Rachel Thompson

"Dinkytown" from HUSH by @KimberlyShursen #AmReading #Thriller #Fiction

Dinkytown, 12:45 a.m.

Ann kicked off her sandals and closed the door to the third-floor apartment. Ben had been polite, hailed a cab, and not pushed to take her home. She liked him. There hadn’t been a lull in their two-hour conversation.

Many of the tenants in the older, all-brick building in Dinkytown were a part of the struggling arts group—most of them a few years younger than she and Jess. The location, however, was perfect. It was cheaper to ride a bus that dropped her off in front of Abbott Northwestern Hospital than own a car. Groceries, boutiques, and restaurants, as well as Lake Calhoun and Harriett, were all within walking distance.

She walked to the kitchen, her feet killing her. With two newborns in incubators and another baby boy on life support, she was exhausted. Keeping a scrupulous eye over every newborn in the nursery was taxing.

When they’d moved in together, combining Jess’s modern taste with Ann’s more conservative look made for an eclectic ambiance. Jess’s poster of Warhol’s “Marilyn” hung next to Ann’s framed picture of a tranquil cottage surrounded by English gardens. Books, memorabilia, and trinkets filled the bookcase they’d put together using two-by-fours and paver bricks. A bright red, curved sectional took up most of the cozy living room and a cream-colored shag rug sat underneath an oval-shaped glass coffee table.

In her bedroom, she wiggled out of her jeans and tossed them on top on the silent radiator. She pulled on drawstring, cotton “bum-around” pants, and a T-shirt.

After she nabbed a bottle of water out of the refrigerator, she plopped down on the couch. Adjusting two pillows underneath her head, she found the remote and pulled the colorful afghan her mother had crocheted over her. Flipping through the channels, she stopped when she found Pretty Woman.

The rattle of pans woke her. Ann slid an arm out from underneath the blanket. “What time is it?” she asked, yawning.

“I was trying to be quiet and not wake you,” Jess said from the kitchen. “Almost eight.”

“You going in early?” Ann rubbed her eyes.

“Have to. Everything’s on sale and not even close to being marked down.”

Ann heard an egg crack and then the sizzle when it hit the frying pan. As manager of the Gap, Jess worked most weekends.

“What time you get in?” Ann put her feet on the floor, waited a couple of seconds, and stood. She shielded her eyes as she stumbled to the window and pulled down the shade to block the rising sun.

“I don’t know—around three maybe,” Jess said. “Want some eggs?”

Ann plopped back down on the couch. “Too early.”

Jess sat down on the opposite end of the couch and put the plate of scrambled eggs and toast on her lap. “You have fun?”

“I did.”

“The guy you met is dreamy.” Jess stabbed a fork into the eggs.

“Seems like a nice guy.”

“And you didn’t want to go to a bar last night,” Jess teased. “Look what you would have missed.”

“He’s a lawyer.”

Jess’s oval-shaped, green eyes grew wide. “A lawyer? Wow. You hit the jackpot.” She stuffed the last of the toast in her mouth, stood, and carried the plate into the kitchen.

“We have so much in common—kind of freaky.” Ann pushed her arms up over her head and stretched. “Family law. Does custody cases. Says he represents kids more than parents.” She wrapped the soft, cotton afghan around her and sank down into the sofa.

“So…you bring the babies into the world, and he protects them.”

Lost in her own thoughts, she didn’t hear what Jess said. “I keep thinking I’ve met him before.”

“Maybe you have. Maybe he had a sister who had a baby, and he came to into the hospital or something.” Her footsteps went down the hall. “Gonna see him again?”

“He’s picking me up this afternoon,” Ann said. “Says he’s thinking of buying a house and wants to take me by it.”

“Still against meeting guys in bars?” Jess asked as she walked down the hall to the door.

“Totally.”


hush

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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Genre – Thriller
Rating – PG-13
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@LoniFlowers Opens Up About Family, Her Personal Life and Writing #Romance #AmReading

Tell us a bit about your family. My husband and I have been married since 2001 and we live in Eastern North Carolina. We have 2 daughters, age 5 and 8. Also, we have 2 dogs and 1 bird.

What scares you the most? - Without a doubt -heights, and spiders, and bees and wasp! Sorry, I can’t just pick one thing.

What’s your greatest character strength? I have an awesome sense of humor. My husband says I laugh at everything! (Yes, even commercials)

What’s your weakest character trait? Public speaking-- to a point where I feel nauseous. I absolutely hate it.

Why do you write? Because it's fun, plain and simple. I get the freedom to create stories exactly as I want to read them. What's better than that?!

What are you most proud of in your personal life? My family. I have a wonderful husband who loves and supports me 100%. He even cooks and cleans! But also, I'm so proud of the two beautiful girls we are raising.

What books did you love growing up? You're going to think I'm crazy, but none. I hated reading growing up. I don't know if it was because I never got the right book in my hands, but the will to read wasn't in me. Thank goodness I found it. What was I thinking growing up!!

How did you develop your writing? I'm still developing. It's a constant growth. I can tell how much I've grown from each book I've written. I believe reading other authors and studying my own mistakes through the editing process are my biggest help. And if I don't know something, I'll Google it in a heartbeat. There is a wealth of knowledge out there just for the taking. All you have to do is be willing to look for it.

What is hardest – getting published, writing or marketing? It's all hard, but without a doubt: Marketing. I'm not a pushy person, and I don't like the feeling that I'm spamming my buy-links everywhere on social media. It's hard to find the balance between sharing your own work and sharing others work.

Do you plan to publish more books? Definitely! I'm already working on my next book. It involves sexy brothers, a vineyard, wine and a second chance at love.


Witness to my Heart
Keep a low profile. That's what Abigale Peterson was supposed to do, especially when the person she was being protected from was one of the world's worst crime lords. After seven years in the Witness Protection Program, she felt no safer now than she did when she was seventeen. Revenge was rarely forgotten when it came to a professional criminal like Zerilli.

Low profiles meant no social life and definitely no love life.

Paranoia and lies became daily habits, going against everything Abigale believed in, but they kept her safe. They kept everyone safe.

Until a house fire puts her out of that safety and into the arms of a stranger. Max Smith is sexy, smart, and has major attitude. He’s the only one who seems to get her. He calms her fears and comforts her from her nightmares. But he also sees right through her lies.

Before Abigale can stop, she’s in too deep; confiding too much and breaking the one rule she promised herself to uphold: Never fall in love.

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Genre – Contemporary Romance
Rating – R
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Craig Staufenberg on Publishing & Promoting Art @YouMakeArtDumb #WriteTip #IndieAuthors

Pet Peeves of the Publishing Industry
I’m annoyed by how nice everyone in the publishing is. Really. I’m sure there are some rude people, but I haven’t encountered them. Only nice folks, and that makes it hard to dislike the publishing industry as a whole. It’s much easier when you see “publishing” as this monolithic beast with a stranglehold on creativity, especially your own creativity. But that’s just not the case.
Which means there are two realities you have to face about publishing.
One, that it’s not out to get you. It’s not prejudiced against you. If it rejects you there are reasons for doing so, and not because the people are mean, jealous and spiteful.
Two, the publishing industry is trying to do something very, very difficult. Namely promote art, entertainment, and creativity, all while still keeping the lights on. Anyone who has tried to support themselves via their creative output knows how difficult this is. Now multiply that difficulty—think about trying to support an entire company, or even an entire industry, on creative work. It’s insanity, and I’m surprised publishing companies have been as successful as they have.
Really, think about it for a second. We’re not talking about selling widgets here. We aren’t talking about the success of an industry that sells bathroom cleaner. There’s nothing predictable about books. As long as the bathroom cleaner works, and as long as you market it, then you’re going to do alright. The same can’t be said about books. Even if a book is good, and even if you market it, there’s no guarantee it’s going to sell enough to warrant its investment. Now consider the fact bathroom cleaner companies don’t have to reinvent their product hundreds of times a year, and publishing companies do, and you see it’s sheer madness this whole industry works at all.
OK, it’s not a perfect analogy. The way publishing company’s sell their back catalogue and the works of established authors operates a lot like selling widgets. Pretty reliable. But still, publishing is trying to do something very challenging—balancing the demands of art and commerce, which have, as Linds Redding noted in his must-read post, always been strange bedfellows. Especially since publishing companies need hits to thrive and not merely survive, and these companies are completely unable to predict what the next hit is going to be. No one predicted Twilight. No one predicted Fifty Shades of Grey. Or Harry Potter.
In fact, when it comes to the book trade, the only people who have an even harder time than publishing companies are the authors themselves. While publishing companies are able to spread their bets across a large number of different books a year, even an ultra-prolific author isn’t going to crank out more than a few. The odds a publishing company will hit a home run on any given year is much higher than the odds a single author will.
Which, I suppose, is my biggest pet peeve of the publishing companies. They survive, while many, if not most, of their authors who fail. An author can spend their whole life writing books that don’t do spectacularly well, and that author could easily live a lower compensated, less comfortable, and less protected life than the employees and owners running the publishing companies. Publishers take on much smaller risks than authors. Publishers make small financial gambles, while authors bet their lives. Yet publishers have much higher upside than authors.
Bear in mind, this is an institutional issue. No evil genius thought this up. It’s how pretty much every large creative industry operates—from books to movies to music. But we’re not powerless here. And I’d like to see a publishing industry where the authors themselves are better rewarded, or at least better protected, than the companies that publish them, as the authors, always, are putting much more on the line.

When you die, your spirit wakes in the north, in the City of the Dead. There, you wander the cold until one of your living loved ones finds you, says “Goodbye,” and Sends you to the next world. 

After her parents die, 12-year-old Sophie refuses to release their spirits. Instead, she resolves to travel to the City of the Dead to bring her mother and father’s spirits back home with her. 

Taking the long pilgrimage north with her gruff & distant grandmother—by train, by foot, by boat; over ruined mountains and plains and oceans—Sophie struggles to return what death stole from her. Yet the journey offers her many hard, unexpected lessons—what to hold on to, when to let go, and who she must truly bring back to life.
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Genre – Middle Grade
Rating – PG-13
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Cheryl Rice on Family, Fear and Happiness @RiceonLife #Memoir #GoodReads #Women


Tell us a bit about your family.
I have been married just over 8 years to my extraordinary husband Alan. In addition to the gift of his love and friendship, he brought his two amazing children into my life. My step-son is a senior in college and my step-daughter is a senior in high school. I also have a 5 year old puppy named Gracie and a cat named Bo. I feel quite blessed.

How do you work through self-doubts and fear?

Walking in nature often helps diminish my self-doubts and fears and connects me with my own essential nature. If I’m still stuck I call a close friend – someone I trust and who can help me reframe my fears and focus on my desires and next steps. I’ve also learned that I don’t need to eliminate my fears to move forward. I just need to gently acknowledge them and take the next best step in the direction of my goals.

What scares you the most?

Having harm come to the people I love most. Not living up to my highest ideals.

What makes you happiest?
Being in my screened in porch on a warm spring or summer day catching up on reading, my dog nestled at my feet, my husband cooking dinner and my kids agreeing to clean it up.

What’s your greatest character strength?
Emotional courage

What’s your weakest character trait?
Taking too much too personally and impatience

Why do you write?
I write to know and be known--to gain some semblance of mastery over my lived experience and to offer that experience to others in a way that allows them to go deeper into their own lives.

Have you always enjoyed writing?
This is a funny question as I don’t think I’ve ever truly enjoyed writing. Writing is not a vocation I was trained for. I enjoy the experience of “having written” much more than writing. Writing is fairly agonizing most of the time for me.

What motivates you to write?

A potent desire for self-expression and self-knowledge and a wish to move and inspire others.

What writing are you most proud of?
Well certainly I’m most proud of my recent memoir, Where Have I Been All My Life? A Journey Toward Love and Wholeness as it represents the accomplishment of a life-long dream and also required a tremendous amount of personal fortitude beyond the technical writing. I’m also quite proud of an essay I had published in The Philadelphia Inquirer about my relationship with my children’s mother. Here is the link: http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/inquirer/20140811_Mutual_love_of_children_unites_mom_and_stepmom.html


Where Have I Been All My Life

Where Have I Been All My Life? is a compelling memoir recounting one woman’s journey through grief and a profound feeling of unworthiness to wholeness and healing. It begins with the chillingly sudden death of Rice’s mother, and is followed by her foray into the center of mourning. 
With wisdom, grace, and humor, Rice recounts the grief games she plays in an effort to resurrect her mother; her efforts to get her therapist, who she falls desperately in love with, to run away with her; and the transformation of her husband from fantasy man to ordinary guy to superhero. In the process, she experiences aching revelations about her family and her past—and realizes what she must leave behind, and what she can carry forward with her.

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Genre – Memoir
Rating – PG-13
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#Excerpt from Lights Over Emerald Creek by @ShelleyDavidow AmReading #YA #SciFi

To Walk Again

The music she’d been playing became an echo of woven sound. She could no longer see her cello.

Lucy was above the hills, the sea, the melting mountains that all dissolved into watercolour; a thrilling terror suffused her as she continued upward through liquid light.

A roar like a distant rumble of thunder or the crashing of waves filled her ears. Broken shards of reality tumbled past her as she spiralled into a rapidly darkening vortex. She held her breath and closed her eyes, and thought, am I dying? Dead?

Hard drops of rain peppered her head, her face, her neck.

Only, when she reached to wipe her cheek, it wasn’t wet. Lucy opened her eyes. Light dazzled her. Blinded her. Around her, danced a billion droplets of pure light. They were electric as they touched her skin. She got up on her hands and knees.

And knees!

Her cello bow lay beneath her. She could feel something softly pressing against her knees. Her hair fell in front of her face. Slowly, carefully, she flicked it back over her shoulder, and looked up as the light stopped showering her, and slowly receded, like a sparkler dying out, until it was a blue glow high above her.

‘Holy — holy crap! What the hell?’ she whispered, not usually prone to swearing, still on her hands and knees. Then, carefully, as if in a trance, one leg at a time, she stood up. She stared at a twilight lit, pink horizon. It was misty, or rainy, but she couldn’t feel anything on her skin. Something soft squished between her toes. Sand? She looked down at her legs. They were standing. Her toes were feeling something. She held onto her legs, touched them, felt them. This could be a lucid dream, she thought.

She looked around at an unfamiliar landscape.

Or a seascape.

Or a mistscape. It was hard to tell.

The sand beneath her feet was the colour of coral. A few paces ahead, she saw a still, soft, pink ocean. Far out across the ocean, the water dissolved into sky, or cloud. When she looked behind her, two enormous blue lights glowed in the sky, and then slowly turned to purple, to magenta, to pink, and became one with the atmosphere.

Lucy stood on tiptoes. She took the bow in her right hand and placed it down at her feet. She felt very strange, as if she wasn’t quite in her body. She could feel things, but she was light, and when she took a step, it was almost as if she floated. A sudden, unexpected surge of joy rushed through her. If this was some kind of dream, she loved it. She could walk. No, she could run! If she could have this one experience, this one single moment of feeling whole, she would give everything. She ran, tripping over her own feet, towards the shore. Her toes touched ground, but barely.

LightsOverEmeraldCreek

Lucy Wright, sixteen and a paraplegic after a recent car accident that took her mother's life, lives in Queensland on a 10,000 acre farm with her father. When Lucy investigates strange lights over the creek at the bottom of the property, she discovers a mystery that links the lights to the science of cymatics and Scotland’s ancient Rosslyn Chapel.

But beyond the chapel is an even larger mystery. One that links the music the chapel contains to Norway’s mysterious Hessdalen lights, and beyond that to Saturn and to the stars. Lucy’s discoveries catapult her into a parallel universe connected to our own by means of resonance and sound, where a newly emerging world trembles on the edge of disaster. As realities divide, her mission in this new world is revealed and she finds herself part of a love story that will span the galaxy.

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Genre - Young Adult SF
Rating - PG
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K S Ferguson on Happiness, Family and Writing #AmReading #AmWriting #Contemporary

Tell us a bit about your family.

Grand-dad was a horse thief. Grandpa on the other side was a bigamist. Writing novels that involve crime and madness is in my blood.

How do you work through self-doubts and fear?


"La-la-la-la-la." Did you ask something?

What scares you the most?

Heights. I'm the pits when it comes to putting on a new roof or standing on the top of small, swaying buildings like the Space Needle.

What makes you happiest?

Good music, a stunning sunset, the ripe wheat waving in the autumn wind, the hummingbirds outside my window on a summer morning. I'm easy.

What’s your greatest character strength?


I shout and stand up for the underdog no matter the odds or the consequences.

What’s your weakest character trait?


I shout and stand up for the underdog no matter the odds or the consequences, but sometimes confrontation isn't the answer.

Why do you write?

When I write, I get to go to amazing places and meet interesting people doing important things. By writing, I get to share that experience with others.

Have you always enjoyed writing?

No. I started writing in fourth grade, but I couldn't spell half the words I wanted to use. Very frustrating.

What motivates you to write?

There's no drug that can compare to the feeling of getting the right words on the page in the right order to convey what you meant to say, what you want the reader to feel.

What writing are you most proud of?

I currently have three separate series on the go. My characters would never forgive me if you made me choose just one. And pride goeth before the fall, so I think maybe I should skate around this question.

Touching Madness

Light bulbs talk to River Madden; God doesn't. When the homeless schizophrenic unintentionally fractures a dimensional barrier and accidentally steals a gym bag containing a million dollars, everyone from the multiverse police to the local crime boss—and an eight-foot tall demon—are after him. Can he dodge them long enough to correct his mistakes and prevent the destruction of three separate dimensions? If he succeeds, will the light bulbs stop singing off-key?

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Genre – Contemporary, Urban fantasy
Rating – R
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Madi Brown on #SocialMedia, Writing and Relaxing @Madithe1brown #AmWriting #Contemporary



If you could have a dinner party and invite anyone dead or alive, who would you ask? I’d ask my Grandmother Emily, who is now deceased to attend. My novel is dedicated to her love of reading, but I only know this because of what my mother shared with me. I’d love to know what types of books she did read. It very well could have been pornographic.

Do you have any tips on how writers can relax? Well, there is this one app; I downloaded it for free on my Ipad. It’s called Jumpstart Energize Me. It helps me to breathe. I totally decompress.

Do you have an organized process or tips for writing well? Get rid of distractions---television, music, your ringing cell phone.  

Do you have a writing schedule? Not really,Writing on a schedule feels so forced to me. I’m still trying to pin myself down to schedule my blog posts on Madibrown.com.

Sometimes it’s so hard to keep at it – What keeps you going? Knowing how much work I’ve put into it so far. It would be crazy for me to walk away and leave my book project unfinished at this point. Giving up without trying my best just isn’t a part of my genetic makeup. Madi Brown doesn’t want to be a Loser-girl.

What do you hope people will take away from your writing? How will your words make them feel? The take away will hopefully be that they’ve been entertained, followed by a need to read more of what I've written.

What’s your favorite meal? That would be shrimp and grits. It’s life-changing.

What color represents your personality the most? Orange. It has to be just the right shade though, not too bright. It makes me feel happy---no make that euphoric.

What movie do you love to watch? Casino. Sharon Stone’s wardrobe was so fab, and the film contained all of the other components that I like in a story, romance, action, and intrigue.

How do you feel about social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter? Are they a good thing? Yep. Facebook and Twitter allow me to expand my reach of potential readers, while I’m in my apartment scantily clad.


truthaboutemily

"If you LOVE New York, if you’re a name-dropping, fashion fiend careerist; fed up with serial dating, plagued with a thirst for sex, then you’ll totally stalk me for what I've penned.” - Author, Madi Brown

Description

29-year-old Emily Greene looks the part, but she’s still working on becoming a modern-day woman. Not that she’s one to back down from a challenge, but living as an eternal work-in-progress wasn't exactly the goal that she had in mind. It’s a harsh but true realization---the idea that that time isn't on her side, and the notion that wanting to have it all, doesn't mean getting it. The verdict is in; with zero prospects for a relationship and a stalled blogging career, Emily has every reason to believe that she’s been living a life too humdrum for her own good.

Making the change won’t be easy. She’ll have to do whatever it takes; start dating like a man, become more selective about which RSVP's she accepts, and work even harder at getting her dream job.The payoff’s huge; a modern twist on a storybook ending, but gains don’t often come without risks. In the here and now Emily just may be forced to choose...It’s got to be one or the other----the profession that she’s always wanted, or the love that she’s never had.

˃˃˃ Praise for Madi Brown & her debut novel, The Truth About Emily

"The added depth of character promises complexity but wraps everything in the saucy cloak of Emily's evolving personality and newfound beliefs about life, love, and the real nature of happiness. And this is where The Truth About Emily outshines many competitors, making it a recommended read for those seeking more than a standard romance novel." - D. Donovan, eBook Reviewer, Midwest Book Reviews

"This book has just about anything a girl would love to read about. If there's anything Emily Greene has is ISH and lots of it, oh the ending... This book is a total keeper, just anything about fashion to relationships to friends and family." - Y. Sanchez, Goodreads

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Genre – Contemporary Women's Fiction
Rating – PG18
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