Winter Blogfest: Diane L Bator

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win an ebook copy of The Bakery Lady. Simply comment on my post and tell me your favourite holiday treat!.

Pepto Bismol Christmas Cookies

Growing up, my mom always made Christmas special and I vowed that I would do the same when my three kids were born. Nothing says Christmas like a six month old and a cat rolling around beneath the tree knocking ornaments off, right? Or my personal favorite, Nerf wars around the Christmas tree. Now that they’re grown up and on their own, the tree is safer but the holidays will be much different. But there are some things will remain the same even if they’re done from afar.

Over the years, I’ve adopted a few recipes that I’ve made my own and now have to mail to my kids:

  • Nuts and bolts are a staple that everyone asks for. 
  • Who can resist caramel popcorn warm from the oven? It’s just as addictive cold too.
  • Gingerbread cookies are another favourite.
  • Pepto Bismol sugar cookies…


Yup, you read that right.

One year I tried to make sugar cookies and tinted half the batch red to make into candy canes. The red didn’t work so well. It turned bright pink. The cookies, however, became an instant hit. The kids have stories of teachers who ate them in class while teaching, we have friends who ate them all before they even went home, and I can attest to eating more than my fair share. I’ve never made plain white sugar cookies since.

When the kids were younger, we also made gingerbread houses a few years in a row, including a large gingerbread church for a wonderful woman who used to babysit the kids. She shared it with her family for Christmas that year.  Those gingerbread houses were the inspiration for my novel The Bakery Lady where Christina Davidson struggles with building the perfect gingerbread house, or any gingerbread house for that matter! All I had to do was recall the very first house I built and a story was born.

While the instructions for the gingerbread houses require a little more detail. I’d love to share my Pepto Bismol Cookie recipe. I hope you enjoy!

Peppermint Christmas Cookies (aka Pepto Bismol Cookies)

Sift together in one bowl and reserve:

2 ¾ cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

Put:  ¾ cup soft margarine in large bowl.

Add: 1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp peppermint extract

Beat with mixer or wooden spoon until mixture is light and fluffy.

Beat in flour mixture blending until smooth.

Chill 1 hour or until firm.

Roll out onto floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness.

Cut with cookie cutters.

Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

Decorate as desired.

 

Happy Holidays!

Diane Bator

From the moment Leo Blue meets the local tattoo artist’s sister Christina, he’s drawn into a web of bread dough and lies. Christina Davidson has returned to Packham with a duffle bag full of secrets. Leo soon discovers her biggest secret is Christina’s alter ego and her husband, who stands accused of murdering an up-and-coming artist. He promises to help set things straight and plans to bring husband and wife together for Christmas—even if it costs him his sanity and the love of his life.

Diane Bator is the author of several mystery novels—and series. She’s a member of Crime Writers of Canada, Sisters in Crime Toronto, International Thriller Writers and the Writers Union of Canada. When she’s not writing, she works in a small, professional theatre which will one day be subjected to immortality in a whole new series.

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Winter Blogfest: Randy Overbeck

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win copies of both award-winning books in the Haunted Shores Shores Series: Blood On The Chesapeake and Crimson At Cape May. The can even choose from an e-copy or autographed print version of the titles!.

In the True Christmas “Spirit”

When writers today pen their Christmas stories, they most likely populate them with a helpful angel or a mischievous elf, or maybe a reindeer or two or perhaps even a snowman. In fact, listening to the incessant stream of cheerful holiday songs, readers might think it was always so. Not true. Not so long ago, during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, young ones and adults would more likely have been told stories of a different kind of spirit. In England—the same country that gave us such holiday traditions as Christmas cards, eggnog and mistletoe—children and adults would have gathered around a fireplace on a wintry Christmas eve and been frightened into the Christmas “spirit” via a few creepy ghost stories.

The most famous of these eerie Christmas tales is, of course, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol with its four specters to scare straight Ebenezer Scrooge. But Dickens is hardly alone. Henry James’s most famous work, The Turn of the Screw, which also takes place on Christmas eve, is the tale of a governess who finds herself in charge of two recently orphaned children in a country house. While working, she sees the ghostly figures of a man and a woman. But are they in her mind or are they actually spooky specters? 

Another British James (M.R. James this time) contributed an intriguing short story in this tradition with “Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to You, Lad.” In this eerie ghost story, which the author originally read to friends on Christmas eve, a snooty Cambridge professor is on his holidays by the seaside when he finds an old whistle with a mysterious and unreadable Latin inscription on its side. Without knowing that the message is in fact a warning, he blows the whistle. After that, he’s haunted by terrifying nightmares and images of dark mysterious figures.

Still in the British holiday convention, A.M. Burrage’s eerie short story “Smee” is about a group of young people messing about on Christmas Eve who decide to play a game of hide and seek in a spooky house in which a young girl died years before. During the story, as the anticipation builds, the group wonder, is there another person playing alongside them?

The tradition of sharing ghost stories on Christmas eve is thought to be a throw back to the pre-Christian celebration of the Winter Solstice, a time when light dies and the veil between the living and the dead is the thinnest.  And many of these threads continue even into our time, with movie adaptations of these famous stories and magazines regularly featuring ghost stories in their Christmas issues. The BBC hosted its annual strand of “Ghost Stories for Christmas,” which spooked late night audiences through the 1970’s. Even Andy Williams joined the spooky train with his rendition of the holiday classic “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”                “They’ll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago.”

So this year, after you finish Clement C. Moore’s “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” why not snuggle down next to a fire with a cup of eggnog and read a few pages of Dark Christmas by Jeanette Winterson, In the pages you’ll follow a woman and a few friends to a haunted Victorian Manor house to celebrate Christmas. What could go wrong?

Merry Christmas to all to all a good fright!

No matter how far you run, you can never really escape a haunted past.

Darrell Henshaw—teacher, coach, and paranormal sensitive—learned this lesson the hard way. Now, with his job gone and few options, he heads for Cape May to coach a summer football camp. The resort town, with gorgeous beaches, rich history and famous Victorian mansions, might just be the getaway he needs. Only, no one told him Cape May is the most haunted seaport on the East Coast.

When a resident ghost, the Haunted Bride, stalks Darrell, begging for his help, he can’t refuse, and joins forces with Cassie, another sensitive. As Darrell and the street-wise teen investigate the bride’s death, they uncover something far more sinister than a murder. Can Darrell and Cassie expose those behind the crimes before they end up being the next victims?

Dr. Randy Overbeck is a veteran educator who has served children as a teacher and school leader. For more than three decades, his educational experiences have included responsibilities ranging from coach and yearbook advisor to principal and superintendent and he’s lived the roles of many of the characters in his stories. An accomplished writer, he has been published in trade journals, professional texts and newspapers as well as in fiction, with his third published novel. As a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Dr. Overbeck is an active member of the literary community, contributing to a writers’ critique group, serving as a mentor to emerging writers and participating in writing conferences such as Sleuthfest, Killer Nashville and the Midwest Writers Workshop. When he’s not writing or researching his next exciting novel or sharing his presentation “Things That Go Bump in the Night,” he’s spending time with his incredible family of wife, three children (and their spouses) and seven wonderful grandchildren.

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Late for Love by M.K. Scott – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. M. K. Scott will be awarding a $40 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

The senior sleuths love a good laugh, but this conundrum is no laughing matter. A missing journalist, an African Grey parrot, and a possible mob connection sound like the beginning of a bad joke. Unfortunately, there is no punchline and no one, aside from the seniors, who would dare to take the case on.

Will their first chance to handle a case on their own prove to be way too much for them to handle, and more importantly, could this first be their last?

Enjoy an Excerpt

A throat clearing drew their notice to Lance. Even though the detective was a few years younger than Marcy’s fifty, most people would never guess it with his thinning hair and pot belly. Still, his grin retained a touch of boyishness. “Leave it to you to cut to the chase.”

His eyes landed on Herman, and he then went on to make eye contact with all the sleuths. “I think you might be interested in what Marcy has to say.”

This sounded promising. “I’m listening,” Jake said, not making the mistake to answer for the others. He’d learned on previous occasions the error of assuming too much.

“Me, too!” Herman echoed.

Lola and Eunice also agreed, while Gus held a hand up to his ear and asked, “What?” with an impish look.

Eunice elbowed him and didn’t bother repeating the question. It was always hard to tell if he hadn’t heard or was just jerking their chains.

Instead of replying, Marcy unzipped her backpack with a metallic zing, filling the silence that stretched between them. She removed some manila folders with typewritten labels and numbers. Jake’s shoulders went back, and his chin went up as he recognized the cold case files. His day just got better. It made him feel like he should salute and report for a mission.

The files made a shushing sound as Marcy shuffled them casually as a person would a deck of cards. “You’d be surprised at the dozens of cold cases we have. At first, I thought Lance was bringing me files to solve because he felt sorry for me.”

“Nope.” Lance grimaced. “The budget is limited, and there are no new hires in sight. Besides, anyone who gets hired will start out on active cases. There’s no manpower.” He cleared his throat when Marcy arched her eyebrows at the last word. “I mean people power to deal with the cold cases. We do what we can, but usually move from one active case to the next.”

“That’s why we’re here.” Marcy spread out the folders and used them as a fan. “Sure, I missed you guys, but I could use a little help, too. Anyone interested?”

There was a chorus of yeses with Herman raising his hand as if still in the classroom.

Eunice, even though she was the shortest, worked her way in front of Marcy and plucked a folder at random. “I’ll take this one.”

Even though they were used to the woman’s bossy ways, no one took it lying down.

Lola snatched the plump folder from Eunice and opened it. She blinked a couple of times to bring it into focus without any luck, and then retrieved her readers that hung on a chain around her neck. “Let’s see what we have here before you go volunteering us for a case that is older than we are.”

About the Author: M. K. Scott is the husband and wife writing team behind The Painted Lady Inn Mysteries and The Talking Dog Detective Agency. Morgan K Wyatt is the general wordsmith, while her husband, Scott, is the grammar hammer and physics specialist. He uses his engineering skills to explain how fast a body falls when pushed over a cliff and various other felonious activities. The Internet and experts in the field provide forensic information, while the recipes and B and B details require a more hands-on approach. Morgan’s daughter, who manages a hotel, provides guest horror stories to fuel the plot lines. The couple’s dog, Chance, is the inspiration behind Jasper, Donna’s dog. Overall, both are fun series to create and read.

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The book will be on sale for $0.99 on the day of the tour at Amazon.



The Entitled by Nancy Boyarsky – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Nancy Boyarsky will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

A deceptively complicated retrieval throws Nicole into London’s criminal underworld

Travel to London and retrieve Abigail Fletcher, a 17-year-old in a study abroad program at the prestigious King’s College in London. The assignment sounds simple enough.

But Abigail’s return is put on indefinite hold when she’s charged with the murder of her boyfriend, a former student at King’s. Nicole believes Abigail has been framed, but the victim’s tight- knit circle of friends and relatives are most unwilling to talk to an American detective. Further complicating the case, is Abigail’s defiant and uncooperative demeanor.

As evidence stacks up against Abigail, Nicole discovers that she herself has become the next target. Nicole’s first solo case abroad as a private detective has just turned a lot deadlier than she ever anticipated.




Enjoy an Excerpt

With her phone pressed to her ear, Abigail started down the stairs. Two men entered the building and started climbing toward her. They were dressed alike, in jeans and black hoodies with the hoods pulled up. She stood aside to let them pass, but when they reached her, they stopped. Meanwhile Nicole had answered. Abigail turned away from the men to focus on her call. One of the men snatched the phone out of her hand.

“Let go!” she said. “Give it back!”

As she fought to wrestle the phone away from him, he punched her in the face. A moment later, he drove his fist into her stomach. As she doubled over in pain, she felt the sharp stab of a needle go into her arm.

About the Author:

Nancy Boyarsky is the bestselling author of the award-winning Nicole Graves Mysteries.

Reviews compared The Swap to the mysteries of Mary Higgins Clark and praised Nancy for contributing to the “women-driven mystery field with panache” (Foreword Reviews) as well as for their “hold-onto-the-bar roller coaster” plots (RT Book Reviews). Kirkus had special praise for The Bequest, concluding, “Boyarsky’s weightless complications expertly combine menace with bling, making the heroine’s adventures both nightmarish and dreamy.” Her most recent mystery, The Entitled, fifth in the series, received praise from Foreword Reviews for “vibrant street scenes, swift pacing, and Nicole’s steely nerve.” It was chosen by Apple Books as one of the most anticipated books of the fall.

Before turning to mysteries, Nancy coauthored Backroom Politics, a New York Times notable book, with her husband, Bill Boyarsky. She has written several textbooks on the justice system as well as articles for publications including the Los Angeles Times, Forbes, and McCall’s. She also contributed to political anthologies, including In the Running, about women’s political campaigns. In addition to her writing career, she was communications director for political affairs for ARCO.

The first book in the series, The Swap, won a gold medal Erik Hoffer Book Award. In response to the controversial and incendiary themes explored in the third Nicole Graves mystery, Liar Liar, Nancy Boyarsky was invited to present at the American Library Association Annual Conference in 2018 on “Women-Driven Mysteries in a Post #MeToo World.”

Each book of the Nicole Graves mystery series can be read as a stand alone. Readers are invited to connect with Nancy through her website.

Website

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Writing Drama Christmas by Joe Cosentino – Guest Blog and Giveaway

Long and Short Reviews welcomes back Joe Cosentino as he celebrates the recent release of Drama Christmas, the 11th book in the Nicky and Noah Mystery Series. Post a comment about why you love models. The one that sends us down the runway will win a gift Audible code for the audiobook of Drama Queen, the first Nicky and Noah mystery, by Joe Cosentino, performed by Michael Gilboe!

A Special Christmas Carol to Nicky and Noah fans: Writing Drama Christmas
When my eighth-grade teacher announced we were going to do A Christmas Carol as our class play, I knew I had to play Ebenezer Scrooge, the leading role. I saw past Scrooge’s greed and mistreatment of others to his lonely childhood, lost love, and strong work ethic. I adored Scrooge’s witty sense of humor. Oh, I also believed Scrooge and Marley were more than just business partners. So when contemplating Nicky and Noah’s December play production at Treemeadow College for their eleventh mystery novel, realizing every Christmas needs a good carol, I created a musical version of A Christmas Carol entitled “Call Me Carol!”

The play and the novel include the usual Nicky and Noah hilarity and of course murder! The regular cast are back this time donning their gay apparel to make the yuletide gay. The character I patterned after myself, Nicky and Noah’s best friend and gossipy department chair Martin Anderson, plays Scrooge/Carol. Hunky and hilarious well-endowed armchair sleuth, Professor of Play Directing Nicky Abbondanza, plays Scrooge’s “hard” working clerk Bob Crotchitch. Nicky’s handsome and loyal husband, Associate Professor of Acting Noah Oliver, takes on the role of Scrooge’s handsome and loyal nephew Freddy. Nicky and Noah’s starstruck son, Taavi, is a hammy Tiny Tim. Martin’s husband, the put-upon Ruben Markinson, does double-duty playing Scrooge’s “partner” Jacob Marley and the Ghost of the Lover of the Past. Martin’s sassy office assistant, Shayla Johnson, adds her indomitable sarcasm to the role of Scrooge’s Housekeeper. Finally, Nicky’s favorite target, the inept Detective Manuello, is corralled by Nicky into playing the Ghost of the Lover of the Present. Nicky and Noah’s both sets of wacky parents are also along for the bumpy ride.

New characters in this eleventh novel include gorgeous Assistant Professor of Music Barrett Knight (Ghost of the Lover of the Future) who wants to make sweet music with Nicky and Noah (pun intended). Muscleman Roman Giamani, the student set designer with a huge secret, has his design on someone else in the show. Student costumer Logan Benton and student stage manager Colton Corrigan share their tortured pasts and yearn for a happy future. Will it be a shared future? Hunky ensemble members wealthy Lucas Alencar, ex-hustler and current wanna-be reality show TV star and president Buck La Rue, and diner worker Marc Micklos all claim to be straight, but visit gay establishments. Lighting designer student Alec Griffin shines the light on everyone’s antics.

Nicky has his hands full as technical dress rehearsals for the show get off to a rocky start. Taavi falls unrequitedly in love. A homeless teenager is found living in the theatre. Ensemble members claim their belongings have been stolen. More than stockings are hung as hunky chorus members drop like snowflakes and murder after murder multiplies. As Nicky would say, “Try saying that three times fast while eating peanut butter.” Once again, Nicky and Noah use their drama skills to catch the killer before their Christmas balls get cracked. I know you’ll laugh, cry, feel romantic, and love delving into this crackling cozy mystery with a surprise ending. As Nicky would say, “I’m more excited than an anti-gay politician at a male bodybuilding competition during a costume malfunction.”

For those of you who haven’t yet ventured to the land of Nicky and Noah (and you should!), it’s a gay cozy mystery comedy series, meaning the setting is warm and cozy, the clues and murders (and laughs) come fast and furious, and there are enough plot twists and turns and a surprise ending to keep the pages turning (as Nicky would say) “faster than a hooker at a Republican convention.” At the center is the touching relationship between Professor of Play Directing Nicky Abbondanza and Associate Professor of Acting Noah Oliver. We watch them go from courting to marrying to adopting a child, all the while head over heels in love with each other (as we fall in love with them). Reviewers called the series “hysterically funny farce,” “Murder She Wrote meets Hart to Hart meets The Hardy Boys,” and “captivating whodunits.” One reviewer wrote they are the funniest books she’s ever read! Another said I’m “a master storyteller.” Who am I to argue?

In Drama Queen (Divine Magazine’s Readers’ Choice Award for Favorite LGBT Mystery, Humorous, and Contemporary Novel of the Year) Nicky directs the school play at Treemeadow College—which is named after its gay founders, Tree and Meadow. Theatre professors drops like stage curtains, and Nicky and Noah have to use their theatre skills, including impersonating other people, to figure out whodunit. In Drama Muscle Nicky and Noah don their gay Holmes and Watson personas again to find out why bodybuilding students and professors in Nicky’s bodybuilding competition at Treemeadow are dropping faster than barbells. In Drama Cruise it is summer on a ten-day cruise from San Francisco to Alaska and back. Nicky and Noah must figure out why college theatre professors are dropping like life rafts as Nicky directs a murder mystery dinner theatre show onboard ship starring Noah and other college theatre professors from across the US. Complicating matters are their both sets of wacky parents who want to embark on all the activities on and off the boat with the handsome couple. In Drama Luau Nicky is directing the luau show at the Maui Mist Resort and he and Noah need to figure out why muscular Hawaiian hula dancers are dropping like grass skirts. Their department head/best friend and his husband, Martin and Ruben, are along for the bumpy tropical ride. In Drama Detective, Nicky is directing and ultimately co-starring with his husband Noah as Holmes and Watson in a new musical Sherlock Holmes play at Treemeadow College prior to Broadway. Martin and Ruben, their sassy office assistant Shayla, Nicky’s brother Tony, and Nicky and Noah’s son Taavi are also in the cast. Of course dead bodies begin falling over like hammy actors at a curtain call. Once again Nicky and Noah use their drama skills to figure out who is lowering the streetlamps on the actors before the handsome couple get half-baked on Baker Street. In Drama Fraternity, Nicky is directing Tight End Scream Queen, a slasher movie filmed at Treemeadow College’s football fraternity house, co-starring Noah, Taavi, and Martin. Rounding out the cast are members of Treemeadow’s Christian football players’ fraternity along with two hunky screen stars. When the jammer, wide receiver, and more begin fading out with their scenes, Nicky and Noah once again need to use their drama skills to figure out who is sending young hunky actors to the cutting room floor before Nicky and Noah hit the final reel. In Drama Castle, Nicky is directing a historical film co-starring Noah and Taavi at Conall Castle in Scotland: When the Wind Blows Up Your Kilt It’s Time for A Scotch. Adding to the cast are members of the mysterious Conall family who own the castle. When hunky men in kilts topple off the drawbridge and into the mote, it’s up to Nicky and Noah to use their acting skills to figure out whodunit before Nicky and Noah land in the dungeon. In Drama Dance, during rehearsals of The Nutcracker ballet at Treemeadow, muscular dance students and faculty cause more things to rise than the Christmas tree. When cast members drop faster than Christmas balls, Nicky and Noah once again use their drama skills, including impersonating other people, to figure out who is trying to crack the Nutcracker’s nuts, trap the Mouse King, and be cavalier with the Cavalier before Nicky and Noah end up in the Christmas pudding. In Drama Faerie, Nicky and friends are doing a musical production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Treemeadow’s new Globe Theatre. With an all-male, skimpily dressed cast and a love potion gone wild, romance is in the starry night air. When hunky students and faculty in the production drop faster than their tunics and tights, Nicky and Noah use their drama skills to figure out who is taking swordplay to the extreme before Nicky and Noah end up foiled in the forest. In Drama Runway Nicky directs a runway show for the Fashion Department. When sexy male models drop faster than their leather chaps, Nicky and Noah use their drama skills to figure out who is taking the term “a cut male model” literally before Nicky and Noah end up steamed in the wardrobe steamer.

As a past professional actor and current college theatre professor/department chair, I know first-hand the hysterically funny antics, sweet romance, and captivating mystery in the worlds of theatre and academia. The Nicky and Noah mysteries are full of them! In the words of Nicky, “I’m more pleased with them than a priest creating an altar boy service manual.”

It is my great thrill, joy, and pleasure to share this eleventh novel in the series with you. So take your seats. The stage lights are coming up on an infamous miser, Victorian lovers of the past, present, and future, a not so Tiny Tim, and murder! And I love to hear from readers. So drop me a line. I’ll share it with Nicky and Noah!

It’s winter holiday time at Treemeadow College, and Theatre Professor Nicky Abbondanza, his husband Theatre Associate Professor Noah Oliver, their son Taavi, and best friends Martin and Ruben are donning their gay apparel in a musical version of Scrooge’s A Christmas Carol, entitled Call Me Carol! More than stockings are hung when hunky chorus members drop like snowflakes. Once again, our favorite thespians will need to use their drama skills to catch the killer and make the yuletide gay before their Christmas balls get cracked. You will be applauding and shouting Bravo for Joe Cosentino’s fast-paced, side-splittingly funny, edge-of-your-seat entertaining eleventh novel in this delightful series. Take your seats. The stage lights are coming up on an infamous miser, S&M savvy ghost, Victorian lovers of the past, present, and future, a not so Tiny Tim, and murder!

Enjoy an Excerpt

Smog swirled through the London street, knighted by delicate snowflakes proclaiming the winter season. Women draped in fancy layered dresses, bonnets, and gloves strolled on the arms of men sporting long three-piece suits with white ruffled fronts and black top hats.

Like an open snow globe, the quaint Victorian village at Christmastime featured a lit candle shop, bay windowed toy store, succulent butcher shop, frilly hat maker, multicolored flower shop, and cozy inn. Festive holiday wreaths and elaborately decorated trees adorned all the establishments, except for one—Ebenezer Scrooge’s Counting House.

Suddenly, jazzy music played as the street inhabitants faced front singing and dancing of their city at Christmastime, “Oh de London, It’s Not Only Merry, It’s Gay.” During the last refrain, the fog swirls turned into black gusts, and the delicate snowflakes transformed into snowdrifts. Ducking for cover, the passersby screamed and hurried off the street. The shops blurred away like a painting under a faucet.

“Stop!”

Like a good holiday fruitcake, I’m back. It’s me, Nicky Abbondanza, PhD, Professor of Play Directing at Treemeadow College, loving husband to Associate Professor of Acting Noah Oliver, and doting father of Taavi Kapule Oliver Abbondanza—who calls me the director of his latest show. You’ve probably guessed the show is Scrooge’s A Christmas Carol. As many of you know, Treemeadow College in picturesque Vermont was founded by gay couple, Harold Tree and Jacob Meadow, whose bronze likenesses are celebrated at the college’s entrance—where many a grateful student has relieved himself after a dorm party. Given Treemeadow’s history, we couldn’t do a straight (pardon the pun) version of the Dickens classic. So, my best friend and Theatre Department Head, Martin Anderson, threatened to put coal in his long-suffering husband’s compression stockings if Ruben Markinson didn’t agree to produce an alternative version of the famous play. Ruben, feeling the holiday spirit—and Martin’s shoe in the seat of his leisure suit—secured a grant from the Gay, Gay, and Even More Gay Foundation to cover our budget. Then Martin wrote the book, music, and lyrics to Call Me Carol!, claiming the lead role of Scrooge/Carol for himself, and offering the part of the Ghost of Jacob Marley/Scrooge’s Lover of the Past to Ruben—commenting that Ruben was as old as any ghost. As director, I cast the most talented actor in the country, if not the world, to play Scrooge’s clerk, Bob Crotchitch—me. My husband, Noah, threatened to put anti-freeze in my eggnog if I didn’t cast him as Nephew Fred in addition to his position as acting coach for the show. Our son, Taavi, had a family court judge on his cell phone until I gave him the role of Tiny Tim. New Assistant Professor of Music Barrett Knight agreed to be musical director and play the Ghost of Scrooge’s Lover of the Future—after I reminded him about his upcoming fall tenure hearing. Theatre students not anxious to get home to relatives gloating about their children making big money in the business world were cast as ensemble members. Students also took on the tasks of choreographer, set designer, lighting designer, costume designer, and stage manager. Local Detective Jose Manuello, wanting to keep an eye on the production—and on me—offered to play the Ghost of Scrooge’s Lover of the Present. Let me explain for anyone who hasn’t read the previous ten Nicky and Noah mysteries—and you should! Mystery and mayhem follow me like a Republican president and a stolen Supreme Court seat. My productions are always met with bravos and wild applause. However, they’re also rife with murder—which I always use my theatre skills to solve. Hence Manuello’s interest in me and this show.

Since you can’t see me, I’m thirty-five. Okay, you got me, I’m really a youthful forty-three, tall, with dark hair, emerald eyes, a Roman nose, sexy cleft in my chin that Noah loves to kiss, and a pretty muscular body thanks to the torture devices in our college gym. There’s something else Noah loves to kiss. Brace yourself, Nicky and Noah newbies. I have a nearly foot long penis when erect. And despite my age, it’s erect a lot. That genetic gift from the Abbondanza line has helped me catch many a murderer, and it has made my father’s bakery a favorite with the women and gay men in Kansas—especially Papa’s cream pie.

Generally, Noah, Taavi, and I wear dress shirts, dress slacks, blazers, winter overcoats, and a long scarf. Since we are donning our gay apparel for this show, we’re outfitted in Victorian-era three-piece suits that are as uncomfortable as a Democrat at an Alt Right meeting.

So here we are at the start of winter break in tech week for our show. For you non-thespians, that’s the week prior to performances when the director generally bemoans his ulcer while suffering a heart attack en route to the psychiatric ward. Sitting in my front-row center seat in the theatre house—clutching my director’s notepad and pen like a surfboard during a tsunami—I called out to the student stage manager at his console offstage left, “Colton, what’s going on?”

About the Author:
Joe Cosentino was voted Favorite MM Mystery, Humorous, and Contemporary Author of the Year by the readers of Divine Magazine for Drama Queen, the first Nicky and Noah mystery novel. He is also the author of the remaining Nicky and Noah mysteries: Drama Muscle, Drama Cruise, Drama Luau, Drama Detective, Drama Fraternity, Drama Castle, Drama Dance, Drama Faerie, Drama Runway, Drama Christmas; the Player Piano Mysteries: The Player and The Player’s Encore; the Jana Lane Mysteries: Paper Doll, Porcelain Doll, Satin Doll, China Doll, Rag Doll; the Cozzi Cove series: Cozzi Cove: Bouncing Back, Moving Forward, Stepping Out, New Beginnings, Happy Endings; the In My Heart Anthology: An Infatuation & A Shooting Star; the Tales from Fairyland Anthology: The Naked Prince and Other Tales from Fairyland and Holiday Tales from Fairyland; the Bobby and Paolo Holiday Stories Anthology: A Home for the Holidays, The Perfect Gift, The First Noel; and the Found At Last Anthology: Finding Giorgio and Finding Armando. His books have won numerous Book of the Month awards and Rainbow Award Honorable Mentions. As an actor, Joe appeared in principal roles in film, television, and theatre, opposite stars such as Bruce Willis, Rosie O’Donnell, Nathan Lane, Jason Robards, and Holland Taylor. He received his Master of Fine Arts degree from Goddard College, Master’s degree from SUNY New Paltz, and is currently a happily married college theatre professor/department chair residing in New York State.

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Mimi’s Paris Dilemma by Elizabeth Cooke – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Elizabeth Cooke will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Mimi’s Paris dilemma overwhelms her. She feels desolate, unappreciated, her celebrity status lost. The Parisiennes, the women of Paris, have turned against her. They are sympathique to the fate of a woman incarcerated for murder and reject Mimi, who was instrumental in bringing about that fate.

In this, Book Two of The Mimi Series, new crimes are committed. Mimi again is instrumental in helping solve them because of her sensitive petit nez, which pursues nasal clues where no human can follow.

Where few are aware of how truly skillful the little dog is, they slowly come to realize her value, and Mimi’s reputation is gradually restored to its full power.

Enjoy an Excerpt

“Different indeed,” Nicole exclaimed. “More like unique.

Imagine having a dog as co-anchor on an interview show like the popular TONIGHT!”

“Unique, eh?” Rene countered.

“I can’t wait,” Nicole enthused. “But let us start after the fate of Stephan Ledax is decided and the trial done.”

* * * * *

Three weeks went by before Nicole Marcel and Mimi became full-time co-anchors on the TONIGHT TV interview show. They waited to take up their duties until the trial of Stephan Ledax was over.

Nicole testified before the court, as did Rene Couteau, to the attempted rape in the changing room of the studio. The verdict was unanimous: guilty of sexual assault.

During the course of the proceedings, there was testimony from six other women, relating to the pattern of behavior Stephan Ledax evinced over the period of several years – involving a variety of predatory acts – some even cruel: abandonment, abortion, lack of child support.

Stephan Ledax was sentenced to eight years behind bars. As he was led away by a policewoman, his face was distorted and wet with tears.

* * * * *

And so it came to pass.

About the Author: Elizabeth Cooke, born and bred in New York City, graduate of Vassar College and The Sorbonne, is the author of several books about Paris, where she lived in the 1950s.

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Don’t Hesitate—Create! by Sydney Jamesson – Guest Blog and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Intro: Sydney Jamesson considers the challenges some women face when they begin their journey toward becoming a writer.

Don’t Hesitate—Create!

Maya Magelou, stated: “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”

If that’s the case, how come many creative women find it so hard to get themselves published?

When someone who doesn’t write creatively or professionally asks an author, “Where do you get your crazy ideas from?” You know instinctively that they haven’t the first clue about what it means to be a writer.

What they have no concept of, is the notion that being a writer is not a lifestyle choice. For some of us it’s a vocation. For others, it’s an affliction, a compulsion, an itch you can’t reach or a calling for which there is no clear-cut career opportunity.

“So, when do you find the time to write?”

Better?

Much better.

You know you’ve found a kindred spirit when they assume your propensity for the paranormal, your fascination with contemporary fiction or interest in psychological suspense is a reflection of your character and not something you dabble in like—say—flower arranging.
By asking this question the enquirer is accepting the idea that you must write, even if that means finding the time to write amid your hectic schedule. Hands up! How many of us will respond with … when everyone is sleeping, when the world is silent, or the house is empty?

It takes a special kind of dedication to become an author, regardless of the number of books sold or the number of rave reviews. Anyone who puts pen to paper, publishes their work and invites people to pass judgement deserves recognition and respect, regardless of age, education or gender.

I’ve been on the receiving end of many questions similar to those I’ve mentioned and others just as pertinent. The truth is, as female writers running homes, holding down jobs and raising families we must either make sacrifices in order to write, suffer in silence or live with the guilt for undertaking what is seen by some as a self-indulgent form of behaviour. Rather than respond to probing questions with an outpouring of self-censure and guilt, most of us keep quiet and downplay what we do and our achievements.

Uninspired authors see a trend and follow it, but the nature of a creative mind it to produce something new, something undiscovered. Then, to meld it into a coherent and incredible masterpiece. In other words, produce a piece of fiction that stirs the soul, pulls at the heartstrings, causes a beating heart to palpate and allows a reader’s imagination to take flight.

We write about what we know, what we are passionate about and that which takes root within the realms of our imagination anticipating that, one day, it will blossom and force its way out one way or another through painting or poetry or prose…

The words and images we conceive will not and should not be held captive, not when some of us live to create—it’s in our blood.

On her death bed Emily Derbyshire’s mother made her promise to take good care of her little sister. Keeping her promise, twelve-year-old Emily did exactly that and became five-year-old Rita’s benefactor and bodyguard.

After eighteen years of sisterly devotion Emily receives some shocking news! Rita has committed suicide. When disturbing details start to surface, Emily puts her highflying career on hold to seek out those responsible. She hires an American private investigator Robert Blackmoor; a motorbike riding, no-frills, computer hacker who will use any means necessary to unearth the truth.

Not surprisingly, Robert uncovers secrets from Emily’s troubled childhood and chips away at the glossy veneer of deceit which masks the truth behind, not only Rita’s life, but Emily’s imperfect life too.

Together they assemble the pieces of a sinister puzzle, revealing a cruel and corrupt world of exploitation and murder: a Dark Web into which Rita has become entangled.

As dark forces encircling Emily tighten their grip, and with everything to lose, she must make a life and death decision that she may live to regret.

Emily Parsons is a product of a difficult childhood: self-reliant, fiercely protective and willing to do whatever it takes to safeguard the wellbeing of those in her care. She has even slayed a monster, or two … or three in the name of poetic justice, and yet she is haunted by the image of a beautiful blond girl.

Sixteen-year-old Louise Travis has been abducted.

Louise’ fate rested in Emily’s hands, but she let her slip through her fingers like gold dust, only to be swept away by a malevolent band of brothers.

By once again enlisting the help of computer hacker, Robert Blackmoor, Emily must find Louise before she is lost forever in a Dark Web of heinous crimes, cruelty and corruption. The clock is ticking, and Emily’s investigation is drawing the wrong kind of attention, but she will not back down. She is duty bound to protect those she loves.

With skeletons from her past being unearthed, who can she turn to, and who can she trust with her own sinister secrets?

Enjoy an Excerpt from DUTY OF CARE

“The whole world can become the enemy when you lose what you love.” Kristina McMorrris.

I STOOD ALONE in the graveyard the day they buried my sister. There I was, Emily Parsons, the hapless figure lurking behind a gnarled oak tree—an unwelcome guest.

A savage January wind gnawed at my cheeks. It made my eyes sting; eyes already brimming with salty residue left over from a night spent sobbing into a pillow. Sapped of all strength, I leaned against the trunk, held it between my hands; gloved fingers tracing rough edges. I breathed in its wild, woody perfume; rotting branches, unclaimed timber—a steadfast pillar of support in a surreal tableau.

At our parents’ request, I didn’t show my face. Did they fear I’d cause a scene, throw myself onto the coffin?

Who knows?

Who cares?

With or without their blessing, I had to go. I had to be there to witness my little sister’s departure from this mortal coil and, if that meant enduring sniveling platitudes caught on the wind—so be it.

Our parents, family members and some of Rita’s friends circled the cavernous hole in the ground like ravens; a flock of silhouettes set against a snowy backdrop. My watery eyes lingered on the word Rita formed in purple violas on the wreath—a tiny name for someone with a big personality and an even bigger heart.

Having endured the lamentations of the priest marking the passing of a life ended much too soon, I absconded. I sprinted like a bandit between gravestones, my feet slipping on ankle deep snow that shrouded everything, creating a clean, sterile landscape. Nothing seemed out of place. Nothing except my sister’s charred body lying six foot under in a mahogany coffin fifty yards away.

I took refuge in my car and sat in silence, refusing to acknowledge the shifting congregation. Concealed behind windows veiled with condensation, I left unseen.

In those days leading up to Rita’s funeral, I cried nonstop. I would wake from dozing and the world would be as it was. I would smile through cracked lips, but then I would remember and my heart would ache and my body would shake and tears would cloud my eyes once more.

The myriad of memories we had made were my only lifeline: phone conversations, photographs and texts existing in a vacuum, authorless—a cruel kind of comfort. For the sake of my sanity, I tried to come to terms with her passing, I really did, but the realisation that the one person I loved more than any other had gone and left me behind did not make any sense to me.

We had made a pact when we were kids to never be separated.

Why had Rita broken it?

About the Author:Sydney Jamesson is a USA Today bestselling author by night and an English teacher by day. She is nocturnal by nature and loves nothing more than staying up late, listening to music and being inspired to write. She has always written creatively; in her home is one enormous wastepaper basket full of discarded phrases, opening lines and pieces of dialogue that have hit her like lightning in the middle of the night. Her USA Today bestselling trilogy, THE STORY OF US sold worldwide, and she has been thrilled to continue Ayden Stone’s and Beth Parker’s epic love story in The Story of Us Series: Into the Blue, featuring Blue Genes, Blue Hearts and Blue Moon.

More recently, Sydney has focused on psychological suspense. THE DARKEST CORNERS was her first venture into the new genre: a complex love story filled with lots of angst, emotional scenes and edge of your seat suspense as a single father and a troubled young woman confront their deepest, darkest fears together. The twists come think and fast and the ending is unforgettable!

In her latest novels, DUTY OF CARE and THE CARETAKERS – THE DUTY BOUND DUET -readers explore the seedier side of the Dark Web; witness abduction, human trafficking, and a devoted sister’s willingness to do whatever it takes to safeguard the wellbeing of those in her care. It’s a real page turner, filled with incidents which are heart-breaking and heart-stopping in equal measure!

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How I Handled the Research for the Book by Paul DeBlassie III – Guest Blog and Giveaway

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Paul DeBlassie III will be awarding $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

How I Handled the Research for the Book

Research for The Unholy jettisoned out of personal life experience and clinical psychotherapy. Patients for decades have suffered cruelties at the hand of the dark side of religion. They felt they had to hide them or they’d be shamed. I helped them to heal, and continue to see them through their life journey. So, research for The Unholy, Goddess of the Wild Thing, and the soon to be released Goddess of Everything always comes from real stuff in real dramatized into a supernatural thriller.

Writing supernatural thrillers takes what happens to us all the time and charges it up into hyperreality. William James, father of American Psychology, wrote that an unseen dimension effects everything in life, daily happenings, decisions, and determines one’s destiny and fate. In daily life, the supernatural is subtle. So, in my thrillers I pop it out into bold relief. Images and metaphors are the most powerful ways of conveying human truths.

The truth loaded into stories affects us whether we realize it or not. Images stream into our psychic bloodlines and make their way into our attitude, perspectives, and emotions. Stories we read guide us through troubling times, relationship conflicts, and decisions that must be made.

Once I’ve lived out and read about a particular truth enough, research is done. An image comes to me. It lights up along my mental screen. It’s neon bright. My stories begin with a starling image and end with a surprising conclusion that gets into the fiber of your being and makes a difference in your life.

Winner of the International Book Award and Pinnacle Book Award for Visionary Fiction! The Unholy is a dramatic story of Claire Sanchez, a young medicine woman, intent on discovering the closely-guarded secrets of her past. Forced into a life-and-death battle against an evil Archbishop, William Anarch, she confronts the dark side of religion and the horror of one man’s will to power.

Enjoy an Excerpt

“Hush now, child,” said a voice she recognized as that of her mother’s closest friend. “The man cannot harm you, mijita, as long as you are with us. We will make him think you are dead. But you must be very quiet. Ya no llores,” the woman warned, raising a finger to her lips.

The woman then carried her into a dark cave illuminated by the light of a single candle. The cave was frightening, with shadows of what appeared to be goblins and demons dancing on the red sandstone walls. “I will return for you soon. You will be safe here,” the woman said. The girl watched the woman walk away, shivering as a breeze blew through the cave’s narrow passages.

Closing her eyes, she rocked back and forth—imagining herself safe in her mother’s arms—then opened her eyes to the light of the full moon shining through the mouth of the cave. The shadows on the walls were just shadows now, no longer goblins and demons. As she slipped into a trance, images flickered in her mind. She saw the woman who had brought her to this place scattering pieces of raw meat around the open mesa where her mother had struggled, helped by two other women the girl could not identify.

Suddenly, the scene shifted to a stone ledge jutting over the mesa, and she heard the pounding footsteps of a man running toward the women. The girl felt her heart race and her breathing quicken, afraid that the bad man would spot them and kill them. Then the image shifted again, and she now saw on the mesa three gray wolves circling the raw meat and the man walking away from the granite ledge. As he left, she heard his thought: The child is dead.

About the Author Paul DeBlassie III, Ph.D. is a depth psychologist and award-winning writer living in his native New Mexico. He specializes in treating individuals in emotional and spiritual crisis. His novels, visionary thrillers, delve deep into archetypal realities as they play out dramatically in the lives of everyday people. Memberships include the Author’s Guild, Visionary Fiction Alliance, Depth Psychology Alliance, International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, and the International Association for Jungian Studies.

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The Sinister Superyacht by Ana T. Drew – Spotlight and Giveaway



This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Ana T. Drew will award a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

French tycoon Jean-Louis Ponsard is having a bad year.
Unwise investments, canceled orders, deals falling through…
In the thick of it, his yacht becomes the scene of a suspicious death, and his year of misfortune hits the bed of the Mediterranean Sea.
To make matters worse, the victim isn’t just anybody.
She’s his much-hated mother-in-law.

Onboard, caterer Julie Cavallo and her quirky grandma Rose do some poking around.
But every luxury cabin hides a secret.
Every passenger has an alibi or no reason to want the victim dead.
Discretion rules.
The crew keeps mum.
So do the marble countertops, gem-incrusted walls, and gold sinks.
When the cops take charge, things go to pieces, and not only for the Ponsard family.

Can Julie dive to the murky bottom of the sea, unravel the case, and come back up still breathing?

About the Author:

Ana T. Drew is the evil mastermind behind the recent series of murders in the fictional French town of Beldoc. When she is not writing cozy mysteries or doing mom-and-wife things, she can be found watching “The Rookie” to help her get over “Castle”. She lives in Paris but her heart is in Provence.

>>> Visit ana-drew.com for a free cookbook and a game!

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Releases November 20

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Island Secrets by Jacqueline Terrill

Long and Short Reviews welcomes Jacqueline Terrill whose latest book is Island Secrets.

What inspired you to start writing?

I knew I always was going to write books. I just didn’t know when – until a friend of mine invited me to his class at Penn State in 2013.

How long have you been writing?

Since 2013

Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?

Yes, I get lagged down and have my husband read the story, and we both come up with some plots, and great new chapters together.

Who is your favorite author and why?

Sandra Brown – She writes mystery and suspense which is my favorite type of story.

Tell us something about your newest release that is NOT in the blurb.

The story takes place on an island that my family and I vacation at yearly.

What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?

Sandra Brown, James Patterson, Mary Higgins Clark, John Grisham

How do you come up with the titles to your books?

I get down to the core meaning of the book, and change the name as the story comes together and is completed.

Describe your writing space.

Leather couch, lighting, music and ambiance.

What do you like to do when you are not writing?

Decorate around the house, gardening, and making clothing designs.

How many books have you written?

4

Which is your favorite?

Island Secrets has a special place in my heart.

Do you hear from your readers much? What do they say?

Yes, I have followers, and they’ve said that a few of my stories should be made into mini-series or movies. 🙂

When writing descriptions of your hero/ine, what feature do you start with?

Features I start with are hair color, facial description, type of hair, and height.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

plotter

Do you listen to music while writing? If so what?

seventies, eighties, and nineties

What is your favorite meal?

Spaghetti and meatballs

What would we find under your bed?

high-heels

What makes you happy?

writing

Do you write in multiple genres or just one?

I write in several genres, and it would be fun to write in a Sci-Fi or Paranormal type genre.

Could you ever co author a book with someone?

Yes

Who would you choose, and what would you write?

I could write with somebody that has a mystery tale. It would depend on who I’d write with depending on many variables.

Favorite color?

Red

In this epic mysterious haunting family vacation set in Virginia that effects a couple of lives that will last forever…

A golden doubloon lands on Ginger’s feet while walking up the beach of Virginia’s Chincoteague’s Island.

Ginger and her husband, curious about the medallion, visit a local museum seeking artifacts.

A chance encounter with a wharf, a local historian, and a coin collector, brings them to uncover the historical significance of the medallion. In this epic haunting family vacation set in Virginia that effects a couples lives that will last forever…

But soon enough the couple discovers a trove of secrets about the island since the seventh century.

What are the haunting details about the coin that brings back a curse from the mystic sea?

About the Author: Jacqueline Terrill is an Author of Chick-Lit, Historical fiction, Mystery, Paranormal, and Suspense genre’s. She’s a native of Pennsylvania. For more than twenty years she was an Entrepreneur, Business owner. She attended Shenango Valley School of Business, Gannon University for Business Marketing, and attended Penn State Shenango Valley. Jacqueline is also a member of MYSTERY WRITER’s OF AMERICA in NEW YORK.

Hello,
Nice to meet you! I’ve been reading mystery novels since I was in the sixth grade. I enjoy some great who-done-it stories and have written pretty much that way. The story to me is much more interesting trying to figure out who the antagonist could be.

I love to write with scenes of nature. Anywhere from sun-ups to sundown scenes to mountaintops, and hills. These stories create a visual of actually being right there at that place and time with my characters.

I hope that you enjoy my novels, as much as I did writing, and creating them. Writing is a journey, and with friends, this helps with a bigger, and better vision.

My husband Neil, my dog Cream, and my cat Oliver are the finest part of my everyday lifestyle. That goes without mentioning my children, and grandchildren. We live in Western Pennsylvania.

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