I got mentioned in another blog, this one by NY Times best-selling author Debbi Mack. This while she's busy with the launch for her latest mystery Riptide, a corker of a mystery-- my review here.
If you like mysteries, you have to grab this one-- now! It's got a limited-time price of under a buck for the e-book version. You can't beat that, even in the discount paperback rack.
And in this post, she also gives props to another Phillips, this one Louise, an Irish writer.
Nice name-- I'll have to check out her work.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Review of New Mystery- Riptide
Today we've got a review of the great new mystery Riptide, by the talented Debbi Mack (NY Times best-selling author, by the way).
Riptide launches on Monday-- great launch page here.
So here's a rundown--
Want a good, fast-paced mystery? Once again, Debbi Mack has scored a hit, this time with Riptide, the latest outing in the Sam McRae series. Here, attorney Stephanie Ann McRae (Sam) accompanies her friend Jamila, who is scheduled to speak at a Bar Association convention. Sam, who doesn't care about the boring convention, is looking forward to a nice vacation by the sea. It doesn't turn out that way, though, as Sam is roused in the middle of the night to see her friend taken for questioning in a murder.
Sam and Jamila had encountered the murder victim, a racist redneck, in previous confrontations, and when personal items of Jamila are found by the victim, the locals assume she is the killer. She hires a defense attorney, but they're up against a powerful, vengeful local family-- of which the deceased was a member.
Sam, of course, is not about to let her friend get railroaded, and starts investigating. Things just keep getting worse, as the weight of evidence mounts against her friend. Complicating things is the arrival of other people Sam has had encounters with-- some bad, some good, but of a nature Sam doesn't want to admit to.
As Sam tries to unravel the threads of what happened, she runs into a number of hostile folk, and eventually stumbles across a web of secrets and corruption. She is dogged in her pursuit of the truth, and manages to pry little bits of the puzzle out of reluctant witnesses and put the pieces together. She finds herself enmeshed in an alien world. Suffering hounding reporters, shadowy people following her, and malicious vandals, Sam tenaciously ferrets out the truth.
Another murder raises the stakes, and Sam must then race against time to expose the killer, as she herself comes under suspicion.
Sam is a great character, nice to the nice people, but sassy and snappy to the jerks. She has a quick temper for injustice, and is not afraid to speak her mind. She bribes, cajoles, and confronts people in an effort to find information. She even marches right into the lion's den, unstoppable in her quest to exonerate Jamila.
This is the third outing of Sam McRae. You'll want to read the first two, Identity Crisis and Least Wanted. The eBook of Identity Crisis cracked the New York Times e-book bestseller list in March 2011.
Debbi Mack also has a number of great stories. Check out her work.
Riptide launches on Monday-- great launch page here.
So here's a rundown--
Want a good, fast-paced mystery? Once again, Debbi Mack has scored a hit, this time with Riptide, the latest outing in the Sam McRae series. Here, attorney Stephanie Ann McRae (Sam) accompanies her friend Jamila, who is scheduled to speak at a Bar Association convention. Sam, who doesn't care about the boring convention, is looking forward to a nice vacation by the sea. It doesn't turn out that way, though, as Sam is roused in the middle of the night to see her friend taken for questioning in a murder.
Sam and Jamila had encountered the murder victim, a racist redneck, in previous confrontations, and when personal items of Jamila are found by the victim, the locals assume she is the killer. She hires a defense attorney, but they're up against a powerful, vengeful local family-- of which the deceased was a member.
Sam, of course, is not about to let her friend get railroaded, and starts investigating. Things just keep getting worse, as the weight of evidence mounts against her friend. Complicating things is the arrival of other people Sam has had encounters with-- some bad, some good, but of a nature Sam doesn't want to admit to.
As Sam tries to unravel the threads of what happened, she runs into a number of hostile folk, and eventually stumbles across a web of secrets and corruption. She is dogged in her pursuit of the truth, and manages to pry little bits of the puzzle out of reluctant witnesses and put the pieces together. She finds herself enmeshed in an alien world. Suffering hounding reporters, shadowy people following her, and malicious vandals, Sam tenaciously ferrets out the truth.
Another murder raises the stakes, and Sam must then race against time to expose the killer, as she herself comes under suspicion.
Sam is a great character, nice to the nice people, but sassy and snappy to the jerks. She has a quick temper for injustice, and is not afraid to speak her mind. She bribes, cajoles, and confronts people in an effort to find information. She even marches right into the lion's den, unstoppable in her quest to exonerate Jamila.
This is the third outing of Sam McRae. You'll want to read the first two, Identity Crisis and Least Wanted. The eBook of Identity Crisis cracked the New York Times e-book bestseller list in March 2011.
Debbi Mack also has a number of great stories. Check out her work.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
What a Week
Holy crap, how much can a person take? Here's what's happened this week.
Our washing machine died. $800 later, they deliver a new one. Completely different model, have to learn all new stuff.
Printer died. $150 later, new one. Another completely different model, have to learn all new stuff.
Browser got auto-upgraded, against our wishes. One more ****ing time, completely different model, have to learn all new stuff.
Sick of this crap. So tell me some good news!
Okay, I won the contest Keith Rawson had at his very cool blog, Bloody knuckles, Calloused fingers. It's for mystery/crime writers and readers. I get a couple of signed books. They're supposed to be quite good-- will let you know.
Tomorrow I get interviewed on national Author Radio.
And later, I get to learn how to put together a local TV show. The Nashua library is teaching us the process. Would like to interview writers for a show.
Got the proofs of my latest story collection, Strange Tales. Looks great, ordered some copies. And just got copies of my big collection of stories, Jumble Sale.
Am going to need them, as I have a talk at the Dunstable Library on March 24th, so will need to show them all my books to date.
Our washing machine died. $800 later, they deliver a new one. Completely different model, have to learn all new stuff.
Printer died. $150 later, new one. Another completely different model, have to learn all new stuff.
Browser got auto-upgraded, against our wishes. One more ****ing time, completely different model, have to learn all new stuff.
Sick of this crap. So tell me some good news!
Okay, I won the contest Keith Rawson had at his very cool blog, Bloody knuckles, Calloused fingers. It's for mystery/crime writers and readers. I get a couple of signed books. They're supposed to be quite good-- will let you know.
Tomorrow I get interviewed on national Author Radio.
And later, I get to learn how to put together a local TV show. The Nashua library is teaching us the process. Would like to interview writers for a show.
Got the proofs of my latest story collection, Strange Tales. Looks great, ordered some copies. And just got copies of my big collection of stories, Jumble Sale.
Am going to need them, as I have a talk at the Dunstable Library on March 24th, so will need to show them all my books to date.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
New Listing and Upcoming Riptide Launch
Just found out I've one of the new authors listed at Stop You're Killing Me, "a website to die for-- if you love mysteries."
These folks list the pros in the field, the ones with more than one book in the mystery world. It's where people go to find mystery writers.
It may not seem like much to some, but to a writer working for recognition, it's another rung on the ladder-- and every one counts.
***
And get ready for the launch of Riptide, the new mystery by Debbi Mack, starting a week from tomorrow. There will be lots of giveaways, so if you like free books, you might want to give a look or two.
These folks list the pros in the field, the ones with more than one book in the mystery world. It's where people go to find mystery writers.
It may not seem like much to some, but to a writer working for recognition, it's another rung on the ladder-- and every one counts.
***
And get ready for the launch of Riptide, the new mystery by Debbi Mack, starting a week from tomorrow. There will be lots of giveaways, so if you like free books, you might want to give a look or two.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
New Book Out-- Strange Tales
As part of my Insane Writing Challenge for 2012, I've been publishing my stories as collections, as ebooks and in print.
So the latest is out-- Strange Tales. A 5-story collection of magic realism stories, two of which have been published previously. With characters looking for answers, who find out the world has strange things that cannot be explained.
With another incredible cover by the very talented Melinda Phillips. I've been receiving so much praise (for the covers, at least), so if you'd like a professional cover design for your book, email her.
This brings me to half my book challenge for the year. I set a goal to publish 12 books before the end of the year, and we have 6 out so far:
Fables and Fantasies (Fantasy)
Crooked Paths (Mystery/Crime)
Halls of Horror #1 (Horror)
Halls of Horror #2 (Horror)
Jumble Sale (Mixed Genres)
Strange Tales (Magic Realism)
This plus my two mystery novels published from Briona Glen Publishing,
A Memory of Grief and A Fall From Grace.
And my non-fiction career help book,
How to Improve Your Interviewing Skills.
Still a long way to go, but one terrific start. Do you know anyone else who can get out 6 quality books-- as ebooks and print-- in less than 3 months? (Hint: talk to writers who've been doing this for years, and who finally decided that doing it yourself is quite a viable option!)
So have a look, sample the stories, and see if any of my works are for you-- ebooks are here.
So the latest is out-- Strange Tales. A 5-story collection of magic realism stories, two of which have been published previously. With characters looking for answers, who find out the world has strange things that cannot be explained.
With another incredible cover by the very talented Melinda Phillips. I've been receiving so much praise (for the covers, at least), so if you'd like a professional cover design for your book, email her.
This brings me to half my book challenge for the year. I set a goal to publish 12 books before the end of the year, and we have 6 out so far:
Fables and Fantasies (Fantasy)
Crooked Paths (Mystery/Crime)
Halls of Horror #1 (Horror)
Halls of Horror #2 (Horror)
Jumble Sale (Mixed Genres)
Strange Tales (Magic Realism)
This plus my two mystery novels published from Briona Glen Publishing,
A Memory of Grief and A Fall From Grace.
And my non-fiction career help book,
How to Improve Your Interviewing Skills.
Still a long way to go, but one terrific start. Do you know anyone else who can get out 6 quality books-- as ebooks and print-- in less than 3 months? (Hint: talk to writers who've been doing this for years, and who finally decided that doing it yourself is quite a viable option!)
So have a look, sample the stories, and see if any of my works are for you-- ebooks are here.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
My Q & A on Son of Spade
Today I'm the guest on Son of Spade, a great site dedicated to spotlighting the fictional Private Investigator.
They ask me questions about writing, about the inspiration for my Zack Taylor mystery series with the first two, "A Memory of Grief" and "A Fall From Grace."
They're interested in the whole PI concept in books, so we get into what's important about that in good mystery series. Take a look at who they like, and you'll see I'm in good company.
While Zack Taylor isn't a professional invesitgator, he's an amateur sleuth whose peculiarities allow him to help people out.
They ask me questions about writing, about the inspiration for my Zack Taylor mystery series with the first two, "A Memory of Grief" and "A Fall From Grace."
They're interested in the whole PI concept in books, so we get into what's important about that in good mystery series. Take a look at who they like, and you'll see I'm in good company.
While Zack Taylor isn't a professional invesitgator, he's an amateur sleuth whose peculiarities allow him to help people out.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Review of New Mystery- Tempest in the Tea Leaves
In this fun and frolicsome mystery by Kari Lee Townsend, we meet psychic Sylvia "Sunny" Meadows. She can see the future for others by reading tea leaves, but her own life is a mess.
Sunny leaves the big city to build a life and a new business in small-town Divinity, but things get off to a rocky start. She moves into a haunted house, complete with a scary, and possibly magical cat, whom she christens Morty.
During a tea-leaf psychic reading, Sunny sees tragedy, which comes true as the woman is murdered shortly after. Sunny becomes a suspect, and must contend with a grumpy but attractive detective that she won't admit she likes. They argue constantly, neither giving the other an inch.
To add to her troubles, her annoying, arrogant parents show up, constantly putting her down and getting in the way. Poor Sunny can't even get a proper haircut, as the salon completely messes up, and now Sunny has just too much to handle.
Circumstance keeps throwing her with the detective, and she tries to solve the case, hoping she'll get off the hook soon, as being a murder suspect isn't good for building a new business.
She's an outsider in this little hamlet, and suspects abound, mostly over a fight to save the town library. Sunny does what she can, but there's just so many things going on, it's like trying to stand still in a hurricane.
The pace reminds you of those fun screwball Hollywood movie comedies of the 30's and 40's, with rapid-fire dialog, and verbal sparring matches between couples who are right for each other, even if neither will admit it. The story hurtles at breakneck speed toward a resolution of the mystery and Sunny's personal crises.
So if you like your amatuer sleuths sassy and fun, you'll enjoy this read. It's the start of a series, so get in on the ground floor! Grab a copy of Tempest in the Tea Leaves.
Sunny leaves the big city to build a life and a new business in small-town Divinity, but things get off to a rocky start. She moves into a haunted house, complete with a scary, and possibly magical cat, whom she christens Morty.
During a tea-leaf psychic reading, Sunny sees tragedy, which comes true as the woman is murdered shortly after. Sunny becomes a suspect, and must contend with a grumpy but attractive detective that she won't admit she likes. They argue constantly, neither giving the other an inch.
To add to her troubles, her annoying, arrogant parents show up, constantly putting her down and getting in the way. Poor Sunny can't even get a proper haircut, as the salon completely messes up, and now Sunny has just too much to handle.
Circumstance keeps throwing her with the detective, and she tries to solve the case, hoping she'll get off the hook soon, as being a murder suspect isn't good for building a new business.
She's an outsider in this little hamlet, and suspects abound, mostly over a fight to save the town library. Sunny does what she can, but there's just so many things going on, it's like trying to stand still in a hurricane.
The pace reminds you of those fun screwball Hollywood movie comedies of the 30's and 40's, with rapid-fire dialog, and verbal sparring matches between couples who are right for each other, even if neither will admit it. The story hurtles at breakneck speed toward a resolution of the mystery and Sunny's personal crises.
So if you like your amatuer sleuths sassy and fun, you'll enjoy this read. It's the start of a series, so get in on the ground floor! Grab a copy of Tempest in the Tea Leaves.
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