How to Handle Negative Criticism by Khaled Talib – Guest Blog and Giveaway

January 23, 2019 By 10 Comments


This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Khaled Talib will be awarding an Amazon Fire 7 8GB tablet to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. The prize is limited to U.S. and Canada only. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

How to handle negative criticism

The first time I saw a critical review for my debut novel, I went ballistic. Then I asked myself, why should I feel this way? The problem is, I forgot to have faith in myself and my readers. I forgot that the book will be read by many people and each person will have a different opinion. For that reason, I should never get personal.

If you believe in your work, then you should have faith that things will balance out. It’s always me, me and me. To get rid of that self-centeredness, I read what other reviewers wrote about other people’s books. And you know what? I felt comforted knowing that everyone’s in the same boat. You’d be surprise that even topnotch authors get criticized.

You can’t control people’s opinions—they have the right to say what they want to say. Some will like your book, some won’t.

I never respond to a critical reviewer. If it’s the work of a troll, I might complain to Goodreads and Amazon, but even so, I trust my readers to be discerning. I do read the criticisms, and sometimes I ponder if there’s any truth in it. I take it in my stride.

At the end of the day, it’s just an opinion. One time, I had a reviewer who said she didn’t like one of my books because it was not her cup of tea. Instead of cutting her off, I kept in touch with her, and when my other book got published, I invited her to review the new one. She enjoyed it and even wrote that it should be made into a movie. So, there you go.

The secret is to embrace differences in opinions.

The United States media is abuzz with news of the mysterious disappearance of Hollywood movie star, Goldie St. Helen.

Ex-Delta Force Blake Deco receives a tip from a Mexican friend that a drug lord, obsessed with the beautiful actress, is holding her captive in Tijuana.

With the help of a reluctant army friend, Blake mounts a daring rescue.

What he doesn’t expect is to have feelings for Goldie—or that a killer is hunting them.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Clad in tactical black, Blake rested on his chest in the dark chaparral. He watched his curly-haired friend beside him maneuver the tiny dragonfly drone with his phone. The luminous screen showed its flight path toward Dai Lo’s hacienda in the northeastern outskirts of Tijuana, nothing around it for miles.

The drone sent back images of the 375,000 square feet compound, including some of Dai Lo’s men patrolling. It hovered in front of the three-floor mansion built with stacked balconies and double-hung windows. It then swooped down to a porch with three tall columns under a pediment. Finding no entry point, Jack raised it up again.

“I’m going to circle behind,” Jack said.

“Do that,” Blake responded.

“You going to kill Dai Lo?” Jack asked.

“Not unless I have to. I’m not an assassin,” Blake said.

“So why did you give Chavez the impression you will?”

“If Chavez knew what I was thinking, he wouldn’t give me the weapons. Then how are we going to save the actress?”

“You better know what you’re doing, Blake.”

“If you still want to go on that European tour, start thinking positive.”

The tiny drone went around the mansion and flew past a lit pool, buffeting over a garden and an annex connected by a sheltered catwalk. It moved sideways until it came to a lit corner window on the third level. The visual zoomed closer to the windowsill and sent back an image that left both men recoiling with gasps.

About the Author: Khaled Talib is a former journalist with local and international exposure. He has authored three thrillers since 2014.

The author’s works have been praised by NY Times bestselling author Gayle Lynds, NY Times bestselling author Ruth Harris, USA Today bestselling author Jon Land, NY Times bestselling author Keith Thomson, K.J. Howe, and Jon McGoran.
His debut thriller, Smokescreen, was listed as one of the six “boundary-breaking indies” in 2016 by the IndieReader. His second novel, Incognito, won the Silver Award for the AuthorsDB Book Cover Contest 2017. Gun Kiss is his third novel.

Khaled, who is also a member of the International Thriller Writers, resides in Singapore.

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Buy the book (on sale for only $0.99) directly from the author or at Amazon, Smashwords, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, or iBooks.


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Winter Blogfest: Janet Poland

January 4, 2019 By 5 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win an autographed copy of Same River Twice!

On Christmas day, thousands of people assemble in Washington Crossing, PA, to observe the re-enactment of – you guessed it! – George Washington’s famed crossing of the Delaware River in 1776.

Miren Lassiter, the main character of my mystery novel, Same River Twice, attends the re-enactment, along with others who find themselves at loose ends on Christmas. Some are history buffs; some are people who don’t celebrate the holiday and are eager for an interesting outing.

It also includes people like Miren, a laid-off newspaper reporter who chooses to spend most holidays alone. She is reclusive, but not a hermit. She is a-romantic, but not a-sexual. She loves and savors her independence and privacy. She eats a holiday meal alone, then bundles up and heads for the Crossing.

Like so many who attend the event, Miren is struck by the significance of Washington’s accomplishment. After a disastrous retreat from New York, with the British in hot pursuit, he desperately needed a victory to energize his flagging troops and their cause.

Crossing the icy river in the dark, the troops, along with horses and artillery, marched down the New Jersey side to Trenton. They arrived at daybreak on the 26th, finding the British barracks still recovering from a very festive holiday.

After defeating the British forces, the American forces retraced their steps, along with hundreds of prisoners of war, and crossed the river again.

With this in mind, Miren watches the re-enactors gather by the river, welcome “George” as he emerges from the actual inn where the real George dined in 1776, and march down to the barges. They pole their way across the river, not quite as elegantly as they appear in Emanuel Leutze’s iconic painting, and climb up the bank on the Jersey side.

The re-enactors, of course, don’t march to Trenton. They don’t take prisoners, and they take the bridge instead of boats back to the Pennsylvania side. Among those in colonial uniform marching across the bridge is someone Miren recognizes. Someone she suspects of murder.

But that’s another story.

In this debut mystery, a reclusive newspaper reporter is laid off and finds her carefully guarded world upended. She inherits her scientist uncle’s cottage along the Delaware River, and with it, hidden samples of the toxic fungus he was studying.
She discovers the body of a local historian hanging from an antique gallows in a museum, and soon becomes a suspect in his murder. Mysterious intruders break into the cottage, including a burglar who steals only toothbrushes.
Only by reaching out to scientists, history buffs, and nosy neighbors can she confront the reasons behind her fear of intimacy and thwart a murderer…before she becomes the next victim.

Janet Poland is a transplant from the West Coast to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where Same River Twice is set. She is a poet, former journalist, and author of seven non-fiction books in addition to her mystery novel. She enjoys travel, flash fiction, and retweeting cute animal pictures on Twitter.

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Winter Blogfest: Stephen King

December 24, 2018 By 4 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a signed copy of Glimpse, Memoir of a Serial Killer.

Christmas with the Kings

I grew up in a loving family home, one of five kids, where Christmas was a time you looked forward to for the entire year. It wasn’t just the presents, it was the vibe. The smell of the open fire, the stocking always found at the end of the bed crammed to overflowing with goodies, no matter how late I tried to stay awake to catch Santa out.  The mountain of scrunched up discarded wrapping paper, that had to be disposed off afterwards, was so high I couldn’t see over it. Dad always went to the pub, while Mum and my Nan prepared a late lunch fit for royalty, and as I became a teen, I was allowed to go to the pub as well – I felt very adult. The lunch was amazing, and was finished off with pudding that if you were lucky, held silver coins. And, at night the family played a card game called Kings, for pennies, and my Nan always used to win. They were very special times, that brought the family together, and petty squabbles with my brothers were in abeyance. 

Now I’m an adult, and my wife and I worked tirelessly, and with massive smiles on our faces, to recreate our childhood for our children. Now, they have all moved out with partners of their own, and I am delighted to say, my wife is still a bigger Christmas addict than ever; and I love it.

Out house is still festooned with outdoor lights that make the city dim when we turn them on. Inside her tree is breathtaking, adorned with baubles collected from around the world. The living areas more resemble Santa’s Grotto, than a suburban home, and I am pleased to report, my children have become a facsimile of their mother.

It’s that one time of the year, when regardless of your beliefs, it’s about family, giving, and love – after sixty years, the spirit of Christmas is alive and well in the King household.

Thirty-Three Days

Jenny is a lonely university lecturer whose consciousness has traveled back in time to her younger body to try to save the future of the world. A young microbiologist is going to release genetically modified wheat that will mutate and ultimately destroy all plant life, leaving nothing but barren windswept dust bowls.

In the past, Jenny finds a love that has been missing from her life; the kind that comes just once in a lifetime. But Jenny can only stay in that time period for thirty-three days. Meanwhile, in the future, fearful Jenny will fail; plans are made to send another back in time-an assassin. How can she choose between saving the man she loves and saving the future?

About the Author: I left Perth, Australia in 1975 to go East and find fame and fortune in the music business as a long-haired rock guitarist. I gave it all up for love and got married. Then, real life took over, children came along and I threatened to write a book for so many years my long-suffering wife eventually pushed me into it by buying me a laptop and said: “No more excuses, do it.” And so began this amazing journey.

Thrillers and crime genres have always fascinated me, and in particular, the dark world of serial killers and police procedurals. I love a good, un-put-down-able, thriller; the kind you just want to read one more chapter of at three in the morning, but you have to get up at six to go to work. Have I succeeded in creating stories that can take people to that place? I hope so.

My first book, Forever Night, was contracted and published by The Totally Entwined Group UK’s now defunct Evidence Press when they were taken over by Bonnier UK. Undeterred it was followed by a trilogy, comprising of Domin8, The Vigilante Taxi and Burial Ground, All were self published due to contractual problems with TEG, even though they gave me an editor to work with in the interim. Months passed in limbo. Repo, saw me return to two characters from Forever Night as new private investigators trying to save a man from jail for a murder he did not commit, which was also also self pubbed until the war with the big bad publisher was over and agreements were signed along with a confidentiality agreement – so I can’t talk about it.

The Wild Rose Press in NY (no more UK publishers for me) contracted Thirty-Three Days, for which I will always be grateful – they are awesome to work with. They have also contracted another Trilogy called Three Deadly Glimpses, the first is due for release on the first of October and is called, Glimpse, Memoir of a Serial Killer. Book Two: Glimpse, The Beautiful Deaths will follow shortly after as it is going through the third round of editing now, and the finale: Glimpse, The Caring Killer will be available next year.

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Thirty-Three Days buy link: http://a.co/d/8agAD4r.

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Murder at the Mill by M.B. Shaw – Spotlight

December 4, 2018 By Leave a Comment

Long and Short Reviews welcomes M.B. Shaw who is celebrating today’s release of Murder at the Mill, the first book in the Iris Grey mystery series.

A picture hides a thousand lies… And only Iris Grey can uncover the truth.

Iris Grey rents a quaint cottage in a picture-perfect Hampshire village, looking to escape from her crumbling marriage. She is drawn to the neighboring Wetherby family, and is commissioned to paint a portrait of Dominic Wetherby, a celebrated crime writer.

At the Wetherby’s Christmas Eve party, the mulled wine is in full flow – but so are tensions and rivalries among the guests. On Christmas Day, the youngest member of the Wetherby family, Lorcan, finds a body in the water. A tragic accident? Or a deadly crime?

With the snow falling, Iris enters a world of village gossip, romantic intrigue, buried secrets, and murder.

Enjoy an Excerpt

The sound of the water was deafening. This stretch of the River Itchen was narrow, little more than a stream in places, but it was deep, and the current was fast, causing the ancient waterwheel to churn and splash and creak with unexpected ferocity, like a battlefield’s roar. Somewhere in the distance, church bells were pealing, fighting their way through the din. Five o’clock. As good a time to die as any.

Tying on the stone was easy, despite the darkness and the noise and the cold that numbed one’s fingers. Everything had been easy, in fact. All that fear, the stomach-souring anticipation of the act, had been for nothing in the end. Everything had gone exactly according to plan. So far, anyway. There was a symmetry to that, at least, the satisfaction of a job well done. One could even call it a pleasure of sorts.

Across the bitterly cold water, the lights of Mill House glowed warm and inviting. Through the sash windows of the Wetherbys’ grand draw- ing room, a Christmas tree twinkled. Gaudy and colourful, rising out of a shiny sea of discarded wrapping paper, torn from joyously opened gifts, it had clearly been decorated by children, as all Christmas trees should be. Few things in life were sadder than an ‘adult’ Christmas tree, tastefully decked out in themed colours. Where was the magic in that?

Not that it mattered anymore. Nothing mattered anymore.

The water was as cold as stone, cold enough to make one flinch. But only momentarily. It was time to let go. The river opened up eagerly to receive its Christmas gift, pulling it down into the familiar black depths with the cloying, greedy embrace of a lover.

Feet first. Then legs. Torso. Head.

Gone.

About the Author: M.B Shaw is the pen-name of New York Times bestselling writer Tilly Bagshawe. A teenage single mother at 17, Tilly won a place at Cambridge University and took her baby daughter with her. She went on to enjoy a successful career before becoming a writer. As a journalist, Tilly contributed regularly to the Sunday Times, Daily Mail, and Evening Standard, before turning her hand to novels.

Tilly’s first book, ADORED, was a smash hit on both sides of the Atlantic, becoming an instant New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller. She now divides her time between the UK and America, writing her own books and the new series of Sidney Sheldon novels.

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I Want to Say These Things to Other Writers by Emma Cyrus – Guest Blog and Giveaway

November 30, 2018 By 10 Comments


This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Emma Cyrus 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.

I want to say these things, from my heart, to other writers

This is a most difficult path we’ve chosen to walk. It’s certainly more difficult for me than any of the projects I’ve worked on over several decades. Because it’s so challenging, above all it requires persistence. Persistence means different things to different people, but essentially it boils down to ‘suiting up and showing up,’ as a sports friend says.

‘Suiting up’ means calling yourself a writer and having your tools ready to go, every day. It also means thinking about your current project all the time, having it in the background while you’re showering or eating. ‘Showing up’ means being a writer every day, putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) for at least an hour, more when you can, with a clear set of goals you want to accomplish – number of words, by when, so you’re always measuring yourself against what you want.

When you acknowledge the challenge of the writer’s path, you give yourself to permission to have some suffering with it now and again. Not wallowing in it, as that would bog you down. But when good writers transition to great writers, I think it’s by going inside and pulling meaning out of that suffering.

Others have mentioned something that I think bears underscoring: you must be a fearless and ferocious self-editor. What you can let yourself get attached to is the most perfect version of your manuscript—but nothing short of that is worth being too fond of. Better to slash and burn while under your guidance than being slashed and burned by critics after you publish.

There are a number of courses, mentoring writers and editing software out there to support you in this ruthless task. I encourage you to avail yourself of them. You’ll be amazed how much better your work becomes as you keep paring, eliminating passives, explaining more clearly, strengthening a narrative. One particular program I use identifies ‘sticky’ words which tend to slow down the reading experience. It’s invaluable to have this kind of automated assessment.

Along the same lines, I encourage you to use BETA readers after you get a completed manuscript out. Their input will help you make it a better book. They’ll see things you can’t because you’re too close to it. You might not act on everything they say, but you’ll know about the concerns out there that might affect your future readers.

In addition to writing persistently every day, you can also make it a priority to read and study writing every day. Reading means both for enjoyment and for assessment and instruction, inside and outside your genre. Most important is studying the signature works of masters in your genre, as they’ve already set the bar for everyone coming after. In the world of mysteries, I try and keep up with greats like Elizabeth George, Michael Connelly, Ann Cleeves, Josephine Tey, and Tony Hillerman (my list of faves is actually much longer!).

Then, speaking of studying, making time to learn elements of your craft is most important. I’ve taken several courses at Gotham Writers Workshop and also take online writing courses. There’s never an end to what you want to keep polishing in terms of skills. You’re never done!

Even the masters will tell you what skill they’re working on currently, what they’re dissatisfied with, who they admire who does it better than they do. If you think you might not be up to snuff in character development, for example, look for writing guides and courses on that subject. Try different ones until you find your writing improving in this one area. I find that if I studt while I’m writing, I’m more aware and deliberate and the results are better.

And, finally, don’t get discouraged. Only other writers will understand what compels you, so be in touch with colleagues for feedback and support on a regular basis. This is a noble path, and you can allow yourself to be ennobled by it!

If you’d like to be in touch with me about all this, feel free to write me at emma@emmacyrus.com..

Thanks very much to Long and Short Reviews for hosting me and Life Without Shoes today.

In the great tradition of The Name of the Rose, the Brother Cadfael mysteries and Grantchester, Life Without Shoes confronts a modern-day monastic with a horrifying crime.

Father Ambrose has found a simple life leading a spiritual community in Northern California. He spends his days on guiding the farming and teaching meditation. Then, someone dumps a body in one of their orchards.

Now, the violence of the modern world has come crashing through the gates. He wants Sheriff Charlie Cormley to believe the body has nothing to do with them, but it’s not that easy. He must take on the role of sleuth to protect his community and find the truth. He finds himself moving out into the world in ways he never imagined, and life at New Life will never be the same.

Enjoy an Excerpt

He looked up to see Brother Jeremy leaning on the doorjamb, pale and shaking. The young monk clutched his sandals in one hand and wiped perspiration from his upper lip with the sleeve of his robe. “Father,” he gasped.

“Good Lord, what is it? Here, sit down.” Ambrose pulled a chair across the small office and urged Jeremy into it. He held up his hand to forestall the young man’s story until he’d poured out a glass of water and seen that the threat of fainting had passed.

Jeremy’s hand shook on the water glass. He rested his forehead on the other palm. “I…I…” he started, then, closing his eyes, “Oh, God, this is awful.”

Ambrose pulled his desk chair up close and looked intently at the young man’s face. “Just keep it simple, Jeremy, so I can understand what’s happened.”

“You asked me to pick up that trash bag someone dumped in the orchard, so I went out there with the Toyota this morning….” Here, he lowered his gaze, aware that too much time had elapsed between Ambrose’s request and his taking action. Regret and guilt played around his mouth.

“Yes, you should have been out there Saturday afternoon, but let’s forget that right now. What happened?”

“Some dogs had gotten to it, torn it open…” He gulped, then rushed on. “There was an arm sticking out of the bag.” He closed his eyes again and swallowed hard.

“An arm? Are you certain?”

About the Author: Emma was born in West Virginia and lived there until she was in high school, when her family moved to Pittsburgh. After high school, she went to Boston to go to college. She worked in different small and startup businesses until she moved into a yoga community in Pennsylvania. There, she’s worked on various projects and taught yoga.

She started the Father Ambrose series as a way of pulling together her love of good mystery stories with her deepening appreciation of the real-life magic and mystery of inner work. Father Ambrose has many characteristics in common with the leaders of her community, but his voice is probably hers, or at least what she thinks her voice would be, if she were living inside the parameters of his life.

She’s discovering the compelling nature of writing fiction and the surprises of working with what other writers have called their ‘muse.’ The creative process seems to have its own timetable and logic. The best results seem to come from stilling her own personal voice and allowing that ‘muse’ to speak.

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Top Ten Things You Might Not Know About Diane Demetre – Guest Blog and Giveaway

November 29, 2018 By 10 Comments


This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Diane Demetre 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.

Top Ten Things You Might Not Know About Diane Demetre

1. If I could interview anyone past or present, and since I’m a story teller, I’d love to interview the main character of the greatest story ever told—Jesus Christ. I’d lead with the following question…For over two thousand years, we’ve heard everyone else’s opinion on your life, now, in your own words, please share with us the truth.

2. If I had to choose a song to be my theme song it would probably be the ABBA hit Dancing Queen. However, the song which has been the touchstone of my life is the Beatles classic, Let it Be.

3. I have nearly every one of Agatha Christie’s paperbacks which I collected as a young teenager. It is probably her influence which has moved me into murder mystery writing.

4. The food I try not to keep in the fridge as I love it too much is ice-cream. My biggest treat is to have a double or triple serve of gourmet ice-cream of different flavours. Heavenly

5. My favourite drink is Bollinger champagne. Absolutely fabulous….

6. If I could have any superpower, I’d love to travel through time and dimensions at will.

7. Before I became a writer, I spent years as a motivational speaker, life coach and stress & life skills therapist.

8. One of my favourite quotes is… If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavours to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. Henry David Thoreau.

9. One of the most inspiring things that happened to me was when I met the Dali Lama. In 2007, along with a group of benefactors for his Australian tour, he reached out, clasped my hand and sat me down next to him for a photograph. His minders scurried around, obviously stunned. His Holiness rarely touches anyone. He held my hand through the photographic session, smiling and chatting to me. After the photos, he rose, bowed and left the room, leaving me and everyone wide-eyed from the encounter. The picture of His Holiness holding my hand, and me with a Cheshire Cat grin takes pride of place on my office wall.

10. Aside from the Dali Lama, probably the most famous person I ever met was Charlton Heston. Back in 1996, I was the emcee for the Australian book tour of his autobiography…In the Arena. A real man’s man, he oozed charisma, power and a commanding presence from which those people in the audience could not avert their eyes. He epitomized the true Hollywood legend. In introducing him, I also welcomed his wife, Lydia, who I knew would have been the wind beneath his wings throughout their long marriage together. As the audience clapped his arrival onstage, he turned to me and said, “Well done, and that’s my professional opinion.” Even at seventy-three years of age, with his chiselled jaw, broad shoulders and resonating voice, Mr. Heston embodied the quintessential alpha male and archetypal hero. The photo of the two of us together is another of my favourites.

She’s a ballerina with a dark secret. He’s a retired sniper with a tortured past. Will they find love or fall prey to a stalker’s deadly game?

Professional ballerina Jessie Hilton wraps her battle scars in satin pointe shoes, but there’s a deeper hurt that haunts her sleep. When a handsome man steps in to save her from a mugging, something about her hero makes her heavy heart leap. Though her career can’t afford distractions, he may be her sole source of safety when she gains the unwanted attention of a relentless stalker.

Ex-sniper Brad Jordan survived his tour of duty, but a tragic accident cost him the lives of those closest to him. With his faithful border collie Whiskey by his side, Brad gets a second chance when he protects the beautiful Jessie from danger. When the ballerina’s stalker grows more brazen, Brad’s tactical training may be their only weapon against tragedy.

Will Jessie and Brad survive a deadly game, or will the assailant destroy their chance at love?

Retribution is a standalone romantic suspense novel. If you like tough-as-toe-shoes heroines, second-chance romance, and page-turning plots, then you’ll love Diane Demetre’s heart-stopping saga.

Enjoy an Excerpt

There she was, bolting up the hallway towards him like she did every time he returned. All amber eyes and happy face, she danced and pranced, speaking an exuberant welcome as best she could through her doggy larynx.

“How’re you doing, Whiskey? You miss me?” Reaching down, he rubbed his black and white Border collie’s lopsided ears. “You are the most beautiful girl I know. Come on, let’s chow down.” As he strode down the narrow hall of his weatherboard cottage, he weaved from side to side so as not to step on her paws. “So, what did you get up to this evening? Been protecting the castle?” He opened the fridge door and Whiskey shoved her nose in where she knew her dinner waited. BJ grabbed a bag of beef brisket bones and tossed it on the kitchen bench. He’d left the lights on out of habit, rather than for Whiskey. If there was light around him, the darkness within was somehow easier to bear.

He scanned the back yard, checking the perimeters that he’d planted with impenetrable, skyward-reaching bamboo. He never knew what he expected to find. Maybe he hoped it was all a bad dream and that everything would return to the way it was. But nothing would be the same again. Regret tore at his heart as he tore open the plastic bag of bones. “Here you go, girl. Take it outside. I’ll grab a beer and join you.”

About the Author: Being a passionate woman who’s always done things a little differently, Diane’s diverse career began as a school teacher before she moved into a full-time career as a professional choreographer, director and dancer, strutting her stuff on many stages throughout Australia. She was responsible for the original multi-million dollar extravaganzas at Conrad Jupiter’s Casino, Gold Coast—Starz & Galaxies.

Following her onstage career, Diane’s thirst for knowledge led her into the field of self-development. Using her highly developed communication skills and love of people, she spent many years as a stress & life skills therapist and life coach, teaching individuals, couples and groups the methodologies of personal success and fulfilment.

With her business acumen, Diane launched into the corporate arena, working in a variety of positions as a consultant in marketing, special events, tourism, business strategies, quality management and human resource management. Combining her entertainment and business backgrounds, she returned to the stage as a keynote speaker and corporate facilitator, educating business leaders in the ‘new mindset’ for business and relationship building in the 21st century.

Assuming the pseudonym of the Goddess of Love, she appeared as a guest presenter on Gold FM radio, Gold Coast, a national radio program broadcast to 1.4million listeners. Her weekly program proved popular with Diane providing empowering advice on life, love, sex and relationships, sprinkled with a good dose of humour. Her passion for life and compulsive sharing nature made her a great inspiration to her listeners. As the Goddess of Love she also appeared as a regular guest on the national television program Beauty & the Beast, where her practical insights were televised to viewers across Australia.

When she launched into a writing career, Diane’s debut erotic romance series, the Dance of Love was voted Luminosity Publishing Readers’ Choice Best Books and Best Covers for 2015 and 2016.

Her romantic suspense, Retribution won the Romance Writers of Australia Emerald Pro Award 2017 for Best Unpublished Manuscript. Diane loves to write genre-busting stories with a twist. Her works are packed with emotional punch and feature empowered heroines who live life to the fullest, much like the author herself.

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Naughty on Ice by Maia Chance – Spotlight

November 19, 2018 By Leave a Comment

Long and Short Reviews welcomes Maia Chance who is visiting with us to celebrate the recent release of Naughty on Ice, the fourth book in the Discreet Retrieval Agency Mysteries series.

Naughty on Ice is the latest in Maia Chance’s dazzlingly fun Prohibition-era caper series featuring society matron Lola Woodby and her stalwart Swedish cook, Berta.

The Discreet Retrieval Agency is doing a brisk holiday business of retrieving lost parcels, grandmas, and stolen wreaths. But with their main squeezes Ralph and Jimmy once more on the back burner, both Lola and Berta pine for a holiday out of New York City. So when they receive a mysterious Christmas card requesting that they retrieve an antique ring at a family gathering in Maple Hill, Vermont, they jump at the chance. Sure, the card is signed Anonymous and it’s vaguely threatening, but it’s Vermont.

In Maple Hill, several estranged members of the wealthy Goddard family gather. And no sooner do Lola and Berta recover the ring—from Great-Aunt Cressida Goddard’s arthritic finger—than Mrs. Goddard goes toes-up, poisoned by her Negroni cocktail on ice. When the police arrive, Lola and Berta are caught-red-handed with the ring, and it becomes clear that they were in fact hired not for their cracker-jack retrieving abilities, but to be scapegoats for murder.

With no choice but to unmask the killer or be thrown in the slammer, Lola and Berta’s investigations lead them deep into the secrets of Maple Hill. In a breathless pursuit along a snowy ridge, with a lovelorn Norwegian ski instructor and country bumpkin hooch smugglers hot on their heels, Lola and Berta must find out once and for all who’s nice…and who’s naughty.

Enjoy an Excerpt

The circumstances, I do realize, were ghastly. A chunk was missing from the molasses layer cake on the kitchen table. A corpse lay, probably still warmish, out on the living room carpet. And I was aware that, having been caught in the act of removing a ruby ring from an elderly lady’s finger, my detecting partner, Berta Lundgren, and I looked as guilty as masked bandits in Tiffany’s.

The policeman, who had announced himself as Sergeant Peletier, stood over the kitchen table, wearing an Oho, what have we here? expression. “You’re the uninvited guests, I reckon,” he said. “Mrs. Lundgren and Mrs. Woodby?”

“We were invited,” Berta said coldly.

“That’s not what I was told,” Peletier said. He surveyed drunken Aunt Daphne, the ring, and the cake. “Having a bit of dessert with a side of jewel thieving, I see. Mighty funny thing to do right after your hostess has expired.”

“Aghamee do eshplain,” I said.

“I beg your pardon?” Peletier said.

I swallowed cake. “Allow me to explain,” I repeated.

This wasn’t the plan. The plan had been to retrieve the ring, pop it in the breadbox, slink out of the house, and skip town on the next train out.

“Yes,” Peletier said. “Please explain. Mrs. Goddard lies dead in the other room, and you’re here in the kitchen shimmying a ring off Mrs. Lyle’s finger?”

At the mention of her name, Aunt Daphne raised her champagne glass. “Cheers,” she crowed.

“I will explain,” Berta butted in. She was a rosy, gray-bunned lady of sixty-odd years who spoke with a faint Swedish accent and resembled a garden gnome. “What you see before you is a tried-and-true method for removing stuck rings from fingers—fingers, you understand, that have . . . expanded.”

We all regarded Aunt Daphne’s fingers, which, short and plump and swollen, resembled a litter of Dachshund puppies. The too-small ring had been maneuvered to just below the knuckle with Berta’s trick of looping embroidery thread under the ring, winding the thread tightly around the finger, and then unwinding the thread from the bottom. With each loop that was unwound, the ring edged up another millimeter. The downside was that it looked rather painful. However, Aunt Daphne, drinking champagne and shoveling cake with her free hand, had yet to complain. There really are no better painkillers than cake and booze.

“My mother always used butter to remove stuck rings,” Peletier said.

“A pound of butter wouldn’t get this thing off me,” Aunt Daphne said. “Believe me, I’ve tried it! This darned thing’s been stuck on my finger since the summer of 1919.”

“When you stole it,” I prompted.

“Stole it?” Aunt Daphne snickered, and with her free hand she lifted the glass of champagne to her lips and polished it off. “I never said that!”

About the Author: MAIA CHANCE was a finalist for the 2004 Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Award and is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Washington. She is writing her dissertation on nineteenth-century American literature. She is also the author of the Fairy Tale Fatal mystery series.

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House of Ashes by Loretta Marion – Spotlight and Giveaway

November 19, 2018 By 4 Comments



This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Loretta Marion will be awarding a $50 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.

Thirty-seven-year-old painter Cassandra Mitchell is fourth-generation to live in the majestic Battersea Bluffs, a brooding Queen Anne home originally built by her great-grandparents, Percy and Celeste Mitchell, and still standing despite tragedies that have swept the generations. Local lore has it that there was a curse placed on the family and the house is haunted, though opinions are divided on whether it’s by malicious or benevolent spirits. Cassie believes the latter―but now she stands to lose her beloved home to mounting debt and the machinations of her dream-weaving ex-husband.

Salvation seems to arrive when a nomadic young couple wanders onto the property with the promise of companionship and much-needed help―until they vanish without a trace, leaving behind no clue to their identities. Cassie is devastated, but determined to discover what’s happened to the young couple…even as digging into their disappearance starts to uncover family secrets of her own. Despite warnings from her childhood friend, now the local Chief of Police―as well as an FBI agent who pushes the boundaries of professionalism―Cassie can’t help following the trail of clues (and eerie signals from the old house itself) to unravel the mystery. But can she do so before her family’s dark curse destroys everything in its path?

Enjoy an Excerpt:

Eighty years ago ~ Whale Rock, Massachusetts ~ Cape Cod Bay

Friday, December 13th

The fire bell was ringing, and someone yelled in through the tavern door, “There’s a fire up on the north end! Battersea Bluffs. We need all the hands we can get!”

“No, it can’t be,” Percy whispered. The Bluffs was his home. He leapt from the barstool and ran for the street, bumping into a stranger as he passed through the tavern door. The man’s eyes were ominously familiar to him, but with more pressing concerns, there was no time to bring to memory why. He had to get home to Celeste.

It sickened him to see the flames as his Ford pickup rounded the top of Lavender Hill. How hard he and Celeste had worked to build this house, a grand Victorian with a widow’s walk and a proud front porch facing out to sea. Fire trucks were already there, and men he’d known these many years were working hard to contain the blaze.

As he ran toward the house, it came to him who the stranger in the tavern had been, and later one of the firefighters would recount that Percy had screamed: “Damn that lighterman’s curse. Damn you to hell, Robert Toomey!” Nobody was quick enough to keep Percy Mitchell from entering the inferno. Moments later he emerged, his clothing and hair afire, carrying a charred human form. Any man would have been delirious from the pain, but as the firefighters looked on in shocked disbelief, Percy walked with a purposeful bearing and a swift gait toward the bluffs. A few men chased after their friend, but before anyone could stop him, Percy reached the ledge and cried out, “I am not finished!”

And then, with his already dead wife in his arms, he hurled them both into Cape Cod Bay.

About the Author:

A true bibliophile, Loretta Marion’s affection for the written word began in childhood and followed her like a shadow throughout her life as she crafted award winning marketing and advertising copy and educational brochures. She then applied her writing skills as a volunteer, establishing a Legacy Story program for hospice patients, which inspired her to create her own fictional stories. Her debut novel, The Fool’s Truth, was a twisty mystery with whispers of romance. Her newest novel, HOUSE OF ASHES – A Haunted Bluffs Mystery, is the first in a series published by Crooked Lane Books.

When not whipping out words on her laptop, she is traveling, enjoying outdoor pursuits, or is curled up with a delicious new book. Loretta lives in Rhode Island with her husband, Geoffrey, and their beloved Mr. Peabody, a sweet, devoted and amusing “Corgador”.

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Too Far Gone by Allison Brennan – Spotlight and Giveaway

November 19, 2018 By 5 Comments

Long and Short Reviews welcomes Allison Brennan who is celebrating the recent release of Too Far Gone, the next thriller in her Lucy Kincaid series.  Leave a comment to enter to win a print copy of the book!

When a man who appears mentally unstable holds a group of people hostage and dies in a shootout with the FBI, Special Agent Lucy Kincaid is assigned to investigate what happened. Up until two months ago, McMahon was a respected scientist—then his wife left him, he lost his job, and was arrested for assaulting a former colleague. The one person who might have answers — his research assistant — has disappeared.

While Lucy is investigating this bizarre case, her husband Sean is on top of the world: his son Jesse is visiting for the summer. They are having a blast, until someone follows them. Sean is positive that the surveillance is connected to Jesse’s step-father—a man who had once laundered money for a violent drug cartel. But when Lucy and Jesse are run off the road, they begin to wonder if the attack is connected to Jesse … or Lucy’s current case.

Nothing is what it seems—not the McMahon investigation or the car accident. As Sean and Lucy dig deep into the lives of everyone involved, one thing becomes clear: If they don’t find the truth fast, everyone they care about is in danger.

Enjoy an Excerpt:

FBI Special Agent Lucy Kincaid geared up in the back of the SWAT van and followed team leader Leo Proc- tor to the staging area kitty-corner to the coffeehouse that was currently under control of a gunman. Lucy wasn’t part of the SWAT team. She was the newest trained hostage negotiator, though she would be second to Proctor for a minimum of six months. She wouldn’t be talking to the suspect today; she was tagging along on her first official outing after completing Hostage and Crisis Response Training at Quantico.

As soon as she stepped out of the air-conditioned van and into the hot Texas humidity, she began to sweat. Fortunately, she wasn’t decked out with an extra twenty- five pounds of SWAT gear; she was only required to wear her Kevlar vest and sidearm.

The FBI was here to back up the SAPD, who were taking lead in the hostage situation at Java Antonio, a small but popular independent coffee shop in downtown San Antonio.

Lucy followed Leo from the van while the rest of the team checked their weapons and gear.

“Lieutenant, sit-rep?” Leo said to the man clearly in charge who was directing personnel from the back of a police communications van. There were a dozen city and county vehicles filling all four streets that led to the intersection, which now held a tactical truck. Each street had been blocked off, and all businesses in a two-block radius evacuated or locked down.

“Proctor. Glad you’re here.” He glanced at Lucy. “Agent Kincaid, hostage negotiator. Kincaid, Lieutenant Jordan Young.”

They shook hands. Young was forty and had the aura of former military officer, and it was clear by how his officers spoke to him that he garnered respect from his men and women.

“I need you to negotiate, Leo—I’ve already set up a command, I’m the highest-ranking officer here.”

“My people are your people,” Proctor said. “Kincaid’s my second.”

Being second essentially meant backing up the primary negotiator. Listening to all communication, taking notes, passing along information between the negotiator and command and vice versa.

Generally the individual in charge of the scene was not the same person negotiating with the suspect. That SAPD and the SA-FBI worked well together was a testament to the men and women who led each department and the teams who cross-trained together.

“I have two snipers, one on each corner building,” Young said, gesturing. “Two men in the back. If you can spare a pair I’d like to have them tag up with my team in the alley, and if you have a sniper we can use one back there. The rear is the only exit other than the front door.” Proctor said in his radio, “Dunning, take your team and secure the back with SAPD; Ramirez, find a roost with clear line of sight to the emergency exit. From here on out, Lieutenant Young is in command of this operation and you’ll take direction from him, primary emergency channel.”

“Roger,” the team leader said over the radio. “Suspect?” Proctor asked.

Young shook his head. “Working on an ID. No cameras inside, but we have a description from one of the hostages who escaped during the initial confusion. In fact, a dozen people got out before the shooter locked down. From preliminary statements, the guy was talk- ing to himself and acting ‘off’—weird was the word most used. He was wearing a thick windbreaker and it’s over ninety degrees and humid as hell. When the manager confronted him, he snapped—per a witness. Another witness said he acted like he was quote, ‘off his meds.’”

About the Author:ALLISON BRENNAN is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of twenty novels and many short stories. A former consultant in the California State Legislature, she lives in Northern California with her husband Dan and their five children.

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What Kind of Writer am I? by P.D. Alleva – Guest Blog and Giveaway

October 24, 2018 By 11 Comments


This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. P.D. Alleva will be awarding a $50 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.

What kind of writer am I?

Thank you Long and Short Reviews for this opportunity.

Great question. I’ve always had shifting dreams between genres; I enjoy horror and dark fiction, scifi, thrillers, classic literature and a great love story. I’ll read just about any book or any type of book and never remain consistent to one specific genre. My writing reflects this. Honestly I despise labels, if a book is good, I’m going to read it, despite genre or who wrote it.

Mainly, I’m the kind of writer who believes in giving something for everyone. I’ve got so many stories rattling through my head at any given moment, stories that strike a cord in my soul and want to be heard. I don’t know where they come from but they burn deep and are my children. Just like any living being life proceeds on a path of its own. Most of the time I have an idea of where I want the story to go, however, the story has its own plan and plot to follow, and I’m often finding myself following the characters on a different path. Stories are like little children, and what children want is attention, to be heard and have that moment in the light where they stand center stage.

I’m also a psychotherapist and hypnotist, a field I’ve been involved in for the past thirteen years. I’ve written protocols for mental health and addiction programs, self-help and philosophy books and numerous articles on healing, how the mind works and processes information, and have always been a keen observer of the human condition. I’m a people watcher, with an ear to actually hear what people are saying. On the flip side I love conspiracy theories (I’ve got a few of my own), and I’m a student of spirituality and quantum physics. My inner circle consists of clairvoyants, mediums, Buddhist teachers, world-renowned philosophers, astrologist, alchemists, and healers. I believe in and understand the nature of good and evil and the individual battle between them that exists inside each one of us. As a writer, my story’s central themes reflect this battle. Deon Young wrote a proverb titled The Fight of the Two Wolves Within You, about good evil, and how both exist simultaneously but the one who wins is the one we feed. But there’s also influence, evil’s plan, and paying attention to the signs, awareness of the self, and knowing we are on the right path. Sometimes we are manipulated; mostly we manipulate ourselves. I enjoy including these themes in my stories.

I am a multi-genre author. I’m writing a dark fiction dystopian scifi thriller that is book three in the Beyond the Chamber Door series and includes an alchemy meditation as the super power used against the alien race. After, book four will feature a 1940’s socialite whose male sculpture comes to life after a break up with the love of her life. Think My Fair Lady meets Frankenstein. I enjoy large and universal themes concerning the corruption of the soul, revenge, and redemption, always toying with the notion of light and dark and how quickly we can tip in either direction if we are not aware of our ‘self’. I’m also in love with love, which is the ultimate of all redemption from darkness. I love what I do and I’m passionate about creating a true body of work that strikes the emotional cord in the reader and is ever lasting. Something for everyone. Sometimes the good guys win, sometimes the bad guys win, and such is life.

The Beyond the Chamber Door series allows for these multitudes of genres, travelling across space-time and alternate dimensions where we never know what we’ll find on the other side. The series features stand alone stories in each installment, connected with the universal theme of light and dark and their raging battle that exists over multiple lives. For what truly lies beyond the chamber door is the dark and sinister heart of man, the corruption of power, ego, manipulation, and suffering. Pain and suffering drive evolution, however, if a character is not aware of this need to change, they fall further into darkness, consumed by anger, hate and rage. If misery loves company, than misery is what they reflect and what they receive.

Conclusion: I write the stories that beg to be heard, those that burn deep within my soul and quench my desires. I’m the kind of writer who seeks to create an undying bond with the reader by writing everlasting stories that take the reader on a wild journey through darkness and eventually, somewhere in the future, into the light.

Twisted Tales of Deceit is the first installment in the Beyond the Chamber Door series. Featuring three tales (The Calculated Desolation of Hope, Somnium, & Knickerbocker) chronicling an evil influence on the human psyche, tipping our hands into the engagement of what is most horrifying; our dastardly, human deeds steeped in self-destruction, desperation and the loss of dreams. Metaphorical warnings have been constructed inside these pages to reflect the everyday signs the universe provides under the guise of reflective light that return to mirror how evil tempts our hand so to not fulfill the dreams of the soul. Our doubts, our sadness, our indecisions rooted in fear, are toiled with by the presence of imps bent on hatred and in need of our nightmares to survive. Here, the human spirit is dripped like honey, tasteful to the dark corridors of human malevolence and taken advantage by the corrupt and seamlessly endless parade other worldly dimensions have on what should be our earthly utopia, creating rage in the cosmic hedonism of jealousy.

Enjoy an Excerpt

He remembered the wolf, roaming in the room. Saw the gamer and the boy he had saved with their throats cut out as the wolf fed on them. Their black eyeballs staring at William.

Remembered how the bodies were taken from the room. Remembered how he screamed but had no strength to do anything about it.

And how Katarina appeared again, another needle in hand. Remembered how he wanted it now, to help him forget. She shot him up and his world became smaller, the walls closing in to squeeze all that he knew in between the four walls of that tiny room, now no bigger than the bed he lay on.

He remembered how the world disappeared, melted away like ice.

Remembered how the darkness invited itself into his space, and how the world had gone mad.

“What the fu…” he grumbled, collapsing to the floor. His heart fluttered, and his skin flushed pale white and red. He leaned against the wall, watching the final dissipation of daylight outside the window. And the room grew dark with a sliver of moonlight that broke through the window as his memories faded and an unnerving hunger cried out from his veins. A tiny voice in his head.

“More,” it called. “Please, more.”

His body felt pain, pain like he’d never felt before. His mind felt confusion, he couldn’t put a thought together. His eyes turned wet with tears and he started to wail. He wailed until his voice gave out.

And then the footsteps. Loud, clunking footsteps against the wood floor. The massive image half hidden in the darkness, half illuminated by the moonlight, seemed to drift toward him with a mindful caution only to disappear just before reaching him. His vision wavered as the hunger grew.

In front of him, nose to nose, Mephisto shined his yellow eyes on him. And Mephisto grinned, scooping him in his arms like a baby and delivering him to the bed.

“Rest,” Mephisto said, pausing as he looked on William who saw the death of stars gleaming in Mephisto’s eyes.

“And welcome…to oblivion.”

His grin was sinister, daring and satisfied.

About the Author:P.D. Alleva is an author, psychotherapist and hypnotherapist specializing in trauma, addiction and mental health. He is the author of several books, including fiction novels, Indifference and A Billion Tiny Moments In Time…, Seriously Twisted; These Gods of Darkness (Poetry), Let Your Soul Evolve (1st and 2nd ed), and Spiritual Growth Therapy: Philosophy, Practices and Mindfulness Workbook (non-fiction). He has developed behavioral protocols for addiction and mental health and teaches mindfulness, Buddhist meditations and manifestation techniques to his patients as a means and alternative to using pharmaceuticals. Go to spiritualgrowththerapy.com to learn more. Mr. Alleva offers a special discount on his video tutorials for his readers, so please use Promo Code 7474 for a special 90% discount. He is currently in private practice with his wife, Lisa. He lives with his wife and children in Boca Raton, Florida.

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