Month: March 2018

XX v XY

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Science Fiction
Date Published: September 5, 2017
Publisher: Post Hill Press
 
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The Gender Wars won’t be fought with machines—they’ll be fought with people. And when the women of West America wage war with men in the East, it’ll be anything but unimaginative.
In East America, the most fertile women go through excruciating body- and mind-altering training until their identities satisfy that of the State. They are the “Nancys”—white hair, light eyes, and no way to differentiate themselves from their identical “sisters.” Nancy159 is fifteen. She’s auditioning to be the seventh wife of President X, the ruler of the Eastern States. If she wins, she’ll be married to the most powerful man in the world; if she loses, she’ll die.
Avis Baron is the daughter of the Luminary of West America. Recently, she stopped
taking her Amplexus pill, taken by all woman in W.A. to control their emotions. It turns
out there’s a lot she didn’t know a person could feel—especially the way she’s feeling
about her friend Ethan.
What is the source of a woman’s power? Does it come from fertility, like the Nancys suggest? Does it come from brute strength and cold calculation, like the West believes? Or could it just
be the simple beat of your own heartsong?
The world continues to collapse and the Gender Wars loom on the horizon…XX v. XY.
About the Authors

Christina Cigala is a writer and producer residing in the wilds of Los Angeles. She writes and produces television for MTV, Fox, Syfy, Speed Channel, HGTV, VH1, Spike, and TruTV. As a playwright, her work has been widely produced in regional theaters, New York, and LA. She has an MFA in Playwriting from the Actors Studio Drama School in New York and a BA from Baylor University.

Bobby Goldstein is the president of Bobby Goldstein Productions and the creator of Cheaters, one of the longest-running syndicated shows in history, now airing daily in 215 U. S. markets and in over 100 foreign countries. Goldstein has become recognized for his ability to spot cultural trends and capitalize on rebellious ideas.
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CATCH OF THE DAY by Petie McCarty

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Genre: Contemporary Romance with Suspenseful elements

Cody Ryan gets way more than she bargained for on vacation when she enters the annual all-male Loon Lake Tournament and finds herself paired with a sexy Coast Guard captain.

Gage Connor needs a break from chasing drug smugglers off the Louisiana coast and heads to Alabama to do some fishing. He lock horns with Cody Ryan the moment he arrives at Loon Lake, and the sensual sparks fly.
The mayor of Loon makes up his own rules for the private town tournament. His knucklehead son plans to cheat to win the event, and his daughter just plans to cheat to win Gage Connor.
To further complicate matters, Gage is unaware Colombians stashed uncut diamonds on his borrowed bass boat before he left Louisiana, and they want their diamonds back. The Colombians are playing for keeps and will stop at nothing to retrieve their stash — even kidnapping.



Holy cow!


Gage looked over Lila’s head and saw Cody stomping toward the dock, a big Igloo cooler in her arms, fire in her eyes, and steam escaping from her ears. He swallowed hard and tried to pry free, but Lila would have none of that.


“Now you just hold still, cutie patootie,” she drawled, “and let little ole Lila give you your good luck hug.” She crushed her barely-covered breasts against his abdomen, the neckline on her tank top drooping almost to her navel. 


Cody reached the dock and stomped so hard he could feel the vibration in the boards. Her glare could singe the fins off an alligator gar, and he had Lila stuck to him like a tick. He was a sitting duck. 


Cody looked even madder now than when she left to get the rest of her gear, which could only mean…


She was jealous. 


Of Lila. 


Cody’s glare deepened upon final approach. 


He grinned for real. 


Zeke Tumson, my ass. She likes me.


He stopped trying to struggle free of Lila and waited for Cody to get to the boat and the fireworks to begin. Lila felt his struggle cease and snuggled in closer, rubbing every inch of her front against him and laying her cheek on his chest. A week ago, Lila’s antics would have elicited a very pronounced and noticeable reaction. Today — he glanced down to check — nothing. His gaze shot to Cody steaming down the dock. Had she done this to him?


“Mmmm,” Lila cooed and squiggled her body again, “good luuuuck.”


Cody marched mere steps away. When Lila purred, Cody hesitated for the span of a second, made a sharp left, stepped down into the johnboat, and proceeded to hook up her livewell. He waited a five-count. Cody kept her head down and fooled with the tubing attached to the cooler. He had to move. If he didn’t, Lila would be in his shorts any second. 


Maybe he should let… 


Nope, bad idea. Cody would push him overboard later and drive off and leave him. Heck, she may already be planning to do just that.


He cleared his throat to be sure Cody heard. “Thanks for seeing us off, Lila,” he said politely.


No reaction from Cody.


“I didn’t come to see her off,” Lila said in a snit. “Just yoouu,” she cooed and rubbed her breasts against him again.


Cody missed it. She never looked up.


“All right, you get on back to your registration table, and let me get to my fishing.” He took her shoulders and physically set her back. 


Cody finished with the livewell and picked up a fishing rod.


Lila batted her eyelashes. “I’ll be waiting when you get back, sugar. What say we have dinner tonight?”


No way was he answering that question. He smiled and stuck a foot out to step down in the johnboat. Lila chose that instant to hook her finger into his belt loop to tug him back. 


Too late, Gage saw the butt end of Cody’s rod push off on the dock cleat, and the johnboat shot back the full three feet of loose bow and stern line. 


His sneaker stepped out into thin air, and he dropped like a rock.


He hit the water at an angle, and Lila followed him in, her index finger still hooked in his belt loop.

Petie spent a large part of her career working at Walt Disney World — “The Most Magical Place on Earth” — where she enjoyed working in the land of fairy tales by day and creating her own romantic fairy tales by night, including her new series, The Cinderella Romances. She eventually said good-bye to her “day” job to write her stories full-time. These days Petie spends her time writing sequels to her regency time-travel series, Lords in Time, and her mystery-romance-with-elements-of-suspense series, the Mystery Angel Romances.
Petie shares her home on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee with her horticulturist husband, a spoiled-rotten English Springer spaniel addicted to pimento-stuffed green olives, and a noisy Nanday conure named Sassy who made a cameo appearance in Angel to the Rescue.
Visit Petie’s web site online or her Facebook page.
Facebook ✯ Website ✯ Twitter ✯ Goodreads ✯ Amazon

 

Book Marketing

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Nancy J. Cohen's avatarNancy's Notes From Florida

SleuthFest 2018 was a great conference for mystery writers and fans. One of the first workshops I attended was given by book publicist Maryglenn McCombs. These are the points I took away from this workshop on marketing. Any mistakes are due to my misinterpretation.

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Reasons why readers buy books:

Placement (i.e. in library or on bookstore display or in airport store)
Physical Product
Online Exposure
Direct Email
Advertising
In-Person Appearance
Interest in Topic or Setting
Need for Entertainment
Author Endorsements
Hand Sales by a Bookseller
Reader Recommendations
Media such as blogs, radio, interviews, etc.

Public Relations is only one component in selling books. A publicist’s job is to create awareness of your book. But there’s no guarantee that you’ll get media coverage.

Why your book might not be selling:

You’re not meeting the above requirements
Not wide enough cast of promotional efforts
Trying to do too much at…

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Smorgasbord Posts from Your Archives – Tales from Longfellow Creek by Susanne Swanson

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FREE on Smashwords ~ ROOM 423 by Kathleen Lopez

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Jeff thought little of the change of management at work. To him it was just a new set of people coming in to run things. It was not as if his job changed at all, no one’s did. It was business as usual. It was not until another co-worker pointed out a strange occurrence since the new management took over – people had started to go missing. Jeff chalked it up to people unhappy with the change and quitting, but when his friend is the next to ‘up and quit’, never heard from again, Jeff starts to believe there is more going on than mere disgruntled employees.

Demanding to know what happened to his friend, Jeff tries to meet with the new leadership, only to get a chilly reception. He is denied repeatedly for a request to meet with his HR rep. Why can’t he talk to management? Why are they so distant? Just what is happening behind the door of Room 423?

Get it FREE on Smashwords!

Kathleen Lopez started writing early on at age 14 as a junior high school journalist, a career she continued throughout college. While professionally she has turned from the world of journalism to the corporate world of project management, she has always continued with her passion for writing short stories and poetry. Suspenseful thrillers, mysteries, and stories that take the reader along for the journey have always been among her favorites to read as well as write.

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BROKEN TRUST by C.B. Clark

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Genre: Romantic Suspense

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

After five years of hell with an abusive husband, Natasha Hartford vows never to trust another man. Then she stumbles onto a murder scene and meets sexy, stubborn Homicide Detective Chase Brandon, a take-no-prisoners tough guy who’ll settle for nothing less than the truth. Sparks fly, but Chase’s suspicions and Natasha’s innate distrust block the way to happiness.

The detective struggles with his own troubled past and is determined to find the truth behind the shadows dimming Natasha’s eyes. As more murders occur and a possible connection to her ex-husband appears, Chase fears her life is in danger.
Natasha and Chase race to find the killer before he strikes again. Their survival depends on their willingness to overcome their mistrust of one another. Will they overcome their fears and find love again?
The thick carpet muted the tapping of her high heels as she fled through the reception area and down the hall to the elevators.
She glanced down a short corridor on her left and stumbled to a stop. How had she missed the ropes of yellow police tape blocking the entry to one of the rooms? Her breath hitched in her throat. That must be where the grisly crime had occurred. The shocking truth struck her like a blow—Jonas Waverley was dead. Murdered in cold blood. She staggered and grabbed onto the wall.
“Ms. Hartford, wait.”
She glanced back.
Detective Brandon strode along the corridor toward her, his long legs eating up the distance, a determined expression on his face.
Her earlier spurt of courage vanished, and she whirled and dashed toward the bank of elevators. Chest heaving, heart pounding, she hit the button for the elevator, jabbing it again and again.
“Look, I’m sorry,” he said, catching up. “I was hard on you, but I’m just doing my job. A man was murdered.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I have to examine every possible lead, question every person of interest.”
She shuddered and stabbed the down button again. Person of interest? Her? She was a person of interest in a murder investigation?
WORDPRESS
A whimper escaped her mouth, and she drew her knees to her chest in a protective ball.
He chuckled, though mirth was absent in the chilling laugh. “This is your fault, Natasha. You pushed me too far. You know how upset I get when you’re contrary.” His furious gaze seared her like a fresh blow.
He prodded her leg with the toe of one gleaming shoe. “Well, what’s your answer, my dear? Will you do as I ask, or do we have to go through this tiring ritual again?”
She curled into a tighter ball, protecting her stomach, covering her head with her arms.
“Well?” He nudged her thigh.
“Okay. I’ll do what you want. Just stop hurting me. Please.” Her stomach twisted at the whine in her voice. She hated this. Hated the way he seeped into her soul like a vile poison and destroyed her self-respect. Hated how she cowered before him, willing to do anything to stop the pain. Hated him. Hated herself more.
He crouched beside her, and his long, thin fingers with their glossy, manicured nails connected with her cheek, caressing her skin.
She shuddered.
“Look at me, Natasha.”
She closed her eyes, refusing to obey, determined not to give in to his command, fighting to regain the tattered remnants of her dignity.
His fingers tightened, squeezing her cheek, pinching the skin. He twisted her face toward him with a jerk. “I said, look at me.”

Broken Trust is award-winning author, C.B. Clark’s fourth romantic suspense novel published by The Wild Rose Press. My Brother’s Sins and Cherished Secrets were released in 2016, and Bitter Legacy in 2017. C.B. has always loved reading, especially romances, but it wasn’t until she lost her voice for a year that she considered writing her own romantic suspense stories. She grew up in Canada’s Northwest Territories and Yukon. Graduating with a degree in Anthropology and Archaeology, she has worked as an archaeologist and an educator. She enjoys hiking, canoeing, and snowshoeing with her husband and dog near her home in the wilderness of central British Columbia.

 

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Carol Taylor’s Food Column – Hot Cross Buns and Fish Balls.

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Smorgasbord - Variety is the Spice of Life.'s avatarSmorgasbord Blog Magazine

This week Carol Taylor shows us how to prepare Hot Cross Buns and Fish Balls (sorry Carol but I am sure there is a joke in there somewhere).

There have been packets of hot cross buns in our supermarket for the last four weeks, all with long expiry dates (suspicious)… make your own from scratch and enjoy not just the flavour but the knowledge that you getting the real thing.

Carol Taylor’s Food Column – Hot Cross Buns and Fish Balls.

Yes it’s that time of the year nearly Easter although Easter Sunday falls on the 1st of April this year which is also April Fools Day

How many of you remember singing one a penny, two a penny, Hot cross buns or am I showing my age?

It became an English language Nursery Rhyme and a street cry referring to those spicy Easter buns…associated with the end of Lent.

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Monday Funnies…

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via Monday Funnies…

Smorgasbord Laughter Lines – Sherlock Holmes and the Stars at night and Ginger…

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Conflux

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Action, Military Thriller, Thriller
Date Published:  January 2018
Publisher: Balboa Press
 
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A new threat to the United States has emerged within its own borders. Deutsche Christen, a powerful paramilitary organization, led by a ruthless ex-Special Forces Officer, Carl Dietrich, is threatening to overthrow the U.S. government and assume absolute power over the country.
Bolstered by the overwhelming support provided by two foreign governments, Dietrich believes his forces to be invincible, and his future rise to power inevitable.
Hoping to garner additional members for his organization, he demands an interview with Sean Carrol, an ex-Special Forces officer and an investigative reporter for the New York International News. Dietrich orders that their meeting be held at one of the Deutsche Christen paramilitary camps. To assure Seans cooperation, he kidnaps his niece and nephew.
Understanding Dietrichs rationale for the meeting and further realizing that his niece and nephew arent going to be released, Sean develops a plan to rescue the children. Desperate, he along with Colonel Gannon, his ex-commander, reorganize his old Special Forces team and create a rescue mission.
While tensions rise worldwide and threats of war loom, panic takes center stage, as the prospect for cataclysmic destruction promises to annihilate civilization as we know it.
Praise for Conflux: Threat from the Troika:
“Written in the style of Patricia Cromwell, the author has you in the middle of the story from the first few pages. Bound to be a favorite on the beach this summer with it’s fast page turning tempo.” – John Lunde (Reader)
 
 
“…Conflux explores how panic and hatred, power and violence can cause chaos and pain, with real emotional stakes and a spark of hope for a better tomorrow. Brazzel’s skill and style makes for an enjoyable read for a wide audience of readers who enjoy living vicariously through fictional characters exhibiting strength, valor and the commitment to children’s safety.” – Pacific Book Review
About the Author

William Brazzel has been a property and casualty insurance agent for over thirty years. Dreaming of writing a novel has been a long term goal in his life. Finally, after many years of raising a family and nurturing his career, he has written his second novel “Conflux Threat from the Troika.” Unique and exciting, this novel projects a contemporary view of current day world threats that haunt and endanger all of us. With the creation of fictional characters and original scenes, he has fashioned a truly engaging and enjoyable but thought provoking storyline. Currently, he is busy working on his next project and hopes to complete it within the next year and a half.
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