@KimberlyShursen on Having a Huge Support Group & Sharing Her Work #AmWriting #SelfPub #Authors

How did you develop your writing? By simply reading, listening, and taking in everything that a successful writer/person shares. I am a student of those who have accomplished what they’d hoped to achieve.

Where do you get your inspiration from? Everyday stories from everyday people.

Do you find it hard to share your work?  I am very careful about who I share my writing with. They have to be someone I trust who I know doesn’t want to re-write my work in their words, but offer suggestions if they feel something either needs to be clarified, or needs more explanation.

Is your family supportive? Do your friends support you? Yes. I am extremely lucky in that I have a huge support group. Many of my supporters I didn’t know until they read my book(s.)

Do you plan to publish more books?  The stories I have in my head will go to the grave with me; there simply isn’t enough time.

 What other jobs have you had in your life? I graduated from college with a BA in education, but most of my careers have been in marketing. From real estate agent, to property manager, to the director of marketing for a post-acute, long-term care center; corporate life was never my forte. I achieve much more when I’m left alone. Don’t we all?

If you could study any subject at university what would you pick? Law. When I wrote HUSH was when I realized how much I had always wanted to be a lawyer. However, I would never want to be a lawyer because of money, but to fight for the poverty stricken; the elderly; the children who have no one to represent them. I can’t imagine not using a law degree for the good of society. What University would I pick? Any that would take me.

Tell us about your family? I am a widow, so my handsome, bright sons are the cornerstone of my life. After my husband passed from cancer was when I moved from Minneapolis to the Midwest to take care of my aging mother.

How do you write – lap top, pen, paper, in bed, at a desk? Everywhere. It depends on my mood. In the winter months when it’s below zero, I bring the computer into my bedroom. If it’s 75-80 degrees outside, you might find me with my laptop on my deck.

Where do you get support from? Do you have friends in the industry? I have a ton of friends in the industry. Many I interviewed when I was first started my website. My friends live all over the world; Italy, Germany, the UK. I don’t ever want to lose even one of them.

Is there anyone you’d like to acknowledge and thank for their support? Katie French, who is an excellent author, and I have been beta readers for each other’s books for three years. My books are enhanced by Katie’s input. We are brutally honest with each other, and that’s what we both want.

Soon after Ann Ferguson and Ben Grable marry, and Ben unseals his adoption papers, their perfect life together is torn apart, sending the couple to opposite sides of the courtroom.

Representing Ann, lawyer Michael J. McConaughey (Mac) feels this is the case that could have far-reaching, judicial effects -- the one he's been waiting for.

Opposing counsel knows this high profile case happens just once in a lifetime.

And when the silent protest known as HUSH sweeps the nation, making international news, the CEO of one of the top ten pharmaceutical companies in the world plots to derail the trial that could cost his company billions.

Critically acclaimed literary thriller HUSH not only questions one of the most controversial laws that has divided the nation for over four decades, but captures a story of the far-reaching ties of family that surpasses time and distance.

*** Hush does not have political or religious content. The story is built around the emotions and thoughts of two people who differ in their beliefs.

 EDITORIAL REVIEW: "Suspenseful and well-researched, this action-packed legal thriller will take readers on a journey through the trials and tribulations of one of the most controversial subjects in society today."

Katie French author of "The Breeders," "The Believer's," and "Eyes Ever To The Sky."

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Thriller

Rating – PG-13

More details about the author

Connect with Kimberly Shursen through Facebook and Twitter

Website http://www.kimberlyshursen.com/

Pendelton Wallace on Books He Loved When He Was Growing Up #AmWriting #AmReading #Thriller

What writing are you most proud of?

I think that I am growing and improving as a writer with everything I write. I think that Hacker for Hire is my best work yet, but I’m the most proud of Blue Water & Me, Tall Tales of Adventures With My Father.

Blue Water is a tribute to my father and it may not be as polished as my later works, but it will probably always be my favorite.

What are you most proud of in your personal life? 

My daughters. They have grown into fine young women. They are strong, brave and independent, just like their mother.

What books did you love growing up? 

Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Mars series, Tarzan of the Apes. Much of my writing today is influenced by his style.

I also loved Jules Verne and H.G. Wells.

Who is your favorite author? 

Larry McMurtry. He is fantastic. I think Gus McRae is the greatest single character in American Literature. I envy Larrty’s  ability and only wish I could write like him.

What book genre of books do you adore? 

My favorites are thrillers. However, I love good historical fiction as well. The Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O’Brien and the Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell are my favorites.

What book should everybody read at least once? 

Lonesome Dove. It’s my absolute favorite.

Is there any book you really don’t enjoy? 

I hate to be a wet blanket and I don’t want to disparage any other authors, but I really didn’t enjoy Fifty Shades of Grey. The story just didn’t interest me. I couldn’t understand why she would willingly submit herself to such abuse.

What do you hope your obituary will say about you? 

That’s tough. How about that he entertained a lot of people? That he influenced a lot of peoples’ lives.

Location and life experiences can really influence writing, tell us where you grew up and 

where you now live? 

I was born on San Juan Island in Washington State, just a few hundred yards from the Canadian border. I spent a few years in Southern California, then we moved to Oregon. I grew up in the Eugene/Springfield area of the Willamette Valley.

I moved to Seattle when I was 27. I now live on my boat. We are currently in La Paz, Mexico, but will be returning to San Diego shortly. Where will we go after that? Maybe Panama. Maybe the US Virgin Islands. Perhaps the Florida Keys. I really don’t know yet.

How did you develop your writing? 

By making every mistake in the book. I knew instinctively that I was a literary genius. I sat down and started writing. When I had finished my masterpiece, I hired a good editor, just on the off-chance that I missed something.

She tore me to pieces. Actually, she tore my book to pieces. After I nursed my wounds and got over the sting, I cut more than a hundred pages from my manuscript and started over. Her second pass through the manuscript was a much more pleasant process.

I also joined a writers group. It took me several tries to find the right group, but eventually I ended up with a group of writers who were better than me. By working with them every other week, I gradually improved my writing.

Where do you get your inspiration from? 

The headlines. Read the newspaper. I could never make up stories as bizarre as I see in the news every day.

If Clive Cussler had written Ugly Betty, it would be Hacker for Hire. 

Hacker for Hire, a suspense novel about corporate greed and industrial espionage, is the second book in a series about Latino computer security analyst Ted Higuera and his best friend, para-legal Chris Hardwick. 

The goofy, off-beat Ted Higuera, son of Mexican immigrants, grew up in East LA. An unlikely football scholarship brought him to Seattle. 

Chris, Ted’s college roommate, grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth. His father is the head of one of Seattle’s most prestigious law firms. 

Ted’s first job out of college leads him into the world of organized crime where he faces a brutal beating. After being rescued by beautiful private investigator Catrina Flaherty, Ted decides to go to work for her. 

Catrina is hired by a large computer corporation to find a leak in their corporate boardroom when the previous consultant is found floating in Elliot Bay. 

Ted discovers that Chris’s firm has been retained by their prime suspect. Now he and Chris are working opposite sides of the same case. 

Ted and Catrina are led deep into Seattle’s Hi-Tech world as they stalk the killer. But the killer is also hunting them. Can Ted find the killer before the killer finds him? 

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Mystery, Thriller

Rating – R

More details about the author

Connect with Pendelton Wallace on Facebook

Website www.pennwallace.com

What You Didn't Know About Saga of the Nine: #Area38 by Mikey DB @mikeydbii #Thriller #AmReading

Ten things you didn’t know about Saga of the Nine: Area 38

1) It was originally going to be a musical.  The album that inspired it, This is War by 30 Seconds to Mars, was intended not only as the frame work of the story, but the bulk of the songs as well.  I thought about seeking out Jared Leto’s help/permission to use his music and possibly add more, but things ended up turning a different direction.  It really came down to the fact that I didn’t think a musical would do the story justice.  I still listened to the album probably a couple hundred times while writing it, but the story is much different now than the original musical.

2) Mica and the USA Division were inspired by a date I took a girl on.  My date and I doubled with my roommate and his date, each got some masquerade masks, and then went to dinner at a fancy restaurant while we wore them.  Like I said, bizarre, but hey, something worked because my date that night is now my wife.

3) Area 38 is actually a reference to the 38^th state of the United States of America.

4) The opening setting was inspired by the cold winter mornings in Utah.  I’ve been working the six am shift for as long as I can remember, and one of the joys about having to wake up so early in order to get to work on time, is it’s around the time that the sun rises.  The fog that covered the fields outside the industrial park were some of the most beautiful mornings I’ve seen.

5) Benedict Cumberbatch, the actor who played Sherlock Holmes in BBC’s Sherlock, is the person I pictured as I wrote and fine tuned Christopher Stone, the sadistic Area Leader of Area 38.  If he reads this, I hope he doesn’t get offended.  The way he talks in Star Trek: Into Darkness as Kahn is exactly how I imagine Christopher saying his lines.

6) I wrote the entire novel on the floor of my 500 square foot apartment--right at the foot of my bed.  I could only right for a few hours at a time though.  Any longer than three and my butt and legs would begin to go numb.

7) Saga of the Nine: Area 38 is actually a hybrid.  The entire plot began as two different stories.  Both of them were going nowhere, and one day I had the epiphany to combine the two.

8) Most, if not all, of my research for Area 38 came from listening to history podcasts I would listen to at my day job in the warehouse.

9) The flag on the cover was the brain child of my cousin, the cover designer.  The entire premise is that anything that is evil and corrupt usually isn’t original.  Evil simply takes originality and tweaks it.  That’s what the Nine did with the U.S. flag.

10) The foreign language in the novel is based off of Tahitian, which I picked up on my LDS mission in French Polynesia.

Change affects everyone and it is no different for Jackson. Living in Area 38 for as long as he can remember, he knows of no better way to exist than under the tyrannical rule of Christopher Stone, son of Stewart Stone from The Nine of The United Governmental Areas, aka The UGA. This all takes a dramatic turn when Jackson finds a red, metal box buried in his yard, filled with illegal artifacts—journals, a Bible, CDs, etc.—that are from a man of whom he has no recollection of: Mica Rouge.

 The year is 2036 and Mica, unlike Jackson, does know of a better way of life but is torn apart as he sees his country, The United States of America, crumbling from within by group known as The Political Mafia. The Mafia has infiltrated levels upon levels of governmental resources and it is up to Mica and a vigilante group known as The USA Division to stop them and their dark Utopian vision. To their demise, and at the country's expense, The Division fails and has no choice but to watch The Constitution dissolve and transform into The UGA.

In a final stand, having not given up hope, Mica and what is left of The Division, give one final fight in Colorado, or better known as Area 38. However, all is lost as The Division is betrayed by one of their own, Stewart Stone. Mica is left with no choice but to hide in exile, leaving what little history he can of himself and the great United States of America, with his wife, long time friends, and newly born son in hopes that they will one day finish what he could not.

Jackson, having found this legacy twenty-seven years later, decides to start the war that will end The Nine, and he with an outcast group known as The Raiders, begins his fight with Christopher Stone in Area 38. Filled with betrayal, unity, despair, hope, hate and love Area 38 follows both Mica and Jackson in their attempts to restore what they believe to be true freedom, and where one fails, the other rises to the seemingly impossible challenge.

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Genre – Dystopian Thriller

Rating – PG13

More details about the author

Connect with Mikey D. B. on Facebook & Twitter

Website www.mikeydb.com

#Excerpt from UNFINISHED BUSINESS by @Ted_Tayler #Thriller #BookClub #MustRead

There are so many different avenues through which you can promote your writing; blogging is a useful way of getting your name further up the pecking order in the search engines. It is a relatively inexpensive way of getting people to at least consider buying your books.

If you have a marketing budget (lucky you!) then virtual book tours can speed up the process of getting readers to visit your site; while they are there you have the opportunity to grab their interest with what you have written in your latest post. Personally I don’t fill my blog posts with things about my novels or short stories; I write about everything else in my life as well. The reason for this is that I want them to know that I’m a ‘real’ person who has all the same highs and lows in my life as they do. I chat about the weather, my family, events in my local town, my holidays, and the death of one of my closest friends. I cast my net as wide as possible to find a few items that will interest them.

I attempt to engage them enough to want to come back time and again. Perhaps it will take them one visit, perhaps it will take several but eventually I want them to trust me enough to believe that if they move around my website and finally take the plunge and buy one of my books, they won’t be disappointed.

I came to blogging in a roundabout fashion. I had my book of memories published in 2011 and then I invested in a website and joined Twitter. This was an afterthought! I was selling all the paperbacks I had had printed and I wondered whether I could sell the kindle version of the book as well. Writing a blog chapter every few weeks was suggested to me by the designer of my site; I didn’t know what a blog was! I’m glad I followed up on her suggestion because it was those blog chapters that I wrote over the next twelve months that reminded me how much I enjoyed writing and gave me the courage to start ‘The Final Straw’ and then self-publish my first novel. I haven’t stopped writing since.

My Twitter followers were initially music lovers and musicians, because of the content of the first book. I hit fifty thousand followers by the end of 2012; today I have around ninety five thousand. A large percentage of the latest recruits are book lovers and other authors.

Naturally, I direct followers to my site so that they can read the blog and maybe buy a book; there must be something about my tweets that keeps them coming and staying in such large numbers but there’s no guaranteed correlation between followers and book sales I can assure you! If I could crack that I’d be a happy man. On balance I’d rather be blogging and attracting more readers than giving it up as a way to promote my writing. For me it will remain an important tool as an author.

The sequel to the award winning ‘The Final Straw’ sees Colin Bailey return to the UK after almost a decade abroad. With a new name and a new face he still has scores to settle. His meticulous planning takes him ingeniously across Scotland and the North of England ticking names off his list with the police completely baffled. 

DCI Phil Hounsell pitted his wits against Colin before and so he is sent to Durham where he teams up with super intelligent young DS Zara Wheeler; together they track their man to Manchester and then eventually south to Bath. 

The final scenes take place on the streets of the Roman city; Phil Hounsell’s family is threatened and in a dramatic conclusion reminiscent of Holmes and Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls, the two men struggle above the foaming waters of the historic Pulteney weir. 

Buy Now @ Amazon & Smashwords

Genre – Thriller

Rating – PG-18

More details about the author

Connect with Ted Tayler on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://tedtayler.co.uk/

Message of the Pendant by Thomas Thorpe #Historical #Mystery #Thriller

The room was not completely dark. High above the floor, five window slits provided flickering bursts of light whenever distant lightning struck. Beneath dark wooden beams, flashes created menacing shadows that quickly disappeared until the next glimmer.

Huddled in a corner with her sister, Emily, the wait became excruciating for Elizabeth. Where was the stalker now?

A large stone fireplace under an antlered head of a stag stood at the far side of the room. She decided to edge over to the hearth and look for a tool or piece of wood which could be used against the blackguard.

On hands and knees, she carefully advanced along the room’s perimeter trying not to make any noise. Fifteen feet, ten feet, five.., she felt the bricks. She reached out for a poker, but had to settle for a two-foot log, three inches in diameter. Clutching her prize, she turned to start back. A new creak punctured the air in the middle of the room.

She froze.

Several English chairs and Queen Anne upholstered seats rested between game tables, turned at various angles to her sight. The sound had come from there. She stared at the outlines.

Lightning flashed again. To her terror, a dark figure rose behinda seat turned away from the chimney. Light disappeared before she could see anything more.

Elizabeth’s mind raced, wondering if she had been heard.

Another flash. The figure had moved toward Emily’s corner.

“Emily! Emily!” she screamed. “Wake up. Someone’s coming toward you!”

She could hear Emily stirring, muttering words that made it clear she did not understanding their plight.  She had to help her sister! Her legs felt weak and a rush of panic welled up inside her. She could not move.

Glint came again. The figure had stopped.

William Darmon and wife Elizabeth were powerful figures who in 1818 set society’s pace from expansive grounds known as Mayfair Hall. When a family member is murdered, a mysterious pendant is found containing a long lost request by Napoleon Bonaparte for an American mission to burn down Parliament buildings. The couple sets out on an action filled pursuit of the killer. While interviewing Henry Clay in post-war Maryland about the failed mission, they uncover evidence of a conspiracy to free the Emperor from exile. The Darmons infiltrate the cadre, but a shipwreck off the coast of Scotland, a firestorm at the Darmon’s Manor and a harrowing assault on the Island of St. Helena loom before the mystery can be unraveled.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Mystery, Historical, Thriller

Rating – PG

More details about the author

Connect with Thomas Thorpe on Facebook

Website www.darmonmysteries.com

John W. Mefford on Character Strength & Writing @jwmefford #AmWriting #AmReading #SummerofGreed

What makes you happiest?

A vacation day on the beach with my family. Seagulls swoop down over the kids, who are diving into waves. Maybe one of them is carving out a sand statue or moat. My wife is usually reading. I read a little and observe, and usually take a jog down the beach to the levee and back. Through it all, I realize I’m the luckiest guy on the planet.

Outside of the family bonding, the single most fulfilling activity I’ve ever attempted is writing novels. This comes from a guy who is active and loves all sports. But developing a story that takes the reader on the ride of a lifetime—that’s one of the best gifts I can ever receive.

What’s your greatest character strength?

I have to say I’m a pretty loyal person, to people and to causes. My wife would say (actually she just said it) that my greatest strength and weakness is my drive for perfection. I can’t imagine where she got that from? I don’t have time to think about it either. I’ve got to get back to my fiftieth re-write of my latest book.:)

Why do you write?

To breathe. To live. And to improve. It’s built into my DNA. If I give a rat’s a$$ about something, my mind constantly churns around how I can continue to evolve, especially in every facet of the writing profession. I think it’s safe to admit that I’m at an age when I’m not going to be “discovered” by the Dallas Cowboys, Mavericks or Rangers. But with writing, I can keep striving to reach the next level. My goal is to create pieces of work that are more compelling each time I tap the keyboard.

Have you always enjoyed writing?

In the fourth grade I wrote a story about my mom. When she was a young child she watched in disbelief as her beloved dog was hit and killed by a car. My teacher read my story out loud to the class, and she got a tear in her eye. Watching her feel that emotion from the words I wrote on paper was a profound moment for me. The best thing about that assignment was the freedom my teacher gave me to write the best story I could, with few parameters or limitations.

Unfortunately, I recall most of the rest of my schooling to be so structured it literally sucked the creativity right out of me, and I eventually began to see myself as anything but a writer. And then came the creation of the computer. Re-typing, editing, cutting and pasting...all of the wonderful nearly instant capabilities of using a word processor ignited a spark inside my brain that was always moving at lightning speed. The computer, and what I could do with it, finally was able to keep up with the ideas darting around in my head. I then began developing as a storyteller and as a writer. And the rest…is history.

What motivates you to write?

I write because I have to, if I want to feel all that life has to offer. Like most things I do, I’m motivated by my desire to improve every time I sit down, take in a deep breath and dive into my imagination. I want the next chapter to be more impactful than the previous, the next book to connect more with the reader than the last. I’ve always been that way about everything I do. It’s just how I’m wired, I guess.

What writing are you most proud of?

Actually, it’s the most recent set of chapters I’ve written in book 4 of the Greed series, (title TBD). I thought WICKED GREED (Greed Series #3) knocked it out of the park. Well, so far with book 4, I’m on pace to break the author home run record—without steroids.

Behind the façade of every corporate takeover executives pull levers this way and that, squeezing the last profitable nickel out of the deal. But no one knows the true intent of every so-called merger. 

No one knows the secret bonds that exist. 

An Indian technology giant swallows up another private company that has deep roots in North Texas. For one unassuming man the thought of layoffs, of losing his own job to a bunch of arrogant assholes feels like a kick to the jewels. 

Until the day Michael's life changes forever.   

Perverse alliances. An affair of the heart. A grisly murder. A spiraling string of events thrusts Michael into a life-or-death fight to save a tortured soul and hunt down a brutal killer...one who lurks closer than he ever imagined. 

Greed knows no boundaries.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Suspense, Thriller

Rating – R

More details about the author

Connect with John W. Mefford on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.johnwmefford.com

Copyright: A Novel #Excerpt by @LeskoLori #AmReading #Thriller #LGBT

“Please, I can’t catch my breath,” I gasped, reaching out to the chubby nurse.

“Just relax, sweetie, I have some medicine that will calm you right down and you’ll go to la-la land.” She smirked as she inserted the meds into my IV. Three minutes later, I inaugurated her as my new best friend. Oh, such a beautiful place la-la land was. Heart attack, what heart attack? I felt much better; there was no need to angy-plasty-wasty me. I wanted to move in here permanently. Karen, the kids and I, we’d be just fine and dandy right here.

All of a sudden, a pair of bright blue eyes filled my vision. I glanced down and saw Karen’s cleavage spilling out of her sleeveless white shirt.

“Babe! How do you feel? You scared the shit out of me!”

“Karen, hey Karen, I can see your boobies,” I laughed hysterically.

“Christ, what did they give you?” Her tone suddenly became quite parental.

“Wait, where are the kids?” I asked, in a moment of clarity.

“Danny is out in the waiting room, and Kira is at Stacey’s house.”

“Stacey?”

“Yes, muffin, Stacey from next door,” she responded.

The chubby nurse re-entered my room and began to look more and more like a pink bunny rabbit. “Okay, it’s time to go, say your goodbyes.”

“Wait!” I screamed. “Karen, come here.”

“I’m right here, babe.”

“Karen.”

“Yes?”

“Karen, don’t call me muffin anymore.”

“Okay,” Karen said with a giggle and a kiss on my lips.

“I love you,” I said as the chubby nurse and a male attendee pushed me on my gurney out into the hall toward my next destination. I stared up at the glaring light fixtures, still gleefully high from whatever the chubby nurse had given me. I seriously must find out her name before I go home so I can thank her for taking me to la-la land. I looked to my left as I moved down the corridor and saw other patients’ rooms. People of various ages and colors watched me passing by. Time seemed to be moving in slow motion.

There was a man in his seventies with his eyes closed. How anyone slept with all this noisy clatter, I had no clue. Oh God, I hope he wasn’t dead. Around the corner, a little boy screamed bloody murder as a doctor tried to examine his arm. Mid-scream, the young lad glanced my way and I contorted my face and stuck out my tongue. He stopped screaming for a moment, then continued on his rant, even louder than before. I’d probably scared him for life with the way I looked.

I noticed one of my wrists not attached to any device. I waved as people walked by me. Eventually, a man dressed in blue scrubs looked down at me when we passed by each other.

“Give me five,” I yelled at him and placed my hand up. He laughed and gently slapped me back.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” I screamed in medicated bliss. We reached the elevator, and I tried to sit up. “Can I push the buttons?” I’d clearly regressed to a five-year-old girl.

“Yeah, Valium works on them every time,” said the chubby nurse. The male attendee nodded in agreement. They were acting like I wasn’t even there, or fucking deaf.

“I can hear you, you know,” I said, addressing the issue.

“We know, sweetie, and we’ll have you up in the OR in a second.” Forget about thanking the chubby nurse or finding out her name, I no longer cared about her, even though she had provided the wondrous meds. Wait a minute, should I even be on them? Surely, they had received my history from Karen? The elevator door opened and I heard more glass doors slide. I lay back and closed my eyes, while fear and anxiety rose once more. They mentioned I’d had a heart attack. Did that mean I had a broken heart?

“Amber Tyler,” announced the chubby nurse as she handed me off to the crowd of masked strangers in the brightly lit room.

“Hello, Amber, how are you doing right now? My name is Dr. Peterson. I’ll be assisting Dr. Casey,” said a man wrapped up in blue. He had elephant ears and wore glasses. That was all I could tell about him. Having a doctor with impaired vision assisting my heart surgeon didn’t fill me with a ton of confidence. Yes, this had my dream team written all over it.

A weird face filled my vision, again, all masked up. “Are you comfortable, Amber?” I recognized Dr. Casey’s voice once more.

“I guess so,” I replied apprehensively.

“Let me know if you’re in any pain, we’re going to go through your groin with a tiny tube up to your heart,” Dr. Casey said.

“Really? That’s how my girlfriend does it. Only she doesn’t have to medicate me first.” Had I actually just said that? Apparently I had, because the room broke out into laughter. Amber Tyler, ladies and gentlemen, make sure you tip your waiters. Author by day and comedienne by night.

I peered up at the monitor that was guiding the doctors. But I didn’t understand quite what I was looking at.

“There, right there, do you see it?” Dr. Casey asked.

“See what?” I inquired.

“Sorry, I was talking to Dr. Peterson,” he responded.

Both doctors moved over to the monitor and turned it away from me. Okay, officially fucking scared now! Anyone want to tell me what’s going on? Why were the two men in charge of my life pointing worriedly at the screen? Talk to me, people, remember me, the patient?

“What’s happening?” I asked.

They ignored me for a second. Then Dr. Casey walked over to me cautiously. Somehow I knew I wouldn’t like what he had to say. Be nice to me, I thought, you’re talking to a woman who’s got a bad ticker.

Amber Tyler is living every author’s dream: her books are all best sellers and she writes full time. She has worked hard and is well-accomplished in her career, and she has the support and love of her beautiful children and girlfriend. 

But the dream soon turns into a terrible nightmare when her latest manuscript is stolen. She decides to fight for what is rightfully hers, only to find that the harder she tries, the easier it all slips through her fingers, putting her career, her family, and her life in jeopardy.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Thriller

Rating – PG-13

More details about the author

Connect with Lori Lesko on Facebook & Twitter

Beyond Neanderthal by Brian Bloom @BrianB_Aust #AmReading #Thriller #GoodReads

Visit to a Blue Amber Mine
 
As Tara alighted from the vehicle, she found herself facing a ghostly white haze of wispy, low-lying clouds that hung as if suspended in time above the undulating hilltops. The peaks rose from the variegated emerald and olive valley below and stretched into the distance amid a virginal mixture of lush equatorial undergrowth. She drew a deep, involuntary breath.

‘Wow!’ There were no other words to describe the feeling of awe-inspired privilege that washed over her. The vista was about as far removed from Central Park as a New York city skyscraper was from the little pastel coloured huts lining the Carretera Turística.

Aurelio smiled. Intuitively, he seemed to understand that the most appropriate response to this magnificent sight was silence. It was a full two minutes before Tara gathered her thoughts.

‘Let’s get going,’ she said.

They made their way carefully—gingerly climbing over dead logs, negotiating their way around rocky outcrops, and grabbing onto available plant life to steady themselves as they walked and stumbled their way towards the valley below. On either side of the track, a mixture of tall, fronded plants grew in an array of shapes and sizes beside stunted and gnarled old trees with deep green foliage. Tara thought of the trees like friendly bystanders, their leafy branches protectively shading Aurelio and her from much of the glaring sunshine above. They came across a trickling stream, which they followed for a while; Tara ever mindful and vigilant, watching for any sign of wildlife in the undergrowth. Except for the background humming of insects, the occasional noisy squawking of a flock of parrots flying past overhead and, once, the silent imprint of a shoe sole on the muddy banks of the stream, they seemed to be alone.

Then, in a clearing, they came across a group of young men standing seemingly relaxed and chatting. A few feet away, under a lean-to made of branches and palm fronds, one of them squatted while cooking something on a small paraffin or gas stove. Aurelio and Tara had arrived at the mine.
Again, there was a short conversation in Spanish. Again, there was a wrinkling of noses followed by broad smiles of understanding and agreement. There were also some side comments and laughter amongst the men. The word ‘gringa’—foreigner from America—came up a couple of times. Tara thought she also heard the words ‘bonita’, and ‘sexual’, but she couldn’t be sure. She decided to keep a slight distance for the time being. They were in the middle of nowhere, miles from the nearest civilization.

Aurelio walked back towards her. ‘They will be happy to show you around, but we should remember our time limitations. We cannot spend more that half an hour here if we are to return to Santo Domingo before dark.’

‘Are you trying to protect me from these guys?’ she asked with a smile. Aurelio looked embarrassed.

‘What’s he cooking?’ she asked to change the subject. ‘It smells great.’

‘That is called arroz con abichuelas, a mixture of rice and beans. He is probably cooking some small pieces of beef with it, but it could be any meat.’

‘Can one buy that in a restaurant in Santo Domingo?’

‘Of course, but not exactly the same. This is a local dish for locals. To sell food like this to tourists would be like offering leftovers to your guests. It would not be right. In the restaurants it is much more carefully presented and is usually served with salads.’

The word ‘dignity’ popped into Tara’s mind. Aurelio seemed to have it, and that was what she had seen on the faces of the fruit vendor and the amber polisher and, now, even the miners as she approached them. Other than their initial jocularity, they seemed to consider her as their guest and themselves as hosts who happily welcomed visitors into their world. The men were just being men.

As they approached the entrance to the mine, a happy looking miner wearing a backward facing baseball cap sat with a short-handled pick in one hand, a lump of soft rock in the other.
‘Hola, señorita,’ he said, grinning broadly.

She smiled back at him, lifted her hand in greeting, but continued to follow Aurelio to the mine entrance. It was like standing at the entrance to the burrow of a large animal.

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Genre – Thriller

Rating – MA (15+)

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Connect with Brian Bloom on Twitter

GENERATION by @_William_Knight #Excerpt #Crime #Thriller

In 2001 the New Scientist reported that researchers had isolated a gene for regenerating damaged organs from the DNA of a South American flatworm. Within five years it had been spliced into the chromosomes of mice, pigs and rhesus monkeys, transported through the cell walls by a retro-virus denuded of its own genetic material.

Results remain secret, but success could yield extreme rewards. If ageing could be stopped or even reversed, and diseased or damaged organs regrown, life could be extended well beyond a natural span. No longer would you expect to retire and wait for death. You might remain fulfilled and active for ever, your worn out parts simply regrown and replaced.

Attempting to regrow impaired or elderly tissues, a scientist will one day modify the DNA of a human being by injecting the gene-carrying virus. It is just a matter of time.

Before consenting to treatment, you may want to ask a simple question: could there be a situation in which you would want to die but were unable to do so?

A man emerges from the sodden undergrowth, lost, lonely and starving he is mown down by a speeding car on the edge of a remote forest.

Rumours of ghostly apparitions haunt a rural Northumberland community.

A renowned forensic research establishment is troubled by impossible results and unprecedented interference from an influential drug company.

Hendrix ‘Aitch’ Harrison is a tech-phobic journalist who must link these events together.

Normally side-lined to investigate UFOs and big-beast myths, but thrust into world of cynical corporate motivations, Hendrix is aided by a determined and ambitious entomologist. Together they delve into a grisly world of clinical trials and a viral treatment beyond imagining.

In a chase of escalating dangers, Aitch must battle more than his fear of technology to expose the macabre fate of the drugged victims donated to scientific research.

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Genre – Crime, Thriller, Horror

Rating – R-16

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Connect with William Knight on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.williamknight.info