, FL

DECEMBER 2015

December 4-6
Wolfe Pack Weekend
New York City, NY

Ending Free

The free event for "BAD MOJO: The Complete Series" ends September 15, 2015.

About This Book:

Moved by the success of her debut crime novel, twenty-seven-year-old BJ Donovan can’t handle the thought of being a one-hit wonder and never feeling special ever again. Using her position as the executive chef and owner of a popular restaurant in the French Quarter to blend in with the community, she embarks on a killing spree by means of voodoo magic. Traveling across the country under the guise of a book signing tour, she uses details of the murders to help maintain her best-seller status with an upcoming episodic thriller series.

Kindle | iBooks | Kobo | Nook

"Law & Order" meets "American Horror Story"

Now Available

magic moon

New Orleans, Louisiana

Book #1 in the Bad Mojo Series

BJ Donovan, crime writer, embarks on a killing spree, by means of voodoo magic, to maintain her best-seller status with an upcoming episodic thriller series.

Kobo | Kindle | iBooks | Oyster | Page Foundry | Nook

Did You Know?

I have FREE books.

Get them while they're hot.

Kindle | iBooks | Nook | Kobo

Horror - New Release

THE LODGER

Kindle | iBooks | Nook | Kobo | Page Foundry | Oyster

Synopsis:
A woman is left homeless after a fire destroys her apartment building. At the same time, a severe thunderstorm warning is issued. Trying to get out of the city at night in a downpour while caught in heavy traffic she makes a wrong turn. Evelyn finds a farmhouse by accident. About to knock and ask directions, the door creaks open.

Based on the character Evelyn Adrian from Magic Moon, Book #1 in Bad Mojo: The Complete Series.

Excerpt:
The old dark house stood alone on the right side of a dirt road. Power lines came down when severe thunderstorms tore through southern Louisiana earlier in the day. She got a flashlight from the trunk of her car, and climbed the steps to the wraparound porch. A cool breeze rippled her T-shirt. Lightning cast her elongated shadow onto the door. About to knock and ask directions, the door creaked open. Evelyn backed up. A wind gust whipped her long hair in a frenzy. She took a deep breath and quickly exhaled.

“Hello?” she called out in a soft tone, nudging the door open wider with the flashlight.

Standing in the foyer at the foot of the stairs, she cast the beam high and low. On her left was the living room. A hallway separated it from the stairs. She poked her head through the doorless entrance long enough to see that the room was large and partially furnished. The light threw a shadow on a cheap seascape hanging off-kilter on the wall. There are no other doors in the living room. No reason whatsoever to set foot in the unwelcoming space.

A slow and deliberate inspection of the first floor revealed no one lives there anymore.

Or does it just appear that way?

New Look!

Special Announcement

My books are now available on Oyster.

Distributed through Draft2Digital.

Madden Manor

MADDEN MANOR

Following the untimely death of his parents, Daniel, a teenage outcast, reluctantly moves into his uncle’s home in the country where he’s left feeling even more friendless and isolated.

He discovers a lonely girl is haunting the old mansion when he sees her standing at the outside entrance to the cellar. Her name is Lizze, she tells him, and this is where she stood the night she was murdered in 1897 on her seventeenth birthday. Daniel’s great grandfather shot her because he had reason to believe his wife was about to find out he’d been having an affair with her servant. Lizze’s body was hidden in the cellar and then forgotten.

Daniel and Lizze become fast friends. By year’s end they are deeply in love. When he turns eighteen, his uncle orders him to go out and seek his own fortune. Torn between two worlds, a foiled robbery attempt changes Daniel’s life forever.

Excerpt

The paramedics had taken his parents to the morgue long before he stepped off the high school bus. Severe weather warning sirens echoed hollowly as they wound down. The rain had stopped but a new round of lightning raised fears of another bad storm on the horizon. Daniel walked close to the remains of his home, the roof and walls scattered about like a high-speed fan had hit a house of cards. A fierce and devastating EF-5 tornado had made a direct hit on the low-income neighborhood and completely flattened it.

He stopped and looked around, his vision blurred by heavy tears. On the ground a couple of feet beyond where the front door once stood was his father’s favorite baseball cap. He picked it up. Swallowed the lump in his throat. Unzipped his backpack, and put the cap inside.

The sounds of pain and misery were all around him.

NOW AVAILABLE

Coming Soon

A woman is left homeless after a fire destroys her apartment building. At the same time, a severe thunderstorm warning is issued. Trying to get out of the city at night in a downpour while caught in heavy traffic she makes a wrong turn.

Evelyn finds a farmhouse by accident. About to knock and ask directions, the door screeches open.

Based on the character Evelyn Adrian from Magic Moon, Book #1 in BAD MOJO: The Complete Series.

THE LODGER
COMING SOON

Now And Then

I've updated most of my book covers, and added an excerpt of Bad Mojo: The Complete Series (or something else) to the end of every story.

Changed the titles of two short stories: Bonnie Parker Smile is now Bonnie and Claude. Stay With Me will be Madden Manor (haven't uploaded this one yet). Gar has a new look, too (not uploaded yet). The covers will remain the same for The Plot and Night of the Dark.

I'm sending Captivity to promotional sites.

Afterward, I'm doing something new. With my life.

Free For A Limited Time

Last month I was really happy with the new look for my 'moon' series.

Two weeks in, and I started disliking the covers. Intensely.



Introducing Bad Mojo: The Complete Series.

Synopsis:
A crime writer embarks on a killing spree by means of voodoo magic. Traveling across the country under the guise of a promotional tour for her successful debut novel, she uses details of the murders to maintain her best-seller status with an upcoming episodic thriller series.

Excerpt from Chapter One of Book One:
Virgil awoke late at night to find his wife gone. He kicked off cold and clammy bedcovers, box springs screeched when he got up. A steady breeze, weighed down with humidity, carried the vanilla-like fragrance of Joe-Pye weed and the barely audible sound of laughter through an open window.

He stood behind fluttering white sheers and watched Marie trot across the back yard, her long black curls bouncing with each footfall. The opaque security light above the barn doors cast an eerie pallor through the limbs of an old elm draped with Spanish moss. He noticed her belly, in the narrow space between her shirt and shorts, seemed rounder than normal. He lazily scratched his ass, wondered what the hell she’s doing.

A man stepped out of the shadows, and drew her into an embrace. They kissed for a moment, then entered the barn.

Marie came back out. She turned her head side to side, looked up. Virgil leaned back without thinking.

The man clasped her hand. “C’mere, baby.” He brought a shiny metal flask to his lips and took a long swig.

She giggled again. “Gimme some.”

“Sh! Not now.” He pulled her into the barn, loosely swung one door shut, the other already latched at the top.

* * *

Virgil slipped through the half closed door. Stood beneath the loft and listened to the rough’n ready sounds of raw lust. Glossy photos in his dog-eared girlie magazines flashed through his mind. He hiked the leather rifle strap onto his shoulder, gripped the sides of the wooden ladder. Slowly mounted the rungs; aware one always squeaks.

iBooks | Kindle | Kobo | Page Foundry | Scribd | Nook

Free for a limited time.

This And That

I changed the name of my 'moon' series back to the original (from Luna Touye to Bad Mojo). Luna caused a bit of confusion since the main character in this story uses Luna Touye for the title of her series. Took down all five Luna Touye Bundle Books. Left the collection up (The Complete Bad Mojo Series).

While I was at it I made new covers for them.

After a long absence, I have returned nearly all my books to Amazon. And lo and behold! Readers are finding me.

I trunked the romance story I tried so hard to write. Mainly because I tried so hard to write it. I am not a romance writer. I love action, adventure, and mystery... but not the fluffy kind. In my books: The F-word is used, occasionally. Main characters won't hesitate to spill blood. Husbands and boyfriends don't think twice about cheating. There are no happy endings. I should write what I read. I had the romance story all planned out. Even made a nice cover. But my heart just wasn't in it. I'm pretty sure readers could tell.

I'm writing a new book featuring Detective Gary Northcutt from Bad Mojo series and Sheriff Rusty Nichols from Backwoods Justice trilogy. They're going to meet somewhere in between Point Jove and New Orleans to track down a kidnapper and murderer. I hope to release it this summer.

A lot of plans are in the works. I've been slowly getting my ducks in a row since my accident.

What’s Happening

CAPTIVITY: My FREE ‘first in series’ novel is doing great on all venues. Sales of Books Two and Three are on the rise.

Thank you, to everyone who downloaded a copy!

Promotional Sites: I’ve submitted Captivity, Book One in Backwoods Justice Trilogy, to: NewFreeKindleBooks, Hunt 4 Freebies, Frugal Freebies, Armadillo eBooks, eBookLister, iLoveEbooks, Kobo Free Titles, OneHundredFreeEbooks

Upcoming Submissions: Books on the Knob, E-book Deal of the Day, Free-eBooks.net, eBooks Habit, eReader Utopia, Indie Book of the Day, Kindle Nation Daily, eBook Hunter, Daily Free eBooks, Digital Book Today, Flurries of Words, Pixel of Ink, Book Deal Hunter, Book Deals Daily, eBook Stage, eBook Universe, eReader Perks, Feed Your Reader, FreeBooks.com, Indie Book Bargains, Indie Book Lounge, Indie Book of the Day, Indie Unlimited, Pretty Hot, Read Cheaply, Read Freely

Broken arm (wrist, actually) update: I wore a splint and a sling for six weeks. Couldn’t afford the inflated ‘bone doctor’ fee so I didn’t get an actual cast. I referred to the splint as a cast to keep from having to explain what was going on. Truth is I never knew how lousy my company’s insurance was until I needed to use it; out-of-pocket costs were higher. My wrist didn’t heal properly because it was never properly set. Typing is still a challenge.

Current projects: A short romance story | a mystery/suspense novella or novel

Captivity Featured

My intense mystery novel, CAPTIVITY, is today's feature on New Free Kindle Books.

Jim Liston does an outstanding job of promoting independent authors.

Stop by and have a look!

Cheers

Now Available On Amazon - UPDATED

Backwoods Justice Trilogy

Interwoven tales of mystery, murder, and romance in a small, tourist town.

CAPTIVITY — The gruesome discovery of a woman’s corpse in the small tourist resort of Point Jove, Missouri draws Sheriff Josh Wolfe, a widower who enjoys tinkering with his award winning hot rod, into the most perilous case of his career. Hounded by the townsfolk and media, Wolfe exhausts every conventional method for solving the crime. The investigation comes to a standstill. Then, four more residents disappear. Everyone is convinced Rhone County is harboring a serial kidnapper who chooses his victims by chance. Wolfe believes the people are not only related to one another but are somehow tied to the last surviving member of the county’s namesake. Time is not only running out for Sheriff Wolfe but for his lover, dissatisfied wife of a homebuilder, held against her will at the Rhone family’s abandoned sawmill where spilled gasoline awaits a lighted match.

BETRAYAL — A reporter furthers his budding career as a crime scene photographer by filming new construction being set ablaze by his older brother, who has a dark secret of his own.

PAYBACK — A deadly game of geocaching goes awry when hidden clues to the whereabouts of a kidnapped victim are swept away in a flash flood.

Featuring Sheriff Josh Wolfe of KILLING SUMMER.

CAPTIVITY  | BETRAYAL | PAYBACK

CAPTIVITY is FREE

Updated to add UK links...

CAPTIVITY | BETRAYAL | PAYBACK

...and CA links:

CAPTIVITY | BETRAYAL | PAYBACK

Writing

My arm will be in a cast for six weeks. Typing with one hand is difficult because when I'm writing my mind is always racing ahead of my fingers, it's easy to lose track. I've already made the book cover and an outline. There's no reason not to work on my new romance story. If I feel the story slipping away from me I can jot down my thoughts on Post-it Notes. I probably won't have it ready by Valentine's Day like I planned, and that's okay.

Broken Arm

Broke my arm.

New story on hold.

Chicken-pecking on keyboard not working.

Oh woe is me.

New Release

MURDER IN A SMALL TOWN

Page Foundry | iBooks | Nook | Scribd | Kobo

I have bundled my four mystery novels featuring Sheriff Josh Wolfe.

KILLING SUMMER: Blackmailed for murder, unable to prove his innocence, a man involves Josh Wolfe, a small-town sheriff, in his plan for revenge.

CAPTIVITY, BETRAYAL, PAYBACK (Backwoods Justice Trilogy): The gruesome discovery of a woman’s corpse in the tourist resort of Point Jove, Missouri draws Sheriff Wolfe into the most perilous case of his career.

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