Welcome Carol Kilgore and Book One of The Amazing Gracie Trilogy! Plus #InkRipples

Please welcome Carol Kilgore and the cover of her latest book, the first in a trilogy. Don't you just LOVE IT!?

 JALAPENO CUPCAKE WENCH

AMAZING GRACIE TRILOGY, BOOK 1

A hot and spicy taste of murder—and more.

Blurb

During the day, law enforcement consultant Gracie Hofner is on assignment at a small San Antonio bakery, waiting for a delivery. No one knows what it is or when it will arrive. The upside? Working next to Donovan Beck, a flirty hunk and a half—perfect fling material.

At night, Gracie resumes her search for a little girl and her mother who went missing following a double murder. Finding the pair is imperative or the girl will become a target.

At the girl’s aunt’s house, Gracie experiences a peculiar need to leave immediately. She tries to deny the urge to flee and pushes the pressure aside, but the compulsion intensifies. Gracie thinks she must have a brain tumor. Or is losing her mind. When similar events continue to occur, Gracie sees a pattern. Can she use this newfound ability to help her find the girl and her mother before it’s too late?

Bio

Carol Kilgore is the author of Jalapeno Cupcake Wench, the first book in The Amazing Gracie Trilogy, and three romantic suspense novels: In Name Only, Solomon’s Compass, and Secrets of Honor. She’s married, with dogs, and lives in San Antonio, the setting for the trilogy.

Where to connect with Carol:

Blog: https://www.underthetikihut.blogspot.com

Website: http://www.carolkilgore.net

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

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/carol_kilgore

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/ckilgore

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#InkRipples is a monthly meme created by Kai Strand, Mary Waibel, and Katie L. Carroll. We post on the first Monday of every month with a new topic. We’re all authors, but you don’t have to be to participate.

The idea of #InkRipples is to toss a word, idea, image, whatever into the inkwell and see what kind of ripples it makes. We provide the topics and will be blogging about them on the first Monday of the month. You can spread your own ripples by blogging about the topic any day of the month that fits your schedule, just be sure to include links back to the three of us please (Katie, Kai, and Mary).

This month's topic is Heroes and Villains.

I'm going to keep it short and list five favorite heroes and villains. What's curious is that there is only one female in the group. I need to think about that.

Heroes

Odysseus - because he loved his wife

Don Quixote - because he wanted to right wrongs

Robin Hood - because he fought injustice

Atticus Finch - because he fought injustice

Winnie the Pooh - because he loved and accepted everyone

Villains

Big Nurse - because she was so subtle in her evilness

Professor Moriarty - because he was so wickedly brilliant

Iago - because he was so heinously deceitful

Long John Silver - because he was a pirate!

Sauron - because he's SO evil we never even see him (except of course for his eye...)

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Excited for Carol? Gracie sounds like a great character! Got a favorite hero or villain? Hope you'll share.

Guest Posting at Under the Tiki Hut

Today I'm guest posting at Carol Kilgore's. Carol and I are lounging around under her tiki hut sipping exotic drinks while I pontificate about how my famous lizard hero got his name.

Marvin's enjoying hanging out at the hut too because it reminds him of the islands. You know, palm fronds shushing in the wind, Old Man Ocean muttering to himself, and plenty of tasty bugs to gobble up.

You won't need an exterminator, Carol, as long as Marvin's visiting!

Stop by and say hi!

***

In the meantime, here's an article that was written about me for a local weekly newspaper! Hope it's large enough for a person to read.

Carol Kilgore's SECRETS OF HONOR Contest

I'm delighted to have Carol guest posting on my blog. Let's make her feel all warm and welcomed as we sit around a sip our favorite adult beverage!

Thanks for hosting me, Bish. It’s fun to be on the blog of another Texas writer.

Bish and I live fairly close to one another by Texas standards – an hour and a half or so, depending on traffic and how closely you adhere to the speed limit. Yet we've never met in person. Maybe one day we’ll remedy that, especially since we share a love of the beach and the ocean.

We tried to put our heads together to think of something unique for this post, but we weren't terribly successful. Plus we were each busy with other projects at the time as well. So I decided to riff off of one of Bish’s suggestions and write about tropical drinks.

Sadly, the characters in SECRETS OF HONOR drank mostly coffee and water, as they were working during most of the story. Even so, beer, wine, and a few drinks made appearances, too. And there was one scene in which iced tea was the star – yes, you’ll need to read that scene for yourself J

But what beach book blog post would be complete without saying something about the beach. So I looked up the recipe for Sex on the Beach – it sounds much less gritty than the real thing, but just as potent!

It’s also appropriate since in my original thinking about this story, I envisioned a yummy sex-on-the-beach scene – that didn't make the final cut. Wouldn't you know.

But there is a scene in a hotel bar in Corpus Christi. Surely someone there was drinking a Sex on the Beach.

But we can’t forget these other beachy drinks: Mojito – Margarita – Daiquiri – Pina Colada.

So after I wrote this I asked Kat Marengo and Dave Krizak what their favorite tropical drink was.

Kat said hers was a Margarita – because it goes with Mexican food.

Dave said he wasn't fond of umbrellas, but he’d choose a Mojito.

I know they really meant Sex on the Beach but didn't want to fess up J

CONTEST INFO

Monday through Friday this week, I’m visiting five different blogs to promote my just-released novel, SECRETS OF HONOR. You can visit my blog, http://www.underthetikihut.blogspot.com, to see where I am each day. On each blog, I’ll give away a $5 Amazon Gift Card.  Everyone who comments on my posts will be entered into a drawing for a $5 Amazon Gift Card for that blog. So there will be five separate contests, and it will be possible to win all five, for a total of $25. Although what are the odds of that? Don’t ask me – math isn’t my BFF!

Winners will be announced next Monday on my blog, and I’ll make an effort to contact the winners over the weekend prior to the announcement.

SECRETS OF HONOR

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 her 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.

U.S. Links:

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Honor-Carol-Kilgore-ebook/dp/B00NH0QTO6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410735340&sr=8-1&keywords=secrets+of+honor

Paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Honor-Carol-Kilgore/dp/1500522031/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1410735340&sr=8-1

This thriller was so much fun to write. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I had writing it.

AUTHOR BIO

Although Carol has deep Texas roots, she’s lived up and down the eastern seaboard and in other locations across the U.S. as a Coast Guard wife. She sees mystery and subterfuge everywhere. And she’s a sucker for a good love story—especially one 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 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

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

An Award and Wins!

The cogs of the Universe have been lining up and pointing their WIN signs at me. I certainly don't know why I deserve it, but I'm thankful. 

Carol Kilgore, at Under the Tiki Hut recently gave me the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award. THANKS, CAROL!

All I have to do is pass it on to 10 or 12 other women bloggers. Easy Peasy. (Or is that eazy peazy?)

Here are my choices, in no particular order.

Barbara at Far Away Series  is a woman who doesn't seem to be afraid to pack up and move when the mood strikes her.

Anne Gallagher at Piedmont Writer  is a perennial favorite. Even though she hasn't been blogging much lately, she's still an inspiration to all of us working to self-publish.

Joy at The Character Depot  is someone I look up to and think of as a Caribbean sister.

Cynthia Chapman Willis continues to inspire and share while doing battle with cancer.

Medeia Sharif is awe inspiring to me because of the number of books she manages to read and review.

Melanie Schulz writes consistently great flash fiction, little mind benders that get you thinking.

Liza at Middle Passages writes lovely descriptive passages about her life in New England often accompanied by stunning photos.

C. Lee McKenzie at The Write Game because I think of her as a good friend and because she knows the value of awards.

Manzanita at Wanna Buy a Duck is an example for all of us on how to age with grace and energy.

Robyn Campbell because you can feel her smiles and good will through the words of her blog. And this, in spite of health challenges in her family.


I was also surprised by two prizes.

Someone, I have no idea who (thank you secret admirer) nominated me for Misha Gericke's  Paying it Forward Awards. When Misha emailed  me to say I'd won I was really kind of stunned. I got to choose from all these fabulous prizes Misha arranged to give away. Because I'm always in need of reading material, I opted for an Amazon gift card. THANK YOU MISHA!

Lastly, for the first time ever, I've won a Goodreads giveaway! Out of 1186 people with 50 books available, I won a copy of The Time Fetch by Amy Herrick.

***

Edward thought he had picked up a rock. He didn’t know it was a sleeping Time Fetch—and touching it would alter the entire fabric of time and space.

Under normal circumstances, a Time Fetch sends out its foragers to collect only those moments that will never be missed or regretted. It then rests, waiting to be called back by the Keeper, who distributes the gathered time where it is needed in our world and others.

When Edward innocently mistakes a sleeping Fetch for an ordinary rock, he wakes its foragers too early, and they begin to multiply and gobble up too much time. Soon the bell rings to end class just as it’s begun. Buses race down streets, too far behind schedule to stop for passengers. Buildings and sidewalks begin to disappear as the whole fabric of the universe starts to unravel.

To try to stop the foragers, Edward must depend on the help of his classmates Feenix, Danton, and Brigit—whether he likes it or not. They all have touched the Fetch, and it has drawn them together in a strange and thrilling adventure where the boundaries between worlds and dimensions are blurred, and places and creatures on the other side are much like the ones they’ve always known—but slightly twisted, a little darker, and much more dangerous.

***

Sounds pretty exciting, yes? Have you won or given away anything lately? Do you have a favorite something that you won?

Happy Fourth of July, Free Books, and Thanks

GIRLS ON STILTS

St. John Fourth of July Parade.

In celebration of the Fourth, check out these 
FREE BOOKS

Because everybody who reads likes to have books to read, Sarah's Reviews is giving away THREE (3!) of C. Lee McKenzie's books! Hurry on over there and sign up. I've read all three of these books and they are great. If you don't know who Lee is, you might want to check and see if you're living under a rock. Hop on over to her blog, The Write Game and tell her I sent you!

The Princess of Las Pulgas
After her father’s slow death from cancer, Carlie’s mother is forced to sell their cherished oceanfront home and move the family to the other side of the tracks—to dreaded Las Pulgas. At her tough new urban high school, Carlie is nicknamed “Princess” because of her aloof attitude. But what her classmates don’t know is that Carlie isn’t aloof; she’s in mourning for her father and almost everything else that mattered to her. Meanwhile, her younger brother Keith becomes angrier and more sullen by the day, and even their cat Quicken goes missing, sending Carlie and Keith on a search for her in the hidden orchard beside their seedy apartment complex. They’re met by a rifle-toting cowboy who ejects them at gunpoint from his property. But when Carlie finds him in the kitchen having coffee with their mom the next day, having found and returned the cat, she begins to realize that in Las Pulgas, nothing is what it seems.

Sliding on the Edge

A teenager who is a "cutter" and her grandmother are strangers when they are thrown together, each with secrets that stir mutual distrust until saving a doomed horse unites them and gives each a reason to live.










Alligators Overhead

Twelve-year-old Pete Riley thought being suspended from school was bad, but that’s nothing compared to what happens when a legendary mansion reappears after being gone a hundred years.  When the mysterious, haunted mansion pops up next door, the backwater town of Hadleyville is transformed from boring to bizarre. Pete discovers he’s living among a sadly out of practice coven of witches, his Aunt Lizzie is the leader and the Ornorfree alligators are the witches’ familiars. These swamp animals are in danger of extinction if Aunt Lizzie’s Save the Ornorfree Committee can’t find legal ways to stop developers from destroying another chunk of the swamp. He's struggling to make sense of what’s happening around him when he discovers he might have inherited the family tendency toward witchcraft, but his spells aren’t any better than the out-of-practice witches. When they work some old witchcraft spells, they vanish. He’s scared his spells won’t do much better, but he and his one friend, Weasel, are the only hope for the fragile swamp ecology. It’s up to Pete to harness what he’s come to know are his own strange powers, bring back the Hadleyville witches, and stop the bulldozers.

THANKS

Here's to Carol Kilgore over at Under the Tiki Hut who held and interesting contest with the winner getting to pick one of her books. Guess who won? I had to choose between In Name Only or Solomon's Compass. Well, since Carol featured Solomon's Compass during the A to Z Challenge, I had to go with it. THANKS CAROL!