Just when I think the well is going dry for these Featured New Book spotlights, you guys come through for me. Keep it coming!

Today’s guest and spotlight savior is ML Roble, a woman whose kindness and upbeat personality shine through the e-mails we’ve exchanged. I hope this is the start of a good friendship.

Her book is called The Magician’s Doll. And the song that makes her think of it?

I’ll let her tell you, herself.

One Safe Place by Marc Cohn. I’m partial to his live versions, but any one of them will do.

When looking for a song, I thought I should try to find something magical, whimsical and Disneyesque since The Magician’s Doll is a children’s novel, but somehow One Safe Place by Marc Cohn grabbed me. The lyrics capture a major force driving my main character, Natalie; her journey is one of feeling safe, both outside and in.

“Will you make a smoother landing
When you break your fall from grace
Into the arms of understanding
Looking for one safe place.”

Natalie feels her powers represent a fall from grace, and the people around her, especially her mother, try to help minimize her fear and help her understand that there is good in what she has and in who she is.

“Life is trial by fire
And love’s the sweetest taste
And I pray it lifts us higher
To one safe place.”

Natalie resists her abilities as the experiencing of them can be frightening, but it’s her love for the people around her that brings out her best and helps her come into her own against the forces coming for them.

“How many roads we’ve traveled
How many dreams we’ve chased
Across sand and sky and gravel
Looking for one safe place.”

There will be more journeys for Natalie and those she loves before they are truly free of the forces in pursuit.

Wow, huh? I love how you guys are able to relate your books to one song so well.

Now, for the book blurb:

“They are stronger. They are coming. They will arrive!”

Life is hard enough for twelve-year-old Natalie whenever her mother opens shop as a psychic.

But when Natalie herself starts to “see” things, it gets even harder.

Now she has to deal with losing control of her mind and body when information she does not seek comes to find her. Now people won’t stop asking her questions when all she wants to do is bury her head in the sand and pretend she has a normal life.

But then a big top circus rolls into town bringing with it Beausoleil the Magician, his daughter, Louisa, and his mysterious doll. Strange things are afoot with Beausoleil and his ilk, and in their wake, an eerie storm is brewing. Soon Natalie must decide whether to keep her head in the sand or whether to embrace her abilities and face the growing threat that will change her world forever.

Ooh, I like; it’s a neat twist on the paranormal.

Go pick up a copy for yourself!
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An Excerpt from The Magician’s Doll

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After a holiday hiatus, the Featured New Book spotlight is back in action! (I had to give the spotlight operator time off. Union rules. Plus, he was going to tell Roadie Poet about what a hardass I am. Hello? One day of work a week? Spotlight operators should have it so good!)

Today’s guest is the lovely Julia McDermott, whose new book, Make That Deux, sounds simply delightful. But before we get to the book, here’s the song behind it.

The song that makes me think of my book is LOVE AND AFFECTION by Joan Armatrading, recorded live in 1976:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4eZ1DP__yY

MAKE THAT DEUX is the story of Jenny Miles, who spends her junior year of college studying in the south of France in the late 1970s. Jenny leaves behind her boyfriend Phil in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where the two met and became a couple almost a year before the novel’s opening. Jenny has studied French for years and is ecstatic to be able to realize her dream of participating in UNC’s new year-abroad program, and to see Europe. But she’s anxious and uneasy about being separated from the person with whom she’s been madly in love for many months.

Phil and Jenny manage their long-distance relationship via handwritten letters and a few very expensive phone calls, and Phil plans to come see Jenny over the winter holiday break. But in the fall, when unexplained issues force Phil to renege on his promise to visit, Jenny begins to suspect his feelings for her. Later, an accidental incident fuels Jenny’s doubts about their relationship and whether they are meant to be. Then, as her friendship with French-speaking (but not French) Lucas develops in romance, Jenny is forced to make some decisions.

The novel has three parts, and Part 3 is entitled OPEN TO PERSUASION, taken from the beginning lines in Armatrading’s song:

“I am not in love
But I’m open to persuasion
East or West
Where’s the best
For romancing”

Here are a few lines from Part 3:

“…I left and trudged back to the room. I unlocked the door like a cat burglar while Trish slept soundly. Good. I changed clothes and softly crawled into bed. What a day it had been. Maybe it was for the best that tonight had turned out like it had…
Love and affection, that was what I wanted. With someone. I just wasn’t sure with who anymore.”

Joan Armatrading! Who’d have thought such a classic would grace THESE pages?

Believe me, I’m not arguing.

Here’s the book blurb:

Three American college girls living in an apartment on the Mediterranean. Two boyfriends back home. “The One” (and only), if it’s “meant to be” — whatever that means!

Jenny Miles has three goals: to speak French like a native, to travel all over Europe, and to have a blast. Meanwhile, two men compete for her attention and amour, ici et là. C’est compliqué!
Take 10 months. Add 2 (surprise) transatlantic flights, 2 Greek isles, 1 moped (une mobylette) and beaucoup de lettres! Subtract 1 phone, 1 promise to be faithful, and 1 bikini top. La solution?

Make that…a year that Jenny will never forget.

Ready to go buy? (Why not???)
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Author David Biddle got a hold of me. He’s written a work of Rock Fiction, and he wanted me to review it.

But… I am horribly behind with my reviews that aren’t for The World’s Toughest Book Critics. So I said no, but that he was, as usual, more than willing to step into the Featured New Book Spotlight for a week.

Well, you guys know how swamped I’ve been with the editing. Maybe you’ve even been one of the people who’s lately been asking me for expanded services. So conversation with David has been slow. And then the holidays hit, and who wants to be posted during the holidays? And then, my feed went down, so I held off again…

That brings us to today. So… because I’ve taken up WAY too much of your precious time already with my saga, let’s get to David.

Hey, David! What song makes you think of your book?

Beyond the Will of God is a rather unique, highly psychedelic novel about the mysteries of loud guitar music and altered states of consciousness. Years ago, after an all-night state of wonder (hopefully you know what that means), I flashed on the notion that our great deceased entertainers, particularly musicians like Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Jim Morrison, could possibly still connect to us through their music. I was 17. It was 1975. I was a crazy kid. 25 years later I completed Beyond the Will of God: A Jill Simpson Mystery. It was finally published this year.

The story is chock full of references to every kind of music — from Elvis’ first hit “That’s All Right” and Jeff Buckley’s “Last Goodbye,” to The Doors’ “Riders on the Storm,” the Grateful Dead’s “Playing in the Band,” and Sun Ra’s improvisational jamming Arkestra. But one song rides high over all the others — Jimi Hendrix’s “1983 … (A Merman I Should Turn to Be).” That’s the song that got me so riled up with this notion of musical mystery. It’s a long (nearly 14 minutes), nutty composition that Hendrix described as science fiction poetry. He worked harder on this single piece than all the others on his defining album Electric Ladyland.

At one point, just before a crazy, beautiful, super over-dubbed guitar solo, he sings: “Anyway, you know good and well/It would be beyond the will of God/And the grace of the king…”

Now, I’m not a very religious person (though I do think about spiritual stuff all the time), but that phrase “beyond the will of God” just smacked me upside the head. To me, it said all there needs to be said about why people seek altered states of consciousness.

And the song … well, the song is still an anthem about those wild days of running free. Jimi played all the instruments on it. He was as unbridled and infinite with his vision of the possibilities of music as anyone has ever been. Had he lived, I’m sure he would have gone even further off into that realm. It’s a beautiful and rarefied realm. He had definitely gone beyond the will of God. And he made it possible for me to do the same with my story years later.

Partial lyrics from “1983 …”

Well it’s too bad that our friends can’t be with us today
Well it’s too bad
The machine that we built
Would never save us that’s what they say
That’s why they ain’t comin’ with us today
And they also said it’s impossible
For a man to live and breathe undrerwater
Forever was a main complaint
Yeah and they also threw this in my face they said
Anyway you know good and well
It would be beyond the will of god
And the grace of the king
Grace of the king
Yeah

For the full set of lyrics, go here.

Song on YouTube (this is, ironically, one of those pieces of work that Hendrix would never do live)

Ready for the book blurb?? I sure am!

If you’re looking for something different to read this year, Beyond the Will of God is a mystery/thriller that goes completely off the grid. As much as it begins with a murder, the story ultimately points at secrets to many of the unresolved conspiracies people have wondered about for years.

Police detective Jill Simpson is investigating the murder of an Amish teenager outside of Columbia, Missouri. Tabloid reporter Frank Harris has been sent into the heartlands to interview a clairvoyant who claims she is having an affair with Elvis. As these two work first separately and then as a team, the storyline twists and turns to include bigger questions that will change their lives forever.

Beyond the Will of God is a cross between a Tony Hillerman mystery, Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” and Carlos Castaneda’s Yaqui Sorcerer series. It is serious yet playful, questioning and entertaining. You could call it a YA novel for Boomers. You could call it a paranormal fairy tale for refugees from another time. Or you could just call it weird, a bit sexy, and a good winter read.

Buy at Amazon

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One of the first authors to get in touch with me after India Drummond’s blog post went viral (thanks, PG!) was Galen Watson, whose book The Psalter ought to put Dan Brown to shame. Of course, I’ve yet to read, let alone edit, Dan Brown, so I’m biased.

The Psalter is a smart, sharp, intriguing tale that goes back into history while it tells a present-day story. Yeah, one of those structures. My bud Galen pulls it off.

As I do with all my editing clients, I invited him to stop in for a Featured New Book Spotlight. And like many — but not all — do, he took me up on it.

Galen, what song makes you think of The Psalter?

Bob Seeger’s Against the Wind haunted me as I wrote The Psalter, and while I was editing. When I hear the words or see them written, I realize Against the Wind could truly be the novel’s theme song. I wish I could attach a nano mp3 player to every ebook and paperback copy to play softly as the reader turns the pages. Perhaps readers could play Seeger’s tune as a sort of dénouement background music in Chapter 45, Johannes’ Testament. That’s the point that Seeger’s words were the most poignant to my writer’s self.

It seems like yesterday
But it was long ago
Janey was lovely she was the queen of my nights
There in the darkness with the radio playing low
And the secrets that we shared
The mountains that we moved
Caught like a wildfire out of control
‘Til there was nothing left to burn and nothing left to prove
And I remember what she said to me
How she swore that it never would end
I remember how she held me oh so tight
Wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then

Book Blurb

A medieval prayer book, a religious prophecy, and a forgery that changed the church—forever.

Father Romano has run afoul of the modern inquisitors before. This time, it leads to a medieval manuscript and murder. Was it an ordinary theft gone wrong or something more? The police would like to know.

Romano uncovers a historical narrative of medieval forgeries, Saracen invasions and a legendary fight for the richest kingdom on earth. Yet he has unwittingly become a target for those who will stop at nothing to possess the secret of the Psalter.

Kindle Link

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Twitter: @galencwatson

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Kerry Dwyer is another author I’ve gotten to know over Twitter. So, of course… one author + new release equals an invite from Susan, so here you go… Proving that music knows no boundaries!

When I looked at your blog and the single question my first thought were ‘What on earth will I have in common with people who read this site’. I am about double the average age of other contributors and from a completely different musical background. But the more I thought about it the more I felt I was totally wrong. Music can join many different people, people can enjoy many different types of music. Songs that were fist released nearly eighty years ago are coming back into popularity with modernised cover versions. I was brought up in the folk clubs of London and in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s met folk heroes such as Pete and Peggy Seegar, Ewan McColl and Frankie Armstrong. The only popular artist that I ever met was Kirsty McColl but we were both small children at the time. In my book, Ramblings In Ireland, I talk about this time and mention one of Ewan McColl’s best known songs ‘The Manchester Rambler’. Of course I can’t think about walking without thinking about this song and about that time in my childhood. I don’t hear that song very often. One song that has stood the test of generations is ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’. This song was written by Ewan for Peggy. in 1957 It first became a major international hit in 1972 for Roberta Flack and has since been covered and released 68 times. The more famous cover versions were by Celine Dion, Diana Ross, Elvis Presley and Alison Moyet, the version by Johnny Mathis sounds like chocolate. This year Peggy, the woman for whom this song was originally written, has released a new version. with Broadcaster. Her voice is still as magnificent as ever.I think it is wonderful that she has released this song that was written for her all that time ago.

Book Blurb

Ramblings in Ireland

This is not a book about rambling in Ireland.

It tells the tale of one particular walking trip and the memories and musings it inspired.

Exploring the West of Ireland is a time for meditation, spiritual reflection and strengthening the bonds of life. More practically the ability to read a map might have proved helpful. The tourist office in Ireland has all their paths clearly marked. You can’t go wrong if you follow that little yellow man. Or can you?

As British ex-patriate Kerry Dwyer leads Bertrand, her trusting French husband, astray once more, they reminisce and reflect upon accents and accidents, family and friends, love and what it means to be alive. Bertrand doesn’t mind getting lost – he loves Kerry all the more for going off the beaten track.

This is a book about ramblings in Ireland. Walk with Kerry and Bertrand and follow where your thoughts lead you.

Links

My blog
Amazon UK
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This might be the last of the posts from my fellow authors of the 25 Years in the Rearview Mirror fun. I hope not; it’s been fun hosting new authors whose name appears beside my own.

Remember, if you’ve got a new book out, follow the rules and get on the schedule.

Today’s guest is Donna Fletcher Crow, whose new book is Monastery Murders. Let’s get right to it, shall we?

The Song That Inspired an Epic

“And did those feet in ancient times,
Walk upon England’s mountains green,
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England’s pleasant pastures seen?
. . .
Bring me my bow of burning gold!
Bring me my arrows fo desire!
Bring me my spear: O clouds, unfold!
Bring me my chairot of fire!. . .”

Well, every English school child knows this song based on the poem “Jerusalem” by William Blake and popularly called “The Glastonbury Hymn”. But I’ll have to admit the first time I heard it was when Eric Idle sang it on a “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” sketch. And then it really became known to the whole world when the wonderful movie “Chariots of Fire” burst on the world and everyone wanted to know where the title came from.

That legend Blake refers to, of Joseph of Ariamathea taking his young nephew Jesus with him on a tin-trading trip to the Scilly Isles and then returning later as a refugee/missionary and taking with him the Holy Grail is the basis for hundreds of years of grail search songs, poems and novels— including my own GLASTONBURY, A Novel of The Holy Grail.

GLASTONBURY is an epic that spans 1500 years of English history through Celtic, Roman, Arthurian, Anglo-Saxon, Norman, and Tudor times. Today, as in Arthur’s day, searchers are still asking: Where is the Holy Grail?

You can see a wonderful music video of “Jeruslaem.”

More about Donna:

Donna Fletcher Crow is the author of 40 books, mostly novels dealing with British history. The award-winning Glastonbury, A Novel of the Holy Grail, an Arthurian grail search epic covering 15 centuries of English history, is her best-known work. She is also the author of The Monastery Murders: A Very Private Grave and A Darkly Hidden Truth, as well as the Lord Danvers series of Victorian true-crime novels and the romantic suspense series The Elizabeth & Richard Mysteries. Donna and her husband live in Boise, Idaho. They have 4 adult children and 11 grandchildren. She is an enthusiastic gardener.

To read more about all of Donna’s books and see pictures from her garden and research trips go to: https://www.donnafletchercrow.com/
You can follow her on Facebook at: https://ning.it/OHi0MY

Donna is visiting West of Mars today as part of the 25 Years in the Rearview Mirror, 52 Authors Look Back blog tour. If you enjoy magazine columns and Chicken Soup for the Soul books, then you’re sure to enjoy our collection of essays, designed to warm your heart, raise your spirits and compel you to examine your own life. Read about school days, quirky jobs, romance, raising a family, hard times, the writing journey, and find out what makes your favorite characters tick. Get a full listing of authors, essay titles and retailers here: https://ning.it/OknwVR
Follow the 25 Years in the Rearview Mirror Blog and Radio Tour schedule here: https://ning.it/NZpHrP

I’ve spoken so often of my association with the group at Bestseller Bound that I’m surprised you all haven’t come and joined me over there. We’d love to have great authors who are committed to the idea that the success of one is the success of all.

Today’s featured author is Maria Savva, one of the founding authors of Bestseller Bound. She’s got a new book out, and it’s one I’m curious to see in its finished state. It’s dark, very dark, and it’s well named. This book has haunted me since I closed the file.

Without further ado… Maria, what song makes you think of your book?

How Will I Laugh Tomorrow… by Suicidal Tendencies.

This song features in the book; well, the title is mentioned. It’s one of the songs Nigel Price, the protagonist, is listening to in his car before an event that changes his life forever. It’s like after he hears this song, that’s the turning point. And, it is also a song that plays at the end of the novel, evoking memories of the past. The question for the reader with this book is how much of it is reality and how much of it is imagined? That brings to mind the lyrics: “Sometimes I got to think to myself is this life or death,
Am I living or am I dead?”

In my opinion, although he commits a crime, I feel that Nigel is a victim too and have tried to show this in the book. I think the lyrics:

“And I tried to tell you but not a word I say
Cried out so loudly but you just covered your ears
I gave you all the signs but you ignored my tears”

could apply to Nigel. There were signs that he would end up doing what he did, or something similar. No one in his life seemed to be able to stop that from happening.

The following verse in particular, reflects Nigel’s frame of mind throughout most of the book:

“search for personality, I look for things I cannot see
Love and peace flash through my mind,
pain and hate is all I find
Find no hope in nothing new
and I never had a dream come true
Lies and hate and agony, through my eyes that’s all I see”

It’s a dark book, and Nigel’s emotions are dark. The line, “How will I laugh tomorrow, when I can’t even smile today?” just sums up everything that Nigel is feeling.

Originally, I used the song “Born to be Wild” as the song Nigel was playing before the life changing event happened. But one day I was listening to “How Will I Laugh Tomorrow…” and I posted a link to Twitter. One of my Twitter friends tweeted and said how much he loved this song and that it was probably his favourite ever. It started me thinking how much I had always loved this song, and when I went back to editing Haunted, which I was in the process of doing at the time, it suddenly occurred to me that this song would be perfect because the angry dark tone of the lyrics really suited Nigel’s state of mind.

Buy links!
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Connect with Maria — you’ll be glad you did!
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Whenever I edit a book, I make a point of telling my client they are welcome to stop in and do a Featured New Book spotlight. It’s the least I can do to support my authors, since they are, without exception, the greatest group of authors on the planet.

Today’s author isn’t merely a client. She’s also an online bud, one I’ve known for a couple of years now, and one who has so many similar interests to my own that it’s scary. We could be soul sisters. And when you read The Rock Star in the Mirror (and you should!), you’ll see what I mean.

So… Sharon, what song makes you think of your book?

Answer this question: What song makes you think of your book? Wow. Just one? I’d have to go with “Station to Station,” which is part of what inspired me to write the story. It’s this wild allegory, based on Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” that kind of implies a psychotic break on the part of the singer.

(For the record, Sharon herself picked that version of the video, as there doesn’t seem to be an official one. She says she loves this one. It’s from a German film called “Christiane F.” Let me know what you think!)

Ready for the blurb? Sure, you are!

Joe is a small-town Oregon guy. He’s madly in love with Lynnie … who has a huge crush on David Bowie. Joe will do almost anything to get Lynnie’s attention, but there are always consequences.

Buy your copy today! Smashwords is the preferred retailer of the day. That works for me; this link is an affiliate link, which means I’ll make a few pennies from your purchase.

Sharon’s website
Sharon’s Facebook

Another of the 25 Years in the Rearview Mirror author is Carole Shmurak. Let’s give her a warm welcome and see what song makes her think of her book. It’s a good one!

Stayin’ Alive by the BeeGees is the song that comes to mind, for two reasons.

First, it is set at a high school reunion, and after a certain age, that’s what reunions are all about, aren’t they? Who’s still staying alive? Of course my book, Most Likely to Murder, is a mystery, so at least one member of the class doesn’t achieve that goal!

Second, it is the class of 1980 that is having their 32 year reunion, and “Stayin’ Alive” was one of the songs they danced to when they were in high school. It was funny that when I looked up the songs that might be played at the reunion, there were several titles that were appropriate: “Stayin’ Alive” from 1977-78, “I Will Survive” from 1978, and “Another One Bites the Dust” from 1980. So I got to use all three songs during the course of the evening.

When I started writing Most Likely to Murder, I had just come from my own high school reunion, and I’d been the editor of the reunion book, so I had the faces and the lives of nearly 200 people in my mind. But to quote Sue Grafton, my detective, Susan Lombardi, is “younger, smarter and thinner” than I am. That meant that all the music we had played at our reunion would be all wrong for Susan’s class, and so it was necessary to research the songs. It also meant that the names of my classmates were wrong for the era too, so I had to look up the popular names for people born in 1962; all the Carols and Barbaras had to become Sharons and Lisas.

The version of “Stayin’ Alive” that I’ve chosen is the one with the BeeGees singing but with images that come from the 1940s and feature the gorgeous Rita Hayworth. I’m not that old, but I am a film lover and she is just such a glorious dancer to watch!

The class of 1980? I don’t talk about things that make me feel young often, but this is one of them. However, I’d like to point out the excellent name the detective has. Notice that? I sure did!

Ready for the blurb? I am!

What high school class has a thirty-two year reunion? A class whose president has left the country, whose vice president is dead, and whose treasurer is in the Witness Protection program — in fact, Professor Susan Lombardi’s class from Count Basie High School. Susan has misgivings about revisiting her hometown: she’s leery of seeing her former high school sweetheart, now a high tech millionaire, and reluctant to get involved in a battle between her squabbling brothers. But when she does go, one of her “old gang” ends up dead, and Susan and her friends team up to find the classmate Most Likely to Murder.

I may need to buy this one. How about you?
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Personal links:
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I swear, I’d seen Keri Ford’s name around the blogosphere with the release of an earlier book, so when she dropped into my inbox, looking for an editor, well, I was excited. I mean, hello? She’s got a backlist that’s over 10 books long already. And I recognized her name! That’s always a bonus — when I recognize an author’s name, and s/he is coming to me for an edit.

Yeah, it doesn’t take me much…

So I’m more than pleased to share Keri’s new release, published under her pen name of Charley Colins: In Her Sights. I’ve read this. I’m one of the people who helped shape it.

Just remember… any mistakes are due to the gremlins!

Now, on to Keri…

Thanks for letting me visit you Susan! And what a fun question because I have an answer this time! I usually don’t have just one song for a book, but when I was working on In Her Sights, the one song I kept going back to was Pink’s Trouble.

Lexie, my heroine, is a kick-butt kind of girl at night. She knows it and she’s good at it. But it’s a secret. During the day she has to be sweet and loving and always smiling and ready to be polite for people.

When she hits the streets at night, dressed in black with her ski mask and all her weapons, I picture her moving to this song. If this book was a movie, this is the song that would play at the end while she’s running across rooftops and fighting men on the street with of course, a huge smile on her face.

It’s the music, the tone of Pink’s voice, and the words. All of the attitude just pours from the song and lyrics. It speaks about who Lexie really is on the inside. The part of her she has to keep hidden from everyone.

And is that Jeremy Renner I see?

Blurb:

Some call her a killer.

Others call her a hero.

Lexie Olympia calls herself neither. She’s getting the job done because she can. A beloved philanthropist by day who’s nicknamed Melville’s Sweetheart, Lexie has the city wrapped around her little finger. Having been a victim in the past, left behind with the killer still on the loose, Lexie knows what it’s like to live with that fear. Instead of biting her nails over it, she takes action. Drug lords, gang leaders, con artists, kidnappers, serial killers, anyone who leaves behind innocent victims are marked on Lexie’s list.

When a neighbor leaves a stolen ancient dagger on her doorstep and skips town, Lexie’s left picking up the pieces. The police, a local private investigator, and a gang are all after this artifact and Lexie uses her nighttime persona, Artemis, to get to the bottom of things. Everything is going smoothly until she gets caught.

Chapter One can be read here
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I’ve known Stacy Juba for a long time now. She’s one of the founding authors over at Bestseller Bound, where you know I spend a lot of time hanging out.

But I haven’t hosted her here yet, for a Featured New Release spot, even though she’s put books out. And even though she’s featured me, both on her blog and in her new book, 25 Years in the Rearview Mirror. I know I’ve asked … and this is the first time she’s taken me up on my offer.

She’s not here to talk about 25 Years in the Rearview Mirror, though. Nope. She’s here to talk about her new boxed set, Young Ladies of Mystery. This set features three of Stacy’s books: Twenty-five Years Ago Today, Sink or Swim, and Dark Before Dawn.

Without further ado, here’s Stacy:

Answer this question: What song makes you think of your book?
Can’t Get You Out of My Head by Kylie Minogue. That song comes to mind as when I was writing one of the books in the Young Ladies of Mystery Boxed Set, Sink or Swim, the song would constantly play on the radio. Since the book has a stalker who is fixated on the main character, reality show contestant Cassidy Novak, the song became Cassidy’s Anthem. Poor Cassidy! I’m sure she wished her stalker could get her out of his head. Thanks to that song, I could never get Cassidy out of my head, either.

I’d hear it on the way to work, on the way back from work, on the way to appointments, and when I was out driving with my husband. I’d always smile, imagining my book as a movie with the song sounding over the credits. I felt as if anything was possible. I had an agent at the time and I was anxious to finish writing the book and turn it in.

Unfortunately, when I created the book trailer after Sink or Swim was published, that song wasn’t available so I settled for Every Breath You Take, which also fits the book well. I rarely hear Can’t Get You Out Of My Head on the radio anymore, however I do get to hear it frequently when I play Just Dance on Wii!

Ready for the blurb?

The Young Ladies of Mystery Boxed Set: Features Stacy’s adult mystery/romantic suspense novels Twenty-Five Years Ago Today and Sink or Swim, and her young adult psychic thriller Dark Before Dawn, in one bargain-priced download. Solve a cold case with aspiring reporter Kris Langley; discover the downside of fame with former reality show contestant Cassidy Novak; and meet teenage psychic Dawn Christian, who discovers that ESP spells D-A-N-G-E-R. More on the three books included in the download:

Twenty-Five Years Ago Today – For twenty-five years, Diana Ferguson’s killer has gotten away with murder. When rookie obit writer and newsroom editorial assistant Kris Langley investigates the cold case of the artistic young cocktail waitress who was obsessed with Greek and Roman mythology, not only does she fall in love with Diana’s sexy nephew, but she must also fight to stay off the obituary page herself.

Sink or Swim – How do you change the channel when reality TV turns to murder? After starring on a hit game show set aboard a Tall Ship, personal trainer Cassidy Novak discovers that she has attracted a stalker. Can she trust Zach Gallagher, the gorgeous newspaper photographer assigned to follow her for a local series? As things heat up with the stalker and with Zach, soon Cassidy will need to call SOS for real.

Dark Before Dawn – When teen psychic Dawn Christian gets involved with a fortuneteller mentor and two girls who share her mysterious talents, she finally belongs after years of being a misfit. When she learns her new friends may be tied to freak “accidents” in town, Dawn has an important choice to make – continue developing the talent that makes her special or challenge the only people who have ever accepted her.

Convinced? Do you need these books in your life? Here you go…

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

iTunes

Kobo

Smashwords

Connect with Stacy!
Web Site
Amazon page
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads

Every now and then, I put out a call for Featured New Book spotlights over Twitter. Not only do my author friends respond, they connect me with their friends. Since I pretty much consider a friend of a friend to be a friend, I’m always glad to comply.

So I’m glad to have Virginia McKevitt here this week, even though it’s Rocktober and her book, Fracture, isn’t Rock Fiction. We’ll make an exception this week.

Here’s what she had to say:

The song: When I Get Through With You by The VLA

Tegrin, an assassin from an alternate world has been sent to ours by his king to hunt and kill the Couton, a clan of women who use their beauty to steal the memories from others. In their world Tegrin’s people keep them in check, in our world they hunt freely.

They are consumed by their need to the point of murder, taking until nothing is left. Tegrin has an ally in our world. A young woman who has secrets that will be revealed in both worlds and who will change is life.

The Couton take all and leave nothing without remorse.

Ooh, a new-to-me-band, and a cool story behind it…

blurb short version:
Tegrin is the king’s most trusted assassin. His loyalty is unmatched, so when he is asked to go on a journey to a place he has never been, he does so without question.

He is sent to a world he has only read about in books, to find and return the fleeing Couton, an ancient clan of women who feed off the memories of others. His goal is to get in and out before he or his prey are discovered in a world they don’t belong.

Fate, however has a different plan for Tegrin. He encounters Kristina, a young woman whose parents were brutally murdered by the Couton.

Headstrong and set on revenge for the murder of her parents, she runs a collision course with a man who will lead her to discover she is more than meets the eye in both worlds.

Amazon
B&N
Smashwords (Affiliate link!)

links:
blog
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She Writes
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Stage 32

I met author Michelle Hughes via a Triberr tribe, but it took us awhile before we started chatting. That’s some ice I’m glad is broken… read on and see why.

I released my book 10 Nights, which is a contemporary romance. The song it reminds me of is “Love the Way You Lie“. With Rhett, he’s just such a strong Alpha Male and his dominant personality just seems to override Leah’s common sense. That song talks a lot about how they were like two freight trains destined to collide, and not in a good way. Their relationship is just volatile when it starts, and it continues on that way until the last chapter. I don’t want to give away everything in the book, so I’ll just leave how it ends up for readers to find out.

I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to include a question, but if I am… What would you do if you were asked to surrender ten nights and in return you had the opportunity to have all your desires fulfilled?

There is something about that song that is SO powerful and hypnotic… it’s in the chorus. I love this one, and I’m NOT an Eminem fan, now am I? Call it proof of the magic of a good song.

Here’s the book blurb for you:

After graduation, twenty-four-year-old Leah was determined that no man would destroy her plans for the future. Or so she thought. Her best laid plans and well-ordered life were turned head over heels after her best friend, Janie, invited her to a “coming-out” party.

One look at Rhett and all previous thoughts went straight to hell. He made an unbelievable offer to her: “Give me 10 nights and I’ll show you pleasure beyond your wildest dreams.”

Was this an invitation to paradise or would his request destroy her mind, body and soul?

From virgin to courtesan in 10 nights? Was Leah even willing to consider it?
In a game of cat and mouse in which 10 nights, 10 choices and 10 fantasies could change everything, who would declare victory?

Buy links!
Amazon
Barnes and Noble

I’m part of a forthcoming anthology of essays. I’ve mentioned this before. They’re built around Stacy Juba‘s book, Twenty-Five Years Ago Today, and will be out sometime in the fall. You’ll want to check it out, I know — if only to read my essay. Which you know you want to.

Anyway, I told my fellow anthology contributors to feel free to drop in for a Featured New Book Spotlight. Last week, Michele Drier did. This week, it’s Karen McCullough with her new book, A Question of Fire

I asked her: What song makes you think of your book?

Metallica – Nothing Else Matters

So many lines of this song resonate with me and remind me of my novel, A Question of Fire. In the larger sense, it’s kind of a personal theme song. I’ve never been one to write to the market or even to stick to a particular genre. I wrote A Question of Fire at a time when there was no real market for romantic suspense, but I HAD to write that book. It was in my head, begging me to get it down. And when it was done (and revised several times), a number of the rejections I got from agents and editors played that theme: like the book, don’t know how to market it. It took almost ten years before it finally found a publisher. It’s been out of print for a long time, but I have the rights back to it, and I’ve recently released it in ebook format. I’m incredibly thrilled to make this book available again.

“Every day for us something new, Open mind for a different view.” When Catherine Bennett is the recipient of Bobby Stark’s dying words, it catapults her into a world of danger and new possibilities. If she were a different sort of person, she might have ignored the plea the dying man made of her and just hidden out until the peril passed. But that would have left his brother, Danny, in danger of being convicted of a murder he didn’t commit. Danny isn’t a particularly nice or attractive person, but Cathy isn’t the sort who would leave him in danger when she has the key to rescuing him. Or part of the key, anyway.

“Trust I seek, and I find in you” is one of the themes of the book. None of the main characters in A Question of Fire are particularly trusting sorts, for a variety of reasons. The heroine is a journalist and professionally skeptical. The hero has been burned by a former wife who cheated on him. Danny is a young man whose violent, abusive upbringing has taught him to trust no one but his late, older brother. In the course of the story, all three learn to believe in each other, sometimes painfully, sometimes stumbling toward it. And several times in the course of the story that trust is tested in desperate situations.

“So close, no matter how far.” In a pivotal scene in the story, the heroine is separated from the other characters and her life is in mortal danger. There’s only one thing she can do, but it’s risky, and it involves a huge leap of faith in her distant companions.

“And nothing else matters.” In the end…. Well, you’ll just have to read the book to see.

Oh, yeah. You guys KNOW I approve of the choice. (Be glad I didn’t link to Godsmack’s version of the song. Heard it yet? Heard it when Sully and James sang together when they toured together? Mmm. Yeah. Good stuff, there. Anyway, back to the book.)

book blurb!

When Catherine Bennett agrees to attend an important party as a favor for her boss, she knows she won’t enjoy it, but she doesn’t expect to end up holding a dying man in her arms and becoming the recipient of his last message. Bobby Stark has evidence that will prove his younger brother has been framed for arson and murder. He wants that evidence to get to his brother’s lawyer, and he tries to tell Cathy where he’s hidden it. Unfortunately, he can only manage to give her a cryptic piece of the location before he dies.

The man who killed Bobby saw him talking to her and assumes she knows where the evidence is hidden. He wants it back and he’ll do whatever it takes to get it, including following her and trying to kidnap her.

Cathy enlists the aid of attorney Peter Lowell and Danny Stark, Bobby’s prickly, difficult younger brother, as well as a handsome private detective to help her find the evidence before the killers do.

Buy links!
Amazon (for Kindle)
Barnes & Noble (for Nook)
Other formats (Smashwords)

Personal links!

Website
Blog
Twitter

It feels like forever since Darcia Helle and I met, but in truth, it’s only been a few years. There’s an energy to our friendship, a synergy, and I have trusted Darcia with some of my deepest secrets.

That’s why I’m proud to host her today. Her new book is called Secrets, and … well, read on. See what song makes her think of her book.

Music is sometimes an inspiration for what I write. Other times, it’s not until after I’ve written something that a particular song strikes me as significant to the story. The latter is the case with Secrets. While I’m very much tuned to lyrics, everything about a song has to fit. The tempo, the mood of the music, and the tone of the voice all have to mesh perfectly. I have to hear, feel and see my characters in the song.

The song I most relate to with Secrets is Cold Water by Damien Rice; the version sung with Lisa Hannigan.

This is a video of the two of them singing Cold Water stripped down and live.

Everything about this song is haunting. The mood, for me, is one of both sadness and hope. The lyrics are simple. In fact, there aren’t many words to this song at all. The ability to move someone doesn’t come from a lot of words; it comes from the words we choose. Songs and stories have this in common.
Damien sings the first verse. He opens with:

Cold, cold water surrounds me now…
And all I’ve got is your hand.

The cold water here isn’t literal. I hear it as a man who feels he’s drowning in a metaphoric sense. This is Jeff, Samantha’s husband. He’s clinging to her hand and, without that connection, he’s lost.

Lisa sings the second verse and her opening words are striking to Samantha’s story in Secrets:

Love one’s daughter…
Allow me that.

As a child, Samantha was sexually abused by her father and despised by her mother. In these words, I hear Samantha’s plea for all parents to grant their daughters this one basic gift.

Then she sings:

And I can’t let go
Of your hand.

Samantha’s lifeline is her husband.

This song hits me deep each time I hear it. Damien Rice’s voice can move me to tears. For me, it’s powerful and raw, and speaks volumes with few words.

Did your jaw drop open? Mine did, the first time I read this.

Here’s the official blurb:

SURVIVAL
Samantha’s monsters aren’t under the bed; they’re the people she calls Mom and Dad.
ESCAPE
She makes it out alive, her sanity barely intact.
LIES
She creates a new past that fools everyone, including herself.
HOPE
A life filled with love and security teeters on its base of lies.
SECRETS
When it all comes crumbling down, will Samantha make it out alive?

Purchase Links:
Amazon Kindle
Amazon Print
B&N Nook and Print
Smashwords

Contact Links:
https://www.QuietFuryBooks.com
A Word Please Blog
Life With Lyme Blog
BestsellerBound Recommends Blog
Facebook
Twitter

As part of the hoopla and fun surrounding Stacy Juba’s new release, 25 Years In the Rearview Mirror: 52 Authors Look Back, I’ll be featuring a number of the authors who appear in this book along with myself.

Today, it’s Vicki Delany in the hot seat, talking about her new book, More than Sorrow.

Ready? Here’s the song that makes Vicki think about her book:

What Wonderful World sung by Louis Armstrong. I love this song because of the contrast with the tune and the lyrics. It’s actually very sad, as he sings about the wonderful world. In More than Sorrow, the protagonist, Hannah Manning, is recovering from a Traumatic Brain Injury caused when she was in an IED explosion in Afghanistan (where she was working as a journalist). Hannah has come to her sister’s organic vegetable farm to recover.

Like in the song, as I interpret it, Hannah is surrounded by peace and beauty of the countryside in the height of summer. But she has not been able to find peace and she is largely immune to the beauty of the farm. She wants to get her old life back, not to be dependent on others. She spends much of her time in the atic of the 18th centry house, looking through old letters, letters full of sorrow and she thinks to herself:

Life was more than sorrow.

It had to be more than sorrow.

Yes, I’d agree. Life has to be more than sorrow.

Here’s the blurb:

Once, Hannah Manning was an internationally-renowned journalist and war correspondent. Today, she’s a woman suffering from a traumatic brain injury. Unable to read, unable to concentrate, full of pain, lost and confused, haunted by her memories, Hannah goes to her sister’s small-scale vegetable farm in Prince Edward County, Ontario to recover.

As summer settles on the farm, she finds comfort in the soft rolling hills and neat fields as well as friendship in the company of Hila Popalzai, an Afghan woman also traumatized by war.

Unable to read the printed word, Hannah retreats into the attic and boxes of mouldy letters that have accumulated for more than two centuries. As she learns about the original settlers of this land, Loyalist refugees fleeing the United States in 1784, she is increasingly drawn to the space beneath the old house. More than carrots and potatoes, soups and jams, are down in the dark damp root cellar.

Hannah experiences visions of a woman, emerging from the icy cold mist. Is the woman real? Or the product of a severely damaged brain?

Which would be worse?

Then Hila disappears. When Hannah cannot account for her time, not even to herself, old enemies begin to circle.

In this modern Gothic novel of heart-wrenching suspense, past and present merge into a terrifying threat to the only thing Hannah still holds dear – her ten-year-old niece, Lily.

Buy it!

Amazon

Amazon.ca

B&N

Indiebound

Contact Vicki at vicki@vickidelany.com. Her website is Vicki Delany.com. She blogs about the writing life at One Woman Crime Wave, and you can catch her at Facebook, and twitter

I’ve known Maria Savva for a couple of years now. She’s really cool, very grounded, and is into the BEST music out there. She’s from the UK, so catching her on Twitter can be tough. She’s got a soft spot for Rock Fiction and connects to more authors than I do, which makes me not like her so much sometimes. And she writes like a dream.

So, of course, when she released her new book, Coincidences, I HAD to ask her what song makes her think of her book.

Maria, take it away:

Searching by Joe Satriani (link is to a fan-made video)

Coincidences is all about Alice’s search for her father, who left home when she was a baby, so the title of the tune ‘Searching’ is very fitting. It’s an instrumental, which I think goes well with them theme of the book because Alice does not really tell anyone about much of the things that lead up to her deciding to search for her father, it all stays in her mind, unspoken. The tune contains some uptempo parts, and also more brooding and melancholic melodies which reflects Alice’s changing moods in the book: sometimes she feels very excited at the prospect of finding her father, but then at times, she is let down and disillusioned. There are also parts of the tune that sound, to me, almost like inner conflict, which is what Alice has to face up to in the course of her search for her father.

Joe Satriani??? I TOLD you Maria’s into the best music ever!

Book blurb:

Secrets, lies and coincidences abound in this story of a young girl looking for her father. Alice, now twenty-one years old, is determined to find her father who left home when she was just a baby, despite a warning from her mother that she should not look for him. Her mother’s secretiveness over the subject is because of the guilt she feels about keeping the truth from Alice. It will take all of Alice’s courage to persevere in her search. There are doubts and uncertainties at every turn. Coincidences is a story about following your dreams and staying on the path no matter how difficult the circumstances may become.

Yes? Yes!

Go pick this one up and connect with Maria via the following links. You won’t be disappointed!

Amazon UK
Amazon.com
Lulu.com

My website
Twitter
Facebook Author Page

I’m not sure how Laurie Koozer and I met. Was it our Pittsburgh connection? Twitter? Something else that’s shared?

I don’t know. I DO know that I’ve been a guest on her blog, Yinz R Readin’, and now that she’s got a book of her own out, it’s only fair to return the favor.

Plus, Laurie’s cool people. I can’t wait until she and I begin taking Pittsburgh by storm.

Which means you KNOW she’s got a cool song to accompany her new book, What Happens on Sunday. I was lucky enough to do a proofread on this book, and let me tell you: it totally captures the Pittsburgh essence. Look out, world: Laurie’s here.

Without further ado, here’s what Laurie has to say about music and What Happens on Sunday:

I always think of my book when I hear the song “Hell’s Bells” by AC/DC. Every time I hear this song, particularly the long introduction with the bells tolling, I imagine a very cinematic vision of my characters getting ready for a Steelers game – Megan slutting up a vintage Steelers shirt and listening to pregame coverage in her Bloomfield apartment, Patty in the kitchen making game time snacks in the suburbs, Desiree putting on Steelers jewelry and a pullover fleece in preparation for a tailgate, Shannon alone in her apartment picking out a jersey to wear and ignoring calls from her sister, Jen tucking her Terrible Towel into her pocket as her and Dave argue about which wide receiver is going to have a better day, and Angela, very intentionally not wearing Steelers gear and avoiding anything on TV about the game.

I think the juxtaposition of a hard rock song to describe a book about six women is pretty fitting too given this book and the world in which they live – while softer elements such as romance and family relationships ultimately drive this novel there are parts of each character’s arc that get somewhat gritty, dare I say as bleak as a Steelers losing streak in a Pittsburgh winter? These are women who love and cry and yearn yet there is also a certain kind of grit and steel to them that is reminiscent not only of their Steel City heritage, but the gridiron game that they love.

Wow, huh?

Here’s the blurb:

In Pittsburgh, what happens on football Sundays is more than just a game and for six women during the 2005 Steelers season, their complicated relationships with the team provide solace, distraction and occasionally frustration.

Jen is a very young and very pregnant newlywed who worries that getting married on the same day as a Steelers loss will doom her marriage.

Megan never met a tailgate or a man she couldn’t conquer but is scared of losing her best friend to a relationship.

Desiree is a brash professional struggling to deal with her husband’s ex-wife and children and beginning to wonder if it’s the right time to start a family of her own.

Angela is a high school senior long ago branded bad luck for the Steelers and all she wants to do is get the hell out of Pittsburgh even if it means leaving behind her best friend Robbie.

Patty, a mom who sends a pair of sexy panties to a different player every week, hasn’t been on a date since her divorce five years ago.

And then there’s Shannon, she’s thirty-four and single. She spends the majority of her days navigating Pittsburgh traffic and her evenings tending bar and pining after her sister’s boyfriend.

As the Steelers make what seems to be an impossible run to the Super Bowl, their lives will intersect, each of them finding connections in the most unexpected places.

You guys will have to tell me if this resonates with you the way it resonated with me. This is one that’s haunted me since I worked on it, and given how many projects I see every month, and how many books I read as a reviewer, and how many books I read for pleasure, that’s saying something, wouldn’t you think?

So. Go buy. It went live on Amazon on August 13, which was just last week.

My favorite of all the e-book retailers is Smashwords. They offer us authors the highest royalties while giving you readers your choice of formats. Pick up Laurie’s book there, why don’tcha?

Connect with Laurie, too. Like I said, she’s cool people. Like attracts like, after all!

Good Reads

Blog

Twitter

I’ve known Jaleta Clegg for a number of years now. We have a bunch of stuff in common, so it’s nice to host her here today with her new release, Priestess of the Eggstone. It just released last Friday, the 10th, so you’re really getting this news fresh!

Alan Parsons Project “Don’t Answer Me.”

The song captures the essence of a scene near the end of the book, plus it’s a cool song from a cool group. I love Alan Parsons Project. Priestess of the Eggstone is one long chase scene with lots of fighting, shooting, cake throwing, and explosions. But near the end, Dace (the main character) has to make a choice. She can’t trust the man she loves because he works for the Patrol. Has everything he’s said and done been an act to win her trust so he can recruit her?

Want the blurb? Sure you do!

Pursued by the Targon Crime Syndicate bent on revenge, the Patrol intent on recruitment, and the Sessimoniss who want their god back, the last thing Captain Dace needs is a handsome copilot with romance on his mind. But that’s exactly what she’s got.

She didn’t realize she was smuggling when she accepted the courier job. Now Targon wants her for stealing the shipment and the Patrol wants to arrest her. The Sessimoniss want their god returned. And Jerimon’s aunt is planning their wedding.

She doesn’t know which scares her most.

Buy link! journal-store.com/bookstore/priestess-of-the-eggstone

Go visit Jaleta:
https://www.jaletac.com
https://altairanempire.com
https://jaletaclegg.blogspot.com
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3291041.Jaleta_Clegg

Here’s one from another new friend! Michele Drier has just released the third book in the Kandesky Vampire trilogy, Plague: A Love Story.

Plague and love in the same book title? Really? This, I gotta see!

Michele didn’t say much about why she chose The Girl Can’t Help It as the song that makes her think of her book. In fact, she didn’t say ANYthing about it — feel free to ask in the comments, or to find another way to reach her to ask. I’m curious. Are you? Adding a bit of mystery to the topic of the day, there are a couple of versions of The Girl Can’t Help It. There’s the Journey version and the Little Richard version.

Which do you think she means?

Here’s the blurb:

The third book of the Kandesky Vampire Chronicles begins the saga of the family’s start during the chaos of 14th century Hungary. When Stefan’s wife and infant son die in a minor plague outbreak, he has nothing to live for, so Theron’s turning him to a vampire is just a way out of his anguish.
Until he takes over the estate of a merchant, recruits Jean-Louis to teach him business and meets Lady Penelope Kandesky.
Plague returns to Budapest and this time paves the way for Stefan to become Baron Stefan Kandesky, a businessman who builds a trading empire with the help of Jean-Louis and Pen.

This is another one you can only get at Amazon. Guess us non-Kindle users are SOL. Bummer!