A Blog Tour – And a Giveaway

The Underground Authors have teamed up withthe Lone Star Literary Life (LSLL) to present a Book Blog Tour for the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles series.  For 12 days, the books in this series – now standing at 21 books – will be reviewed and discussed by various members of the Lone Star group.  Each day from November 27 to December 8, the Magnolia Bluff books will be the focus on he LSLL website.  In addition to the reviews, LSLL will also hold a giveaway.  Anybody who clicks on the links to the reviews will be entered in a drawing. Here are the locations where the blog will be each day.

11/28/23 The Plain-Spoken Pen Death in the Absence of Rain
11/28/23 StoreyBook Reviews Eulogy in Black and White
11/28/23 LSBBT Blog Series Spotlight
11/29/23 Forgotten Winds The Great Peanut Butter Conspiracy
11/29/23 Carpe Diem Chronicles Only the Good Die Young
11/29/23 It’s Not All Gravy When Bad Things Happen to Good Mice
11/30/23 Rox Burkey Blog You Won’t Know How. . .or When
12/01/23 StoreyBook Reviews The Flower Enigma
12/01/23 Writing and Music The Killer Enigma
12/02/23 Reading by Moonlight Men Lying Dead in a Field
12/02/23 The Clueless Gent The Shine from a Girl in the Lake
12/03/23 Jennie Reads The Dewey Decimal Dilemma
12/03/23 Forgotten Winds The Dog Gone Diamond Dilemma
12/04/23 Chapter Break Blog Justice
12/04/23 The Plain-Spoken Pen Bye Baby Bye
12/05/23 Shelf Life Blog Texas Summers are Murder
12/05/23 The Book’s Delight Born and Bred Texan
12/06/23 It’s Not All Gravy Who Killed Lilly Paine?
12/07/23 Reading by Moonlight Second Chances
12/08/23 The Page Unbound A Chance of a Ghost

Hop on and sign up for some free books, OR a $25 Amazon gift card.  The reviews, synopsis, and author comments might lead you to getting some interesting books, and meeting some interesting authors.  And it’s free to enter.

I’ve read most of these books and each one was god and provided hours of entertainment.

Thanks for your time,    jim

 

 

 

A Spark of Imagination

Jodie Wolfe creates novels where hope and quirky meet. She’s been a finalist in a number of contests. Today, she reveals how one bit of quirkiness managed to get into her latest novel. It’s a fun read.  I think you’ll enjoy it.

It first started with a love of guinea pigs. When my sons were young, we had several furry pets. The first to join the family was Fluffy. We didn’t know a lot about raising guinea pigs at the time. We placed our new pet in a glass aquarium so we could easily watch the new addition to the family. Our standard poodle would sit for hours on end watching the guinea pig. We called it “‘Fluffyvision”.  🙂

Unfortunately, Fluffy wasn’t as healthy as we thought, and she didn’t last overly long. My sons were soon asking for a replacement. Next came Squeakers. When we were bringing her home in the van, she squeaked the whole way, which is how she got her name. She was an incredibly intelligent guinea pig who knew to run to the refrigerator, and when opened, which drawer held the carrots – one of her favorite treats. She lived for many years. When she made an untimely demise, we went to the pet store and found two more guinea pigs – Checkers and Cocoa. By this time my sons were in high school.

One day I had a photo frame on my entrance hall table. I’d recently purchased the frame and hadn’t decided what to put in it yet. The frame came with a photo of a woman in it. One of my sons asked me who it was, and I teasingly said, “That’s your great Aunt Gertrude. She lives in Texas on a guinea pig ranch.” We spun all kinds of stories about the factitious family member.

So, when it came time to write the third book in my current series, I told my sons that the heroine’s name was Gertrude. They immediately encouraged me to somehow add guinea pigs to the story. I didn’t know if it was a feasible option since my books are set in the 19th Century. I started researching to see if it was a possibility. I learned about Queen Elizabeth I who had a guinea pig when she was a little girl. Some sites even mentioned the exotic pet trade in Virginia as early as 1627. I had enough information to know I could in fact include guinea pigs into my story.

Here’s a sneak peek at the back cover of my new book, Wooing Gertrude:

Enoch Valentine has given up finding peace for his past mistakes. He throws everything he has into being the new part-time deputy in Burrton Springs, Kansas while maintaining the foreman position at a local horse ranch. But when trouble stirs on the ranch, he questions whether he’s the right man for either job.

Peace has been elusive for most of Gertrude Miller’s life, especially under the oppressiveness of an overbearing mother. She takes matters into her own hands and sends for a potential husband, while also opening her own dress shop. Gertrude hopes to build a future where she’ll find peace and happiness.

Will either of them ever be able to find peace?

Thanks, Jodie, for giving us a peek into how some “quirkiness” got into one of you novels.  And I must add, Wooing Gertrude is available now on Amazon And dear reader, please leave Jodie a comment, maybe on how some little bit sneaks into one of your novels.  Thanks.  jim

Here’s where you can find Jodie online:

Jodie Wolfe is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), and Faith, Hope, & Love Christian Writers (FHLCW). She’s been a semi-finalist and finalist in various writing contests. When not writing she enjoys spending time with her husband in Pennsylvania, reading, walking, and being a Grammie. Learn more at  .www.jodiewolfe.com

Should 1984 be renamed 2023?

some banned bksThis week is Banned Books Week.

And in case you haven’t heard, book-banning is in full swing in the United States.  In the 2021-2022 school year, more than 1,600 books were banned across 32 states.  Texas and Florida lead the nation in book banning.

PEN America leads the opposition against banning books.  Founded in 1922, PEN stands for poets and playwrights, essayists and editors, and novelists. Its founding members included  Willa Cather, Eugene O’Neill, Robert Frost, Robert Benchley, and Booth Tarkington (the first president).  It is now part of PEN International (founded in 1923).

Current and past members include Edward Albee, Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, E.L. Doctorow, Roxane Gay, Langston Hughes, Barbara Kingsolver, Norman Mailer, Thomas Mann, Arthur Miller, Toni Morrison, Philip Roth, Salman Rushdie, Richard Russo, Sam Shepard, Susan Sontag, John Steinbeck, Anne Tyler, and many other well-respected people in the literary world.

In February, the ACLU joined with librarians in Missouri to file a federal suit over Senate Bill 775, a school library obscenity law that opponents say forces librarians to censor their collections under the “threat of arbitrary enforcement of imprisonment or fines.”

In March, library advocates in Llano County, Texas, won a preliminary injunction and order to reinstate more than a dozen banned titles at their local public library and to stop future bans while the lawsuit proceeds. In his order, federal judge Robert Pitman held that the library leaders infringed the constitutional rights of their users by unilaterally removing books they deemed inappropriate or disagreed with.

And in May, PEN America and Penguin Random House joined forces with a group of authors and parents to sue school administrators in Escambia County, Florida, over the removal of allegedly inappropriate books from school libraries  Jeffrey Sachs, a professor at Acadia University who tracks free speech in education, claimed “Every single Republican-controlled state where the legislature is currently in session is considering a new educational gag order’ bill. Many even target university libraries ….” It is increasingly focused on an evolving array of subjects, themes, and identities — including U.S. history, race and diversity, social emotional learning, LGBTQ+ identities, and sex education.

A lawsuit in Texas is perhaps the most high-profile suit in an escalating legal counteroffensive being waged by freedom to read advocates in response to an ongoing, politically-motivated surge in book bans and state-level legislative attacks on the freedom to read. Republican State Representative Matt Krause sent a letter to the Texas Education Agency asking if any of the schools in the state have the books listed on a 16 page spreadsheet, as well as how much schools had spent on these 850 books. Supposedly trying to protect the teenagers, he none the less included Teen Legal Rights, Gender Equality and Identity Rights (Foundations of Democracy), Equal Rights, We the Students: Supreme Court Cases for and About Students, and Peaceful Rights for Equal Rights

An article in PEN stated, “The Supreme Court has held that ‘one is not to have the exercise of his liberty of expression in appropriate places abridged on the plea that it may be exercised in some other place.’

Under some of the laws, librarians can be fined or imprisoned for not purging books the lawmakers have deemed inappropriate.

Here are some of the books being banned in many areas.  Charlotte’s Web, Maus, (Holocaust graphic novel),  The Handmaid’s Tale,  the Harry Potter books,  To Kill a Mockingbird,  John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, Looking for Alaska (NY Times Bestseller, NPR’s top Ten Best-Ever Teen Novels, Time Magazine’s 100 Best Young Adult Novels of All Times, and a TV miniseries), The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky (NYT Bestseller, American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults, Best Book for Reluctant Readers, major motion picture), and The Lion Children’s Bible: Stories from the Old and New Testaments (banned in Florida).

And considered to be one of the most influential books of the 21st century, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer, has been banned in many schools. It deals with themes of death, trauma, and grief in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Maybe the book 1984 should be renamed 2023.

Please leave a comment – your thoughts on banned books.

The tough life of the writer: case #1,477

One of the goals for many new writers is to get an editor at one of the big, New York publishers to read their manuscript.  Lo and behold, my first book got just such a read.  Acceptance day was indeed a joyous day.

Some weeks later, I received a letter from the editor.  Not one of those canned letters: “This just doesn’t fit our current publishing schedule.” No, this was a personal letter.  He was quick to say he would not be considering my book for publication. But, he was willing to give me a reason.

It was too unrealistic.  Well, it was a murder mystery, set mainly in New York, and involving a highly prized professional athlete. I quickly scanned the story in my mind looking for this problem. What was unrealistic? Fortunately, the editor was kind enough to explain his objection. And I had to read it three times to come to grips with his objection regarding realism. He said, and I quote, “You have this person talking to his computer.”

Unrealistic?  Perhaps, I should have said, “Yelling at the computer.”   Or maybe screaming at the inanimate, pain in the neck, machine. Maybe a threat to toss it in the rubbish bin if it displayed another 401 error,  or the simple, and very helpful, “Something went wrong.” That might be more realistic.

Was this editor from the dark ages? Had he ever used a computer?  Perhaps the victim in my murder mystery should have been a computer – or an editor.

But this man was the gatekeeper for a large New York book publisher.  And for that particular company, I was locked out.  My central character was too unrealistic. Who could identify with him?

I finally decided that this was a 107-year-old editor who thought computers read holes punched into paper tape and why would I even have a human interact with a machine? Perhaps I should have labeled the book as fantasy.

Scrap that book. Begin on the next book. And let the writer stay silent if he had a beef with his machine.

A true story, highlighting the tough life of a writer.  Care to comment?

An Interview with Maggie DeLuca

Today, I’m interviewing Maggie DeLuca, Father Frank’s sister.

JIM:       Hi, Maggie. First, just to get everything in order, are you Father Frank’s younger sister or older sister?

MAGGIE     Thank you for that question. I am his older sister.  Of course, sometimes I act like his kid sister.

JIM:       Okay, an older sister, but young at heart.

MAGGIE     You got it.

JIM:       But, sometimes you, ah, … well, as Father Frank says, let your mouth take control.

MAGGIE     (laughs) Yes, he does say that. And that my mouth precedes my brain. But, I’m an upfront person. I let you know who I am, what I do, what’s on my mind. He thinks I should be more private.

JIM:       But it does get you in trouble sometimes; at least, that’s what I’ve heard.

MAGGIE     True. But I probably would have gotten in that trouble anyway, so why wait? Let’s get this show on the road.

JIM:       The last time, or at least the last one I’ve heard about, had to do with the murder of that best selling writer, Rod Granet. That was pretty serious.

MAGGIE     It was. And I have to admit, I regretted some of the things I said, and the people that heard it.

JIM:       Got the sheriff on your case, right? He arrested you and I understand, he truly wanted to convict you.

MAGGIE     That is true. And to be perfectly honest, I was scared. I told Frank he had to get busy and find the real killer.

JIM:       But the sheriff told him if he investigated, he’d throw him in jail. Didn’t that worry you?

MAGGIE     Not as much as a murder conviction worried me. The sheriff wasn’t looking for anybody else. I mean, Rod was dead. The sheriff wanted someone in jail. And he was only looking at me.

JIM:       In the end, Father Frank did come through for you, right?

MAGGIE     He did. But between you and me – do not tell Frank this – I don’t think I’d be here today if it weren’t for that Texas Ranger, Dick Richards.

JIM:       He and Father Frank seemed to work well together.

MAGGIE     Yeah. Richards was smart enough to know what a great asset Frank is. He gets a bunch of pieces of information that don’t look like they go together. And Frank finds the way they fit, and what they mean.

JIM:       Okay. You aren’t going to jail. What’s your next adventure?

MAGGIE     Actually, two adventures. First, I’m going to finish a book I’m writing. And Rod won’t be here to steal this one. I now know I can be a USA Today best seller. I’ve earned an Austin B award for best plot, even though it had Granet’s name on it. So, this is going to be a great book.

JIM:       Sounds like an important goal.

MAGGIE     No, the important goal, and adventure is a new baby. In five months, I’ll be a Mom! That’s even better than being a USA Today best seller. (Maggie gets up.) Got to run. Doctor wants to check out the baby, and the mom.

JIM:       And she was gone in a second. I think she’s gotten a bad rap. It isn’t that her mouth is so fast. She’s fast about everything. But it was a pleasure visiting with her. And I’m glad I got to share it with you.

From the first sentence, it captures your attention and carries you on an intriguing mystery-solving adventure.” From a review by Sharon S.

I’ve read so many mysteries/suspense stories that all sound alike. A Plot for Murder is very distinctively and enjoyably different.” R. Bruner, Amazon review.

Rod Granet, award-winning novelist and womanizer, is the main speaker at a writers conference. But after the opening session and in front of a crowd, Maggie DeLuca, Father Frank’s sister, accuses Granet of stealing her story and says he will pay.

That night, Granet is killed.

The sheriff quickly zeros in on Maggie and she is hauled off in handcuffs. When Father Frank comes to her aid, the sheriff threatens him with jail if he interferes.

A Texas Ranger is assigned to the investigation. He sees Father Frank as a valuable asset. Even as the sheriff continues to harass Father Frank and interrogate Maggie, the Ranger pushes Father Frank to get more involved, telling him the sheriff considers Maggie his only  suspect. Father Frank is faced not only with his sister being the prime suspect in a murder case, but also threatening letters, a rifle shot through his car as he drives across a bridge, and the sheriff’s promise to put him in jail if he investigates the murder.

Can Father Frank stay out of jail and alive, and find the real killer?

If you’d like to order a copy of A Plot for Murder: Murder at the Writers Conference, use this link which will offer you a choice of formats and retailers.    https:books2read.com/u/mYAW2P

 

 

 

Right Brain, Left Brain

In the summer of 2020, I had a major medical problem.  This is not a complaint.  Everything came out okay – eventually.  I was in the hospital for a month.  This included three surgeries, ten days in ICU, and four days when I was “unresponsive.”

After the month in the hospital, I spent the better part of the next month in bed.

But after those two months, I was at least beginning to think about a “more normal” life. My brain was functioning.

Sort of.

Prior to entering the hospital, I had A Plot for Murder almost finished and was looking forward to a fall release.  With the book nearly finished, that was still a possibility. But a strange situation occurred.

We had planned to remodel the kitchen, and I began to draw up plans.  Of course these went through several iterations as we refined what we wanted, and what would fit into the overall space available. Part of this had to deal with retrieving some “lost space” where the builder had left small areas empty behind walls.  We got the blueprints and decided to utilize some of those little bits. When combined with the space currently in use, this allows us greater freedom in our design.

All of this went along easily.

But, when I sat at the computer to work on finishing the novel, nothing happened. I could put down words, sentences. But I was having trouble concluding the book.  My imagination was gone.  And the words I put down, now at a critical part of the book, were flat. There was no feeling in them, no imagination, no rhythm in the sentences.

This situation continued for over a month.  Good work on drawing plans for the kitchen. Uninspiring words for the novel.

And then one day, I wrote a paragraph I liked. Over the next week, the way to handle the ending began to come into view. Paragraphs began to fit together. The ending worked well.

Sometime later, I realized what was happening. My left brain had come back to life first. My right brain lagged behind. Strange. My hospitalization had nothing to do with the brain. No head injury.

But it certainly appeared as if the left brain woke up and started to work faster than the right brain.

Perhaps there is a message for me here.

jim

From the first sentence, it captures your attention and carries you on an intriguing mystery-solving adventure.” Avid reader Sharon S.

I’ve read so many mysteries/suspense stories that all sound alike. A Plot for Murder is very distinctively and enjoyably different.” R. Bruner.

Rod Granet, award-winning novelist and womanizer, is the main speaker at a writers conference. But after the opening session and in front of a crowd, Maggie DeLuca, Father Frank’s sister, accuses Granet of stealing her story and says he will pay.

That night, Granet is killed.

The sheriff quickly zeros in on Maggie and she is hauled off in handcuffs. When Father Frank comes to her aid, the sheriff threatens him with jail if he interferes.

A Texas Ranger is assigned to the investigation. He sees Father Frank as a valuable asset. Even as the sheriff continues to harass Father Frank and interrogate Maggie, the Ranger pushes Father Frank to get more involved, telling him the sheriff considers Maggie his only  suspect. Father Frank is faced not only with his sister being the prime suspect in a murder case, but also threatening letters, a rifle shot through his car as he drives across a bridge, and the sheriff’s promise to put him in jail if he investigates the murder.

Can Father Frank stay out of jail and alive, and find the real

 

If you’d like to order a copy of A Plot for Murder: Murder at the Writers Conference, use this link which will offer you a choice of formats and retailers.    https:books2read.com/u/mYAW2P

 

Anthologies

Of late, I’ve received a number of questions regarding anthologies.    So today, I’m going to talk about anthologies.

First, what is an anthology?  In the simplest terms, an anthology is a collection of written works. It can be a collection of poems, plays, short stories, songs, novellas, or excerpts from longer books. These do not have to be related in any way, although often there is a theme associated with the anthology. There is not a real limit on how many – no minimum and no maximum.  The works are generally chosen by a compiler, which can be a single person or a committee.  An anthology generally contains works by several authors. However, there is nothing preventing an anthology containing various works of a single author. And, today, anthology may be used for a series of TV shows, or recordings of a single group or performer.

So, there is much room for an anthology to take various forms.  But, here are some suggestions to consider if you or your group is thinking about producing an anthology.

It is often a good idea to have a specific theme for the anthology.  For instance, an anthology of mystery short stories. Or an anthology of great opening chapters. How about an anthology of poems associated with Valentine’s day? An anthology of one-act plays.  It is best to have a defined theme, but one not so narrowly focused that few items will be submitted.

Along with a specific theme, a specific goal should be set. It should be in writing, agreed upon by those involved, and re-read at every meeting. Some examples of a goal might be to highlight the writing talent of the best in your group, or area, or whatever domain you are choosing. Or, it might be to give a chance at publication to many who have not been able to achieve that yet. It could be to reward many authors who submitted an entry to your contest, or selected people who attended your conference.  Please note, this is generally different from the theme, although it is certainly possible the two could be the same, or similar.

While we are on the subject of a goal, the organizers must decide how finances will be handled. How will the project cover expenses upfront? Decisions need to be made early whether the anthology will be sold for a profit, or given away. I recommend, for anthologies made up of works from authors without a huge following, it is agreed that royalties will not be paid. Naturally, this must be determined before the call for entries. If the project pays for the expenses of production and a surplus exists, from the beginning those submitting works should agree any profits be used either to fund the next project, or donated to help the library or some other group fostering literacy. If you have high profile authors involved, then the division of royalties should be clear before submissions are sought.

It is best if the anthology is viewed as a group project. This is particularly true in the early stages. Get the group behind it and you are halfway there. A committee can and should work on finding participants (authors), help in the selection process, and offer to proofread the document before submitting it for publication.

However, it is best to have one editor. There can be a committee to help during the selection process. But when you are getting down to the final editing, while several may read for possible mistakes, a single person should be making the final decisions. Committees can get hung up with differing opinions and the project can grind to a halt.  In the end, one person has to be in charge to complete the project.

Anthologies can be an excellent project for a writing group. It can generate a lot of enthusiasm and participation. It can serve as excellent publicity, and often results in increased membership. Anthologies often prompt people who are reluctant to write, or to try for publication, to overcome that hesitation and become an active writer.

And they can be fun.

James R. Callan

Please add your thoughts on anthologies.  We can get an anthology of thoughts on anthologies.  Click the “comments” below.

The Mystery of Writing

Today’s guest blogger is Patricia Gligor, a Cincinnati writer of mysteries. Her latest is Small Town Mystery series, Book #2 – Murder at Maple Ridge.  She’s had a varied career, including managing a sporting goods department and proprietor of a resume writing service. But her passion has always been writing fiction. Here she talks about the mystery of writing.

 

I’ve always been in awe of the writing process. And, after seven published novels, I’m still amazed – maybe more than ever – at how writers’ minds work, including my own.

I love old houses and, several years ago,I went for a walk in my neighborhood and happened upon an old Victorian. As I stood gazing at the house, I thought about what it would say if its walls could talk. And the first book in my five-book Malone mystery series, Mixed Messages, was born. My twenty plus years in Alanon, a 12-step program for the friends and families of alcoholics, helped me to create two of the characters and gave me a subplot that would continue throughout the series.

I live in Cincinnati, Ohio and I’ve always wondered what it would be like to live in a small town. In my first Small Town Mystery, Secrets in Storyville, I explored that possibility. I worked in retail for many years, managing a sporting goods department, and I had lots of stories to tell – through the eyes of my main character. I’ve had friends ask me which scenes really happened and which were figments of my imagination.

Which brings me to my newest release: Murder at Maple Ridge. Once again, an old house inspired me. One I’d driven by – and admired – for many years on the way to a park about an hour from where I live. The knowledge I gained working in sporting goods – about firearms and hunting –was invaluable.

So, although I know what inspired me to write each book, the question remains: Where did the ideas come from to fill all those blank pages? How, as I write, do just the right people, places and things from my life experiences pop into my mind? How do physical and personality traits of people I know or have met, bits and pieces of overheard conversations, places I’ve lived or visited and a multitude of other things coalesce to create the characters, the plot and the setting for a book?

I’ll probably never know the answers to those questions but that’s fine with me because the not knowing, the endless possibilities, is what makes writing an adventure – and a mystery.

To read about her books and/or to order them, go to: http://tinyurl.com/8sd2cz4    

And we’d love to hear your “mysteries” in the writing process. Click on the little balloon at the upper right of this blog to get to the comments.  OR, down below the icons for FB, Twitter, etc, and click on “replies.”

 

The Story Behind the Story – with Giveaway

Today’s guest blogger is Donna Schlachter, who also writes as Leeann Betts   Donna writes historical suspense. Double Jeopardy is her latest, due out in January, 2020. She and her alter ego Leeann have published more than thirty novellas and full-length novels.  They are active in American Christian Fiction Writers, Sisters in Crime and other groups.  She lives in Denver with her husband, Patrick. Today, she gives us the story behind the story, plus a chance to receive a free book.

The story behind the story is often told in the form of back cover copy on the book, but I think it goes way beyond that. Sure, that bit on the back tells us a little about the main characters, the overall plot, and perhaps some about the decisions the main characters must make, because always—let me repeat this—always the choices they are faced with conflict with each other. At first glance, it seems they cannot have everything.

So let’s delve a little deeper into the story behind the story.

Rebecca Campbell was born in New York City, the only child of wealthy socialite Matilda Applewhite Campbell and Robert Campbell. Her mother is everything Rebecca—Becky to her friends—wants to be. Beautiful. Poised. Confident. Instead, she seems doomed to inherit all her traits from her father, who she adores. Reckless. Impulsive. A daredevil.

Becky’s father is gone more than he’s home. When a year passes with no word from him, she sets out, on her own, for his last known location—Silver Valley, Colorado. On her arrival, she learns he has been murdered. Determined to make his mine a success—his last letter promised that as soon as he struck it rich, he’d send for her and her mother—and to find his killer, she settles in at the mine.

But somebody doesn’t want her to succeed. And after a series of accidents and near-misses, she admits she’s in over her head. And the only person she can trust is Zeke—or can she?

The hero is Ezekial Graumann. Most everybody calls him Zeke. Zeke and his family own a fairly large piece of land in southwestern Colorado near the town of Silver Valley. Zeke has two married brothers, as well as two unmarried sisters. In good years, with enough rain, their land can support the three families if they are diligent and careful with their stock. However, the last few years have seen droughts and not enough snowfall, and the grazing is poor. Zeke wants to build his own house, maybe get married and have his own family, but the land won’t support another household.

Unless he can buy water rights from a spread upstream. But he doesn’t have the money to do that. So he looks around town for some weekly work to earn enough to buy the water rights and receive his share of the family land.

And along comes Miss Rebecca Campbell. She is feisty, stubborn, and doesn’t know anything about mining. Yet her determination to find her father’s killer and her resolve to make his mine successful gnaws at Zeke’s heart. And soon he finds himself imagining what it would be like to have her at his side as his wife. Except she’s obviously not ranching material, either.

But when accidents happen at the mine that threaten her safety, he must acknowledge that his feelings for her are more than mere curiosity. Now he must choose between saving his ranch or saving this woman who has stolen his heart.

So what keeps them from getting what they want? The villain, of course. Suffice it to say, it is a man. This man is one of the longest-term residents of Silver Valley, a man of impeccable reputation. On the outside, he looks wealthy. Wears nice clothes. Speaks well. Sounds well-traveled and educated.

Except on the inside, he’s dark, greedy, and lazy. Well, lazy only in the sense he wants to get rich quick. He actually spends a lot of energy trying to cheat and steal his way into wealth. If only he’d use his superpowers for good.

 

I will randomly draw a name from all who leave a comment over the next nine days to win a print (US only) copy of Double Jeopardy. Which means, if you stop by every day and leave a comment, you’ll have nine entries.

Double Jeopardy is available at https://shoplpc.com/double-jeopardy/ Amazon.com, and fine booksellers in your area.

www.HiStoryThruTheAges.com Receive a free ebook simply for signing up for our free newsletter!

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/DonnaschlachterAuthor

Books: Amazon: http://amzn.to/2ci5Xqq and Smashwords: http://bit.ly/2gZATjm

Why Forensic Accounting Makes for Good Mystery

Today’s guest blogger is Leeann Betts, a pen name for Donna Schlachter.  Leeann writes contemporary romantic suspense. Missing Deposits is the eleventh title in her cozy mystery series.  Leeann and Donna have published more than thirty novellas and full-length novels.  They are active in American Christian Fiction Writers, Sisters in Crime and other groups.  Today, she talks about forensic accounting and the mystery, and gives us a chance to receive a free book.

And this is how she started and how she got to forensic accounting.

When I sat down 15 years ago to see if I had one book in me, I had no clue where to start.

And now, all this time and more than 30 books later, every time I face the blank page, it’s the same. Where to start?

I’m an avid reader of mysteries, particularly what is now known as cozy mysteries, but at the time were simply called Agatha Christie-like mysteries. If you mentioned the name “Jessica Fletcher”, and said your books were like that TV show, everybody knew exactly what you meant. Amateur sleuth, small-town settings that eventually expanded into New York City and major locations around the world, and a personal reason to solve the crime—usually a friend or relative was the victim or the suspect.

That was my basis. But I wanted a main character more like—well, like me. I didn’t have any idea how a teacher thought—Jessica. Or an older woman in a hamlet in England—Miss Marple. Or a retired detective from Belgium—Hercules Poirot.

I needed someone I could relate to. That hadn’t been done to death. No pun intended.

So I went to the library, and started strolling through the children’s section on occupation. And the word Forensic jumped out at me. CSI and NCIS were hot shows at the time, so I picked it up. And that’s where I learned about Forensic Accounting. In the days when I was in college and in the business workforce, we called those guys the Auditors or the Inspectors. They came in and went through all our work to make certain we were doing it correctly. To make certain nobody was embezzling funds. To ascertain clients’ trust funds were secure.

Being a forensic accountant requires specialized training, and involves ferreting out financial information, understanding its implications, and applying that understanding to the situation. It also means preparing reports, spilling the beans on somebody, and testifying in court.

While a lot of people think accountants are boring, Carly Turnquist is out to prove them wrong.

And in case you think forensic accounting can’t be an exciting or important job, just remember: Al Capone was imprisoned for tax evasion by the 1930’s equivalent of a forensic accountant.

Question: When you read a series, do you have to start at the first book, or can you still enjoy the series if you pick and choose?  Leave a comment for a chance to receive a free copy of this book.

About Missing Deposits:

When a rancher discovers copper on his property, he learns that mining can be dangerous business. Can Mike and Carly figure out who the killer is, or will they end up buried in an unmarked grave in western Colorado?

We will randomly choose from amongst the comments for a free print (US only) or ebook (winner’s choice) copy of Missing Deposits.

Paul Paris won a free book by commenting on last week’s blog.  You could be the winner this week – IF you leave a comment. And you can get entered EACH time you leave a comment. 

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