Gaylon Greer

A Warm Welcome to Gaylon
Working with traveling carnivals and itinerant farm labor gangs during his teen and early adult years took Gaylon Greer up, down, and across the U.S. and introduced him to a plethora of colorful individuals who serve as models for his fictional characters. After several years as an Air Force officer and then a university professor with a Ph.D. in economics, Greer developed an interest in writing fiction and attended workshops at the University of Iowa, the University of Nebraska, and Bryn-Mawr College. He also studied with the U.C. Davis Extension program and the Algonquian Writers Group. His most recent novel, THE DESCENT FROM TRUTH is available at www.Amazon.com and other e-book retailers. Please visit Greer at www.GaylonGreer.com

 

THE DESCENT FROM TRUTH By Gaylon Greer

BLURB:  

Alex Bryson is patrolling Rocky Mountain backcountry in his job as a security guard when he discovers a woman with a baby wandering alone in the snow far from the nearest road. He takes them to shelter in a weekender cabin and sees a newscast that suggests the woman, Pia Ulmer, kidnapped the baby from its rightful parents and that it is the sole heir of Peru’s wealthiest and most corrupt family. Pia claims that she is the baby’s mother, and Alex doesn't know what to believe. After turning her in, he continues to struggle with his budding feelings for her and remains unsure of the true story. He becomes more and more involved until finally there is no turning back—lives are on the line. He helps Pia get free from a brutal world that values money over life, and together they devise a plan to reclaim the baby. Just when it looks like they might succeed, they discover an international conspiracy that changes the game entirely.

A Taste of Gaylon:
“Please,” she said, her voice as rough as sandpaper and barely above a whisper. “Please, do not give my baby to those people.”
“Are we back to that? First you're his mother, then you're his nanny. Now you're his mother again?”



BUY

“They took him from me. Look at him, Alex. Both Mr. Koenig and his wife are blondes.”

“Koenig’s an old man. His hair's white.”

“Study Frederick's face. Do you not see me in his eyes? His chin and his mouth?”

The similarities were uncanny, he'd grant her that. Good enough to get away with claiming to be the kid's mother if Alex hadn't learned the truth. The way she had attacked him, trying to kill him with that skillet, she clearly didn’t want to go back to civilization and prove who she was. He turned away, tossed Frederick in a maneuver that brought a cry of delight, and stuffed the boy's blanket-clad feet through the leg holes in the backpack. With his parka snapped around both of them and the diaper bag tied to his waist, he gripped his rifle in one hand, his snowshoes in the other, and headed for the porch. At the door, he turned for a final glance at Pia.

She had set her mouth in a stubborn line. The eye that had been plastered shut was closed. She stared at him with the other. When she saw him looking at her, she spoke again. “Watch over him, Alex. Someone wants to harm him. Don’t let them.”

A new tack, another lie. He stepped onto the porch and strapped on his snowshoes. That should have been the last he saw of her, but the specter of her ravaged face and defiant expression stayed with him as he trudged across the sunlit expanse of glistening snow that sloped gradually toward the Warrior River Gorge.

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             Gaylon's links:
BUY Amazon click here
Website: www.GaylonGreer.com
Pleasure to meet you, Gaylon!
Leave a comment for the chance to win an autographed hardcover version of the author's previous book, The Price of Sanctuary.

S.D.Skye

A Warm Welcome to S.D.Skye

S.D. Skye is a former FBI Russian Counterintelligence Program Intelligence Analyst and supported several key cases during her 12-year tenure at the Bureau. She has personally witnessed the blowback the Intelligence Community suffered due to the most significant compromises in U.S. history, including the arrests of former CIA Case Officer Aldrich Ames and two of the Bureau's own--FBI Agents Earl Pitts and Robert Hanssen. She has spent 20 years supporting counterintelligence, intelligence, and military missions in the U.S. Intelligence Community.

An award-winning author of romantic comedies in her other life, Skye is a member of the Maryland Writer's Association, Romance Writers of America, and International Thriller Writers. She's addicted to writing and chocolate--not necessarily in that order--and currently lives in the Washington D.C. area with her son. Skye is hard at work on the next installment of the series.

Here's her latest release:

The Seven Year Itch

(A J.J. McCall Novel – the FBI Series)    by S. D. Skye BLURB:

Her Family Was Vexed With a Generational Curse. Now for Lie Detecting FBI Spy Catcher J.J. McCall, the Truth is in The Seven Year Itch.

FBI Special Agent J.J. McCall is a born lie detector who recruits foreign spies to catch American traitors. She and co-case agent Tony Donato have lost two of their most critical Russian sources in the past two years, and they may lose another in just a few short days if they don’t catch him, The ICE PHANTOM, a rumored insider spy more insidious and elusive than Ames and Hanssen combined. They suspect he might be burrowed deep inside FBI counterintelligence—and his body count is going up.

Drawn into an unsanctioned mole hunt, they have a week to catch him, save a key source’s life—and their own. While J.J.’s lie detecting ability helps them narrow down the list of suspects, the lie she tells to herself may help the ICE PHANTOM defect to Moscow and get away with the murder of the man she loves.

Skye's debut FBI Series, filled with mystery, espionage, romance, and suspense, will keep you burning through the pages until J.J. catches the very last spy.

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Before treating us to an excerpt, S.D. Reveals:

From where do you get inspiration and what inspired you to write The Seven Year Itch?

I spent 20 years in the U.S. Intelligence Community and I’ve had a very interesting career to say the least. I’ve worked in places and done things many people will only read in books.  So, I tapped into my vast experience for the foundations on which to build plots for this series. Each book will feature agencies and situations in which I’ve worked to some degree or another.

The largest chunk of my career was spent working in FBI counterintelligence, but I’ve had the opportunity to work with or for just about the entire alphabet soup of agencies (CIA, NSA, DIA, at the Pentagon on the Joint Staff, etc.). J.J. McCall is very loosely based on an African-American FBI Russian counterintelligence/counterespionage agent with whom I worked for several years. In a field that is largely dominated by white males, I was always impressed by how she persevered and propelled herself to the top of her field. I don’t know her struggles on a personal level but I worked at the FBI long enough to imagine certain issues she must’ve endured. So, after the writing bug bit me, I finally leveraged those experiences to create what I hope will be characters and stories readers will remember for some time to come.

In a couple of sentences, describe the hero’s character.  What do you like best/least about him?

Antonio “Tony” Donato, the hero in the series, is an FBI agent and J.J. McCall’s co-case agent. What I like best about him is that he’s his own man. He broke away from the “family business” (his father is a jailed mob boss), to become an FBI agent even though he knew he’d be estranged from his father because of it. But he followed his dreams and I think the strength it takes to follow his dreams will be the same strength he needs to follow his heart, especially loving a woman of another race.

What I like least about him is that he is as stubborn as an old billy goat. Once he gets set in his ways, there is little that can budge him—but J.J. somehow manages to do it when the chips are down. They are perfectly suited in that way.

And the heroine? How do you relate to her?

J.J. McCall is fiercely loyal and I love that about her. When she makes a promise, she will risk her life to keep it. But it’s this same quality that has proven to be her downfall as she struggles with the stress that keeping promises brings. We are very similar in that way, but we do share other characteristics. For example, in the Seven Year Itch, the first book in the series, J.J. McCall, an FBI Agent, followed the legacy of her mother, who was an agent during Hoover’s tenure. Well, I followed in my mother’s footsteps. My mother worked at the FBI during the J. Edgar Hoover years, and joined the FBI about twenty-something years later. My father and brother were DC police officers. In the book, J.J.’s brother is a DC police officer.  J.J. worked in counterintelligence/counterespionage. I worked in the same areas. Such similarities are sprinkled throughout the book. As for the plots and romantic entanglements, those are largely figments of my vivid, conspiratorial imagination.  

What do you think are the main ingredients for a successful book?

Attempting to answer this question could be enough to make a writer slit his/her wrists. I think if anyone knew the question to this question and shared it, we’d all be successful NY Times Bestsellers. At the end of the day, I think success truly begins with the author and his or her expectations. If you write an honest book, from your heart, and tell the best story you can, the best way you can tell it, then I think you’ve reached one level of success. Writing characters and stories that readers can connect with, who stick with them long after the book is closed is another level of success. When this happens to so many people across the world that your book becomes a best seller, then I think that’s the ultimate success for many writers. But there are degrees of success we can all reach and feel good about our work and about what we’re bringing to the world. I feel successful in that regard. 

What do you like best and least about writing?

What I love most about writing creating relatable characters that make people laugh and think. When readers reach out to me and tell me they laughed out loud at a character, that’s the ultimate compliment for me. If I write a page-turner people can’t put down, I’m over totally the moon.

What I like least about writing is that there are just not enough hours in the day for me to write all the books I want to write as quickly as I’d like to write them. I have four series going on right now. Three are in romantic comedy and one is of course the “Itch” series. I would love to have at least three books in each series done next year, but to do that, I would need to clone myself twice and be glued to my computer screen 24 hours a day for the next 10 months. Writing is my favorite thing in the world to do, but it sucks that you can only write books one word at a time. 

What is the best writing advice you have ever received?

I’m actually doing a series of short articles about this very topic on my blog, so this is a perfect question. I think, for me, one of the major hurdles I had to overcome is allowing imperfection. When I read the  Bird by Bird by Ann Lamott, she wrote a chapter called “Sh!tty First Drafts.” It was the most liberating thing I’d read to that point. She said don’t worry about making your work perfect on the first draft, just finish. That’s one piece of advice that has really stuck with me throughout my career. All my first drafts now suck. Sometimes the second and third do to. As long as I get the story right before it goes to print, then I’ll be fine.

What can we look forward to from you in the near future?

The second book in the series, Son of a Itch, follows J.J. McCall and company as they try to discover who placed a bug in the White House Situation Room walls. In addition, J.J.’s nemesis is plotting to kill her so she’ll face some real danger in this next novel. I think her biggest challenge will be juggling this love triangle between her, Six, and Tony. It heats up quite a bit from this point forward.

What would you most like to accomplish this year?

I would like to get three books written and published this year—Son of a Itch (Book #2), A No Good Itch (Book #3), and 12 Honeymoons (a romantic comedy). Getting those three written and published would be a major feat and a huge accomplishment.

What is your culinary speciality?

I love Italian cuisine. I swear I must’ve been an Italian grandmother in my former life. I love pastas, breads, and sauces. I make a mean lasagne and I do so from scratch, so it’s usually a two-hour dish. I also make a very good spinach and ricotta stuffed shell dish. And my son loves my spaghetti. 

BUY

And Now A Taste of 'The Seven Year Itch'

Monday Morning in Moscow…         

Mikhail Polyakov was murdered in a Solntsevskaya-owned cottage located in Lobnya, a small village just outside Moscow. It was a Russian organized crime death chamber. A hulking Mafioso known only as Maskov hovered over his mangled corpse. The ax in his massive hand dripped with the blood of a traitor. He would not live to betray his country another day. In the safe house basement, he lay on the concrete floor. A pool of crimson surrounded him, and his flesh had been gashed and hacked beyond visual recognition; death’s stench thickened the air. In order to serve its only noble purpose, his right hand, which bore a crescent-shaped birthmark, was left untouched.

A sliver of light shone through an undersized window revealing the wicked grin that parted the executioner’s cigarette blackened lips. Colonel Anatoliy Golikov. A Russian intelligence officer, he was a member of a cadre of Russian Foreign Intelligence Service—SVR officers—from the First Department. His professional mission had been recruiting people who sold U.S. secrets, but his personal mission was to kill anyone who betrayed the Motherland.

His skinny eyes, slight frame, and borderline gaunt face colored him weak, but his iron-fisted will and suffocating persona made him a man few crossed. Even fewer had lived to brag about it if they had. The son of a former hardline KGB General who executed Russians spying for the West, he’d filled his father’s sadistic shoes well. Left nothing in his wake except a trail of dead American sins against Russia.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Skye's links:

www.facebook.com/authorsdskye   www.twitter.com/sdskye1  www.authorsdskye.com

Blog: www.authorklbrady.com  BUY links: Amazon ebook  Amazon paperback

Many thanks for regaling us today. Pleasure to meet you!

 Now leave a comment for the chance to win a KINDLE FIRE (US/Canada only)

Tessa Stockton

A Warm Welcome to Tessa

A veteran of the performing arts and worldwide missions, Tessa Stockton also contributed as a writer/editor for ministry publications, ghostwriter for political content, and she headed a column on the topic of forgiveness. Today she writes romance and intrigue novels in a variety of genres. In addition to her fantasy romance, WIND’S ARIA, she’s the author of suspense/thriller, THE UNSPEAKABLE, political intrigue/romance, THE UNFORGIVABLE, and a literary short story, LOVE AND LULL, with more in the works.
                                               

BUY

Wind’s Aria  by Tessa Stockton

BLURB: 

Aria falls into the hands of the dreaded angel who seems to have stolen more than her voice...

 

Here's a Taste of Tessa

“Who are you?”

He pushed further back into the shadows as she strode closer. “Someone you need not know.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

When he didn’t answer, she sighed.

“What a strange, terrible day,” she mumbled. “Well, at least tell me your name . . .”

He stood, speechless, knowing he shouldn’t be there at all—conversing with a Meleyan—especially not their musical deliverer that he was set to doom the day after tomorrow.

A peculiar grumbling interrupted her insistence, to his relief.

“Sorry.” She patted her stomach. He could see, even in the blackened night, how her face turned a deeper shade of red than her hair. “I’ve forgotten to eat. I guess I’m hungrier than I realized.”

He plucked an apple from the tree he’d nearly become a part of and held it out to her. The girl approached tentatively. She reached for the fruit but recoiled when her fingers brushed his.

“Is touching me so horrible?” he asked.

Her jaw dropped open and her delicate brow furrowed. She inclined her head. “It . . . hurt.”

“How?” he asked, for her fingers felt good to him, soothing. Warm. He wanted to try again.

“I don’t know how to explain . . .”

“Hum.” Unsatisfied with the answer, he tossed the apple to her and watched as she crunched her teeth into it.

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Tessa's Links: www.TessaStockton.com  https://twitter.com/TessaStockton   https://www.facebook.com/tessastockton

                  BUY links (click names): soulmate publishers amazon  barnes and noble

Pleasure to meet you, Tessa!

Now leave a comment for the chance to win a $50 Amazon GC

Cheryl Douglas

A Warm Welcome to Cheryl

Cheryl began her professional career as a nutritionist, but her love of books started at an early age. She studied writing for many years before she decided to pursue her passion as a full-time career. After receiving constructive criticism from several well-known authors, Cheryl finally had the confidence to write her first romance novel.

The first book in the Nashville Nights series, Shameless, was a book that had been dwelling in Cheryl’s subconscious for years. For her, the surprise came when the manuscript began taking on a life of it’s own. Characters came to life, secondary characters became more prominent, outlines were forgotten, and a single title evolved into an eight book series, and another eight book spin-off series entitled Nashville Nights, Next Generation.

One word would aptly describe Cheryl: workaholic. She lives and breathes her writing, when she’s sleeping, watching TV, driving, reading… it’s always in the periphery of her mind. Her imagination rarely takes a holiday, even when she escapes to a sandy beach with her husband and son, she’s planning, plotting, outlining, and daydreaming.

Cheryl feels blessed to be able to get up every day and do something she loves. The thousands of fans who have embraced the Nashville Nights have made that possible. She writes for the readers who ask for more, she writes to satisfy the muse residing inside of her, but most of all, she writes because she couldn’t imagine doing anything else with her life. It took her thirty-seven years to decide what she wanted to be when she grew up, but now that she knows, she’s convinced she’s found her purpose.

Shameless  by Cheryl Douglas

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

Trey Turner may be topping the country music charts, but his life has been going downhill since his wife left him five years ago. He's desperate to make amends for the mistakes he's made and convince Sierra their love deserves a second chance.

 

Sierra Brooks is happy for the first time since her divorce. She has a career she loves, and a man who loves her. Unfortunately, the man she intends to marry isn't the only one professing his love for her. He may be able to offer her safety and security, but will she decide to risk everything for another chance with the man who broke her heart?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A Taste of Cheryl:

Prologue

Five Years Earlier

 

The sexy little waitress stretched to offer her neck as Trey Turner prepared to do another body shot at the urging of his inebriated friends. He licked the salt off her neck as he felt a small hand grip his shoulder.

 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

 

He turned to see his wife, Sierra, staring up at him, disgust darkening her bright blue eyes. He heard a few of his friends mutter curses as the crowd broke up and went back to drinking and dancing.

 

“Baby, I was just havin’ a little fun.” His words slurred and he wondered how many body shots he’d had before Sierra intervened. 

The waitress slid her hand down his chest, hooking a finger through his belt loop. “That was fun. How ‘bout we pick up where we left off later?”

 

Sierra turned away, not waiting for his answer as she began weaving her way through the crowd.

 

“Sierra, baby, wait,” he called, trying to push his way through the throngs of people before she reached the door. He grabbed her wrist just as she was about to cross the threshold. “Wait. Please, don’t go.”

 

“It’s over, I’m done with this shit,” she said, trying to shake loose of his grip.

 

BUY

He had more than a foot and a hundred pounds on her. She wasn’t going anywhere until he decided he was ready to let her go, which wouldn’t happen in this lifetime. “What’s that supposed to mean? Where the hell do you think you’re going?” 

 

“Home to pack.”

 

He felt the room begin to spin out of control. “What did you say?”

 

“I’m leaving you. Our marriage is over.”

 

His grip on her wrist tightened. “No, you can’t leave me.”

 

She pressed a hand to his chest. “It’s been over for a long time. I’m just making it official.”

 

“We’re not having this conversation out here in front of a hundred people,” he said, pulling her through the horde of friends he’d invited to his private party. He opened the door to the small dressing room usually occupied by the nightly entertainment that performed at Jimmy’s bar. “We’ll have some privacy in here.”

 

She was finally able to shake free of his tight grip. “I’ve already said everything I have to say to you.”

 

He gripped her waist. “Don’t do this, Sierra.” He bent to kiss her neck. “I love you, baby. God, I love you so much. I can’t live without you.” He backed her toward the couch as he lowered himself down on top of her.

 

“You’ve been living without me for the past year, Trey. You’ve spent your days on a tour bus and your nights in a stadium or bar.” Her voice broke. “We lost our baby girl and you don’t seem to care.”

 

“Don’t say that,” he whispered furiously. “Don’t ever say that I didn’t care about Callie. I loved her, Sierra. It damn near killed me when we lost her.”

 

She glared at him. “Really? Is that why you boarded that goddamn tour bus a week after her funeral?”

 

“I’m a musician; it’s what I do.” He knew the excuse was weak. Sierra was right. He’d been trying to run away from his grief and sadness instead of staying at home where he belonged, supporting his wife.

 

She shook her head, looking defeated. “It’s what you do—it’s who you are. Trey Turner, country music’s award-winning, platinum-selling mega-star. What about my husband? Callie’s father? Where is he?”

 

He closed his eyes, feeling disgusted with himself for letting her down again. “Baby, I’m sorry. Look, I know I’ve made mistakes, but let me make it up to you, okay?” His hand eased up her shirt to cup her breast.

 

Her head rolled back and she closed her eyes. “No, we can’t do this. It won’t fix the problem.” Making love to her may not solve all of their problems, but it would buy him some time to figure out a way to convince her to give him and their marriage another chance. “Just relax,” he whispered, licking her neck.

 

“Hmm, that feels so good.” She wrapped her denim-clad leg around his. “But then you had lots of practice with your girlfriend right before I got here, didn’t you?”



click here to follow the rest of Cheryl's tour

 

He cursed himself for indulging in the adolescent drinking game and giving his wife reason to question his fidelity yet again. “Sweetheart,” he whispered, flipping the button on her jeans. “You’re the only one I want; you know that.”

 

She squeezed her eyes shut as she shook her head. “No, I don’t.”

 

He hated that he had given her reason to doubt herself, to doubt them. “Let me prove it to you, then.”

 

His tongue traced the soft fullness of her lips until she finally parted for him. He groaned, taking her mouth with a savage intensity. His mind raced; fear warring with panic as he realized this may be the last time they made love, the last time he had the right to touch her.   
                                                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cheryl's LINKS:

Amazon Buy Link for Shameless: click here Barnes and Noble Buy Link for Shameless: click here  All Romance Ebooks Buy Link for Shameless:click here 

Website: http://www.cheryldouglasbooks.com     Facebook: http://www.cheryldouglasbooks.com

Pleasure to host you, Cheryl!

 

Cheryl will be awarding the following prizes to randomly drawn commenters during the tour: * two $20 Amazon Gift Cards     * ten trading card/cover flat packs (US/Canada) * ten eBooks from the Nashville Nights series (winner's choice)  * two Swarovski crystal necklaces (US/Canada).                       LEAVE A COMMENT TO ENTER THE DRAW

Marianne Evans

A Warm Welcome to Marianne

Marianne Evans is an award-winning author of Christian romance and fiction. Her hope is to spread the faith-affirming message of God’s love through the stories He prompts her to create.

 Evans’s novel, Hearts Communion, earned Christian Small Publisher Book of the Year honors in the Romance category and readers have lauded her work as: ‘Riveting.’ ‘Realistic and true to heart.’ ‘Compelling.’ Evans has also won acclaim in such RWA contests as The Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence where she has been a finalist twice, and the Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence.

 A lifelong resident of Michigan, Evans is active in a number of  Romance Writers of America chapters, most notably the Greater Detroit Chapter where she served two terms as President. She’s also active in American Christian Fiction Writers and the Michigan Literary Network.


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Here's the blurb for her latest release:
Devotion by Marianne Evans 
From This Day Forward
Christian Music agent Kellen Rossiter has everything he ever wanted: A-list clients from coast to coast, a loving wife who honors and respects him, and a faith life that’s never wavered—until now.

Juliet Rossiter has the perfect life: a rewarding schedule serving the underprivileged, a husband who loves her as Christ loved the church, and a blessed future as a mother—at least that's what she thinks.

For Better or Worse
But what happens when their rock-solid marriage begins to crumble under the weight of an unexpected and powerful temptation? How does love survive when its foundation is shaken?

'Til Death Do Us Part
When human frailty and the allure of sin deal a harsh blow to their relationship, it will take more than love to mend the shattered trust and heartbreak. It will take a lifetime of devotion.

Now A Taste of Marianne:

“I can’t find a way to ask you to stay put and listen to me. There’s so much I want to say, but you won’t hear a word of it. I’m trapped. I wish I could help you see, and understand that I know I’ve made the biggest mistake of my life. I know all of this in my heart, but I can’t make you see it.”

The words were spoken in a tender way. She sensed his regret, but his tone held a layer of challenge as well. She retained just enough strength to answer him back. “Let me ask you something. Do you regret betraying our marriage, or do you regret getting caught in the act?”

Kellen’s shoulders bent and his eyes flickered when he paused and shook his head. “No matter what I say, you won’t believe me. No matter what I do, it’ll be wrong.”

He had aged a decade in mere minutes. Lifting her chin, refusing to feel even the slightest degree of empathy, Juliet gathered herself once again. She tried to brush past him but for a second time Kellen stood in the way. She watched him start to reach out again, this time as if wanting to take hold of her arm. When she stepped back, he gritted his teeth and dropped his hand to his side.

“I’m going to ask you—with all that I am—please don’t leave our home.”

Weighted by firm conviction, Kellen’s words fell through her heart but found no room to settle.

To follow the rest of Marianne's tour click here

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Check out the terrific book trailer at this link click here

And connect with Marianne at these links:

Website: www.marianneevans.com

Blog: www.marianneevans.blogspot.com

Facebook Reader Page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Marianne-Evans/308711716744

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Marmo212   BUYlink click here

Delighted to host you today, Marianne. Love the way your books touch people on so many different levels.

LEAVE A COMMENT for the chance to win an autographed print edition of Hearts Crossing, Marianne's award-winning novella and book one of her Christian inspirational Woodland Series (US/Canada only) or a $25 Amazon gift card