I’m happy to welcome multi-published author Kirsten Weiss. Today, Kirsten shares her creative journey and new release, A Deathly Display.

Here’s Kirsten!

What was your inspiration for this book?

In the first book in my cozy mystery series, The Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum, Maddie Kosloski’s overseas career has crashed and burned, and she returns to her rural hometown to lick her wounds. Her weakness is she’s always been a little insecure, especially in relation to her super-successful siblings. But over the arc of the 11 cozy mystery stories in the Paranormal Museum series, she’s grown.

In the last book, The Cannoli Caper, we see Maddie interact with her opera-star sister, Melanie, for the first time. And then Melanie’s glamorous overseas life destructs. I wanted to bring Melanie back home in A Deathly Display as an echo of Maddie’s return, highlighting how far Maddie has come. Melanie is essentially in Maddie’s shoes from book 1, and it isn’t easy.

I love seeing the sisters’ relationship develop on a new footing in small-town central California, and how Maddie has changed over the course of this cozy mystery series.

What is the best part of being an author? The worst?

I have dreamed of being a cozy mystery writer since I was a little kid, and now I’m doing it! I get to work from home, set my own schedule, and tell stories about the imaginary people in my head. I love it! But, the income is uncertain. Some years I’m killing it, and other years are killing me. Writing cozy mystery novels isn’t a career for the fainthearted, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Describe your writing space.

My home office is a little cluttered right now, with stacks of books on every available surface—some new cozy mystery novels from Japan, old Barbara Michaels novels, and a few classics. Clutter aside, I get to look out the window at a sloping hillside, and deer and the occasional coyote and bear wander past, which is very cool. Our cat, Trouble, is frequently in my lap or (more frequently) blocking my view of my computer screen or sitting on the pages I’m trying to edit.

Which authors have inspired you?

For humor, PG Wodehouse. For romance, Nora Roberts. For mystery puzzles, Agatha Christie. For supernatural suspense, Barbara Michaels. For prose, Oscar Wilde.

Any advice for aspiring writers?

The best way to learn how to write is to write. But if you’re looking for a useful writing exercise, than I’d suggest finding a classic book you enjoy and handwriting or typing out the chapters. It forces you to analyze the writing in ways that go beyond deep reading (though deep reading is great too).

What are you working on next?

I like to work on two projects at once—drafting a new book and editing an old one. So currently I’m drafting Refuge of the Witch, the next book in my Mystery School mystery series, and editing Big Deal, the next book in my Big Murder Mystery series. They’re both full-length cozy mystery novels, though Refuge is more witch cozy mystery while Big Deal is comedy cozy mystery mayhem.

Blurb

A killer stalks her sister.
A mysterious painting holds the key.
Can Maddie unravel the mystery before Melanie meets a deadly fate?

When Maddie and Herb attend a curation class at the upscale Domus Vinea museum, the mood turns darker than a gothic portrait after Maddie’s opera-singing sister, Melanie, discovers the museum director’s body. Now, with a cunning killer targeting Melanie next, Maddie must act fast.

Racing against time, Maddie and friends investigate a gallery of suspects, including a dashing vintner with a haunted painting that may hide a deadly secret. If Maddie can’t crack the case, and fast, her sister’s life could end in one fatal stroke.

A Deathly Display, the latest in the Paranormal Museum series, blends quirky sleuthing, small-town chills, and paranormal thrills with a dash of humor. Perfect for fans of cozy mysteries!

Grab A Deathly Display and start reading this hilarious whodunit!

For readers who crave a cozy mystery about a woman finding belonging through small-town wine-country sleuthing and the gentle absurdity of everyday hauntings. Perfect if you like breezy pacing, light supernatural quirks, and warm humor over gritty tension—think vintage charm, quirky neighbors, and just-enough chills to keep pages turning without losing sleep. Book 11 in the series.

Excerpt

Stuffing the brochure into the pocket of my navy hoodie, I walked to the window. The gentle blues of twilight streamed through it, making a trapezoid on the museum’s wooden floor.

A narrow, carved piece of wood stuck out beneath the sill. There appeared to be two wooden hinges at its base. It was another door. Curious, I pried the top open.

The slender strip of wood popped off the wall. I caught it before it could hit the floor and froze, squatting, door cradled in both hands. Horrified, I gaped at the piece of carved wood.

“You broke it,” Herb hissed. “You broke the house on our first visit!”

“I didn’t break it. It fell off.” Frantically, I tried to work the door back into the hinge.

“What are you doing?” Bran asked from behind me.

Heart pounding, I spun to face him and hid the slim little door behind my back.

“Are you hiding something behind your back?” Bran cocked an eyebrow. Now, he looked like an angry Roman general, the trimmed stubble on his jaw more threatening. Not even his jeans and blue button-up eased the effect.

I blinked, sweating. He’d caught me like a kid elbow-deep in a cookie jar.

Buy Links

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Universal Buy Link

Author Bio and Links

Kirsten Weiss writes laugh-out-loud, page-turning mysteries, and now a Tarot guidebook that’s a work of experimental fiction. Her heroes and heroines aren’t perfect, but they’re smart, they struggle, and they succeed. Kirsten writes in a house high on a hill in the Colorado woods and occasionally ventures out for wine and chocolate. Or for a visit to the local pie shop.

Kirsten is best known for her Wits’ End, Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum, and Tea & Tarot cozy mystery books. So if you like funny, action-packed mysteries with complicated heroines, just turn the page…

Author Website | Instagram | TikTok | YouTube | Goodreads | BookBub

Giveaway

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

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

I’m happy to welcome poet James C. Glassford. Today, James shares his new release, Love Life and Mother Nature.

Blurb

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture in the lonely shore,
There is a society where none intrudes,
By the deep sea and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but nature more.
– Lord Byron

These poems reflect the healing powers of nature both without and within. It can amaze you and comfort you, rejuvenate and rehabilitate you— if you let it.

Discover its powers—read on!

Excerpt

Summer Sunrise

Sunrise in the mountains is a majestic and moving sight

It undresses the cloak of darkness and brings the world light To the east a rosy blush begins as earth embraces the dawn Curtains of night are lifted and its shadows soon withdrawn

Tendrils of light steal down the cavernous canyons tall Like fingers of liquid lava running down a volcano wall

Caressing the cliffs and painting a sheen on their snowy faces An artist’s hand and a pastel palette touching many places

Tree by tree the forest takes on a new found tinge The seas too are painted from their centre to their fringe

A kaleidoscope of colour as you watch the masterpiece unfold With subtle grace and beauty like an alluring dream untold

Rays of sunlight kiss the soft belly of the fluffy clouds Brushing them with chameleon colours endlessly endowed The world awakens in the sun’s tender soft-hued glow, Each ray a promise, a new day of heartfelt hope to sow.

From darkness to light, there is a magical transition A celestial ballet in a splendid and stately exhibition The wind seems to whisper softly dispelling all fears As a chorus of songbirds add their comforting cheers

The sun ascends faster now as purples turn to gold Bringing its welcoming warmth and dispelling the cold The sky is suddenly ablaze with the early morning light Finally vanquishing the demons of the daunting night

Enjoy Nature’s peace and grandeur as it percolates within Let your heart be touched and feel a solemn serenity begin Cast aside your worries, your troubles and your woes

As renewal begins and a blissful energy soon flows

Author Bio and Links

I am a retired physician who has been blessed with the opportunity to live in one of the most beautiful and awe-inspiring places on earth: Vancouver Island. Throughout my life I have remained intimately connected to nature. I consider it an alternate classroom and a timeless and thought-provoking teacher. It has taught me many enduring life lessons.

Goodreads | Amazon

Giveaway

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

Follow James on the rest of his Goddess Fish tour here.

I’m happy to welcome award-winning author Kim Baccellia. Today, Kim Baccellia shares her new release, Letters from Lucca.

Blurb

On the heels of Sammi’s grandmother’s whispered deathbed wish, a package of letters from Italy arrives at her post box. Reading them makes Sammi recall whispers she heard in childhood of her grandmother’s wartime involvement, a past that Sammi’s father and aunt would rather see remain closed. As if things couldn’t get any worse, her long-time boyfriend, Hunter, dumps her. However, an opportunity arises that sends her to Italy to defend her grandmother, even if the truth might shatter all she believes. In a helpful twist, Joseph, her best friend’s Italian cousin, offers to help her. Despite the obvious growing attraction between Joseph and her, she tries to suppress it as she embarks on her mission to vindicate the grandmother she loves.

Excerpt

Sunny rays flitted through the partition blinds in Conte D’Alba’s Villa. The festive air and musical background, along with the tantalizing scents of limonada and sweets, competed with the heavy cigar fumes overhead. Many special guests attended the party. Dignities from afar and a few rich aristocrats cluttered the small foyer. Silk, diamonds, and custom-designed outfits with brilliant hues flitted around the more muted clothing of the friends. A few of the adults wrinkled their noses in disdain for Rosa. Rosa hung on the peripheral, waiting for a guest to say more about the battle in Africa, where her pappa fought. Only laughter, whispers, and scowls flew back. Rosa might have only been ten, but nervous energy drove her to tag on Pele’s hand. She had enough of the boring adults.

“Let’s go,” she urged.

Pele quickly grabbed a biscotti from the table, shoving it in his mouth. “What about Valerio?”

She shrugged. “He knows where we’ll be.” Though she tried to act indifferent, she snuck a furtive glance over her shoulder. Sure enough, their friend mingled with his father’s important friends. Valerio’s slick black hair and serious countenance made him look like a Conte in training, but Rosa knew better.

War.

The word tasted bitter with the fear-laced anxieties of her beloved Pappa, who fought alongside other courageous Italians. Rosa had hoped to hear more but doubted the vain Conte would reveal the status of her Pappa. Rosa bored of such adult talk.

Author Bio and Links

Award-winning author Kim Baccellia is the author of five fantasy/paranormal young adult novels, Crossed Out, Crossed Fire, No More Goddesses, Goddesses Can Wait, and Earrings of Ixtumea.

Kim has had many jobs. She was a bilingual teacher; homeschooled her son; served on her local RWA charter board; a Cybil’s panelist; and even read the slush pile for an agency.

In her free time, Kim loves long walks, yoga, watching psychological horror movies, and reading lots of books that she loves to review for YA Books Central.

A member of Women’s Fiction Writer’s organization, Kim is currently putting the finishing touches on a historical set in 1943 Italy. She also is working on a historical with a Utah suffragette loosely based on her own ancestor Lucy Clark. Kim lives in Southern California with her husband, son, and cockatiel Damon.

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Giveaway

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

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

I’m happy to welcome multi-published author R.F. Whong. Today, Ms. Whong shares her new release, Fire Between Two Skies.

Blurb

Across centuries—power and peril—one fire endures.

Two eras. One relentless quest for truth amid desires and temptation. Across the centuries, two men are bound by parallel destinies that echo through time. Book 3 of this dual-time odyssey delves deep into the passions and struggles that connect their worlds.

In 2022 Hong Kong, Jason Guan, after losing his job as an assistant supervisor for wetland conservation, joins his uncle’s real-estate business. A chance meeting with his high school classmate, Vivian Jiang, draws him into a web of secrecy, seduction, and moral compromise. Amid the chaos, he and his wife, Debra, read an unpublished manuscript by her father, a celebrated writer, about the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (1851–1864) and a man’s futile pursuit of justice and peace on earth.

In nineteenth-century China, Zhang Xin, an orphan saved from the streets by Missionary Issachar Jacox Roberts, is swept into the fiery rebellion of the Taiping movement. Torn between the dream of a just kingdom, his forbidden love for Miao Lan, and his loyalty to his ruthless brother, Xin reckons with doubt, conscience, and the cost of faith.

When greed and exploitation eclipse justice, both men must navigate their respective perils. Will they prevail or be consumed?

At once a political thriller and a historical epic, this novel tracks the embers that survive every age.

Excerpt

Even in October, humidity seeped in. In the sea of pedestrians with face masks, Jason Guan trudged ahead. The city hadn’t been the same since the pandemic. Being a Realtor after he lost his job as an assistant supervisor for the Mai Po wetland conservation turned out to be tougher than he’d anticipated. The property market had become a temple. Some arrived to worship, others to offer sacrifices, while most lingered at the margins. The value of stability spiraled into abstraction.

He ducked into Le Jardin, a French café everyone Instagrammed. It had just reopened. Inside, the scent of baked croissants swirled around.

In the corner window, a woman sat, poised as if she were a sculpture poured into a tailored charcoal suit, all clean angles and an odd, quiet gravity. The hairs along Jason’s arms lifted. Instincts prickled. His mind skidded from face to memory to name while the rest of him stood there like an idiot. He stared too long. Time kinked. “Vivian Jiang?” The name scraped out before he knew it.

She looked up from her phone. Her jaw dropped. “Jason Guan?”

How many years had it been? Ten? Longer? He stepped forward.

Vivian stood, graceful and confident, but a tautness coiled behind that poise, as if she were ready to spring. He touched his chin. An old image from his high school days at the Methodist Academy flashed in his mind. Didn’t she always hide at the back of the class?

Author Bio and Links

From a young age, I cultivated a profound love of reading and writing. I would spend hours at the library, devouring every book on a single shelf before moving on to the next. It seems I have a longing that can’t be satisfied by reality. Immersing myself in literature allows me to escape into worlds where I could become someone graceful, witty, and popular.

Currently, I work for a small biotech company and have published 120+ scientific books and papers. As a latecomer to the world of creative writing, I’ve released several books under different pen names. R. F. Whong is the pen name used for publishing fiction titles, whereas Ruth Wuwong is the chosen name for non-fiction books. I’m delighted to share that I’ve been named a Featured Author by the Minnesota Anoka County Library in 2025 and by the Suffolk Virginia Authors Festival in 2026. One of my books, Echoes over Stormy Sea, won a few awards, including being chosen by readers as a winner in the 2025 HOLT Medallion Contest.

I’m married to my wonderful husband, a retired pastor who encourages me to pursue my dreams. We served together at three different churches from 1987 to 2020. Our adult son works in a nearby city.

Amazon | Goodreads | BookBub | Twitter/X | Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn | Website | Tiktok | YouTube

Giveaway

R. F. Whong will be awarding a $25 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 .

I’m happy to welcome back author Gail Koger. Today, Gail shares her new release, Undisciplined Catalyst.

Blurb

I was sixteen when I found out not only am I an alien hybrid, but monsters called the Tai-Kok were getting ready to invade our world. Guess who gets to stop them? Me! How?

My uncle, the mad scientist, created a machine called the portal that instantaneously sends a test subject from one location to another by converting them into energy. His idea is to port me onto a Tai-Kok ship. All I have to do is leave a bomb, hit the retrieval button on my spiffy traveler’s belt and poof! I’m back on Earth before the Tai-Kok ship goes kaboom. Sounds simple, right?

Wrong. Uncle Ben doesn’t have a clue where I’ll actually appear on the ship. It could be the engine room, the crew quarters, or even the bridge. It’s like playing Russian roulette. The Tai-Kok don’t like surprises or uninvited guests.

To make things even more fun, I have an alien battle commander stuck in my head and I’m related to a powerful Coletti warlord. Yippee. The chances of me living to see eighteen aren’t good.

Excerpt

“Give ‘em hell.” A wild look in his eyes, Uncle Ben tapped on the console.

The circles of light surrounded me, but this time it felt like a zillion fire ants were crawling over my body. Holy hell! Something had gone wrong! I appeared in midair and dropped like a rock. Smack! I slammed into someone, and my Glock went flying.

My eyes bugged. I was on the bridge of a futuristic warship, and the viewscreen showed one hell of a space battle going on. To make things even more fun, I was lying across the lap of a huge, muscle-bound male wearing black battle armor. Since he was sitting in the captain’s chair, I was assuming he was the boss.

A very angry-looking boss. I blinked. Holy cow was he good-looking, if you were into the whole merciless predator thing. Huh? The red chains woven into his black warrior’s braids matched the communication device on his left wrist. Who knew aliens accessorized and why did I care? I took a deep breath trying to control the panic streaking through me.

A low growl rumbled in his chest.

One look into his disturbingly hostile amber eyes and I knew I was in big trouble. I reached for my retrieval button.

His arms clamped around me painfully, and he spat a bunch of gobbledygook.

“Sorry, I don’t speak that language,” I replied mentally. Somehow, I knew he was psychic.

A harsh voice sounded in my head, “How did you get through our shields.”

“Dunno. My uncle is the scientific genius, not me. I’m just the delivery girl.”

“What do you deliver?”

Did I look stupid? The minute I told him bombs; he’d kill me. I pasted a friendly smile on my face. “Stuff. I’m Lexi and you are?”

“Battle Commander Kaelen. I serve Zarek the Coletti Overlord.”

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.

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Giveaway

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

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

I’m happy to welcome bestselling author Joanna Campbell Slan. Today, Joanna shares her new release, Resort, Two, Murder.

Blurb

Kiki Lowenstein heads to Florida for sand, sunshine, and family time—until a shocking death pulls her into a mystery simmering beneath the resort’s perfect surface. With craftiness and heart, she dives into a dangerous tangle of lies that only she can unravel.

Excerpt

The scream ripped through the dawn and straight into my spine. I didn’t breathe until I reached the balcony.

Seven floors below, a housekeeper stood frozen at the pool’s edge, hands over her mouth. The turquoise water rippled around hair the color of fire.

Copper hair.

Floating.

Still.

My blood turned to ice.

“Mom?” Sixteen-year-old Anya whispered behind me. Pale. Too pale. “What happened?”

“I don’t know yet. Stay back. Keep your brothers inside.” My voice didn’t tremble, but everything inside me did.

I yanked the curtains closed, but not before my mind captured every detail: the purple satin gown billowing under the water, the bare feet, the drifting red hair like a drowning sunrise.

Then Brawny — my fierce, loyal Scot nanny — sprinted into the courtyard and dove in, shoes and all. She flipped the girl over, started mouth-to-mouth, refusing to accept what the water already knew.

Could this be real?

Sirens wailed in the distance. And I stood frozen on the balcony, one hand pressed to my heart, silently begging for a miracle.

It didn’t come.

The red-haired model from last night’s fashion show was gone.

Author Bio and Links

Joanna Campbell Slan is a New York Times, USA Today, and Amazon bestselling author known for her engaging women’s fiction and mystery novels. With nearly 80 books to her credit, including contributions to the original Chicken Soup for the Soul series, Joanna specializes in stories featuring strong female protagonists and the power of women’s friendships. Her tagline, “Creating a better world one story at a time” perfectly captures the spirit of her work, as she has a keen interest in presenting all sides of social issues. Joanna is best known for her Kiki Lowenstein Mystery Series, which spans 19 books and 42 short works, chronicling the growth of a widowed mother who finds new purpose through crafting and sleuthing. Living on a nearly deserted island off the coast of Florida, Joanna draws inspiration from her surroundings and her love for various crafts, including Zentangle®, crochet, and upcycling. Her accomplishments include winning the Daphne du Maurier Award for Literary Excellence for her continuation of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. Contact her at JCSlan@JoannaSlan.com

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Giveaway

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

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

I’m happy to welcome award-winning author Edward Parr. Today, Edward shares his creative journey and new release, Tamanrasset: Crossroads of the Nomad.

Here’s Edward!

Do you ever wish you were someone else? Who?

When I’m writing, I frequently imagine I am someone else. Since I write primarily from one character’s Point of View at a time, I need, in the same way that the theater guru Konstantin Stanislavski would have required were I performing each part in a play, to imagine what I would feel and say and do if I were that character in that situation. However, while I love to dream up incredible situations and imagine being inside them, that’s a far cry from wishing I was really someone else. On the other hand, I don’t think I’d enjoy writing as much as I do if I did not sometimes feel uncomfortable being myself and find refuge in the imagined lives of others. Maybe that is common to all authors – I don’t know.

Who is the last person you hugged?

I try to hug my wife several times a day, often to her annoyance. On the other hand, our Labrador retriever is always receptive to a quick hug.

What are you reading now?

I’m trying to get a better understanding of the whole modern mystery genre and some of the earliest examples. I’ve been reading through all the works of Agatha Christie and just recently read The Moonstone: A Romance by Wilkie Collins (1868) and E.C. Bentley’s Trent’s Last Case (1913). My next book to read is probably going to be Riders of the Purple Sage, a classic Western novel written by Zane Grey (1912). I’m still trying to figure out if I like Westerns. I’m generally more interested in the camaraderie of soldiers who are bound together than in the heroism of rugged individualists.

How do you come up with the titles to your books?

When I was writing my First World War series, I knew that a major theme of the work was about the collapse of the dynastic monarchies that had ruled the world for centuries. I had actually come up with the title Kingdoms Fall as a sort of short, snappy supra-title for the series and had begun writing the second book when I finally thought to Google the phrase and discovered a biblical except that perfectly fit the title (Psalm 46:6). Ordinarily I like the title to reflect something of the heart of the book; it becomes a key for the reader to understand what the book is “about.” My newest novel, Tamanrasset: Crossroads of the Nomad, is my attempt to tell a story that reflects the amazing place and time of many classic pulp fiction stories – the Sahara desert of Africa at the dawn of the 20th century. In the novel, the lives of four protagonists become entwined, and it is only through the chance intersection of their lives that they become bound together and influence a world that stands on the brink of vanishing. It’s a novel about loss and alienation and the fragile, transitory bonds that tie people together. I came up with the main title Tamanrasset fairly early because I knew that, at the point where the climax of a book would ordinarily be, the action would take place at or near the deep-Saharan city of Tamanrasset. What I later came to understand was the extent to which the city also came to be a metaphor for the main characters, which I chose to emphasize by adding the subtitle Crossroads of the Nomad. The city itself, located in the heart of the Sahara, evolved as a crossroads where desert-crossing caravans would stop to meet and trade before continuing on, and I feel that’s a pretty good analogy for what the main characters do in the story.

Share your dream cast for your book.

I like to have specific people in mind (actors usually) when I am writing a character so that I can better envision them in my mind, but often the specific person changes or it might be an actor who died years ago or is just not available. For the four lead characters today, I would propose a great young actor named Ashton Arbab, who appeared on General Hospital, to play Ahmad al-Haybah – he has the youthful appearance I’d want to see; I don’t know much about Mr. Arbab personally, but I do think a practicing Muslim person should play the role. Julia Ragnarsson is a Swedish actor who looks like she could play the part of Isabel but I’m not very familiar with her work. Callum Turner (Masters of the Air) could be great as the ambitious archeologist Renwick Villere. And I could easily see the great Josh Hartnett (Black Hawk Down, The Trap) playing the unflappable, experienced Sergeant Demoreau.

Blurb

TAMANRASSET is historical fiction set on the edge of the Sahara as the ancient world begins to fade and great empires collide. Four strangers—a mature Foreign Legionnaire, a Sharif’s wrathful son, an ambitious American archaeologist, and an abandoned Swedish widow—become adrift and isolated, but when their paths intersect, the fragile connections between them tell a story of survival and fate on the edge of the abyss. Blending the sweep of classic adventure with the horror of a great historical calamities, Edward Parr’s TAMANRASSET is a saga about the crossroads where nomads meet.

Excerpt

Demoreau knelt beside Lieutenant Claussen. The Sergent had been in plenty of actions during more than twenty years of service in the Legion: The sun beating down, the barrel of his rifle smoking and hot from constant firing, the taste of sand and sulfur in his mouth as he and his comrades fought off their enraged enemy with nerves of steel and cooler heads. “Que voulez-vous? C’est la Legion!” A part of him relished it. He had a calmness of mind gained through years of experience and training. As he raised his rifle to aim at the advancing tribesmen, he recalled to his mind the melody of a fine composition, the death waltz by Saint-Saëns, which unrolled in his inner ear, turning his blood to ice. He hummed the tune as his rifle fired and his deadly accurate shooting dropped one rider after another.

Claussen was a good Lieutenant and had plenty of courage, but that did not mean he couldn’t benefit from Demoreau’s experience. The Sergent turned and faced his commander: “We’re being overwhelmed and losing too many men, Sir: We can’t maintain this position. We must move east onto the ridge where there’s cover among the rocks.”

“I know, but it may be too far, Sergent,” Claussen replied.

“Yes, it might,” the Sergent agreed, “but we still have to go: We’ll certainly all be killed if we stay here.”

Claussen looked distraught, but as he looked Demoreau in the eyes his nerve was hardened. Everything had to be done “par règlement” in the Foreign Legion. He nodded: “Yes, give the order, Sergeant. Withdraw to the ridge; smartly, now.”

Author Bio and Links

Edward (“Ted”) Parr studied playwriting at New York University in the 1980’s, worked with artists Robert Wilson, Anne Bogart, and the Bread and Puppet Theater, and staged his own plays Off-Off-Broadway, including Trask, Mythographia, Jason and Medea, Rising and an original translation of Oedipus Rex before pursuing a lengthy career in the law and public service. He published his Kingdoms Fall trilogy of World War One espionage adventure novels which were collectively awarded Best First Novel and Best Historical Fiction Novel by Literary Classics in 2016. He has always had a strong interest in expanding narrative forms, and in his novel writing, he explores older genres of fiction (like the pulp fiction French Foreign Legion adventures or early espionage fiction) as inspiration to examine historical periods of transformation. His main writing inspirations are Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Bernard Cornwell, Georges Surdez, and Patrick O’Brien.

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Giveaway

One randomly chosen winner via Rafflecopter will win a $25 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card. Find out more here.

Follow the author on the rest of his Goddess Fish tour here.

I’m happy to welcome back Portuguese-British novelist M G da Mota. Today, she shares her new release, Arabesque.

Blurb

A woman living alone in a coastal Sussex town in 1998 plants a copper beech sapling at 3 a.m. on a dark, cold night. Why?

A ballet dancer in 1960s East Germany is oppressed, longs for escaping with his little daughter but not his wife. Why? Will he make it?

In 2022 Karsten von Stein, widower and principal of the Royal Ballet, with two young children, meets Ivone Benjamim, a Portuguese, newly-arrived principal dancer. They discover a magical chemistry when dancing and soon it transfers to their private lives.

Against the background of ballet and its dancers, a woman called Grace tells her story from a rehab centre. Obsessive, delusional she begins believing Ivone robbed her of the man of her dreams—Karsten. And then a skeleton is found in a garden…What connects all these people and their stories?

You’ll be the audience facing the stage of this balletic novel.

Exclusive Excerpt

Lacey and I took the tube from Sloane Square to Westminster. Lacey’s house was close to the square. She wasn’t happy about it. She employed a chauffeur who normally drove her into the city centre or out of town. Lacey could drive but didn’t like to. Her money allowed her to be driven. But I always felt awkward whenever I arrived somewhere with her in a chauffeured car. People stared. Possibly envious or just wondering who these two women could possibly be. I asked her to take public transport and, as it was my birthday, she agreed. So, from Westminster underground station we walked past Downing Street and the Horse Guards Parade to Trafalgar Square and from there along the Strand, heading to the Savoy where Lacey had booked a champagne afternoon tea for us. One of her treats for my birthday.

The day was cold but clear. Sunny. Well wrapped up in our winter coats, scarves, hats and gloves it was pleasant to walk in the sun though there was an icy bite to the air. The Strand bubbled with people. Crowds moved like waves along the pavements, occasionally surging across the road from one side to the other when the pedestrian lights turned to green and the cars stopped. Accidently I suddenly tripped on a flagstone bulging slightly from the others. It all happened very fast but for me it seemed as if I were acting in a slow motion movie. Abruptly I had no grip. My body was falling. Lacey was screaming. And a huge, enormous red bus approaching. I was in its path and unable to halt my fall. Impossible for the bus to stop in time. I tried desperately to grasp something or someone but failed.

‘Grace. Oh God, oh God.’

Lacey’s voice. She was still screaming. And at that precise moment a strong hand grabbed mine. A firm arm slid around my waist. I felt my body being lifted and pulled through the air. I landed on top of a person, not on the road in front of the bus but on the pavement. The safe side. The bus missed me by a whisker. Sitting on the ground I sensed someone was still holding me and lifting my eyes I looked up into the concerned face of the Stranger from the Strand, Karsten. He had saved my life or at least rescued me from certain injury. I couldn’t speak. Shock and surprise shook me in equal measure. His light brown eyes, speckled with tiny green dots, were warm. I wanted to kiss him. Lacey fell to her knees and hugged me, bringing me back to reality.

Author Bio and Links

M G da Mota is Margarida Mota-Bull’s pen name for fiction. She is a Portuguese-British novelist with a love for classical music, ballet and opera. Under her real name she also writes reviews of live concerts, CDs, DVDs and books for two classical music magazines on the web: MusicWeb International and Seen and Heard International. She is a member of the UK Society of Authors, speaks four languages and lives in Sussex with her husband. Her website, called flowingprose.com, contains photos and information.

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