Blog Archives

The Guardian Witch Series is Back on Amazon!

4/26/2023

The Guardian Witch story

Hidden behind the serene cliffs of the Mississippi River sits Riverdale, a city of 287,000 inhabitants. Most of them are ordinary humans. The others are under the wary eye of Arianna Calin, a fire witch who serves as Guardian and supernatural cop for the city's Olde Town district. That's where the vampires, werewolves, and other magical creatures live . . . and hunt.

Life in her twenties isn't all about work or crime, and the friends in Ari's private world are a vital part of who and what she is. But she'd never thought much about love or imagined her inner circle might one day include someone like the dark and powerful vampire Andreas.

Faced with a series of challenges—from her first murder case to a succession of criminal violence and Otherworld uprisings and an ultimate confrontation with the vampire elders, the notorious O-Seven—Ari and her companions use their wits, unique skills, and magic in the age-old battle between good and evil.

Books in the Series:

Awakening the Fire (Guardian Witch #1, revised, 2nd Edition)
Arianna Calin’s first murder case as a supernatural cop is complicated by a mysterious vampire, a virtual reality drug, an evasive pack of werewolves, and an ancient vampire feud.
https://www.amazon.com/Awakening-Fire-Guardian-Witch-1-ebook/dp/B0C1VS1CV6

Fire Within (Guardian Witch #2, revised, 2nd Edition)
Arianna refuses to believe her human friend Eddie murdered a vampire—despite his confession. Her cop partner Ryan considers the case a slam dunk, until vampires continue to die, and Ari convinces him an ancient evil is stalking the city.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C3829YM4

Moon Fire (Guardian Witch #3, revised, 2nd Edition)
On the night of the Hunter’s Moon events conspire to pull Ari in two directions, demanding that she choose to save friend or lover. She’s determined to save both…if she can keep herself alive long enough.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C39H8WR6

Blood & Fire (Guardian Witch #4, revised, 2nd Edition)
Arianna thought her biggest problem was deciding whether to move in with Andreas, then they found the body of a man killed by a black magic curse, and a vampire Enforcer arrives from Europe with an ultimatum from the vampire elders.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C39L3Q5T

Fire Storm (Guardian Witch #5, revised, 2nd Edition)
On a trip to Italy, Andreas is captured by the vampire elders, and Arianna defies her Magic Council to go after him. But the elders don’t play fair, going after her other friends, and she finds herself fighting the elders on more than one front.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C3BCDR8V

Wild Fire (Guardian Witch #6, revised, 2nd Edition)
When the vampire elders place a three million dollar bounty on Ari and Andreas, there’s no lack of would-be assassins. Then a local seer has a terrifying vision of Riverdale’s destruction and word comes that two elders are on the way. It is up to Ari and Andreas to save the day, but she’ll have to take a risky travel through time while he faces the elders alone.
Coming Soon.

Eternal Fire (Guardian Witch #7, revised, 2nd Edition)
Arianna and Andreas have something the vampire elders want, and they know the O-Seven will never leave them alone. To secure their future, their only option is to gather their forces and face the elders head-on at their castle fortress deep in the Black Forest of Germany.
Coming Soon.

All books have been revised, updated, and re-edited with new covers!
Available through Amazon for purchase or to read though Kindle Unlimited.

Coffee Chat Interview with Mystery Author George Cramer

4/19/2023

Good Morning, Booklovers!

It's time for book talk with guest mystery writer George Cramer, who's brought his featured book, NEW LIBERTY.

Welcome, George. How do you take your coffee?

GC: I take it black, always have—always will. Back awhile, I drank upwards of fifteen cups a day. Heck, I’d have a cup before bed. Now, I have trouble sleeping if I have anything with caffeine after two in the afternoon.

Ally: While I pour, please tell readers about yourself.

BIO:
An enrolled descendant of the Karuk Tribe of California, I enjoyed a forty-year investigative career in law enforcement and private and corporate investigations. I attended the Institute of American Indian Arts, earning an MFA-Creative Writing.
As a corporate and private Investigator, I conducted investigations throughout the Americas and Asia. For about five years, I kept my investigative skills honed by volunteering as a Missing Person investigator at a California Police Department.
My short stories and poems have been published in numerous anthologies. My debut novel, The Mona Lisa Sisters, was released in 2020. Robbers and Cops followed in 2022. New Liberty-A Hector Miguel Navarro Novel, the first in the series, will be out shortly.
Something unique that isn’t in your regular bio: “My father was exceptional, and his skills led to a unique experience in my teens. Dad was a horseman, a good part of his life. Pop even rode with the 11th Calvary, the Blackhorse Regiment, up to and into World War II.

Pop bought three wild donkeys in my fifteenth year, and we trained them to be pack animals. Pop made the saddles and all the equipment needed by a beast of burden. We spent over three weeks on the John Muir Trail and more weeks in the backcountry of California. In all my years, I’ve never met a man like my Pop.”

You can contact me at:
Email              gdcramer@outlook.com
Blog                https://gdcramer.com/george-cramer-blog/
FaceBook        https://facebook.com/george.cramer.56211
LinkedIn         (99+) George Cramer | LinkedIn
Amazon           Amazon.com: George Cramer: books, biography, latest update

INTERVIEW:

Ally: I always ask my guest authors about the sexual content of their books (I avoid sharing erotica), but I rarely include their responses. I made an exception this week. See below. J

GC; I had to laugh when you asked for the heat rating of any romantic scenes in my crime stories. There is no sex: my protagonist and a few others rec telephone calls while sharing a bed with wives or girlfriends. In my first draft of Robbers and Cops, I had a heated sex scene, but my two daughters immediately put the kibosh on that. So, no heat.

Ally: Does real life ever show up in your stories?

GC: Robbers and Cops was initially about one incident and then the experiences in the young life of Detective George Cramer. The story begins with depression-era brothers who become bad guys and the detective who nails them after the forty-year history of the two criminals. At about 20,000 words or so, the protagonist was a complete bore. So, I took that one incident involving a San Mateo City detective, and Cramer was given an ancillary role.

Robbers and Cops

In the poverty-stricken world of two brothers...
...sometimes crime is the only option.
Are they evil or lost souls?

Buy or read in KU: Amazon

Ally: Have you done any ghosting writing?

GC: When I was a private investigator specializing in insurance fraud, I became immersed in clinic fraud. Unscrupulous doctors, medical and chiropractic, conspired with the owners of clinics to defraud insurance carriers. A common method was to stage or cause automobile collisions. There were usually at least four in the victim vehicle; all would claim ‘whiplash.” They all went to the same clinic where the doctor would order physical therapy, often thirty or more visits. In my inspections of the clinics, I found treatment sign-in sheets with pages of signatures waiting for someone to add the dates and treatment modalities later. Sometimes the clinics billed for treatment on days they were closed for holidays.

A non-fiction book about insurance fraud needed a section on staged collision and clinic fraud. I ghostwrote the section.

Ally: Do you write with a message or theme in mind?

GC: My goal is to increase awareness in New Liberty Book III, doing so in a forceful manner that respects the families of missing women. In the November 3, 2021, issue of THE BARK, Madison Hunter wrote an article entitled MISSING AND MURDERED: UNDERSTANDING WHY INDIGENOUS WOMEN ARE MURDERED AND GO MISSING AT HIGHER RATES THAN OTHER POPULATIONS. In the article, Hunter wrote: “There is a nationwide crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. Indigenous women are more likely to go missing or be murdered than any other ethnicity.” This and programs such as “Three Pines” on prime video have begun to bring awareness to the problem.

Ally: What experiences have you had with critique groups? Did you find them valuable?

GC: When I began writing, I joined an entry-level critique group. I learned but did not enjoy the experience. The group meetings usually had about a dozen present. All genres and each person read about a thousand words, then we went around and commented on the work. It was terrible, and I almost gave up on critique groups. Then I was invited to two small groups. What a difference. While writing Robbers and Cops, I belonged to a group of four crime-mystery writers. What a difference. Without these folks, I would never have finished this book and the series coming out this year.

Ally: What is next on your writing schedule?

GC: I’ve included the cover for New Liberty, Book 1, A Hector Miguel Navarro Novel, coming May 9. Books Two and Three are slated for release later this year. Book II is about ready to go to the publisher. I’m struggling with Book III. One of the subplots is my effort to make more people aware of missing, taken, and murdered Native American women.

Ally: Which of the trivia questions did you choose?

GC:

The most memorable book you’ve read: For Whom the Bell Tolls, closely followed by To Kill a Mockingbird.
An author you’d most like to chat with: He can be no other than Ernest Hemingway. One topic would be asking him to tell me about his short story, “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber.”
The last time you road a train: Your question about trains brought back a pleasant time. My wife and I visited Japan. Traveling on our own, we took the bullet train from Tokyo to visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and the Nagasaki Peace Park. The train and the parks were unbelievable.
Best place you’ve visited: This question sure made me think. The first thing that popped into my mind was the city of Shanghai, China. I was there on business and finished early, giving me three days to wander the city. What a fantastic place. I walked miles and miles, never feeling alone or in danger. I even got to touch a rhinoceros. But after arguing with myself, I settled on Lake Shasta, California. For twenty-five years, my family vacationed there on a houseboat. What more can I say?
A book you’ve reread: I’m not very good at rereading books. There is one book I’ve reread at least a half-dozen times over the years. Yup, For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Ally: Thanks for visiting the blog, George. Before we finish, please show us your featured book.

GC: Thanks for inviting me over for a chat. This has been fun and thought-provoking.

New Liberty – A Hector Miguel Navarro Novel
Genre: mystery

Outside Phoenix, two gangs rule...

...and one police officer is caught in the middle.

How will he stop them?

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvrdESP4jTI

Pre-order (available May 9):
Amazon Barnes & Noble

Book Spotlight: Velma Gone Awry by Matt Cost

4/12/2023

Award-winning author Matt Cost brings us back to Brooklyn in the Roaring ’20s and introduces us to Hungarian private eye, 8 Ballo, who is hired to find the daughter of a wealthy businessman. The search will lead him to cross paths with Dorothy Parker, Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, Coleman Hawkins, Bugsy Siegel, Babe Ruth, and many more as he tries to uncover why Velma went awry.

8 Ballo’s mother was certain he was going to be born a girl, but when he comes out a boy, she writes down simply the number 8, as he has seven older siblings. She meant to change it to a real name at some point but never got around to it.

Now, in his mid-thirties, 8 is a college-educated man, a veteran of the Great War, jilted in love, and has his own private investigator business. He enjoys his friends, a good book, jazz music, and a very simple life. When he is hired to find the young flapper daughter of a German businessman, life suddenly becomes much more complicated.

Amazon pre-order link (book available April 12): https://www.amazon.com/Velma-Gone-Awry-Brooklyn-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0BDVBSLHN

Read the related article by Matt Cost on my J L Buck blog:
BROOKLYN IN THE ROARING 20s
https://janetlbuck.com/blog/guest-author-article-brooklyn-in-the-roaring-20s-by-matt-cost

About the Author:

Matt Cost was a history major at Trinity College. He owned a mystery bookstore, a video store, and a gym, before serving a ten-year sentence as a junior high school teacher. In 2014 he was released and began writing. And that’s what he does. He writes histories and mysteries.

Cost has published four books in the Mainely Mystery series, with the fifth, Mainely Wicked, due out in August of 2023. He has also published four books in the Clay Wolfe Trap series, with the fifth, Pirate Trap, due out in December of 2023.

For historical novels, Cost has published At Every Hazard and its sequel, Love in a Time of Hate, as well as I am Cuba. In April of 2023, Cost will combine his love of histories and mysteries into a historical PI mystery set in 1923 Brooklyn, Velma Gone Awry.

Contact the Author:

Email:             matthew-cost@comcast.net
Website:         https://www.mattcost.net
Twitter:            @MattCost8
Facebook:       https://www.facebook.com/matt.cost.3
Instagram:       https://www.instagram.com/mlangdoncost/
Goodreads:     https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13910694.Matthew_Langdon_Cost

Spotlight on NOT YOUR CHILD by Suspense Author Lis Angus

4/4/2023

Good Morning, Booklovers!

Today I’m featuring Not Your Child, a suspense novel by author Lis Angus. Please check out her interview on my JL Buck mystery blog, you’ll find it HERE.

Not Your Child
Genre: suspense

When Ottawa psychologist and single mother Susan Koss discovers that a strange man has been following her twelve-year-old daughter Maddy, she fears he’s a predator. But it’s worse than that. The man, Daniel Kazan, believes Maddy is his granddaughter, abducted as a baby—and he’s obsessed with getting her back.
Susan insists on a DNA test to disprove Daniel’s claim, but the result is one she can’t understand or explain: it says she’s not Maddy’s mother.
Then Maddy vanishes. Susan’s convinced Daniel has taken her, but he has an alibi, and two searches of his house turn up nothing. The hunt is on—police are on full mobilization, and Susan fears the worst.

Buy links:

Note: There’ll be a special ebook 99¢ sale on NOT YOUR CHILD from April 12-26, to mark the book’s one-year anniversary.
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Your-Child-Lis-Angus-ebook/dp/B09QRST379?maas=maas_adg_8A6B91EC58EC3F0283D1E75DECA38D55_afap_abs&ref_=aa_maas&tag=maas
Universal book link: https://books2read.com/notyourchild

Excerpt :

As I was putting on my coat, the doorbell rang. I looked out the window.

What the hell?

Daniel Kazan stood on my doorstep.

I went cold. How dare he? I flung open the door. “What are you doing here?” I exploded.

Confronting him, I saw that he was a few inches taller than me, and exuded a tense energy that raised my hackles. He raised his hands, palms out, a placating expression on his face. As if he were trying to calm me down or reassure me.

“I just want to talk to Hannah. I came early to catch her, before she leaves for school.”

I squared my shoulders. “Get out of here! You've been told to stay away from us!”

His face was in shadow. “I think it’s fair to want to see Hannah. I’ve waited a long time.”

The guy is nuts. “She’s not Hannah—she’s my daughter. Maddy.”

“You’re keeping her from me.” He was leaning toward me, and I had to keep from falling back. I couldn’t let myself seem weak. If he thought he’d intimidated me, what would be his next move?

My heart pounded. My hands were curled tight, my nails biting into my palms. “Damn right I’m keeping her from you. Now get off my porch before I call the police!”

What if he wouldn’t leave? I should call for help—but my phone was inside, and I didn’t want to leave him on the porch unattended.

About the Author:

I grew up in the western Canada province of Alberta. After high school I spent two years in Germany, then finished university in Ottawa, where I met my husband. We raised our two daughters in Toronto, and now live in a small town south of Ottawa.
I’ve been writing all my life, from childhood on, but abandoned fiction writing after my teen years. My early career was spent working with children and families in crisis, then later I was a telecommunications consultant and policy advisor, conference organizer, business writer and editor. I had always wanted to write a novel; after I retired I decided it was time, and plunged into writing a first draft. Meanwhile I took writing classes and joined a local writing group. I also joined the Sisters in Crime “Guppy” chapter, where I learned a lot from other writers.
My debut novel, NOT YOUR CHILD, was published in April 2022 by The Wild Rose Press, so this month is its one-year anniversary. I’m excited to celebrate this milestone—and meanwhile I am working on a second book, another standalone suspense novel.

Something unique/unusual that isn't in your regular bio: “Somehow, I’ve managed to take boat rides on several of the world’s great rivers: the Nile, the Amazon, the Danube, the Rhine, the Yangtze, the Thames. And I also toured the countries they’re in, of course. My usual travel companion is my husband, but the trip to China was with my two sisters. My older sister had dreamed of visiting China since she was a child, and we finally made it happen, and even visited sites in Tibet.”

Author links:
Website: https://lisangus.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisangusauthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lisangus1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisangus459/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59436824-not-your-child

The Guardian Witch Series is Back on Amazon!

The Guardian Witch story

Coffee Chat Interview with Mystery Author George Cramer

Book Spotlight: Velma Gone Awry by Matt Cost

Spotlight on NOT YOUR CHILD by Suspense Author Lis Angus

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