Book Blast: Bad Guy by Ana Diamond

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome author Ana Diamond. Today, Ana shares her new release, Bad Guy.

Blurb

Luke Daniels has done his fair share of bad things. But when the FBI offers him a deal in exchange for infiltrating the local Mafia’s infamous Costa Crew, Luke has no choice but to accept the challenge.

Beautiful, smart and tough, Sophia Costa wants out of the Crew. Appointed boss by her brother after he’s sent to prison, she wants no part in the murder, deceit and secrecy typical of Mafia life.

Just as things heat up between Luke and Sophia, a mysterious hitman targets Sophia, and Luke’s handler starts to wonder if Luke is up for the task.

As the lovers face the possibility of losing everything in order to be together, the line between loyalty and betrayal blur.

Excerpt

At the entrance, a burly guy with a pug nose and dressed in a long black trench coat scanned the bar, like he was looking for someone. Kid turned toward the other end of the bar, signaling to a guy wearing a black fedora, who then promptly disappeared into the back room.

Pug Nose took notice of Kid’s intervention and barreled toward him with gritted teeth. But before he could get his hands on Kid, Luke elbowed him right in the center of his face. He fell back, clutching his bloody nose, while Luke continued the onslaught until he sensed surrender. Then he jumped off him while the others in the crowd lifted Pug Nose off the floor. Blood ran down his face and soaked his shirt. The room fell quiet as the sound of stilettos clicking on the floor became louder by the second.

Luke shook off the pain in his knuckles as he watched the dark-haired beauty approach.

She stopped and stared at Pug Nose’s injuries, quickly glanced at Luke, then back at Pug Nose. “Take this message back to your boss. We’re not afraid of you and if you come back, we’ll kill you one by one.” She nodded at her crew to take Pug Nose away, then turned to Luke.

A nervous tickle made him clear his throat as she stared up at him with deep sapphire-colored eyes. He couldn’t imagine what role she played in this dirty game full of thugs and thieves.

“I have to personally thank you for stepping in for Kid. What’s your name, Fighter?” she asked with a tiny smirk on her full red lips.

“Luke Daniels. May I ask who you are?”

“My name is Sophia Costa. I’m the boss.”

Author Bio and Links

When Ana Diamond isn’t writing about tough gals finding love in unexpected places, she’s at work by day in the medical field. She writes romantic mystery novels with feisty strong women and alluring men who can’t resist them. Her books are fast paced, entertaining and heartfelt all at once.

Ana is a 2020 Tara Contest Finalist for Body Conscious and 2015 Melody of Love contest finalist. She lives in New York with her husband, two children and two needy but wildly entertaining kitty cats.

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Buy Link

Giveaway

Ana Diamond will be awarding a $25 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Ana on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

Moving Beyond Failure

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

In her book, When Your Past is Hurting Your Present, author Sue Augustine encourages her readers to view failure as a teacher. Here’s an inspiring excerpt:

It might surprise you to know how many people fail before they reach their goals or experience success. Here is a list of people who were considered failures at some point in their lives:

Fred Astaire was described at an early screen test with the words, “Can’t act. Can’t sing. Balding. Can dance a little.”

Elvis Presley was fired after just one show at the Grand Ole Opry and told, “You ain’t goin’ nowhere, son!”

Albert Einstein was four years old before he could speak and seven before he could read. He performed badly in almost all of his high-school courses. He flunked his college exams and was advised by a teacher to drop out of school. She said, “You’ll never amount to anything, Einstein.”

Louisa May Alcott, who authored Little Women and numerous other novels, was told by an editor she’d never write anything that had popular appeal.

The legendary tenor Enrico Caruso was told by a voice teacher that he couldn’t sing at all.

Leo Tolstoy (author of War and Peace and Anna Karenina, among others) flunked out of college.

At age ten, famous artist Pablo Picasso stopped going to school because he was barely able to read or write. His father yanked him out of school and hired a tutor, but the tutor soon gave up and quit in disgust.

A newspaper editor fired Walt Disney, saying he lacked creativity and good ideas.

Admiral Richard E. Byrd had been retired from the navy as “unfit for service” until he flew over the North and South Poles.

What does all this mean to us? It means we are in good company when we have a flop or produce a dud now and then. It also means that mistakes, failure, and setbacks are not the end of the world. They certainly don’t signify that we aren’t capable of going on to accomplish great things.

Source: When Your Past is Hurting Your Present, pp. 170-171.

Blurb Blitz: Bullets and Dandelions

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome author, Gail Kroger. Today, she shares her new release, Bullets and Dandelions.

Blurb

My name is Tess Reynolds, and I’ll admit few people would think I’m a badass Army sniper called the Scorpion. After all, women snipers were unheard of in 1990. People look at me and see a petite blonde who is cute as a button. My father calls it my natural camouflage.

My time in the Middle East has been full of unforeseen complications. I have a rogue CIA agent trying to kill me and I caught the attention of a Force Recon Marine by the name of Alexander Stone. Wowzer! He’s hot but he’s also the biggest jackass I have ever met. To make things even more interesting, I need the Jackass’s help to stay alive.

Excerpt

“Turn around. You’re moving like a granny, and I need you in fighting form.” He pulled a tube of ointment out of his pocket.

The last thing I needed was Stone touching me, but he was right. I couldn’t fight like this. I turned around. I hoped I didn’t do something stupid, like kissing him.

“You took a bad fall. You’re damn lucky you didn’t break a leg.”

I snorted. “That would have really messed up my father’s plans.”

“Your father needs killing.” Stone massaged ointment into my neck and back.

My knees almost buckled. That felt so damn good. “He was a great father until my mother was killed. Now all he lives for is vengeance.” Shit! My voice came out all breathy.

“What happened?” Stone’s hands slid down my left thigh as he worked the ointment into my colorful bruises.

My pussy pulsed and I fought back a moan. God, I loved the feel on his hands on my body. “She worked for Doctors Without Borders and was killed in a roadside bombing.” I balled my hands. Don’t touch him. Don’t touch him.

“That’s tough.” He switched to my other leg.

Oh, God. My panties were soaked, my nipples had hardened, and pure arousal thrummed in my veins. I wanted that bastard inside me.

“How does that feel?” He gave me a lewd wink.

“You know damn well how that feels.”

He grinned. “You’ve got the color back in your cheeks.”

“Gee, thanks.”

Author Bio and Links

I was a 9-1-1 dispatcher for the Glendale Police Department and to keep from going totally bonkers – I mean people have no idea what a real emergency is. Take this for example: I answered, “9-1-1 emergency, what’s your emergency?” And this hysterical woman yelled, “My bird is in a tree.” Sometimes I really couldn’t help myself, so I said, “Birds have a tendency to do that, ma’am.” The woman screeched, “No! You don’t understand. My pet parakeet is in the tree. I’ve just got to get him down.” Like I said, not a clue. “I’m sorry ma’am but we don’t get birds out of trees.” The woman then cried, “But… What about my husband? He’s up there, too.” See what I had to deal with? To keep from hitting myself repeatedly in the head with my phone I took up writing.

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Instagram | BookBub | BlueSky | Amazon Author Page

Giveaway

Gail Koger will be awarding a $15 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Gail on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

When the Going Gets Tough

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

A long-time fan of bestselling authors and coaches Marc and Angel Chernoff, I look forward to reading their emails and blog posts. Here’s an excerpt from a recent post:

When we’re losing our motivation and feeling down and unsure of everything — we need to wake ourselves up and remember…

1. To trust the journey, even when we do not understand it.

2. To accept what is, let go of what was, and have faith in the road ahead.

3. To start exactly where we are, use what we have, and do what we can, one step at a time.

4. To look for the blessings hidden in every struggle we face, and be willing to open our hearts and minds to them.

5. To recognize our backpack of support — our external sources of hope and motivation — before a random guru (or someone with far more crooked intentions) has to steal it from us so that we can finally see what we have always taken for granted.

6. To be present and tap into our own hearts and minds — our internal sources of hope and motivation — which have the power to push us back up on our feet and guide us down the road to our backpack of support, even when it appears to be lost forever.

7. To laugh at the confusion, live consciously in the moment, and appreciate the lessons found at each twist and turn.

8. To not compare our progress with that of others, and accept that we all need our own time to travel our own distance.

9. To see how many of the things we never wanted or expected ultimately turn out to be what we need.

10. To be OK with not ending up exactly where we intended to go, while opening ourselves up to the possibility of eventually arriving precisely in the right place at the right time.

Note: I highly recommend subscribing to Marc & Angel’s website.

Interview with Lauren Martin

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I am happy to welcome psychotherapist and poet Lauren Martin. Today, Lauren shares interesting facts about her creative journey and her new poetry collection, Night of the Hawk

Interview

What was your inspiration for this book?

I had always written without submitting until I was injured and bedridden for most of the last decade. I was inspired to try to communicate what it is like to feel different or isolated from others and what makes us all universally bonded.

Which authors have inspired you?

Poets: William Stafford, Joy Harjo, Naomi Shihab Nye, Leila Chatti, Yolanda Wisher

What is your favorite quote?

My all-time favorite poem is William Stafford’s Ask Me because I think it captures the meaning of life and the way the composite of our experiences forms a life.

Any advice for aspiring writers?

Baby steps. I think making yourself begin with writing twenty minutes a few times a week prevents it from feeling overwhelming. Then you end up getting more comfortable with it and craving more time to write.

What are you working on next?

I have a new collection of poetry I am currently submitting and a psychological essay book for which I am also seeking representation.

Blurb

Ifá. Nature. Illness. Love. Loss. Misogyny. Aging. Africa. Our wounded planet. In this sweeping yet intensely personal collection, Lauren Martin tells the untold stories of the marginalized, the abused, the ill, the disabled—the different. Inspired by her life’s experiences, including the isolation she has suffered as a result both of living with chronic illness and having devoted herself to a religion outside the mainstream, these poems explore with raw vulnerability and unflinching honesty what it is to live apart—even as one yearns for connection.

But Night of the Hawk is no lament; it is powerful, reverential, sometimes humorous, often defiant— “Oh heat me and fill me / I rise above lines”—and full of wisdom. Visceral and stirring, the poems in this collection touch on vastly disparate subjects but are ultimately unified in a singular quest: to inspire those who read them toward kindness, compassion, and questioning.

Excerpt

A SEA OF KISSES

One kiss to
Make me stay
Two to
Start the day
Three and
I’m on my way.

Author Bio and Links

Lauren Martin is a psychotherapist, poet, and a devoted Ìyânífá. Born in Boston and spending many years in New York and Paris, she currently lives in Oakland, California. Lauren studied psychology, photography and poetry at Sarah Lawrence College. She spent years writing without submitting her work due to a long shamanic journey, which led her to both Ifá, and to the writing of several books (including this collection of poems.) The upcoming publication of Night of the Hawk (SheWrites Press, 2024), reflects a deeply personal experience of illness, isolation and true shamanism.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Amazon Buy Link

Giveaway

Lauren Martin will be awarding a $10 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Lauren on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

Blurb Blitz: Sanctuary by Ginny Fite

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome award-winning author Ginny Fite. Today, Ginny shares her new release, Sanctuary.

Blurb

Sometimes losing your children is the only way to save them. The year is 2039. Chased by government goons determined to quarantine her and a virus that might kill her at any time, Jean Bennett races a thousand miles to Canada to get her five children to safety. On a journey unlike any they’ve ever taken, Jean learns who she is and what she must do to save her children.

Excerpt

THE infection hit with such ferocity and speed that all public transport had shut down by the end of my husband’s meeting in DC, sixty-five miles from home. No car, no commuter train, no way out.

In the five hours since he’d arrived in the city that morning, police had blockaded roads and barred highway entrances. Airlines delayed flights and then canceled them. Residents, under threat of arrest, huddled in their homes, and universities restricted students to dorms. Government officials shuttered public buildings, closing, and locking the gates.

Television news showed black-helmeted National Guardsmen herding panicked tourists back toward their hotels as they stampeded down unfamiliar streets. Coast Guard cutters patrolled the Potomac River; helicopters buzzed overhead. From Capitol Hill to the Ellipse, red lights on Constitution Avenue blinked on and off. Front pages of the morning newspaper skittered across empty streets.

I waited for Ted to call.

Buy Links

Amazon | Sunbury Pres

Author Bio and Links

Ginny Fite is an award-winning journalist and author of nine traditionally published novels, three collections of poetry, a collection of short stories, and a book of humorous essays on aging. A graduate of Rutgers University and Johns Hopkins University, her 40-year career in communications included posts in newspapers, government, higher education, and a robotics R&D company. Pushcart Prize nominated, shortlisted for the 2019 SFWP prize, a finalist for the 2020 Bakwin Prize, winner of the FAPA gold medal in fiction for the collaborative novel Thoughts & Prayers, her stories have appeared in The Delmarva Review, Women Arts Quarterly Journal, Heartwood Literary Magazine, Coffin Bell, and the Anthology of Appalachian Writers. Writing about ordinary people who grapple with extraordinary circumstances, her novels span the genres of mystery, thriller, adventure, speculative, and women’s fiction. Learn more at GinnyFite.com.

Author Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Threads

Published Novels

Sanctuary
Leave Everything You Know Behind
The Physics of Things
Possession
Blue Girl on a Night Dream Sea
No End of Bad
Lying, Cheating and Occasionally Murder
No Good Deed Left Undone
Cromwell’s Folly
Thoughts & Prayers (co-author)

Giveaway

Ginny Fite will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner.. Find out more here.

Follow Ginny on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

10 Motivational Quotes

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

Sometimes, the hardest part of writing is simply getting started. Here are ten quotations to help you get over that motivational hump:

“If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.” ~Margaret Atwood

“Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it’s the only way you can do anything really good.” ~William Faulkner

“I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.” ~Anne Frank

“Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer.” ~Barbara Kingsolver

“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” ~Louis L’Amour

“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” ~Jack London

“If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” ~Toni Morrison

“Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers, you cannot be successful or happy.” ~Norman Vincent Peale

“You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.” ~Jodi Picoult

“Start before you’re ready.” ~Steven Pressfield

Spotlight on Sensible Shoes by Cindy Causey

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome Wild Rose Press author Cindy Causey. Today, Cindy shares her new release, Sensible Shoes.

Blurb

At her fiftieth birthday party, Tess Thomason, a plain-Jane, divorced mother and decidedly unprepared women’s newspaper columnist, is blindsided by her well-meaning family with a stack of gift cards she interprets as meaning she’s fat, frumpy, and wrinkled. Facing a lonely future and failing career, Tess embarks on a journey of self-discovery, taking her readers along for the ride. But her resolve is nearly derailed by a hilarious season of family chaos that includes a surprise pregnancy, rushed wedding, and unexpected houseguests. In the midst of it all, Tess is drawn into a confusing new relationship with a man who is impossibly perfect for her. But if she can keep herself, her family, and her willpower firmly seated on the crazy roller coaster of her life, maybe Tess will find her own self-worth and a new love in the bargain.

Excerpt

“Tess, Tess, I’m not expecting you to write like Sylvia. I’m not even expecting you to write about fashion. What I have in mind is a column to women, for women, about women. Real women. Like one of those influencers on the Internet. You know…funny, wise, poignant, and… relevant.”

The creeping dread, now fully formed, tossed a grenade into my stomach. She might as well have asked me to write like Shakespeare. “You want me to be funny, wise, poignant, and…relevant? Are you insane?”

Okay, I may have stepped over the line with that last bit, because Ruth’s face twisted a little in the ominous way I had seen so often just before she pounded her fist on the desk. “Just write the damn thing, Tess. I don’t care if you’re funny, wise, poignant, or what was the other thing?”

“Relevant,” I murmured.

“Relevant, for God’s sake. Just do it. I need a column for the women’s page starting next week, and you’re it. Write about what you know. Family. Food. The laundry. You’ve got family. You’ve got laundry. It’ll be a cinch.”

“But—”

“No buts. Just do it. It’ll be good for you. You need to get out of your rut.” She turned her attention to her computer screen.

As if in a trance, I rose from the chair and turned to leave. “Oh, Tess?” she said without looking at me.

“Yes?” Maybe she’s changed her mind; she saw my outfit, and she changed her mind.

“Happy birthday.”

Author Bio and Links

Cindy Causey taught herself to type in the 8th grade because she couldn’t write in her diary fast enough in longhand. A degree and career in advertising were the result. A fifteen-year stint as a copy chief at JCPenney Catalog led to the position of Internet Marketing Manager for JCPenney.com.

After 20 years at JCPenney, Cindy retired in December, 2007, and began working full time with her husband Scott in their multi-media production company, Dallas Media Center. They specialized in audio/video production and editing, vintage media transfer to DVD and CD, as well as website design and hosting. Cindy shuttered the company in 2021, three years after Scott passed away.

After her first book, a non-fiction work called Cherish the Gift: A Congregational Guide to Earth Stewardship, was published, Cindy began writing fiction. She found her voice in romance, the stories of the struggles two people endure on the road to happily ever-after. Her debut novel, A Different Drum was published in May 2009 by The Wild Rose Press, followed by A Hot Time in Texas that same year.

In early 2025, her latest novel, Sensible Shoes, a humorous look at a woman struggling with life after 50, was published by The Wild Rose Press. It will be followed in late 2025 by a romantic suspense novel entitled Saving Samantha.

Cindy makes her home in Dallas, Texas. In addition to writing, she enjoys traveling and spending time with her 5 grown children and 4 grandchildren. She would like to see the edges of the entire world from the deck of a cruise ship.

Blog | Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Pinterest

Giveaway

Cindy Causey will be awarding a $20 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Cindy on the rest of her Goddess Fish Tour here.

I couldn’t put this book down and stayed up two nights in a row to finish it. An expert storyteller, Ms. Causey writes with passion and skill, bringing the topsy-turvy world of the protagonist, Tess Thomason, to life. I found myself rooting for Tess as she embarked on a journey of self-discovery and transformation, all while navigating an avalanche of challenges—from a surprise pregnancy and a revolving door of houseguests to complicated romantic entanglements. All of this unfolds against the backdrop of Thanksgiving and a whirlwind wedding.

Even days after finishing, I’m still marveling at the twists and turns in Tess’s remarkable story. Sensible Shoes is beautifully written and a must-read for fans of women’s fiction.