IWSG & The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith

Hello, friends! Today is the September meeting of The Insecure Writer's Support Group. The group was founded by our Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh. To view list members and this month's co-hosts, or to sign up and join the group, visit the IWSG page here.

Back in July I returned to the IWSG and planned to spend the rest of the summer actively writing and blogging. But instead some unexpected health issues popped up and totally derailed my plans. Fortunately I'm doing much better now and am starting a new plan to be active and productive for the rest of the year. Fingers crossed!

Each month the IWSG administrators suggest a question to answer in our post for the month. This month's question is:

If you could pick one place in the world to write your next story, where would it be and why? 

This was a fun question to think about! 

I'm totally enchanted by Scandinavia even though I have never been there. I love the scenery, the winter landscapes, and the remoteness of some of the areas. I have always found winter to be a muse for my imagination and writing. 

Recently I learned about the Lofoten Islands in northern Norway and I would love to go there and settle into a house by the sea for my own private writing retreat. 

Source

If I ever do make it there I'm hoping I can see the Northern Lights. 

Source

So that's my writing retreat daydream. I'm looking forward to reading where all of you would love to go. 

Before I wrap this up I want to give a shout-out to my friend Luanne G. Smith and her fantastic book The Vine Witch. Luanne was one of the first friends I made here in the blogging world, back when she was running her Bards and Prophets blog, and I'm so happy to see her finding such success with her books now. 

I received an ARC of The Vine Witch and I can't recommend it enough. If you love witches, wine, France, or just a well-written story full of intrigue and great characters, this is a book for you. The book is one of Amazon's first reads this month so if you are a Prime member you won't go wrong picking The Vine Witch as one of your choices. 

Congratulations to Luanne! 

Source

And Happy September, all! This is the start of my favorite time of the year and I am looking forward to the months ahead. 

IWSG & Returning To Blogging

Hello, friends! After taking a few months off I am excited to be jumping back into the blogging pool. I hope this new month finds you all well and that you are all happily engaged in lots of writing or blogging projects. I'm happy to say that I'm writing fairly regularly again after nearly a year of doing a whole lot of nothing so I hope that will continue.

Today is the day for the July meeting of The Insecure Writer's Support Group. The group was founded by our Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh. To view list members and this month's co-hosts, visit the IWSG page here.

Each month the IWSG administrators suggest a question to answer in our post for the month. This month's question is:

What personal traits have you written into your character(s)?

This one is an easy one for me to answer! Like me, my protagonists all either have pets or love animals. Danny, the protagonist in my Polar books, has a dog named Sox. Several of the characters in The Ghosts of Aquinnah love animals. And I am currently working on two WIPs and in both stories the protagonists have cats. 

I didn't actually do this intentionally when I started writing but it just came naturally. I couldn't help but insert my favorite guys into my stories in various ways!

My dog Clancy

My cat Nate

The only rule I have about animals in my books is that none of them get harmed or killed. I know this is a bit twisted since people get murdered in all of my stories but I can't help it. I am one of those people who will watch violent movies or shows with little to no emotion, then sob like a baby if an animal ends up dead.

I am looking forward to reading everyone's posts and with luck making a few new friends as I hop around as well. It's great to be back in the blogosphere.

To my American friends, Happy 4th of July!

Stepping Back

Hello, friends! I'm taking a break from blogging for a bit in order to try to get the ideas popping around my head into some kind of coherent story.

Take care and best wishes, all!

January IWSG: New Year and New Magic

Hello, friends! It's hard to believe it's time for the first 2019 meeting of The Insecure Writer's Support Group. 2019! How did we get here already? My blog is officially 8 years old now, which is also hard for me to believe. It's been an amazing 8 years thanks in no small part to all the wonderful people who make up this group, which was founded by our Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh. To view list members and this month's co-hosts, visit the IWSG page here.

It's safe to say 2018 was not a productive year for me writing-wise, and as December came to a close I was grumpy and mired in the type of defeatist thinking that has plagued me for as long as I can remember. I was certain that 2019 would be the same, as well as 2020, 2021, 2022, and so on. In short, I had decided that I would surely never write again and I was a moron for ever thinking I could do it in the first place.

But then I was going for a run back in my favorite park and out of nowhere I had some new ideas come and sit on my shoulder and whisper in my ear. They were ideas for the story I've been working on forever and ideas for stories I'd never thought of before. I started feeling warm and fuzzy and tingly with adrenaline. I couldn't wait to get home to write down the ideas and start exploring them.

By total coincidence, I started reading the latest selection for the IWSG book club, Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, that evening. I was amazed to discover that the title of her book refers to her own experience with having ideas and inspiration arrive unbidden. She likens it to the excitement felt when first falling in love, and views it as a form of magic. Big Magic.

While reading I thought of my experience back in the park and the excitement that coursed through me and decided I agreed with her. It was magic! And it was magic I haven't felt for far too long, as any writing I have done recently has felt more like a chore than like something I love to do.

So now I'm planning to ride this magic wave into 2019 and work on these ideas that have taken up residence in my head. I'm thrilled to feel excited again!

Happy New Year! I hope 2019 is a year filled with lots of magic and joy for all of us.

IWSG: A Killing in Kennecott & Some Very Messy Medieval Magic

Hello, friends! Today is the June meeting of The Insecure Writer's Support Group. The group was founded by our Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh. To view list members and this month's co-hosts, visit the IWSG page here.

I'm feeling great today as it's the first time in a long time I've actually been excited about writing and blogging. I can't even count how many times in the past few years I've been close to throwing in the towel on both. I'm so glad I didn't!

Last month I didn't even post because I was so annoyed that I got nowhere on my A Window Box in Paris story during my April CampNaNo attempt. But then I decided to go back to my Alaska story and to my astonishment I actually finished it.

I'm so thrilled to be able to share that after three years and countless changes, so many that the story now bears almost no resemblance to the one I started with, A Killing in Kennecott, the third book in my Polar Night series, is done! I've had my trusted readers read it and they've given me great feedback, so all I need to do is go through one final round of revisions and edits. I'm so excited!

I've already talked to my publisher about the story and they are interested in it, so I can't wait to have it polished and ready to submit. It feels so good to be excited about writing again.

Now I'm feeling inspired to return to my Paris story yet again and I feel like I can finally make progress on that as well. Fingers crossed! 

I also want to help spread the word about the new book from C. Lee McKenzie, Some Very Messy Medieval Magic. The book was released last month by Dancing Lemur Press and is another great book from Lee! Everyone who knows Lee knows she is one of the nicest bloggers around so I'm happy to have the opportunity to share her latest. Congratulations, C. Lee!

SOME VERY MESSY MEDIEVAL MAGIC

By C. Lee McKenzie

Pete’s stuck in medieval England!

Pete and his friend Weasel thought they’d closed the Time Lock. But a young page from medieval times, Peter of Bramwell, goes missing. His absence during a critical moment will forever alter history unless he’s found.

There’s only one solution - fledgling wizard Pete must take the page’s place. Accompanied by Weasel and Fanon, Pete’s alligator familiar, they travel to 1173 England.

But what if the page remains lost - will Pete know what to do when the critical moment arrives? Toss in a grumpy Fanon, the duke’s curious niece, a talking horse, and the Circle of Stones and Pete realizes he’s in over his young wizard head yet again...

Release date – May 15, 2018
Juvenile Fiction - Fantasy & Magic/Boys & Men
$13.95 Print ISBN 9781939844460
$3.99 EBook ISBN 9781939844477

C. Lee McKenzie has a background in Linguistics and Inter-Cultural Communication, but these days her greatest passion is writing for young readers. When she’s not writing she’s hiking or traveling or practicing yoga or asking a lot questions about things she still doesn’t understand. http://cleemckenziebooks.com

Links:
Barnes & Noble - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/some-very-messy-medieval-magic-c-lee-mckenzie/1127622061?ean=2940154648575
Kobo - https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/some-very-messy-medieval-magic
iTunes - https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/some-very-messy-medieval-magic/id1324257652?mt=11
Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Some-Very-Messy-Medieval-Magic/dp/1939844460/
Kindle - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079V72G8R
Foyles - http://www.foyles.co.uk/witem/childrens/some-very-messy-medieval-magic,c-lee-mckenzie-9781939844460
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37537343-some-very-messy-medieval-magic

First IWSG of 2018!

Hello and Happy New Year! Today is the day for the monthly meeting of The Insecure Writer's Support Group, founded by our Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh. To view list members and this month's co-hosts, visit the IWSG page here.

I would like to be able to say I feel motivated and ready for a productive 2018 writing-wise but unfortunately that would be a lie. I spent December like I spent most of the past year - not doing anything constructive related to writing or blogging, I didn't even get the story I planned to write for the December WEP hop finished. 😞

But when I thought back on 2017 overall I realized that it was a good year in ways that had nothing to do with writing, and I was reminded of something I read on Nicki Elson's blog back in December. She wrote that she "enjoyed separating from my writer-self and seeing that I'm still a whole person without it." 

I can't say that I enjoyed not doing much writing, as I found it frustrating, but I did enjoy recognizing that, like Nicki, I'm a whole person without it too. I enjoyed finding new interests, like running, and getting back to old ones, like reading. My job changed in all good ways and I am feeling more productive and happy at work than I have in quite a while. And most importantly I spent lots of great times with loved ones, topping that off with the best Christmas I've had in years.

So while I'm insecure about my writing slump I am trying to balance that with gratitude for the fact that I have lots of other things in life to feel good about. I hope my writing mojo will return but I am trying not to stress about it. I have learned that the more I try to force it the more I wind up with nothing but a blank page.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and a great end to 2017. Here's to a fantastic 2018 for all of us!

IWSG and Keeping Things Simple

Hello and Happy April! Today is the day for the monthly meeting of The Insecure Writer's Support Group, founded by our Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh. To view list members and this month's co-hosts, visit the IWSG page here.

Last month I wrote about returning to writing simply for the love of it and I'm happy to be able to say I have been able to do just that. I've been working on a sequel to Polar Night and Polar Day and I have been taking it slowly and enjoying the process. I'm excited about the story and it's been fun to delve back into Alaska as a setting. I am totally enchanted by that place and I hope that I can visit there one of these days.

The Ghost Town of Kennecott, Alaska (WIP setting) 

In the spirit of keeping things simple, I've decided not to try and start up a new blog as I had planned to do with my All in For Animals site. It was a mistake to try something new when I was already feeling sluggish in terms of writing and blogging. I don't have the energy to devote to another site so I am letting that go for now. If I have any fun animal things to write about I plan to just do so here as I have in the past.

I've decided to only set two goals for myself for the rest of 2017. I want to finish my WIP, titled A Killing in Kennecott, and I want to complete the running training program I've been doing for the past month or so. I am enjoying it and the exercise is good for me both physically and mentally.

I've learned that writing to-do lists and setting weekly or monthly goals or daily word count challenges doesn't work for me at this time in my life and they are demoralizing rather than motivating. So for now I'm simply going to enjoy the writing and enjoy the running and try not to stress about either one.

My first A to Z badge (warm fuzzies!)

To all working on the A-Z Challenge, good luck and enjoy!! Even though I'm not taking part this year I still get the warm fuzzies about the challenge each year at this time. Taking part in my first challenge in 2011 was the best blogging decision I've ever made and I will always be grateful to those who have made this great event possible through the years.

IWSG & All In For Animals

Hello and Happy 2017!! It's the first Wednesday of the year, which means it's time for the January meeting of The Insecure Writer's Support Group.

2017 - wow! I started this blog back on December 31, 2010 but really started posting in January of 2011. I can't believe it's been 6 years. What a wonderful ride it's been, with membership in this group being one of the highlights.

The Insecure Writer's Support Group was founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh in 2011 and has grown to include upwards of 200 members. If you'd like to join in, visit Alex's site here for a sign-up list and to see this month's co-hosts.

My main insecurity this month is about starting my new project at All In For Animals, which is my new blog dedicated to animal rescue and welfare issues. Getting started with Wordpress.org has been more complicated than I expected, but I think I've finally got it now and I've been able to get the site up and running. Now I just have to write for it! I do have my first post up, but I know I have tons of work to do to get my ducks in a row for future posts and topics.

Still, I'm more excited than I am nervous since I'm devoting time to two of the things I love the most - animals and writing. I hope I can make this venture work. I definitely don't plan on using this blog to advertise my new one, but I thought I'd share a link now since I'm just getting it off the ground. If you're interested in checking out my new space, find me at AllInForAnimals.com.

I hope everyone had a good holiday season and I wish you all a very Happy New Year! Here's to lots more writing adventures for all of us.

Getting Back to Blogging & Celebrating the Small Things

For the past six or eight months I've been going through serious "blogging fatigue" and I had almost come to the point of just scrapping the blog altogether. But in the past week I've come to some writing-related decisions and one of them was that I did not want to give up on blogging. As time has gone by I've realized I've missed it and I knew that if I did quit, I would really miss the relationships I've been lucky enough to develop and the camaraderie that exists around the blogosphere.

Once I decided I definitely wanted to get back to blogging I couldn't think of a better way to do that than by re-joining the Celebrate the Small Things hop. I used to participate this hop and am looking forward to being part of it again. The hop is hosted by my buddy Lexa Cain and co-hosted by L.G Keltner at Writing Off the Edge, Tonja Drecker at Kidbits, and Katie at The Cyborg Mom. Visit Lexa's blog here to see what to do if you want to join in the hop yourself and to see the list of participants.

So what am I celebrating this week?

1. I'm thrilled to have finally come to some writing decisions as far as future projects, which I'll share in next week's IWSG post. In turn, I'm thrilled that those decisions made me realize how much I have missed blogging. I'm celebrating being back in blog land!

2. The X-Files is back! I enjoyed the show's return and look forward to the rest of the episodes. It was fun to have Mulder and Scully back on my screen. If you're an X-Files fan like me you may be interested in the post I wrote about my favorite episodes on Untethered Realms a few weeks back.

3. This really isn't a small thing, for my family it is a BIG thing for sure, but I'm celebrating the fact that we are taking my mom out for her 88th birthday this weekend. Not only is she turning 88, she's celebrating a year of remission from her cancer. She is happy and healthy and doing so well that I can't really believe how far she has come in a year.

Now to hop around and see what everyone else is celebrating. Happy weekend, all!

IWSG & The Reader by M. Pax

It's hard to believe it's the December meeting of the IWSG, hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh, and yet here we are at the end of another year. If you'd like to join our monthly meetings, click here and add your name to the list. New members are always welcome! Also, be sure to check out the IWSG website, as it is a gold mine of helpful information.

Now that it's almost time to say so long to 2015 I've been reflecting a bit on the year and realize I've became stagnant professionally over the last several months. I haven't met most of the goals I set and I've also felt stuck and uninspired for a good part of this year. So I know I need to make some changes in order to shake things up and get myself back in a good writing groove.

I don't know exactly what those changes will be but I have some ideas I'm going to try. It's all a bit nerve-wracking but I also exciting because I want and need to get out of this rut I've been in for far too long now.

When I began this blog five years ago I had achieved some personal goals and wondered "What Else is Possible?" Now it seems I'm back to the question that started this whole blogging adventure.

It's been an amazing five years but I know it's time for me to make some changes and set some new goals. In other words, it's time for me to ask what else is possible again.

Today I'm also helping to spread the word about the latest release from M. Pax, The Reader. The Reader is the third book in The Rifters series, and this is a series you don't want to miss. If you haven't already delved into the Pax universe you are missing out!

The Reader info:

Links: 

 Amazon
AmazonUK / AUS / CA / DE / FR / ES / IT / NL / JP / BR / MX / IN

Bookcessories 

iBook / Nook / GooglePlay / Kobo / Smashwords / inktera / Scribd

Blurb: 

With the rift closed for the season and no more monsters to fight, Daelin Long gets bored as librarian in the podunk town of Settler, Oregon. A job interview and her brother’s arrival present a tempting opportunity to escape, until her brother and her best friend, a ghost, disappear.

While Daelin searches for them, more mysteries pile up: dead people coming back to life, portraits of the town founders replaced with strange white trees, and people on the other side of the rift returning. It’s impossible. The portal that allows monsters from other universes to come to Earth is sealed until next summer.

The Rifters, a secret group protecting our world, believe the troubles are nothing more than the tantrums of an offended ghost. Daelin disagrees. If she’s right, the evil hell-bent on destroying Earth has new technology making the rift more deadly.

Before the monster summons the next apocalypse, Daelin must find it and destroy it.

Book 3 in the Rifter series.

Need to catch up? You can read books 1 & 2 in the Rifter series for free by becoming an M. Pax Reader. ENTER MY DIMENSION

Reviews

“The world Pax creates here is like the Wild West meets Ghostbusters with some Stargate and a bit of Steampunk thrown in. Even though everything seems a bit familiar, it’s not, which is what makes it compelling.”CHOOSE YOUR OWN END

“This book catapults the reader right in mid-events and, like Daelin, one is forever trying to figure out the ins and outs of the situation. Though readers have one advantage in that we are prepared to believe. However, what in some books can be annoying, becomes an enjoyable ride, where you are constantly excited to see where the plot will take you next. I really enjoyed the slightly wacky and off center world of Settler.” AMAZON

S is for Staircase

"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole STAIRCASE, just take the first step." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. 

This is another quote that was a mantra for me when I started this blog and my writing journey. After four + years I still can't see the whole staircase, but I'm excited to imagine what I might find at the top. 

IWSG and A is for Animals

It's April and the start of another A to Z Challenge. This is round number five for me and I'm excited to kick off my A to Z of favorite quotes. I'm also happy to start the alphabet with one of my favorite subjects. What else could I pick for A but animals?

"Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms" ~ George Eliot 

This has long been one of my favorite quotes even though I'm not sure how true it is. My Clancy has no problem being critical, and letting me know just how he feels, when I keep making him sit to have his picture taken. 

And as for Nate, being a cat, passing criticisms is basically part of his DNA. ;) 

Still, the quote captures the beauty of our relationships with our animal friends and just how lucky we are to have them in our lives.

We are also doing the A to Z Challenge over at Untethered Realms. Stop by there all month for quick and fun teasers from our books!

Of course, the first Wednesday of the month means it's also IWSG day. IWSG is the brainchild of Alex J Cavanaugh and gives all of us a chance to air our insecurities or lack thereof each month in a supportive and encouraging environment. If you're not already a member and would like to join in, just click here and add your name to the list!

I'm happy to be able to say that I am not really struggling with any insecurities this month. A total miracle! But I am still feeling excited about writing and blogging again and I think my months-long slump really is over, so I'm happy about that. I think April is going to be a great month. :) 

Happy April, all! 

A Change of Mind by Nick Wilford, Reviving the Blog, and The AtoZ Challenge Theme Reveal

As has been clear to anyone who has visited here, this blog has been on life support for months now. If not for the IWSG and promo posts for friends, I probably wouldn't have been blogging at all. My heart just hasn't been in it.

But a crazy thing happened this weekend. I was walking in the park with Clancy on Saturday morning and suddenly I was inspired to get back to the story I had intended to write for the second Untethered Realms anthology, Mayhem in the Air. I had abandoned any hope of finishing the story a few weeks ago as I couldn't focus on it any more than I could any other writing.

When I got home from the park all I wanted to do was write. I sat down and did just that for most of the day and I can't even say how great that felt. I finished the story yesterday morning and as soon as I did I wanted to write something else. And I wanted to blog.

I want to bring my blog back to life and I can't think of a better way to do that than by joining the AtoZ Challenge. So I just signed up yesterday and I'm so excited about it! This will be my fifth challenge and I know it will also be a great one. It's funny as I have been totally against joining the challenge this year since before the sign-up list was even posted but now I've done a complete 180. It feels so good to actually want to blog again!

When I first started this blog I listed several favorite quotes and many of them remain on the side of the page. I've always loved quotes so for this year's AtoZ my theme is going to be favorite quotes, with photos to go with them.

I'm looking forward to checking out everyone's themes and also to celebrating another crazy April with you all!

We are also going to be doing the challenge as a group over at Untethered Realms, so visit us there for quick and fun teasers from our various books and stories.

I'm also excited to be sharing the cover for Nick Wilford's upcoming release, A Change of Mind and Other Stories. Congratulations to Nick!!

Here is all the info on the book:

Title: A Change of Mind and Other Stories

Author: Nick Wilford

Genre: Contemporary speculative fiction

Cover Design: Rebekah Romani

Release Date: May 25^th 2015

A Change of Mind and Other Stories consists of a novella, four short stories and one flash fiction piece. This collection puts the extremes of human behaviour under the microscope with the help of lashings of dark humour, and includes four pieces previously published in Writer’s Muse magazine.

In A Change of Mind, Reuben is an office worker so meek and mild he puts up with daily bullying from his boorish male colleagues as if it’s just a normal part of his day. But when a stranger points him in the direction of a surgeon offering a revolutionary new procedure, he can’t pass up the chance to turn his life around.

But this isn’t your average surgeon. For a start, he operates alone in a small room above a mechanic’s. And he promises to alter his patients’ personality so they can be anything they want to be…

In Marissa, a man who is determined to find evidence of his girlfriend’s infidelity ends up wondering if he should have left well alone.

The Dog God finds a chink in the armour of a man with a megalomaniacal desire to take over the world.

In The Insomniac, a man who leads an obsessively regimented lifestyle on one hour’s sleep a night finds a disruption to his routine doesn’t work for him.

Hole In One sees a dedicated golfer achieving a lifelong ambition.

The Loner ends the collection on a note of hope as two family members try to rebuild their lives after they are torn apart by jealousy.

Bio

Nick Wilford is a writer and stay-at-home dad. Once a journalist, he now makes use of those rare times when the house is quiet to explore the realms of fiction, with a little freelance editing and formatting thrown in. When not working, he can usually be found spending time with his family or cleaning something. Nick is also the editor of Overcoming Adversity: An Anthology for Andrew. You can find him hanging out on his blog or on Goodreads or Twitter.

Preorder Links: Amazon US, Amazon UK

Add it on Goodreads

A 99 Cents Sale & Changing Things Up

All of my books, including the just released Polar Day, are on sale for 99 cents this week on Amazon Kindle. You can find a link to each book, as well as the other Ink Smith books on sale, at the Amazon sale page here. If you're interested in any of my books now is a great time to check them out. :)

Also, it's no secret that I've been in a major slump and haven't been able to get any writing accomplished in months. I seem to just be constantly distracted by various things in my life and I can't focus.

So I thought instead of continually beating my head against this wall I've found myself at I'd try focusing on some different kinds of writing for a while and see if that can help me get some motivation back.

To that end, I signed up to help with the Be the Change for Animals site and write for their action alert newsletter. I thought this would be a good way for me to get back to writing about one of my original interests while also learning about causes I can write about in more depth either here on my blog or elsewhere. I'm excited to get started with the project.

I also went to a meeting last weekend of the regional chapter of Sisters in Crime and I really enjoyed it. The chapter is small and they are looking for help with writing content for their blog and website, something I said I would be glad to try. It will be a totally new experience for me to work with something like this and I'm looking forward to trying my hand at it.

So I'm hoping that trying some new things will help jump start my writing and I can get back to enjoying writing and blogging again. I also hope to take Clancy on some little day trips now that the weather seems to have finally turned a corner, as I would love to go back to the Travels With Clancy posts I used to do. I don't know how much Clancy will enjoy more trips but I know I will. I have a feeling he won't like the idea at all.

I think I got it in my head that I had to write another book immediately and when I couldn't do that I simply became discouraged and couldn't focus on writing anything at all. I realize though that I was being silly and it would make more sense to enjoy what I do have instead of worrying about what I'm going to do next. I have several book signings and conferences coming up this year and, unlike last year when I was a nervous wreck about them, I'm actually excited for them now and don't feel nervous about the panels at all. So I want to focus on enjoying those events and stop beating myself up about needing a little break from fiction writing.

But speaking of fiction writing, stop by the Untethered Realms blog tomorrow for a group post about the movies or television shows that have inspired us as writers. My entry is about a certain high school girl who battled vampires.

I hope you all enjoyed the weekend and have a great week coming up! If anyone is willing to tweet or share about my 99 cents sale I'd be very grateful!

Claudia Must Die and Happy Holidays

Today I'm excited to share the new release by TB Markinson, Claudia Must Die. Congratulations, TB! If you don't already know TB you should really check out her work. She is a prolific and talented writer and a super nice person to boot. 

One quick note before I get to the book. I don't think I'll be blogging the rest of the month so I want to say Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Year now! I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season. I am getting back on track with writing and blogging and life in general and I'm looking forward to starting fresh on the blog in January.  

And now to the book!

Blurb:

Claudia doesn’t feel like herself anymore—she feels like prey. Her husband’s hired goons have stalked her all the way to Boston and will only stop their pursuit once she is dead.

Divorce is not an option. Instead, she has stolen a bunch of her man’s money to disappear into another life.

In order for Claudia to live, someone else must die. A lookalike college student becomes the target capable of freeing her from an awful marriage. 

The plan goes horribly awry. Instead of murdering Claudia’s double, the assassins shoot the woman’s lover who is the cousin of a powerful Irish mobster. Claudia becomes hunted by all involved. Can she survive? Should she? 

Excerpt:

At first, everything had been roses and wine. When others warned her about Dennis, Claudia laughed it off.
“Use your head,” Claudia’s mother had said. “How could a man in his early thirties make so much money owning a handful of run-down bars in two small towns in the West?”“What, you think he’s a drug dealer or something?” Claudia had broken into hysterics. “He hardly looks like a gangster, Mother. Dennis doesn’t wear any jewelry. Not even a wedding ring.”
In Claudia’s mind, a gangster would at least wear a gold necklace. And, he had excellent table manners. There was no way Dennis could be a thug. How many scrawny five-foot-six guys were?
         They had married after seven months. Neither had intended to marry so quickly, but they had visited Vegas for a long weekend, got drunk, and got hitched. It wasn’t until Claudia moved into Dennis’s house that she started to notice things. He wouldn’t come home for days, and when he did, he refused to tell her where he had been. He racked up a lot of mileage on her car, not his. When Claudia asked about it, his reply was a cold stare that made her legs feel like jelly. Granted, one of his bars was in Greeley, but that was only a twenty-minute drive from their home in Loveland. How did the miles add up so quickly?         After a year, they started to fight constantly. Verbal arguments. After another year, the fights turned violent. Claudia ended up in the hospital—still nothing serious enough for her to walk out. Not yet. Instead, she started hoarding cash. In the beginning, it was a little bit here and there. It was simple. Claudia would request cash back when she used her debit card at the grocery store. Dennis liked her cooking; he never questioned how much his wife spent on food. When she realized her embezzlement plan would take years, not months, The Hunted chose a more drastic solution. The next time her husband crossed the line … 

Purchase links:

Amazon (US)   /  Amazon (UK)

About the author: 

T. B. Markinson is an American writer, living in England. When she isn’t writing, she’s traveling around the world, watching sports on the telly, visiting pubs in England, or taking the dog for a walk. Not necessarily in that order. T. B. has published A Woman Lost, Marionette, and Confessions From A Coffee Shop.   

Mailing List:

Sign up to TB’s New Release Mailing List here. Your email will never be shared and you will only be contacted when a new book is out.

Links:

Twitter        Facebook        Blog        Goodreads     Amazon Author Page

Best of luck to TB and Happy Holidays to all! See you in January. :)