Instagram has become a popular way for authors to connect with readers. It is much more effective than Facebook or Twitter. Author Promo Pal will help you get exposure for your book on Instagram.
(Promo runs from the first of a calendar month to the end of the calendar month – spaces are limited, so sign up soon – you can sign up for only one month, or continue to use the service for as many months as you’d like, as long as space is available. You can promote the same book, or a different one each month)
Here’s what you get for $35…
1 – Author Promo Pal will create 12 Instagram Images (that you can keep and use for your own promo).
2 – Author Promo Pal will share 12 Instagram posts about your book during your promo month.
3 – A Review of your book on Goodreads, BookBub and shared on Instagram. Author Promo Pal will attempt to post to Amazon, but they don’t always accept them.
(Note: This is not ‘paying for a review’ because the service is for the overall promo, but as a bonus, it includes a review.)
To sign up, contact T.P. Warren at authorpromopal2022@gmail.com to reserve a spot.
Please help me welcome Michelle Godard-Richer with her fabulous thriller…
No matter how much you want to forget them, some things cannot be unseen.
Jessica opens her window in the middle of the night to catch a breeze, but instead, she witnesses something that will change the course of her life forever—her neighbor, David, loading his wife’s body onto the back of his truck. She soon learns David knows what she saw and will stop at nothing to eliminate the only witness to his crime. With her young son Bryce in tow, she flees across the border to Montana. She discovers her first love, Jon Kent, is back in town after an early retirement from the FBI. But he isn’t the only one in town. David surfaces to unleash hell on Jessica and everyone she loves.
Excerpt:
She scurried up the cabin stairs, glanced inside the door, and froze.
Oh, this is not good. This is not good at all.
A chair sat in the middle of the only room. Zip ties, a toolbox, a big jug of gasoline, and plastic were lined up next to each other on the floor. He meant to tie her up in the chair and torture her.
If help didn’t arrive soon, that may still be her fate.
Michelle Godard-Richer is an award-winning thriller, horror, and romance author living in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, Canada. With her degree in Criminology, she writes edge-of-your seat, suspenseful stories, with strong protagonists and diabolical villains.
Please help me welcome ML Barrs with an interesting interview and her debut novel, coming soon…
Please tell us a little about yourself, where are you from? Where do you live now? Family? Pets?
I was born in San Francisco and have called at least forty places home—almost half of those by the time I was twenty. My husband Jon and I have been together since we met in college in 1978. We’re now settled in Lacey, WA, between our daughter in Portland and our son and his family in Seattle. We have two adorable, witty, talented granddaughters. We currently have no pets, but I spend a lot of time filling birdbaths and feeders and caring for houseplants.
Where did you get the idea for Parallel Secrets?
My protagonist, TV journalist Vicky Robeson, has lived in my mind for decades. The idea for this particular story was sparked by the woman who served us breakfast while on a road trip through Arizona. My attention was captured by her striking looks, efficiency, and grace as she waited tables. As we drove away, I said to my husband that she would make a great character in a book. She was the genesis of Sam, the secretive owner of the diner in Parallel Secrets.
Why did you choose this genre (is it something you’ve written in before)?
I’ve loved mysteries ever since I read the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys stories as a child. It fascinates me how disparate, seemingly unrelated events and pieces of people’s lives fit together.
What is the most difficult thing about writing a book?
Accepting that I need to put readers first, and that I can’t expect them to follow along as I hop from one point of view to another.
Do you have another occupation, other than writer? If so, what is it and do you like it?
I worked in local television for decades, starting as a rookie reporter before moving into management. I loved the people, the adrenaline, the satisfaction of serving the community. My last news job was News Director of a station in Dallas, the fifth largest TV market in the country. I left there to be General Manager of a station in Sacramento. I’m now retired, but still an avid consumer of news.
What was your first job?
I had a lot of jobs around the house, being the oldest girl in a large family. The first outside job I had was picking strawberries. Terrible, backbreaking work. On my best day I made twelve dollars. Even back in the seventies that was lousy money.
What actors would you like in the main roles if your book were made into a movie?
Vicky: A thirty-something Sigourney Weaver. Pete: a forty-year old Sam Elliott.
If you were stranded on a deserted island and you could have 3 (inanimate) objects, what would they be?
My fully loaded Kindle, an inexhaustible battery charger, and sunglass-readers.
Is there one subject you would never write about? What is it?
I’m not going to tell you (Haha).
Have you written any other books that are not published?
Yes, a memoir.
Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?
I thought of real people’s physical appearance (and a few personality traits) as I developed each character.
Who is the most famous person you have ever met?
Clint Eastwood. I hired a reporter/anchorwoman who later married (and divorced) him.
How did you come up with the title?
It popped into my head during a writing class taught by PNWA (Pacific Northwest Writers Association)’s president, Pam Binder. She challenged us to come up with book titles on the spot, and that was one of mine. Much of the story actually evolved from the title.
How much of the book is realistic?
Other than the fictional town of Walkers Corner, the geographic and historic references are true, as are considerations about journalism and privacy.
Everyone has secrets. Some will kill to keep theirs hidden.
After a young girl goes missing, former TV crime reporter Vicky Robeson joins the search with the help of her attractive new love interest. They take his RV to a tiny town in rural Missouri that’s filled with odd characters and darker secrets. But Vicky has secrets of her own. She believes this kidnapped girl may be linked to a case she reported on nine years ago, when a mystery child was found walking on levee, bloody and unable to speak. Back then, Vicky failed to follow up clues only she knew. Now, she has a chance to redeem herself. As she uncovers secrets, it becomes clear someone will kill to keep them hidden.
Excerpt:
Vicky wasn’t entirely proud she’d find opportunity in a kidnapping, but this was also the perfect time to follow up on the levee girl mystery and find out, once and for all, whether her actions affected whatever became of little Lisa Dee.
Pete passed an old station wagon. “I checked out Google Earth. It’s mostly swamp and wild land outside town. Maybe she just got lost.”
“Don’t think so. She disappeared from in front of her house.”
“Do you think the cops will talk to you?”
“Hope so. It’ll be different not working for a news station.” Vicky’s voice was light, though her lips tightened and her gut clenched. “It’s been a few years, but I still know people.”
“Sounds good.” Pete didn’t seem to notice her disquiet. He was usually attuned to her moods, one of the many things she enjoyed about him. She had never liked so many things in one man before. Now, however, he apparently had something else on his mind.
“There’s not a lot to see right around Walkers Corner. I might take a couple of side trips to Civil War sites.”
“Good. You should. I’ll be busy.” Besides, she’d rather not have anyone, not even Pete—or especially not Pete—looking over her shoulder as she poked around in the past. Her past.
Maria Lynn Barrs is one of thirteen children—the first girl, with three older brothers—a birth order she believes shaped her essence by the time she was eight. A girl’s gotta be a bit pugnacious to get along in that environment. Amid the chaos of fourteen people living in a mobile home (not a double-wide), she turned fifteen, dropped out of school, and ran away from home. Being homeless, then working minimum wage jobs quickly grew old. She earned a GED and went to college, where she met her husband, the father of their two beloved now-grown children. She started in television news as a reporter, eventually working her way up to news director and general manager before deciding what she really wanted to do is write mysteries.
Welcome to my weekly feature where authors share about the hobbies, careers, or passions of their characters.
I’m pleased to introduce today’s guest, Amber Daulton…
Talent Untouched
Hey, guys. What’s up? I’m Trevor Madero sitting with the awesome Alicia Dean to talk about my hobby, career, and passion. Two of the three I have.
My childhood was rough, but the one thing that got me through it was music. Listening to it, talking about it, playing it—didn’t matter. My next door neighbor was a jazz man and taught me everything he knew, even gave me my first guitar. For an angry, scared kid with daddy issues, jazz was the one bright light I desperately needed.
You see, my dad was an abusive prick. He’d get drunk and knock around me and Mom, then move on to my baby sisters. After he died, you’d think I would’ve been free and happy. Not so. Good ole Pops left the family in a bind, and I had to fix it. Don’t get me wrong. I’d make the sacrifice all over again to save my mom and sisters, but the choice I made set me on a dark path. I had to work for criminals to keep my family safe. Soon enough, I became one. Still am to this day.
Even though I perform at bars and clubs and have a decent following on my social media channels, I’ll never have the opportunity to turn my hobby and passion into a career. I have too many skeletons in my closet to let anyone dig into my past and find out what I do in the cover of night. It sucks. Really. I have a great singing voice and play a mean guitar—no arrogance intended—but my talent is wasted. Untouched.
Doesn’t matter, in the grand scheme. My life is as good as it’s gonna get. My girlfriend, Shea, is the most important person in the world to me. She sees me as a good man, and I would do about anything to make that true.
Anyway, that’s it. Music, jazz, guitars—it’s my passion, but it’ll never be more than a hobby.
Will the truth send her running, or will she fight for the man she loves?rt?
Blurb:
The danger and lies are more than she can handle.
Shea O’Bannon feels like a fifth wheel around her romantically paired-off friends, but there’s too much slime in the dating pool for her to bother with it. Then she sees her two-timing ex, Trevor Madero, serenading the mostly female crowd at a live-music bar. God knows trouble follows him around, but her desire for him rushes back in anyway. After he rescues her from a handsy drunk, temptation takes over.
Determined to prove he never stepped out on Shea, Trevor slides back into her life—and her heart—with forever in mind. Even with the wall he keeps up to protect her, his secret criminal life weighs heavy on his soul and drives a wedge between them.
When the truth comes out and his enemies target them both, they’ll have to fight for their love, or kiss it goodbye.
– Book 3.5 in the sexy romantic suspense series, Arresting Onyx.
Excerpt:
Shea moaned as Trevor kissed her. He was so game, thank God. His hands roamed over her breasts and down her belly as though they had a mind of their own. She gasped as he pushed up her dress and skimmed his fingers over her mound. A thrill shot through her. She clutched his damp, corded shirt and tilted her head back as she bucked against his hand.
Angel food, my ass.
Trevor circled her achy clitoris with his thumb, despite the silk barrier of her panties between them. “Sweet enough to eat,” he murmured as he licked the line of her throat.
Her spine stiffened. How she suddenly hated that word—sweet—but he was right. If she were anything like the other women in the bar, she probably wouldn’t have worn panties. His friends had shamelessly flirted with her, so it stood to reason some of the other men there would find her attractive, too, but Trevor getting into a brawl to protect her? Bah. That wasn’t low self-esteem rearing its ugly head, but the truth. She damn well knew she was pretty, maybe even hot on a good hair day, but gorgeous like Chanel or sophisticated like Mia? No way. Lord knew she didn’t have Belle’s attitude or Calista’s statuesque figure, either, and she was okay with that.
“Stop thinking so much.” Trevor trailed kisses along her jawline.
She blinked at him. “How did you know?” A flash of lightning lit up his wicked grin and the gleam in his dark, sultry eyes. Her heart stuttered.
“You’ve stopped moaning. You’re more rigid than a drill sergeant with new recruits.” He rubbed his hands down her bare arms. “You have goosebumps too. Lean back for me. I’ll set you on fire.”
As she reclined and narrowly missed jabbing the seat belt buckle against her side, she spread her legs as far as she could in the tight confines of the backseat. Her heels clacked against the driver’s side passenger door and foggy window.
He shifted over her with a grunt and unzipped his jeans. The thick shaft that protruded from the opening bobbed as he tried to find a place to rest his knees. His left leg then slipped off the seat and hit the floorboard, and he toppled on top of her.
“Oomph.” Air rushed from her lungs. Then she giggled at the scowl creasing his face. She pushed on his shoulders to help as he braced his hands by her head and hefted himself up.
“It’s too cramped back here.”
“I noticed. Where’s your rental car? Maybe the backseat will be bigger?”
His nostrils flared in a snort. “Across the lot. Straddle me, honey.”
Amber Daulton is the author of the romantic-suspense series Arresting Onyx and several standalone novellas. Her books are published through Daulton Publishing, The Wild Rose Press, and Books to Go Now, and are available in ebook, print on demand, audio, and foreign language formats.
She lives in North Carolina with her husband and demanding cats.
Early Bird Entries for 2024 NEST (National Excellence in Story Telling Contest) – Sponsored by CROW (Central Region Oklahoma Writers:
(Please note: Your spot will not be secured until payment is made) When the time comes to submit the actual document of your story, you will be notified how to submit.
Eligibility: Novels or Short Stories that have been or will be published in 2022 or 2023
** If you have entered a previous NEST contest but did not win first place, your story is eligible as long as it meets the other requirements.
Early Bird Rate: $25.00 for Novels (50,000 words and above) – $20 for Shorts (7,500 words to 49,999 words)
** Entrants can enter as many stories as they’d like at the early bird rate, up until the 100 max is met
For now, we do not need a title or any additional information. We only need to know how many entrants want in on the early bird rate.
Complete the form and send your payment via PayPal to: Crow.OWFI.group@gmail.com – IN THE NOTE SECTION, PLEASE INCLUDE: NEST Early Bird – Novel or Short – Title IF you have it
** If you do not have PayPal, contact me at Alicia@AliciaDean.com for alternate payment methods – Please Use ‘NEST Early Bird’ as the subject line
Please help me welcome today’s guest, Diane Scott Lewis…
SPOTLIGHT Unwed and pregnant, Norah Cooper flees England to hide with her cousin in Brittany before Germany’s 1940 invasion. After her baby is stillborn, she’s trapped under the Occupation. Norah consoles herself by sketching wildlife. When she’s caught near the coast, she comes under scrutiny of the German commandant, Major August von Gottlieb.
August loathes what Hitler is doing to his country and France but is duty-bound to control the people in his jurisdiction. The young Englishwoman piques his interest. Is she a spy? He asks her to sketch his portrait so he might uncover the truth.
Soon, their relationship evolves into a passion neither can deny. He plans to sabotage a major war machine of the Reich, while she secretly helps the Resistance. Will their love ruin her and end in heartbreak? Or will they overcome the odds and survive the surging threats.
Can a damaged Englishwoman find love with her worst enemy, or will the brutality of war rip them apart?
Excerpt:
Norah sighed and blinked quickly. “I have feelings I shouldn’t have.”
“Ja. As do I.” Two lonely people, or something more? Silence followed, punctuated by rain and the whistle of wind around the building. Her eyes looked huge, and startled, even in the shadows. A woodland creature; but was he a savior or a predator?
Finally, August said, desperate to say something, “May I see what you’ve done so far on the portrait?”
She smiled, looking relieved by the change in subject. “No, not yet. I want it to be completed first.”
He moved toward her, playfully. “Just a peek won’t hurt.”
She spread her arms as if protecting her masterpiece. “Mais non. I’ll tell you when.”
August took a long step toward her. Fräulein Cooper came forward at the same time. They bumped into one another, her breasts right below his chest. He clasped her upper arms. She stared up at him, lips parted, inviting, yet wary. Past helping himself, he lowered his head and brushed his lips against hers. A tightening started low in his body.
She quivered beneath his hands, but didn’t move away, her breath warm on him.
**GIVEAWAY: Diane is giving a copy of her book to one lucky commenter!
About Diane:
Diane Parkinson (Diane Scott Lewis) grew up near San Francisco, joined the Navy at nineteen, married in Greece and raised two sons in Puerto Rico, California, and Guam. She’s a member of the Historical Novel Society and wrote book reviews for their magazine. She’s always loved travel and history and has had several historical novels published.
Diane lives with her husband and one naughty dachshund in western Pennsylvania.
Four couples, four stories: Darien Francis and Richard Li meet during a bank robbery, but she’s afraid to love again. Shane Kenniston and Beth Parker are reacquainted years after she had a crush on him, but she is a recent widow, and Shane’s life was upended by a false accusation. David Early and Kate Howard meet in the Laundromat, but her life is consumed by the needs of her disabled child, and David isn’t ready for the responsibility. Realtor Frank Ellison meets Kayla Barnes at an open house, but a mistaken first impression derails any chance of romance. Can they all overcome the obstacles to love?
Excerpt:
When she finally stopped crying, he asked, “Do you want to tell me about him?”
“No.” She backed away from him and searched her pockets for a tissue, but of course at this moment, of all times, she didn’t have one. He did, though—a whole box stood on the coffee table— and he gave her one, and she blew her nose. Her mascara was running, and her face must be blotchy and red. “This is so humiliating,” she said. “I never do this. I feel like such an idiot.”
“Why? It’s perfectly natural. I’m glad to know you’re not so tough.”
She peered at him, sniffling, and dabbed at her eyes. “You’re not, are you?”
“Which answer will get me in the least trouble?” he asked.
She laughed shakily. She felt a lot better. “If you were before, you wouldn’t be now.” He gave her another tissue, and she managed to get most of the mascara off. He rubbed away a stray smudge with his thumb, and his fingers brushed her cheek. The soft touch was even more comforting than being held in his arms. She closed her eyes.
He kissed her. It was the briefest pressure of his lips against hers, gentle and sweet, but she felt it deep inside. She opened her eyes. His were wide with surprise. “I think we just went off the clock,” she said.
Linda Griffin is a native of San Diego and has a BA in English from San Diego State University and an MLS from UCLA. As soon as she learned to read, she knew she wanted to be a “bookmaker” and wrote her first story, “Judy and the Fairies” at the age of six. She retired as fiction librarian for the San Diego Public Library to spend more time on her writing, and her stories have been published in numerous journals. Reluctant Hearts is her sixth book from the Wild Rose Press.
Two Categories – Published or Unpublished – Separate prizes for each – The first 500 words of your Fiction Short or Novel (For published, the publication date must be between January 1, 2018 and June 30, 2023)
Entry Fee: $10
Entries capped at 100
All fiction genres accepted
Prizes: (All monetary awards are in U.S. Dollars) First place: $125, a certificate and additional prizes. Second Place: $100 and a certificate Third Place: $75 and a certificate Fourth Place: $50 and a certificate Fifth Place: $25 and a certificate
Please help me welcome today’s guest, Shirley Goldberg with a fun new series…
Revamped, a Vampire Comedy
An energy vampire hungry for love meets the wisecracking woman of his parents’ nightmares.
Blurb:
Vampire Dante Allegretti hates his sucky life. Born into a family of energy siphoners, he’s desperate to reinvent himself as a fun-loving normal guy rather than a crowdsourcing parasite. To stop the draining urges, Dante resorts to grinding alternative meds in an ancient Mortar & Pestle, not knowing it contains magical properties.
Enter wisecracking thirty-year-old Sophie Arley, who lives with her clingy parents. Working three jobs and craving independence, she’s come back strong after a breakdown crashed her cozy world. So when the weird, hot guy she just met-cute asks Sophie to the movies, she agrees.
Sophie won’t spoil their magical connection by mentioning her heartbreak. And Dante dreads telling Sophie about his dark side. Will the power from the Mortar & Pestle guide them to their happily ever after despite the secrets and lies?
An excerpt/Teaser From Revamped
I marveled that since I first met Sophie, she hadn’t once lost her energy in my company. My meds were working and as long as I took them, I’d fool everyone, pass for a Foodish guy, normal as everyone else.
I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her against me. She lifted her head and I kissed her, little smooches around her mouth. She put a hand on my jaw and tilted toward me, her mouth on mine tasting faintly of cranberries and wine.
“I’ve wanted to kiss you since––”
“Since the last time you kissed me?” she teased and stepped back. “I want to be kissed and kissed well. From now on.”
“Is that a line from a movie?”
“Not sure. It could be Scarlet O’Hara. It’s something she’d say.” She peered closely at me. “You do know who Scarlet O’Hara is, don’t you?”
A fun fact about me is this is my first paranormal romance. I’d never read paranormal until I started writing books and met fellow authors who wrote paranormal, fantasy, monster romance and shape shifters—all manner of romance. I also got out of my comfy reading box and began to read across genres.
What was the most difficult thing about writing with the other authors?
Feeling afraid I wouldn’t measure up or meet my deadlines. I put pressure on myself. It was comparisonitis.
What was the best thing about writing with other authors?
The support I got from my fellow authors, concrete and emotional. Everyone shares and we all benefit. Plus, we enjoyed a tubful of laughs. And adopted pirate lingo.
Author Bio:
Shirley Goldberg is a novelist and former ESL and French teacher who’s lived in Paris, Crete, and Casablanca. She often writes about men and women of a certain age dating. Middle Ageish, Eat Your Heart Out, and A Little Bit of Lust are part of her Starting Over trilogy. Revamped, her new vampire comedy, has a younger hero who’s also starting over. Revamped is part of the Mortar & Pestle series by seven authors coming in March.
Shirley’s characters all believe you should never leave home without your sense of humor and she agrees. Her website http://midagedating.com offers a humorous look at dating in mid-life, and her friends like to guess which stories are true.
To grab the FREE Prequel to the Mortar & Pestle series, see the link below.
Author Alicia Dean 