Tag: fiction

Spotlight: MALIGN INTENT

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by Robert Craven

  

FROM 

sandrasbookclub.blogspot.com

Friday, April 25, 2025

Spotlight: MALIGN INTENT by Robert Craven


Genre: Crime Mystery

Summary: “Tag, bag and bury the bastard, Crowe…”

An August bank holiday should be about relaxation, taking time out to see family and friends and enjoying a beer or two. But when former gonzo journalist, Aonghus Hanafin is found hanging along a desolate estuary, the nearest SIO to the incident, Garda Inspector Pius John Crowe, is called to examine the scene.

Crowe has seen enough dead bodies in his time to suspect that Aonghus Hanafin wasn’t the hanging kind. He discovers a puzzling detail too; the late journalist had MS.

So how could Hanafin hang himself from a tree along a desolate estuary between two rural parishes?

Directed by his superiors to close off the former journalist’s death as a suicide, Crowe delves deeper and finds Hanafins death leads to a retired Chief Justice who is slated to take a prestigious appointment in Europe. Crowe gets to learn of a Swiss bank account, with over a million Euros in it that may be fuelling a lifestyle that the retired Chief Justice, Barry Gartland can barely afford.

In this contemporary neo-noir thriller, in Crowe’s investigation into how Hanafin died, loyalties blur and justice and truth are not always what they seem, placing him in the line of fire with a powerful elite…

… and may end up costing him his life …




Author Bio: Robert Craven is an award-winning author of thrilling fiction. His novel, “Eagles Hunt Wolves,” was the winner of the 2021 Firebird Book Award for best Action/Adventure. He was born on July 2nd, 1966 in Swinton, Manchester, and now resides in Rush, Co. Dublin with his wife and family.

Robert’s passion for writing began in 1992 when he submitted a short horror story, “The Chase,” to the speculative fiction magazine FTL, which was accepted and published. Since then, he has authored several books in various genres, including the Eva series (“Get Lenin,” “Zinnman,” “A Finger of Night,” “Hollow Point,” and “Eagles Hunt Wolves”), the Steampunk novel “The Mandarin Cipher,” and the crime thriller “A Kind of Drowning.”

In addition to his novels, Robert has also had short stories published in three anthologies and two articles published in The Oslo Times online newspaper. He is also a regular reviewer of CDs for the Irish Independent Review Ireland.


Purchase links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com

Kobo: kobo.com


Social Media links:

Website:robert-cravenauthor.ie

Goodreads: goodreads.com Robert_Craven

Nontraditional Plot Structures for Neurodiverse Writers

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by Margie Pignataro

Genre: Nonfiction Literary Theory, Writer’s Guide

 


Check out the cover reveal for this free ebook that introduces neurodiverse writers (and neurotypical) to plot structures beyond the commonly used hero’s Journey. These plots are emotionally accessible, highly creative, and more “traditional” than you’d expect.

Nontraditional Plot Structures for Neurodiverse Writers

by Margie Pignataro

Genre: Nonfiction Literary Theory, Writer’s Guide


Born from a rejected dissertation proposal and reworked over the course of 15 years into a compelling exploration of narrative, Nontraditional Plot Structures for Neurodiverse Writers challenges conventional storytelling norms. This free ebook delves into how nontraditional plot structures resonate with neurodiverse writers, offering creative frameworks that align with their artistic and intellectual strengths—traits often mislabeled as obstacles.

Through engaging diagrams and dozens of links to free resources, this book examines storytelling across diverse mediums, from Oedipus the King to Squid Game, spanning novels, poetry, visual arts, television, film, theater, and even commercials. The Mona Lisa and Little Red Riding Hood provide illustrated and textual examples of each plot structure. Whether you’re a writer seeking fresh approaches or an artist questioning traditional narratives, this guide provides valuable insights into storytelling beyond the expected.

This ebook lays the groundwork for a forthcoming second edition, arriving next year, which will expand upon these ideas with deeper textual analyses, practical exercises, and hands-on guidance to help you craft your own unique narratives.

  

**Coming May 1st – and it’ll be FREE!!**




I have been writing with serious intent for thirty years. I’ve been published and produced multiple times. My education has focused on literary theory, theater history and criticism, as well as creative writing. I also sell my collage art in a Redbubble store.

I have been published as a playwright. I had articles about Shakespeare published, as well as blog pieces. I’ve self-published several novels and one book of poetry under the name Lady Ristretto. I have also worked as a freelance erotica writer with individual clients.

 

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Thea

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by Genevieve Morrissey

Genre: YA Historical Fiction

  


Poverty, prejudice, her mother’s addiction…in her quest for an education, 15-year-old Thea tries to navigate them all. But will a secret ultimately undermine her efforts?


Thea

by Genevieve Morrissey

Genre: YA Historical Fiction



Oklahoma City, 1925
Fifteen-year-old Thea Carter lives in a small garage apartment—Thea’s seventh “home” in four years—provided by her alcoholic mother’s employer, the morose and enigmatic Dr. Hallam.



School is Thea’s refuge and she’s an excellent student, but the parasitic Mrs. Carter’s instability continually threatens her dream of getting a high school diploma. In an effort to keep her mother employed and the two of them housed, Thea secretly takes on much of her mother’s work while at the same time navigating adolescence, friendships, and first love.



Dr. Hallam, impressed by her drive and intelligence, becomes Thea’s unexpected ally, but in addition to wealth and position, the doctor also has a secret that could ruin him, and shatter his bond with Thea.

 

“Thea is a coming-of-age tale with a lot of heart and charm. Author Genevieve Morrissey has written a moving story about a young girl’s journey of self-discovery…. Morrissey’s characters truly leap off the pages….. It’s a fantastic coming-of-age story for young adults and even older readers!”

– Reader’s Favorite Review


 

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Thea is the new historical novel by Genevieve Morrissey, author of the award-winning Marriage & Hanging and the popular Antlands science fiction series. She is an avid student of British and American social history who, through one of those strange little quirks of fate, spends most of her days talking with scientists. In addition to writing, Genevieve enjoys reading obscure books, travel, and solitude.

 

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Revary

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by Abigail Linhardt

Genre: YA Epic Fantasy Adventure

 


What if we could be the heroes we pretend to be? 



Revary

by Abigail Linhardt

Genre: YA Epic Fantasy Adventure



In a small Midwestern town, Celeste and her friends find escape from the pressures of senior year through their tabletop roleplaying games. But when Celeste stumbles upon a way to actually enter their imagined realm, fantasy becomes a reality.

Suddenly, the friends find themselves living out their greatest adventure. In Revary, they can be anyone they want: brave warriors, powerful mages, or cunning rogues. But as they explore this magical world of their own creation, they discover it is threatened by a mysterious force that is causing the fantastic world to vanish into darkness.

With Revary in peril and tensions rising in their world, Celeste and her friends must navigate the blurring lines between imagination and reality. As they fight to save their creation, they’ll confront fantastical dangers and the real-life issues they’ve been avoiding.

“Revary is a spellbinding journey that explores the power of friendship, the courage to face reality, and the magic of storytelling.” –ARC Review

 

 

**NEW RELEASE!!**

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Abi works part-time as a freelance ghostwriter, editor, audiobook narrator, and is one half of the partnership that owns Altered Reality Magazine. She hopes to one day make these passions her full-time job while she hunts for the next bohemian adventure.
She has published works of fiction, poetry, academia, and even won awards for her short stories in science fiction and horror. Her novel, The Trial of Two, was named an Honorable Mention in the Writer’s Digest 2021 self-publishing awards and won first place in the dark fantasy category in The BookFest Awards. Abi is also a proud mom of ferrets. She currently resides in Kansas.
She is one of nine children–all of whom share the creative spark.

  

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The Fourth Kinetic

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Clairvoyants Book 1

by Brady Moore

Genre: YA Fantasy 

 



X-Men meets Raising Dion! 


The Fourth Kinetic

Clairvoyants Book 1

by Brady Moore

Genre: YA Fantasy 



In this world, there are four strains of clairvoyants: Kinetics who can move objects with their minds, Prophets who have involuntary visions of the future, Readers who can delve into the innermost thoughts of others in an instant, and Aural who can transfer their consciousness to control the bodies of others.

At just 17 years old, Rion Grean is a Kinetic with no knowledge that he is not alone in his abilities. His protective mother had kept them constantly moving, even going as far as refusing to tell Rion about his father whom he never met. However, when an accident separates them, Rion finds himself being pursued by a covert militaristic force that sees his kind as dangerous anomalies in society. Suddenly thrust into a world filled with different factions of Clairvoyants, Rion must navigate through alliances and betrayals to determine who he can trust.

Despite his natural talents and intelligence, Rion has always struggled to make friends and find purpose in life due to his sheltered upbringing. But as he faces challenges outside of his comfort zone, he learns the true meaning of friendship and family. This is not a typical story of good versus evil; it is a deeply personal journey of self-discovery and the struggle to coexist in a society that fears what it cannot understand.

 

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Brady Moore was born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina. He began writing stories and drawing his own comic books at the age of ten and never looked back. After graduating high school he attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. In December of 2010, he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Media Studies. Heavily influenced by film and television, his writing includes elements from multiple genres and multimedia styles. He currently resides in Charlotte, NC where he enjoys writing everything from poetry to movie scripts. His ultimate goal is to see one of his works adapted for the screen.

 

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Vengeful CONspiracies

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A Sadie Sabatini Mystery Book 2

by Nicole Leiren

Genre: Cozy Mystery

 


Sadie encounters a nemesis from her past. 

Is it coincidence or is it something more sinister? 

Book 2 reveals the truth!


Vengeful CONspiracies

A Sadie Sabatini Mystery Book 2

by Nicole Leiren

Genre: Cozy Mystery



Sadie is settling into her new life in Wilson, Texas. She’s making friends and her business, Tesoro, is starting to thrive. But the past is never far behind. When two former team members come for a visit, they bring trouble in the form of a mutual enemy set on revenge threatening to disrupt Sadie’s fresh start.

 

She can’t turn her back on her team, though. They’ve been through too much together. The more Sadie tries to help, the more she suspects she might be the target of the con this time. With forces conspiring against her, the outcome of her decisions, both past and present, weigh heavily and make her question the choices she made leading to this point.

 

When their mutual enemy is found dead, alliances are tested, and wits are matched as the race to the truth reveals who can be trusted and who is running their final con. 

 

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Murderous CONsequences

A Sadie Sabatini Mystery Book 1


Sadie Sabatini thinks of herself as a modern-day Robin Hood who uses her gift as a skilled con artist to help those who have nowhere else to turn. Leading this life is rewarding, but the number of enemies are piling up. Sadie decides to lay low and start over with a new (and legitimate business) in the small town of Wilson, Texas, situated on a small peninsula in beautiful Lake Amore.

 

Trouble is never far behind though and her past catches up to her in a big way when a friend of a former mark threatens blackmail for his silence. When he turns up dead and Sadie is the prime suspect, she realizes this time she must protect herself. Her skills prove helpful as she digs deeper into the web of revenge, blackmail, and secrets to discover she’s not the only one with a past to hide.

 

As the threats mount, Sadie knows she’s closing in on the truth. She now worries that the few new friends she’s made in town are in danger because of her. With time running out, can she protect those around her and find the real killer before this new chapter in her life is conned out of a happy ending?

 

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Described by those who know her best as perky, quirky and effervescent, USA Today Best-Selling author Nicole Leiren likes to have fun — in life, with her characters and, of course, her readers. She admits to being sassy (just ask her mother!) and inspiration for her characters are drawn from the real-world heroes and heroines she meets while traversing the country.

Nicole enjoys sharing the love, laughter, mystery, and occasionally a touch of the mayhem she forces her characters to endure—all for the reader’s pleasure! Her real-world heroes and heroines will keep you turning the pages until you reach the whodunit or happily ever after (usually both!)

 

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The Woke and the Dead

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Nostalgia City Mysteries Book 5

by Mark S. Bacon

Genre: Mystery, Suspense

 


Suspenseful political mystery starts when a sunbelt governor attacks Nostalgia City theme park.


The Woke and the Dead

Nostalgia City Mysteries Book 5

by Mark S. Bacon

Genre: Mystery, Suspense

The Governor vs. Theme Park = Murder

 A public war between a governor and a theme park lights the fuse on a story of hate groups, murder, corruption, racism, and political espionage.

 

Ex-cop turned theme-park cab driver Lyle Deming finds the body of a park visitor during an LGBTQ event. The dead man catered gay weddings. Was it a hate crime?

 Arizona governor Rod Gudgel—running for re-election—calls it a random shooting. He mocks Nostalgia City theme park for its inclusiveness, uses homophobic and racial slurs, and later challenges the safety of its rides.

 When park employees demonstrating for gay rights are killed and injured, Kate Sorensen, the park’s 6’-2½” public affairs VP, slams Gudgel’s unsympathetic response. Lyle searches for shooting suspects and finds himself too close to an armed hate group while Kate digs into the governor’s past, unearthing an impossible trail of malfeasance and enraging Gudgel allies.

 Kate and Lyle run into plenty of blind alleys, deception, and dead ends, as they hurry to take down the governor and help the FBI solve hate crimes.

 With Lyle’s wry humor and Kate’s unflappability the story moves quickly as puzzles and subplots multiply and loop together threatening the park, their relationship, and their lives.

 

**PreOrder Now for Only $2.99!**

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**Don’t miss the rest of the series!!**

Find them on Amazon! 


Mark S. Bacon began his career as a Southern California newspaper police reporter, one of his crime stories becoming key evidence in a murder case that spanned decades.

Before turning to fiction, Bacon wrote business books, one of which was  printed in four languages and three editions and named best business book of the year by the Library Journal. His articles have appeared in the Washington Post, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Denver Post, San Antonio Express News, and many other publications. Most recently he was a correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Death in Nostalgia City, the first in his five-book series, was recommended by the American Library Association. Desert Kill Switch, the second series book, was the top fiction winner in the 2018 Great Southwest Book Festival.

Bacon gets some of his ideas from experience as a police reporter and also from his work as a copywriter for Knott’s Berry Farm theme park. He taught university journalism in California and Nevada and is trying to teach his golden retriever to stop pulling the leash.

 

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Outpassage

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by Janet & Chris Morris

Genre: Science Fiction

 


War and Mystery Beyond the Stars


Outpassage

by Janet & Chris Morris

Genre: Science Fiction


WAR AND MYSTERY BEYOND THE STARS

Sgt. “Det” Cox has just spent three years under psych observation on Earth; now that he’s out-system, he isn’t about to tell anyone he’s seeing aliens again. Paige Barnett has lost everything, even her name, because she knows too much about the rebellion spreading through the Earth-Space mining colonies.

Together Cox and Barnett stumble upon the mystery at the revolution’s heart and learn why the rebels are willing to die for it.

Is their discovery humanity’s worst threat or greatest gift? The authorities are willing to destroy whole planets to keep the revolution’s secret from reaching Earth… What’s to stop them from destroying two people?


“The Morrises’ blend of fast-paced narrative and meticulous research into near-space technology makes a novel you can’t put down.”
— C.J. Cherryh

“Action sequences that would make any writer proud. OUTPASSAGE is a wonderful book.”
–David Drake

“OUTPASSAGE might just be the perfect science fiction novel.”
— Jack Williamson

 **On Sale Now!!**

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Love Science Fiction?

For readers that are out of this world and can’t wait to find out what the future holds –

All SciFi books at Perseid Press are discounted for the month of January!

Get them now before they’re light years away…..

https://bit.ly/3RLP2hs

 

 

 

Best selling author Janet Morris began writing in 1976 and has since published more than 30 novels, many co-authored with her husband Chris Morris or others. Most of her fiction work has been in the fantasy and science fiction genres, although she has also written historical and other novels. Morris has written, contributed to, or edited several book-length works of non-fiction, as well as papers and articles on nonlethal weapons, developmental military technology and other defense and national security topics.

 

Christopher Crosby Morris (born 1946) is an American author of fiction and non-fiction, as well as a lyricist, musical composer, and singer-songwriter. He is married to author Janet Morris. He is a defense policy and strategy analyst and a principal in M2 Technologies, Inc. He writes primarily as Chris Morris, but occasionally uses pseudonyms.


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Opaline’s Discovery

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The Witch DNA Trilogy Book 1

by Sonja Gunter

Genre: Fantasy Romance, Romantasy, Urban Fantasy  

 


Love. Magic. Danger.

Could these three words articulate distinct spiritual essences to fuse together?

  

Opaline’s Discovery

The Witch DNA Trilogy Book 1

by Sonja Gunter

Genre: Fantasy Romance, Romantasy, Urban Fantasy  



Love. Magic. Danger.

Could these three words articulate distinct spiritual essences to fuse together?

Bookstore owner, Opaline Lunn, facilitates a Speed Dating Event, in hopes of finding her soulmate. She meets attendee Detective Eamon Dayan, who wasn’t looking for love, but sparks fly at their first kiss.

Together they unearth Opaline’s powers which lead to the discovery that she has two sisters, and someone called The Ancient One who wants to kill them.

Unraveling a myriad of mysteries, with Opaline’s newfound ability to do spells, the soulmates must find her sisters by her twenty-fifth birthday to be able to confront the evil force and save all of them.

 

**PreOrder Now!**

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I was born and raised in the cold and beautiful Minnesota, but I escaped to Illinois for seventeen years to raise my two boys, and now I call Florida home. My husband Andy, who’s always been my hero, has put up with my late night computer typing and endless stacks of papers with my stories on them. We have one furry friend as family: Chip, a sixteen year old ragdoll cat.

Life has been full of ups and downs, but I’ve made it through the hard times. I love to travel and go to Disney World to trade pins.  I’ve been a bowler for many years, and you can catch me writing my next novel at the lanes.

I encourage you to check out my web site, www.sonjagunter.com for more info and don’t be surprised if I let my Norwegian heritage come through in my stories.

Go Vikings! You betcha!

 

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Abby-Ability

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by Terrie Lynn Birney

Illustrated by Pavani Apsara

Genre: Special-Needs Children’s Book  

  


A mother of a special-needs girl (Abby) asked the author for advice on how to answer her questions: why does she have Cerebral Palsy and why is she different from her sisters?

The author and her decided to write a book that answers her questions.


Abby-Ability

by Terrie Lynn Birney

Illustrated by Pavani Apsara

Genre: Special-Needs Children’s Book  



Has your special-needs child ever asked you why he/she is different from his/her siblings or classmates?

Well, this book, Abby-Ability, is for your family.

 

Abby has questions asking why she has Cerebral Palsy, and why she is different. With her faith in God and getting answers to her questions, will Abby understand that she does have a special ability, just like everyone else?


A mother of a special-needs girl (Abby) reached out to me on Social Media, asking for advice on how to answer Abby’s questions: why does she have Cerebral Palsy and why is she different from her sisters. We decided I would write a book that answers her questions.

 

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Hello! I’m Terrie Lynn Birney.

I am a first-time children’s picture book author who has Cerebral Palsy. When I was born, the doctors said I would be “vegetable” my whole life. To those doctors I say “Ha, take that!” Not only am I pursuing a career in writing children’s books, I graduated from college with an associate degree in computer science. Since I can remember, I have enjoyed writing, especially about my feelings. My dedication to writing has grown in the last year with my newly published first book, with more in the future. Belief in myself is stronger with my faith as a Christian. I am grateful to have my loving husband for over twenty years and the support of my family. They have been with me throughout my journey.

I hope you enjoy my books.

 

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