Secrets of Honor Cover Reveal

 (I'm not here, not really. But I am, in a way, because I promised Carol Kilgore a good while back that I'd help out with the cover reveal of her newest book, SECRETS OF HONOR!)

About the book:

By the end of a long evening working as a special set of eyes for the presidential security detail, all Kat Marengo wants is to kick off her shoes and stash two not-really-stolen rings in a secure spot. Plus, maybe sleep with Dave Krizak. No, make that definitely sleep with Dave Krizak. The next morning, she wishes her new top priorities were so simple.

As an operative for a covert agency buried in the depths of the Department of Homeland Security, Kat is asked to participate in a matter of life or death—locate a kidnapped girl believed to be held in Corpus Christi, Texas. Since the person doing the asking is the wife of the president and the girl is the daughter of the first lady’s dearest friend, it’s hard to say no.

Kat and Dave quickly learn the real stakes are higher than they or the first lady believed and will require more than any of them bargained for.

The kicker? They have twenty-four hours to find the girl—or the matter of life or death will become more than a possibility.

BIO

Carol writes grocery lists, texts to her family, new lyrics to old songs for her dogs, love notes to her husband, and novels for herself. And for you. In between, she blogs weekly at Under the Tiki Hut and is active on Facebook and Twitter.

She sees mystery and subterfuge everywhere. And she’s a sucker for a good love story—especially ones with humor and mystery. Crime Fiction with a Kiss gives her the latitude to mix and match throughout the broad mystery and romance genres. Having flexibility makes her heart happy.

You can connect with Carol and her books here:

Under the Tiki Hut blog:  http://www.underthetikihut.blogspot.com

Website with Monthly Contest: http://www.carolkilgore.net

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/carol.kilgore1

Twitter: http://twitter.com/carol_kilgore

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6094110.Carol_Kilgore

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Carol-Kilgore/e/B008FRCXQY

Taking a Break

My intentions were to take April off, but as some of you may know, I buckled to peer pressure and did the A to Z challenge. That put other plans on hold, which has set me back a bit. Sooooooo..... I'm taking time off from blogging. I may stop by and visit some of you from time to time, but no guarantees on that.

As for how long I'll be away, I don't know. It might be just for the month of May. It could be longer, maybe two months or even the whole summer. I really don't know.

What I do know, is that I need some time to get my next book, A Lizard's Tail, ready for publication. Then there's work to be done on my third book, The Bowl and the Stone, which is a ghost story. Plus there are new ideas that need to be explored. There's also the possibility of going home to the islands and spending some time with my sister.

All in all, I'm full of hopeful plans.

This picture was taken a good 7 or 8 years ago when we had a lawn and things were green. 

Be good, have fun and I'll see you when I get back!

Win, Win and Another Win!

I survived, you survived, we all survived the challenge. We can pat ourselves on the back and hopefully get back to our regularly scheduled programs.

I was surprised and delighted to learn that the A to Z Challenge was very good to me. I won two books and a package of goodies! 

From Lexa Cain I won Soul Cutter. I approach with caution as I know this is a horror story, a genre I don't normally read. But I'm going to give it a go because I admire Lexa!

Seventeen-year-old Élan spends her free time videoing psychic scams and outing them online. Skepticism makes life safe—all the ghosts Élan encounters are fakes. When her estranged mother disappears from a film shoot in Egypt, Élan puts her medium-busting activities on hold and joins the search.

In Egypt, the superstitious film crew sucks at finding her mom. When a hotel guest is killed, whispers start—the locals think their legendary Soul Cutter has come back from the dead. Élan's only ally is Ramsey, a film-crew intern, but he’s arrogant, stubborn—and hiding dangerous secrets.

When Élan discovers the Soul Cutter is no scam, she finds herself locked in a deadly battle against a supernatural killer with more than her mother’s life at stake.

Élan is fighting for her very soul.

***

From Melanie Shulz  I won The Newstead Project. 

the giant.

Joel Cranston's life is relatively normal. Until he finds out he shouldn't exist.

the school.

Newstead is a private high school tucked away in the Green Mountains of Vermont. It's a great place to hide a few hundred people who shouldn't exist while they train them to be tomorrow's rulers, tomorrow's dictators, tomorrow's gods.

the unexpected.  

Rachel Newell thinks she’s just passing through. She never stays anyplace more than four months, and with Newstead so close to Weston, she has even more reason to make this her shortest stop ever. She never expects to have a reason to stay.

Together Rachel and Joel uncover the truth behind what is THE NEWSTEAD PROJECT.

***

Lastly, from Laura Marcella at Wavy Lines, I won a mystery gift package! Laura has promised it's filled with all sorts of goodies. Knowing Laura, I'm sure there will be lots of neat things included.

Thanks, Lexa, Melanie and Laura!

Snip, Snip Revenge

It's here, Medeia's latest book! Enter  the Rafflecopter give-away TODAY and TOMORROW to win a copy! 


SNIP, SNIP REVENGE by Medeia Sharif

YA Contemporary, Evernight Teen
Release Date April 25, 2014

Beautiful, confident Tabby Karim has plans for the winter: nab a role in her school’s dramatic production, make the new boy Michael hers, and keep bigoted Heather—with her relentless Ay-rab comments—at bay. When a teacher’s lie and her father’s hastiness rob her of her beautiful hair, her dreams are dashed. The fastest barber in Miami Beach has made her look practically bald. 

With all her pretty hair gone, Tabby doesn’t believe she fits the feminine role she’s auditioning for. Michael is still interested in her, but he’s playing it cool. Heather has taken to bullying her online, which is easier to do with Tabby’s ugly haircut. Tabby spearheads Operation Revenge, which proves satisfying until all of her problems deepen. After messing up, she sets to make things right.

Author Bio

I’m a Kurdish-American author who was born in New York City, and I presently call Miami my home. I received my master’s degree in psychology from Florida Atlantic University. After becoming a voracious reader in high school and a relentless writer dabbling in many genres in college, I found my niche writing for young people. Today I'm a MG and YA writer published through various presses. In addition to being a writer, I'm a middle school English teacher. My memberships include Mensa, ALAN, and SCBWI.

Find Medeia

Blog   |   Twitter   |   Goodreads   |   Instagram   |   Amazon

Join Medeia's giveaway to celebrate the release of her latest novel.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Z is for...

Click HERE for a list of all
the participants!

For this, my 5th year doing the Challenge, it's the

A to Z of Anansi the spider.


Z is for Zany and Zesty!

And so, we come to the close of another year of A to Zing, a ZANY trip journey though the world of Anansi the spider, trickster of the Caribbean.

I hope that you have come away having a greater ZEST for life. If Anansi can be optimistic AND opportunistic in the face of suffering, maybe we should at least learn this from him, that dancing through life is better than sitting around moping.

Go forth and LIVE WITH ZANY ZEST!

Anansi and his cohorts would like to thank you for stopping by and hope you enjoyed visiting.

How do you escape a hungry tiger? Why do ram-goats smell? What happens if you get too greedy? In this collection of ten retold Jamaican stories, Anansi the spider tricks, sings, and dances his way into and out of trouble.

But who is Anansi? It was the Ashanti of West Africa who brought the spider into the Caribbean. He clung tight to the web he wove in the minds of those who had been captured, surviving not only the harrowing passage across the Atlantic Ocean, but hundreds of years of slavery.

As a trickster, Anansi has both good and bad traits, which makes him very human. Sometimes he wins, sometimes he loses. When he wins he dances and sings for joy. When he loses, he shakes it off and keeps on living, a lesson for us all.

Available for Kindle and in print at Amazon.com

Y is for...

Click HERE for a list of all
the participants!

For this, my 5th year doing the Challenge, it's the

A to Z of Anansi the spider.

Y is for Yam

Did you know sweet potatoes are
members of the morning glory family?

When you think of yams, you might picture these guys, those orange colored tubers we serve up at Thanksgiving.





When I think of yams I'm thinking of something more like this.


These are true yams, belonging to the Yam family. They are not sweet, but rather kind of dry and starchy. You can read more about them HERE.

In Africa and in the Caribbean they have long been a staple as well as a versatile tuber. So when you read about yams in the Anansi stories, these are the ones that are being referenced.

X is for...

Click HERE for a list of all
the participants!

For this, my 5th year doing the Challenge, it's the

A to Z of Anansi the spider.

X is for Xcerpt

As in: "a short extract from a film, broadcast, piece of music or writing." Okay, so I cheated a bit, but so what? 

Here's an Xcerpt from "Miss Ophelia's Daughter," which happens to be one of my favorite stories from, Anansi and Company. Plus I am sharing with you, one of the five fabulous illustrations by Adrienne Saldivar that are in the book.

Don't you just love how Anansi is watching
 from beneath the floorboards? 

In a poor but neat little house on the edge of town lived Miss Ophelia and her daughter. Miss Ophelia was a strange old woman. No one could ever remember Miss Ophelia calling her daughter by her name. It was always, "Daughter," or "Sweetheart," or "Child."

In time people began to suspect that Miss Ophelia's daughter had no name at all. They tsked, tsked and whispered amongst themselves whenever Miss Ophelia or her daughter came to market. Rumors began to spread. In time, people came to believe Miss Ophelia was a witch and that her daughter wasn't really her daughter at all, but an enchanted spirit-helper.

Eventually, the rumors so annoyed Miss Ophelia, she decided to do something about it. One Saturday morning at the busy market, she got up on the steps leading to the stalls and called for everyone's attention.

"I don't know how many times I have to tell all of you I ain't no witch and that my daughter ain't enchanted. It seem to me all o' of should know better. Particularly you, Miss Agatha, since you was there at my bedside when my daughter was born. To end all this talk, I am offering  up a challenge. I will give one hundred dollars to anyone who can guess my daughter name."