What if you could interview the main protagonist in your book?

Title: Stepping Off A Cliff

The St. Augustine Trilogy: Book II

Author: Doug Dillon

Length: 321 Pages

Genre: YA Paranormal

Released: November 11, 2013

Presented by: As You Wish Tours

Doug Dillon Interviews fifteen-year-old Jeff Golden

(Location: The Athena Restaurant, St. Augustine, Florida)

Doug: Jeff Golden! Good to see you. Have a seat. Want anything to eat?

Jeff: Nah, nothing for me thanks. I’ve only got a few minutes. Gotta meet Carla over at the research library. So what’s up, author man?

Doug: Oh, I just wanted to get your views on the paranormal now that you’ve had a lot of experience with it. I’m starting to write Book III of The St. Augustine Trilogy and . . .

Jeff: Oh no! Come on, Doug. To be honest, I’ve had way to much experience with that stuff.  You really piled it on me and Carla in Books I and II. I really don’t want to talk about it right

Doug: Mmm, OK, I understand but I don’t want to misrepresent your outlook.

Jeff: Just as I figured. You’re going to add tons more paranormal crap in your next book and put Carla and me in even more danger.

Doug: Uh, well, that’s kind of the idea in fiction.

Jeff: Yeah, great. Easy for you to write it that way but hell on us. Did you ever think about that?

Doug: But you’ve both learned so much from Lobo and your paranormal powers keep

increasing. Doesn’t that make you feel less afraid and stressed out no matter what happens?

Jeff: You just don’t understand. To you, the scary fictional situations you create in these novels

are reality to us. We actually live it. Did you ever think about that?

Doug: Sounds like you resent me even creating these novels at all.

Jeff: It isn’t that. You’ve given us life but then you ignore that we truly have our own reality.

Doug: I never thought about it that way.

Jeff: OK, so think about it now, please. I’m sitting here talking to you, right? I’m not just a

made-up piece of your imagination any more.

Doug: So does Carla feel the same way?

Jeff: Yes and no. She doesn’t like it any better than I do but she says you’re just doing your job.

Doug: I see. So then, Jeff, what would you have me do differently in the last book of the trilogy?

Jeff: I don’t know, really. I guess I would just ask you to remember that you truly do create the

reality that we, your characters, have to endure. We can feel it when you don’t.

Doug: Really? And how should I do that?

Jeff: It’s what’s in your mind that counts. You don’t actually think of us as real. What you don’t

get is that by creating us we truly exist in a parallel universe. Otherwise, I couldn’t be sitting here

Doug: Uh, you’ve got me there.

Jeff: Good. Maybe that understanding will shake you up enough to treat us as equals instead of

some kind of subhuman beings.

Doug: Ouch! Guess I deserved that.

Jeff: Just work with us, Doug, that’s all we ask. Sorry I didn’t answer your question. Let’s set up

another interview and we’ll try again.

Doug: Will do. You’ve given me a lot to think about. Thanks.

Jeff: Cool. Gotta go. Carla’s waiting.

Stepping off a cliff by Doug Dillon

An otherworldly, evil and dangerous force infests America’s oldest and most haunted city, St. Augustine, Florida. Everyone living there, or visiting, is at risk in ways too horrible to imagine.

Standing between this invader and the people of St. Augustine are teenagers Jeff and Carla, the mysterious Native American shaman, Lobo, and Lyle, the homeless guy.

In their quest to save themselves and all the inhabitants of this ancient, Florida city, Jeff and Carla uncover lost parts of St. Augustine history, push past the limits of space and time, and

encounter what they come to realize are the true walking dead.

Book Trailer by Book Dragon Designs

A former award winning educator, Doug writes about things paranormal and historical. His interest in the paranormal comes from personal experiences as detailed in the nonfiction adult

book he and wife wrote titled, An Explosion of Being: An American Family's Journey into the Psychic. Out of those events and extensive historical research, he then created Sliding Beneath the Surface for young adults, Book I of the
St. Augustine Trilogy. Doug set his trilogy in the oldest and most haunted city in the United States, St. Augustine, Florida.

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Spring Madness! Bookmark these free book deals!

I'm not sure if it is the warm weather, blue skies or onset of Spring, but many of my kindle books will be going on Free Promotion at Amazon in the next few days.  Please share this with your friends and mark the free promotion dates on your calendar.  If you download one of my books, please be so kind as to leave a review on Amazon.

Free Promotions - Children's Books
The Lost Keys - free from 29th to 31st March 2014
Fighting Fisi - free from 29th to 31st March 2014
The Midnight Mouse free from 28th to 29th March 2014

Free Promotions - Novels
Defective - free from 28th to 31st March 2014
C U @ 8 - free from 29th March to 1st April 2014

Free Promotions - Travel Diary
The Great Mountain to Mountain Safari - free from 30th to 31st March 2014

Kindle Countdown Deals
Hush Baby will be 99c from the 24th to 27th March; and $1.99 from the 27th to 31st March 2014.

Fear, Phobias and Frozen Feet will be 99c from the 27th to 30th March; and $1.99 from the 30th March until the 2nd April 2014.

How do authors choose their genre

Introducing J.M. Griffin - Mystery Writer

When I decided to take a blog tour, I wasn’t sure where I’d stop and who I’d meet. Since I’m not shy, I figured I’d make some new friends along the way, and possibly find a bunch of new readers. Thanks for having me here today to talk a while with you and your followers. It’s such a pleasure to meet you all.

It never really came to mind when I first started writing, that it would be a hard, yet joyous job. Something I was always meant to do, but took forever figuring out that I should do it. As with most crafts, (and writing is a craft, by the way), one must hone their skills, which can take a lifetime. When I first began writing, I though romance was as good a place as any to start. WRONG! There’s a theory that says “Write what you know”. Very true, by the way. I know mystery. I live, eat, sleep and breathe it. I watch it on television, at the movies, read it, talk about it in forums, etc. Yes, I should have known I ought to write mystery, but I finally figured it out and here I am, enjoying myself immensely and entertaining the public every chance I get.

Cozy mystery novels are my fave, but honestly, any mystery, other than blood and gore, will do nicely for my own personal entertainment. I do, however, like stories that make me laugh so hard that I lose my place and have to read the same paragraph two or three times. These are the type of books I enjoy writing, ones that make you smile, giggle, snort, and laugh out loud. I believe I manage to do that, at least my publisher says so. J

The Deadly Bakery series was first proposed when my publisher called and asked for a themed series of novellas. I’d been toying with the idea of a bread bakery owner who had a tiny shop, with a dragon of a landlady who was hated by most of her tenants. When she was ultimately killed, she was then left in one of their shops on the row of eight housed in an antiquated building in the historic section of Providence, Rhode Island. When the baker, her tarot reading bff, a handsome Scotsman and the other tenants get together, you can be sure there will be mayhem. Toss in a gnome-like grandmother who walks on the edge, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.

I’ve lived in Rhode Island for years, find the people here colorful, full-on characters that make a great storyline even more interesting. This is what I’ve done with this series. I’m a people watcher who scribbles notes on anything I find in my purse when something strikes my fancy. Walking through the historic district of Providence’s east side offers glimpses of stately homes from the days of shipping magnates who ran the city, along with Rhode Island School of Design, and Brown University. Both campuses abut one another, though the students couldn’t be more different no matter what. Using these areas as backdrops was fascinating and extremely enjoyable for me as a writer, though the bakery doesn’t really exist, except in my own imagination, most of the other places do.

I guess that about covers things, I hope you’ve had as good a time here today as I have. Thanks for stopping by, it’s been great to be here. You can visit my blog, and find me on Facebook and twitter, too.

                                                Best regards,

                                                                J.M.

BLURB:

Who said life was simple, complacent, and boring?

After the man of her dreams, Scotsman Aidan Sinclair, walks into her bread shop, Melina Cameron immediately realizes her life has taken a sharp left turn.

Finding her ill-tempered landlady murdered, only complicates matters. 

Melina's seventy year old grandmother has chosen to take a walk on the wild side of life, and Detective Graham, lead investigator from the Providence Police Department, has taken a fancy to Melina. Too many issues and too little time to adjust to the implications of them all, leaves Melina floundering to keep her business, The Hole in the Wall Bakery, open and running smoothly.

Excitement and danger ramp up when a fellow tenant, in the string of shops in

Melina's building, is found murdered in the same fashion as the landlady. Who

would be cruel enough to incriminate Melina, along with her BFF and neighbor,

BettyJo Seever, in the crimes? Who's next on the killers list, and why?

The answers are beyond her reach. Melina finds she's out of her depth and drowning ever so slowly in the deaths that surround her. Can she and BettyJo prove their innocence before Detective Graham charges them both with conspiracy to commit, murder resulting?   

Will they reveal the culprit and find the proof needed to put these deaths to rest?

It's only after Aidan joins the hunt, that Melina comes face to face with the person responsible for the killings. Fearful that she's about to become victim number three, Melina takes the killer head on.

BIO:

J.M. Griffin/Dana Stone grew up in rural Maine. She relocated to Rhode Island and lives in the north western part of the state with her husband and two cats. J.M.'s first published novel For Love of Livvy, began a series of humorous mysteries featuring Lavinia "Vinnie" Esposito. J.M. has also written a romance under the pseudonym Dana Stone.

ONLINE LINKS:

·         Blog  http://mycozymysteries.blogspot.com

·         Facebook  danastone.5815

·         Twitter  mycozymystery

BUY NOW LINK:

·         Amazon  http://www.amazon.com/Crusty-Murder-Deadly-Bakery-Series-ebook/dp/B00EH3R7WK/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

·         B & N  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-crusty-murder-jm-griffin/1116948183?ean=9781927555248

Giveaway:  $20 Amazon g/c (any country)

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Catchup March 2014 volume 1

Catchup March 2014 volume 1

This took me most of today to do.  Seemed simple at the start, had frustrating moments but finally it was done!  Persistence pays.  Well that's what I kept telling myself.

Cindy

The Colorful Art of Pain Giveaway

 
 

    Goodreads Book Giveaway
 

   

       
   

   

     

          The Colorful Art of Pain
     
     

          by Cindy Vine
     

     

         
            Giveaway ends March 27, 2014.
         
         
            See the giveaway details
            at Goodreads.
         
     
   
   

      Enter to win

Sit back and get ready to be entertained!

Review of The Pleasure Room

Okay so erotica is not a genre known for its use of literary devices.  But people who read erotica do not read it to improve their mastery of English literature.  They read it to be entertained and perhaps even aroused.  Where The Pleasure Room knocks spots off Fifty Shades of Grey is that it has a proper plot and good story line.  The characters are real and well-developed.  There is a balance of humour, mystery and sex.  If you like erotic novels then this is a good read.  If you get offended by graphic descriptions and sex talk then this may not be the book for you.

BLURB:

Felicity Summers is an ambitious reporter who's trying to make a name for herself as a serious investigative journalist with the biggest newspaper in the city; the Chicago Word. When she catches wind of a rumor about the city’s mayor that might just be the hottest story of the decade, she jumps at the opportunity to expose the corrupt mayor and derail his chances at winning a second term. All she has to do is infiltrate a private BDSM  club to catch him in the act.  Simple right? Well, maybe it would have been if not for the club's extremely dominant, gorgeous and charming owner, Sir Alistair Montgomery-Piers. He takes notice of her at one of the scenes and sees something in Felicity that he wants to her to explore. Alistair makes her an offer neither she nor her body can refuse. Can Felicity stay focused on her mission long enough to get the proof for her top secret story, or will Alistair completely take over her heart, mind, body and soul?

Reader Advisory. This novel contains the following warnings:

Adult Themes. Strong Sexual Situations. Lots of Foul Language. Hot, Naked Bodies. Sexy Accents. Lusty Toys That Make You Beg For More. And a Whole Lot of Other Naughty Things That Will Send Your Libido Into Overdrive... Are Your Ready To Unleash Your Desires?

BIO:

D.N. Simmons lives in Chicago IL., with a rambunctious German Shepherd that's too big for his own good and mischievous cat that she affectionately calls "Itty-bitty". She is highly acclaimed for her groundbreaking, fast-paced and engaging novels winning “Author of the Month” at Warrior of Words, “New Voice Of Today” at Romance Reviews and “Rising Star” at Love Romance and More.

 She has been nominated at Love Romances and More, for “Best Book” of 2012 and “Best Paranormal Book” of 2012.

 When she isn't writing, D.N. loves to read, listen to music, watch movies and TV and hang out with friends.

To learn more, and have the opportunity to speak with the author personally, please visit her official website at www.dnsimmons.com. D.N. is always interesting in meeting new and wonderful people.

ONLINE LINKS:

·         Website  http://www.dnsimmons.com

·         Blog http://authordnsimmons.blogspot.com/?zx=824e0b32bd268e30

·         Facebook   https://www.facebook.com/NovelistDNSimmons

·         Twitter  http://www.youtube.com/user/dnsimmonsKOTD?feature=watch

·         GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1396694.D_N_Simmons

·         Pin Interest: http://pinterest.com/dnsimmonsauthor/pins/

·         Youtube - http://www.youtube.com/user/dnsimmonsKOTD?feature=watch

BUY NOW LINK:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Pleasure-Room-D-N-Simmons-ebook/dp/B00IESN89A/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_d_1

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-pleasure-room-dn-simmons/1118624784?ean=2940148174011

KOBO: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/the-pleasure-room

All Romance Books: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-thepleasureroom-1418592-147.htmll

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Introducing Kate Vale - Successful Romance Author

1.  What inspired you to become a romance writer?

            When I began writing, I didn’t think in terms of a particular genre. Rather, I wanted to share the stories that circled in my brain and floated to the surface at odd times--when I was making dinner, watching the birds at the feeders on my back deck, in the midst of watching a television show, while listening to music, driving down to see my son and his wife… Those stories included characters that had captured my imagination and I wanted to learn more about them, too. So, I started writing. The words seemed aimless at first, mostly just scenes that weren’t connected, but which seemed to illustrate something about the character in question. Soon, almost as if ordered by the characters themselves, I had a story with a beginning, middle and end.

            When I finished the first draft of my first novel, DREAM CHASER, I realized I’d written a romance that was couched in a contemporary woman’s struggle to find herself. That surprised me. I’d never thought of myself as a romance writer, but there it was. In fact, I should have guessed at the genre long before I finished it, for the wedding scene of Suzannah’s son and the ending scene, too, were written long before I finished the story. I laughed at myself and figured, “why not?” So I went with the notion of creating stories about real people with real problems, who ended up happily-ever-after.

2.  Where do you draw your characters from?

            My characters are drawn from my imagination, but each of them reflects people I’ve known or situations I’ve experienced or observed. My friends probably wouldn’t be able to say with certainty, “oh, that’s me!” because I don’t write that way. However, if my readers have found themselves in similar situations, I would hope that they recognize the reality of those situations and that they appreciate how the characters deal with those experiences.

3.  How much has your own life experiences influenced your writing?

            None of my stories are autobiographical, but each of them include details that I could claim as my own. Something as unimportant as the color of a particular car or the way a character describes something, using word phrases I’m familiar with. In GILLIAN’S DO-OVER, the main character has a white-water adventure that paralleled my own except for one important detail. I loved going white-water rafting. Poor Gillian’s experience is less positive, but enabled me to show her in a humorous situation. In CHOICES, my personal experience with divorce was very different from Melanie’s, but her concerns about making enough money as a struggling real estate agent mirrored my own in the early years of my career. Places I’ve visited also figure in several of my novels. For example, I worked on Mt. Rainier several summers while I was in college. That made it easy for me to describe the visit Olivia and Beau make to Paradise Inn in GRANDDAD’S HOUSE.

4.  What do you think makes a successful author?

            Success is a coat woven in a variety of colors. To me, a successful author is one who creates a world that the readers recognize and might even want to inhabit. That world is real, with all the foibles that real people encounter. Through their experiences and adventures, I hope the reader gains insight into how to deal with real world situations without being preached at. In DREAM CHASER Suzannah finally comes to realize who she is when she finally realizes how much she has changed. In CHOICES, Melanie’s children point the way for her when she has yet to decide how she wants to live the rest of her life post-divorce. And, in HER DAUGHTER’S FATHER, Gretchen uses her own childhood experiences, and how she overcame those difficulties, to help both Laine and Nettie move past their early life problems.

5.  Why should people read your book?

            When I was in college, I studied family dynamics. In CHOICES, I opted to explore divorce from the perspective of a mother as well as that of her children. On its face, the subject might seem to be a downer kind of book, but it never struck me that way, even when her teenagers were having difficulties that complicated Melanie’s life. And as the words flowed, I realized that the primary message of CHOICES was hope--hope that Melanie could make a life for herself and her children, hope that her daughter and sons were there for her, and that she would find love again--in part because little Jeffrey proposed to Sam and thus precipitated a happily-ever-after conclusion that made me laugh out loud while wiping away tears. I hope the readers of CHOICES feel the same.

BLURB for CHOICES:

Melanie Holmes has her hands full when 15-year-old Keith and 13-year-old Anne, react badly to Melanie’s impending divorce from their father. Only four-year-old Jeffrey is his usual sunny self.

Further complicating her life is her attraction to Sam Hudson, the detective called to her home when Ken runs off, and Anne is abducted from a strip club.

Sam is forced to confront his own demons as he contemplates becoming deeply involved with Melanie’s family after she is seriously injured in the same car accident that kills her ex-husband. After she returns home, Melanie’s kids tell her they want to marry Sam, even though he hasn’t uttered the “M” word.

How will Sam react when her kids do the proposing for him? Can the long-time bachelor commit himself to her and her children?

More about Kate Vale:

Kate Vale lives in the beautiful fourth corner of northwestern Washington state. She enjoys the slower pace of a small city located between Vancouver BC, and Seattle WA. Her stories reflect the many different careers she has experienced and the crises that confront real men and women. Helping her characters get to a happily-ever-after is a continuing goal.

Awards received:

2014 Great Beginnings* 1^st prize for DREAM CHASER (the first novel I published) – in cozy mysteries for Romantic Fiction

2014 Great Beginnings* 1^st prize for HER DAUGHTER’S FATHER (this comes out on Feb 10, 2014!) – in Romantic Suspense category

Previously, PACKAGE DEAL won 1^st prize in Romantic Suspense Category for books published in 2012

In addition to the 2013 1^st prize for Contemporary Romance for CHOICES

*All four of these awards were given by Chanticleer Books and Media. The Great Beginnings contest was for the first up to 1500 words only. According to the people running the contest, their intent was to identify titles whose beginnings “captured” the reader, urging them to want to read more.  The other two contests required submission of the entire novel.

ONLINE LINKS:

·         Website http://katevale.com

·         Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kate-Vale-Writer/113196142160870

·         Twitter  https://twitter.com/katevalewriter

·         Google +  https://plus.google.com/107280852290901844962

·         Amazon Author Page http://www.amazon.com/Kate-Vale/e/B009SE6634

BUY NOW LINK:

Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Choices+by+Kate+Vale&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3AChoices+by+Kate+Vale

Createspace.com: https://tsw.createspace.com/title/4315727

Smashwords.com: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/378666

Giveaway:  2 books, USA only

A different take on Jack the Ripper

It's great to step out of your comfort zone and explore different authors.  I think that is one great thing Amazon has done with Kindle, to expose us to many different authors we might never have found in the neighborhood book shop.  Kathryn Johnson, writing as Mary Hart Perry, has taken on Jack the Ripper and written it from a completely different perspective, focusing on a love affair between the investigating detective and aunt of the main suspect.
If you like mystery, crime and historical romance then this will be a great read for you!

BLURB:

THE SHADOW PRINCESS, by Mary Hart Perry

To catch one of history’s most notorious killers, a princess risks losing her family, her life—and her heart…

London, 1888: A year after Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee terror mounts in the city's slums.  A killer has butchered two prostitutes, the crimes brutal even by London’s hardened standards.  Rumors of the murders reach Princess Vicky, daughter of Queen Victoria and grieving widow of the German Emperor Frederick III.  When her niece Princess Maud visits, she brings with her even worse news--the Metropolitan Police have a suspect. It’s Vicky’s nephew, Crown Prince Eddy. Desperate to clear her family's name, Vicky rushes back to England.

Detective Inspector Thomas Edmondson believes there is a royal cover-up behind the killings. He will stop at nothing to expose the truth and bring a murderer to justice before he can kill again.  But when Vicky joins him in searching for the man who will become known as Jack the Ripper, neither of them foresee the overpowering attraction that will draw together the royal and the commoner—or the danger their love puts them in.

http://www.amazon.com/Seducing-Princess-Mary-Hart-Perry-ebook/dp/B00BOR8P3C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391996325&sr=8-1&keywords=Seducing+the+Princess

Bio: Mary Hart Perry (aka Kathryn Johnson)

Mary Hart Perry grew up in New England and now lives in the Washington DC area with her husband and two feline writing partners, Tempest and Miranda. She's the author of over 40 novels published by major U.S. and foreign publishers. She writes historical fiction as Mary Hart Perry and contemporary romantic thrillers under her own name, Kathryn Johnson. She also teaches fiction-writing workshops for The Writer's Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Her popular 8-week course, The Extreme Novelist, supports and encourages class members through a full first draft of their novels. In 2008, she founded Write by You, a writer's mentoring service, to aid individual authors in reaching their publication goals. She has been nominated for the prestigious Agatha Christy Award, and won the Heart of Excellence and Bookseller's Best Awards (sponsored by the Romance Writers of America). Her works in progress include Victorian thrillers inspired by the lives of Queen Victoria's daughters, and a new contemporary romantic-suspense series scheduled for release in 2014-15. Kathryn is a member of the Author's Guild, Romance Writers of America, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Novelists Inc, and the Historical Novel Society.

ONLINE LINKS:

Website:  www.MaryHartPerry.com

Contact: Mary@MaryHart Perry.com,  or  Kathryn@WriteByYou.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com/Kathryn.K.Johnson.3   or  for MHP:  on.fb.me/Kj7hzU

Twitter: @Mary_Hart_Perry   or   @KathrynKJohnson

Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kathryn-johnson/21/8b3/350

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/Mary_Hart_Perry  or www.goodreads.com/KathrynJohnson

 BUY NOW LINK:

·         Amazon  http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Princess-Mary-Hart-Perry-ebook/dp/B00I36D8UW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391999082&sr=8-1&keywords=Mary+Hart+Perry