Introducing Sworn to Ascension by Terah Edun!

Saturday, February 28, 2015

Meet Terah Edun

Terah Edun is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of epic and urban fantasy. Her favorite writers include Mercedes Lackey, Tamora Pierce, Kristin Cashore, Robin Hobb and Maria Snyder.

Connect and Socialize with Terah!


Sworn to Ascension by Terah Edun (2015)
Length: 307 pages
Purchase your copy from Amazon!

Sworn to Ascension Blurb: 

Ciardis Weathervane is officially engaged to one man and bonded to a second. She should be planning the wedding ceremony, bearding the nobles of the imperial court in their dens, and exposing an imposter emperor. Instead she’s spending her engagement on the lawless road to the western lands.

Now with the help of a guide from a tribe of seers, Ciardis is traveling to the ancient city of Kifar. Rumored to hold the only device capable of stopping the blutgott, Ciardis, Sebastian and Thanar must break a half-century’s old quarantine in order to enter the fabled city.

But the collar of Diamis is not the only thing they seek. The princess heir’s pet wyvern lurks in wait for them and the emperor, who has done everything short of challenging the new triad of Algardis outright, wants its head on a platter upon their return.

If the unscrupulous bandits don’t make short work of them, Ciardis knows that when they return she and Sebastian will have to a face and unmask the man who has stolen the imperial throne. The only question that remains...will that be before or after they’re forced to battle a god?


May you read well and often

Introducing Animal by Nikki Rae!

I'm delighted to announce that Nikki Rae's latest horror novel, Animal has just been released today! Yes, Ms. Rae's new adult book is now available to download from Amazon -  so grab your own copy today! I had the pleasure of reading the three-part novella, The Donor by Nikki Rae, from July to October in 2014 and here are my reviews in July of 2014, August of 2014 and October of 2014. I'm also looking forward to reading Animal by Nikki Rae sometime very soon.

Meet Nikki Rae

Nikki Rae is a writer who lives in New Jersey. As an independent author, she has appeared numerously on Amazon Best Seller lists and she concentrates on making her imaginary characters as real as possible. Nikki writes mainly dark, scary, romantic tales, but she’ll try anything once. When she is not writing, reading, or thinking, you can find her spending time with animals, drawing in a quiet corner, or studying people. Closely.

Animal by Nikki Rae (2015)
Length: 405 pages
Purchase your copy from Amazon!

Animal Blurb:

Ava has spent her life running from the monsters that lurk in the shadows, always the prey. She finally thinks she can settle down, have a normal life, and work on not being so scared of the world around her. That is until she runs into her worst fear.

He has finally found the potential family he has always wanted. All he has to do is make his little bird sing. Will Ava escape with her humanity intact?



May you read well and often

Ashley Fontainne - Growl

Friday, February 27, 2015

8. Growl by Ashley Fontainne (2014)
Length: 294 pages
Genre: Horror
Started: 20 February 2015
Finished: 27 February 2015
Where did it come from? Many thanks to Dorothy at Pump up Your Book for sending me a copy of this book to read.
How long has it been on my TBR pile? since 7 January 2015
Why do I have it? I like horror and Ashley Fontainne is a new author for me.

Eighteen-year-old Sheryl Ilene Newcomb - and yes, her initials do happen to spell SIN - should have little to worry her beyond whether or not she will make the cheerleading squad, missing her boyfriend who is away at basketball camp, and lending a sympathetic ear to her lovelorn best friend. Instead, for the past nine years, Sheryl has been living with a secret. According to her family, the transformation - or whatever it might have been - could probably be traced back to events that happened during the summer when Sheryl turned nine.

That was the year that her elderly great-grandmother died, and when Sheryl's nightmares of the mysterious Shadow-Man started. It was also the year that Sheryl determined no one would ever learn the gruesome details about her Nana's death, nor that Sheryl was convinced that she was in some way responsible. After all, Sheryl had witnessed Nana's mauling, somewhere deep in the woods, and had done nothing to stop it - had she?

However, for the Newcomb family, the day when they truly realized there was a problem - when they had reached the point of no return - was a week before Sheryl began her senior year at Junction City High. That was when the mutilated bodies began appearing in the brush down beside Caney Creek, along with the notes claiming to know Sheryl's terrible secret and warning that the notes' author would soon come to collect what was due - warning that the women of the lineage were going to be eradicated at the hands of their worst enemy.

For eighteen-year-old Sheryl Ilene Newcomb, that was the summer when the fangs and claws of an undeniable monster ravaged all that she held dear; the summer when everything changed and the monster deep inside her soul was unleashed. Because that was the summer when evil awoke and everyone heard its menacing growls. Every living thing in Locasia County, Mississippi quaked in fear, hearing such ominous rumblings.

I really enjoyed reading this book. The plot was very well-written and interesting; I was drawn into the story right away. The character and story development had me intrigued until the very end - I found myself really connecting with Sheryl and I hoped that she and her family would come through everything relatively unscathed.

This was also an unusual treatment of lycanthropy and of werewolves in general; at least in my opinion. This was the first book that I ever read by Ashley Fontainne, but I look forward to reading more in the future. I would certainly give Growl by Ashley Fontainne an A!

A! - (90-95%)

May you read well and often

Book Blast For Half Moon Girls by Corinne O'Flynn

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Hello Everyone! I hope that you're all having a wonderful day today. I'm so glad to welcome Corinne O'Flynn author of Half Moon Girls, to Emeraldfire's Bookmark. Ms. O'Flynn is a successful young adult fantasy author in her own right, and has recently joined the lineup of incredibly popular authors who all have written novellas that take place in the same world as Toby Neal's Lei Crime Series. This is also my nineteenth Book Blast post ever, but I still hope that I do Half Moon Girls by Corinne O'Flynn justice.

The author is also doing an awesome giveaway - she is giving away 2 $25 Amazon GiftCards as the grand prize and 5 additional lucky entrants will win an ebook copy of her fantasy novel The Expatriates to  at the end of her Book Blast. Be sure to fill out the Rafflecopter form below, and I wish you all the very best of good luck in taking part!

About Half Moon Girls:


Even paradise has a dark side…

When Detective Leilani Texeira begins investigating a murder on Kaua`i, she’s struck by one thing: the victim looks like her. As Lei battles dark memories stirred up by the likeness, a friend calls, worried that her daughter didn’t come home last night. Lei soon discovers that the dead girl and the missing girl were friends and last seen together the previous day.

Can she conquer her demons and capture a killer in time to rescue the captive?

Purchase Your Copy From Amazon!

Meet Corinne O'Flynn


Corinne O'Flynn is a native New Yorker who now lives in Colorado and wouldn't trade life in the Rockies for anything. She loves writing flash and experimenting with short fiction. She is a scone aficionado, has an entire section of her kitchen devoted to tea, and is always on the lookout for the elusive Peanut Chews candy.

When she isn't writing, Corinne works as the executive director of a nonprofit. She is a member of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, Mystery Writers of America, and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

Connect with Corinne!


Book Blast Giveaway of $25 Amazon Gift Cards Ends April 24, 2015.

Terms and Conditions:
  • Please leave an honest review of Half Moon Girls on Amazon, here.
  • Leave a comment, here, with the title of your review
  • Enter the Rafflecopter.
The contest will close on Friday, April 24th. Thank you for entering and good luck!!
If you’d like to get word via email of future contests, giveaways, or releases, subscribe here.

ENTER TO WIN!




May you read well and often

A Moment With Author Kathryn Meyer Griffith on the Reissuing of Her Apocalyptic Masterpiece, Before the End: A Time of Demons and Angels

Monday, February 23, 2015

So, I'm delighted to announce that Kathryn Meyer Griffith will be rereleasing her apocalyptic masterpiece, Before the End: A Time of Demons and Angels some time in early June. This will be a reissuing of her 2010 horror novel, Before the End: A Time of Demons - it is newly revised and with a completely redesigned cover. I had the distinct pleasure of reading Before the End: A Time of Demons by Kathryn Meyer Griffith back in July of 2010, and here is my review. In anticipation of the June reissuing of Ms. Griffith's Before the End: A Time of Demons and Angels, I'd like to repost a guest post that she very kindly wrote for me in July of 2010.

Meet Kathryn Meyer Griffith

Since childhood I’ve been an artist and worked as a graphic designer in the corporate world and for newspapers for twenty-three years before I quit to write full time. But I’d already begun writing novels at 21, over forty-two years ago now, and have had twenty (ten romantic horror, two horror novels, two romantic SF horror, one romantic suspense, one romantic time travel, one historical romance and three murder mysteries) previous novels, two novellas and twelve short stories published from Zebra Books, Leisure Books, Avalon Books, The Wild Rose Press, Damnation Books/Eternal Press; and I’ve self-published my last five novels with Amazon Kindle Direct and my dinosaur novels are my best-sellers.

I’ve been married to Russell for thirty-six years; have a son, James, and two grandchildren, Joshua and Caitlyn, and I live in a small quaint town in Illinois, which is right across the JB Bridge from St. Louis, Mo. We have three quirky cats, ghost cat Sasha and Cleo, and live cat Sasha (Too), and the five of us live happily in an old house in the heart of town. Though I’ve been an artist, and a folk singer in my youth with my brother Jim, writing has always been my greatest passion, my butterfly stage, and I’ll probably write stories until the day I die…or until my memory goes.

2012 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* for my horror novel The Last Vampire - Revised Author’s Edition ~ 2014 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* for my thriller novel Dinosaur Lake.

Synopsis from Goodreads: 

The world has always been divided into good and evil…and some humans are called to fight for one or the other. If you’re called…would you fight?

Cassandra Graystone and others like her are born to battle the proliferating demons as the end-of-days approach. She is fated to receive the sword of the angels, warrior-beings who will stand beside her as she battles the demons for herself, her family, friends, and for the last remnants of humanity - for afterwards those remaining will have one last chance to save their souls. They must fight and they must win. 

Since she was a child she knows and sees things other people don’t…when someone will die or when a demon lurks beneath a human skin. She sees them. Yet she craves a normal life singing out with her musician brother, Johnny, and caring for her elderly aunt and uncle; to be with her friends, Sarah, a psychic, and Walter, a carnival clown. 

But when Sarah sees apocalyptic events in Cassandra’s tarot cards and demons are everywhere, Cassandra fears she’s either going insane or something terrifying is truly happening in the world. Rayner, an ancient blood demon is obsessed with her. Never having felt pity or affection for a human before he believes he loves her. The demon realm gathers for the final confrontation, Rayner warns. 

The apocalypse comes. You and your friends must prepare. Cassandra flees that knowledge until an angelic being, Manasseh, tells her: Your powers will grow. Fight for humanity’s survival after the first wave is taken and seek out others like you. Persuade them to join the battle. 

Only these chosen can see and challenge the demons until the end when all eyes will be able to see them. She doesn’t want her life to change, be anyone’s protector, doesn’t want to be a nomad who battles demons…until catastrophic events force her to and she can no longer deny her destiny. She and her friends must take to the road; they must fight…or see the remnants of humanity consumed in flames.

Coming to Amazon on 8 June 2015!


I would like to welcome Kathryn Meyer Griffith, author of Before the End: A Time of Demons and Angels to Emeraldfire's Bookmark. Ms. Griffith was kind enough to write a guest post for me back in July of 2010 and here it is below in her own words:

'Why I Wrote A Time of Demons'
by author Kathryn Meyer Griffith
(First book of the Before the End Series

Around 2003 or so, as many times before in my roller coaster thirty-nine year long writing career, I had about given up. Again. I had eleven published novels (mostly romantic horror and horror) and six short stories to my name published between 1984 and 2003 with Leisure, Zebra, and Avalon Books.

In 2003 I’d had a dark murder mystery called Scraps of Paper from Avalon Books come out, had finished the second All Things Slip Away in the series for them. I was proud of the mysteries and the books themselves. The two had fairly decent, but mundane covers, and were hardcovers…my first. I believed the novels were my best so far. Contemporary and simple, but people loved the characters and the quirky town they lived in I’d tongue-in-cheek called Spooky. The price was steep, I thought though, at $26 dollars each. But I’d already seen the writing on the wall. I’d gotten a $1,000 advance for each but there was this sneaky little clause in their contracts I’d learned that said I wouldn’t see a dime more of royalties until 3,500 books were sold. That alone would probably keep me from seeing any more money – unless the books were run away hits and more would be printed, or other rights would be sold. That rarely happened I’d been told by other authors for they only printed about 1,750 units at a time and that meant it would have to go into a third printing to gain me anything else. And Avalon didn’t usually go after outside subsidiary rights of any kind. Of course, over the years, though both books have had great reviews, A’s really, neither book has gone into a third printing. Oh, well. As warned, I haven’t seen another penny though the novels still seem to be on sale everywhere. Everyone loves them and wants a third. No way. I’ll wait until my long ten year contracts are up before I write another Spooky town mystery for Avalon Books. You live and learn. It seems like over my career I’ve had a lot of such lessons to learn. Ha.

Anyways, I’d missed my horror genre so much and had been thinking for a while about this new book of mine. Oh, okay, yes, I said I was ready to throw the towel in…but stupid me, I never do. When will I learn? It all started with a tiny seed. Two characters. Siblings. These characters, a loving brother and sister, Cassandra and Johnny Graystone, would be nightclub playing musicians who’d lost their whole family (five brothers and sisters and a mother and father) twenty years before and in the present would be living with and taking care of their elderly aunt and uncle. The aunt would have Alzheimer’s and the uncle, age catching up with him, would be frail, as well. They’d be Catholic. As I’d been raised. The uncle would believe the end days had come. Cassandra would be happy with her life singing out with her brother and living with her sick aunt and uncle. Until…she’d begin to know when people were going to die and she’d begin seeing these hideous creatures - demons - hiding behind some of her human audiences’ faces; bad things would start to happen around her, and she’d think either she was going insane or something terrible was happening to the world.

Turns out her uncle was right. The end days had come. I saw demons and angels swirling around her that only, at first, she would see. Then I saw her with a glowing sword that she’d use in battles with other human soldiers of her kind she’d meet along the way fighting a growing horde of demons. The apocalypse not far behind.

Ah, it would be an apocalyptic novel. That’s it. But one with heart; characters you could root for and love, more a layman’s view of the biblical end-of-days, and not near as much preaching as The Left Behind series which I’d read years before and liked.

Since I’ve always wanted to write an end-of-days novel –I’d loved Stephen King’s THE STAND so much– the story had taken firm root and wouldn’t leave me alone until I started writing it. I had to. It would be my masterpiece! The book called to me that strongly.

The woman eventually discovers she is one of many who will have powers to see and fight demons, with the help of angels, as the end days draw near. She must seek out others like herself and convince them to join the fight. She must begin to battle the powerful evil entities she alone is aware of, as well. In the process I send her, her brother, aunt and uncle, and their friends, on a rousing but dangerous quest across the country in a RV…after tornadoes and demons destroy their homes. The world is falling apart around them. Catastrophic earthquakes, tornados and hurricanes are everywhere. A rise in terrible human crimes…most caused by demons or demonic influences. But I tried to make it a story of family and human love as well as a survival story in the face of overwhelming odds as the world spins to its end.

Many agents, editors and publishers turned it down. Too religious. Not religious enough. Not enough this, not enough that. .. I wasn’t a big enough writer. How dare I write something on such a huge religious scale. Oh, no, you have angels in it? Oh, no, you have demons in it! Whatever. But I believed so much in the book I didn’t give up. I kept sending it out.

In 2010 I finally sold it to Kim Richards at Damnation Books, her brand new publishing company (and now she also owns Eternal Press and Realms of Fantasy Magazine). She read and loved it. She got it. By then I’d also finished another horror novel, more a romantic horror tale about a witchy vampiress resurrected from her Civil War era tomb and now haunting her old home, an atmospheric lovely bed and breakfast run in the present by a loving husband and wife. The wife has to fight to save her husband’s life when the vampiress believes he’s her reincarnated soldier/lover from the Civil War days and tries to take him back for her own. A real eternal love story. A dangerous love triangle. Of course dead drained corpses show up all over the place. I called that book The Woman in Crimson. Kim loved and contracted both of them.

An editor, Lisa Jackson, helped me polish up A Time of Demons until it shone and Annie Melton created a striking, scary, cover in vivid scarlets with the two main characters at their microphones and a demon-hiding-behind-its-human face customer at a nearby table.

So that’s how the BEFORE THE END: A Time of Demons was given life. Hopefully, in the next few years I’ll write the second novel in the series…when I get all my old Leisure and Zebra paperback books (going back to 1984) all rewritten and out again between June 2010 and July 2012. Kim offered to reissue all ten of them, revised and with astonishingly striking new covers, and I couldn’t say no. It’s been a heck of a lot of work, but a labor of love. What writer wouldn’t want a second chance to make an old book a better one and have it rereleased all over again? Not me, for sure. Grin.

And A Time of Demons? Since its release last May it’s gotten fantastic reviews (see there all you naysayers!) and has even won the She Never Slept’s 2010 Nightmare Award, as one of the three best romantic horror books they’d read in all of 2010. Yeah! Now if more people would give it a try, a read, I’m hopeful they’d like it, as well. It’s far more than a simple horror or religious parable…it’s a family and earthly human saga. All I can do is pray, hope…and promote, promote, promote!

I’ll never give up. How can I? It’s my masterpiece. As my mom used to say, winners never quit and losers never win. And me, I’m not a quitter. Or I try not to be. Sometimes the crazy book/publishing world can drive me plumb nuts. But I always get over it. Grin.

So thank you all for letting me ramble on and on…warmly, author Kathryn Meyer Griffith

- Kathryn Meyer Griffith, author of Before the End: A Time of Demons
- Visit my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1019954486
or my Myspace page at www.myspace.com/kathrynmeyergriffith

May you read well and often

Book Blast For Days of Future Past by Sally Smith O'Rourke

Saturday, February 21, 2015


Hello Everyone! I hope that you're all having a wonderful day today. I'm so glad to welcome Sally Smith O'Rourke author of Days of Future Past, to Emeraldfire's Bookmark. Ms. O'Rourke is currently on a Book Blast tour with Book Blast Tours, hosted by Kathy with I'm a Reader, Not a Writer, and lasting through the end of the month of February. This is also my eighteenth Book Blast post ever, but I still hope that I do Days of Future Past by Sally Smith O'Rourke justice.

The author is also doing an awesome giveaway - she is giving away a $50 Amazon Gift Card/Paypal Cash to one lucky winner at the end of her Book Blast. Be sure to fill out the Rafflecopter form below, and I wish you all the very best of good luck in taking part!

About Days of Future Past:


It is by no means an irrational fancy that, in a future existence, we shall look upon what we think of as our present existence, as a dream. - Edgar Allan Poe

Fate sometimes conspires to right a decades-old wrong. And the 6.8 earthquake that strikes Southern California one warm March night is the fateful event that brings family therapist Ann Hart and trauma specialist Ted McConaughy back together. In search of her cell phone after the tremor, Ann picks up a shard of vintage cut glass from a collection she and her husband gathered during the four years of their marriage. For the millionth time she thinks about the day six years ago when he disappeared on a search and rescue mission in the Sierra foothills.

Sitting atop the shattered crystal, a small silver cigar lighter glistens in the beam of her flashlight. Gently she returns the Victorian piece to the shelf. What does it mean that something she and Ted, her ex-fiancé, bought together survived when Alex’s beautiful glass is smashed to dust? Ann tells herself that it doesn’t mean anything more than glass breaks and silver doesn’t.

Sara Jane McConaughy has never experienced a strong earthquake, and as her father comforts his 16-year-old daughter, his mind is flooded with memories of the Northridge quake in 1994. He was living with his fiancée, his ex-fiancée, and even after all these years he doesn’t know what caused the split, but he always loved her. And he’d been sure she loved him.

Volunteering with the American Red Cross in the aftermath of the earthquake brings Ann and Ted face-to-face for the first time since their break-up, twenty years ago. Angry, flustered, excited, and bewildered by Ted’s sudden appearance and unusual behavior while she’s teaching a small group of people relaxing exercises, Ann demands he leave. Just as excited and bewildered, Ted rushes away. His exit leaves both of them wondering about...everything. The earthquake (or is it seeing Ann?) ignites a series of recurring dreams peopled by total strangers in places Ted has never been.

Accompanied by short lapses of time and sleepwalking, the dreams take a heavy toll on his waking hours. Sara Jane’s concern sends Ted on a quest to discover the cause and find a cure. When all medical possibilities are exhausted, he turns to a colleague, whose diagnosis leaves Ted more baffled than ever. Tom Alderman believes that the dreams are memories of past lives. The lives live in his subconscious, and the cure is hypnotherapy.

After several months of suffering with these increasingly emotional recurring dreams, Ted turns to Ann for help. One of Ann’s specialties is hypnotherapy and since he must be able to trust the hypnotist, Ann is his only salvation. Ann’s agreement to try and help (at the urging of a mutual friend) sends her carefully regimented and calm life into complete turmoil. The garden gate they pass through together sends them on a journey that defies time and reason, forcing them to rethink their past, present, and future. Now, each must reconsider their capacity for love and forgiveness. Things are not always what they seem.

Praise For Days of Future Past:

“This author does an amazing job of interweaving the beauty of another day and age with the harsh modern world. Mystery lovers will be pleased, but the romantic and mystical, even supernatural fans out there, will be over the moon for this one.” ~ Amy Lignor

“From the intriguing dialogue to the expansive plot that wraps around a truly unforgettable couple, this book has it all!” ~ Feathered Quill Book Reviews

Purchase your copy:

Amazon * Barnes and Noble * Kobo * Smashwords

Meet Sally Smith O'Rourke


Sally Smith O’Rourke, a native Californian, lives in a small Victorian village in southern California. She is the author of the much acclaimed Yours Affectionately, Jane Austen, her first solo novel. She is also co-author with her late husband Michael O’Rourke (aka F. M. O’Rourke) of The Man Who Loved Jane Austen (Kensington Books, 2006), The Maidenstone Lighthouse (Kensington Books, 2007), and Christmas at Sea Pines Cottage (Kensington Books, 2009).

Previously, Sally worked on network television, feature films, and documentaries in science, medicine, and aviation. She owned and operated a medical advertising company with her late husband where they produced and wrote teaching films for major medical and surgical manufacturing companies. Additionally, they collaborated on two feature films (direct to video).

In addition to writing every day, she works as a surgical scrub nurse and enjoys sewing, cooking, baking, candy making, cake decorating, and spending time with nieces, nephews, step-children, and grandchildren.

Connect and Socialize with Sally!

Website * Facebook * Twitter * Pinterest

Book Blast Giveaway of $50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash Ends March 10, 2015.

Terms and Conditions:
  • Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. 
  • Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. 
  • No purchase necessary. 
  • You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. 
  • The winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. 
  • This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. 
  • The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. 
  • Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I am a Reader, Not a Writer and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. 
ENTER TO WIN!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Days of Future Past Excerpt:

Chapter Eight

Thursday, March 13

The courtyard of Toni’s building was unnervingly quiet. The terrarium-like space with a waterfall-fed pond and stream stood silent and dry. The earthquake must have damaged the water system in the building. It made him wonder if Toni would even be in her office. There was no one around, but the faint sound of clanging metal hammering metal indicated that workers were there.

The door to Toni’s office stood partially open. If she wasn’t there would her door be open? Perhaps her last patient left and the next had not yet arrived. His footsteps seemed to echo in the stillness of the landscaped atrium. He stood at the open door gathering his courage, finally pushing it open the rest of the way.

The office reminded him of a study or library in an English manor house. The centerpiece of the room was a large desk, mahogany perhaps. A dusty rose leather chair sat behind it. At one end of the large room was a conversation area. There was a small oval table separating a loveseat and two comfortable looking chairs. Knowing Toni, he suspected several of the pieces were antique.

There was no trite theme like ‘English Country Cottage’ and no obvious color scheme either. It wasn’t the usual therapist’s office with blue or yellow walls with decorations that theoretically created a calming atmosphere. Like Toni, this room was warm and inviting. It was a gift she had, making people comfortable.

He stepped into the office. At the other end of the room was a spiral staircase of highly polished wood which led to a loft surrounded by railings matching the staircase. He assumed the earthquake had caused the empty shelves that lined the balcony.

He strained to see if she was upstairs and took a few steps backwards until he bumped into one of the chairs in the conversation area. There she was, sitting on the floor stacking books after wiping them off with a cloth. The sun streamed through the skylight highlighting glints of copper in her hair. She was wearing it up, accentuating the curve of her neck. He remembered how the chestnut tresses looked when they tumbled in soft waves over her shoulders and down her back. He sighed.

He hadn’t really seen her yesterday, so he didn’t realize how lovely she still was...yesterday! That was why he was here, to apologize for whatever it was he’d done. He sat on the arm of the closest chair and cleared his throat.
Ann glanced over her shoulder assuming it was one of the workmen who had been coming in and out since she arrived. She couldn’t have been more surprised. She got up and went to the railing.


“How did you find me?”
He blew out the breath he’d been holding. “My powers of deduction are quite remarkable these days...you’re listed in information.”
“Oh.” Her stomach was suddenly tied in knots.
“When did you change your name?”
“I got married, if it’s any of your business.”
“I meant your first name.”
“Ann is more professional than Toni.”
“Toni suits you.”
“It suited the child I was. What do you want?”
“I want to apologize.”
“For what?”
“Yesterday.”


Eager for him to leave, she rushed to say, “Apology accepted.” She hesitated a fraction of a moment. “You can go now,” she said and started to turn away.
“I’d like to talk.”
“About what?”
“You could tell me what you’ve been doing.”
“I have no desire to have a conversation with you about anything, certainly not about my life.” She had the souvenir box from Big Bear in her hand, and she almost threw it at him, but controlled herself. “Look, I accepted the apology for your bizarre behavior yesterday, so why are you still here?”


Ted slipped off the arm of the chair into the seat. “Why are you so angry?”
She glared at him from her perch in the loft and could see in his eyes that he really didn’t know why. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, turning her back to the room. Why was she still angry after all these years? Uncle Jamie had tried many times to get her to purge the anger, but even through her happy years with Alex she held on to it. If she had a patient doing this, she’d be counseling to let it go. So why couldn’t she?


Her thoughts thus engaged and her back to the room she didn’t see Ted move from the conversation area to the foot of the stairs. She turned at the sound of an unfamiliar voice.
“Miss?”
Ann rubbed her eyes dry before turning. “What?”
Speaking with a soft Scottish brogue Ted said, “I would know your name.”
She stepped to the head of the stairs. “What?”
“Your name Miss, what is your name?”


Now, what was happening? Ted was standing there looking up at her, but it wasn’t Ted. What did that even mean? Assuming it would be like yesterday, she braced herself for another explosive confrontation. She looked into his eyes; it definitely wasn’t Ted looking back. What was going on? Whatever it was, she was concerned that he might become as volatile as he had been the day before so thought it best to play along until she could figure out what he was doing.

Slowly she said, “Ann Hart, my name is Ann Hart.”
He made a deep bow. “Andrew Mcnaughton, at your service, Miss Hart.” His mouth turned into a lopsided grin. “It is Miss, is it not?”
Baffled, but trying to elicit information, she sidestepped his question and asked one of her own. “How do you come to be here Mr. Mcnaughton?”
Continuing in the Scottish brogue he hesitantly answered, “The same way you did, Miss Hart. I boarded at Glasgow.”
“Scotland?”


He chuckled. Obviously it was Scotland for where else would they have been? “Yes. We left Glasgow under full sail at eventide yesterday, and with God’s speed shall arrive in Antigua three weeks hence.” He looked up at her rather quizzically and asked, “Are you in need of the ship’s physician, Miss Hart?”
Unsure what to say about any of it she asked, “Why do you ask?”


“As you are aboard a ship but have no memory of it, I thought perhaps you were in need of medical assistance.”
Still thinking that playing along would answer some questions she responded, “I am quite well, thank you, however, as you suggest I do seem to have lost some time. Can you tell me the date?”


“It is, as of the midnight hour, the tenth of May in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and five.”
A loud rap on the open door made both Ann and Ted turn. A man in gray work clothes looked up at her. “Saw your door standing open, Doc, wanted to check that nothing was amiss.” He looked through squinty eyes at Ted. “Are you all right?”


Ann looked down at Ted, who looked up at her. He was back. He was Ted again. She turned to the workman. “I’m fine. Thanks, Sam.”

Glaring at Ted, he said, “Okay, just makin’ sure.” He left, looking over his shoulder as he went.
Once the workman was gone, she asked, “What’s going on with you?”


Trying to recover gracefully, from what he wasn’t sure, he answered her question with, “What do you mean?” He glanced around. Before Ann could answer him he said, “How did I get over here?”
“You walked.”
“I guess I mean, why am I over here?”
“Well, you should say what you mean, and mean what you say.”


“Hmmm, I believe we’ve had that conversation before.” She couldn’t help but smile, remembering their first meeting.
She was about to ask him about his odd behavior again, when he cleared his throat and pulled the rose out of the pocket of his jacket. He took a few more steps up the stairs, and then held it out to her. “I brought this as a bit of a peace offering. It reminded me of you.”


His sporadic and peculiar behavior was pushed to a back burner, and curiosity now replaced her anger. Hesitantly she said, “It’s beautiful.” It was almost a question. Taking a few steps down, she accepted the proffered bloom, “I’ve never seen a rose this color. Where did you get it?”
“The Huntington Library.”
“I didn’t know the Huntington sold individual blossoms like this.”


Quietly and with downcast eyes he admitted, “I didn’t buy it, exactly.”
“Exactly?” Realization struck, and her eyes popped wide open. “You picked it!?! You stole it from the rose garden?”
He looked, for all the world, like a small boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Then she saw a smile come into his eyes that spoke of satisfaction. She couldn’t help herself; she laughed.


“I’ve never been given a pilfered rose before.” She smiled.
It was nice that she wasn’t angry about it. “I couldn’t resist it.”
“I could probably have your library membership revoked and have you banned permanently from even being allowed in.”
“But you wouldn’t, would you?”


Unable to deny her amusement, Ann conceded that she would not. The ‘girl on the swing’ clock chimed the half hour. Ted glanced at his watch.

“I need to go,” he said as he took the few steps still separating them. “It was wonderful seeing you again.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek then rushed down the stairs. At the door he turned back, “I’ll call you,” he said and left.

Ann’s mind was in complete turmoil. But when she calmed down and thought about it for a second, she found that she really enjoyed the exchange. She sat on the step in the middle of the staircase, and inhaled the fragrance of the rose. A pilfered flower. She shook her head, making no effort to stop the grin from spreading across her face. She was amazed at how comfortable it was being with him, but even more amazed that she wanted to hear from him.

May you read well and often

Blog Tour For The Ghostcrow: A Tale of Andor by M. K. Theodoratus From May 4, 2015 to May 29, 2015 - Come Join Us!

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Hello Everyone! I am extremely happy to announce that M. K. Theodoratus  will be touring the blogosphere to promote her dark fantasy novella The Ghostcrow: A Tale of Andor. This virtual book tour is being hosted by Pump up Your Book and will last from May 4, to May 29, 2015!

The Ghostcrow: A Tale of Andor Blog Tour Information:

Meet M. K. Theodoratus

Hooked by comic books at an early age, M. K. Theodoratus’ fascination with fantasy solidified when she discovered the Oz books by L. Frank Baum with his strong female characters. She has traveled through many fantasy worlds since then. When she's not reading about other writer's worlds, she's creating her own.

Most of her stories are set in the Far Isles where she explores the political effects of genetic drift on a mixed elf human population. Lately, Theodoratus has been setting her stories in an alternate world of Andor where demons stalk humankind.

A sixth grade English assignment started her writing. The teacher assigned a short story. Theodoratus gave her an incomplete, 25-page Nancy Drew pastiche which turned into a full novel by the next summer. She’s been writing happily ever after ever since…for four or five writing careers. Most recently she’s been concentrating of her Andor stories, set in an alternate world where demons and magic plague humans.

Her latest book is the supernatural fantasy novelette, The Ghostcrow: A Tale of Andor.

Connect and Socialize with M. K.!


About The Ghostcrow: A Tale of Andor:

Seeing ghosts has plagued Dumdie Swartz since early childhood.

Afraid that ghost guts might stick to her if she stepped through them, thirteen-year-old Dumdie Swartz still cringes when she encounters them.

Her strange attempts to avoid spirits create a lonely life.

Her sisters constantly mock her strange behavior, her parents are clueless, and her social life is zero. Dumdie finds solace working in a shared garden with her elderly neighbor, Mr. Carson. When teens from her high school steal pumpkins from his garden, Mr. Carson is hurt during the theft, and later, dies.

Dumdie’s life takes a dark turn.

She learns there are stranger things than ghosts, when she senses something evil living in Kyle, one of the boys who had raided the pumpkin patch. Kyle bullies Dumdie to scare her into silence. The more Kyle threatens her, the clearer she perceives the evil thing possessing him. Dumdie finds support in an unlikely group of girls who befriend her when she helps them with their costumes for the Pumpkin festival. During the festival, Dumdie’s fears explode when the thing possessing Kyle decides it wants to possess her.

Read an excerpt from The Ghostcrow: A Tale of Andor by M. K. Theodoratus!

Purchase your copy from Amazon and Barnes and Noble!


The Ghostcrow: A Tale of Andor Book Publicity Tour Schedule:



Monday, May 4 - Interview at Beyond the Books
Tuesday, May 5 - Guest Blogging at Mythical Books
Wednesday, May 6 - Interview at The Writer’s Life
Monday, May 11 - Book Review and Guest Blogging at Brooke Blogs
Tuesday, May 12 - Interview at Fantasy Pages
Wednesday, May 13 - Book Featured at Laurie’s Thoughts and Reviews
Monday, May 18 - Book Review at Emeraldfire’s Bookmark
Wednesday, May 20 - Book Review at I Smell Sheep
Wednesday, May 20 - Book Review at Hezzie-D’s Books and Cooks
Wednesday, May 20 - Book Review at Charles Reads
Monday, May 25 - Book Featured at Secret Southern Couture
Tuesday, May 26 - Interview at PUYB Virtual Book Club
Friday, May 29 - Book Review at IFUONLYKNEW

May you read well and often

Introducing the Cover For Animal by Nikki Rae!

Monday, February 16, 2015

Meet Nikki Rae

Nikki Rae is a writer who lives in New Jersey. As an independent author, she has appeared numerously on Amazon Best Seller lists and she concentrates on making her imaginary characters as real as possible. Nikki writes mainly dark, scary, romantic tales, but she’ll try anything once. When she is not writing, reading, or thinking, you can find her spending time with animals, drawing in a quiet corner, or studying people. Closely.

Animal by Nikki Rae (2015)
Length: 405 pages
Purchase your copy from Amazon!

Animal Blurb:

Ava has spent her life running from the monsters that lurk in the shadows, always the prey. She finally thinks she can settle down, have a normal life, and work on not being so scared of the world around her. That is until she runs into her worst fear.

He has finally found the potential family he has always wanted. All he has to do is make his little bird sing. Will Ava escape with her humanity intact?


Animal Cover Reveal:


May you read well and often

It's Friday the Thirteenth!

Friday, February 13, 2015

Hello everyone! Well, for some reason every time I tell my mom that it's Friday the thirteenth, she always says: "Unlucky For Some!" I wondered why she would say that, so when I was about thirteen or so, I asked her why she would always say that and she told me that was what her mother used to say to her.

My Grandmother died when I was still rather young - about six or so - but myself and my mom and dad were living in Rhode Island at the time. Anyway, my Grandma Marjorie's - mom's mom's - birthday was on December 13th, and every time her birthday fell on a Friday, she was ecstatic. She absolutely loved Friday the Thirteenth!

Unfortunately, last night, my computer crashed while I was doing some computer maintenance. I was deleting some extraneous files and programs and updating some of the others that I used more frequently. I was doing fine - almost done - until I attempted to reboot my computer to finish removing the software I didn't use anymore.

I turned my computer back on and discovered that my little darling had completely wiped the 'Windows Operating System', and that no matter what I did the computer wouldn't reinstall it. I was livid! Just angry with myself, because I knew that I hadn't downloaded any viruses or mistakenly installed any new software that was actually malware in disguise. I'm tremendously careful with my downloading and had just updated my Virus Protection Software recently.

Everything seemed fine from my side, so we've sent the laptop out to be fixed today at our local repair shop. My mom says she will go shopping tomorrow afternoon and perhaps pick me up an Apple IPad if I want. That seems like a good idea! ;)

May you read well and often

Calling All Book Reviewers!

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

So, I was delighted to learn recently that the first book in Kathryn Meyer Griffith's thrilling Dinosaur Lake Series, Dinosaur Lake will soon become permanently free to download on Amazon. In fact, Dinosaur Lake will become free to coincide with the release of the fourth installment of the immensely popular Jurassic Park franchise - Jurassic World - coming to theaters near you on Friday, June 12, 2015! I would advise you to grab your own copy of Dinosaur Lake by Kathryn Meyer Griffith as soon as possible! ;)

Dinosaur Lake by Kathryn Meyer Griffith is the first book in her Dinosaur Lake Trilogy, and I had the pleasure of reading Book 1 way back in March of 2014! Here is my review. You can also download the other two books in the trilogy - Check 'em out! ;)

Meet Kathryn Meyer Griffith

Since childhood I’ve been an artist and worked as a graphic designer in the corporate world and for newspapers for twenty-three years before I quit to write full time. But I’d already begun writing novels at 21, over forty-two years ago now, and have had twenty (ten romantic horror, two horror novels, two romantic SF horror, one romantic suspense, one romantic time travel, one historical romance and three murder mysteries) previous novels, two novellas and twelve short stories published from Zebra Books, Leisure Books, Avalon Books, The Wild Rose Press, Damnation Books/Eternal Press; and I’ve self-published my last five novels with Amazon Kindle Direct and my dinosaur novels are my best-sellers.

I’ve been married to Russell for thirty-six years; have a son, James, and two grandchildren, Joshua and Caitlyn, and I live in a small quaint town in Illinois, which is right across the JB Bridge from St. Louis, Mo. We have three quirky cats, ghost cat Sasha and Cleo, and live cat Sasha (Too), and the five of us live happily in an old house in the heart of town. Though I’ve been an artist, and a folk singer in my youth with my brother Jim, writing has always been my greatest passion, my butterfly stage, and I’ll probably write stories until the day I die…or until my memory goes.

2012 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* for my horror novel The Last Vampire - Revised Author’s Edition ~ 2014 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* for my thriller novel Dinosaur Lake.


Dinosaur Lake by Kathryn Meyer Griffith (2012)
Length: 451 pages
Purchase your copy from Amazon and Audible!

Dinosaur Lake Blurb:

Ex-cop Henry Shore has been Chief Park Ranger at Crater Lake National Park for eight years and he likes his park and his life the way it's been. Safe. Tranquil. Predictable. But he's about to be tested in so many ways. First the earthquakes begin, people begin to go missing, then there's some mysterious water creature that's taken up residence in the caves below Crater Lake and it's not only growing in size, it's aggressive and cunning and very hungry.

And it's decided it likes human beings. To eat.

And it can come up onto land.

So Henry, with the help of his wife, Ann; a young paleontologist named Justin; and a band of brave men, must not only protect his park and his people from the monster but somehow find where it lives and destroy it before it can kill again.

Now Dinosaur Lake by Kathryn Meyer Griffith is a 2014 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* in their Suspense/Thriller category.


Dinosaur Lake II: Dinosaurs Arising by Kathryn Meyer Griffith (2014)
Length: 248 pages
Purchase your copy from Amazon and Audible!

Dinosaur Lake II: Dinosaurs Arising Blurb:

Prehistoric creatures have again invaded Crater Lake National Park…and this time there’s more than one.

Henry Shore has been Chief Park Ranger at Crater Lake National Park for thirteen years now and thought the days when he’d had to fight a rogue dinosaur that lived in the caves below the lake were long over.

Until one of his park rangers, to save a visitor’s life, is in a deadly struggle out in the woods with a new breed of dinosaur worse than the last one. It’s as big as a man, but this one is a young one. And growing.

Then more of the creatures begin to show up everywhere, threatening people and destroying the tranquility and safety of his beloved park.

A tourist trolley filled with fifteen people is snatched up off the crater’s rim by another version of the younger one…but this one has grown into a giant with fangs, claws and a deadly tail. And this one has wings. Ugly Gargoyles, Henry calls them. For this one isn’t alone. They’re flying beyond the park’s boundaries into the neighboring towns.

So Henry, with the help of his son-in-law, a paleontologist named Justin, and a band of brave park rangers, and a few good soldiers, must not only protect his park and his people from monsters once more but find their lair and destroy it and them before the creatures kill again.


Dinosaur Lake III: Infestation by Kathryn Meyer Griffith (2014)
Length: 285 pages
Purchase your copy from Amazon!

Dinosaur Lake III: Infestation Blurb:

Chief Park Ranger Henry Shore has dealt with and fought real live dinosaurs at his beloved Crater Lake National Park for over six years. With the help of his rangers, a few brave FBI friends and army soldiers he’d been victorious over a prehistoric lake creature and years later some particularly fiendish, and clever, specimens of the flying variety. He and his newspaper publisher wife, Ann, thought their park was finally rid of the monsters and they could reclaim their tranquil life in a place they cherished.

Not so. For suddenly across the park new and even more malevolent mutant species of dinosaur begin to appear and create havoc, attacking the park’s visitors and threatening its peace. And this time the primeval scourge isn’t confined to just their park. The creatures have moved into the nearby towns, across the western United States and up into Canada.

They are so much more aggressive, smarter and hungrier than any that have come before and the infestation is spreading further and faster than Henry and Ann can even imagine. This time there’s no easy way to defeat the dinosaurs. There’s too many of them and they’re too devious. This time it’s full out war and the victor will someday claim Earth.

May you read well and often

Andra Watkins - Not Without my Father: One Woman's 444-Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace

Monday, February 9, 2015

7. Not Without my Father: One Woman's 444-Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace by Andra Watkins (2015)
Length: 220 pages
Genre: Non-Fiction
Started: 7 February 2015
Finished: 9 February 2015
Where did it come from? Many thanks to Dorothy at Pump up Your Book for sending me a copy of this book to read.
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 26 January 2015
Why do I have it? I like non-fiction and I have read and enjoyed To Live Forever: An Afterlife Journey of Meriwether Lewis by the same author in the past.

In March of 2014, to celebrate the release of her debut novel To Live Forever: An Afterlife Journey of Meriwether Lewis, Andra Watkins planned an ambitious journey of her own. She planned to walk the historic 444-mile Natchez Trace just as the pioneers did. Her trek would last for thirty-four days, at fifteen miles per day. Ambitious, perhaps almost impossible, but at the end of her monumental endeavor, Andra Watkins could claim the distinction of being the first living person to walk the entire length of the historic Natchez Trace - all the way from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee.

However, the question foremost in her mind was: Can such an epic adventure succeed without a hero? So, Andra decided that she needed a wingman; someone to cheer her on, inspire her, and help her to achieve the incredible goal that she had set for herself. To that end, Andra listed several potential names.

After striking out with everyone else in her life, Andra was left with her disinterested eighty-year-old father. And his explosive gas; his indelicate self-scratching; the blaring television, which competed nightly with the sleep apnea machine. Sharing a bathroom with a man whose gut obliterated his aim. To Andra, her plan was pure insanity: herself and her father, together in close quarters; for thirty-four days? If it were in any way possible; this was a recipe for true disaster, bound to derail rather spectacularly at any point along the way.

As she trudged along America's forgotten highway, Andra lost herself in despair and pain. Nothing went according to plan, and her tenuous connection to her father started to unravel. Through arguments and laughter, tears and fried chicken, father and daughter struggled to rebuild their relationship with each other before it was too late.

Amid the endlessly repetitive stories told enthusiastically to strangers; and the embarrassing instances of fatherly promotion of her novel, Andra invites readers to join her dysfunctional family adventure in this humorous and heartbreaking memoir that asks if one can really turn 'I wish I had' into I'm glad I did'.

I must say that I enjoyed reading this book immensely. In my opinion, this was a beautifully written story; poignant and funny, but also extremely moving. I was consistently reminded while I read this book that in everyone's life, no matter how difficult the relationship may become with a loved one, there are always certain special moments or memories that can never be forgotten. I give Not Without my Father: One Woman's 444-Mile Walk of the Natchez Trace by Andra Watkins a definite A! 

Andra has also set a challenge for her readers for this year: she wants us all to experience life, and to make a memory with that special someone for 2015! She would love to hear about her readers' special memories if they wish to share them with her at mystories@andrawatkins.com. Andra promises to read every submission that she receives and highlight them on her website.

A! - (90-95%)
     
May you read well and often

Calling All Book Reviewers!

Friday, February 6, 2015

Hello Everyone! I was delighted to learn recently that The Ice Bridge and Blood Forge by Kathryn Meyer Griffith were recently released as audiobooks. I've had the pleasure of reading approximately eighteen of Ms. Griffith's twenty-two currently published books. Of those twenty-two books, twenty of them have been released as audiobooks distributed by Audible.

The two newest releases are, of course, The Ice Bridge and Blood Forge by Kathryn Meyer Griffith. The Ice Bridge is narrated by Ashley Arnold and Blood Forge is narrated by Marilyn Ghigliotti. I haven't had the pleasure of reading either book as yet - although I hope to at some point in the very near future.


Meet Kathryn Meyer Griffith

Since childhood I’ve been an artist and worked as a graphic designer in the corporate world and for newspapers for twenty-three years before I quit to write full time. But I’d already begun writing novels at 21, over forty-two years ago now, and have had twenty (ten romantic horror, two horror novels, two romantic SF horror, one romantic suspense, one romantic time travel, one historical romance and three murder mysteries) previous novels, two novellas and twelve short stories published from Zebra BooksLeisure BooksAvalon BooksThe Wild Rose PressDamnation Books/Eternal Press; and I’ve self-published my last five novels with Amazon Kindle Direct and my dinosaur novels are my best-sellers.

I’ve been married to Russell for thirty-six years; have a son, James, and two grandchildren, Joshua and Caitlyn, and I live in a small quaint town in Illinois, which is right across the JB Bridge from St. Louis, Mo. We have three quirky cats, ghost cat Sasha and Cleo, and live cat Sasha (Too), and the five of us live happily in an old house in the heart of town. Though I’ve been an artist, and a folk singer in my youth with my brother Jim, writing has always been my greatest passion, my butterfly stage, and I’ll probably write stories until the day I die…or until my memory goes.

2012 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* for my horror novel The Last Vampire - Revised Author’s Edition ~ 2014 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* for my thriller novel Dinosaur Lake.

The Ice Bridge by Kathryn Meyer Griffith (2011)
Length: 254 pages
Purchase your copy from Amazon and Audible!

The Ice Bridge Blurb:

She’ll fall in love again…with a man and the island. Charlotte returns to her Aunt Bess and Mackinac Island, a quaint retreat that welcomes summer tourists and allows no cars to renew herself and write about the island’s ghosts.
She’s come to help Bess with her heartache, an ended love with Shaun, and to renew a friendship with neighbor Hannah.

In winter Mackinac closes down and everyone looks forward to the ice bridge that freezes across the Straits of Mackinac.

Until Hannah disappears into the icy waters crossing it.

Everyone says it’s an accident. But Charlotte and her admirer cop friend, Mac, don’t think so. Something isn’t right. Hannah was too smart to go off the path.

So it’s murder…but why…how…by whom? In the end, it’s Mac - and perhaps Hannah’s ghost - who saves Charlotte and Bess’s lives when the killer decides they’re too close to the truth and tries to kill them, too.

Blood Forge: Revised Author's Edition by Kathryn Meyer Griffith (2012)
Length: 248 pages
Purchase your copy from Amazon and Audible!

Blood Forge: Revised Author's Edition Blurb:

This gun was forged in hell…and brings hell to anyone who touches it. An ancient evil is trapped in the bowels of darkness deep below ground, enduring an eternity of loneliness and torment. Then it discovers a way, an escape, back into the world of men…in the form of a seductively beautiful .357 Colt Python revolver.

Forged in the damned fires of the underworld, hammered from the strongest but cursed steel, the gun and the entity that inhabit it are capable of immeasurable destruction and insidious evil. Anyone who comes in contact with it, even touches it, will find themselves staring into the muzzle of a loaded and sinister gun…and into the mouth of hell.

May you read well and often