Play Twenty Questions: Question 4

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 Enjoy these answers from a host of authors — then enter the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win a $100 Amazon or BN GC and more!

2013 Anniversary NON Questions 4
 

Tasarla Romaney Ohhhh the many ways – my favorite is served on toast. Flaked wood grilled tuna, add onions, dill, lemon juice and a small amount of Greek yogurt

Ash Krafton With MAYO. I’m not insane. Oh, and no crunchy bits, either. Celery=ack!

Linda Palmer I stir together tuna, boiled egg, dill pickles, sweet pickles, and Miracle Whip. Then I spread that on toasted bread and add lettuce.

Debra St. John My favorite is a hot tuna rollup. I prepare the tuna by draining the water (I never use oil based tuna.) and adding a bit of mayo. I spoon the tuna into 8 uncooked crescent rolls. For my hubby’s portion, I add cheese: sometimes Swiss, sometimes American, sometimes a combo. I roll up the dough with the tuna in it and place them on a baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes at 375 degrees. Yummo!

Judith B. Glad 1. Set a trap for the tuna (preferably in territory they are known to inhabit).
2. Spread mayo on two really BIG slices of bread.
3. Check the trap. If it’s empty, go to…
3. Pile pickle relish on one slice of bread.
4. Check trap again. If still empty, go to…
5. Slice 7 tomatoes and lay on unpickled slice of bread
8. Check trap. If still empty, give up, because the tuna aren’t biting on Pnut butter today
9. Substitute canned sardines for tuna on sandwich. They taste better anyhow..

Kaylie Newell First, choose a nice, fresh loaf of white bread. Then, retrieve the light mayo from the fridge. Next, open the can of tuna and give it to the cat. (I’m a vegetarian. Although, I wouldn’t normally have a mayo sandwich. Probably should keep that takeout number handy.)

Judy Alter Tuna, lots of lemon,, sliced scallions, a bit of anchovy paste, and just enough mayo to bind. Put it on seedless Jewish rye.

J.A. Garland Light on the Mayo, of course!

Linda Rettstatt Mix tuna with a little mayo and chopped celery. Spread it on thin whole wheat sandwich rounds. (Some folks add onion. I’m not a big fan of raw onions.) This is best served on white bread, but it’s not on my diet any more.

Maeve Greyson Since I’m not particularly fond of tuna, I would get Hubby to make one his uber-awesome bacon-lettuce-tomato creations on homemade bread. I would then point at it and say, “You are a tuna sandwich. I forbid you to exude the calories of a BLT.”

Laura Strickland Ask the tuna if he would prefer kelp or krill on his sandwich, and then serve it with a side of seaweed.

Niecey Roy I don’t.

Tess Morrison FIrst I put on loud music. Probably classic rock. Begin to gyrate around the kitchen. Pour myself a glass of vino. Chop up some onion, celery and green peppers. Begin to sing very badly. Drink more wine. Open the can, plop it into the bowl with the veggies, and mix in Miracle Whip. Continue to dance, drink and sing. Put it on toasted bread with lettuce. Enjoy!

Jana Richards  With tuna. And bread. Is this a trick question?

Tina Pollick For myself: Tuna, mayo, hard boiled eggs and dill pickles. For my family: Tuna and mayo. <- They’re boring. LOL

Debra Doggett With the works. I put cheese (feta if I’ve got it), onion, mayo, mustard, sometimes nuts and eggs. But not usually pickles. I like them on the side.

Nia Simone Very carefully. Seriously, I let my husband do it. He’s brilliant with cooking. Tuna he does magic to. He adds a squeeze of this great wasabe paste you can buy in a tube. And mayo. Other stuff, I don’t know what. But I eat whatever he makes and if he does something to doctor up something we’re eating, I do exactly what he does without even taste testing. He’s always right. About food, anyway. ;–)

Zoe Forward I go to my favorite deli and buy it. Okay, I can make tuna, but I know it won’t taste as good as if I have a professional chef make it.

Virginia Crane Half and Half. Half tuna, half hard boiled eggs. Add a chopped pickled okra, preferably Wickles Pickles brand. Mix with Miracle Whip and horseradish. Terrific on rye bread.

Graeme Brown I don’t! Ham, cheddar, tomato, lettuce and mayonnaise for me, please.

Nancy Fraser I start with albacore tuna, chopped onions and celery, Hellman’s mayo and chopped pecans on lightly toasted sourdough bread. I’d serve it with crisp dill pickles, a chunk or two of good cheese (preferably gouda or havarti) and a cold glass of Dr. Pepper or sweet tea.

Robyn Bachar With a healthy amount of mayo, shredded asiago cheese mixed in, on wheat toast. Bonus points if I can survive making the sandwich without tripping over my cats. I swear they have tuna radar.

Jeanette Baker Without mayonnaise. I use the best tuna in olive oil, mix it with whole grain mustard, minced green onions, chopped pepperoncinis, (sp?) smoked almonds, lemon juice and raisins. It’s delicious and healthy, too.

Kim Hornsby I don’t eat tuna often because I worry about the dolphins that get caught in the net and I don’t like to encourage the industry. But when I have made tuna for me and my kids, I use mayo, sweet relish and loads of crunchy celery. The tuna must be white, not light, packed in water, with all the water drained off. Then I spread it on buttery whole grain bread and dig in. hmmm, where’s the tuna in this kitchen…

Juliet Waldron In this house we make tuna sandwiches with a little mayo, an equal amount of plain yogurt, salt, pepper, diced hard-boiled eggs and a small amount of finely chopped celery and apple. We lightly toast bread to go with it, and then the sandwich is topped with sliced tomato.

Mary Jo Burke Rinse the tuna and flake it with a fork. Chop up an onion and a celery stalk, very finely. Mix with the tuna. Add a dollop of mayonnaise. Slather on a slice of toasted sourdough bread. Top with a few tomato slices, a piece of American cheese, and the second slice of bread. Potato chips optional, but highly recommended.

Willa Blair Tuna, mayo, sweet pickle relish, moist, but not runny. On crackers, not bread.

Lynda J Cox I don’t. Too many times as a kid, I had to eat creamed tuna casserole. To this day, I can’t stand the smell or taste of tuna.

Elaine Violette My Danish ancestors made the best tuna sandwich. White Albacore Tuna, sweet gherkins pickles, onion, celery, and chopped hard boiled egg, and mayonnaise, of course! My Portuguese grandfather always said to add a little salt to fish, so I sprinkle some salt and pepper too. Toast that bread to add crispness, gobs of the tuna mixture, fresh lettuce and you’ve got the best tuna fish sandwich ever!

Lynda Coker I start with albacore tuna, add diced green onions, grated cheese, chopped boiled eggs, a little sweet pickle, and sliced ripe olives, and then stir all those together with mayo and a touch of Dijon mustard. Toast two slices of bread, add a thin slice of jellied cranberry sauce to one side and lettuce on the other. I spread the tuna mixture on the lettuce side and then put the two sides together. Most people are put-off by the jellied cranberry at first, but try it once and you’ll be hooked.

Susan Fox Pretty much the way my mom did. This is traditional, definitely not fancy gourmet fare. I use my favorite tinned tuna (water packed), mayo or Miracle Whip, lemon juice, chopped celery or chopped green pepper, salt, and ground black pepper. For bread, I like either a rustic Italian white loaf or a nice moist multi-grain.

Meg Benjamin I mix the tuna with a hard-boiled egg, some chopped celery, green onions, baby peppers, maybe a little tomato. Then dress it with a bit of mayonnaise. If I were eating normally, I’d put it on bread. These days, I’d toss it in with a lot of lettuce and some vinaigrette. Okay, it’s not really a “sandwich” but it’s definitely tuna salad.

Mary Hughes Albacore tuna, mixed with mayonnaise, chopped green onion, chopped egg, a bit of mustard powder, salt (and pepper if you like). Scoop onto thick toasted whole wheat bread. Cover with sliced American, cheddar, provolone or Swiss cheese (or all of them!) Top with another thick slice of bread. Then broil or toast in a skillet until the cheese is gooey and the bread is perfect golden brown.

Shannyn Schroeder I’m not a huge fan of tuna, so I’ll only eat it the way I grew up eating it as a kid – being Catholic meant no meat on Fridays during Lent, so that’s when I ate tuna. I drain the tuna from the can, chop up a couple of small pickles and mix it in the tuna. Then I add mayonnaise. The bread for the sandwich has to be toasted. When the toast is ready, I spread on the tuna and cut the sandwich in half. I NEVER deviate from this (right down to cutting it in half).

Denise Golinowski Hmm, pretty basic really. Open a can of tuna (in water) and drain thoroughly. Dump into a bowl. Add Mayo until it reaches the correct consistency. Cover and refrigerate. Can eat immediately, but I like it best the next day. Take out of the fridge, spread a thick layer on bread, salt & pepper to taste. Cut in halves. Place on a nice plate, add extra crunchy potato chips and enjoy!

Lynn Crandall Tuna sandwiches are at the top of my list of favorite sandwiches. I’m pretty easy to please there, and typically mix tuna with mayonnaise, put it on toast with lettuce and enjoy. But my favorite way to make a tuna sandwich is to order it from the bread store/deli, where the tuna salad sandwich is amazing.

Sheila Claydon I mix it with mayonnaise, sliced spring onion, pepper and salt and then spread it THICKLY on wholemeal bread – no butter or spread as I want to taste the tuna. I might add some cucumber too and serve it with lettuce and tomato on the side.

Carol Henry I make a tuna sandwich with chuck light Bumblebee tuna, mayo (not miracle whip and nothing diet or light), add my homemade diced sweet pickles, a bit of salt and pepper, and slather it on bread with just a touch of butter on one side. Sometimes I toast the bread first. Always serve with kettle chips, and most often a ginger ale.

Robin Renee Ray I like mine with fresh garden onions, sharp cheddar cheese, and a wee bit of salt…and I have mine with crackers.

Joya Fields Haha. This sounds like a setup for a joke, but I’ll give you my recipe anyway. One can of tuna mixed with chopped celery, some mayonnaise and (since I’m from Maryland) some Old Bay seasoning!

Genie Gabriel Mash up an avocado, add one can of tuna and Ranch dressing to suit your own taste. Have a bagel with melted cheese on the side. Yum! Think I’ll have one now.

Pamela S Thibodeaux Only 1? I love tuna and can usually eat the better part of a can in one sitting. It all begins with the best white tuna (packed in water not oil), eggs, mayo, seasoning and a dab of mustard. Boil, chop, sprinkle and mix then spread thickly on two slices of fresh bread (wheat or white doesn’t matter!)

Elysa Hendricks I can’t say I’ve ever made a tuna sandwich. While I enjoy tuna, I can’t stand mayonnaise, which seems to be one of the main ingredients in making a tuna salad. But if I did try and make a tuna sandwich – for someone else to eat – I’d use those little packets of prepared tuna you can buy.

Allie Boniface I don’t. I like tuna in very small amounts, but only on crackers, or something that doesn’t get soggy like regular bread. Speaking of which, if anyone has a great recipe for non-soggy tuna sandwiches, I’d love to hear it!

Jennifer Shirk Not to brag…but my kiddo loves my tuna sandwiches. She will eat her sandwich then finish off the rest that is in the bowl with a fork!!

I take 2 cans of tuna, very little mayo (like 1/4 cup or so), then I eyeball the seasoning: a little paprika, a little salt, a little celery seed, a little onion powder, a little garlic powder, a little fresh pepper. And you HAVE to have good soft bread or toast it.

Liana Laverentz Tuna, real mayo, a spoonful of relish. On toasted bread. Or I buy it from Whole Foods Co-op. They make it with walnuts, celery, onions and cranberries. Yum!

Ryshia Kennie It’s strange that you should ask that as I usually don’t have tuna sandwiches but I just had one yesterday. I made it with olive oil instead of mayonnaise, salt and pepper and chopped up a green onion. I toasted rye bread and voila – it was pretty good.

Troy Lambert That’s a big fish. I don’t know how you make a tuna do anything at all.

Jane Toombs I happen to hate tuna and so I never have made one.

Jaleta Clegg Open face on a whole wheat bagel and then toasted under a broiler until slightly crusty and warm. The tuna mix is canned tuna in water, a splash of lemon juice, some dried dill weed, several chopped dill pickles, shredded cheddar cheese, and just enough mayo to hold it together. I have to beat off the cat and the dogs when I make these.

Beth Trissel Miracle whip, honey mustard, relish, hard-boiled eggs, tomato, salt, pepper, and gluten free bread because I’m violently intolerant.

Heather Haven I make a quick run out to Subway and say this: I’ll take mine with tomatoes, lettuce and onions. But the onions only if I’m not talking to anyone else for an hour.

Gail Pallotta My favorite tuna sandwich starts with a fresh yellow fin tuna with a bit of lime juice poured over it baked on 350 degrees until it’s done.. After it’s cooled, flake it then add mayonnaise, pickle relish, a chopped boiled egg and salt and pepper. How much mayonnaise? ): I’m not sure. Enough for the dish to get a smooth consistency. Pickle relish. About a tablespoon full, but more for those who like more of a sweet flavor. Salt and pepper to taste.

Helena Fairfax I don’t ever make tuna sandwiches any more 🙁 I love tuna, but my daughter is vegetarian, and works in wildlife conservation. She has told me so many times about how the tuna is an endangered species, that now I just can’t bear to eat it any more.

Kelly Whitley I don’t. Tuna is yucky. Don’t like the smell or the taste. I’d be more likely to make a sandwich FOR a tuna.
Sandwiches are not big for me. Grilled Havarti on Sourdough with tomatoes in the middle, or Subway with lots of veggies.

Laurel O’Donnell I like tuna salad, so I would mix the tuna with a little mayo. Then, to pretend like I was eating healthy, I would put it on wheat bread and eat it!

Paty Jager You can’t make a tuna sandwich without adding either sweet pickle relish to the tuna and Miracle Whip or by placing slabs of sweet pickle on top of the tuna and miracle whip. When I’m tired and we need a quick dinner, I mix tuna, Miracle Whip, and relish, spread it on the bread, then top it with grated cheddar cheese and broil. Makes great Tuna melts!

Linda McMaken Take two large, flaky croissants, smoother them with mayo, add some dill pickles, freshly sliced tomato, lettuce, spinach, a sprinkle of ground parsley, a dash of oregano, and a slice of cucumber. Push can of tuna off to the side. Put top on croissant and eat.

Penny Estelle tuna, celery, onion, hard boiled eggs, cucumber, light on the mayo, on toast with lettuce….YUM

Keena Kincaid I go to the deli.

Isabo Kelly Lots of mayo mixed with tuna, toasted bread and sweet pickle relish on top of tuna/mayo. Sometimes I cut in a hard-boiled egg.

Lynne Marshall celery, white albacore, light on the mayo tuna mix. Slice of cheddar cheese and avocado – brown on both sides of (preferably sour dough) bread until cheese melts and bread is nice and toasty and serve!

Melissa McClone I don’t make tuna sandwiches. I have cats. Lots and lots of cats. If I open a can of tuna, I’m instantly attacked. Think Sharknado 2. It wouldn’t be pretty, and yes, there would be blood. Needless to say I skip the tuna sandwiches.

Aaron Speca I don’t. I can’t stand canned tuna. Now tuna STEAK … that’s a totally different story. Tuna steak is AMAZING!

Pamela Turner Open can of tuna and try to pull lid free without splashing tuna water on my fingers. Ignore cat meowing and reaching up with forepaws. Pry off lid and thank whatever deity I didn’t cut myself. Ignore caterwauling cat. Realize I forgot the bread on the other side of the counter. Go get bread. Come back. Pick up cat off counter and put on floor. Forget that cats have little springs in their paw pads. Put cat on floor again. Go get Miracle Whip. Repeat counter-floor move with cat. Shake MW bottle and squirt it. Watch MW go everywhere except on the bread. Look at cat, who’s giving me the evil eye because I dare ruin her idea of the perfect meal. Manage to get MW on bread. Then remember I planned to have a melted tuna sandwich…

Shirley Martin First, I’d go to the ocean and catch a tuna. Then I’d bring it home and cut it up. (Just kidding. I don’t like seafood.)

Amy Corwin: With tuna? LOL – here is my basic recipe:
Tuna Fish
Miracle Whip
Finely chopped onions
Finely chopped celery
Finely chopped red bell peppers
Dash of celery salt

Mix that together, put a few spoonfuls on a nice, thin slice of homemade French bread. Put a thin slice of Gouda cheese on that and broil for a few seconds to melt the cheese. Then another thin slice of homemade bread on top. Yum.

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WEIRD RESEARCH? by Nancy Springer

I do a lot of weird things, but seldom in the name of research. In my life weird things just seem to happen, and then if I can incorporate them in a novel, wonderful.

That said, I did set out to do some snake-handling before I wrote DUSSSIE. Yesss, three ssses. Sssnakesss hisss.

DUSSSIE was a kids’ book about a junior Medusa who was sorely perturbed one adolescent morning to wake up with the ultimate bad hair day, meaning her locks had turned into live snakes, all nonpoisonous native American species. Originally I figured an ordinary girl’s head would hold thirty-seven snakes of varying kinds. Later, at the insistence of my editor, I reduced the number, but I still had garter snakes, black snakes, king snakes, corn snakes, ribbon snakes, rat snakes, milk snakes, green tree snakes — numerous snakes forming kind of a Greek chorus around and within Dusie’s head.

So I needed to get a tactile feel for snakes. This would have been no problem, except they’re hard to catch. Eventually I went to a nature center and persuaded someone to let me hold a little yellow snake (corn snake) for a while. I felt thrills and chills at the sensation of solid muscle encased in polished scales. But I really needed to drape a number of snakes around my neck and shoulders all at once. I eventually found a state park employee who raises and breeds rat snakes, corn snakes, etc. He captured a number of wild snakes with interesting color mutations and has now succeeded in breeding technicolor snakes in every conceivable neon shade or combinations thereof. He was more than happy to let me play with his beautiful pets, and I learned a great deal from him, such as, snakes grow calm and sleepy when placed in a dark fabric bag. Hence, Dusie can get hers to shut up (mostly) by wrapping a towel around her head.

Born in New Jersey, I was brought up to have no fear of snakes. We loved to see garter snakes and black snakes in our back yard. But now that I live in the Florida panhandle, I am surrounded by people who were brought up to flee in terror from even a tiny snake — and necessarily so, because the child who plays with a pygmy rattler or a coral snake is a dead kid. It’s too bad that this irrational fear holds over into adulthood.

I mention this only because any time I want to inflict shock and awe on a social gathering down here, all I have to do is mention that I like to handle snakes.

About the Author:


Nancy Springer has passed the fifty-book milestone, having written that many novels for adults, young adults and children, in genres including mythic fantasy, contemporary fiction, magical realism, horror, and mystery — although she did not realize she wrote mystery until she won the Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America two years in succession. DARK LIE is her first venture into mass-market psychological suspense.

Born in Livingston, New Jersey, Nancy Springer moved with her family to Gettysburg, of Civil War fame, when she was thirteen. She spent the next forty-six years in Pennsylvania, raising two children (Jonathan, now 35, and Nora, 31), writing, horseback riding, fishing, and birdwatching. In 2007 she surprised her friends and herself by moving with her second husband to an isolated area of the Florida panhandle, where the birdwatching is spectacular and where, when fishing, she occasionally catches an alligator.

Find Nancy online at

http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,1000015705,00.html
http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780451238061,00.html Dark_Lie_Nancy_Springer
http://www.facebook.com/pages#!/NancySpringerNovelist
http://store.untreedreads.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=6_314

In this gripping psychological thriller — smart, chilling, and unrelenting — Nancy Springer establishes herself as an exciting new suspense writer with a distinctive voice and some surprises up her sleeve…

To their neighbors, Dorrie and Sam Clark seem a contented couple in America’s heartland, with steady jobs, a suburban home, and community activities to keep them busy. But they’re not quite what they appear to be. For plain, hard-working Sam hides a depth of devotion for his wife that no one would suspect. And Dorrie is living a dark lie — beset by physical ailments, alone within herself, and unknown to those around her, following the comings and goings of the sixteen-year-old daughter, Juliet, she gave up for adoption when she was hardly more than a child herself.

Then one day at the mall, Dorrie, horror-stricken, sees Juliet being abducted, forced into a van that drives away. Instinctively, Dorrie sends her own car speeding after them — an act of reckless courage that pits her against a clever, depraved killer, and draws Sam into a dogged, desperate search to save his wife. In a confrontation that unites mother and daughter in a terrifying struggle to survive, Dorrie must face and conquer her own secret, tormented past.

Virtual Tour: Dragon’s Pearl (Book Four of Sheryl Locke Holmes Mystery Series) by C.L. Exline

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This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. C.L. will be awarding an eBook of the first book in the series, Amber’s Mysterious Death, plus a $10 GC for Wild Child Publishing to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Cover_Dragons Pearl
Pearls fell like raindrops from the sky while the dragons fought. Silvery fingers of mist cast eerie shadows upon the ocean waves as the struggle raged overhead. Three beings watched the battle, until they noticed blood on the full moon. Someone would die. They clasped hands and chanted.

Blood on the moon signifies death for some unlucky victim, and someone is gunning for Sheryl. Now, Sheryl and her cohorts must solve the mystery of the haunted music box and a ghost before the killer gets his prey.

Enjoy an excerpt:

When Sheryl’s best friend insists there is a ghost haunting Bridgeside, her soon to be open Bed & Breakfast, Sheryl decides to spend the night to prove Amber wrong.

In no time, Sheryl was snuggled under the covers. The bed felt wonderful, the house was quiet, and soon she dreamed of dragons. The tinny sound of music woke her. Sheryl sat up and rubbed her eyes. The music box was open and it was playing. She closed the lid, went to the doorway, and stepped into the hall. Humming reached her from downstairs. Sheryl hurried to the stairs and saw a woman wearing a flowing gray ruffly dress walking across the foyer, past the staircase, and toward the blue room.

“Brian! Brian! Wake up!” Keeping her hand firm on the banister and her eyes glued on the woman, Sheryl hurried down the steps. “Brian!” With both hands on the sides of the doorway, she leaned in and called out, “Brian!”

He bolted up. His arms and legs were entangled in the blankets. He struggled to get free and fell to the floor.

“Get up, Brian. She’s in here.” Sheryl glanced around but saw no one and flipped on the top light for a better look.

Amber’s screams cut through Sheryl like a knife. She whirled around and raced up the steps. An unconscious Amber lay on the floor. “Brian! Hurry!” Sheryl knelt down and patted Amber’s face. “Wake up, Amber.”

The sound of screechy music caught Sheryl’s attention. The music box. Torn between wanting to investigate and knowing she should remain, she yelled, “Brian!”

Heavy footsteps heralded Brian’s arrival. “I’m here. What is it?”

“Watch Amber.” Sheryl jumped to her feet and hurried into the red bedroom. The lid she’d shut moments earlier was open. The gold cylinder churned out a chilling tune. She glanced around the empty room before closing the lid. She’d barely reached the doorway when the lid flipped open and once more the music played. Her breath caught. She stared at the music box.

 

AuthorAvatarAuthor of contemporary romance and romantic suspense, sometimes with sizzle and always with a dash of humor. Work for a small town newspaper along the east coast. Creator of Sheryl Locke Holmes Mystery Series published at Wild Child Publishing: Amber’s Mysterious Death, Ruby’s Deadly Secret, Opal’s Disappearance, and the newest release as of Feb. 19 – Dragon’s Pearl. Several short stories published at Ruthie’s Club, The Erotic Woman, Erotic Bookworm, and Justus Roux. Has reviewed over a thousand stories for other authors.

Blog: http://cassieexline.blogspot.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/cassie.exline

Twitter: @CassieExline

Buy Link:

http://www.wildchildpublishing.com/mystery-c-83/sheryl-locke-holmes-mysteries-book-4-dragons-pearl-p-413.html

ART AND THE INTOXICATION OF REALITY by Richard Godwin

There have been many debates about art and where it comes from and what rules   govern it and at the end of the day maybe no one knows.

Friedrich Nietzsche posited the theory that it stems from a basis tension between the old Greek gods Apollo and Dionysus, Apollo representing law and Dionysus chaos.

In his first seminal work ‘The Birth of Tragedy’ he wrote:

‘…we have considered the Apollonian and its opposite, the Dionysian, as artistic energies which burst forth from nature herself …first in the world of dreams, whose completeness  is not dependent upon the intellectual attitude or the artistic culture of any single being; and then as intoxicated reality…’.

This idea of intoxicated reality runs like an undercurrent through all the theories of creativity.

There is a central issue of control. If you paint with watercolour you have to let go of control. The colours run. That is why Turner is probably the greatest watercolourist and a great oil painter, he knew his media. He also cleverly created many paintings of the sea, which is fluid.

It’s like tipping the monster out of the pot.

During the 1960’s and 1970’s in the US a number of works were performed which transgressed the traditional boundaries of Western genre in the arts.

Jim Morrison urged his fans to ‘ride the snake’. Morrison also spoke of his reading in ‘The Birth of Tragedy’ of the primal Dionysian art as the spirit of music.

Morrison moved his performances towards shamanistic theatre.

Interestingly Mircea Eliade, author of Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy writes of shamans:

‘they express on the one hand the diametrical opposition of two divine figures sprung from one and the same principle and destined, in many versions, to be reconciled at some illud tempus of eschatology, and on the other, the coincidentia oppositorum in the very nature of the divinity, which shows itself, by turns or even simultaneously, benevolent and terrible, creative and destructive, solar and serpentine.’

Morrison’s ‘The Lizard’ took nearly half an hour to perform in concert and is an act of descent.

We’re into the underworld and back to the same divide.

Aristotle based much of his philosophy around a basic opposition and Alfred Korzybski, the Polish semanticist argues in ‘Science and Sanity ’ that mental pathology within Western cultures stems from a basic confusion of signifier with signified, in other words thinking that a table is identified with the verbal label we attribute to it.

Like John Cage, Morrison was drawn to the Lord of Misrule’s carnival.

David Bowie said ‘I know one day a big artist is going to get killed on stage.’

Alice Cooper enacted much of the Dionysian on stage, throwing live chickens into the audience, axing dolls to death.

The acid trip, under the influence of Timothy Leary became a religious experience a sign for the Trips Festival read: ANYBODY WHO KNOWS HE IS A GOD GO UP ON STAGE.

There is a strong sexual element to this, as Euripides’s play ‘The Bacchae’ illustrates, Bacchus being the Roman version of the Greek God.

When Dionysus sheds Eros his energy turns negative.

He becomes the Devil, as Norman O. Brown shows in ‘Life Against Death’ as the form of excrement, waste and ‘filthy lucre’.

Then something happened at Altamont.

After Santana opened a freaked out kid tried to get on stage. The Rolling Stones had hired Hell’s Angels as body guards, they dived into the crowd with five-foot pool cues.

While the Rolling Stones waited for darkness the Hell’s Angels taunted the crowd with contempt. Then they parodied the rituals of religious cults. Sol Stern, a former Ramparts magazine editor, wrote: ‘One of them, wearing a wolf’s head, took the microphone and played the flute for us – a screeching, terrible performance; no one dared to protest or shut off the microphone.’

Why?

Why didn’t they protest?

Because they were caught up in group psychology.

The Mediterranean wolf cuts and the flute music of Dionysus, the wild music of the joujouka – the vestigial music of the God which had entranced Brian Jones, Bryan Gysin, William Burroughs, Paul Bowles and Ornette Coleman – had come to this, a preparation for a star.

Into the darkness of Altamont, through the protective circle of the Angels on the blood-spattered stage, came the Stones, led by Mick Jagger in a black and orange cape and tall hat.

They played well but their music spoke out the interface between savagery and erotics, between the controls of art and the controls of magic, between Apollo and Dionysus. Jagger began ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ – ‘They call me Lucifer and I’m in need of some restraint’. The earlier Angels’ attacks now climaxed. In the spotlights, when Jagger went on singing this number, they stabbed to death a black youth from Berkeley named Meredith Hunter. Panic-stricken Jagger tried to cool the screaming people, but the death ritual operated as part of his own performance.

The antithesis maybe at the root of art and sexuality.

Cultures create their own paradigms.

I examine these themes in my novels Apostle Rising, in which a killer targets politicians and in Mr. Glamour , in which  a group of people are owned by designer goods and under constant surveillance by a predator in their midst.

You can find out more about me here www.richardgodwin.net

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  Richard Godwin writes dark crime fiction, among other genres. He is the author of critically acclaimed bestselling novels Apostle Rising, and Mr. Glamour.  He writes horror fiction as well as poetry and is a produced playwright. His stories have been published in over 28 anthologies, among them The Mammoth Book Of Best British Crime and The Big Book Of Bizarro.

Apostle Rising, published by Black Jackal Books, is a dark work of fiction exploring the blurred line between law and lawlessness and the motivations that lead men to kill. It digs into the scarred soul of a cop in the hunt for a killer who has stepped straight from a nightmare into the waking world.

The sequel is due out soon in mass market paperback.

GUEST BLOG: MARY BURTON

Lara Church, the heroine in my latest novel, THE SEVENTH VICTIM is an artist, vegetarian and the lone survivor of a vicious killer.  It’s been seven years since the attack, which she cannot remember.  He’s never been caught and, to keep from worrying over a madman she can’t remember, she’s continually moved from place to place and completely dedicated herself to her art, wet plate photography.

I’ve already had questions from readers about this process, which was invented in the 1850s, and I’m happy to share a bit about what I learned. It involves glass negatives dipped in chemicals, inserted in a bellows camera and then exposed for thirty seconds or more.  It requires a portable dark room and takes a skilled hand.   What’s wonderful about this process is that it can record greatly detailed images that are stunning.  It’s a process that I’ve always been fascinated with and as I was thinking about Lara’s needs and personality, I realized it could be the perfect art form for someone searching for the missing details of her past.

Since even the most dedicated artist has to eat, I thought I’d share one of Lara’s favorite treats.  She’s not the kind of gal who spends hours in the kitchen but when she emerges from her dark room she’s often starving and ready for something sweet.

Lara’s Almond Treats

 1 cup almond butter (or peanut butter)

1 cup golden raisins

1 cup coconut

1 teaspoon vanilla

Toss all ingredients into a food processor and blend.  The mixture will become a thick paste.  Form into balls, roll in any extra coconut you have, refrigerate for a half hour and enjoy!

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A Central Virginia native whose family’s Richmond roots run as deep as the nation’s, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Mary Burton graduated from Virginia’s Hollins University and began a career in marketing. After a decade she left her job and began writing. Her first novel, a romance, was published in 2000.

Following that book, Burton wrote sixteen novels and novellas for Harlequin and Silhouette before entering the dark world of multiple murderers and their motives with Senseless, Merciless, Dying Scream, Dead Ringer and I’m Watching You, as well as her novella Christmas Past, which appears in the 2008 New York Times bestselling holiday anthology Silver Bells.

Her commitment to realism has led to eye-opening interviews with law enforcement, to forensic seminars and to the firing range. She is a graduate of the Henrico County Citizens Police Academy and the Richmond FBI Citizen’s Academy, and has participated in Sisters in Crime’s Forensic University program. Recently, she attended the Writers Police Academy in Jamestown, North Carolina. There she attended seminars on autopsies, undercover work and the motives behind murder.

Mary Burton is an avid baker and an accomplished cook. When not writing, researching or baking, Mary practices yoga, enjoys her miniature dachshunds Buddy and Bella, volunteers at the University of Richmond’s Culinary Arts Program, attends professional conferences, and visits with readers and booksellers.

 

2_22 tsv mary burton

It’s been seven years since the Seattle Strangler terrorized the city. His victims were all young, pretty, their lifeless bodies found wrapped in a home-sewn white dress. But there was one who miraculously escaped death, just before the Strangler disappeared.Lara Church has only hazy memories of her long-ago attack. What she does have is a home in Austin, a job, and a chance at a normal life at last. Then Texas Ranger James Beck arrives on her doorstep with shattering news: The Strangler is back. And this time, he’s in Austin.He’s always craved her, even as he killed the others. For so long he’s been waiting to unleash the beast within. And this time, he’ll prove he holds her life in his hands-right before he ends it forever..
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WHAT IS GOOD WRITING? by Nancy Springer

Words.

Specifically, nouns and verbs.

More specifically, concrete nouns and action verbs.

Creative writing is all about images. The root word of “imagination” is “image.” Imagination is the ability to make mental pictures. We help children toward this ability by starting them off with picture books.

Writing, I embark on a process so peculiar it is almost paranormal; if we were not so accustomed to it, we would call it mental telepathy. The process is, I project a kind of picture show in my mind, but instead of drawing pictures about it, I make clusters of little marks, more commonly known as letters forming words. If I do my job well, then someone unknown to me will be able to look at the little marks, decode them via the process we call reading, and — get this –the same or very similar picture show will take place in her or his mind.

For this they pay me. A bizarre way to make a living, yes?

But there it is, and it’s best achieved through those concrete nouns — picture nouns — and active verbs. Abstract nouns and linking verbs won’t do it. “A person loves something,” conveys no picture. “The new mother swaddled her baby with her arms,” works better, although far from being great lit. The right verbs and nouns are more important than all the adverbs and adjectives any writer could lavish on the wrong verbs and nouns. Luckily, the English language has adopted a huge number of synonyms. In Spanish, for instance, the only word for donkey is burro/burra (masculine/feminine). In English we have donkey, jenny, burro, onager, jackass, jennet, hee-haw, Jerusalem pony, jack, ass, Missouri nightingale, and Rocky Mountain canary.

Whoa.

Backtracking to the premise: words convey images. But the flip side is, our vocabulary dictates and limits what we imagine. This is why the largest change in the English language since the fifteenth century took place due to feminism. No matter what Samuel Johnson said, “his” does not convey the same image as “his and hers,” let alone “hers and his.” Say “mankind,” and the image is masculine. But say “humankind or “humanity” or “people” to include women and children in the picture. “Waitress” gives a feminine image; “server” is gender neutral. It’s a wonderful thing how our language adapts and adopts to keep up with our cultural needs. Not that “smart phones” are really smart, but keeping up with linguistic change is never stupid — especially not for a writer.

The most constantly important element of good writing is diction. Which means having a large vocabulary from which to choose.

In the beginning was the word.

About the Author:


Nancy Springer has passed the fifty-book milestone, having written that many novels for adults, young adults and children, in genres including mythic fantasy, contemporary fiction, magical realism, horror, and mystery — although she did not realize she wrote mystery until she won the Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America two years in succession. DARK LIE is her first venture into mass-market psychological suspense.

Born in Livingston, New Jersey, Nancy Springer moved with her family to Gettysburg, of Civil War fame, when she was thirteen. She spent the next forty-six years in Pennsylvania, raising two children (Jonathan, now 35, and Nora, 31), writing, horseback riding, fishing, and birdwatching. In 2007 she surprised her friends and herself by moving with her second husband to an isolated area of the Florida panhandle, where the birdwatching is spectacular and where, when fishing, she occasionally catches an alligator.

Find Nancy online at

http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,1000015705,00.html
http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780451238061,00.html Dark_Lie_Nancy_Springer
http://www.facebook.com/pages#!/NancySpringerNovelist
http://store.untreedreads.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=6_314

In this gripping psychological thriller — smart, chilling, and unrelenting — Nancy Springer establishes herself as an exciting new suspense writer with a distinctive voice and some surprises up her sleeve…

To their neighbors, Dorrie and Sam Clark seem a contented couple in America’s heartland, with steady jobs, a suburban home, and community activities to keep them busy. But they’re not quite what they appear to be. For plain, hard-working Sam hides a depth of devotion for his wife that no one would suspect. And Dorrie is living a dark lie — beset by physical ailments, alone within herself, and unknown to those around her, following the comings and goings of the sixteen-year-old daughter, Juliet, she gave up for adoption when she was hardly more than a child herself.

Then one day at the mall, Dorrie, horror-stricken, sees Juliet being abducted, forced into a van that drives away. Instinctively, Dorrie sends her own car speeding after them — an act of reckless courage that pits her against a clever, depraved killer, and draws Sam into a dogged, desperate search to save his wife. In a confrontation that unites mother and daughter in a terrifying struggle to survive, Dorrie must face and conquer her own secret, tormented past.

EXCERPT: LAST DINER STANDING by Terri Austin


 


This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Terri will be awarding one commenter at every stop a signed bookmark and a cover postcard (USA/Canada Only), and one randomly drawn commenter on the tour will receive a $25 gift card to Amazon or B&N, winner’s choice. Click the tour banner above to see the rest of the stops on her tour.

Rose Strickland is having a blue Christmas. Her friend is arrested for attempted murder, her sexy bad guy crush is marked by a hit man, and her boss is locked in an epic smackdown with a rival diner. Determined to save those she loves, Rose embarks on an investigation more tangled than a box of last year’s tree lights. With her eclectic gang at the ready, Rose stumbles across dead bodies, ex-cons, chop shops, jealous girlfriends, jilted lovers, and a gaggle of strippers in a battle for freedom she might not survive.

Read an exclusive excerpt from Last Diner Standing:

“Any other names you want to give me? What about Roshanda?”

“Asshat’s sister? I know she lives down by Oakwood Elementary, but I don’t have her address or anything.”

“Do you know who else Asshat was dating? Or Flat Ass’s name?”

He sighed. “I don’t keep track of his social life.” His eyes took in Roxy, from her platform Mary Janes to her blue hair. “I’m thinking about my own extra-curriculars.”

Tariq fenced stolen crap and Roxy used to be a juvenile delinquent. She still missed the thrill of taking things that weren’t strictly hers, so I wondered at the wisdom of this Tariq/Roxy matchup. It had fire and gasoline written all over it.

I shoved my hands in the pockets of my jacket and glanced at the gloomy sky once more. I was going to have to invest in some gloves.

“Thanks, Tariq.” I tugged on Roxy’s sleeve. “Call me if you think of anything that can help Janelle.” I pulled her toward the car and we waved at Tariq as I peeled out.

“Want to hit the strip club?” I asked. “I have just enough time before I have to get ready for my parents’ party.”

“Yep,” Roxy said. “So what are these Strickland shindigs like, anyway? Fancy food you can’t pronounce and champagne?”

“Pony kegs and beer bongs all the way.”

She snorted. “Yeah, I can picture your mom with a funnel tube in her mouth. Seriously, are they any fun at all?”

“Not even a little.”

About the Author:

Terri L. Austin lives in Missouri with her funny, handsome husband and a high maintenance peekapoo. She’s the author of Diners, Dives and Dead Ends—a Rose Strickland Mystery. “Austin’s debut kicks off her planned series by introducing a quirky, feisty heroine and a great supporting cast of characters and putting them through quite a number of interesting twists.” Kirkus Reviews

Find Terri online at

http://terrilaustin.com/
http://www.facebook.com/AuthorAustin
http://www.twitter.com/TerriLAustin
http://www.goodreads.com/TerriLAustin
http://www.linkedin.com/in/TerriLAustin
https://plus.google.com/114753055559800020620
https://pinterest.com/terrilaustin

GUEST BLOG and Giveaway: Brynn Chapman

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I am often asked from where story ideas originate. For this particular book, Where Bluebirds Fly, I happen to remember.

One wintry afternoon I was driving home from work, listening to NPR, and they said the word Synesthesia.

Being a connoisseur of the weird and wonderful, I was immediately intrigued; I had never heard of this particular disorder of perception.

In one common form of synesthesia, known as grapheme → color synesthesia or color-graphemic synesthesia, letters or numbers are perceived as inherently colored, while in ordinal linguistic personification, numbers, days of the week and months of the year evoke personalities. In spatial-sequence, or number form synesthesia, numbers, months of the year, and/or days of the week elicit precise locations in space (for example, 1980 may be “farther away” than 1990), or may have a (three-dimensional) view of a year as a map (clockwise or counterclockwise). Yet another recently identified type, visual motion → sound synesthesia, involves hearing sounds in response to visual motion and flicker. Over 60 types of synesthesia have been reported, but only a fraction have been evaluated by scientific research. Even within one type, synesthetic perceptions vary in intensity and people vary in awareness of their synesthetic perceptions.” ~ Wikipedia

So, like any geek, I joined a cognitive neuroscience board, to go in search of synesthesates.

Within a day, several contacted me, each with an individual type of synesthesia. Some people tasted shapes, so let’s say they taste chicken soup~immediately the feeling of a circle might appear as if they hold it in their hand.

For others, peoples’ names elicit a specific taste. Others saw days in different colors, or letters with specific colors. There was a blurring of the senses, experiencing the senses in two unique, simultaneous ways.

My conversations with them were fascinating. I tucked away the idea, waiting for the story fairy to arrive. And arrive she did.

Fast forward a few months later, I towed my husband on another history trip, this time to Salem. As we heard the stories of lives lost, people wrongly accused for witchcraft, it hit me.

What if someone with Synesthesia lived during the time of the trials? What would happen?

Very, very bad things was the answer.

Salemites were a superstitious lot; I heard stories of suspicion of outsiders. Of how red hair was considered ominous or if one stuttered while reciting the Lord’s Prayer, one might be condemned as a witch.

A chill rushed down my arms, standing them on end. In my work with children, stuttering was a very common occurrence. I pictured those innocent faces…and my stomach turned.

Thus was born, Where Bluebirds Fly.

19TH January 1692
Salem, Massachusetts

Some sounds you cannot forget.

They stay with you always, becoming part of you. They are as familiar as the creases lining your palms.

Some say what the eyes see, imbeds forever in our memories.

But sounds fill my head, late in the night, in my mourning hours-three refuse to die.

The sound of my mother’s laugh. Low and resonant, like the church bell’s peal on Sunday morn. To think on it too much would call madness into my soul. How that voice could lift me out of the blackness in my head and heart, threatening now to snuff the dwindling light of my hope.

The sound of my mother’s screaming. It follows me down the path to sleep. Stays with me. My mother’s hair, in blond waves, hangs loose from the Indian’s pouch alongside my father’s black and white locks. The gurgling, drowning sound in her throat tells me she’s going, where I cannot follow.

The crunching snap of Goody Bishop’s neck on the gallows’ noose. The first to die under the charges of witchcraft.

There is one thing wrong, historically about my post here. If you’ve read about the trials, perhaps you can spot it. The person who does will win an electronic copy as well as an Amazon gift card. And if no one knows, I will randomly pick the winner and tell you the answer!!!

About the Author:Born and raised in western Pennsylvania, Brynn Chapman is the daughter of two teachers. Her writing reflects her passions: science, history and love—not necessarily in that order. In real life, the geek gene runs strong in her family, as does the Asperger’s syndrome. Her writing reflects her experience as a pediatric therapist and her interactions with society’s downtrodden. In fiction, she’s a strong believer in underdogs and happily-ever-afters. She also writes non-fiction and lectures on the subjects of autism and sensory integration and is a medical contributor to online journal The Age of Autism.

www.BrynnChapman.com

Verity Montague is a servant in 1692 Salem. Her flaming red hair and mismatched eyes make her a prime target for accusation of witchcraft. Orphaned during the Indian raids, she and her brother with Asperger’s Syndrome come to live with the key historical figures of the trials-The Putnams. They keep their synesthesia secret- that days, months and years appear as color in Verity’s mind, and for John, that symphonies play in a Fantasia-style performance of colors and geometric patterns.

Truman Johnstone’s ability to discern people’s expressions, and decipher if they were lying- made him an outspoken child. Being different kept him from being adopted till he was fourteen. He now runs an orphanage for problem youths, and is a feeding therapist in his desire to help children deal with their peculiarities. To give them the childhood he never had.

The harvest festival corn maze Truman creates every year has an unwelcome visitor. Children hear disembodied voices skipping through the corn maze amid the backdrop of eerie orchestral music. In every year of the calendar, intermittent doors of time swing open and closed, so long as the cornfield stands.

Buy link at amazon
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00A3FDTBY

GUEST BLOG and Giveaway: Jenn Nixon

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This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Jenn will give away one backlist book at every stop for one lucky commenter, and she and Wild Child Publishing will be awarding a $10 Wild Child Publishing GC to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. Click on the banner to see the other stops on the tour.

The very first publication I tried to promote was a POD book I’d written in early 2000 before I knew what I was doing as far as publishing was concerned. At the time, I was so excited that someone wanted to publish my book that I didn’t take the time to learn about the business. My first mistake. Being young and internet friendly, I thought I had an edge on other writers out there because I belonged to online groups and communities way before Myspace was a glimmer in Tom’s eye. When the book in question finally came out, I went on an internet spamathon. I hit up all the groups I belonged to and even some I had only just joined so I could promote my book. I was nice and friendly, telling the group members how excited I was to publish my first book and included the blurb, excerpt, and buy links. I must have spent two days posting to about 30 different places. I figured the sales would go through the roof, you know, because my family and friends would buy the book too.

Guess what happened?

I got slammed.

Hard.

Not only did most of the group and community members call me out for joining the groups just to promote, they ripped apart my blurb and excerpt right in “public” for everyone to see and obviously didn’t buy the book. Mortified is the only word to describe how I felt.

I promptly took everything down, apologized to a few of the groups that I had belonged to, and crawled into a hole for a while.

But then something else happened.

One of the group members contacted me. She was very nice, honest, and helpful. Her first suggestion to me was to find a writer’s group. It was the best advice ever. I wish I still had her email address so I could thank her properly, but it got lost in the shuffle long ago.

The second thing that came from all of this was realizing that said book was pretty bad. Some of it was my fault, some of it was editing. Either way, I knew I had so much to learn about writing be it the process, submitting, editing, and/or dealing with publishers.

I took the advice and criticism to heart, joined a writers group, did hours and hours of research online, and eventually learned the correct way to promote without making an ass out of myself.

I think that first, extremely hard lesson helped me develop a thick skin rather quickly. I tend to be defensive when confronted, but when it’s online and it’s already there and you have to actually take the time to write a response back, it gives you moment to reflect and absorb what was said in the first place. Mostly everything the people in those groups said about my writing was true. It was crap. I freely admit it. One cannot get better if they don’t learn from their mistakes. I’ve learned.

I learned that everyone has an opinion. If the negative feedback is constructive, I’ll always listen. If the negative feedback is based on style, well, there isn’t much I can do about that. If the negative feedback is hurtful on purpose, I’ll just curse at the screen, take a deep breath, and then let it go. Being mean just to be mean is something I’ve dealt with for many years, so I will always take it for what it is, bullying.

Negative feedback can be a blessing in disguise too. As a writer, we are sometimes too close to a project to see the whole picture clearly. Editors, publishers, reviewers, and readers can all give valuable negative criticism if done correctly. And, as weird as this may seem, I can’t wait to get some more of it in the future. While I know you can’t please everyone all the time, honest and helpful negative feedback will only make me a better writer in the future.

About the Author:Jenn’s love of writing started the year she received her first diary and Nancy Drew novel. Throughout her teenage years, she kept a diary of her personal thoughts and feelings but graduated from Nancy Drew to other mystery suspense novels.

Jenn often adds a thriller and suspense element to anything she writes be it Romance, Science Fiction, or Fantasy. When not writing, she spends her time reading, observing pop culture, playing with her two dogs, and working on various charitable projects in her home state of New Jersey.

Find Jenn online at

Website: www.jennnixon.com
Facebook: facebook.com/JennNixonAuthor
Blog: www.jennafern.blogspot.com
Twitter: @jennnixon

To protect her family and find a killer, Felicia “Lucky” Fascino assumed her adoptive father’s identity and joined the network of moral assassins to finish the job he began. Eliminating the man responsible for murdering her mother has consumed her for the last five years. Completing the job is the only way Lucky and her family can return to a safe and normal life. Lucky’s uncle, Stephen Chambers, hasn’t come close to tracking the killer. He announces he’s stepping down as her handler to concentrate on the investigation and names Elizabeth, his daughter, as successor.

Keeping secrets is a family trait, and Elizabeth’s addition to the business tests Lucky’s ability to maintain the pretense that the job doesn’t affect her despite the fact that all network hits are hardened criminals. While keeping her family at arm’s length, Lucky begins to feel the weight of her career choice and reclusive lifestyle. Then a chance encounter with an enigmatic hit man during one of her jobs turns into a provocative and dangerous affair. Distracted by the secret trysts with Kenji Zinn and mounting tension within her family, Lucky starts to make mistakes that threaten her livelihood and almost claim her life. When her family is targeted, Lucky must make several rash decisions she believes can save them and preserve her own sanity.

Anniversary Blog Fest: Alison Stone

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What I Did During My Summer Vacation

This summer marked my twenty-fifth high school reunion. When the invitation arrived, my mind immediately drifted back to the days I strolled the halls of good ol’ Sacred Heart Academy, an all-girls high school. I was rather quiet in high school. I spent my nights and weekends babysitting and studying. I was voted “most studious” my senior year. One of the happiest days of my high school career was when I wore the traditional white gown and carried red roses down the aisle on graduation night. I moved onto college without a backward glance.

Flash forward twenty-five years and I decided to go to the reunion. The last time I went to a reunion, only ten years had passed and I don’t think I had enough distance yet from my teen years. At my twenty-five year reunion, I got reacquainted with women who were moms, pharmacists, professors, college department chairs, elementary principals, saleswomen, and physician assistants. I chatted with women who were funny, caring, interesting and a lot like me. Many of us laughed and wondered why we didn’t hang out in high school.

In high school, I was barely aware of who I was, yet I thought I knew who everyone else was. I imagine I wasn’t alone in my thinking considering all the teen-angst movies from Breakfast Club to Mean Girls. We pigeon-holed “the brains” and “the jocks” and “the popular girls” thinking the groups didn’t have anything in common. I know that’s what I thought. I rarely went outside my comfort zone to make friends with girls who had interests different than my own.

As we said our good-byes at the reunion, we promised not to wait five years to meet again. Maybe the passage of time or the maturity of being forty-something finally made us realize the labels we imposed on ourselves or others were completely one dimensional. Maturity allowed us to look beyond the differences to really get to know the person underneath.

I am so happy I attended my high school reunion this summer. Now, looking back, I can reframe my high school experience. My only regret is that I didn’t get to know more of these fantastic women twenty-five years ago.

About the Author:

After working in Corporate America for a number of years, Alison Stone retired to raise her young family. Soon the writing bug bit. After years of conferences, critique groups and writing, Alison achieved her dream of becoming a published author. Too Close to Home is her second novel. Her third romantic suspense will be released by Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense in 2013.

Find Alison online at

Website: www.AlisonStone.com
Blog: www.AlisonStone.Wordpress.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlisonStoneAuthor
Twitter: @Alison_Stone