I’m happy to welcome author Sarah Dressler. Today, Sarah shares interesting facts about her creative journey and her new release, Christmas Cove.

Here’s Sarah!

What was your inspiration for this book?

On the morning of July 17, 2022, I woke up from an incredible dream. It was unlike any dream I had ever had. It was the complete story of Christmas Cove as though it had been downloaded into my consciousness. I had been praying about what my next project should be, and bam! Here it was, a Christmas story. The previous three novels that I wrote were in a completely different genre, and even though Christmas is my favorite holiday, I hadn’t considered writing sweet contemporary romance. But boy, did that dream have a huge impact on me! That morning, I got my notebooks out and regurgitated every detail that I could remember, and by lunch time, I had a detailed twenty-chapter outline drafted. I dove headfirst into writing Christmas Cove and never looked back.

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

Sometimes, being saddled with so many stories in my head is a curse. Putting the scenes on paper, or screen, is a daunting task. But seeing the stories come to life, knowing that strangers will read something that I created, is the best gift. I always say that the story must be told, and I believe deep down that all the stories in my mind were put there for a reason, to share with you. The worst part about pursuing a writing career is that I have more stories than I have time to write.

Describe your writing space.

I have a beautiful office in my home where I write. A dark, moody green paint coats all the walls and highlights the ornate mouldings on the ceiling. A crystal chandelier hangs from a carved medallion in the center of the room and two large windows frame the breathtaking mountain view outside. Sumptuous velvet curtains hang from floor to ceiling and velvet upholstered furnishings provide somewhere cozy to curl up. Whether I’m writing a science fiction thriller, or a sweet contemporary romance novel, as in my debut Christmas Cove, the room evokes an old-world romanticism that allows me to step into my life as an author and leave the day-to-day grind at the door.

Which authors have inspired you?

I enjoy many types of books and authors. Some of my favorites include the likes of Dan Brown, who I credit with showing me what reading for fun feels like, Suzanne Collins, for letting me know it’s ok to break the rules, and Anne Rice, for knowing when to spice things up a bit.

What is your favorite quote?

“To a love so big, only angels can carry it.” – Christmas Cove

If you had a superpower, what would it be?

If I could have a superpower, it would be to slow down time. As a parent of two teenagers, I see the way minutes tick by. I work at being present each day, but there just aren’t enough hours to do all the things I want to do and do them all well.

Besides writing and reading, what are some of your hobbies?

One of my most beloved activities is making giant sand sculptures at the beach. Seeing as how I currently live in the mountains, beaches are hard to come by, but snow is a suitable yet decidedly cooler alternative material. On a more regular basis, my husband and I go for sunset walks nearly every day, no matter where we are in the world.

Any advice for aspiring writers?

Aspiring writers need to know that there aren’t any rules. You have to decide the process that works best for you, know how a schedule of goals fits into your lifestyle, and you have to find your own unique voice. None of this can be accomplished by doing as you’re told. Feel free to experiment and try new things until you find yourself in your writing.

What are you working on next?

I’m thrilled to share the news that my next novel, Spring Showers, will be released in mid-2024. Spring Showers is a stand-alone sequel to Christmas Cove. It features a brand-new cast of main characters. While some of the original cast makes guest appearances, Spring Showers follows the healing journey of two strangers who are desperately running from their pasts. When they collide at a wellness retreat, their lives change forever.

Blurb

With only three weeks left in December, travel editor, America Greene, arrives in the idyllic Christmas Cove to find it… Christmasless!

America needs a story, and fast, so she teams up with the town’s good-looking (and eligible) mayor, Leo, to light up Main Street and salvage her chance at being a full-time writer. The connection between them heats up, halls are decked, sleigh bells ring, and lights twinkle. Just when she thinks the holiday is saved, a nearby city threatens the future of Christmas Cove. With her heart, and career, hanging in the balance, she must learn that Christmas is much more than just a place on a map before time runs out.

Excerpt

Night came and went with another solid sleep. America looked at herself in the mirror, unable to believe what she had done, or what she had offered to do. Sure, she knew her reasons for wanting to bring back Christmas were purely in the interest of self-preservation. Wanting to succeed with her first article assignment was a huge driving factor, but the task at hand was so much bigger than anything she should have taken on. There was no denying her reign as the office elf, and she knew that if anyone had enough Christmas spirit to spread around, she did.

Now that the offer was out there, she would need to follow through. One way or another, she was getting her Christmas Cove experience, and an article drafted to prove it. Sure, she had enlisted Leo’s help, but if she had any real chance of success, they would need reinforcements. America checked her watch. Leo would be back any minute to pick her up. In the meantime, she pulled her coat back on and tidied her hastily twisted bun atop her head.

The pine tree, so generously given to her that previous morning by Leo, stood in its bare state beside her. There is nothing sadder than a Christmas tree with no lights. Except perhaps, she thought, one without ornaments too.

“This simply will not do,” America said.

Buy Links

Amazon | iTunes | Barnes and Noble | Kobo | Smashwords | Google Play | 5PP

Author Bio and Links

Sarah Dressler, originally from Florida, now calls the mountains of Colorado home. Beginning her writing career as an award winning fashion blogger, Sarah now writes fiction full time. She has spent her life traveling the world, first as the daughter of a US Air Force officer, and later as a military spouse. She enjoys sunset walks with her husband of nearly twenty years, and raising two very busy teenagers.

5PP Page | Instagram Author Page | Goodreads

Giveaway

Sarah Dressler will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.

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

I’m happy to welcome author donalee Moulton to my blog. Today, Donalee shares her creative journey and recent release, Hung Out to Dry.

Here’s donalee!

Hi everyone. It’s wonderful to connect with you – and thank you Joanne for this opportunity.

Writing has always been part of my life. Over the years, it has become a central part of my life. Growing up I wanted to be a lawyer. I started university prepared to be a lawyer. Then I was introduced to academia and research. I wanted to teach at a university and publish papers in esteemed journals. Then I had a scholarship to get a PhD. I was thrilled. I turned it down. I had a chance to go to Harvard to research perceptions of time. I was thrilled. I turned it down. Clearly something else was at play. I finally realized what I wanted to do with my life was write.

My mother taught me to love language – and to respect it. She cared about words and getting the words right. She was my greatest influence.

When I was about eight or nine, a next-door neighbor tossed me a Nancy Drew book. She thought I might like it. I sat on the curb between our two houses and read the entire book cover to cover. I loved the puzzle, figuring out who dunnit, and being propelled into a world outside my own.

That same year someone gifted me Charlotte’s Web, and my life was forever changed. Not only could words transport you to new worlds, they could become a part of your heart, change you in ways you could not have imagined. I wanted to do that.

My first mystery book Hung Out to Die was published earlier this year. The main character is Riel Brava. Attractive. Razor-sharp. Ambitious. And something much more. Riel just wants to be left alone to do his job and one day run for president of the United States. He has a plan. Murder gets in his way. It isn’t easy being a psychopath.

My second book, Conflagration, will be released in January. It follows the real-life trial of an enslaved Black woman accused of setting much of the town of Montreal on fire in 1734. Two other books are in the works, part of a series featuring three women who meet doing a downward dog.

As I hope you’ll discover, not everything that happens in a yoga studio is Zen.

Blurb

Meet Riel Brava. Attractive. Razor-sharp. Ambitious. And something much more.

Riel, raised in Santa Barbara, California, has been transplanted to Nova Scotia where he is CEO of the Canadian Cannabis Corporation. It’s business as usual until Riel finds his world hanging by a thread. Actually, several threads. It doesn’t take the police long to determine all is not as it appears – and that includes Riel himself.

Pulled into a world not of his making, Riel resists the hunt to catch a killer. Resistance is futile. Detective Lin Raynes draws the reluctant CEO into the investigation, and the seeds of an unexpected and unusual friendship are sown. Raynes and Riel concoct a scheme to draw a confession out of the killer, but that plan is never put into place. Instead, Riel finds himself on the butt end of a rifle in the ribs and a long drive to the middle of Nowhere, Nova Scotia.

Excerpt

It’s 6:46 a.m. The plant will be in full swing in 44 minutes but right now it is in darkness except for the grow-op lights installed for the benefit of 24/7 plant profusion. My three-storey building is also wrapped in darkness, at least from this angle, which raises the question: How long has the damn security system been down?

I’m moving full steam ahead now up three flights of stairs to my office. Speed is not second nature to me. Given my state of being, caution is synonymous with survival. The faster you move, the more likely you are to misstep. Generally, that’s something I can’t risk.

I’m reaching for the hallway switch when I realize there is a light three doors down. That’s Norm Bedwell’s office. And that’s unusual. Our comptroller is typically among the last to arrive. Only a fresh honey crueller from Tim Horton’s has been known to change his

I’m running to Norm’s office now, tirade at the ready. The only thing that can prevent the outside security system from working – aside from someone hacking into our server – is if the door doesn’t latch closed behind the entering employee. A loud audible click let’s you know the system is armed and you can move forward. Employees have been trained to wait for the click. If they don’t, an alarm, albeit relatively soft as alarms go, will sound for two minutes. At this time of day, however, there is no one around to hear it.

It has to be Norm’s fault, which may mean the system has only been down for minutes if he just arrived. It’s a question I’m tossing at our comptroller even before I’ve stepped inside his office.

Norm doesn’t answer.

He can’t. He is swinging from a rope tossed over an open beam (the designer’s brilliant idea), a noose tight around his neck. He’s blue, but not as blue as I believe a dead man should look.

This poses a dilemma. I’d like a few moments to assess my options and identify the safest and most effective course of action. However, I am aware I don’t have the luxury of time. I’ve seen enough Law and Order episodes to know if you don’t call the cops immediately the time delay will be noticed, and you’re more likely to find yourself on the suspect list.

Dammit. I’m a suspect.

This realization hits at the same time I’m dialing 911. The perky young woman on the other end asks how she can help. “I’m in the administrative office of the Canadian Cannabis Corp., and my comptroller appears to have hanged himself. He is dangling from a noose and turning blue.”

“Sir, I have radioed for police; they are on their way,” she says, inhaling to continue her sentence.

I cut her off. “Look, I know I shouldn’t disturb anything, but Norm may be alive. I’m going to grab his legs so the noose doesn’t cut into his windpipe.”

Great, now she knows I understand how hanging kills someone. Doesn’t matter. I’m trying to reduce the pressure around Norms neck. His feet are tucked into the crease in my left arm, his testicles about on par with my bottom lip. I’m not a small man – 6’2” – and I work out regularly, so I can maintain this, albeit distasteful, posture for some time.

I hear sirens, and it hits me. The police won’t be able to gain access to the building without destroying a lot of expensive tech. I explain this to the 911 operator. She’s really not that interested in the cost of our tech.

“I’m going to get someone to open the gate for the police,” I tell her. “That mean’s I’ll have to hang up. I’m on the third floor of the admin building. It’s the only office on the floor with a light on. My name is Riel Brava. I’m CEO.”

I end the call, rapidly going through the list of 47 employees who work for the company. Only senior managers are likely to be in. Of those, Michael Graves, head of our legal department (well, actually, our entire legal department) is likely to be at his desk. He’s ambitious, comes out of private practice where 60-hour weeks are the norm, and has a young daughter who likes to get up at 5 a.m.

I dial his extension. Mike answers. “Mike, I don’t have time to explain, but police are on their way. Please meet them at the front gate and bring them to Norm Bedwell’s office. And hurry.”

I like to think I could hear his feet pounding one floor below, but the walls, even in the admin building, are very well insulated. Truth is, flowering cannabis stinks, and we’ve gone to great lengths to keep our facility and the nearby community odour free.

The next thing I remember is someone tapping me on the shoulder. “Sir, you can let go,” a uniformed officer says to me. I loosen my grip; Norm’s testicles inch closer to my lower lip.

“I’ve got him,” the officer says and pries Norm loose from my elbow socket. It sounds like he’s trying to be thoughtful or compassionate. I’m not sure why.

Of course. Norm is dead.

Social Media/BuyLinks

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Other Book Publications

Find out more about these books here.

I’m happy to welcome multi-published author Virginia Barlow. Today, Virginia shares her new release Once Upon a Christmas Castle.

Blurb

Lady Rosalind Chatham journeys with her family to Weston Castle to wed an ancient earl on Christmas day. Yearning for true love, she falls for the duke, her stepfather’s cousin, while preparing for her nuptials.

Lady Rosalind entrances the Duke of Weston. Concerned for her future with the tempestuous earl, he can’t afford to get involved. The fines and scandal will be too great for a man of his wealth and power.

When the truth comes to light, and he almost loses her forever, he finds he cannot afford to give less than his whole heart.

Excerpt

Careful not to make a sound, she sat on the window ledge and slipped her feet out the window. Turning to face the interior of the room, she inched her hips over the window ledge. She slipped on the ice, frozen to the brick outside the window, and slid down faster than she intended, cringing when the silk of her day gown ripped.

Panic gripped her like a cinched corset. She did not fear falling. No. The fine sheen of terror covering her brow appeared out of fear she might wake the earl.

Catching the edge of the brick where she lay against it halfway between her bosom and her waist, she sucked in a deep breath, conscious she must present a sight with her skirts bunched up and wedged between her and the window ledge. Her white pantalets and silk-stockinged legs dangled as she maneuvered her hands so she could drop to the ground. Thank the gods no one wandered the flower gardens beneath her to see her unladylike display.

Her prayer of gratitude stopped dead, and she received the shock of her life when a large pair of hands caught her about the waist!

She froze in terror, not daring to breathe.

“Lady Rosalind, how unexpected of you to drop by like this.” The duke’s deep voice laughed at her as he held her still.

She swallowed her cry of surprise and choked. God, what Cousin Lucius must be thinking about her right now.

Buy/Read Links

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Goodreads | BookBub

Author Bio and Links

I have always loved reading romance novels. I used to sneak into my mom’s room as a young girl and read them while she was gone. As I grew older, my reading and tastes expanded to sci-fi, dystopian, paranormal, and fantasy.

I considered becoming an author in my late twenties but as a busy mother with toddlers, I didn’t have the time nor the energy.

Later, in my fifties, I decided to give it a try and have enjoyed every moment of it since. I recently signed my fourteenth contract and am doing my happy dance as I type this. My husband of forty-one years is my greatest support as are all my kids. Most of them are grown and carving out lives for themselves. They are the beat of my heart and with every grandchild, the rhythm gets stronger. I enjoy every moment of my life.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | YouTube

Giveaway

Virginia Barlow will be awarding a free copy of Gamble of Hearts to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.

Follow Virginia on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour

I am happy to welcome author Shirley McCoy. Today, Shirley shares her new release, Dragon Song.

Blurb

Dragons rule the world. Princess Morgan Talbot of Esterhaven knows one rules her. Rownar, the most powerful dragon of all, forced a magical bond with her at a tender age. He intends to corrupt her soul, then consume her body. Now of age, Morgan knows she must take back her life and defeat Rownar, and all his kind. Connor O’Malley is the greatest dragon slayer alive. He spends one memorable night with Morgan, never thinking to see her again. Until he does. He is deeply shaken to learn the woman he fell for is a princess and determined to conquer Rownar herself. When Connor offers to train her, Morgan reluctantly accepts. Now an epic battle will begin, for a princess’s life, her soul, her kingdom, and the world.

Excerpt

“You make it sound so simple.”

“It is.” When she widened her pretty brown eyes at him, he shrugged. “At a certain point, it becomes that way. After you have trained and done the best you can to prepare, then all you can do is place your fate in the hands of the gods. Entrust yourself to them and do what you are meant to do. I—” He stilled. “Quiet,” he snapped.

At first, she heard nothing then a rushing wind reached her ears. An instant later, a gorgeous sapphire dragon bulleted out of the mouth of a remote cave. In the distance, the dragon banked and wheeled in the darkening sky. He circled above the mountains a few times, then descended back into his dark lair.

In all her life, Morgan had seen only two dragons, Rownar and one other. She could not help her fascination with this one, particularly since they were about to kill him. Or at least try to.

Abruptly, she couldn’t quite manage to move. “Connor, either this dragon is a lot bigger than I remember dragons to be, or it is larger than you said. Are we really going to try to kill that?”

He tossed her a roguish grin. “Yes, we are.”

Author Bio and Links

Shirley McCoy grew up in Baton Rouge, LA and started writing at an early age. Always talkative, when she was eleven, she began to put her thoughts on paper, writing stories inspired by some of her favorite writers, Laura Ingalls Wilder and Madeline L’Engle. As she grew older, she developed a love of romance and in 2009 she decided to try her hand at paranormal romance. The result was The Smoke and the Flame and its sequel, The Wind and the Fire. The Smoke and the Flame is the first novel she has ever completed, although she has written several unpublished screenplays.

Shirley graduated from Nicholls State University where she majored in History and minored in English. Since graduating (she doesn’t like to think about how long ago that was) she has worked at some of the best libraries in the Baton Rouge area. She makes her home there and enjoys spending time with family members that live in town as well as with those that live out of town. She also loves seeing movies, reading, and going to the park with her niece in her free time.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Amazon Author Page

Giveaway

The author will award a randomly drawn winner a $10 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card here.

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

I’m happy to welcome author Kate Bristow. Today, Kate shares interesting facts about her writing journey and her new release, Saving Madonna.

Interview

What was your inspiration for this book?

Many years ago when visiting the Rocca, a fortress in the small hilltop town of Sassocorvaro, Le Marche, I came across the story of Pasquale Rotondi, a museum director who saved thousands of works of art in Italy during WW2. Not many tourists visit this part of central Italy and I realized that very few people knew about the secret, dangerous work undertaken by the Italians living under German occupation to save so many priceless paintings from being stolen by the invaders. I knew then that one day I would share this story with the wider world.

Describe your writing space.

I live in a small three-bedroom one story house in Los Angeles with my older daughter. I converted the front bedroom into a small office, and I sit at my desk facing the street outside. I love seeing my neighbors going about their daily lives, walking dogs, taking their children to school and back again, riding bikes and scooters and generally enjoying the California sunshine.

Which authors have inspired you?

As a child, my favorite author was J.R.R.Tolkein. I was amazed that one man could create such a rich world filled with so many memorable characters and places. I think I have read ‘Lord of the Rings’ at least eight times – it is that good! Barbara Kingsolver is a writer who manages to produce incredible stories about varied topics – because of her writing, I have become engrossed in subjects as disparate as the migration of the monarch butterflies and missionaries in the Belgian Congo.

What is your favorite quote?

I have a few! But I am particularly partial to Sylvia Plath’s line, ‘The only quiet woman is a dead one.’ I celebrate all women who challenge the status quo and who fight for equality in any form. My heroine Elena has to overcome a number of preconceived ideas about what a young Italian woman in 1943 should be doing with her life.

Besides writing and reading, what are some of your hobbies?

I am lucky enough to live close to the marina in Los Angeles and my favorite activity is rowing in a single scull. There is nothing like being on the open water at dawn with only the occasional sealion for company.

Any advice for aspiring writers?

Start writing, finish one draft of your story, take a few days off and then go back to the beginning. I spent so long being concerned about the quality of my writing that I was too afraid to even start. Once I began to get the story down on paper, I thought that it had to be perfect from the beginning. It doesn’t. After several drafts and feedback from editors and people I trust, the final book is so much better than I could have imagined.

What are you working on next?

I would love to tell more stories from Urbino. The one I am most excited about concerns Nicola da Urbino, the renowned ceramicist known as the ‘Raphael of maiolica painting’, and Isabella d’Este, one of the most powerful influential art collectors of the Renaissance. I am currently in the research phase but I can sense there is a fascinating story to share.

Blurb

Inspired by real events, an unforgettable story of love, courage and sacrifice to save a country’s heritage.

Italy 1943. As the Allies bomb Milan, Elena Marchetti reluctantly gives up her coveted job as an art curator in the city to return to her family farm near Urbino. She takes up a new role assisting Pasquale Rotondi, the Superintendent of Arts in the region, in protecting works of art from all over Italy that have been hidden in the relative safety of the countryside.

At a family celebration, Elena reunites with Luca, a close childhood friend. A shattering event instigated by the occupying Germans deepens their relationship, and they start planning a life together. When rumors surface that Italy’s art is being stolen by the German occupiers, Pasquale hatches an audacious plan to rescue the priceless paintings in his possession. Elena and Luca are forced to make an impossible decision: will they embark on a dangerous mission to save Italy’s cultural heritage?

Excerpt

“I don’t want tonight to be over!”

Elena’s younger sister, Giulia, was twirling around their bedroom in her linen nightgown, her brown hair loose around her shoulders. Elena, already tucked up in their shared bed, smiled indulgently as she watched her sister dance to some imaginary tune with an imaginary partner.

“It was a real party, wasn’t it, Elena? I wish we hadn’t left—I wanted to squeeze every last drop out of it.” She stopped dancing, her face flushed, and skipped toward the bed, launching herself onto the covers beside Elena. Giulia sat cross-legged and looked at her sister. “It’s different for you,” she said, pouting a little. “You must have had so many chances to dance in Milan. All those parties and boys! And I was just stuck here, doing nothing fun, ever. When is this stupid war going to be over?”

Elena wanted to laugh at the angry expression on Giulia’s face. Instead, she took her sister’s hands in hers. “You’re sixteen, and there’s time, I promise you. When this is all over, I’ll take you to Milan myself. You can meet all the boys—or men—you want.”

Author Bio and Links

Kate Bristow was born in London. She fell in love with reading when she got her first library card at the age of four. Her first attempt at writing and publishing for a wide audience was a local newspaper typed laboriously at home on her mother’s typewriter while at primary (elementary) school in north London. It is surely a loss to cutting-edge journalism that only one issue was ever produced. Kate divides her time between her small-but-perfectly-formed modern home in Los Angeles and her five-hundred-year-old farmhouse just outside Sassocorvaro in Italy.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Universal Buy Link

Giveaway

Kate Bristow will be awarding a $25 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.

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

I’m happy to welcome author Gail Roughton. Today, Gail shares her new release, The Witch Wars.

Blurb

Ariel Anson thinks she has her life in order. She’s young, smart, and beautiful, even if she doesn’t believe the beautiful part. She’s a paralegal with a great career and a fiancé who’s a CPA. You just can’t get any steadier than that.

Then she meets private investigator, bounty hunter, process server Chad Garrett. What does War-N-Wit, Inc. stand for anyway? Warlock and Witch? For real? Oh, yes! For real. Now every day is full of strange powers, secret societies, clandestine agencies, and out-of-this-world adventure. Her life as she knows it is over!

Excerpt

No lightning bolt streaked from the sky the day my life as I knew it began to end. There was no warning at all. Nothing. There I was, sitting at my desk, minding my own business, doing my job. My official job title is “legal assistant.” The more exotic sounding title is paralegal. In the old days when folks called jobs what they actually were, the title was “legal secretary.” Me? I answer to any of the above. Or just to Ariel. That’s my name. Ariel Anson.

Now, I know the general public thinks a law office is an exciting place, full of fascinating cases and esoteric points of law highlighted with flashes of legal genius, something different every day. Not. Trust me on this. You seen one accident case, you seen ‘em all. And corporate law? Business law? Wills and estates? Oh, man, you don’t even want to go there. Domestic law? Right. The only thing worse than a divorce case is an estate fight. At least folks involved in a divorce are supposed to hate each other whereas a fight over Daddy’s will? Oh. My. God.

Anyway, that’s what I was doing. Just minding my own business in the course of my humdrum day and doing my job at the century-old, prestigious central Georgia law firm of Baker, Lawson, Abercrombie & Hunter, where the partners walk around in blissful ignorance of the fact the firm is referred to in legal circles as BLAH. All us legal assistants think that’s a hoot.

I was the only legal gal who worked for three partners. Some of the girls had just one, most had two. Sort of gave me a certain mystique of extreme competence, you know? In all honesty, most of the time the three attorneys I had were cakewalks, though I wasn’t about to announce such to the powers-that-be lest I end up with four attorneys to babysit. It all depended on who the three partners were. And mine were hand-picked, a luxury I had because I was good, good enough after eleven years in the business to pick and choose the attorneys I worked for. Diplomatically, of course. So diplomatically that nobody knew that but me. And my little sister.

Author Bio and Links

Gail Roughton is a native of small town Georgia whose Deep South heritage features prominently in most of her work. She’s a paralegal who’s lived in a law office for over forty years, during which time she’s raised three children and quite a few attorneys. She’s tried retirement but it didn’t take. Through it all, she’s kept herself sane by writing novels and tossing them into her closet. Thanks to BWL Publishing, Inc., most of those novels have now emerged in published form. A cross-genre writer, her books range from humor to romance to thriller to horror and she’s never quite sure what to expect when she sits down at the keyboard. She usually has a project or two on the backburner but doesn’t discuss them for fear of jinxing herself. Given her affinity for the supernatural, this should come as no surprise to any reader.

Find out more about Gail on her website.

Giveaway

The author will award a $20 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.

I’m happy to welcome award-winning author Meg Benjamin. Today, Meg shares her new release, The Pumpkin Butter Murder.

Blurb

Their gourmet dinner turned deadly. And now the murderer is after her. Roxy Constantine is looking for a way to spend her winter down time. Her true love Nate Robicheaux has a suggestion: she can serve as his sous chef when he prepares a dinner party for possible investors. But when several guests become ill and the hostess herself dies after eating their food, Roxy and Nate could be in deep trouble. Now they need to find out what really happened, and who wanted their hostess dead, before their culinary reputations go down in flames and the murderer turns his attention to Roxy herself.

Excerpt

I collapsed onto all fours, trying to get my breath. And then I started to sob, great wracking gasps that made my throat hurt even worse.

Susa dropped to her knees beside me. “My God, Rox, what happened? Who did this?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. Call the cops, Suz. Just please call the cops.”

The patrol car was there within ten minutes. By then Susa had helped me to the gym and found me a place to sit. I was surrounded by concerned exhibitors, none of whom could agree on what they should do. I was handed multiple cups of water and coffee and dampened paper towels. Some of the exhibitors checked the hall but said they couldn’t find anybody, which didn’t surprise me. A campus security guard showed up, but he seemed as helpless as everybody else. I was almost ready to give up and drive home when the doors across the gym burst open and Fowler strode in, followed by a couple of awed patrolmen.

He stopped when he saw me, his eyes widening. “Who did this?”

“I don’t know. He had something over his face and he wore a hoodie covering his head. He was male. That’s all I can say.”

Fowler glanced around at the crowd, apparently noticing them for the first time. “Y’all can move on now. We’ll take care of things.”

Most of the people began to drift away. There weren’t many left since it was so late in the afternoon. Maybe that’s what the guy in the hall had been counting on.

“Go check the halls,” Fowler said to the patrolmen. “See if there’s anyone around who saw anything. Look for anyone who doesn’t seem to belong here.”

The patrolmen jogged off in opposite directions, covering the two halls off the gymnasium. I doubted they’d find anyone either way, but I was just as glad they weren’t hovering around Fowler.

Susa maintained her position behind me, her hand on my shoulder. “I’m not moving. Roxy needs me.”

Fowler raised his eyebrows, but he didn’t make her leave, for which I was thankful. She was right—I did need her. He grabbed a folding chair from another booth and sat down beside me.

“Okay, tell me what happened. And then I’ll take you home.”

“I can drive myself,” I mumbled.

“Nope. Nonnegotiable. So what happened?”

I told him. The footsteps in the hall, the hand grabbing my shoulder, the hands on my throat. And how I’d fought or tried to. I was pretty sure Susa had saved my life. If she hadn’t come to see what I was yelling about… That wasn’t something I wanted to consider. Although I was pretty sure I’d be dreaming about it that night.

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Author Bio and Links

Meg Benjamin is an award-winning author of romance. Meg’s Konigsburg series is set in the Texas Hill Country and her Salt Box and Brewing Love trilogies are set in the Colorado Rockies (all are available from Entangled Publishing and from Meg’s indie line). Her new cozy mystery series, Luscious Delights from Wild Rose Press, concerns a jam-making sleuth based in the mythical small town of Shavano, Colorado. Along with contemporary romance, Meg is also the author of the paranormal Ramos Family trilogy from Berkley InterMix and the Folk trilogy from Soul Mate. Meg’s books have won numerous awards, including an EPIC Award, a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Holt Medallion from Virginia Romance Writers, the Beanpot Award from the New England Romance Writers, and the Award of Excellence from Colorado Romance Writers.

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Giveaway

Meg Benjamin will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.

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