#NewRelease #Announcement: The #Truth Will Out By Karen Mossman!!

Genre: Thriller suspense

Book Description:

You can run but you can never hide.

Kelly needs to escape from her abusive and controlling boyfriend, but she's terrified to leave. She’s then given a chance to start a fresh, but is the cost for her freedom too high?

Sarah is happy in her life. She has a dream job and a perfect roommate. But when a brick is thrown through the window, followed by a letter containing razor blades, her life starts to spin out of control. Detective Ryan Andrews is on the case and the two quickly form a close bond.

Will Kelly pay that price for freedom? Can Sarah's secret past be kept from Ryan?



Excerpt:


It was Abby, and I knew instantly something was wrong. She was breathing heavily, or nervously.

“I’m being followed!” She gasped.

“Where are you?” I said, already hurrying towards the door, shoving my feet into sandals.

“Station Road.”

“I’m coming. Be there in a tick. Just keep walking!”

I switched off the phone, grabbed my keys and slammed the door, taking the stairs two at a time.

My mind was racing as I turned onto Station Road and saw Abby coming towards me on her way home from work. I could also see a dark hooded figure behind her.

Shit.

Her face was pale and rigid. I ran and caught her arm, just as the man reached us. I saw surprise or confusion in his eyes as he saw me. Shielding her, spinning her around, he brushed by me instead.

I felt a thud as he hit me heavily in the back. Both Abby and I toppled into the bushes. Abby started screaming, and the man ran off.

Something was wrong.

“Oh God!” Abby’s shrill voice penetrated my now fuddled brain as she scrambled to her feet.

I tried to get up, but couldn’t.

Front doors opened and people came over to us. I didn’t feel too good and touched my back. Blood.

Did I mention the silent phone calls on the house phone recently? Then, of course, the brick and razor blades and now this.

About the Author

Karen loves fiction, reading and especially writing short stories and novels. She is also an avid blogger and book reviewer.

Living on the beautiful Isle Anglesey, off the North Wales coast, Karen draws inspiration from the world around her.


Other books by Karen:
Joanna’s Journey

The Secret

The Missing

Behind the Music

Heroes


Find Karen on Social Media:

Facebook

Twitter

Google+

Goodreads.com 

BlogSpot

#Interview With A.C. Greenlee!

Hey Everyone!! :-)

We've got A.C. Greenlee here with us today to talk about herself and her new release, Genesis: The Awakening.  A.C., can you tell us about yourself and how many books you have written?

AC:  My name is A.C. Greenlee and I write Paranormal Romance, Action, Fantasy and Adventure. I am twenty-six years old and I was born and raised in Memphis Tennessee. Other than being a writer, web designer and complete and utter video game nerd, I spend a lot of time reading any and everything I can get my hands on. I have written five feature length novels, an anthology, and a heaping of short stories.

Me:  Sounds like you're a busy lady! :-) What inspired your latest book?

AC:  My latest book is Genesis: The Awakening. I finished writing it in 2014 and sat on it for nearly three years because I wasn’t sure how my audience would receive it. In the three years it took me to write it I was inspired by many things; the Villisca Axe Murders in Villisca Iowa, several Japanese Anime such as Unbreakable Machine Doll, Full Metal Alchemist, High School of the Dead and Psycho Pass. A great deal of my inspiration for Genesis also came from the fact that I wanted to write about a character who had all the classic traits of an ass-kicking heroine, but still had the capacity to be soft, feminine and make a ton of mistakes. In other words I wanted to create a character who was human in every possible way, and yet wasn’t.

Me:  Sounds like an interesting story! What are you working on now?

AC:  Currently I am working on the sequel to my early 2016 novel, Bad Grades, entitled Bad Intentions.  It follows Henri, twin brother to Daniel from the first novel, on his journey to usurp and dismantle the treacherous Paragon Genetic Solutions, a company that kidnaps and exploits child psychics, turned him into a killing machine and nearly succeeded in doing the same thing to his twin. It’s scheduled for release in Spring 2017.

Me:  Wow! Sounds exciting! :-)  What authors, or books, have influenced you?

AC:  I am one of the biggest Anne Rice fangirls I think you will ever meet. Her The Witching Hour was one of my all time favorite novels and still heavily influences my life and my writing. I am also in love with other Paranormal authors such as Katie MacAlister, Kim Harrison and Sherrilyn Kenyon.

Me:  I agree that Anne Rice is pretty awesome. :-)  What are you reading now?

AC:  I feel terrible because I haven’t finished it yet but as of right now I am reading The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchinson. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good thriller or is just looking to try something new. It’s wonderfully written and is so gripping it will keep you glued to your seat for hours on end. I recently was reprimanded for reading it at work, haha.

Me: Ha! Uh oh! Better get that nose back to the grindstone. ;-)  For those who might consider reading your book, what would you tell them to expect?

AC:  Expect to feel. Expect to get angry, to laugh, and maybe even fall in love. I put a lot of effort into making my characters as realistic as possible. They are people and I honestly can’t wait to introduce you to everyone. Most you will adore, but there are plenty that even I can’t stand and I created them.

Me: I think those are the best characters, sometimes. :-)  What is your favorite part of being an author?

AC:  Being able to share my imaginary friends with the world. As I mentioned, I love the people I create. And nothing makes me happier than to read a comment or an email from an excited reader telling me how much they want to strangle one of my characters. Chances are, I’ve already tried to strangle them and failed!

Me. I agree! It's awesome when readers respond to our work. Do you have a day job as well?

AC:  Yes and I absolutely love it. I am a web and graphic designer.

Me: Lucky you loving all your work! ;-)  What are the hardest and easiest parts about being a writer?

AC:  The hardest part is creating the time to write. Being able to completely immerse yourself in a story with zero distractions is nearly impossible in this day and age. But, when you find that time, there’s nothing better. And the easiest part, for me, has to be loving what I write. I am fortunate enough to work with a publisher that puts no pressure on what kind of work they want me to produce. So I am free to write what I want, when I want.

Me:  That kind of publisher is a lucky find! :-)  What genre do you place your book in?

AC:  Genesis is a Paranormal Fantasy epic. But it is also Action, Adventure and Romance. I call it Multi-genre because there’s simply no other way to explain it.

Me:  I think those are the best stories. :-)  Is there anything else you'd like to tell your readers?

AC:  That I’m so happy you’re here and I can’t wait for you to see what I, and my characters, have in store for you.

Me:  Wonderful! And so these fine folks can do just that, are there any links you'd like me to post?

AC:  I would love for you to post the pre-order link to Genesis: The Awakening!

Synopsis:
Cursed with enhanced mental abilities and consistently degrading eyesight, Victoria Bouchard is a walking medical phenomenon most talented neuroscientists could never hope to unravel. As she struggles to cope with the news of her impending blindness, she learns of a deranged serial killer deemed by the FBI as the 'Ghoul Butcher’ who’s rapidly making his way towards her humble University in the heart of Rural Iowa. With police on a manhunt and the locals in a frenzy, her visual health is suddenly the least of her worries. On the other hand, her lover and best friend Kaizer Dresden is determined to keep his distance from the case as it unfolds. As a Grim Reaper, stripped of his powers and exiled from his home world to serve out a three hundred year sentence on Earth; he knows he would be the prime suspect in the eyes of the immortals who banished him. But with the seemingly unstoppable Ghoul cutting a swath right for them, he and Victoria have no choice but to take matters into their own hands and investigate the murders in order to protect his new found home.

Excerpt:

Chapter Six -

“If you compare doing your job to being a flunky then so be it, I will gladly accept that title. But being our brother’s flunky will always remain preferable to the constant headache you represent,” he said and Kaizer snorted.

“Whatever you say, man. That mentality is what’s wrong with this world already. Everyone wants to be a follower and any poor sap with the backbone to lead is either beaten until they can't stand, or shipped off somewhere they can’t pose a threat.”

“I’m not going to discuss politics with you, Kaizer. That is not why I’m here,” Zain gave him a pointed look that he ignored.

“You’re only saying that because you know I’m right,” he grumbled, slipping into his thoughts as the train rapidly filled with Reapers and eased slowly into motion. He had to admit, part of him was still majorly sore, not only at Ezra but at Zain as well. He’d been there the day he was served his temporary dismissal papers and had even assisted their elder brother in binding his powers and walking him to an exit terminal. All because he slipped up, once. After years upon years of being everyone's whipping boy, of being the perfect soldier, they discarded him like trash. The order of their world was nothing more than a dictatorship, but instead of there being one maniacal asshole controlling everything, there were four.

The Guardians made public appearances only to deliver punishments and ruin lives. They were enigmas, mysteries to the population who lived under the thumbs of men they barely knew. He spent his childhood running errands for the four, spending family dinners in oversized mansions as they celebrated the prodigy that was Ezra. Urian was a drunk, Baptiste was a glutton, Eryx hated the Dresdens and refused to have anything to do with them, and Obelix…the father Grim Reaper and first of their kind…he was the most unfathomable of them all. The bastards left four viceroys in charge while they gallivanted about doing whatever they wanted. Ezra, obviously one of the chosen, was the Führer who made sure every single Reaper did his job or paid a hefty price in blood and bone for their insubordination. In times of war, he was the Commander and Chief, the deranged chess champion shifting his pieces around the board. And they were all his pawns, even his own flesh and blood siblings. His eyes went to Victoria who watched the Reapers, her beguiling gaze full of wonder, unknowing of all the sordid, wicked under workings of the dimension he called home. He was once again reminded of just how innocent she was, and naïve, not only of his world but life in general. Kaizer reached out to finger the little white bandage at her temple, the sight of her laying on the basement floor unconscious haunting him. How many times now had she almost lost her life, or had been injured dealing with him? And the worst yet was still to come.

Pre-order:

http://bit.ly/GenesisAwakening

Social Links:

http://www.amazon.com/author/acgreenlee

http://www.facebook.com/booksbyacgreenlee

Http://www.twitter.com/lillium_violet

Http://www.acgreenlee.com

Me:  Perfect!  Thanks so much for stopping by today, A.C., and thank you everyone else for joining us. Don't forget to check back tomorrow for the latest installment in Mistral Dawn's Musings! :-)

An #Experiment That Worked! ;-)

Hey Everyone!! :-)

I'm back with another recipe today.  I decided to experiment with a riff on a frittata and I think it worked out pretty well. :-)  Here's the recipe.

My Version Of A Frittata:
6 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 large or 3 medium sized potatoes cubed and boiled
1 12 oz container of sliced button mushrooms
1 medium onion chopped
1 bell pepper chopped
1 cup chopped broccoli
1 cup whole grape tomatoes
3 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Saute the mushrooms, onion, pepper, and broccoli in two tablespoons of olive oil until soft. Coat the inside of a 9x9 baking dish with the remaining olive oil.  Put the sauteed vegetables in the baking dish with the boiled potatoes and the tomatoes.  Stir the vegetables around until they are well distributed and even in  the dish.  Crack the eggs into a bowl, add the milk and salt and pepper, and whisk until they are homogeneous.  Pour the egg mixture into the dish evenly until just the tops of the vegetables are visible.  Bake uncovered at 325 degrees Fahrenheit until the top is golden brown, about 40-45 minutes. Cut into equal squares and serve with toast or by itself.

Okay, a few variations. First, of course, you can use whatever kind of mushrooms you like, even canned mushrooms if that's what you have. The basic recipe doesn't have garlic in it, but I've made it with garlic and it came out pretty well. One or two cloves chopped fine and mixed with the sauteed vegetables right before you take them off the heat works well. You can also use frozen broccoli and/or frozen onions, if that's what you have on hand. You can omit or add any kind of vegetables you like. I've also made this with cauliflower and spinach, and it came out well.  I also like to slice the squares in half height-wise and put them on toast with mayonnaise.

I don't like cheese with my eggs, but if you do you can add any kind of cheese that you like. It would probably work best if it was shredded and added to the egg mixture or sprinkled over the top about halfway through the cooking process.

As with other dishes, I prefer my frittata without meat. But if you like meat you could easily add ham, sausage, and/or bacon to this dish. Again, either mix it in or sprinkle it over the top halfway through the cooking process. One caveat: make sure the meat is completely cooked before you add it to the frittata. Food poisoning sucks. ;-)

Which is also why you want to make sure the eggs are cooked all the way through before serving. I had no problem just by cooking it low and slow at 325 degrees Fahrenheit and taking it out when the top was golden brown all over.  But, since ovens can vary, you should definitely stick a fork or toothpick in the center to confirm that it's cooked before serving it.

Something Worth Watching?

Hey Everyone!! :-)

I'm back with the next installment of my new series on videos that caught my eye!:-)  Today, I'd like to talk about another video by Jordan Chariton. Yes, yes, I know, I said that not all of the videos I post in this series will be about politics, and they won't. But this one is. ;-)

The reason I chose today's video is because it's a particularly outstanding example of what journalism is supposed to be.  Something that a lot of people, including everyone in mainstream, corporate media, seem to have forgotten is that the press is, by definition, supposed to have an antagonistic relationship with power. Journalists and politicians are not supposed to be friends, because it is the journalists' job to find out and report on things that the politicians want kept quiet. The same can be said about journalists and the management of large corporations.

The purpose of the fourth estate is to be a check on power by informing The People about what's going on so they can take action to stop excesses and abuses by those in power.  That's why the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States includes the guarantee of a free press.  Because the Founding Fathers knew that if journalists did their job correctly, the government and those in power would want to stop them. That kind of censorship is an anathema to a free society, so the Constitution provides a guarantee to journalists that they will be able to do their job without government interference.

Unfortunately, with most media companies now being owned by large corporations that have bought and paid for the politicians, most of the press in this country has ceased to fulfill its primary purpose.  However, most is not all, and Jordan Chariton provided us with a wonderful example of what all press outlets should be doing when he confronted the DNC interim Chair Person, Donna Brazile, about the way she colluded with Hillary Clinton to provide the Clinton campaign with one of the questions she would be asked during a Town Hall.

This was a problem because Donna Brazile was working for CNN and was privy to information that shouldn't have been shared with any political campaign.  The purpose of having a Town Hall is to provide voters with a look at the candidate's candid response to questions about issues that concern the country. By sharing the question ahead of time, Donna Brazile gave Hillary Clinton time to prepare and rehearse her answer to the question.  Which defeated the purpose of asking it and also gave Hillary Clinton an unfair advantage over her opponent, Bernie Sanders.

It is a glaring example of the systematic way in which the DNC worked against Bernie Sanders to rig the primary election in favor of Hillary Clinton.  This certainly isn't the only way in which the primary election was rigged, but it's one of the ways and this email is black and white proof of the fact that the Clinton campaign abrogated democracy to force their choice on the voters.

Naturally, the DNC and Donna Brazile don't want to talk about this, and they are doing everything they can to confuse the issue. As you'll see in this video, one of their favorite smoke screens is the claim that the Russian government hacked their servers and gave the emails to Wikileaks. A claim for which there is no evidence, by the way.

Regardless, whether the DNC was hacked or not or who did or did not hack them is beside the point, and Jordan did a fantastic job of staying on point in this video and holding power accountable.  He's not the only journalist who does this, I've already shared with you some of Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!'s work in my last video post, but too many do not.  If all journalists would uphold such high standards of journalistic integrity, maybe we wouldn't have two Presidential candidates who are almost equally despised by the electorate.

#APC #Spotlight: #Magic #Resistant By Veronica Del Rosa!

Hey Everyone!! :-)

I've got Veronica Del Rosa in my APC spotlight, today!  Veronica is an active and supportive member of  the  Authors-Professional Co-op Facebook group and her paranormal romance novel, Magic Resistant, looks pretty good! Here's the description:

First in the Enforcers and Coterie series, each one is a standalone book delving deeper into a world where magic co-exists peacefully with the ordinary, for the most part...
Julia Hill doesn't have time for men. Life's complicated enough as a Mage Enforcer keeping the peace in the magical community. And letting someone get too close to her could expose her secret, one that carries an automatic death sentence.
Jackson Thorne's a fugitive, blamed for summoning and losing control of a demon. A frame job, he swears, but all the evidence points to his guilt. Nowhere to turn and only a handful of friends to rely on, he must evade the Enforcers pursuing him.
Kidnapped by Jackson, Julia falls deeper under his spell. Escape from him seems impossible when her body doesn't want to go, but can she trust him?

More is going on than either realizes. Unraveling the evidence against Jackson reveals a darker, more twisted conspiracy: enslavement, deadly hunts and forbidden rituals. Will they uncover the truth before it incites a bloody civil war?

I don't know about you, but I'm intrigued! :-)  If you agree, go ahead and grab your copy here:

Thank you all so much for stopping by! Happy reading! :-)

#Agent Thoth's #Personal Log: Day 362

Hey Everyone! :-)

Agent Thoth discusses more of the trials and tribulations associated with living with hominids. Incidentally, if you've missed Agent Thoth's earlier entries, you can find them here: Thoth's Journal

Department for the Preservation and Confirmation of Intelligent Life (DPCIL)

Agent Thoth's Personal Log

Day Three-Hundred-Sixty-Two:

To amuse myself between my studies, I have found that it is entertaining to tempt the canid into doing something my hominid-servant disapproves of. The canid is easily manipulated and never seems to remember the consequences for breaking my hominid-servant's rules. Once I have convinced the canid to engage in the disapproved of behavior, all I need to do is sit back and observe as both my hominid-servant and the canid engage in a predictable routine of irritation and abasement, respectively. I have been able to replicate this experiment numerous times, which is just further evidence that both hominids and canids are highly trainable and respond to the same general training methodologies.

Aww, poor canid. Agent Thoth needs to find better ways to amuse himself, don't you think?  Okay, it looks like the results are in and Agent Thoth is a gray/silver tabby Maine Coon. I'll be looking for a picture that fits and once I find one I'll change the picture at the top of these posts. So be looking for that change to happen soon! ;-)  Happy reading!

Confirmation #Bias Among The #Stars... ;-)

Hey Everyone!! :-)

I'm back today with another peek at what Petri is up to. Enjoy! :-)

Excerpt from book two of the Petri Dish Chronicles:

As she sifted through the memories of what she had found in the ocean of minds, she realized that there were still a lot of pieces missing. She had glimpses and hints at what the Arcanum were doing, but without the missing parts she couldn't put it all together into something that made sense. There were only two things that were clear to her, there was something the Arcanum were worried about that they hoped she would help them with and she wasn't at all what they had expected when they started their experiment.

She wasn't sure if that last was a good thing or a bad thing. But the fact that they had a problem they hoped she could fix was something she thought she might be able to take advantage of. If she could convince them that they were right, that she was the solution to their trouble, then maybe she could convince them not to hurt her or her friends.

It was a place to start, at least. One thing that seemed to be true across every other species she had ever dealt with, it didn't usually take too much effort to convince people that what they wanted to believe was true was actually true. The Arcanum were utterly alien to her, but she hoped that so-far-universal blindspot extended to them as well.

Sighing, Petri reminded herself that she could fall prey to that pitfall as well. She needed to be careful. Especially, since the Arcanum could read her thoughts, which made it impossible for her to discuss such a plan with her friends. It was all starting to make her head hurt.

This kind of convoluted thinking was why she had always stuck to being a dolly and had never tried to branch out into con games. She sucked at the wheels within wheels within wheels type of manipulations they required. And, like most things in the underworld, if you couldn't play such games well, you were better off not playing them at all. Because failure was often synonymous with death.

Hmmm...I wonder if the Arcanum are as susceptible to confirmation bias as we poor humans are. I guess Petri is about to find out!  Stay tuned to see if she survives the experience.  Happy reading, everyone! :-)