Thursday, October 31, 2019

Save Him Book Trailer Blitz @wmhayes_author #booktrailer #booktrailerblitz #military #faith #thriller

Title: SAVE HIM
Author: William M. Hayes
Publisher: Independent
Pages: 245
Genre: Military Faith-based Thriller

Rydel Scott, a brilliant scientist working at a secret military lab, accidentally discovers a form of time travel while working on a project designed to save wounded soldiers in the field. Rydel’s sister, a woman of faith, tells Rydel on her deathbed that she has received a message from God. The message—save Jesus Christ from the cross.

And Rydel Scott travels back in time to do just that.

It is believed even the smallest change to the past can cause catastrophic repercussions for future generations. An elite military unit is sent back in time to hunt Rydel down before he can alter history and possibly kill millions in the process.

The unit and its commanding officers, Colonel John Adams and Unit Commander Ray Catlin, become divided. Catlin, a devout Catholic, claims he witnessed a miracle by Jesus upon arrival in Jerusalem and fervently believes in Rydel’s mission. Adams hasn’t believed in God since he was a boy and his only concern is the safety of the people in the present. They must now choose between the fate of Christ and the fate of present-day mankind.

They must decide if they will Save Him.

★★★★★ORDER YOUR COPY★★★★★

Amazon → https://tinyurl.com/y3veph29

Barnes & Noble → https://tinyurl.com/y4rw4sgm

______________________

William M. Hayes lives with his beautiful family in a small suburb in New York. His passion for writing became apparent in his twenties, and he dreams of retiring to a secluded beach house where he can write all day.

★ WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS: ★

Website → www.williammhayes.com

Twitter → https://twitter.com/WMHayes_Author

Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/WilliamMHayesAuthor/

# BOOK TRAILER BLASTS

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Character Interview: The Ninth Session's Dr. Alicia Reese @#characterinterview

thewriterslife 12:50 PM 0 Comments

We are really excited to have Dr. Alicia Reese here with us today at Blogging Authors! Dr. Reese comes from the inside pages of Deborah Serani's new book, THE NINTH SESSION. Take it away, Dr. Reese!

What is your name?

Dr. Alicia Reese

What do you look like?

Tall, long brown hair and brown eyes. I’m in my late 40’s.

Where are you today and what are you doing?

I’m at home, going over my notes for my graduate class in Psychoanalysis that I teach in Boulder, Colorado.

You come face to face with your worse enemy. How do you react?

I call on my clinical training and think about all the possible ways to deal with this person.

How would your parents describe you?

Kind. Quiet.

Who is your best friend?

My cat, Elvis.

Are you faith-oriented?

No. I’ve lost my faith and am struggling to find it.

Are you married or in a relationship?

I’m a widow. My husband of 15 years died recently from cancer and I’m still grieving.

Do you have children?

No. By the time we were ready to start a family, my husband, Ryan, got ill.

Inside the Book

Title: THE NINTH SESSION: A PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE NOVEL
Author: Deborah Serani
Publisher: TouchPoint Press
Pages: 190
Genre: Psychological Suspense/Thriller

BOOK BLURB:

Dr. Alicia Reese, a recent widow and a CODA – a child of Deaf Adults, takes on a new patient. Lucas Ferro reveals the reason for his consultation is that he wasn’t really open with his previous therapist. After gaining Reese’s trust, he shares aspects of his life that are clearly disturbing – experiences that create anxiety and panic, but also reveal horrifying psychopathology. Instead of referring Ferro elsewhere, Reese chooses to continue working with him, feeling reinvigorated by the challenge of his case.
As sessions progress, and Ferro’s disclosures become more menacing, Reese finds herself wedged between the cold hard frame of professional ethics and the integrity of personal truth – and learns just how far she’s willing to go, willing to risk and willing to lose to do the right thing.

★★★★★ORDER YOUR COPY★★★★★

Amazon → https://tinyurl.com/y6qz2sto

_____________________

Meet the Author

Deborah Serani is an award-winning author and psychologist who has been in practice for thirty years. She is also a professor at Adelphi University and is a go-to media expert for psychological issues. Her interviews can be found in Newsday, Psychology Today, The Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, The Associated Press, and affiliate radio programs at CBS and NPR, among others. Dr. Serani has also been a technical advisor for the NBC television show, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. The recurring character, Judge D. Serani, was named after her.

★WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS★

Website → https://www.drdeborahserani.com

Twitter→ https://twitter.com/DeborahSerani

Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/Dr-Deborah-Serani-227062310643715/

# CHARACTER INTERVIEWS

Tuesday, October 8, 2019

A Day in my Life at a Prosecutor's Office by Angela Smith

thewriterslife 12:00 AM 0 Comments

A Day in my Life at a Prosecutor’s Office

By Angela Smith

Lauren, the heroine in Dark Justice, works for the District Attorney’s Office. Since I have worked for twenty-one years at a DA Office, I thought it’d be fun to share more about what Lauren, and myself, does.

Lauren is the victim coordinator. Texas law requires all DA Offices to have a victim assistance coordinator, even if that is the actual District Attorney. Their duties are to assist victims, guardians of victims, or a close relative of deceased victims who are afforded certain rights in Texas. Although I am not the victim coordinator, my position as office manager and my long-term knowledge of the office often requires me to pretty much know everything.

So what does my daily life look like?

Since I’m a writer who also works a fulltime job, my morning has to start early. I wish I could say it always does and I always write such brilliant masterpieces before I go to work, but it doesn’t always work that way. Especially the older I get. I take longer to bounce back from a bad day unfortunately. It takes me less time to get ready now, but I’m usually rushing to get to work on time. Since I’m the office manager, I’m always available to answer questions or put out fires, even on my days off.

We walk into the door and enter a code to get into the office. Luckily, the building entry has bullet resistant glass and a coded door to get through after the reception area. It hasn’t always been that way. The day varies, sometimes with different types of court, but there is almost always a fire to put out. Sometimes it’s just computer or IT problems that I handle now that I’m the office manager.

In Texas, all evidence a DA Office has must be given to defense. The admin are responsible for that process, called Discovery, so we often see heartbreaking and unimaginable things as we prepare these files. We have a digital system now, so everything is scanned. It’s hard to distance yourself from the bad we see, and it can really affect us in our everyday lives. I know, because I’ve been there and I see it in the people I work with.

And sometimes, there’s cases you just feel aren’t guilty. With the evidence piled against Luke in Dark Justice, I’m not sure I would have been able to find him not guilty. Because of my job, I haven’t had to serve on a criminal jury, but I appreciate (and feel sorry for those) who have. It isn’t easy.

So maybe this post isn’t exactly a day in my life, but it’s an accumulation of what goes on. In Dark Justice, Lauren says “There are never any winners in my line of work. Someone always suffers… we also need to remember that the families of the accused are victims. Even though we don’t deal with them, we should stay compassionate and attuned to them.”

I am grateful that I haven’t lost my compassion. I feel compassion for victims, but defendants have families too. Sometimes a defendant is a perfectly good person who made a really bad decision or something just happened. It’s tough. And that is why (one of many reasons) I wrote Dark Justice.

I’m often asked what is my favorite book that I’ve written? And this might just be it.

As a writer, my biggest sense of advice for anyone who wants to write, paint, dance, or follow any other type of dream is to do it, do it consistently, and don’t give up. Get up early if you have to, practice on your lunch break if you have to. And always, always make time for creativity. Because creativity is what keeps us flourishing.

Thanks for reading and thank you to Blogging Authors for allowing me to guest post today! I’m happy to answer any questions you have about me or my books!

About the Author

Angela Smith is a Texas native who, years ago, was dubbed most likely to write a novel during her senior year in high school. She always had her nose stuck in a book, even hiding them behind her textbooks during school study time. Her dream began at a young age when her sister started reciting ‘Brer Rabbit’ after their mom read it to them so often. She told her mom she’d write a story one day and never gave up on that dream even though her mom was never able to see it come to fruition. By day, she works as a certified paralegal and office manager at her local District Attorney’s office and spends her free time with her husband, their pets, and their many hobbies. Although life in general keeps her very busy, her passion for writing and getting the stories out of her head tends to make her restless if she isn’t following what some people call her destiny.

★ WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS: ★

Website → http://www.loveisamystery.com

Blog → www.loveisamystery.com/my-blog

Twitter → www.twitter.com/angelaswriter

Facebook → www.facebook.com/authorangelasmith

Goodreads → https://tinyurl.com/y48996ej

BookBub → https://tinyurl.com/yxr9ezxy

About the Book:

Title: DARK JUSTICE
Author: Angela Smith
Publisher: Independent
Pages: 249
Genre: Romantic Suspense

BOOK BLURB:

She’s in love with her sister’s killer...

Lauren has loved Luke since first grade. They planned to marry—until he murdered her sister. The moment he was sentenced to prison, Lauren fled with her secret baby and made a new life. Now she’ll do anything to keep their daughter safe. But her hard won peace shatters when Luke is exonerated, and it sets her on a path of mixed emotions to discover the truth. Letting a killer into their tightly knit family is out of the question. Or is it?

She almost destroys her life by threatening his…

Prison stole his future with Lauren and twelve years of Luke’s life, so the last thing he needs from her is a knife in the back or a gun in his face. Lauren believes he killed her sister, and he has no plans to pick up where they left off. Luke can’t afford to trust her, but he wants nothing more than to convince her he’s worth fighting for.

Their daughter is in danger…

Luke is heartbroken when he learns they had a child together. Now his daughter is in danger. Lauren trusted the wrong person for far too long, but he hopes she’ll now trust him. Luke will risk everything to keep them safe. And Lauren will risk everything if she lets him into her heart.

★★★★★ORDER YOUR COPY★★★★★

Amazon → www.amzn.com/B07TZWHCC3

Barnes & Noble → https://tinyurl.com/y4j5n4yd

# Guest Posts

Monday, October 7, 2019

Book Teaser Trailer: Dread Pirate Arcanist by Shami Stovall @GameOverStation #booktrailer #bookteaser

thewriterslife 12:00 AM 0 Comments

Title: DREAD PIRATE ARCANIST
Author: Shami Stovall
Publisher: Capital Station Books
Pages: #437
Genre: YA Fantasy

While protecting the newborn griffins on the Isle of Landin, Volke Savan and his adopted sister, Illia, run afoul of the Dread Pirate Calisto, the same cutthroat who carved out Illia’s right eye. As a master manticore arcanist, Calisto’s strength and brutality are unrivaled. When Illia suggests they bring him to justice, Volke wonders if they’ll have what it takes to fight the corsairs on the high seas.

A fast-paced flintlock fantasy for those who enjoy How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell, Unsouled (Cradle Series) by Will Wight, and Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan.

Praise for the Frith Chronicles!

“Perfect for those who enjoy the Codex Alera series, the Homas Wildus series, and the Harry Potter series. Stovall is quickly becoming a name I look for.”

– Seattle Book Review

“An addictive series. Shami Stovall has produced a mesmerizing story of magic, intrigue, and true adventure.”

– ManyBooks

“Absolutely brilliant.”

– Archaeolibrarian

Now continue the Frith Chronicles with the second book, Dread Pirate Arcanist!

★Amazon —-> https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WK2H37L

Shami Stovall grew up in California’s central valley with a single mother and little brother. Despite no one in her family earning a degree higher than a GED, she put herself through college (earning a BA in History), and then continued on to law school where she obtained her Juris Doctorate.

As a child, Stovall’s favorite novel was Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell. The adventure on a deserted island opened her mind to ideas and realities she had never given thought before—and it was at that moment Stovall realized story telling (specifically fiction) became her passion. Anything that told a story, be it a movie, book, video game or comic, she had to experience. Now, as a professor and author, Stovall wants to add her voice to the myriad of stories in the world and she hopes you enjoy.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:

★Website: https://sastovallauthor.com/
★Blog: https://sastovallauthor.com/blog/
★Twitter: https://twitter.com/GameOverStation
★Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SAStovall/

# Book Teaser Spotlights # Book Teaser Trailer

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

New Release! Dead Reckoning by Caitlin Rother @caitlinrother #newrelease #crime

thewriterslife 12:00 AM 0 Comments

Title: DEAD RECKONING
Author: Caitlin Rother
Publisher: WildBlue Press
Pages: 504
Genre: True Crime

Tom and Jackie Hawks loved their life in retirement, sailing on their yacht, the Well Deserved. But when the birth of a new grandson called them back to Arizona, they put the boat up for sale. Skylar Deleon and his pregnant wife Jennifer showed up as prospective buyers, with their baby in a stroller, and the Hawkses thought they had a deal. Soon after a sea trial and an alleged purchase, however, the older couple disappeared and the Deleons promptly tried to access the Hawkses’ bank accounts.

As police investigated the case, they not only found a third homicide victim with ties to Skylar, they also uncovered an unexpected and unusual motive: Skylar had wanted gender reassignment surgery for years. By killing the Hawkses with a motley crew of assailants and plundering the couple’s assets, the Deleons had planned to clear their $100,000 in debts and still have money for the surgery, which Skylar had already scheduled.

Now, in this up-to-the-minute updated edition, which includes extensive new material, New York Times bestselling author Caitlin Rother presents the latest breaking developments in the case. Skylar, who was ultimately sentenced to death row for the three murders, transitioned to a woman via hormones while living in the psych unit at San Quentin prison. Recently, she legally changed her name and gender to female, apparently a strategic step in her quest to obtain taxpayer-subsidized gender confirmation surgery and transfer to a women’s prison. Combined with Governor Gavin Newsom’s recent moratorium on executions, this only adds insult to injury for the victims’ families, who want Skylar to receive the ultimate punishment for her crimes.

“Rother gives readers compelling insight to an unthinkable American nightmare. A gripping read… frank and frightening… it sizzles.”
—Aphrodite Jones, host of True Crime on Investigation Discovery and bestselling author

★★★★★ORDER YOUR COPY★★★★★

Amazon → https://tinyurl.com/y3jr7mk3

WildBlue Press → https://tinyurl.com/yyj9xlvk

______________________

PROLOGUE



Alonso Machain was unemployed,
with bills to pay, so he took up his friend Skylar Deleon’s offer to help restore
a family boat at the Cabrillo
yard in Long Beach, California. 

As they were sanding the Hatteras together, Skylar boasted about his plans for fixing
up his new toy, which
he’d gotten from his grandfather. Then Skylar offered his
twenty-one-year-old buddy a much more lucrative job.

“How much are you talking about?” Alonso asked.

“A couple million dollars,” Skylar said.

“Wow.
How do you make a couple
million dollars without it
being illegal?”

“Well,” Skylar said, “it’s not really illegal,
unless you get caught.”

As Skylar’s
plan evolved in the coming days of October 2004, the promised payoff for
Alonso soon increased to “several million” dollars to help Skylar “take care” of some people who had done something
bad
and pissed somebody off. 

Skylar
wasn’t usually paid for these
gigs, he said, but he
got to keep the assets of the “targets,” who were typically
well-off. His first
contract, for example,
was a guy who’d been selling drugs in Huntington Beach
schools and owed
money to the wrong people.

Skylar said he’d split the proceeds of his next job
with Alonso, but didn’t give him much time to mull
it over.

“So, you want to do it or not?” Skylar
asked a couple days later.

Alonso wasn’t really
sure what to think. Skylar
was always talking
about how rich
he and his family were, and Alonso
believed him. Although he knew Skylar liked to tell stories, he never stopped to consider that the few times Skylar
had thrown him a mere twenty
dollars for the boat restoration work, they’d had to drive to an ATM to get it. 

After Alonso decided to take the job,
Skylar went into more detail about the plan, showing him photos of a yacht called the Well Deserved, whose wealthy owners had put it up for sale. Alonso’s
role was to help Skylar get “in” with the owners, Tom and Jackie Hawks, then hold them down. 

The fifty-five-foot trawler was moored
in the upscale community
of Newport Beach in
Orange County, a sharp contrast
to the sprawling mix of urban, industrial, and suburban areas
of Long Beach,
where Skylar lived with his
wife, Jennifer,
in neighboring Los
Angeles County. 

Unlike
the spacious homes in Newport,
decorated in the mute
beiges and sandstone of the wealthy,
home for Skylar
and Jennifer was
a cramped converted garage behind her parents’ duplex.
Space was so tight
the Deleons had to stack
their belongings on the floor and hang their clothing
from a pole lodged between
two dressers next
to the bed.
It was a far cry from the opulent
mansions featured on The Real Housewives of Orange County and
The O.C.

Contrary to the story he’d told Alonso about the $3 million
a month he’d earned working
with Ditech Funding, Skylar had been fired from his job as appraiser’s
assistant there and looked at his wealthier
neighbors in “The O.C.” with envy. He coveted their waterfront homes,
boats, and private planes that he couldn’t afford, and he lied to persuade
folks that he could. 

Although he wasn’t
anywhere near as smart or capable
as Bernie Madoff in building a complex
financial scheme, Skylar’s scam was just as—if not more— deceitful.
And when it came to lying and manipulating people, Skylar was pretty good at
that, too.

The next time he and Alonso met, Skylar said he’d
analyzed photos of the boat’s interior for radios and weapons, such as spearguns, and had determined the best way to overcome the couple. Using
stun guns and handcuffs, Alonso would grab Jackie in the galley while Skylar took down Tom in the stateroom, where no one could hear him scream.

Skylar said
he’d considered taking Tom scuba
diving and finishing him off underwater, but he’d realized
that would preclude the Hawkses from
signing over the boat title and power-of-attorney documents he was going to draw
up.

“What I’ll do is just take them out to sea and toss
them overboard,” he said.

They
purchased two stun guns together, then Skylar
sent Alonso, a former jail guard he’d befriended while serving time for armed burglary a year earlier, to buy
two pairs of handcuffs.

The next day, November
6, Skylar said it was time
to do the deed. By
now, Alonso felt it was too late to
extricate himself from the situation. If twenty-five-year-old Skylar
really was a hit man,
what would prevent him from harming Alonso?

As they drove to the dock, Skylar
stopped a couple
blocks away to scope out who was aboard, then
called Tom to pick
them up in his dinghy. The Hawkses were expecting them.

On board,
Tom proudly gave them a tour of his home,
but Alonso could see from Skylar’s tone
of voice and body language that he’d changed
his mind. Skylar seemed far too relaxed
to kill anyone as he chatted
with Tom for forty-five minutes
about possible modes of payment. Before
they left, Skylar
made sure that Tom and Jackie knew
he was definitely interested in purchasing the
vessel and would be back
for a lesson on how to operate it.

Skylar told Alonso
afterward that he’d changed his mind once he’d realized that Tom was too muscular for the two of them to overpower alone. They really needed a third man.
Skylar also sensed
some discomfort on the Hawkses’
part, so he called Jennifer
on his cell phone as soon as
they got back to the car.

“Hey, you need to
come down, take a look at the
boat, to make these people
feel a little more at ease,”
he told her.

After sending Alonso
on his way, Skylar
and his pregnant wife
went back on board, pushing
their ten-month-old daughter, Haylie,
in a stroller, to do just that.

______________________

New York Times bestselling author Caitlin Rother has written or co-authored 13 books, ranging from narrative nonfiction to memoir and crime fiction. Her latest titles are the true-life thriller Hunting Charles Manson and her memoir short, Secrets, Lies, and Shoelaces. A former investigative reporter at daily newspapers for 19 years, Rother has been published in Cosmopolitan, the Los Angeles Times, The San Diego Union-Tribune, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, Boston Globe and Daily Beast. She has appeared more than 200 times on TV, radio and podcasts internationally, including Australian Broadcast Corp’s “World News,” “Crime Watch Daily,” “People Magazine Investigates,” “Nancy Grace,” “Snapped,” and dozens of shows on Netflix, Investigation Discovery, Oxygen, A&E, Reelz, C-SPAN and various PBS affiliates. Rother also works as a writing-research coach and consultant, leads writing workshops, and plays keyboards and sings in an acoustic group called breakingthecode. She is working on two new books, one titled “Justice for Rebecca,” about the Rebecca Zahau death case, and one about the San Diego Zoo’s Frozen Zoo. Please visit her on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter or visit her website at https://www.caitlinrother.com.