Have you seen it yet?

Probably not, as it’s not quite live at all the various retailers. Start looking, though.

I’m talking about the new cover for Demo Tapes: Year 1.

Yep, that’s it. Another cover done by the amazing Lakota Phillips, and I don’t know about you guys, but in this cover featuring Little Trevor, I see all the loneliness and isolation he must have felt before he grew up and learned how to take on the world.

Print copies will be coming as soon as I get off my overworked duppa and reformat and upload. Stay tuned.

I’ve known Lily Harlem for about a year now, I guess. She wrote a Rock Fiction series, so I’m a total fangirl, of course. But Rock Fiction is only one dimension of what this prolific writer can do. And with cowriter Natalie Dae, she’s got a nice backlist, as well. Their collaborations, as today’s Featured New Book shows, are written under the pen name Harlem Dae.

So let’s get right to it: Lily, what song makes you think of your book?

London Grammer – Nightcall

Why Nightcall? Pain and Pleasure is the second book in a novella series called A Bit of Strange. The premise is strangers meeting, confessing mutual attraction and then coming together in explosive style. It’s about the thrill of passion with a person you don’t know, the lust that ignites and the discoveries that are made about a new body to explore and in turn, explore yours. The first book Beauty and Pain is set on a train bound for London on an early morning commute, but this book, the second, is all about the lure of the night and a very late meeting between strangers who have, on one previous occasion confessed a yearning for more – more pleasure, more pain, more of everything. It’s as if their bodies are calling out for each other, already know what the other wants, and the risks they take to satisfy their urges are daring and potentially devestating but they just can’t help themselves. The final book Pleasure and Danger is available for early download from the publisher right now -  If BDSM with a sprinkle of romance is your thing then A Bit of Strange will hit the spot!

I know which of my friends have already hit various buy buttons… holler if you’re one of them!

Back cover description

Shopping for pleasure can be a risky business, especially when you want a bit of pain thrown into your cage.

Isabella can’t help but throw another fantasy Gabriel’s way. It’s risky, it’s kinky but it’s something she just can’t get out of her head.

But will he go for it, or is it pushing his boundaries too far?

Luckily for Isabella the dominance that runs thick and vital in her stranger’s blood, is heating up to boiling point. Before she knows it the most innocent of places becomes completely thrilling in the middle of the  night.

She’s caged, expertly tortured and brought to a place where only pleasure and pain exist. Her head is dizzy, her heart beating only for him, but will she ever come down from the high? More importantly, does she want to?

Reader Advisory: This book is best read in sequence as part of a serial.

 

Totally Bound 

Amazon  

Since Lily answered the question, most of the links are about her. Here you go:

Website 

Blog 

Twitter 

Facebook 

Facebook author page 

Pinterest 

Goodreads 

Google+

Harlem Dae 

Newsletter Subscription 

Ask and my readers come through! Of course, as always, there are openings… the calendar isn’t full quite yet, so if you’ve got a new release, stop on in for your chance in the spotlight.

Today, we’ve got Haley Whitehall, who’s written a historical romance set in one of my favorite time periods (yes, I’m serious and no, I don’t know why): the Civil War.

You’d think that’d make a song hard to pick, right? Well… wrong! Check it:

I’d like to thank Susan for letting me step into the spotlight. I’ve never done a one-question interview before and I feared it would be a difficult question. Thankfully it wasn’t! I think of my new historical romance release Soldier in Her Lap as the Civil War era version of Cinderella. The first song I thought of was one connected to Cinderella: A Twist in Time – I Still Believe – by Hayden Panettiere from Cinderella 3.

 

The steamy romance in Soldier in Her Lap is far from Disney rated, but Sophia Carpenter’s hard life, strong-will, and rose-colored glasses make the book Disney worthy. After her mother dies Sophia is left running the Georgia dirt farm by herself while her papa drowns himself in a whiskey bottle. Her papa chased off all the men who tried to call on her sentencing her to a lonely life of chores. Most of the men in town enlisted in the army once the War Between the States broke out making it nearly impossible for Sophia find a husband. Then one night Lucas comes to her rescue.

Sophia’s papa tries to keep her and the handsome Confederate soldier apart. However, Lucas has promised to take Sophia away from her life of drudgery and she believes in their destiny together. Through many trials Sophia does not give up on love.

 

While Lucas may not be the Prince Charming she expected, he is determined on earning her heart and the courageous suit of armor she imagined he wore.

Sounds super, huh? I totally want to read this!

Here’s the back cover copy:

 Trapped by her alcoholic, abusive father, Sophia Carpenter longs to escape her life of drudgery on her father’s dirt farm in Clark Springs, Georgia. Making matters worse, her father’s scared off every man who tried to call on her. She longs for freedom, but with the Civil War raging, even fewer men are available to fulfill her dreams—unless a soldier landed in her lap.

 

Conscripted into a war he never wanted to fight, Lucas Grady is tired of battle and refuses to lay his life down for a lost cause. After a musket ball tears through his leg, he deserts from the ambulance wagon rather than risk a field surgeon’s saw. He barely makes it to Sophia’s farm before collapsing.

 

The wounded soldier’s arrival seems like a dream come true, but first she must save him from his injuries—and her father. As forbidden attraction blooms between them, they will have to struggle to survive. Can their love overcome so many obstacles or will they become another casualty of the War Between the States?

Buy Soldier in Her Lap

Decadent Publishing

Amazon

Amazon UK

Barnes and Noble

Smashwords

ARe

Haley loves to connect with readers. You can find her here:

Twitter

Facebook

Goodreads

Website

Blog

Amazon Author Page

People sometimes ask me what’s the purpose of a writer’s group in today’s world. Why not connect online and be done with it all?

Because there’s magic when you can connect in person and realize the person you’ve gotten to know online is so much more interesting in person.

Such it is with my buddy Jon Sprunk, who is a true writer pro and a super dude. And he’s got a new book out, as well. Which means he’s taking a turn in the spotlight.

Jon, what song makes you think of your book?

Answer: “Revelations” by Iron Maiden. I’m a child of the 80’s metal wave. This song in particular evokes the majesty and mystery that I tried to put into every line of my new epic fantasy, “Blood and Iron.” But, of course, I’m not writing just for the metal crowd. This new series is about the clash between rival cultures, the friction between social strata, and the real price of liberty. You won’t elves or unicorns within its pages, but you will find magic, the kind of elemental sorcery that can destroy as well as create. I hope you’ll give it a try.

Wait. He said IRON MAIDEN??? Duuuuuuude. I told you he was cool, didn’t I?

Now, after all that, you totally need to know what Blood and Iron is about.

This action-heavy EPIC FANTASY SERIES OPENER is like a sword-and-sorcery Spartacus set in a richly-imagined world.

It starts with a shipwreck following a magical storm at sea. Horace, a soldier from the west, had joined the Great Crusade against the heathens of Akeshia after the deaths of his wife and son from plague. When he washes ashore, he finds himself at the mercy of the very people he was sent to kill, who speak a language and have a culture and customs he doesn’t even begin to understand.

Not long after, Horace is pressed into service as a house slave. But this doesn’t last. The Akeshians discover that Horace was a latent sorcerer, and he is catapulted from the chains of a slave to the halls of power in the queen’s court. Together with Jirom, an ex-mercenary and gladiator, and Alyra, a spy in the court, he will seek a path to free himself and the empire’s caste of slaves from a system where every man and woman must pay the price of blood or iron. Before the end, Horace will have paid dearly in both.

Jon’s gotten some good reviews on this already, especially about his world-building, and especially from some of the industry’s big names in reviews. How can you ignore that??? You can’t, I know, so here are some buy links:

Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Books-A-Million
Indie Bound

Get to know Jon. You’ll be glad you did.

Jon’s website
Jon’s facebook fan page
Jon’s twitter

There’s nothing like an old friend when it comes to one of life’s most comforting friends, and Maria Savva definitely fits the bill around here. Not only a fellow music lover, Maria and I share a love for many, many bands.

Remember a few weeks back, when I was impressed we had a three-peat author in the Featured New Book Spotlight? Maria puts that to shame — she’s here for her fifth time. I kid you not.

The new book is called Far Away in Time.

Purty cover, huh?

So, Maria, what song makes you think of your book?

Echo Beach, by Martha and the Muffins

Although none of the stories were inspired by the song, when I finished writing the story ‘Far Away In Time’, I think I may have leaned more towards that title because it reminded me of the song by Martha and the Muffins. I’ve always loved that song, especially the intro, the saxophone, and the bit at the end ‘Far away in time’! It’s always conjured up a sense of nostalgia when I hear it.

When I realised that the title I’d chosen had a connection to the song, I noticed that one of the other stories had the word ‘Echoes’ in it and another had ‘Beach’. That gave me the idea to find out some more about the actual song and see if I could add a few links to the song throughout the book.

I looked on Wikipedia and found out some facts e.g. the names of the people who wrote the song, the name of the beach that possibly inspired the song etc. I then added a few bits to some of the stories.

For example, I have a character called Martha in the story ‘A Sign’, and many of the other characters in the book are named after the people who wrote the song or sang it at some stage e.g. Toyah.

I also have a character whose job is an ‘office clerk’ in ‘Echoes of her Dreams’, just like the person the song was written about.

When you read the book, perhaps you’ll spot some of the other links! 🙂

Need a summary?

Our lives are a series of stories, and we are the characters with the starring roles. The memories, regrets, secrets, and struggles that fill these pages are at once unique and relatable. These stories belong to us all.

Eight unforgettable tales reaching out to a place Far Away In Time…

Buy a copy — Amazon only, though.
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon FR
Amazon DE
Amazon IN
Amazon AU
Amazon BR
Amazon IT
Amazon ES
Amazon MX
Amazon JP
Amazon CA

Want a gander at the book trailer? Sure you do!

Connect with Maria:
My website
Facebook Page
Twitter

Giselle Green found me earlier in the year, and it’s a good thing for all of us — me, Giselle, and you — that she did. Her new book, Finding You, just went live today. It’s the sequel to Little Miracles, which is a great women’s fiction read or a book club book. So is Finding You.

Which brings us to the reason we’re all here: Giselle, what song makes you think of your book?

The first time I heard the song Burning by Einaudi (from: In a Time Lapse) – I \\\’aw’ the most important and emotional scene in my book unfurling in my mind’s eye. I’d been wrestling with where the main focus of my book would lie, but on hearing this I knew in a heartbeat where it would be.

Finding you is a sequel story to the aftermath of a child abduction. The toddler is back with his rightful parents, and yet he is desperately unhappy. Things are not right. The music expresses perfectly the anguish of his mother Julia who in the previous book has risked everything to recover her stolen son. She faces the unthinkable scenario: could it be that her little boy may now love his ‘other mama,’ Illusion, better than her? In Julia’s mind, nothing could be worse.

And yet, increasingly, she is coming to believe that she must take him back to Illusion, because her son is so unhappy and she believes nothing else will console him. She loves him and she is desperate. This is where my crucial scene – and this song – come in. The music is so sad and at the same time so hopeful and uplifting.

Every time I hear it, I see them: they’re on a beach in Spain and it’s early morning, sun just coming up: Julia has brought her child to the place where she knows Illusion will be. She both longs to discover the solution to his unhappiness and dreads it. Then they spy Illusion. Breaking free, the child runs straight towards her. For one moment, Julia, empathic, is as one with her little boy: he’s running towards the one he loves, she believes. He’s free, arms outstretched, he looks joyous. To me, the song is resonant of the mother’s grief, her sacrifice and the simultaneous expression of her love – Julia is prepared to forgo her own happiness for his. She already knows that her son’s father will never forgive her for taking their child back.

What happens next, is not something Julia could have predicted. But all that belongs to other scenes and other songs. Listen to this one – and see if you agree with me about how incredibly moving and powerful it is.

Here’s the book description:

Julia and Charlie are ecstatic to be reunited with their stolen child, Hadyn. A year after he was snatched from a beach in Spain during a family holiday, they had feared that he would never be found alive.

Now the couple are eager for their lives to return to normal – but something is very wrong. Hadyn is still in many ways a ‘lost’ child. He seems to have been badly affected by the abduction, making it impossible for the family to simply pick up the pieces and move on.

In their efforts to unravel exactly what happened to their son and to find a cure, Julia and Charlie clash as to the best way forward. As their own insecurities surface, their relationship comes under threat – a situation not helped by the appearance of a former lover who is only too happy to rock the boat.

As dark secrets are uncovered, the couple’s love for each other is tested to its very limits, and they begin to doubt that they will ever be able to help their troubled little boy…
Until, at last, they stumble across an unexpected truth. A truth that might be the only thing left that could save their family.

Emotionally intense and deeply moving, Finding You will grip you from the very first page.

Having already read this, I can say yes, it will grip you. It’ll haunt you, too; this is one of those books I keep having flashbacks to. Read it and you’ll see why (and no, you don’t have to have read Little Miracles first).

Buy a copy:
Amazon.com
Amazon.uk

Connect with Giselle:
Facebook
Website

You guys know I love getting out and about and meeting people. Today’s guest is a Triberr friend, and you guys know I dig my Triberr friends.

Without further ado, here’s SM Johnson to talk about her book, Jeremiah Quick.

The answer is almost impossible. There are so many songs on my playlist for Jeremiah Quick – six and a half hours’ worth, actually. It took me two days of browsing that playlist to finally pick “>Behind Blue Eyes by The Who as the answer to this question.

A lot of the music on my JQ Playlist is similar in tone and message to Behind Blue Eyes, only most of the others have more words. So I figured for this one choice, I’d keep it simple. Jeremiah and Pretty try (but fail) to connect through music, so there are a lot of references to songs and artists in this book, especially near the beginning. This is actually the first song mentioned in the book.

Jeremiah Quick is, at base, the story of high school companions Jeremiah Quick and Pretty Loberg reconnecting twenty years after they’d been friends – and how the most benign relationship can have a huge impact on our character and moral development. The story is a mix of past and present, and because of this, I feel comfortable choosing a song that’s survived over the course of decades, made and remade by many different artists… and yet… the song, at its heart, remains the same. I don’t want to spoil anything here, so I’ll say only that this concept is well-reflected in Jeremiah Quick.

For me, this song was damn near the start of my obsessive need to know the lyrics of songs. I was, oh, somewhere around eight or nine years old when my brother started playing The Who, very loudly, behind his closed bedroom door. I remember the green shag carpeting in the hallway tickling my nose as I lay on the floor outside that door, my ear pressed as close as I could manage to the space at the bottom of the door, barely breathing because I was trying to decipher the lyrics. So, really, this song was the very first song of my life that I memorized on purpose.

That makes it special.

And it’s interesting to me that my first song was damn dark. Huh.
Thanks for asking!

Wow! What a story! But if it’s not enough of a story, check out SM’s in-depth answer, posted at her own blog.

Need to know what the book’s about? Me, too. Here’s the description.

Jeremiah is Other, he’s always been Other, and he’s always fascinated Pretty Loberg with his Otherness. He doesn’t give a fuck about society, or middle class values, or following the crowd. He believes in anarchy, self-education, doing the research, and making up one’s own mind. He believes in asking cui bono? – who benefits?

To pampered and spoiled middle class good-girl Pretty, Jeremiah was terrifying. And she couldn’t stay away.

She’d been trained since her earliest years to follow the crowd, not stand out, don’t embarrass the family. Stick to the status quo and not only will everything be fine, but everyone will like you.

Jeremiah didn’t like her. Not at all. In fact, sometimes she thought he hated her.

When he finds her twenty years after high school, Pretty gets into his car, even though she knows Jeremiah will disrupt her marriage and her life.

Behind blue eyes is a man with a quick brain, a cynical outlook, and a penchant for the subversive. He’s kinky, mean, controlling, and more than a little bit broken.

Pretty wants to fix Jeremiah.

Jeremiah wants to break Pretty, remake her, and talk her into doing something terrible.

Only one of them will leave the dungeon alive.

Behind Blue Eyes as performed by The Who. Here’s a studio version with a cool slide show. The song has been covered by many other artists, as well. For a more interesting viewing, here’s a link to the song performed by The Who in 1979.

Need a copy? I think I might!

Buy it at Smashwords (affiliate link)
Amazon

Get to know SM Johnson!

Blogger
Twitter –
FB
Tumblr

Let’s all welcome Devorah Fox to West of Mars! Devorah found me because I’d tweeted a link to her books and said thanks. And now she’s here to tell us what song makes her think of her book, Naked Came the Sharks.

I love that title. This is one of those titles that is so great, I’d pick up the book, no matter what it’s about.

Before we get to what it’s about, though, let’s get to the really important stuff. (No, not buy links. Those are at the bottom, like usual).

Devorah, what song makes you think of your book?

That’s got to be “Song of the Ocean” by Kelly Brown of the Bad Monkeys. Kelly graciously gave me permission to use the song in the trailer for “Naked Came the Sharks” and it’s just perfect. Trop rock with an obvious affection for life near and on the water and a hint of regret that things aren’t the way they should be…just like the story of “Naked Came the Sharks.” Here’s the link to the trailer.

Trop rock? Like Jimmy Buffett? Go listen and tell me what YOU think.

So. The book, if the trailer wasn’t enough, you’re at work and can’t click through, or are just a lazy sod (and if you are, welcome to the club. Although I DID click through!), here’s the book description:

Chasing her dream of becoming an investigative reporter in San Francisco, Holly Rivera Berry has to return to her hometown of Bonafides on the Texas Coastal Bend to settle her recently deceased father’s estate. She discovers that just before he died her father researched the possibility that via an old Mexican land grant the Rivera family owns The Gap, a natural channel to the Gulf of Mexico. Land speculators plan to erect luxury homes, resorts, hotels, and a casino along The Gap and Holly comes to doubt that her father died of natural causes. The more she investigates, the more things don’t add up. One by one her allies fall victim to fatal accidents and it looks like Holly might be next.

This is becoming a familiar plot device, but one I don’t often get tired of. The best ending is when the little guy wins and the development can’t happen. Does that happen here? Read it and see!

Get your copy:
createspace
Kindle
smashwords
amazon
Nook
diesel e-books
inktera ebooks (pagefoundry)

I love it when books are widely available. I bet there are more, so be sure to ask at your favorite independent retailer.

And don’t forget to connect with Devorah!
blog
amazon author page
smashwords series page
Google+
Facebook author page
Pinterest
Twitter
Goodreads
LinkedIn

More from my friends in the Lucky Charms anthology! Today, it’s Gail Oare, who is a super lady you all need to know.

Her story, Celtic Knot, has what must be the funniest song I’ve come across in all the years I’ve been doing this Featured New Book Spotlight. Ready?

My story in Lucky Charms: 12 Crime Tales is “Celtic Knot.” When I wrote it, I was concentrating on the symbolism of Celtic knot variations and what one(s) would be chosen as a charm bracelet keepsake associated with a family secret. I had no music in mind at all when I wrote this story. This is odd for me since I love Celtic music, having done my thesis on Welsh mythology, taught myself to play the English concertina and am now learning the bagpipes. So when asked by West of Mars for the song that inspired the story, I went on a search for one, a Google search.

And failed. There doesn’t seem to be any tune titled Celtic Knot despite the many possibilities it holds!

What to do? Back to my mental blackboard. I reflected on the underlying sadness of the “Celtic Knot” family tragedy that hung over the family for years until the final resolution. The heavy sound a hammer pounding a piece of metal on an anvil came to mind. Bomp bomp bomp. Regular, relentless pounding. Oddly enough, this sound and rhythm brought to mind an episode of the sitcom “Cheers.” It was almost St. Patrick’s Day and Sam and his competitor Gary were both vying for the most revelers for the holiday at their respective taverns. Sam found out that Gary was planning to hire an Irish band at his bar, so Sam sought one out as well. St. Patrick’s Day arrives. Gary’s bar is packed with patrons reveling to the lively jigs and drinking songs. Then the camera moves to Sam’s empty bar, where a solemn Irish band was singing a slow dirge of “And everywhere I looked was death, death, death.” Like the labored sound of metal on the anvil, like the tragedy that haunted the family in “Celtic Knot.”
So the music I will claim for my story is this heavy, heavy “death, death, death” from Sam’s Irish band. I’m not sure that is even a real song, just a musical prop for a sitcom, but regardless, I’m commandeering it as the soundtrack for my crime story. Who knew?

eBook versions of LUCKY CHARMS are available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and iBooks. Print versions are available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and CreateSpace although we encourage you to send your sales through Mystery Lovers Bookshop, our local independent bookstore. Support your independents!

It’s through Triberr that I’ve come to know Mary Ann Bernal, a lady with some fascinating interests. If you watch her blog, you’ll be as blown away as I am.

So I’m pleased to bring you the song that makes her think of her new book, The Briton and the Dane. I’ll hand it over to her now:

Verdi – Requiem Mass Dies Irae

The music sets the stage for the tumultous storm that transport Gwyneth back in time, when treachery, deception and betrayal run rampant in 11th century Britain.

Short and sweet… So what’s the book about?

Dr. Gwyneth Franger is a renowned expert in early medieval England who is set upon learning the truth about the death of Lord Erik, the last descendant of the powerful House of Wareham. Her quest becomes an obsession, a condition that began with the discovery of a portrait of the tall and valiant warrior with which she forms an extraordinary and inexplicable bond.

Digesting troves of mildewed scrolls and source documentation only enhances her belief that Lord Erik was brutally assassinated by a cabal of traitors in the pay of William the Bastard, shortly before the onslaught of the Norman Invasion.

On an archeological dig in Southern England, her team unearths an Anglo-Saxon fortress, a vast citadel built during the reign of Alfred the Great, which she believes was Lord Erik’s stronghold. In the midst of her excitement, she is awakened one night from her slumbers by a disconcerting anomaly emerging from the site.

Dr. Franger finds herself transported back to the Dark Ages and at the side of the noble Lord Erik who commands an army of elite Saxon warriors, a swift and mobile force able to deploy quickly throughout the kingdom to ward off invaders.

Witnessing the unrest firsthand, Gwyneth senses that her instincts had been right all along, and she is determined to learn the identities of the treacherous blackguards hiding in the shadows, villains who may well be posing as Lord Erik’s friends and counselors.

Will Gwyneth stop the assassins? Is she strong enough to walk away and watch her beloved Erik die? Or will she intervene, change the course of history and wipe out an entire timeline to save the man she loves with all her heart?

Buy links!

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Connect with Mary Ann:
Website
Blog
Twitter:
Pinterest

I’ve known Deena Rae Schoenfeldt for a long time now. In fact, if you like the e-book formatting of Demo Tapes 4, she’s the wonder behind it. (What? You mean you don’t have a copy yet? Why not?) And if you’re a West of Mars client and you ask for book formatting, Deena is one of the women I’ll send you to.

I’d say she’s very qualified to have written her book, Navigating the World of e-Book Publishing. If you’ve got questions, start finding the answers within.

Deena stopped by not only so I can plug her and her work and her book, but so she can take over the Featured New Book Spotlight! Deena, what song reminds you of your book?

Save You by Matthew Perryman Jones

Just a sample of some of the lyrics and what they convey to me:

“Wanna give my soul” – isn’t this the true essence of writing? Pouring out your soul on paper for the masses to read and experience…

“Don’t want to let you down” – Wanting to get the whole thing right on every level to reach the largest audience and exceed their expectations.

“Help me decide, Help me to make up my mind” – The book is about laying out information to make an informed decision about directions to take in publishing.

“You gotta swing the bat, too many years have died” – You have waited long enough, you have to take the chance and see if your decision was the right way to go and if it resonated with people. Seize the day!

Save You – the title just conveys helping and saving. Besides that it is an absolutely beautiful song.

Those that know me are probably shocked that I didn’t choose something by Lisa Marie Presley but lets face it, most of her lyrics are pretty angry and while I identify on a personal level nothing she has out so far really fits this book. But if you get a chance be sure to listen to her first album in it’s entirety and if you are ever going through a break up – Idiot is AWESOME.

Here’s the blurb:

With a no-nonsense, conversational style, Deena Rae of E-BookBuilders gives advice to aspiring authors about indie publishing. Filled with information about social media, pricing, formatting styles, covers, reviews and platforms (to a name a few) there is a wealth of information for the novice author. Even experienced authors and publishers will find this book helpful and informative.

With sections such as ‘Authors — Quit Doing This!’, ‘In Praise of Audio(books)’, ‘Twitter Primer for Authors’, and ‘Should You Use Amazon’s Author Central’, Deena Rae gives detailed information that anyone in the industry of publishing should know and consider.

Whether you are just starting on your publishing journey, considering entering the literary world or have 30 books for sale, there is something for everyone in this book.

Go pick up a copy! You know you need it!

And connect with Deena, if you’d like (and you do like!).

If you would like to add the book to your Goodread’s shelf – just click the button!

Martha Reed is truly one of my favorite people. Join her at a writer’s convention and all you’ll need to do is sit and listen as she spins hilarious tale after hilarious tale. Be prepared to laugh until you cry, and never come back to me and complain that you weren’t warned. I’ll point you right here.

And here’s a great place to be, because Martha’s story, Strangler Fig, made the cut for the Lucky Charms anthology I’ve been telling you about. She stopped in today to tell us what song makes her think of her book.

What’s Past is Prologue
During the summers when I was a kid I grew up in a house filled with swing music. My grandfather, Pop, had a lakeside cottage with a rotary phone and no TV but he did have a tape player and a stack of vinyl. We listened to big band swing music, mostly Benny Goodman, all day long. To this day whenever I hear a rising clarinet solo I have a flashback to those glorious summer days.

At certain drum solos, Pop would raise his hand and call for silence. ‘Listen!’ He would say. ‘That’s Gene Krupa.’

Pop served in the 3rd Marines during WWII. He fought his way across the Pacific islands. He parachuted into the fight at the battle of Tinian but he wouldn’t ever talk about it or tell me anything more. Then Pop died, and recently I got the feeling that his generation, so defined by its music, was fading away. I decided to write a short story with characters from his age group to try to capture some of that wartime feeling, that genuine camaraderie. The perfect song for that time is The Andrews Sisters singing Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.

My story, STRANGLER FIG, tells the tale of T-Rex, a street thug, and his retirement home invasion. The problem is that all the retirees are all ex-Pacific Naval Command. They’ve had plenty of practice dealing with his particular brand of trouble before. T-Rex has no idea about the deadly situation he’s gotten himself into.

STRANGLER FIG is only one of 12 crime tales found in the LUCKY CHARMS anthology. LUCKY CHARMS was produced by members of the Mary Roberts Rinehart Pittsburgh chapter of Sisters in Crime, an international organization dedicated to the advancement of women crime writers. Each tale tells of surprising good luck or of good luck gone sour. I invite you to explore the anthology and to brace yourself for an entertaining read.

And for a change, Martha said it better than I could.

Get yourself a copy! Only Martha Reed can come up with something like Strangler Fig … and a street thug named T-Rex.

eBook versions of LUCKY CHARMS are available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and iBooks. Print versions are available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and CreateSpace although we encourage you to send your sales through Mystery Lovers Bookshop, our local independent bookstore. Support your independents!

My friend Marat M’saev Daan wins an award: three-peat at the Featured New Book spotlight.

Man, Marat, you must like it up here. Best of all, you’ve got the charisma to carry it off.

Our third book from Marat is another book of poetry. Gotta love a man who can spin a poem!

It’s time… Marat, what song makes you think of your book?

I believe that every time this question was a herculean task for me because there are billions of songs out there and I need to pick just one. After very hard thinking I have chosen a song by Emeli Sandle “Read all about it”. I am aware of the fact that this song is not about love as my book is, but if we transfer lyrics to matters of love, we can see some connections. We don’t have much chance to read about true loves, to hear about them in news, . . . I do believe that we all should cherish it much more and nurse it. If we do this, the world we live in will be a much better place.

Yes! Not only a poet, but a man who believes in love. Ladies, what are you waiting for???

Here’s your description:

“Love, often is just another unattainable term that fears us. White light is waiting for us somewhere at the end of the tunnel that provides only over needed tenderness. It is up to us to acknowledge and accept is as it is because it brings us smile on our faces every morning while giving us strength to step into new day.”

Anyone else swooning, or is it just me?

Pick up a copy. Or two. Valentine’s Day is just around the corner!
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Yep, we’re going three for three with the Lucky Charms anthology. I don’t know about you, but I sure hope the other nine contributors weigh in.

Today’s author has been a friend of mine for probably going on ten years now (wow). Annette Dashofy is one of the coolest, most persistent women I know. A true pro author, through and through. No one’s celebrating her recent string of success more than me.

Well, other than Annette, herself.

She’s not the music lover I am, but stay tuned for the song. It is indeed an earworm!

I firmly believe in the importance of a good title. I’ve had stories rejected over and over until I changed the title. Then they were picked up immediately. After a few of those, I make a greater effort these days to get it right the first time.

For me, titles either come very easy, often before the story completely forms in my mind—or they fight me tooth-and-nail. Nothing fits. Nothing sounds right. Such was the case with the short story I wrote for my local Sisters in Crime chapter’s anthology, Lucky Charms:12 Crime Stories.

My story involved the homicide of a woman who was thought of as sweet…at least to those who didn’t really know her. My protagonist, Officer Abby Baronick, knew otherwise. The deceased loved to stir up trouble by telling lies. Lies that eventually got her killed.

I had a blast writing the story, which included Detective Wayne Baronick, Abby’s brother, who also has a part in my upcoming novel Circle of Influence (Henery Press, March 2014). But when it came time to give this story a name, I was stuck. Thankfully, I have a great bunch of critique buddies who had read it and could brainstorm ideas with me.

Keywords from that brainstorming session triggered a musical memory. An earworm. The exact song title didn’t work, but with a slight modification, “Sweet Deadly Lies” was born. Now I can’t listen to the song without changing the words in my head. “Tell me lies, tell me sweet deadly lies…”

You know you need a copy… here’s the links:
Amazon digital

Amazon print

CreateSpace

Mystery Lovers

Barnes & Noble digital: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lucky-charms-pittsburgh-sisters-in-crime/1117388201?ean=9780991051311

Barnes & Noble print

Kobo

Apple iBooks

Get to know Annette.

As promised, there’s more fun from the Sisters in Crime chapter who are proudly appearing in the Lucky Charms anthology.

This week, I bring you my good friend Liz Milliron, who is known in other circles as Mary Sutton. Split personality? Nah. Just a different name for each genre she writes in. It actually makes sense, even if it makes it hard to find all of her writings in one spot. She’s worth tracking down, no matter her name. I promise (and not just because she handles a lot of the non-fiction editing for West of Mars!).

Now that the introduction’s done, let’s get down to business, shall we? Liz, what song makes you think of your book?

My anthology story, Batter Down (written as Liz Milliron) centers around the death of a player for a fictional independent-league baseball team. And nothing puts me in the mindset, musically, of baseball like John Fogerty’s Centerfield. This is a rocking rendition with Fogerty and Keith Urban. Now, obviously, Fogerty’s classic has nothing to do with murder, but I can’t think about baseball without this song running through my head. In fact, I’m humming the chorus right now, just typing this, and baseball season is only a glimmer on the horizon. The song just seems to capture the magic of baseball for me, hearing the crack of that bat on a warm summer night. And my protagonist, Jim Duncan, has in fact tuned in to the game for that reason – to listen to a little baseball on a summer afternoon, hanging on his boat with his canine buddy, Rizzo. Unfortunately, that’s not really to be. But, because of the baseball connection, it still makes me think of this song.

I have to confess: baseball isn’t one of my favorite sports, but I, too, think of Fogerty’s classic when the subject comes up. Which, since the Pirates did so well last season, has been fairly often.

Want more about the story and the anthology as a whole?

A record-breaking baseball streak takes a deadly twist when star player Johnny Pierce is found dead on the day he was set to break the team’s consecutive-game hitting record. Jim Duncan and Sally Castle team up to figure out if this was a random act of violence – or if Johnny’s streak meant bad news for someone determined to keep him from continuing.

Inside LUCKY CHARMS you’ll find twelve crime tales from the members of the Mary Roberts Rinehart Pittsburgh chapter of Sisters in Crime, Inc. You’ll dig into gritty police procedurals; enjoy a spangle of suspense; tuck into a cozy or two; and thrill to a cool touch of noir. Each story tells a tale of surprising good luck or of good luck gone sour. We invite you to brace yourself for an entertaining read.

You know you need a copy… here’s the links:
Amazon digital

Amazon print

CreateSpace

Mystery Lovers

Barnes & Noble digital: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/lucky-charms-pittsburgh-sisters-in-crime/1117388201?ean=9780991051311

Barnes & Noble print

Kobo

Apple iBooks

And connect with Liz/Mary, too! You’ll be glad you did.

See these covers?

They belong in a different era.

Time to retire them. Put some better covers on some great content.

Pick up your print copies now, at Lulu, Amazon, B&N, or anywhere else you can think of. As of February 1, they’ll be gone. This cover will become a collector’s item — and you know you’re a collector of Trevor Wolff, right?

What about the digital edition? Well, stay tuned for that. And more. You e-book readers are going to be very very pleased with what I’m cooking up.

I’m tickled pink about a series of Featured New Stories I’ll be running here at the Meet and Greet at West of Mars. The stories all appear in the new Lucky Charms anthology edited by my friend Ramona DeFelice Long, and put together by a bunch of my local ladies: the Mary Roberts Rinehart Chapter of Sisters in Crime. Yep, I’m a member. And yes, I offered advice as the anthology took shape.

I offered the Featured New Book spotlight to the ladies lucky enough to make the editorial cut, and Paula A. Smith is the first to take me up on it.

So, Paula! What song makes you think of your story?

If life’s like a card game and not a gooey box of chocolates as others say, we have to play the hand that we’ve been dealt and remember, “Every hand’s a winner and every hand’s a loser” as Kenny Rogers sings in “The Gambler” (1978).

In my short story, Sweet Murder, appearing in the newly released Lucky Charms Anthology that contains 12 crime stories by members of the Mary Roberts Rinehart Chapter of Sisters in Crime, you could say the main character is a pretty good gambler. She looked at her cards and seemed to “know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away and know when to run.”

When she snaps her cards face-up on the table, how did she know what cards to give up and which ones to keep? You won’t know that until the end. But you will get inside her head as she figures out what to do while playing the game. It’s a high-stakes card game and the deck is stacked against her. But by the end of the story she finds that “the secret to survivin’ is learning what to throw away and what to keep.”

You’re probably wondering about the murder victim? How does the ace of spades get shuffled into the deck and who gets it? Ah-hah, if I told you, I’d be showing you my hand, wouldn’t I? And don’t try to peek. Wait and see how it all plays out and how your own gambling strategies reveal what I’m holding. After all, “they’ll be time enough for countin’ when the dealin’s done.” Just to be nice, I’ll up the ante for your curiosity with words from the song, “The best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep.”

Gamble and get the book.

I didn’t get to read any of the stories until the anthology came out, so I’m as intrigued as you are. And I am intrigued!

Want to know more about the project as a whole?

Inside LUCKY CHARMS you’ll find twelve crime tales from the members of the Mary Roberts Rinehart Pittsburgh chapter of Sisters in Crime, Inc. You’ll dig into gritty police procedurals; enjoy a spangle of suspense; tuck into a cozy or two; and thrill to a cool touch of noir. Each story tells a tale of surprising good luck or of good luck gone sour. We invite you to brace yourself for an entertaining read.
Buy a signed copy by 12 authors from:
Mystery Lovers Bookshop (Oakmont, PA)

Link to the SinC website page for the book where the full list of stories and author bios are shown.

Link to and “like” the new SinC Facebook page where updates will also continue to appear

The book is available in paperback and electronic forms:
Electronic purchases are available through: Amazon (Kindle), Barnes & Noble (Nook), Kobo and Apple (iBooks). Print are available through Amazon and CreateSpace.

Chrys Fey dropped into my inbox out of the blue. No idea whose friend she is, who sent her to me, or … well, anything! Except she’s got amazing, positive energy and I like her already.

She’s bringing us her debut today, a slick-looking book called Hurricane Crimes.

Before we get to the blurb, Chrys, what song makes you think of your book?

Hurricane by 30 Seconds to Mars

Hurricane Crimes, my short romantic-suspense story, is about a woman who finds herself trapped with a man during a category 5 hurricane. Not only does the title of this song fit the theme of my debut eBook perfectly, it is also by my favorite band.

The lyrics in “Hurricane” remind me of Beth Kennedy and Donovan Goldwyn. Beth wants to escape Donovan, but the hurricane forces her to stay inside with a man she can’t trust. There is even a scene where she asks him if he is going to kill her, and a line in the song closely resembles that question. As hours go by, a fire starts to burn between them, a passion that neither of them can deny, but could kill at least one of them.

I included a video that has the lyrics for anyone interested in knowing the words.

NICE!!! I love meeting new authors who love the same music I do. Chrys, I hope you’ll hang out here at West of Mars more often. This is where the cool kids play.

So… how about a book description?

After her car breaks down, Beth Kennedy is forced to stay in Florida, the target of Hurricane Sabrina. She stocks up supplies, boards up windows, and hunkers down to wait out the storm, but her plan unravels when she witnesses a car accident. Risking her life, she braves the winds to save the driver. Just when she believes they are safe, she finds out the man she saved could possibly be more dangerous than the severe weather.

Donovan Goldwyn only wanted to hide from the police, but the hurricane shoved his car into a tree. Now he’s trapped with a beautiful woman while the evidence that can prove his innocence to a brutal crime is out there for anyone to find.

As Hurricane Sabrina wreaks havoc, Beth has no other choice but to trust Donovan to stay alive. But will she survive, or will she become another hurricane crime?

You Kindle users are in luck; the rest of us aren’t. The novella (51 pages!) is only available at Amazon right now.

Need some links? Of course you do!
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My love for Rock Fiction is well documented. That means it ought to go without saying that when Michael Kayser contacted me about his book, Fast Cars and Rock & Roll, I was over the moon.

Michael’s been kind enough to send a review copy out this way, so you’ll hear about Fast Cars and Rock & Roll again.

Today, it’s Michael’s turn to tell us about the book. So… Michael, what song makes you think of your book?

To narrow it down to one song, I have to go back to rock & roll’s infancy, and a song by one of the pioneers: “Maybelline” by Chuck Berry–the original release from Chess records.

Just like the song, central to this storyline is a femme fatale who “done started back doin’ the things (she) used to do.” But our hero is ready to give chase; and nothing or nobody is going to outrun him. The plot drives along to a frantic backbeat and a harmony of roaring engines, likely to offend middle class parents and other responsible citizens.

There’s another link between the book and the song, but I’ll let readers discover that one on their own.

How can you NOT love a book that makes you think of Chuck Berry???

Here’s the summary:

Deke Jones finally has a car ready to compete in the Conquistador—a short but grueling campaign covering racetracks all over the Southwest United States. He can’t wait to challenge the rich boys with their expensive toys, but complications begin stacking up on him before the first flag drops.

First, he is invited to join Stormin’ Norman’s new rock band for a whirlwind tour. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play with a musical genius and he can’t let it pass…but it’s scheduled for the very week he needs for last minute wrenching so his car can make the Conquistador’s tech inspection.

Next, he gets tangled up with beautiful bad girl Lena Castillo, just when he was patching things up with a local lady he lost touch with after high school. Lena has a deadly superpower: the ability to turn any man stupid—and Deke Jones is no exception.

Jones also crosses paths with five-time Conquistador champ Bob Tilford, and there’s bad blood between them from the starting gun. It was going to be challenging enough racing against Tilford with his big-time sponsors, high-dollar mechanic and world-class GT car, but Tilford also has tremendous influence over race officials he doesn’t hesitate to use in his grudge against Deke Jones. To keep it all interesting, Deke’s co-driver bails on him at the last minute, with no time to scrounge up a replacement.

Get your motor runnin’. Deke Jones is gonna close this summer out with a bang, one way or another.

Anyone as eager to read this as I am?

Go pick up a copy.

Amazon paperback

Amazon Kindle

Smashwords

Nook