by Angela Smith | Dec 6, 2013 | Introspective
Welcome to today’s post, featuring Lara Reznik’s The Girl from Long Guyland. Be sure to comment and follow the tour!
$50 Amazon gift card will be awarded to one randomly drawn commenter.
Laila Levin enjoys a successful marriage and a thriving career as an I.T. executive in Austin, Texas, but she can’t quite shake her lifelong sense of not truly belonging anywhere.
When her company announces a major layoff, Laila finds herself caught between an unscrupulous CEO and her promiscuous boss. Then news of her college roommate’s suicide stirs up a dark secret involving three devious friends from her past. One has betrayed a vow, another wants to rekindle their romance, and the third is out for revenge.
Suddenly for Laila, it’s 1969 again. She’s only seventeen, and she’s left her sheltered home in Long Island for college in Connecticut. Amid protests of the Vietnam War, she’s tempted by the sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll that rule her generation. Laila gets swept up in a deceptive love triangle with two older locals and initiated into their unethical hippie family. Too late she realizes her search to belong has led to tragedy.
Laila must now juggle the demands of her perplexed husband and her baby boomer past forcing her to make choices that endanger her survival and challenge her conscience.
She learns that the lines between right and wrong are often blurred, and sometimes you have to risk everything to be true to yourself.
Excerpt…
CHAPTER ONE
Lost in Texas
Austin, Texas, 2012
A couple dozen stars and the eye of a yellow moon pierce light through a sky filled with smoke. I look out the broken window to the ground below. Crumpled in the weeds is a lifeless body with red-flecked eyes, a bushy mustache, and sweet smile.
Vapor seeps into the room. I can barely breathe. Ben wraps his arms around me as I weep. Denise lies in a catatonic state perched on the bed. Why is she only wearing her bra and panties?
Chris stumbles inside the room. His eyes glow like diamonds. He cranes his head out the window. “We gotta do something, man.”
“I’ll call for an ambulance,” I say.
Ben gulps, “That’s not a good idea.”
“We have to,” I insist. “For Godsakes.”
He’s dead, Laila,” Chris says.
Tears sting my eyes.
WITH A JOLT, I awake whimpering. The nightmare has infested my dreams for years. It may be time to see a shrink.
The anxiety subsides when my husband Eduardo arrives with a cappuccino and the morning paper. “Are you okay? It sounded like you were crying.”
I clear my throat. “No, no, I’m fine. Just a dream, I guess.” I’ve never discussed these recurring nightmares with him. Eduardo’s got his own problems. He was recently laid off in a corporate downsize and refuses to talk about it. There’s lots of tension in our home right now. Maybe we should both see a shrink.
Author Bio:
Lara Reznik grew up on Long Island but escaped to New Mexico in 1970 in a Karmann Ghia that she and her boyfriend jump-started cross-country. As an English major at the University of New Mexico, Lara studied under esteemed authors Rudolfo Anaya and the late Tony Hillerman. She also attended a summer program at the prestigious Iowa Writers Workshop.
Ambidextrous from birth, Lara preferred her right-brained creative side, but discovered she could make a better living with her left-brain skills, so entered the I.T. field in 1985.
Lara published her first novel, The Girl From Long Guyland in November 2012. The novel ranked #1 during its recent Amazon Kindle promotion and has over 115,000 Kindle downloads. In addition to her novels, Lara has written and optioned three screenplays that have garnered semifinalist and finalist wins in the Austin Heart of Film, Southwest Writers, TV Writer, Chesterfield and Writer’s Digest contests. Currently, Lara is working on a new novel based on her screenplay, The M&M Boys.
LINKS
AMAZON LINK:
http://www.amazon.com/Girl-Long-Guyland-ebook/dp/B00A45OYD0/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1369930673&sr=8-1&keywords=THE+GIRL+FROM+LONG+GUYLAND
FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/LARAREZNIK23?ref=hl&bookmark_t=page
WEBSITE
https://www.larareznik.COM
by Angela Smith | Dec 5, 2013 | Introspective
Welcome to Today’s Blurb Blitz Tour!
MaryAnn will be awarding an autographed print copy of the book (international giveaway) to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. Click on Banner for more stops, or find it here at GoddessFish.
Instead of feeding her late-night appetite, a midnight food run nearly gets 28-year-old Katherine O’Brian killed. She’s the only person to see the man who brutally murdered a local woman, and the killer is hell-bent on making sure she doesn’t talk.
Scott Mitchell left a broken engagement behind when he moved to Reno, and the last thing he needs is more melodrama. But when he and Katherine are paired for a college project, that’s what he gets. It can be very distracting when someone is out to kill your lab partner. Together, they try to figure out what the police haven’t been able to—the identity of the murderer. Passion flares, but with Katherine’s life in danger, romance seems like more than a bad idea.
Scott and Katherine will face jealousy, misunderstandings, lust, and rivals, not to mention attempted murder—and all before their first real date.
Excerpt…
The following night, Katherine got a call from Scott.
“Hey, I did some research on the lady who got killed.”
“Oh, good.”
“Don’t get your hopes up. I probably didn’t find out anything you didn’t already know. I’m gonna come over.”
“Okay, I’ll see you in a little bit.”
Five minutes later, Scott arrived. He walked to the kitchen table where Katherine was sitting.
“Hey,” he said, “so here’s what I have so far. The woman’s name was Jeanette Churchill. She’d lived in the house for twenty years. She worked for a company called CTS. The police say it’s being treated as a robbery gone badly. ”
“That’s it?”
“No. I know a few people who work where she did, reliable people. They say there were rumors she was embezzling from the company.”
Katherine sat forward, her elbows resting on the table. “Do you think the police have heard those rumors, too?”
“Well, they wouldn’t have heard them from the people I know, but yeah, it’s likely they have.”
“Sounds like a motive for murder to me.”
“Sure, but she’d worked for that company twenty years, so I’m not sure I’d believe she was stealing. Plus, if she was, it seems like the obvious killer would be the owner, and he’s a real big shot. The people I’ve talked to seem to think he’s the person most likely pulling in favors and putting pressure on the police to find her killer.”
Katherine looked skeptical. “But if that’s the case, wouldn’t it be kind of risky to fund an investigation into a murder you committed?”
Scott sat down across from Katherine. He pulled his coat off before answering. “This isn’t the movies. I don’t know if she was stealing or not, but I think the police are probably right. Someone tried to rob her and something went wrong. I have a friend who’s a cop. Not in Reno, but maybe he can find something out.”
“Amy said they have a suspect. Did you hear anything about that?”
“No, I didn’t hear anything like that.”
“Thanks for all this, Scott.”
“Aw, I didn’t do anything. So, you and Michael—you two hitting it off?” he said, trying to sound casual.
“So far. He does wear me out, though.”
“Please, no details—you’re like a sister to me.”
“That’s not what I meant, you perv. I just mean when we get together, it’s usually for something active.”
“When are you going to buy a bike? It’s great weather right now for biking, not too hot, not too cold. I go out as often as I can, which isn’t often enough.”
“I can’t afford a nice bike right now. Maybe when I get my tax refund back. I get out plenty enough as it is. You know, Michael actually talked me into going kayaking on the Truckee River.”
“Are you nuts?”
“Hey, it’s nearly April.”
“In two months!”
“Close enough, and it’s been warmer than usual this year. We did go to see a show downtown. At least that was indoors.”
“Again? Didn’t you two go see a show not that long ago?”
“Yes, we’ve been twice now, and I don’t know how many more half-naked people wearing feathered headdresses I can take.”
“Feathered headdresses, huh? You haven’t gone kinky on me, have you? Please say yes, please say yes.”
“Yeah, real kinky. We even have safe words. Mine is sugar cookie. Who has time to be kinky anyway? Except for the shows, we hardly spend any time indoors. How’s Verna?”
“Fine. She likes to read those real-life crime books, so if I mysteriously kick the bucket—”
“I’ll thank her,” said Katherine, laughing.
About MaryAnn Kempher
MaryAnn Kempher’s writing is infused with romance and mystery. Her love of romance stories goes back to her teen years spent living in Reno NV where Mocha, Moonlight, and Murder is set. MaryAnn’s travels have taken her to beautiful cities in Italy, Southeast Asia and the sultry desert country of Qatar. She met her husband on one of her romantic misadventures. She has two children and currently lives in Florida where she and her family share their home with two dogs and a cat. Her writing influences include favorite authors Jane Austen and Agatha Christie. She’s also a huge fan of the Hercule Poirot mysteries.
Her guilty pleasures include any and all sweets, including a good cup of Mocha.
For more about MaryAnn Kempher, visit mkempher.com
Buy Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Mocha-Moonlight-Murder-MaryAnn-Kempher-ebook/dp/B00CD4AYVG
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mocha-moonlight-and-murder-maryann-kempher/1115124644
by Angela Smith | Dec 2, 2013 | Introspective
A lot of hearts were broken Saturday night when the news announced Paul Walker’s death. I had clicked on the internet and saw it on the homepage of MSN, so my first thought was that it wasn’t a hoax. Usually you’ll see a hoax on Facebook or Twitter or another small news site first.
I screamed. “No, no, no!” My husband came running, and we spent the next hour looking up everything to see if it was a hoax.
I’ve suffered loss, even tragic loss, and I know there’s no amount of words or outpouring of love that can make it go away. Ever. My heart goes out to his family; my heart goes out to the driver’s family. I want to especially say a quick honor to the driver’s family. He wasn’t as well known because his celebrity status wasn’t as Paul’s was, but I know he was as well loved by many and will be missed.
Right now, even though I am just one of many millions of fans, I am suffering through the denial stage of grief. I don’t want to believe it’s true. His family and close friends and the people he worked with have to face the reality that they will never see him again.
I wasn’t sure if I’d write anything at first and really didn’t feel comfortable doing so. Writing it means I’ve accepted it, or at least acknowledged it, and I was worried that writing about a man I had only watched on the big screen would be disrespectful to the ones who knew and loved him. I would never want to disrespect those suffering such loss.
However, I got to thinking that to remain silent could also be a form of disrespect. When the shock fades and reality hits, it’s always good to read about how a love one affected others in a positive way. A lot of people who have never met him loved him, whether it was just the character he played or the person they thought he was. He was a huge inspiration to many of the heroes I have written about in my stories or even those I planned that haven’t been written. He could in fact have played one or two had my books ever become movies. My husband and I watched and owned every single Fast and Furious movie and yes many of his movies I watched I first watched them because he was in them. He was a huge inspiration to many.
Next, the New York train crash was another stark reminder of just how much we have to be thankful for. The fact we got up this morning, the face I can sit here and type. It could all be taken away from us in an instant. This morning, over a fog riddled sky, I stopped a moment to appreciate the beauty of the sunrise through my oak tree.
So today, I want to honor Paul Walker, Roger Rodas, and the victims of the New York train crash by taking a moment in silence in remembrance and honor of them all. Then I will make my contribution to the charity Paul founded, Reach Out Worldwide, to honor him and his friend and many others who have lost their lives in such tragic accidents. Some of those tragic accidents are what this charity was founded upon. We can’t let such a charity be forgotten.
by Angela Smith | Nov 26, 2013 | Introspective
This Thanksgiving, I have so much to be grateful for, and I have some super exciting news to share!
Burn on the Western Slope received a 5 heart review by the Romance Studio!
And . . . Amazon.com chose Burn on the Western Slope to be part of their Kindle Big Deal promotion starting December 8-22. So if you haven’t decided whether or not you want to read the story, Dec 8-22 would be a perfect opportunity to download it for less than a dollar! (or a dollar and some change with tax). What a fantastic way to treat yourself this holiday season, for next to nothing!
I just completed my 3rd book in this series and sent it on to my Beta Reader for her comments and critiques. Meanwhile, I’ve been (semi) participating in NaNoWriMo. While I might have slowed down in my word count, my idea is (basically) plotted and ready to go. The way I participate in NaNo (my friend says I’m crazy) is to write by pen and paper in a notebook. This notebook way is a very rough and outlined draft but once my ideas meld as much as they will, I’ll then start rewriting into my computer. I have so many ideas, I just wish I had time for them all!
I hope you’ll take the time out to appreciate the things around you and in the hectic season ahead, take the time out to spend with your family, and also time for yourself.
Happy Thanksgiving!
by Angela Smith | Nov 18, 2013 | Introspective
At a writer’s meeting the other day, an author was asked what the best piece of advice she’d give her younger self, and it mimicked what I’d tell myself if I knew then what I know now.
“Finish the damn book.”
She said she spent years putzing around, doing other things, not writing, wasting time. She worked full time but ended up wasting a lot of time, and I could relate to everything she said. I, too, spent years putzing around. Sometimes I catch myself still trying to hang on to this dreadful habit. Oh my, I had a long, hard day at work and I’m brain dead. There’s just too much other stuff going on right now.
Yep, putzing around.
She didn’t truly start pursuing publication until after she was able to retire from her full-time job, and as much as I’ve told myself I might ever be truly clear-headed enough to keep writing until after I retire from the job I’m at now (I have another five years and I’m eligible) the fact is I just don’t want to wait that long.
And I shouldn’t wait that long to pursue something I love.
So I balance the two. NaNoWritMo (NaNo for short, which means National Novel Writing Month) has helped me get back into a writing routine after all the work involved in getting my first novel published and the other three in the series edited and ready to submit. The goal is to complete a 50,000 word manuscript in one month. For me, that’s a first draft since my novels are generally longer, but I can get a first draft at 50,000 words. Still, it’s a lot of writing and a lot of pages! I love it, and hate it, but even if I only get three pages out of my goal of ten, I feel pretty good about my production.
Again, it’s a balance game.
Many writers hold down a full time job, and many in addition to children and the myriad things that go along with raising children. So what’s a writer to do? Well, you know, get up earlier. You can spare fifteen minutes. Write on your lunch break.
You make time to do what you love.
My job, like many, can be emotionally draining. My mental state sometimes when I get home from work is overtaxed. That’s when I should get lost in my writing, but it isn’t always easy. The transition isn’t always easy.
Exercise, yoga, walking, photography. There are many healthy ways to make that transition, but sometimes it takes hours, the rest of my brain cells are depleted for the day, and I’m just ready for bed or a good snuggle on the couch with TV or a book.
That’s why I believe mornings are the best time to write. And when I get into my funk and don’t get up in the mornings, it makes the rest of my day really bad. It makes me less able to handle the things that pop up at work.
But again, we gotta make time to do the things we love. Whether it’s getting up earlier, staying up later, or just choosing not to “putz around”.
by Angela Smith | Nov 3, 2013 | Introspective
http://www.masqueradetours.com/p/burn-on-western-slope-by-angela-smith.html
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