Blurb Blitz: Hall of Shadows

Posted on April 21, 2025 by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome author Mariah Stillbrook. Today, Mariah shares her new release, Hall of Shadows.

Blurb

In the quiet life of Tess Moreau lies a remarkable power-her touch revives ashes, defying nature’s laws. When she uncovers a mysterious book linked to her grandmother and a witch’s coven, her journey begins. Guided by a cursed deck of oracle cards, Tess delves into The Hall of Shadows, a realm crafted by her ancestors. With each dimension traversed, she uncovers her true lineage-a descendant of mythical beings. As Tess’s humanity wanes, her destiny beckons. At journey’s end, she faces a choice: preserve or destroy the hall. In a tale of magic and identity, Tess’s odyssey may end, but her legacy is just beginning-a testament to the power within us all.

Excerpt

The woman didn’t seem to breathe or blink as she faced me, and as I took one hesitant step and then another towards the front of the stage, it became clear that this entity wasn’t going to budge an inch.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“You already know that.” In fact, I did. She held out a long, pale hand before her and inspected her nails. “I am the goddess of the witches, and I would assume that if someone summoned me, they very well might understand who they were calling on.” She lifted her eyes to match my somewhat terrified gaze. “However, this is a unique transaction.”

Transaction?

The goddess’s attention shifted to the part of the stage occupying the oracle cards. “You’re on a journey.”

My voice cracked as I replied, “I think I am.”

“You are.” She leaned down into a chair, then folded her hands together and sat them over her lap. “I am here to answer your question; in exchange, I have been given permission to take whatever I want from you.”

I inhaled sharply.

The goddess seemed to be speculating over my entire existence. “You have the eyes of someone kissed by the ghost of a recently deceased star.”

What?

She smiled, but not in the way adults usually smile at kids my age. This was more of a sneer laced with enough sugar to coax her prey into believing she could be trusted.

My spine was rigid—I could tell she was about to pounce, to give me an answer then suck the marrow from my bones as payment. “Wait!” She tilted her head to the side, and I slowly came down from where I’d been balancing over the tips of my toes. “What exactly are you going to require of me after this?”

“I’m afraid I don’t offer previews.”

Author Bio and Links

Mariah Stillbrook is the witchy author of In the Pines, Hall of Shadows, and The Lost Erwain. Originally from Iowa, she lives in Colorado with her white German shepherd, husband, and little girl. She spends most of her days writing, reading, and enjoying the occasional hike. In her late twenties she realized that her writing was missing something, magic. She now focuses her writing on urban fantasy and horror in both adult and young adult genres.

Giveaway

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

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

Interview with Naomi Laeuchli

Posted on April 14, 2025 by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome author Naomi Laeuchli. Today, Naomi shares her creative journey and new release, The Schoolmaster’s Daughter.

Here’s Naomi!

What was your inspiration for this book?

I love historical romances, but I also love stories that are centered around deception: people lying about themselves and forced into absurd situations due to the stories they have told. The deeper the hole they dig, the happier I am!

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

The best part is the stories. You can never be bored so long as you have stories in your head.

The worst part: the sense of failure you can feel when you realize you haven’t written anything on your main project in over a month.

Describe your writing space.

My main writing space is my bedroom. My computer is set up by my window with a lovely view out towards a hill that you’ll occasionally see horses or deer crossing. My keyboard is my favorite part of my writing setup: it was a Christmas gift from my sister and brother-in-law and features rabbits on the keys as well as a 3D rabbit as the escape key.

Which authors have inspired you?

Georgette Heyer! Her historical romances are sheer delight. If I can make just one person as happy reading my book as hers have made me, then all the words I’ve used up writing over all the years will be well worth it.

What is your favorite quote?

I’m going to cheat and select two.

“Have courage and be kind.”

And:

“Agnes Repplier, an astute observer of life and writer of elegant essays, once observed that whereas the dark and unpleasant side of this world is often portrayed as the profound one, it really is just the obvious one. The individual who can look into the world and find the lovely, the beautiful and the joyful is the one who has looked into life deeply, truly and well. Discovering happiness and sharing it with others is a gift.”

If you had a superpower, what would it be?

I have three siblings living on three different continents, and dozens of places I’d love to visit. So, the answer is easy: teleportation.

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

I love riding my horse Peshitta (even when she’s not so sure about the whole endeavor), hiking (I hiked 270 miles of the Florida trail this past January), and caving (caves are secret gardens underground).

Any advice for aspiring writers?

Loving writing for writing. Be it for the story or the characters or the very process of writing. Even if no one ever reads another word you write, you need to be able to still find joy in it, or else writing will likely only make you unhappy.

What are you working on next?

I am writing a murder mystery thriller (which is a bit of a pivot from historical romance, but I love all the genres!).

Blurb

Deep in debt and desperate for a solution, Julius Claydon knows that marrying a wealthy woman is his only hope. When he meets the beautiful and rich Clara Haughton in Bath, he believes she could be his salvation, but there’s one obstacle in his path: Lydia Cray, Clara’s sharp-witted and penniless companion.

When Lydia quickly sees through his fortune-hunting motives, Julius proposes an alliance. He will help secure her future if she helps him secure Clara’s heart.

But Lydia is not all she appears to be, and she has a plan of her own: to teach him a lesson he won’t soon forget. But her scheming soon leads to unforeseen consequences for them both.

Can love spring from deception?

Excerpt

He had reached them now and was smiling down at her. “Miss Cray. You look lovely tonight.”

“Thank you.”

She was dimly aware that he was bowing to Clara and greeting her as well. But while he must, in the interests of politeness, have looked away from herself at some point, it didn’t feel like it. It felt as if his eyes never truly left hers. Which made it unmistakable who he was addressing when he asked, “Might I have the pleasure of this dance?”

Later that night she would look back and think it strange that he had asked her to dance before Clara, that he had barely paid Clara more attention than what was demanded by common civility. But now she simply held out her hand to him, beaming at him and nodded, finding words curiously difficult to form.

The music had changed to a waltz as he led her out onto the dance floor. She felt a curious sensation somewhere north of her stomach as his arm wrapped around her waist and he began to lead her.

He truly was graceful, as he smiled down at her and the pair twirled through the steps and the music.

This close, she could see the individual flecks of grey hairs in amongst the dark, which she found strangely endearing. The lines on his face seemed a little deeper under the candlelight and she felt a strange impulse to reach up and run her fingers across them.

His eyes, though, were a clear deep blue, and she suspected they held the exact same youthfulness and brightness that they had had on the day he was born. In some mysterious way, her instincts told her they always would. Those same eyes were smiling down warmly into her own, and she blushed a little but held the gaze steady.

Author Bio and Links

Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Naomi Laeuchli has lived overseas in nine different countries on three different continents where her family was posted with the American Foreign Service. In November 2012 she moved from the Democratic Republic of the Congo back to the states and currently lives in Arizona with five horses. She works as a freelance writer and part time at the local library. She has written several interactive stories for Choice of Games, Tales, and Dorian.

Website | Amazon Buy Link

Giveaway

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

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

Blurb Blitz: Everything You’ve Ever Wanted

Posted on April 7, 2025 by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome author Jess Ames. Today, Jess shares her new release, Everything You’ve Ever Wanted.

Blurb

Jenna Mitchell has spent her adult life under the control of her husband, her dreams of owning her own bakery pushed aside. But at twenty-eight, she’s finally ready to reclaim her life and pursue her passion. Well… almost.

With the unwavering support of the Sensational Six—her close-knit group of friends—Jenna can finally envision a day where she is in charge of her own destiny, a big step forward for her. As she works at her friend’s café, Jenna begins to discover the strength and courage she needs to break free from her past and begin focusing on her future.

But can she quiet the echoes that keep finding their way back to her? Will the doubts they’ve created make it impossible for her to see—and trust—the path forward before her chance at a better life slips through her flour-dusted fingers?

Fans of Rachel Hanna will enjoy this warm and uplifting story about self-discovery, finding the courage to start anew, and the unbreakable bonds of chosen family.

Excerpt

I’d prepared for this moment in therapy. We had role-played and rehearsed for weeks, and as I tilted the phone away from my ear in preparation of what I knew was coming next, I sent up a silent prayer that I could speak with the same resolve I’d finally achieved in my sessions.

“I’m just not so sure about that anymore, Craig. That’s not our home anymore, and for the record, I like it here.”

My therapist’s voice floated through my head. “Good. Very good. Keep going, Jenna. You’ve got this.” I focused on the tension in my shoulders and let them drop from somewhere near my earlobes.

“Oh, I’m sure you do like it there, living it up and doing whatever the hell you want, but you have to know it’ll never last, Jenna. You need me. You’ll never survive on your own. So, go down to the bank and get the money and get me the hell out of here,” he volleyed back. I could almost see his confident sneer as he waited for his words to take shape in my soft, pliable mind.

But what Craig didn’t know, and what I was finally learning, was that my mind could bend to my will, too.

I let the silence stretch long enough to gather up the scraps of my newly found strength, breathe in slowly through my nose, and look around to ground myself in the new life I was willing into existence, one bright white and navy throw pillow at a time. “Craig, I don’t think it’s a great idea for me to come bail you out right now,” I began with all the confidence I could muster, “but I’m sure your attorney will be able to work something out.”

“I don’t have an attorney, Jenna. I have a public defender,” he spit out.

“I know, Craig. But I —”

“Jenna, you’re being ridiculous. Come down here right—”

Taking a page from his own book, I cut him off. Hung up the phone. For the first time, I didn’t feel compelled to listen to him go on and on about all the ways I’d failed him, and all the ways he’d saved me. I no longer needed my subscription to his misguided savior program. It had become painfully clear who had been saving whom in our relationship, and I was no longer compelled to rescue him after what he’d done to land himself in jail. It was embarrassing enough to know that he had destroyed my friend’s home, just as I was starting to get my feet under me and maybe forge my own path to a little bit of independence. I can’t even imagine how Paige had felt to come home and find her kitchen and bedroom destroyed. And then to find out it was my husband who had done it out of anger and jealousy that she was offering me a chance to bake for her retreats—an opportunity to gain some independence (God forbid)… I’d been lucky that Paige was such an understanding friend and didn’t hold Craig’s actions against me.

Author Bio and Links

Jess Ames is knocking on the door of fifty, but has the sense of humor of a twelve-year-old and the body of a fifty-four-year-old (according to her fitness app).

She is “mama” to nine, “mimi” to four, “friend” to all, an adequate wife, and living the dream of the little girl who wanted to be a writer when she grew up.

They are both still waiting for that moment, so she’s writing in the meantime.

Giveaway

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

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

Interview with Judith Works

Posted on March 31, 2025 by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome author Judith Works. Today, Judith shares interesting facts about her creative journey and new release, The Measure of Life.

Interview

What was your inspiration for this book?

I lived in Rome for ten years and after returning to the States wrote a memoir about the experience, titled Coins in the Fountain. But I wasn’t done writing about people in the expat community, some of whom didn’t live very happy lives. This interested me and I wanted to examine a life different from my own experience, and so The Measure of Life began a long gestation as a story began to take shape about a woman who struggles with disappointments and eventually finds happiness.

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

The best part is shepherding a book to publication and holding a copy in my hands when it’s published. The worst is the struggle to write an interesting story that will actually result in publication.

Describe your writing space.

My writing space is my office. After living abroad and traveled extensively, the room is filled with memoires of places I’ve visited along with a bookcase holding books on the art and history of Italy. My desk holds dictionaries, a thesaurus, style manuals, and a new desktop computer along with the printer. Hanging above is a large replica of a map of 17th Century Rome with small paintings of Italy surrounding it.

Which authors have inspired you?

Frances Mayes, who writes so beautifully about Italy, comes easily to mind. Other authors whose books I enjoy are Colm Tóibín, Hillary Mantel, and Tan Twan Eng all of whom are geniuses at setting, plot, and character.

What is your favorite quote?

“Rome is a city of echoes, the city of illusions, the city of yearning.”
Giotto 1266 -1387

If you had a superpower, what would it be?

To bring peace to the world.

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

I love to travel and have visited over one hundred countries on every continent except Antarctica. Italy is my favorite, but France and Japan are a close second. Some of the less traveled places such as Togo, Zanzibar, and Bali could easily draw me back. My most recent adventures have been to Alaska and Hawaii. When my suitcase is in resting mode, I volunteer for literary events such as a local writing conference.

Any advice for aspiring writers?

As the joke goes about how musicians get to Carnegie Hall is practice, practice, practice. The same goes for writers: write, write, and write. But don’t forget to read, especially in your genre.

What are you working on next?

I’m working on a novel about a woman who inherits an old house and finds she has a family she never knew existed.

Blurb

A story of love and loss, lies and truth, begins in Rome when Nicole shares a cappuccino and cornetto with her Italian tutor. The meeting sets off a chain of events that upends the course of her life. While Rome also brings deep friendships and immersion into a sumptuous food scene there is no escape from acknowledging the consequences of her actions. In search of forgiveness and healing, she moves to an island near her childhood home in Seattle only to find the way to reunite the remnants of her family and discover her true path is to return to Rome and face the past.

Excerpt

I read about a new concept called blogging. Intrigued, I studied the process to launch my own blog. After a lot of false starts, I managed to post about the day I bought bread in the bakery Maggie recommended and ended up meeting the old man. I titled it FIAT PANIS (Let There be Bread):

Once upon a time I met an old man out of a fairy tale. He was tiny and perched in a gigantic carved chair where he presided over a treasure trove of books and antiques. And it was the same day I first savored the goodness of real Roman bread. The kind of bread that’s crispy brown on the outside and chewy inside. The kind baked in a wood-fired oven wafting a mouth-watering aroma out the door to compel you to follow the scent back to the bakery where fresh loaves await. I squeezed through the crowd toward the clerk to make my selection while imagining ancient Romans clustered at the baker’s stall—the baker pulling the rounds of whole wheat spiced with poppy and fennel seeds from the hot oven while his wife handed them to house slaves who gossiped about their owners, and matrons who gossiped about the neighbors as they handed over a few coins.

I included colorful photos of the bakery and a loaf of fresh bread on my kitchen table along with frescoes of loaves from the ruins of Pompeii.

Buy Links

Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Google | iTunes

Author Bio and Links

After I earned a law degree in midlife, I had the chance to leave the Forest Service in Oregon and run away to the Circus (Maximus). In reality my husband and I moved to Rome where I worked for the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization for four years as a legal advisor to the director of human resources. I could see the Circus that had hosted chariot races during the Roman Empire from my office window.

My husband and I reluctantly returned to the US after four years. But we pined for the land of pasta, vino, art, and sunny piazzas. Then the gods smiled and offered a chance to return to Rome with the UN World Food Program. Six more years or food and frolic in the Eternal City passed much too quickly. The indelible experiences living in Italy and working for the UN were the genesis of my memoir Coins in the Fountain.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Threads | BlueSky

Giveaway

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

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

I couldn’t put this book down and stayed up two nights in a row to finish it. Ms. Works is an expert storyteller with a keen eye for detail and a gift for creating a strong sense of place. She takes us on a transformative journey from sun-drenched Rome to the rain-soaked shores of Vashon Island in the Pacific Northwest. I immediately connected with Nicole, the protagonist, as she navigated the complexities of an unhappy marriage, an extramarital affair, and parenting three children.

If you enjoyed reading A Year in Tuscany, you will love this sweeping romantic saga.

The Power of Eleven Downward Dogs

Posted on March 24, 2025 by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome award-winning author and journalist, donalee Moulton. Today, donalee shares an entertaining quiz about yoga and her new release, Bind.

Here’s donalee!

In my new book, Bind, three women discover everything that happens in a yoga studio is not Zen. Sometimes it’s grand larceny. Hand in hand with two cops, and one damn cute dog, they discover who’s stolen a Patek Philippe watch from what was supposed to be a secure locker. Time is ticking.

Throughout the book, the first in the Lotus Detective Agency series, the women (and even the cops) find themselves in a yoga studio doing everything from child’s pose to bird of paradise – or trying to. In their honor, here’s a fun little quiz on the ups and downs of yoga.

Should yoga be done in front of a mirror?

Ahh, no. The last thing you want to see is the rearview of your downward dog. It’s said mirrors can breed judgement and self criticism – and create unnecessary competition.

North Americans love their yoga. How much you ask?

Americans spend around $16 billion on yoga classes, clothing, equipment, and accessories each year. The number of yoga and Pilates studios in the US increased to 38,000 in 2020. Here’s another figure for you: 300 million. That’s the approximate number of yoga practitioners worldwide. And a final number: $66.2 billion – the projected value of the global yoga market by 2027.

The world’s largest yoga lesson had how many attendees?

The largest yoga lesson was attended by 100,984 participants, with hats off to the Government of Rajasthan, Patanjali Yogapeeth, and the District Administration of Kota in India, on June 21, 2018. That’s nearly double the participants of the previous largest yoga lesson. Even Wembley stadium can’t hold that many people. This record-breaking community event was organised to celebrate International Day of Yoga 2018. The enormous assembly practised yoga together for two hours in the early morning.

What is the most dangerous yoga pose?

Probably not a good idea to try headstands. It’s contraindicated for much of the population for a slew of reasons — high blood pressure, glaucoma, and pregnancy, to name a few. It’s absolutely contraindicated for anyone with neck injuries. Interestingly, savasana – where you lie down with your eyes closed and relax – is one of the most difficult yoga poses to master.

The world’s oldest yoga teacher taught until she was how old?

The oldest yoga instructor recognized by the Guinness World Records was Tao Porchon-Lynch, who was teaching yoga up until her passing at the age of 101 in February 2020. Bless her heart.

Yoga should be practiced while wearing what type of clothes?

Loose clothes are best because you’ll be stretching, bending, and binding in all sorts of directions. You’ll want clothing that allows for a full range of motion. Recommended: garments with stretchy fabrics and a relaxed fit to ensure you can move freely.

The most ancient yoga text, Goraksha’s Century, describes how many poses?

The Gorakṣaśataka is one of the first texts that teaches Haṭha yoga’s physical methods. The first verse states that the text is for those who have renounced ordinary life to attain liberation. The text was written by an Indian sage said to have lived in the 9th or 10th century and who is believed to have been a student of Matsyendra – the first person to learn the teachings of yoga.

Here’s a multiple-choice question for you. Yoga can do what for your body according to scientific evidence and not just yoga practitioners?
(1) Improve blood flow
(2) Boost your immune system
(3) Enhance sexual function

They’re all right, but we want it to be (3). Yoga can work every muscle in your body. Research has shown that practicing yoga can delay aging and it boosts your immune system.

Yoga classes were originally intended exclusively for whom?

Yoga classes used to be just for men; women were not invited until 1937. And today 72% of yoga practitioners are women. Women were not allowed to practice yoga because it was believed to make them infertile or subject to evil spirits.

Prisoners in what country can reduce their sentence by getting top marks in a yoga test?

In 2010, prison officials in Madhya Pradesh, a state in India, launched a program to reduce inmates’ sentences if they completed a three-month yoga course. The prison authorities found that yoga not only improved the prisoners’ fitness but made them calmer, less violent, and more positive towards life.

What kind of yoga is growing in popularity?

Laughter yoga. You laugh for no reason to help reduce stress and depression. Laughter yoga releases endorphins and the “feel good” hormones, dopamine and serotonin. It also suppresses that pesky stress-hormone cortisol. These effects are linked to a better mood, reduced pain, lower blood pressure, a stronger immune system, and lower stress levels and rates of depression.

Author Bio and Links

donalee Moulton’s first mystery book Hung out to Die was published in 2023. A historical mystery, Conflagration!, was published in 2024. It won the 2024 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense (Historical Fiction). donalee has two new books in 2025, Bind and Melt, the first in a new series, the Lotus Detective Agency.

A short story “Swan Song” was one of 21 selected for publication in Cold Canadian Crime. It was shortlisted for an Award of Excellence. Other short stories have been published in numerous anthologies and magazines. donalee’s short story “Troubled Water” was shortlisted for a 2024 Derringer Award and a 2024 Award of Excellence from the Crime Writers of Canada.

donalee is an award-winning freelance journalist. She has written articles for print and online publications across North America including The Globe and Mail, Chatelaine, Lawyer’s Daily, National Post, and Canadian Business.

As well, donalee is the author of The Thong Principle: Saying What You Mean and Meaning What You Say and co-authored the book, Celebrity Court Cases: Trials of the Rich and Famous.

Book Blast: Mean Cuisine

Posted on March 21, 2025 by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome multi-published author Wendy W. Webb. Today, Wendy shares her new release, Mean Cuisine.

Blurb

Beluga Stein is taking a cooking class and it’s a real killer. This time she’s traded her signature loud muumuus for ill-fitting chef attire, including a toque the size of her ego.

A well-liked chef is found dead and it’s up to Beluga and her feline familiar, Planchette, to investigate. There’s no recipe to follow, only the hope that her erratic psychic ability will hit the spot. Is a supernatural entity stirring up trouble, or something far more dangerous?

Beluga and Planchette can’t stand the heat, but there’s no way out of this kitchen while murder is the main dish.

Excerpt

Beluga Stein’s Diary

Such a day.

And while Chef Pernod tried mightily to restore order with an impromptu lecture on the differences between Grande, Classic and Nouvelle cuisines, I’m afraid the distinctions were lost when the frozen body was wheeled past us to the waiting ambulance.

The sight of such a spectacle took a toll on the chef as well, I should add. Fortunately for me there was no mention of Planchette in the kitchen, but for the rest of us the chef’s well-practiced lecture took a sudden nosedive into a stream-of-consciousness series of French words. I think I heard her say that a traditional kitchen brigade had positions with names sounding something like “poisoner,” which is rather ominous if you ask me, and “chefs who party,” which might warrant further investigation if things start to get dull. Or one finds herself in immediate need of hors d’oeuvres and a tropical cocktail.

Author Bio and Links

Wendy W Webb (aka one of the many Wendy Webbs) has published dark fantasy short stories and novels, co-edited anthologies, and has had productions of stage and radio plays. After a hiatus as a doctoral student of emergency management and as a disaster responder, she welcomed the return to fiction with The Wild Rose Press writing the gothic Widow’s Walk, and two updated books in the Beluga Stein supernatural-humor-murder mystery series, Bee Movie and Mean Cuisine. Sunbury Press under the Milford House imprint published the paranormal, travel, “memoir,” Eye of the Gargoyle. She adores her husband; two dogs, one of which turns on iTunes whenever Wendy leaves her office; dry red wine; theatre; and travel as long as she doesn’t see any more ghosts!

Barnes & Noble Paperback | Barnes & Noble eBook | Amazon Paperback | Amazon eBook

Giveaway

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

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

10 Things I Learned During One Elevator Ride

Posted on March 17, 2025 by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome award-winning author Bethany Maines. Today, Bethany shares her new release, Elevator Ride.

Here’s Bethany!

In my forthcoming novel, Elevator Ride, Rowan Valkyrie has put in his twenty years of service with the Marines and retired to start his own security firm. Rowan has been the stable “adult” of the family since he was eleven, but that kind of responsibility means there isn’t a lot of time to focus on his own needs. At forty-four he’s never been married and isn’t sure how to deal with a life where his brothers are successful, his mother is stable, his business is booming, and basically everything is… fine. Which of course means it’s time for the author (insert me cracking my knuckles) to introduce a love interest. Vivian Kaye – spit fire paralegal – is also searching for how to craft the next phase of her life. Vivian feels stymied at work, but also doesn’t know how to take her volunteering with a veteran focused non-profit to the next level. Together, Rowan and Vivian have to figure out where they’re going as individuals and as a couple, and of course, where to hide from the bullets when the villains show up.

Here are ten things I learned doing research for Elevator Ride:

1. The Veteran suicide rate is too damn high. One is too many, but we lose over 17 a day to suicide. My heroine volunteers for a non-profit focused on veteran’s mental health and my research was smack in the face. The numbers are staggering. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in veterans under 45 and suicide among veteran women is nearly double that of non-vets. Learn more here: https://stopsoldiersuicide.org/vet-stats

2.Nobody wants to make their will, but we all should. Part of my plot hinges on whether or not a will got signed. Don’t be a plot point. Get a will – https://www.freewill.com/

3. How to open an elevator door from inside the elevator shaft – So it turns out that the movies lied to us. You can’t just pry open doors from inside the elevator shaft. Which makes sense because otherwise idiots would pry them open from the front side, but I have to admit I was a bit disappointed.

4. The cost of apartments in Seattle – Since it’s been a hot minute since I was a renter and I never rented in Seattle (it was too expensive back then and it’s even worse now!), I spent a lot of time on the real estate websites looking at apartments. Conclusions… My rich characters would live in some pretty swank places, but my poor characters would definitely be sweating the rent. The rent levels are comparable to New York City!

5. How to make paper poppy flowers. The problem with being a writer is that once you dream up a craft for your gala planning committee to do then you have to go see if they could actually do it. Which then resulted in me making poppy flowers because… crafts!

6. Nicknames for Marines. There are a lot. Jarhead, grunts, leathernecks, gyrenes… the list goes on. Who knew?

7. Chipped Ham. And speaking of Marines, they eat something called Chipped Ham. Why? Possibly as some kind of ongoing torture experiment. Research is unclear. However, research is clear on it being disgusting.

8. Texting styles. Since my characters cover a spread of years, they have different generational habits regarding texting and their mother uses the dreaded Boomer Ellipses. My hero, Rowan, being the tail end of Gen X likes to use punctuation, while his youngest brother can’t figure out why Rowan is being so passive aggressive.

9. The cost of lingerie. My heroine enjoys wearing fancy lingerie and since I work from home in my sweats that took some research. Surprisingly, a fairly fancy set can still be had for the $75 or less range.

10. Monster Energy Drinks. This one was a bit weird, but soldiers seem to exist on caffeine and nicotine, and at some point several of my veteran characters ended up commenting on their favorite Monster flavor. Since I prefer more authorly caffeine like tea and matcha, I had to go look up what I was missing. That led down a rabbit hole of how much caffeine is too much. For the record the USDA recommends no more than 400 milligrams.

About the Book

Elevator Ride – Vivian Kaye has been tasked with serving a cease-and-desist letter to Rowan Valkyrie—the most hated tenant in Seattle’s Hoskins building. But when the ambitious paralegal ambushes the seasoned security expert in the elevator, she ignites a powder keg of tempers and attraction. Rowan and Vivian clash like only a twenty-something progressive and a forty-something ex-Marine can, but when one misstep sends Vivian flailing into Rowan’s arms, the pair also find themselves tumbling into a secret office romance. Vivian is soon head-over-heels for the older CEO, but worries that he might not take her seriously. But before Rowan can fix things, a shocking attack puts Vivian in the cross-hairs of a mysterious assailant. Heartbroken, Vivian is determined to deny her feelings and put all her energy into catching her attacker. And Rowan is desperate to protect Vivian because unless he can push all the right buttons, this elevator ride might be going straight down.

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About the Author

Bethany Maines is the award-winning indie and traditionally published author of romantic action-adventure and fantasy novels that focus on women who know when to apply lipstick and when to apply a foot to someone’s hind-end. She can usually be found chasing after her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel or screenplay.

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Blurb Blitz: A Killer Whisky

Posted on February 24, 2025 by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome author Susan Calder. Today, Susan shares her new release, A Killer Whisky.

Blurb

The 1918 influenza pandemic strikes Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Great War rages overseas. While her husband fights in Europe, Katharine works in a doctor’s office to support her children and her brother, a wounded veteran. One night their neighbour suddenly takes sick and dies. The attending doctor concludes the man died from influenza, but Katharine suspects someone laced his whisky with a drug that mimics the deadly flu’s symptoms.

Katharine convinces the police to investigate. Worried about her brother’s involvement with a suspect, she delves into his secrets and comes to fear he’s connected to the murder. She grows disturbingly attracted to the investigating detective who returns her affections. He’s convinced her brother or someone else close to her is a killer and risks his career to pursue the crime. Katharine must discover the truth so she can move forward in a world that has changed forever.

Excerpt

Detective Bertram Tanner strode into Calgary Police Headquarters, his steps lighter than they’d been this morning.

“How was your walk?” Julia, the receptionist, asked.

“Reflective.”

“I often think while walking too.”

It was too soon to tell his colleagues he might be leaving the police force. “How was your lunch hour?”

“Busy,” she said. “I tracked down balloons for my son’s birthday celebration tonight.”

“Which son?”

“The oldest. He’s ten years old. We decided to limit the party to family due to the flu. He’s disappointed his friends can’t come, but it will be lively with all of us there.”

Julia, a war widow with three children, lived with her parents—the police chief and his wife.

“I phoned my mother after lunch,” Julia said. “She went to every confectionary in town and managed to find all the children’s favourite sweets despite the sugar shortage.”

The chief’s wife was a ball of energy. A leader in the local suffragette and Prohibition movements, she claimed personal credit for Alberta women gaining the vote and the province going dry in 1916.

Bertram went into his office, closed the door, and draped his coat and hat on the coat tree. What work could he do this afternoon? Reports of the Spanish flu’s arrival on a train from Eastern Canada were keeping people away from the pool rooms and dance halls. Calgary hadn’t had a brawl or knifing in a week. Even the criminals seemed to be staying home.

He took out an old file, a robbery scheduled for trial next week. A man broke into a house in the Sunalta neighbourhood and stole $2.75. Disturbed by a noise, he fled through a window but foolishly returned an hour later. Caught red-handed by three residents, the robber could be sentenced to up to a year of hard labour. Bertram tried to organize his trial notes, but his thoughts kept shifting to his plan to leave the police force when the war ended and soldiers came home to replace him on the job. After fifteen minutes, he set the robbery file aside and decided to take a methodical approach to his lunch hour reflections about leaving.

He took out a clean sheet of paper, drew a vertical line down the middle, and titled each side “pro” and “con.”

Author Bio and Links

Susan Calder lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She is the author of five novels published by BWL Publishing Inc. A Deadly Fall, Ten Days in Summer, Winter’s Rage and Spring Into Danger are part of her Paula Savard Mystery Series. The books follow the adventures of Paula, a Calgary insurance adjuster who works with the police to solve insurance-related crimes. Susan’s standalone suspense novel, To Catch a Fox takes a troubled Calgary woman to Southern California on a quest to find her missing mother. In December 2024, BWL will release Susan’s first historical novel, A Killer Whisky. The story is set in 1918 Calgary and will be the 12th and final book of the BWL Canadian Historical Mystery Series. Susan has also published non-fiction articles. Her short stories and poems have won contests and appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines. She is a member of Crime Writers of Canada, Sisters in Crime, and the Writers’ Guild of Alberta.

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Giveaway

Susan Calder 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.

Blurb Blitz: Finding His Wyoming Sweetheart

Posted on February 17, 2025 by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome award-winning author Virginia McCullough. Today, Virginia shares her new release, Finding His Wyoming Sweetheart.

Blurb

When it comes to his seven-year-old son, new lodge owner Mack Fisher has a lot to make up for. Fortunately, the small Wyoming town of Adelaide Creek provides the perfect fresh start—that is, if he can avoid the distraction of Erin Hunnicutt’s warm brown eyes. The free-spirited musician has a way of bringing out the best in everyone—especially Mack. When they’re thrown together unexpectedly to help their town, sparks fly and a dangerous secret is uncovered. But searching for the answers only leads them to fall deeper for one another…and starts Mack wondering if there’s room for one more in his new family.

Excerpt

Mack grinned at Erin. “Admittedly, an awkward introduction. But you’ll have to overlook it.” He put his hand to the side of his head. “I can barely think straight.”

Erin frowned. What did that mean?

“I’m awestruck,” he explained, his grin widening. “It’s not every day I come face to face with a woman who’s a talented musician and also a restoration expert who brings battered and charred wood back to life.”

Without thinking, Erin returned the smile. “Now you’re making me blush.” It was true what he said. She’d built her work life around wood restoration, but making music was her favorite hobby. Although those things weren’t making her cheeks heat up. That had more to do with Mack’s deep, smooth voice and how her stomach fluttered looking into those amused blue eyes. She’d always had a soft spot for a neat—but not too neat—beard.

“As I recall, Mack, you don’t live in Adelaide Creek, but here you are, celebrating the grand opening of the restored town hall with the rest of us. And on Valentine’s Day, too.”

“We do too live here.” Liam stood up a little straighter and lifted his chin a notch. “In a bunkhouse. Real cowboys lived there a long, long time ago.”

“That’s right, kiddo.” Mack spoke to Liam with a laugh in his voice before turning to Erin.

Buy Links

Amazon | Apple Books | Kobo | Nook | Google Play

Author Bio and Links

Award winning author, Virginia McCullough writes romance for the Harlequin Heartwarming line, and FINDING HIS WYOMING SWEETHEART is Book 4 of her Adelaide Creek series. She also writes women’s fiction and nonfiction on a variety of topics. Virginia’s characters could be your family, friends, or neighbors, and all her stories offer hope, healing, and plenty of second chances. Drawn to water, she almost always sets her stories on a body of water, from oceans, lakes, rivers, and the winding Adelaide Creek.

A ghostwriter, book doctor/editor, coach, and experienced workshop presenter, Virginia is a wanderer, but currently lives in Northeastern Wisconsin. When she’s not writing, she’s walking on trails near her home or in some faraway place. She reads, streams series, hangs out with other writers, and daydreams about her next adventure.

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Giveaway

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

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

Virtual Book Tour: The Angel Scroll by Penelope Holt

Posted on February 11, 2025 by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome writer and editor Penelope Holt. Today, Penelope shares excellent writing advice and her new release, The Angel Scroll.

Here’s Penelope!

So I’ve Got This Writing Quirk…

“Vigorous writing is concise!” So say Strunk and White in their book, Elements of Style, a useful if dated primer and guide for would-be writers. Concise is a word I was forced to take to heart in writing for business, where advertising copy and boilerplate often demand a strict word count and pared-down prose.

Embrace the Frag

As an editor, I learned that writers will often use five words when one will do. I embraced “the frag”—a sentence fragment that used to be a big no-no but is now a staple of breezy bloggers and content creators.

Fine Sanding a Piece

I discovered that my favorite part of writing is the fine sanding of later drafts. Making the writing more muscular. Balancing short and longer sentences to create just the right cadence. Stripping out extraneous words that are not earning their keep. Simplifying, streamlining, and cutting away the fat to give the story a sleek, lean, toned, and muscular shape.

Beware of Cutting Muscle

So business writing has taught me important lessons about crafting and curating words to express the essence of an idea. But a skill taken too far can hinder versus help. Oh no! Sometimes, I step back from a piece and realize I’ve cut away too much, lost important enhancements and embellishments that enrich a description or make a scene come alive. The writing is too sleek. There’s nothing for the reader to linger over, no place to get happily lost. It’s all too stripped down and efficient. Great for business. Bad for fiction. My word diet has gone too far and it’s time to bulk up. Here’s where I get the chance to go back into the story and find opportunities to express more nuance of feeling, linger on the details of an encounter between characters, and luxuriate in describing an evocative scene.

Balancing Rich and Lean

As a fiction writer, it’s a challenge to know when to be brief. When to keep the action moving with minimal words—dynamic writing that infuses a story with energy and momentum. And when to balance such brevity with writing detours that expand on an important moment, or to add those clever, signature details that make the writing original and alive in the reader’s mind’s eye.

Blurb

ONE ANCIENT PROPHECY, TWO HEARTBROKEN LOVERS, AND A WORLDWIDE SCAVENGER HUNT FOR THREE MIRACULOUS PAINTINGS.

After her husband’s death, New York artist Claire Lucas has baffling dreams and waking visions as she channels an enigmatic and healing painting of a holy man in India at the deathbed of a young woman. When widowed antiquarian Richard Markson announces that Claire’s canvas is one-third of three paintings prophesied by the Angel Scroll, a recently discovered Dead Sea parchment, she is pulled into an international scavenger hunt to find the stolen scroll and the paintings it predicts.

As she pursues the paintings with Richard across historic and holy sites in America, Israel, and Europe, Claire encounters a series of remarkable teachers. A Buddhist, a Benedictine monk, and a professor of early goddess worship all provide rich explanations for the artist’s compelling and perplexing psychic experiences — until she assembles the incredible triptych and deciphers its inspirational message for the modern world.

Excerpt

Hilde. Simply to think of her was to feel her presence, vibrant, beautiful, inviting. She had brought color, excitement, and warmth to his somber life of rigid routines and serious study. No matter how hard he tried, Richard couldn’t stop the memory of Hilde’s beautiful face and perfect body from moving through his memory a hundred times a day. He saw her blond hair, cut in a shimmering, sophisticated bob. He pictured how she pushed the hair on one side behind her ears and stroked her neck, as if to remind him how exciting her touch was. He remembered how she would arouse him by absentmindedly caressing him throughout the day. She gave him lingering kisses hello in the morning, and trailed her fingers in a light touch across his back when he was lost in study. She sometimes ran her palm down his arm with an exciting pressure as they talked. And at night, her hands felt for him hungrily beneath the sheets, as he wrapped himself around the beautiful body he had craved all day and finally took his pleasure.

Richard had memorized every inch of his wife’s lithe, petite frame that radiated so much sex appeal. She was vivacious, the center of attention in any group, but languid and seductive when they were alone. Mostly it was her laugh, throaty and full of easy warmth, that haunted him. Her cornflower blue eyes would brighten, and her lovely face would soften and transform itself with an even lovelier smile to accompany that unforgettable laugh. How could he speak of Hilde when it hurt so much just to think about her?

Author Bio and Links

Penelope Holt was born and educated in England and now lives in New York. She is a novelist, playwright, business writer, and marketing executive, whose work has been performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, York Arts Center, and New York’s American Folk Theater. In addition to writing fiction, The Angel Scroll, and The Apple, based on the controversial Herman Rosenblat Holocaust romance, Holt is a prolific writer, editor, and co-author of non-fiction, including Business Intelligence at Work A Personal Operating System for Career Success, Singing God’s Work, the story of the Harlem Gospel Choir, and many other works. She is married with two children.

Amazon Buy Link

Giveaway

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

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