Monday, February 25, 2013

I Love Books Guest Author Margaret Fieland

Please note: Today I kick-off the Coda to Murder Virtual Book Tour at Janie Franz Anasazi Dreams blog. When you have enjoyed reading Margaret's post here, please click on over to Janie's to visit me there. Thank you!


In this the final edition of February's I Love Books Event, please welcome our guest author, Margaret Fieland. Relocated is an exciting read for tweens and young adults (and adults) who love science fiction. Read an excerpt from the book below. Be sure to leave a comment for the random drawing to win a copy of Relocated.


Tween/Young Adult Sci-Fi
Thanks so much for being my guest today, Margaret. Please tell us about your book

When fourteen-year-old Keth's dad is transferred to planet Aleyne, he doesn't know what to expect. Certainly not to discover Dad grew up here, and studied with Ardaval, a noted Aleyni scholar. On Aleyne, Keth’s psi ability develops. However, psi is illegal in the Terran Federation. After a dangerous encounter with two Terran teenagers  conflict erupts between Keth and his father. Keth seeks sanctuary with Ardaval.  Studying with the Aleyne scholar Keth learns the truth about his own heritage. After Keth's friend's father, Mazos, is kidnapped, Keth ignores the risks and attempts to free him. Little does he realize who will pay the cost as he becomes involved with terrorists.

Buy links for Relocated













Excerpt:
  By the time I woke the next morning the sun shone low in the sky and warm, spicy air blew through the open window. I decided not to fight over what to wear, since standing out wasn't on my to-do list. Dad and Ardaval sat in the courtyard sipping kaff. Ardaval nodded at me and turned to Dad. “You should let him wear Aleyni tunics, pants, and sandals. He’s going to be much too hot in those clothes.” He spoke Aleyni.
       
Dad pushed his lips together and checked me over. “I’d rather he dressed in Terran standard trousers and shirts. I don't want him to look like an alien…” He answered in Common.
       
Ardaval flushed at Dad's choice of language. “Gavin, those clothes are much too heavy for this climate. The boy will melt.”
       
Too bad Dad wouldn't listen. Sweat already dripped down my back. I frowned, staring at him. “Why can’t I wear the Aleyni stuff?” Dad would never say yes, and a big piece of me was glad he'd saved me from making the choice. The Aleyni clothing appealed to me, but I wasn't ready to look weird, especially on my first day.
       
Dad shook his head. “You might attract trouble, and I need to keep you safe.”           Ardaval sighed. Oh well, at least I asked.
       
Dad pushed me toward the door. “Come on, we don’t want to be late.”
        “
We don’t?” I mumbled. Dad shook his head and followed me out the door and down to the trans stop. I would have enjoyed the bright blue sky and warm sun more, but the heavy Terran clothing left me sweating. “Dad, are Aleyni human?”
        “
They’re a separate species. Or so goes the official line. Nobody in the Federation has studied Aleyni genetics, and the Aleyni themselves aren't interested.”
       
"Why not?"
       
"It's considered an inappropriate area for study." He glanced at me, noting the frown on my face. "Kind of like a sacrilege."
        “
How come they look like us?”
       
He sighed. “Many origin theories exist, but the bottom line is nobody understands.”
       
I scraped my shoe in the sand collected in the street, admiring the pale pinks and blues as they appeared and disappeared. “It still doesn’t explain anything.”
       
He smiled. “No, it doesn’t, but I’m afraid since it’s politically incorrect to believe humans and Aleyni are closely related species, no one wants to hunt for answers.”
       
By the time we reached the trans stop, sweat dripped down my face and my shirt clung to my back. The only other people waiting, a group of Aleynis, stared at us for a moment before moving away. I flushed and wanted to say something, but Dad’s face turned cold and he moved away, too. I wondered what would have happened if we'd been speaking Aleyni.
       
Back on the base we walked over to Dad’s office. A long counter of the gray synglass wrapped around one wall and part of another. File cabinets covered the third wall and a shelf for books hung over part of the counter. A comp and a printer rested on the other part of the counter. A chair with a padded seat stood in front of the comp.
       
Brad walked in, took a data cube from Dad, scanned it quickly and locked it in the file cabinet. “Gavin, we'll discuss these recommendations later. You stay here and read this, and I’ll walk the boy to class.”
       
He handed Dad another data cube, opened the door, and ushered me out. We walked over to the port school, which met in yet another of the gray buildings.
       
The room he led me to held six kids my age or a few years older. The beige walls and thin beige carpet appeared dingy and worn. The desks and chairs, made of the same gray synglass as everything else, formed a half circle.
       
I walked into the room and stopped short, unsure of what to do next. The teacher, a man Dad’s age with fair, sun-burned skin and blue eyes, wrote on a large comp at the front of the room. It linked to those of the students, like the ones back home.
       
Brad took my arm and propelled me toward the teacher as he turned away from the comp. “John, this is Gavin Frey’s son, Raketh. His father is here for an indefinite stay. Try to get him integrated as quickly as possible.” Brad gazed over the room before turning to leave.
       
John held out his hand and I shook it. “Nice to meet you, Raketh.”
        “
Keth, please call me Keth.”
       
John nodded and turned to the other kids. “Class, this is Keth, the son of Major Reynolds’ new assistant, Gavin. He’ll join us from now on.”
        “
Jork,” one of the boys with brown curly hair said, but he grinned at me.
        “
Welcome to the class,” piped up one of the girls. She smiled at me. I blushed. I found her kind of pretty, actually. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and smirked at a boy with fair skin and straight blond hair who looked the same age. The kid glared at me instead of at her.
       
John tapped the desk with the stylus he’d been using to write on the comp. “Enough. Keth, you can take a seat.” He pointed and I sat.
       
John made them go around the room and introduce themselves. The kid next to me with the curly brown hair answered to Martin, and the girl with the red hair said her name was Henrietta. The blond boy was Tom.
       
John said, “We’re going over some Aleyni vocabulary. I can help you later on. For now, try to follow along.”
        “
I honor the request, and bend myself to your will,” I said in Aleyni. Clearly nobody bothered to tell him I already spoke the language.
  
Martin poked me. “What did you say?”
   “
I said yes.”
  “
How come you speak Aleyni? You just got here.”
  
I shrugged. Just another thing to make me a freaker. “My dad made me learn it.”
       
Martin stared at me for a moment. “It’s weird.”
       
"We used to have Aleyni exchange students hanging out at our apartment back on Earth. I guess he wanted to make them feel comfortable or something." Like I believed  that. I never told anyone back home about speaking Aleyni, not even Mark, my best friend.
       
John clapped his hands “Since you already understand the language and don’t need to pay attention to the lesson, why don't you and Henrietta move to the corner there,” he pointed across the room, “and go over this vocabulary.” He stared at me for a moment and handed me a data cube. “Come get me if you get stuck.”
       
Red crept up my neck. Maybe I should have resisted the urge to show off my Aleyni. After dragging my chair over to the corner, we both sat. “Go on, ask me to translate any of those words from Common into Aleyni. You can correct my pronunciation. John says it’s bad enough so no Aleyni would ever understand me.”
       
I managed to pay attention even though I needed to pry my eyes away from Henrietta's chest. Every time my eyes strayed she'd grin and toss her hair. Luckily, Tom sat with his back to us.
       
After the language lesson came a history lesson. The history lesson covered the first encounters between the Terran Federation and the Aleyni. John projected a star map on the comp at the front of the room and pointed to a spot. "This is where we first met the Aleyni. As you can see, it's within a light-year of our home solar system."
       
I asked, “How long ago did we first meet the Aleyni?” Yeah, I should have remembered.
       
John said, “A hundred years ago, although according to the Aleyni they have been watching us for at least five thousand of our years.”
       
Martin mumbled, “Like we believe them.”
       
I would have asked more questions, but the buzzer went off for break, and we trooped down the hall to the cafeteria. A counter at one end dispensed the food and more of the gray tables and chairs covered the floor. The food choices consisted of soups of dried beans and vegetables and hand meals made with soy protein. I grimaced and selected some soup and one of the hand meals.
       
Martin poked me. "If you want any meat, you have to buy it on the black market. Vegetables and fruit, too, but Major Reynolds looks the other way on those."
       
John led us to a round table. I ended up next to Martin again. Henrietta sat on my other side. The blond kid, Tom, sat opposite me. He glared at me.
       
Henrietta smiled at me. “You helped me a lot this morning. Maybe you can come over to my house and go over my homework some time.”
       
Fat chance. I’ll bet if I ever went over there, Tom would kill me. He continued to glare at me. I choked on my bite of hand meal, and Martin needed to pound me on the back.




Born and raised in New York City, Margaret Fieland has been around art and music all her life. She is an avid science fiction fan, and selected Robert A. Heinlein's “Farmer in the Sky” for her tenth birthday, now long past. In spite of making her living as a computer software engineer, she turned to one of her sons to format the initial version of her website, a clear illustration of the computer generation gap. Her poems have appeared in journals such as Melusine, Front Range Review, and All Rights Reserved. Her book, "The Angry Little Boy," will be published by 4RV Publishing, LLC, in early 2013. 




Friday, February 22, 2013

A Lot of Thank Yous--Today is Release Day for Coda to Murder

Pastor Christine Hobbs never imagined she would be caring for a flock 
that includes a pig, a kangaroo, and a murderer.

Today is the day I've been waiting for for nine months..No not the birth of my baby, but kind of. This is release day for my new mystery/sweet romance, Coda to Murder, from MuseItUp Publishing.

So many folks have contributed to the writing of this book--fellow authors in my Koffee Kuppe Writers Critique Group, friends in the Fremont Area District Library Writers Group, Pastor Ed, and Officer Doug, and encouragement from friends and family. I listened and interpreted what they told me so if there are any errors or misinformation, it is entirely my doing!

I want to take time to say heartfelt thank yous to Lea Schizas, MuseItUp Publisher, and editors Kim Cresswell and Penny Ehrenkranz for their help in shepherding the raw manuscript into a finished e-book. I am proud to be a part of MIU knowing how important it is to the staff to offer the best book possible to their readers.

Also a huge thank you goes to my cover designer, C.K. Volnek for a spectacular, eye-catching cover that will attract readers' attention. She took a spark of an idea from me and turned it into a lovely, emotional piece of art.

I can't forget to thank all the authors at MuseItUp for their support and encouragement. Many authors who will be hosting me on the Coda to Murder virtual book tour are Muse authors. I am overwhelmed at how close people can become over cyberspace, never meeting face to face. I cherish these friendships. 



I look forward to the book tour and interacting with readers. We're kicking off the book tour at Janie Franz blog on Monday, February 25!! There will be prizes awarded at the end of the tour. Be sure to comment in order to enter the random drawing.





Save 25% this week on Coda to Murder.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

I Love Books Guest Author Alice M. Roelke


Please welcome A.R. Roelke to the I Love Books event! She is sharing a great excerpt from her tween book, A Girl and a Dragon. The book cover by C.K. Volnek is one of my favorites.

Alice and I are swapping blogs, so please hop on over to her Writing Life blog where she grills me questions about my middle grade book for girls, Girls Succeed.


"A slave girl and a dragon on the run for their lives seek the cure
for a plague, and redemption."


The Girl and the Dragon, by Alice M. Roelke



My YA Christian fantasy story "The Girl and the Dragon" is available
from my publisher, MuseItUp: http://bit.ly/RgGihy and various other
places online such as Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Dragon-ebook/dp/B00A3VMJBY

###
Adella, a slave, can hear the thoughts of animals.

Her life is only worth living when she gets to spend time with her
dearest friend, a dragon—very large and frightening to most people but
not to Adella.

When Dragon does the unthinkable to protect her, the two must flee for
their lives. Adella struggles with the guilt she harbors and her
frightened feelings about God and punishment.

Disguising herself as a boy, she seeks work—and the pair get caught up
in a battle. They survive and become heroes. Then, horrible news: the
nation’s beloved king, to whom Adella feels strangely drawn, has been
infected by the Green Death. If he dies, anarchy will spread through
the kingdom and create war.

Adella and Dragon set off on a quest to find the plague’s forgotten
cure. Danger and adventure await—along with trolls, shape shifters and
secrets beyond her wildest dreams. But time is growing short. If they
don’t find the cure, the king will die…


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Excerpt:

"Sir John is coming!"

Adella looked up from feeding the chickens. A messenger pounded into
the courtyard on horseback, scattering indignant hens. His horse
heaved for breath, and the man glanced around, wild-eyed. "Sir John is
coming!"

Servants shrieked. Stable boys raced to their charges and housemaids
ran to the kitchen. Smells of a hasty feast wafted forth. Even Shahn,
the steward, twisted one of the rings on his fingers as he paced the
courtyard.

Nearly six months had come and gone since Sir John's last visit.
Adella knew everyone in Slekt Manor had breathed more freely without
him around. They feared him all the more since learning he’d lost
property in a political dispute. He’d probably be in an even fouler
temper than usual—and demand greater payments from Slekt.

Along with his legendary rage, there was his legendary dragon. A lot
of nobles rode dragons. They traveled faster than horses and acted as
status symbols, striking fear into the hearts of commoners. Sir John’s
dragon was especially large.

Surrounded by turmoil and haste, Adella was the only one who didn't
hurry. She was one small, easily overlooked girl. She could have been
anywhere from thirteen to nineteen. No one knew, least of all she.

"Adella. What a name for a slave!" How often had she heard that? She
couldn't help her name.

She kept feeding the chickens at her usual pace. The heavy bucket
thumped against her leg, and she knew it would leave bruises. But she
didn't mind. Sir John was coming!

She finished spreading the chicken meal and headed back to the stable
to hang up the bucket. Someone slammed into her shoulder. Ow! Flashes
of light and pain went off in her head. She sprawled on the ground,
gasping and opened her eyes to see stable boy Brast sneering down. He
didn't apologize or offer to help her up. "Better prepare for the
dragon, idiot!"

He's just jealous. She watched as he walked away. She knew people
resented her way with animals and her position in the stables. She
should’ve been just another frail kitchen girl to ignore or harass.
But she wasn't. For all her quiet ways and slight size, she could
always get animals to cooperate better than anyone else. She’d spent
long days at the plow, working whipless and quiet next to grown men
who beat their mules and still plowed slower than she did. The
competitive stable boys seemed to especially dislike her. Brast was
the worst, perhaps because he used to have a higher position in the
stables before the manor bought her. It made her shiver when she
caught him sneering at her while he polished his long knife.

She picked herself up, eyes smarting with tears of pain. She let out a
groan, since no one stood close enough to hear. How often had she
looked forward to this day? But now she stumbled toward the stable,
feeling as though she might throw up her breakfast. The fear and toil
and cruelty she'd been able to endure, thinking of this day. How long
the months had seemed!

“Hurry, Dragon!” she thought impulsively, though she knew he already
flew as fast as he could, flapping his immense leathery wings. The
knowledge bolstered her, and she managed to walk upright into the
stables to check the dragon's stall.

The stall, one huge room, stood separate from the horses' and mules'
stalls. She'd cleaned it every week since Sir John's last visit. Even
the stake near the wall for the dragon's chain shone. She checked the
supply of dragon food. They'd recently made a batch, but she didn't
think it was good enough. Sir John hated to waste fresh meat; he made
his manors use old, bad, or poor-quality animal parts mixed with meal
and grease for feed. It showed in his dragon's dull scales.

Screams of horses and people sounded from the courtyard. Adella heard
the dragon's mind approaching, happy and excited.

“I'm here. Be calm.” She hurried into the courtyard.

Dust rose from the courtyard as the huge, green dragon wings stroked
closer. People and animals ran for cover. Adella watched from the
stable door, her breath caught in her throat, lost in the majesty of
the graceful landing. Her skirts whipped around her legs from the wind
of his wings. She ran to him. The dragon lowered his head to let Sir
John off. Adella stopped before the heavy, compact man. He towered
over her in his rich, red and blue robes. He wore his usual imposing
glower.

Adella kept her eyes lowered and curtsied to Sir John, but her
thoughts focused on the dragon and his joy at seeing her.

“Don't prance!” she told him. It would anger Sir John. But Adella
could see Dragon's trembling muscles; how badly he wanted to greet
her!

"Here." Sir John thrust the dragon's chain at her and stalked toward
the steward, raising his voice. Adella almost didn't hear him for the
exploding joy of Dragon in her head.

“Act normal,” she instructed both herself and Dragon. She trembled,
too, as she led him into the stable, hooked the chain around the
stake, and went back to the double doors. She leaned hard into them,
shaking with the effort. They shut with a bang.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

New Mystery Cover Revealed for Coda to Murder


Huge THANK YOU to C.K. Volnek for this outstanding cover for my new mystery, Coda to Murder, to be released this Friday, February 22 by MuseItUp Publishing.  

Look for the virtual book tour to begin next week with prizes and fun as I visit fellow authors' blogs for interviews and discussions.




Please join me. See the side panel for the schedule!!



Wednesday, February 13, 2013

I Love Books Guest Author: Kay Lalone



Do you love ghost stories? Then you will love this book for tweens, Kay Lalone's Ghostly Clues. Kay is here today to introduce you to the book, but also to discuss a very big topic for February, Love and Romance.  Kay and I are swapping blogs, so, please hop on over to her blog after reading this one. 

Take it away, Kay.


            Thank you JQ Rose for hosting me be a on your blog today. Blog swapping is fun.
            Since February is the month of love, I want to talk about love. When you think about love, what one word comes to mind? Romance. Who doesn’t love romance?
            Romance books are very popular. Personally, I don’t like reading most of them because I feel they don’t really have much of a plot. It is the typical boy meets girl. They fall in love. The end. There are romance books out there that are more than the typical boy meets girl. These books have a plot and the characters have more of a purpose than just falling in love. Love is important, but I want to read about believable characters getting into trouble, having bad things happen to them, and going on an adventure, and then seeing how these characters change because of what has happened to them.
            Paranormal romance is on the rise. Who doesn’t love a good novel about a girl falling in love with a vampire (or some other supernatural being)? One of these days I would love to write a paranormal romance, because I like the paranormal type stuff.
             My first love is mystery/ghost story type books. I love to read about a character solving a mystery or encountering ghosts or some other supernatural creatures. In most of these types of books, there is a love interest where the main character has feelings for someone else.
            Most of the stories I have written aren’t about young love, falling in love, and having crushes. But there is a thread of love flowing through them. Romance is not the only form of love.
In my first published MG novel, Ghostly Clues, Sarah Kay does have a crush on a boy at school, Tom. But he doesn’t play an important part in the story and neither does the crush. He has a big scene in one chapter where Sarah Kay has a surprise boy/girl party for her thirteenth birthday. Of course, her crush is invited. They have a nice scene where they are dancing like they were grown up. Even though Sarah Kay feels grown up, I didn’t give her the chance to have her first kiss. Tom is mentioned a few more time throughout the story, but I never really show their relationship.
            In Ghostly Clues, love doesn’t play a romantic, young love type of role. In the book there is a thread of love woven in like Sarah Kay’s love for a grandma who she has lost because of death. Sarah Kay loves Gramps and she is worried about him. Even though Sarah Kay doesn’t get along with her mother (Mom has lied to her), she still loves her mother. Of course, Sarah Kay loves her best friend, Mary Jane, like a sister. The strongest love is the love she has for a father she doesn’t remember. A father she believes died when she was three. This love drives the story forward and gives Sarah Kay the motivation to try and find her father, to know for sure if he is alive or dead.
            Love is not just romantic, but is about relationships. Relationships aren’t always perfect. But it is love that motivates and drives a character to move forward, to accomplish what they need to accomplish. To grow and change. That’s what makes a book worth reading.
           
Kay's Bio
I’m Kay LaLone author of Ghostly Clues. I live in Michigan with her husband and fourteen year old son (two sons live near by) and two dogs and a cat. I love to get up in the morning and write. My favorite things to write about are ghosts and other supernatural creatures. I’m an avid reader and do book reviews.   

About Ghostly Clues
The sweet scent of lilacs permeates the air around Grandma’s gravesite. Only Sarah Kay can smell Grandma’s favorite flower, and they’re not even in bloom. 
Sarah Kay and her best friend, Mary Jane, believe the lilacs are a sign from Grandma’s ghost. The girls follow one ghostly clue after another, uncovering a secret that Mom never wanted Sarah Kay to know.
Grandma makes sure Sarah Kay gets the message even from the grave. As the evidence piles up, Mom still refuses to accept the possibility Sarah Kay’s father is alive.
Sarah Kay finds Dad’s parents. A set of grandparents she didn’t realize existed. They make it clear her father is alive but days and miles separate the father and daughter reunion because Dad is a truck driver on a long haul. 
Sarah Kay waits. The news reports a fatal car accident involving a semi and Sarah Kay fears the worse. She runs away which leads to Dad and the truth, Mom wanted Dad to remain dead.
Dad had faked his death so why not just stay dead.  The ghostly clues of Grandma wouldn’t allow Dad to remain dead to Sarah Kay.

Mini excerpt  the love scene in Ghostly Clues
            “Surprise,” MJ yelled along with a group of friends, Tom, Max, Sue, Ann and two guys I didn’t know by name.
My mouth opened wide and I closed it quickly, hoping I didn’t look like a fool in front of Tom. “What’s…going on?”
            “Your mother decided to give you a boy/girl party. And I helped plan it,” MJ said, entering the house wearing a fancy pink dress. The other kids followed wearing nice clothes like they were going to some rich, fancy party. The guys wore ties and the girls were in dresses.
I felt out of place wearing my purple sweat pants, a baggy, smiley-face T-shirt, with my hair in braids. I gave Mom a ‘why didn’t you warn me’ look as I dashed up the stairs to put on my purple dress. Not the one I wore at Grandma’s funeral, but one of my party dresses, light purple with sparkles through it. Mom came upstairs and helped me put my hair up and she even let me put a little bit of make-up on.
“Thanks, Mom,” I said, giving her a hug. “This is the best birthday ever.”
“Love you, honey. Now go downstairs and enjoy it,” she said.
            My friends and I laughed and talked during pizza. Then when we had our fill, Gramps helped Mom clear a spot in the living room to dance.
            As my favorite song played on the CD, Tom wrapped his arms around my waist and I placed my hands on his shoulders and together we swayed to the music. It was so unbelievably romantic and I felt so grownup.
This night was perfect and I didn’t want it to end; then the sweet aroma of lilacs tickled my nose. I turned away from Tom and sneezed.
“Bless you,” he said.
“Thanks.” I looked around, wondering where the smell of lilacs could be coming from. Out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw something move, a shadow. The air felt chiller.
Grandma? Please, not now. This can’t be happening.
“SK, what is it?” MJ asked.
Before I could answer, Gramps turned off the lights and Mom walked out of the kitchen carrying my birthday cake with thirteen glowing candles lighting the way into the dark room. My friends started singing Happy Birthday.
I plastered a smile on my face and blew out the candles. When the lights came back on the smell of lilacs disappeared and the air in the room grew warmer. I sighed, happy that Grandma’s ghost didn’t decide now to make an appearance.
We ate some cake and danced some more and then I unwrapped gifts from everyone. I especially liked Tom’s gift of a beautiful necklace. It was an angel charm with a purple stone on it.
Book Links


This book can be found on Amazon, Goodreads, Bookstrand, and Smashwords. 


Monday, February 11, 2013

I Love Books Guest Author: Kim Cresswell



I'm excited to welcome romantic-suspense author Kim Cresswell to the J.Q. Rose blog. Kim is my author friend AND editor friend. She was one of the editors for my soon-to-be-released mystery, Coda to Murder, from MuseItUp Publishing. I will be visiting her blog March 5 to introduce the world to my new mystery/sweet romance.
 You'll love this romantic-suspense novel penned by Kim. Now let me get out of the way so Kim can share her story behind the writing of her latest novel, Reflection, and an excerpt.

REFLECTION:  The Story Behind the Book
I love writing and reading romantic suspense!
Not only does the suspense provide instant tension in a story, I love the push-pull-tug-of-war of romance. Will the hero and heroine get together? Will they overcome the conflict and live happily ever after?
In my book REFLECTION, my heroine, reporter, Whitney Steel is investigating an alleged human cloning project when she meets up with the hero, FBI Agent, Blake Neely, who's searching for his own answers.
Everything from this point on focuses on Blake and Whitney discovering whether or not the villain has produced the world's first cloned human. They don't set out to fall in love. The relationship between the hero and heroine develops because of the suspense.

The story evolved after Clonaid (a company founded by the religious sect called the Raelians which views cloning as the first step in achieving immortality) announced the birth of Eve, the “first human clone” in 2002 using the similar technique to clone, Dolly the Sheep. About 160 nations in the world have yet to outlaw the birth of human clones and others are allowing the creation of human clones as long as they are not put into a woman’s womb (how do we know they aren't implanted?), add a kick-ass investigative reporter, a sexy FBI agent, and thus, REFLECTION was born.



You can find REFLECTION in eBook at MuseItUp Publishing, Amazon and coming soon to Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and other fine retailers. Coming to paperback in late February.

BLURB

Florida investigative reporter, Whitney Steel, has lived in the shadow of her legendary father long enough. To prove herself she needs to find the “Big” story.

She found it.
Now it may kill her.
After Whitney receives a lead pointing to the world's first cloned human, now a small child, she vows to unravel the truth. However, sifting through the facts proves to have dangerous results, including death threats and murder.
When Whitney is nearly killed, but is saved by undercover FBI Special Agent, Blake Neely, he refuses to let her get in the way of his own objective—at least not right away.
Caught in a lethal game between a billionaire obsessed with genetic perfection, his hit man’s thirst for retribution, and a Colombian drug lord fresh out of prison determined to make Blake pay for his twin brother’s death over a decade ago...
Can they save an innocent child before its too late?
Faced with tough choices, with deadly consequences for many—Whitney soon realizes that sometimes a story becomes more than just a story.

BOOK TRAILER





EXCERPT

Mason Bailey gulped down his third Glenlivet. “I didn’t kill her.”

How many times had Whitney Steel heard those words? Dozens. But never from the mouth of a United States senator. For all she cared, the man could drink himself to Mars, but not until she got what she’d come for. An exclusive.

Under the awning shading the Pink Flamingo Club’s patio, she took a sip of her lime daiquiri, and couldn’t help notice the way the mid-afternoon sunlight brutally magnified every line on Mason’s tanned face.

“Of all the reporters in Panama City, let alone Florida, why me? We cut our ties years ago.” And our losses, she wanted to say, but didn’t.

“I know I can trust you.” His gaze darted across the street then back to her. “Besides, we were married once. That should count for something.”

Whitney straightened. Anger coiled in the pit of her stomach. “Give me a break. For a year and a half, I thought we were married. Too bad your girlfriends didn’t know about our little legal arrangement.” Especially, your twenty something assistant.

“Damn it, Whitney. I didn’t ask you here to rehash our past.” He yanked a monogrammed handkerchief from his jacket pocket and dabbed the sweat from his forehead. “I need your help. I know why Carmen Lacey was murdered.”

Her eyes widened. Now they were getting somewhere. “You have my full attention. Are we on the record?”

Mason shoved his empty glass aside. “Yes.”

Her heart thumped with anticipation. This story would be the topic du jour for months. Her ratings at WBNN-TV would soar, and finally her colleagues would take notice and treat her with the professional respect she deserved.

For the past twelve years, her colleagues said she’d had a free ride because of her father, an award winning war correspondent, and her ex-husband’s political connections. This time she’d prove them wrong.

She rummaged through her leather bag, placed her digital voice recorder on the table and gave the record button a firm push. “For the record, Senator Bailey, did you kill Carmen Lacey?”

“No.” He leaned back in the chair and loosened his pinstriped tie. “It’s true. I was the last person to see her alive. But there’s more to this than you think.”

Brown eyes that once set her heart hammering now conveyed a chilling, hollow look. Was it guilt? Desperation?

No. Fear.

Uneasiness slid down her spine. She stopped the recorder. “Mason, you’re scaring me. What the hell is going on? It’s been over three years since we last spoke. Then, out of the blue, you beg me to meet with you today. I know the police don’t believe you killed that woman.”

“But do you, Whitney? Do you believe I killed her? I need to know. It’s important.”

Stunned by the urgency in his voice, she answered carefully. “Of course not.

You’re many things, but you’re not a killer.”

“Thank you. That means a lot to me.” He reached for his empty glass and tapped his chunky gold ring against the side.

Whitney turned the recorder on again.

“Carmen was a scientist working for a biotech company in Nevada. ShawBioGen. Heard of it?”

“Who hasn’t? They were one of the first to clone animals in the eighties. Caused quite a stir.

But I don't understand. What does that have to do with Carmen’s death?”

He opened his mouth to answer.

The large window behind them dividing the patio from the main restaurant exploded...


Trained as a legal assistant, Kim Cresswell has been a story-teller all her life but took many detours including; working for a private investigator, running a graphic design business, and teaching computer classes at a local business school. After becoming disabled with Fibromyalgia and Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome, Kim returned to her first love, writing.
For her, writing suspense fiction is an incredible adventure and she's surprised where the journey takes her. She's also an avid reader who enjoys playing computer games, ghost hunting and loves anything paranormal.
Kim has a few new novels in the works including the sequel to REFLECTION which will be released in late 2013.



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