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 recent release, Secrets of Adulthood, bestselling author Gretchen Rubin shares witty and thought-provoking reflections. Here’s one of my favorites:
I’m happy to welcome Wild Rose Press author Lori Matsourani. Today, Lori shares her new release, Ghosted.
Blurb
When her fiancé’s infidelity prompts Bethany Hendren to map out a new path forward, her plans are disrupted by an unexpected encounter with Nick Dorsey, who convinces her to help search for the remains of a troubled eighteenth-century ghost. Nick is the handsome summer boyfriend who ghosted her years ago, and now he wants to rekindle their relationship.
Despite her reluctance to trust him, Bethany discovers he’s still the funny, caring person who captured her heart as a teen, but giving him a second chance is risky—it could lead to love and happiness or result in another devastating heartache.
Although Bethany wants a happily ever after with Nick, does she have the courage to trust him with her future?
Excerpt
The fountain that night was magical. Spotlights positioned at the edges of the narrow brick patio lit the cast-iron maiden as she filled her goblet from an urn with a never-ending flow of water.
Nick stopped and retrieved his dime. Bethany fished a penny out of her pocket, and they counted to three before flinging their coins into the pool.
After settling on a nearby bench, he drew her into his arms. Was this it? The moment she’d wondered about, waited for? She looked up into his eyes and inhaled, filling her lungs with the scent of sunscreen and salty air. His scent. Then he leaned down, touched her cheek with his index finger, and brushed his mouth against hers. His lips, spiced with traces of red pepper flakes, were softer than she had imagined. Without thinking, she lifted her face to his, hungrily snatching more kisses until she’d spent her last breath.
“My wish came true,” he’d murmured, tightening his arms around her as his mouth rested on hers.
She’d whispered back, “So did mine.”
The memory dredged up the old ache, now muted by time. Nick thought they were still friends, although he’d been the one who ended their relationship. Was it possible he still thought about her, and his heart still pounded with the chemistry that had pulled them together so long ago?
Buy Links
Books2Read | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple | WildRosePress
Author Bio and Links
Author Lori Matsourani is a romance addict. Give her stories with a touch of heartbreak and a spark of joy, and she’s happy. Throw in characters with a huge helping of heart and soul, and she’s up reading all night in romance heaven! While currently a Texas resident, Lori grew up near Baltimore and often draws on the historical flavor of Annapolis and Maryland’s Eastern Shore to inspire her story settings. She authored her first fiction story at twelve and has been hooked on writing ever since. Early on, her writing career focused on articles for magazines and newspapers before shifting to her first writing love—fiction. For Lori, connecting words to tell a story is like assembling a jigsaw puzzle, and she loves the challenge of creating every piece.
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads | Bluesky | Threads | X | TikTok
*Win a copy of the book at this Goodreads Giveaway. *
Giveaway
Lori Matsourani will be awarding a $20 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.
Follow Lori on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.
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 latest book, Dear Writer, New York Times bestselling author Maggie Smith breaks down creativity into ten essential elements. Here’s an uplifting excerpt:
During the four years when I was sending out my second book manuscript, The Well Speaks of Its Own Poison, I did revise it. With each rejection, I made adjustments: added poems, pulled poems out, changed the order, even changed the title more than once. And I did continue to send that manuscript to the same contests every year.
At times it felt like the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. But in publishing, even if you send the same poem or chapbook or book manuscript out again and again to the very same places, it’s actually not the same. The readers and screeners are often different. The editors and final judges are often rotating. The selection of other manuscripts yours is up against changes, too. All of this to say: There are so many variables that go into why a poem or book gets taken, and why others don’t, beyond the quality of the work.
Keep trying, reassessing, and trusting your gut. When it’s time to let go, move on. Push forward with confidence. Know that we need more from you.
And what else do we need? More literary journals and magazines, not fewer. More publishers, not fewer. A wider community, not a narrower one.
Source: Dear Writer by Maggie Smith, p. 212
I’m happy to welcome award-winning author Chrstine Amsden. Today, Christine shares her creative journey and new release, Knot of Souls.
Here’s Christine!
What was your inspiration for this book?
The idea for Knot of Souls came at the end of 2020, after a year of working social media for two state senate campaigns. Politics is always fraught, but in the midst of a global pandemic, trolls were out in force, leaving me wondering how two opposite sides could ever come together on anything. In November, I sat down at my computer, stared at a blank cursor for a minute, and typed out three words:
Write something happy.
Joy got a name before she got a plot!
Now, it’s hard to write something you don’t feel, and I didn’t feel happy at the time, but I did manage hopeful. The key hope I wanted to ignite? That two very different beings at cross-purposes can find a way to work together, and even become close.
What is the best part of being an author? The worst?
My favorite part of being an author are the times when someone sends me an email and tells me they loved my book(s). I recently got one from someone I’ve known for seven years who only just got around to reading me, and she said, “Why did I wait so long???” Those kinds of things put a smile on my face every time.
The worst part of being an author has been grappling with how big a role luck plays in success.
Describe your writing space.
I write in a basement office where the only light comes through a small, high window covered with stained glass sunflowers. Due to a visual impairment, I write almost exclusively on a desktop, using a very large monitor mounted on an arm that I bring so close to my face that my (hot pink) keyboard is under and behind it. The keyboard clicks. Click click click. I love the tactile and auditory feedback. On a table nearby, I place a jar candle that I light when I’m working on a novel. The scents vary; I like to keep things interesting. Right now it’s vanilla, but I’m probably going to move to something more woodsy soon.
If you had a superpower, what would it be?
Self-confidence. (Is that a superpower? It feels like a superpower!)
Besides writing and reading, what are some of your hobbies?b>
Games! I’ve been learning chess for a year or two, and I play some video games … they aren’t all accessible enough, but I’ve gotten into cozy ones like Stardew Valley. I read a lot, both fiction and nonfiction, and as I primarily read on audio I knit to have something to do with my hands. I also enjoy walking, yoga, and a good cup of tea.
Any advice for aspiring writers?
Never forget to play, and to take joy in your work.
Book Blurb
Two souls, one body …
When Joy wakes up in an alley, she knows three things: she was brutally murdered, she has somehow come back to life … and she is not alone. She’s been possessed by an inhuman presence, a being that has taken over her dying body. That being is powerful, in pain, and on the run from entities more dangerous than he is.
Shade, a Fae prince on the run, didn’t mean to share the body he jumped into. Desperate and afraid, accused of a murder he didn’t commit, he only sought a place to hide—but if he leaves Joy now, he faces discovery and a fate worse than death.
Forced to work together to solve multiple murders, including her own, Joy and Shade discover hidden strengths and an unlikely friendship. Yet as their souls become increasingly intertwined, they realize their true danger might come from each other … and if they don’t find a way to untangle the knot their souls have become, then even the truth won’t set them free.
Knot of Souls is a stand-alone buddy love fantasy that forces two very different beings to work together … and come out stronger on the other side.
Knot of Souls is available at Amazon.
Book Excerpt
Joy
The first thing I realized, after I died, was that my body could walk and talk and no longer needed my help for any of it. I was in there, able to look through my eyes and hear through my ears, but even the simple task of aiming my gaze had slipped outside my control. I was a passenger inside my own mind, an observer along for the ride.
Kristen had been right, I thought numbly as I struggled to make sense of my new reality. Had it only been lunchtime today when she’d told me I’d never get ahead if I didn’t learn to assert myself? “Take control of your life,” she’d said, “or others will take it for you.”
She couldn’t have been thinking of anything quite so literal. Whatever was happening to me, it wasn’t because I’d failed to advocate for a promotion at work or refused to ask out a coworker.
Right?
My body reached my car and slid behind the wheel. A rattled thought—not my own—cursed as it tried to understand how the contraption worked. How much can cars have changed in only a century? Visions accompanied the thoughts, memories—again not my own—of a classic car, gleaming black and elegant, its top down, my bobbed hair whipping around my face as I laughed with glee, a white-faced young man at my side gripping the door, begging me to slow down. I did not.
Which brings me to the second thing I realized, after I died: I was no longer alone inside my own mind.
Whoever was in there didn’t seem to have noticed me yet. Fine. I slid into the smallest corner of my brain I could find, ignoring the intruder as they struggled to figure out how to work an automatic transmission. Maybe they’d get frustrated and give up and go find someone else’s body to possess.
Holy shit! I’ve been possessed by the ghost of someone who died in like 1930.
But why?
I tried to remember what had happened, but the images danced just out of reach. I recalled that the night had been unseasonably cold for October, the chill biting through my inadequate jacket as I hurried to my car, parked in a garage two blocks away from the shelter where I’d been volunteering. Hugging my arms around my torso for warmth, I took a shortcut through an alley and …
There was a noise. I’d startled, my heart pounding in my throat, already on edge because of the argument.
Wait. Back up. There’d been an argument. That seemed significant, but my scattered thoughts couldn’t piece it together as yet, not when a bodily intruder fumbled at the gearshift of my two-month-old Hyundai Accent with only fifty-eight “low monthly payments” left to go.
Low is such a relative word.
– Excerpted from Knot of Souls by Christine Amsden, Christine Amsden, 2025. Reprinted with permission.
About the Author
Christine Amsden is the author of nine award-winning fantasy and science fiction novels, including the Cassie Scot Series.
Speculative fiction is fun, magical, and imaginative but Christine believes great speculative fiction is about real people defining themselves through extraordinary situations. She writes primarily about people, and it is in this way that she strives to make science fiction and fantasy meaningful for everyone.
In addition to writing, Christine is a freelance editor and political activist. Disability advocacy is of particular interest to her; she has a rare genetic eye condition called Stargardt Macular Degeneration and has been legally blind since the age of eighteen. In her free time, she enjoys role playing, board games, and a good cup of tea. She lives in the Kansas City area with her husband and two kids.
Website | X | Facebook | Amazon Buy Link
Giveaway
Christine Amsden is giving away 2 epub sets of the 4-book Cassie Scot series (gifted through BookFunnel! This includes Cassie Scot: ParaNormal Detective, Secrets and Lies, Mind Games and Stolen Dreams. Enter here.
Terms & Conditions:
• By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
• Two winners will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one set of the 4-book Cassie Scot series (four books total).
• This giveaway starts July 1 and ends September 26.
• Winner will be contacted via email on September 26.
• Winner has 48 hours to reply.
I’m happy to welcome back multi-published author Petie McCarty. Today, Petie shares her new release, Christmas Watch.
Blurb
The Watchers Series
Fallen angels seeking parole for their betrayal . . .
Someone is watching Rachel . . . but who? And why?
Child psychologist Rachel Kelly has her Christmas stocking full of troubles this holiday season, both personal and professional. Recently separated from her boyfriend, Rachel still loves him but has no idea how to win him back. If that’s not enough to cause her sleepless nights, she’s uncertain how to handle her newest therapy client—a six-year-old boy who claims he talks to Watchers. And a Watcher is coming to help Rachel.
Lt. Jake Dillon has his heart broken when his fiancée Rachel, without warning, suddenly calls it quits. Yet when a stalker crashes Rachel’s Christmas party and takes her young clients hostage, Jake is the first person Rachel calls. Now he has a choice to make—stand back and wait for the cavalry to save her, or step in and try to save her himself. Time is running out, and Jake may be their only chance for rescue.
Unless Rachel’s young Watcher spy is telling the truth . . .
This romantic suspense tale with paranormal elements is Book 2 in The Watchers series . . . A captivating tale of small-town Christmas romance that will leave you looking over your shoulder and wondering, Is someone watching
Excerpt
Jake whipped his BMW into the Azalea Center parking lot and switched off his headlights in one smooth motion. Guided by the light from the few streetlamps, he coasted to a silent stop next to Wally’s Jeep, though his emotions had urged him to come screeching around the corner like the cavalry. Common sense and the need for stealth won out. He couldn’t risk driving the trespasser underground only to have him surface later after Jake had gone.
Clicking off his interior lights, he unlocked his glove compartment and drew out his Sig Sauer, then climbed out and quietly pushed the car door in until the latch held. He waited several seconds to let his eyes and ears take in the entire scene. Damn. All the landscaping crowded around the Center provided a multitude of places for a trespasser to hide.
He put a hand on the hood of Wally’s Jeep. Still warm, even in the cold night air. A brief stab of guilt hit him for dumping his team so abruptly in the Beef n’ Barrel. Couldn’t be helped.
He scanned the closest landscape beds for some sign of Wally. A stiff north breeze whipped across the parking area, stirring up leaves and debris. Barely visible through the treetops, the almost-full moon blazed bright.
He made his way past the large perimeter oaks to the interior sidewalk and began a slow circle of the building, checking sections of the garden as he paced. All the offices on the west side of the building were unoccupied, and all the windows were dark, with a few showing vestiges of their interiors due to adjacent emergency lighting.
Rachel’s office, just around the corner, faced the back of the property. At this time of night, her office interior would be entirely visible with her lights on. Jake knew this because he’d snuck over here enough times in the last few months to observe her office from the garden. He was pathetic and, every few weeks, needed a glimpse of her to get by. A wry smile twitched the edges of his mouth. He could’ve been called in as a trespasser on any one of those nights should someone have spotted him and cared enough to make the call.
Careful to remain off the sidewalk, he silently paced toward the back garden. If the trespasser was a stalker, then the perp probably knew the Center had no security guard and no security system. A fact that had always bothered Jake.
At the back corner of the property, he crossed the sidewalk to inspect the landscape areas adjacent to the building. With quick steps, he shifted from one landscape bed to another. Crouching as he left the larger camellias, he moved through the shorter azaleas and Indian hawthorn.
Clearing the corner, his position even with the back of the building, he paused to reconnoiter and stared at the faint pool of light cast by an overhead office. Rachel’s office.
As his gaze rose to the second-floor office, his eyes searched for the all-too-familiar figure. Without thinking, he straightened to his full height, clearly visible to anyone glancing out the window. Yet no one searched for a figure in the garden. All eyes in the office were busy.
Rachel stood with Olivia and her children on one side of the conference room. On the other side of the room, a man in a worn red jacket and baseball cap faced them. Pointing a gun.
This was Jake’s horrible nightmare.
Author Bio and Links
Petie spent a large part of her career working at Walt Disney World—”The Most Magical Place on Earth”—where she enjoyed working in the land of fairy tales by day and creating her own romantic fairy tales by night, including her new series, The Cinderella Romances. She eventually said good-bye to her “day” job to write her stories full-time.
These days Petie spends her time writing new Cinderella series tales, her new The Watchers series, sequels to her regency time-travel series, Lords in Time, and more contemporary romance standalones to go along with her two previous releases—Any Fin For Love and Ambush in the Everglades.
Petie shares her home on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee with her horticulturist husband and an opinionated Nanday conure named Sassy who made a cameo appearance in Book 2 of The Watchers, Christmas Watch.
Website | Facebook | X | Goodreads | BookBub | Amazon Author Page
Giveaway
Petie McCarty will be awarding a $10 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.
Follow Petie on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.
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.
British author Lucy Mitchell has a delightful blogging voice that brings a smile and a thought-provoking pause to my day. I have bookmarked several of her posts for future reference. Here’s one of my favorites:
Book ideas are strange things. Some turn into books, some disappear during the drafting stages and some act as a catalyst for something else in your life. I believe book ideas come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. The job for you, the writer or author, is to work out which one you are dealing with.
I can put all the book ideas I have had over the years into the following camps.
Book ideas that come into your life for a season.
This camp is full of the ideas I have had for books over the years which have not gone anywhere. Let me tell you this is a busy place. They all flew into my writer brain at high speed and left pretty much after I’d tried to get to know them. My writer relationship with them was frantic and passionate. However, they were simply creative flings.
Book ideas that come into your life for a lifetime.
This is a tough camp to get into. These are the ideas that became actual books. They are a hardy bunch who managed to stay with me through the months and years of painful drafting. There were times I wanted to delete them and run away but these ideas were persistent and never gave up.
Book Ideas that come into your life for a reason.
Now, this is my favourite camp. This is where things get interesting. As this is a busy camp, I have split it out into 3 sub groups.
The book idea that acts as the catalyst for a life change.
This is the book idea which comes into your life to spark some sort of life change. The act of writing the idea triggers something deep inside of you. These ideas are like inner keys to parts of you which have been locked up for years or have never been opened. In this camp we have book ideas which come into your life to help you become a writer and follow a new creative path. Book ideas which come into your life to signify a relationship or friendship wasn’t working. Book ideas which come into your life to show you that maybe your life is heading in the wrong direction. I have experienced a lot of these.
The book idea that teaches you something about writing.
Some ideas for books come to teach us something about our writing. A lot of the time these ideas don’t bring success. Failure is a great teacher. There are always lessons to be learned in failure and it’s because of these ideas. We now know who to blame. Ha ha! They were sent to teach us that our plot sagged, our characterisation could have been improved, there were no laugh out loud moments and our attempt sucked.
The book idea that morphs into a brilliant book idea.
These ideas are the unsung heroes. They come into our writing lives, lead us down one path and then transform before our eyes. Suddenly you realise they are showing you something else. Something bigger and better.
If you are struggling with a book idea at the moment figure out the reason why it has come into your writing life.
I’m happy to welcome psychologist and author Susan Harris Howell. Today, Susan shares her debut novel, The Spirit of Vanderlaan.
Blurb
When beloved professor, Samantha Hayes, learns that her favorite four students live in as many of her old dorm rooms, she wonders how it happened and for what purpose. As she and her student entourage explore the possibilities, they uncover a death years ago and what appears to be the ghost of the dearly departed. All of this stirs up Samantha’s long-held fear that she was responsible for that death, challenging all she thought she knew about herself and the work she holds dear. They must figure out what happened before Samantha gets fired for “dabbling in the paranormal.”
Excerpt
As she walked to her first class of the day, Samantha congratulated herself that for the first time this semester she would arrive at her own class on time. A glance at her watch revealed she even had five minutes to spare. With Douglas Hall in sight and her classroom on its main floor, she was sure to make it on time—
“Samantha!”
Grrr! So close. Although showing up late for class frustrated her, she was mostly annoyed by the person who was about to detain her. If I ignore him, maybe he’ll go away.
“Samantha!” This time he was more insistent.
Samantha released a breath of resignation. She should have known better. He wasn’t the kind to be ignored. Samantha turned to face him as she reached the door of the building. She hadn’t been at Vanderlaan long enough to flout someone who carried the weight around here that he did. “What can I do for you, Len?”
Dr. Len Titus stood before her, dressed as always, in a suit with a starched white shirt and tie which he would loosen by afternoon. His graying hair with a precise part on the side had become his hallmark, along with his hands-on-hips pose and gravelly voice. Levi’s imitation of each was spot on, although professional decorum required that Samantha refrain from the encouragement her laughter would ensure. Since Len Titus was of slight frame, someone unfamiliar with this man might assume passivity or weakness. Not Samantha.
“I see we’re both teaching in Douglas Hall this semester,” he said. “Hope I won’t be in your way.” He peered over his wire-rimmed glasses. “Or you in mine.”
Samantha took a breath, gritted her teeth, and walked through the door. She would use the back entrance next time.
Author Bio and Links
I have also published extensively on equality between women and men. My first book, Buried Talents, explores the subtle ways women are discouraged from entering male-dominated occupations. Buried Talents was named a winner in InterVarsity Press’s 2022 Readers’ Choice Awards.
My husband and I have two grown children, a daughter-in-law, one adorable grandson, and an incorrigible beagle named Doc. While Doc doesn’t understand a word I say, he fully supports my books and their content.
Website | Instagram | Facebook | Amazon Author Page | Goodreads | BookBub |
Email List & Monthly Blog | Amazon Buy Link | Barnes & Noble Buy Link
Giveaway
Susan Harris Howell will be awarding a $10 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.
Follow Susan on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.
I am a psychologist, speaker, and author of The Spirit of Vanderlaan, my debut novel released in December of 2024. This book is a fun, cozy, ghost story featuring a professor, Samantha Hayes, and her lively band of students who get caught up in solving a campus mystery. This book draws on my teaching career of over thirty years to capture the camaraderie and warmth between a professor and the assortment of personalities which inhabit her office.
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:
The concept of taking it one day at a time, one step at a time, might seem ridiculously obvious, but at some point we all get caught up in the moment and find ourselves yearning for instant gratification. We want what we want, and we want it now! And this yearning often tricks us into taking on too much too soon. Marc and I have seen this transpire hundreds of times over the years: a coaching client or course student wants to achieve a big goal (or three) all at once, and can’t choose just one or two daily habits to focus on, so nothing worthwhile ever gets done, and gradually they lose more and more faith in themselves. Let this common mistake — this quick-fix mentality — be your wake-up call today.
You really can’t lift a thousand pounds all at once, yet you can easily lift one pound a thousand times. Small, repeated, incremental efforts will get you there. It doesn’t happen in an instant, but it does happen a lot faster than not getting there at all.
Do your best to consciously shift your daily focus away from the big goals you want to achieve in your life, and redirect your focus toward the little daily habits that actually support those goals. Consider the following:
If you’re a competitive athlete, your goal is to win sports competitions. Your habit is the time you dedicate each day to training your body (and mind).
If you’re a university student, your goal is to learn and earn a degree. Your habit is your daily study routine.
If you’re a parent or guardian, your goal is to be a great role model. Your habit is the time and energy you commit to setting a good example each day.
If you’re a human being, your goal is to live a meaningful life. Your habits are the small, positive steps forward you take every day.
Now consider what would happen if you stopped focusing on one of your big goals for a while and instead focused exclusively on your corresponding daily habit. Would you still make progress? For example, if you were trying to lose weight and you stopped thinking about your goal to lose twenty pounds, and instead placed all of your focus on eating healthy and exercising every day, would you still lose weight? Yes, without a doubt! Gradually you would get closer to your goal — your target weight — without even thinking about it again.
And if you mess up occasionally?
You own up to it, you forgive yourself, and you try again.
One day at a time, one step at a time.
Note: I highly recommend subscribing to Marc & Angel’s website.
I’m happy to welcome award-winning author LS Delorme. Today, she shares her new release, Fanning Fireflies, Book 3 in the Limerent Series.
Blurb
There is something rotting in Harrisville.
It’s 1944 and Veronica works so she can afford to eat. Maybe one day she will save enough to own the home her family is living in, but for now, she doesn’t have time for fanciful thoughts, or much else. She doesn’t have time for the fire whispering to her, the ghosts trying to talk to her and the son of her boss, who can’t stop staring at her. She definitely doesn’t have time to think about Lazlo, the handsome black soldier that she processed at the draft office, but she can’t seem to stop herself. As her ability to ignore Lazlo evaporates, so does her self-imposed ignorance about her hometown.
There is, and always has been, something rotten in Harrisville. It shouldn’t have been a surprise. After all. Veronica works in the cigarette factory. where corpses hide in the tobacco with the roaches.
Excerpt
She knew that she shouldn’t be here, and yet she couldn’t bring herself to leave. This isn’t being brave, it’s being foolish, her brain told her. He will suffer more than you if they catch him…
Lazlo was now holding the paper wrapper—the biscuit was gone. Veronica took the last bite of hers. She didn’t want him to go. She didn’t want him to be in the war. She wanted to protect him.
“Well, it was nice to meet you,” she said, sticking out her hand. Women didn’t shake hands much, and almost never with a man, but she wanted any excuse to touch him.
He took her hand in his. He didn’t shake it; he just held it for a moment as his eyes met hers. His eyes were dark and open. Veronica wanted nothing more than to kiss him. He leaned forward a bit and she did the same. But then the sound of voices drifted over on the wind—male voices somewhere down the tracks.
“I should go,” he said softly.
Veronica nodded, as her heart spasmed in her chest.
Lazlo got up, jumped from the rock, and landed gracefully on the ground. He turned to her, smiled, and then started back down the train tracks.
“Lazlo!” Veronica called out.
He turned around quickly and took a few steps back in her direction.
“Why don’t you write me?” she said. “I would love to hear about what you see out there in the world.”
Even from this distance, she could see his eyes widen. But then he smiled and nodded before turning and running up the embankment and disappearing.
Author Bio and Links
Lexy Shaw Delorme (writing as LS Delorme) is the award-winning author of The Limerent Series, a genre-defying collection of emotionally resonant novels that blend supernatural mystery, psychological thriller, historical fiction, and romantic suspense. With a background as a lawyer, pop musician, and science writer, Lexy brings intellectual depth and lyrical prose to every story she tells. Now based in Paris, she lives with her French husband and two very cool sons. Her work explores themes of limerence, memory, identity, and the echoes of past lives—and she’s not afraid to push boundaries along the way.
The Limerent Series (Books 1–4)
• Caio — A supernatural romantic thriller about grief, justice, and forbidden connection.
• Bright Midnights — A YA dream-thriller following a magnetic girl caught between dimensions.
• Fanning Fireflies — A 1940s historical ghost story and romance centered around race, secrecy, and sacrifice.
• Ghosting Academy — A high-stakes psychological thriller with VR technology, elite agents, and spiritual unraveling.
Each book is a standalone, yet interwoven through deeper cosmological themes and recurring characters.
Media Recognition & Reviews
• Kirkus Reviews praised Caio as “an entertaining fantasy with a dash of macabre eroticism.”
• Bright Midnights received a coveted BookLife Editor’s Pick from Publishers Weekly, with critics calling it an “enthralling, character-rich narrative.”
• Fanning Fireflies was IndieReader Approved (4.8/5), described as “an emotionally charged, thought-provoking read.”
• The series has been celebrated across the book blogging world as genre-bending, hypnotic, and emotionally gripping.
Awards & Honors
• Bright Midnights won the Golden Wizard Book Prize (UK) in the YA Fantasy category.
• Caio received a positive “Get It” verdict from Kirkus, signaling quality and appeal.
• Fanning Fireflies was awarded near-perfect marks from IndieReader, achieving critical acclaim.
Media & Events
• Featured guest on BBC Radio 2 – The Gabby Roslin Show, discussing Fanning Fireflies and the mythic architecture of the series.
• Interviewed on the What We Reading UK blog and spotlighted by the British Fantasy Society.
• Frequent guest on virtual book tours hosted by LiterallyPR and Goddess Fish Promotions.
• Upcoming panelist and moderator at C2E2 Comic Con 2025.
Reader Response
• Called “a cult classic in the making” by readers.
• Described as having “characters who stay with you long after the last page.”
• Celebrated for blending literary depth with page-turning suspense.
Follow LS Delorme
Website | Instagram | TikTok | Publisher Contact: LiterallyPR (London)
Giveaway
LS Delorme will be awarding a $15 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.
Follow the author on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.
Set in 1944 North Carolina, Fanning Fireflies is a beautifully crafted novel that seamlessly blends the supernatural with stark historical reality. Veronica Crane, a young woman who possesses the unique ability to communicate with ghosts, serves as a guide through a world marked by racism, poverty, and loss. But this is not a whimsical ghost story. Ms. Delorme does not sugarcoat, so be prepared for an unvarnished look at the struggles of Black Americans.
At the story’s heart is the quiet but powerful romance between Veronica and Lazlo, a Black soldier fighting for a country that denies his humanity. Their bond, tender and defiant, underscores the novel’s deeper message: Love and truth endure, even in the darkest times.
A haunting and heartfelt novel that will linger in consciousness.
Joanne Guidoccio 