"The Morning After"
I couldn't sleep last night
There were lions and bears tearing you from my side
I couldn't sleep last night
How you look like my daughter
It's burnt in my mind
And I can't feel anything the morning after you
And I can't tell anyone the morning after you
I couldn't sleep last night
You were chasing the birds till the beast caught your eye
I couldn't sleep last night
How you look like an angel
It's burnt in my mind
I can't feel anything the morning after you
I can't tell anyone the morning after you
And I hope you sleep with a merry gold
I hope you win it this time
And I pray you don't fear the animals
I'll save you, I promise this time
I couldn't sleep last night
There were lions and bears tearing you from my side
I couldn't sleep last night
How you look like my daughter
It's burned in my mind
I can't feel anything the morning after you
I would give anything
Nov 11, 2015
Meg Myers - The Morning After [Official Audio]
Nov 5, 2015
Blog tour for THE FACE TRANSPLANT by R. Arundel
The Face Transplant
by R. ArundelGENRE: Medical Suspense Thriller
BLURB:An epic journey of suspense, murder, and sacrificeDr. Matthew MacAulay is a facial transplant surgeon at a prestigious New York hospital. When his friend and mentor, Tom Grabowski, dies under mysterious circumstances, Matthew uncovers his friend’s secret: a new technique that allows perfect facial transplants. No incisions, no scars. Tom was able to accomplish this monumental feat with the help of Alice, a supercomputer robot with almost human abilities. While trying to find the people responsible for murdering Tom, Matthew realizes he is the prime suspect. He must flee for his life with the help of Dr. Sarah Larsson, a colleague and reluctant helper, who has a secret of her own, and Alice, who helps them make sense of a baffling series of seemingly unrelated events. The clues carry Matthew and Sarah around the world. They stumble onto a sinister plot of monumental proportions that leads Matthew all the way to the White House.The Face Transplant is a powerful medical suspense thriller of the first order. The novel was written by a surgeon who weaves politics, medicine, and espionage into a tightly paced, intelligent thriller.Excerpt:Sarah pulls the car over and stops in a parking spot at the side of the road.“So it’s started. They’re coming after us.”Matthew says, “It was made to look like I killed her. She’s the one who called me. The police are after me, and I can’t be seen in public.”Sarah, “So the killer told her to call you to come over.”“They threatened her daughter, Inez.”“I’m sorry that happened, but I can’t help you. I don’t want anything more to do with this thing.”“Don’t you want to get whoever killed Amanda?”“I’m not involved.”“Don’t you see we need to stick together? Whoever is behind this will hunt us down one by one. We have no choice now.”“Please get out of my car.”“You’re the only person who can help me. We can’t bring in anyone else. I need you to do my face transplant.”“You’re going to get us all killed.”Matthew says, “Liam and I have a plan. Liam’s already got a plane that will take us to Palo Alto. There’s a transplant facility there.”“Why not do it here?”“The robotics at Tom’s facility are superior. He also has a Steriazol that allows for the perfect transplant.”“Then you’ll go undercover with your new face. You’ll be a totally different person so you can go around and, in no time, solve this thing.”“That’s about it.”“I will not help you. I am out. Now please leave my car.”Matthew gets out of the car and gently closes the door. Sarah watches him walk away. She puts her head on the steering wheel and begins to cry. The sobs get louder and louder until her whole body shakes.Sarah talks softly to herself. “Just let it out. Let it all out.”She wipes her face and takes her head off the steering wheel. Sarah starts the car and begins driving. After a few blocks, she sees Matthew. Sarah stops the car in front of him.“Get in.”
AUTHOR Bio and Links:R. Arundel is a practising surgeon. This experience brings realism to the story. The novel asks what would happen if a surgeon were to develop the perfect face transplant. This would allow people to have a new face, in essence create a new identity. You can create the perfect double, the perfect Doppelganger.Contact link: http://www.amazon.com/R-Arundel/e/B00EBCQVECGIVEAWAYPrizes for the tour are as follows:
One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card.
One randomly chosen host will receive a $25 Amazon/BN.com gift card.
Nov 3, 2015
Blog tour for ATHENA'S SECRETS by Donna Del Oro
Athena's Secrets
by Donna Del OroGENRE: romantic suspense w/ESP elements~~~~~~~~~~~~~BLURB:What if you could read minds with just a touch? Would you be able to trust anyone?Athena Butler, the twenty-year-old descendant of an ancient bloodline of psychics, yearns to lead a normal life. She wants a career, a boyfriend, independence. Her clairvoyant gift, however, has taught her that people can be false and dangerous. Although warned to keep her powers a secret, she's recruited by law enforcement to help search for a serial killer and uncover a terrorist cell.She bonds with an intriguing, handsome man, Kas Skoros, who knows her secret and accepts it. Of the same bloodline, his mother is precognitive and predicts that they are meant to be together…some day. Kas, military veteran and Search and Rescue deputy, is skeptical and cynical-- life is too uncertain--but can't resist exploring his passion for Athena. Yet there are obstacles beyond their control.Can Kas overcome these obstacles? Can Athena stay alive long enough to fulfill her dream?Excerpt:“So I hear. We—my father, Alex and I--protect my mother from people who’d try to exploit her. Is there anyone protecting you and your mother?”More than a little surprised, Athena halted. “Not really. Father pretends we’re normal and I supposed Chris does, too. Mum and I—we keep our clairvoyance a secret from everyone. Everyone except the police, that is.”They’d come to a fork in the path. Ahead of them, through a thicket of oaks and pines, Athena could see the lake glimmering in the sunlight. Kas took the path to the right. “Follow me.” He headed for the boathouse that she could now see about fifty yards away. “We’ll have to wear wet suits. The air’s warm, but the water’s snow melt.”“I live in D.C. so I can handle it. I can read minds, but can’t do weather forecasting. Go figure.”Kas harrumphed. “I hear you work part-time at a coffeehouse. Seems like you could make more money doing psychic readings. But then, you’d have to expose yourself and your secret.”“Yes, that won’t do. I guess it’s safer this way.”“I know, my mother feels the same way. There’s a history of the bloodline having problems when people find out the truth. There’s always a group in society that doesn’t understand, people who take advantage or exploit them, or use them as scapegoats. I guess that means there’s been some witch-hunting in the past, burning at the stake, that kind of thing. The Romans would kidnap soothsayers and hold them as slaves. I’ve heard only the Temple seers in Greece were off-limits. Even so, the Temple priestesses had Guardians assigned to them day and night.”She looked at him. He wasn’t joking. The protective side of him was rearing up. “I’ve heard that, too. I thought it was just nonsense, Mum trying to scare me into keeping it secret.”“Can’t be any harm nowadays.” He glanced back and grinned. “Now, if your secret came out, you’d get celebrity status and your own reality TV show.”She couldn’t help but laugh. “Not interested.”“Well, whenever you want to read me, go ahead. No skin off my nose. I’m sure that what you see will either turn you off or bore you to death.”“Then I guess you’re different from all the other men I’ve known,” she tossed back. “Even my father doesn’t like it. Men like their secrets.”“All the other men?”“Figuratively speaking,” she said wryly.He frowned and ran his gaze over her. “Chris filled me in about you. You’re nineteen. An art student. Single. He says you had a hard time when you were younger. With your clairvoyance, I mean. Trusting people, making friends. Sorry for my blunt speaking, but this is who I am.”“It’s okay. When it first came on, yes, I had some hard times. Now I manage it. I keep it under control.” She shrugged and added, “I’ll be twenty, December first.” Now she wondered what else Chris had told him. Probably how she couldn’t get a boyfriend if her life depended on it. That she was a virgin desperate for love. God, no wonder Kas was put off.“Don’t believe everything my brother tells you about me,” was all she could think of to say.AUTHOR Bio and Links:Donna Del Oro lives in Northern California with her husband and three cats. She taught high school and community college English classes for 30+ years and is now happily retired. When not writing novels or reading voraciously, she travels and sings with the medal winning Sacramento Valley Chorus.Donna is a member of Capitol Crimes, the Sacramento chapter of Sisters in Crime in addition to the Valleyrose chapter of the RWA. She has judged RITA entries and does developmental editing on the side. Two of her novels, Operation Familia and Born To Sing, have won national and international awards.Follow clairvoyant artist Athena Butler in the next book in The Delphi Bloodline series: ATHENA’S QUEST.Donna Del Oro will be awarding a print copy of Operation Familia or Born to Sing, to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour, and a print copy of Operation Familia or Born to Sing to a randomly drawn host.Giveaway
Nov 1, 2015
A Year In The Life of A Complete and Total Genius Guest Post
A Year in the Life of a Complete and Total Genius
By Stacey Matson
Release Date; November 3, 2015
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Praise for A Year in the Life of a Complete and Total Genius
“[A] humorous coming-of-age novel.” –Publishers Weekly
“Arthur, like Sedaris, is at essence, a self-dramatizing memoirist with a subversive sensibility, viperous yet vulnerable, sharp-witted with a magnet eye for the ridiculous. His writings and personality also bring to mind Jeff Kinney’s hilarious mini-Machiavellian schemer and pretension-piercing fellow diarist, Greg Heffley.” –The Vancouver Sun
“Arthur is a sweet funny character and it is a lot of fun to join him on his journey through the ups and downs of junior high.” –Shelf-Talkers
Summary:
Arthur Bean is a genius. It’s just that no one else realizes this quite yet. He’s going to be a world-famous author, and the first step is to win this year’s story writing contest. What he writes is pretty funny, but it gets him into trouble too.
Like with his English teacher, and the school newspaper advisor. And cool girl Kennedy. And Arthur’s number one nemesis, Robbie Zack.
But all great authors spark controversy, so Arthur’s not too concerned. Through letters, email exchanges, “SEE ME AFTER CLASS” notes and doodles, enter the funny, touching, and often mixed-up mind of Arthur Bean, creative genius.
Buy Links:
Amazon- http://ow.ly/SiHy4
Barnes&Noble- http://ow.ly/SiHLD
BooksAMillion- http://ow.ly/SiHT4
Indiebound- http://ow.ly/SiIcc
Excerpt from A Year in the Life of a Complete and Total Genius:
The Next Great Bestselling Novel (Title to be announced)
By Arthur Bean
Once upon a time there was
There was once a
A long time ago
Yesterday
Today
America is awesome! This is because
A boy and his unicorn sat on the grass and the unicorn could talk and said
Murder! There’s been a very violent murder!
Dear Ms. Whitehead,
As you know, I haven’t been in class yet, but my next-door neighbor Nicole suggested that I write you a letter since I will be starting soon. I don’t really know what to write to you. Maybe I will tell you a little about myself so that you feel like I started school at the same time as everyone else.
My name is Arthur Aaron Bean, but I normally just go by Arthur. I spent the summer at my grandparents’ house in Balzac. It was a long summer. I actually live in one of the apartment buildings pretty close to the school. I like to knit and watch movies, sometimes at the same time. I’m a very good multi-tasker. I like creative writing, so I hope that we will do that and that I didn’t miss it. I was probably the best writer in my elementary school, and I plan on getting rich as a novelist when I’m a grown-up. I don’t have any siblings, but my cousin Luke is kind of like my twin brother.
My most profound work so far is the heartwarming story called “Sockland.” In this short story, a little boy climbs into the dryer during a game of hide-and-seek with his older brothers. He is accidentally shrunk and crawls through the dryer vent into Sockland. Sockland is a land where missing socks go to live. He enjoys it for a while, but then finds that single socks are very boring, and needs to find a way to get home. He then gets the socks to help him by promising to send their partners through the tunnel, and he crawls back up into the dryer to rejoin humanland.
Mrs. Lewis said it was highly original and that I showed real promise in becoming the next J.K. Rowling. The secretary told me that I’m in a class with some of the people from my elementary school so that I would feel more comfortable. Actually, she didn’t say people, she said some of my friends. This may seem weird, because I wasn’t really friends with a lot of the people in my elementary school. Actually, most of my friends went to the Catholic school next door to our school, and so I saw them all the time. I did have a couple of friends like Oliver, but mostly I wasn’t friends with people in my elementary school class. Besides, who would want to be friends with guys like Robbie Zack? I’m not friends with people who spell thoughts as thots. Good luck with that one. He’s what my mother called “a handful of trouble with a capital T.”
Yours truly,
Arthur Bean
About the Author:
Stacey Matson has worked in a theatre program on Parliament Hill and written theatre pieces for the Glenbow Museum and for the All-Nations Theatre in Calgary. She earned her Master of Arts in Children’s Literature at the University of British Columbia. A debut novelist, Stacey lives in Vancouver, BC. Visit Stacey at staceymatson.com.
Social Networking Links:
Website
Stuff I Like.
I like a lot of stuff. Here's just a few other sites you should check out and why:
Writers' Exchange
The Writers' Exchange does amazing things for at-risk kids in East Vancouver. Many of these kids are role models for me in their awesomeness.
North Country Christmas Trees
One month a year, I sell Christmas trees under the shadow of the Playland wooden roller coaster. I would do it for longer, but sales drop off pretty quickly...
Maggie DeVries
Maggie is an inspiration and an amazing writer and educator. Read her books, and if you're really lucky, you'll get to take a class with her one day.
Vancouver Children's Literature Roundtable
This organization is amazing. Great events, great speakers, and a great community of children's book lovers.
Master of Arts in Children's Literature
This MA program saw the genesis of Arthur Bean, along with helping me find a new career path I always dreamed of but didn't know how to find.
Parliament of Canada
I know; what kind of cool and hip writer puts a link to the parliamentary education? This kind of writer! I never learned so much as I did working here for six years. Sure, no one else cares about Wooden Mace Day here in Vancouver, but aren't you curious now as to what that is?
Book Reviews
My friend Rob Bittner gives me 80% of my book recommendations. You can have some too, by reading his blog of book reviews. Trust me; trust him. He's got good taste.
Giveaway
Oct 22, 2015
Blog Tour What Happens In Venice Trilogy by Diana Cachey
TAGLINE: Among the romantic canals of Venice—and oh so many Italian distractions—can a stunning American lawyer, her psychic sister and a free-spirited best friend, help the Ghosts of Venice solve a hushed up crime?
About the Series:
Louisa Mangotti, an American lawyer working as an Interpol expert for the international crime unit in Venice, receives a mysterious postcard from the Venetian ghosts, ancient protectors of the Republic. She scoffs at the ghosts, who plant clues for her to help them solve a hushed up crime that threatens Venice, because she suspects her bad boy ex-lover, Matteo, has crafted a plan to distract her from his own involvement in the crime. Nonetheless she’s forced to depend on him to decipher clues, including diving with him on a haunted shipwreck in the lagoon and venturing to far out hidden islands. Her sister, who communes with ghosts, arrives to rescue Louisa but is lured away from the chase into a steamy affair with a possible phantom. Another feisty foreigner, Louisa’s best friend Rebecca, further spices up the action and adds to the antics when she visits for Carnival and samples the Venetian charm and romance. More sexy men, as well as ghosts, distract the women as they follow a maze of cryptic clues, baffling signs and cunning messengers.
As the three women fall deeper into the whirlpool of the mysterious lagoon town, its wonderful sights, and alluring men, they continue to navigate a stormy course. With time running out, can the beauties solve a crime that threatens the future of Venice itself?
On top of being sexy, gorgeous and classy, Louisa Mangotti is a respected attorney and Interpol expert who is puzzled by the odd postcard that arrives in her mailbox signed mysteriously… "Venetian Ghosts". She assumes it's a quixotic attempt by her bad-boy ex, Matteo, to re-ignite their relationship. Louisa may have dismissed the ghosts, but the ghosts aren’t quite done with her.Ghosts take over Venice video, Part One
https://youtu.be/GKlQhIjm1vY
Ghosts take over Venice video Part Two
https://youtu.be/V673QdQZQwMAvailable at AmazonHalloween Day of the Dead Sale .99 cents!!
Keywords: 1. Chick lit mystery 2. Venice fiction 3. Ghosts 4. Paranormal mystery 5. Contemporary women novels 6. Travel ItalyLove Spirits
What Happens In Venice
Book One
Diana Cachey
About the Love Spirits:
When the bodies of two glass makers wash up on Murano Island, the cryptic messages persist. Louisa is drawn to the story of the Venetian ghosts and initiates a personal investigation. Reluctantly, Louisa calls upon her bad boy ex, Matteo, to help decipher the clues. Before she knows it, a flame that was never fully extinguished is unexpectedly rekindled.
Sensing that her sister is in over her head, Barbara Mangotti rushes to the rescue, only to be lured away by two hard-to-resist good-looking Venetian men.
With time running out, can these two beauties solve a crime that could threaten the city of Venice itself?
This book is like a magic carpet ride that takes you to Venice, capturing in a most wonderful way its unique allure and mystery. Part travelogue, part mystery, part romance novel, it will warm your heart, send goosebumps up your spine, and leave you breathless.Available at AmazonLOVE SPIRITS, Excerpt #1:
From the Top of Our Great Bell Tower
Saint Mark Square
Venice, Italy
Dear wide-eyed tourist,
Don’t go to Venice.
But if you do, don’t fall in -- in a canal, in love or into Venice itself. As if you have a choice. Hear us cackling?
Listen. We came to warn you about La Serenissima, the Most Serene One, as Venice has been called since before the Middle Ages. You will not heed our warning and you will come looking for us. How do we know? It happens every time a Venetian ghost story is told.
As ancient protectors of the Venetian republic, we ghosts guard her virtues of which she has many. One reason we love her, and you will too, is that she is stuck in time. Did you know Venice functions without motorcars or trucks? We don’t like motorcars or trucks. Hundreds of tiny islands sewn together by foot bridges leaves no need for noisy, fume-spewing vehicles, thankfully.
We prefer floating.
Our classic transport is the gondola. Mostly reserved for you tourists now, gondolas are and always have been helmed by the most prestigious oarsmen in the world -- highly trained gondoliers who stand while rowing through the labyrinth of canals. They don’t mind when we ride with or without you while they serenade us with opera, Frank Sinatra songs and romantic favorites.
Ah yes, romance. As one visitor put it, “It’s their schtick, a Venetian ploy, an act to get sexy with you.” It is true. Venice equals romance equals sex.
If the shadows of Venice frighten you or you feel like you’re in a dream, have fun with it, float with us. We are watching over you. We want to further your journey to a more magical life because we think a person is charmed by a trip to La Serenissima.
It could change your soul forever. Just ignore this cautionary tale.
We remain in your service,
The Venetian GhostsLOVE SPIRITS, Excerpt # 2:
Venice kidnapped her. It stole her breath, it made her weep, and she forgave it. This trip was no different.
Palazzos flanked the Grand Canal as if playing the role of soldiers obedient to the eyes of tourists who passed in public boats, water taxis and gondolas. These old palaces sparkled on water like porcelain figurines on a glass shelf. A soft breeze rolled across Louisa’s cheeks and it rippled the reflections and transformed the scene. Mesmerized by the magic, Louisa missed her boat stop.
No problem, she thought, I’ll find another place for coffee. She refused to drink it alone in her apartment and religiously sipped her brew at one of the little cafes where handsome Venetian men worked. There were many such establishments on her way to police headquarters.
When she arrived a few weeks earlier, American lawyer Louisa Mangotti hoped to spearhead the creation of an essential link between Venice police and the rest of the world. But was she leading the department into the future of global law enforcement as she’d envisioned? No, she sat shackled to a desk where she sorted and translated police data because Interpol sent red alerts and formal requests for information in English or French, not in Italian. Therefore, many unsolved crimes remained ignored in the file drawers of the lagoon city, a thriving metropolis and huge tourist destination. And Louisa? Louisa remained bored in a cubicle learning about law and disorder.
According to recent updates to her sister, Louisa was focused on everything but international law enforcement anyway:
Ciao Barbara, Remember that lagoon island said to be full of ghosts where patients with the plague were once sent to die? Well many other haunted places exist in Venice too. I don’t believe in ghosts, not like you do, but I am checking out some haunts. I am checking out Venetian men too.
Because Barbara objected, Louisa promised not to explore the haunted island. But didn’t Barbara object to Louisa going to Venice at all this time? Wasn’t it just like Barbara to try to direct everything, even from afar? How much of the seemingly haunted happenings in Venice could Louisa ignore?
Blame the postcard, thought Louisa. And as she thought it, a loud bell rang out.
Louisa took note. In Italy, it is customary to pause and recall whatever you were thinking when a bell chimes, especially this bell, the one that echoed from the famous bell tower, high above St. Mark’s Square. The massive San Marco bell continued to sound in the serene setting, bang, gong, gong, bang, and it reverberated across the piazza, across the lagoon, to the nearby islands of Murano and Lido. It sounded authoritative and mighty. Every day. For centuries.Lagoon Lure
What Happens in Venice
Book Two
Diana Cachey
About the Lagoon Lure:
Sexy sleuth Louisa is back! She captivated romance novel readers and mystery lovers in Love Spirits, the first book of the intriguing international mystery and crime series, What Happens in Venice. Book Two, Lagoon Lure, continues this seductive ghost story and resumes the carnal pleasures, conspiracy and corruption.
American in Venice, Louisa, resumes her Venetian exploits, steamy love affairs and paranormal assisted murder investigation she began in Love Spirits. The mystery and romance further ensnares her in the second book of the What Happens in Venice mystery series.
Still unnerved by the notion that Venice ghost stories are real, Louisa delves further into the mystery of the deaths of two glassmakers while juggling the lustful manipulations of her ex-lover, Matteo, whose role in the double murder grows murkier.
Meanwhile Louisa's usually shy sister, Barbara, explores her new-found sexuality with Venice's willing men, sharing her adventures with her sister but keeping one particularly mysterious man a secret. Romance novel readers will love the changes in her and the tension created by the affairs of the heart that Venice leads her into before she realizes that she's fallen hard despite the haunted happenings around her.
When Louisa's best friend, "Rouge," arrives for Carnival to sample its masked men and create her own romance novel subplots and complicates the situation further by encouraging the sisters to embrace the pleasures of secret Venice. Rouge not only steams up the landscape but she is lured into her own complicated romances and supernatural events, if not a reluctant ghost story or two.
With Venice as the lush backdrop for double murder and a web of passionate intrigue, Louisa deciphers clues planted by ghosts and struggles to resist the wicked charms of the very tempter she suspected in the crimes. Her unfinished romance and ghost story compete against her love affair with Venice and its secrets. While she tries to enjoy her days of Venice travel, food and fashion, as well as her new admirer’s own brand of magic, the mystery of the dead glass makers still looms in the lagoon.
Lively supporting characters add sex, chuckles and suspense to the already twisted plots and turned phrases when they too must navigate Venice mystery, romantic liaisons and the ghost story encounters. The gothic setting, the romance laden environment, the mysterious corners and shadowy lagoon lead everyone astray. Haunted Venice gives everyone plenty to puzzle over right until the end.
Venice cafés, restaurants, and other haunts play a prominent role in this sexy supernatural romance and international crime series about a beautiful American in Venice guided by ghosts to solve the mystery of a hushed-up crime. Paranormal clues and ghost apparitions lead Louisa deeper into the lagoon, and she is forced to reluctantly enlist Matteo's support. Can she trust him, or will this ghostly lagoon lure prove deadly?Available at AmazonLAGOON LURE, Excerpt #1
Venice always delivered. For thousands of years she spread out her bounty for swarms of people who feasted upon her beauty. They stayed in ornate palaces or luxury hotels and paraded in stylish fashions. They admired diverse art, listened to sweet music, sampled delicious food.
They also enjoyed plentiful romantic opportunities.
Ah, the romantic allure of Venice. It continues to this day. Indeed, soon after Barbara’s arrival, Venice offered her no less than three handsome men. Now there stood her sister, Louisa, who begged to hear the dirt on two of them but knew nothing of the third man, the one Barbara wanted most.
She planned to keep him a secret.
Barbara looked around and tried to take it all in, all that Venice had to offer. She saw in front of her a small island, which sat placidly in the lagoon and proudly displayed its huge monastic bell tower. Although a massive presence, this tower was easily dwarfed by the one it faced -- the more famous one -- the one that housed the bells of San Marco. She gazed across the water, let the reflecting sun’s rays warm her face and both Venetian towers began to toll their bells behind her and before her. They echoed across the lagoon, reverberated throughout the tranquil setting. Barbara took note of the bells. She’d been trained by her Italian friends to pay particular attention to what she’d been the thinking in that precise moment these bells began to chime.
She’d been thinking about secrets. That third man. He must remain her secret.
Thus began her diversion, a long philosophical theory about her twin orange cats.
“Back home in Seattle,” she said, “my cats confuse and distract me during morning meditation, just like those two Venetian men did my first night in Venice. The two inquisitive cats circle my cushion then jump on the table where I offer blessings of flowers and candy. They sniff and inspect as if they’ve never seen the ritual before.”
Louisa yawned.
“Those cats seem to see me anew each day, as a thing they need to supervise, approve or inspect. Eventually, they settle nearby to meditate on their own. They observe my struggle to quiet my mind while they remain perfect little meditators. Those two Venetian men were the same. While I was nervous and disquieted, they just purred.”
Louisa frowned.LAGOON LURE, Excerpt #2
Once they reached the dive site, Matteo, ever the expert captain, dropped anchor and secured it. He even politely and patiently walked Barbara through some boat safety issues. After suiting up, Louisa glanced back at Barbara and again saw that faint look of pleasure on her face. Her three-way on Lido did something to that girl, thought Louisa before she rolled back over the side of the boat and into the cold Adriatic waters. She gave the signal to begin their descent.
As Louisa grabbed the rope to pull herself down to the shipwreck, barnacles cut her fingers and small fibers stung her palms. She cursed herself for forgetting her dive gloves. Given the icy water, it was a stupid mistake. She winced from the pain as she pictured her gloves lying dormant on the hearth, where she left them drying after yesterday’s dive, her first ever in the murky waters of the Venice lagoon. Matteo, her dive buddy, was entering the water behind her so she had to move fast down the rope despite the pain in her hands.
Finally her fins hit the wreck and with algae billowing up, she lowered herself down. From extensive research of the vessel, they learned that entry would be easiest at the cargo hold area but in near zero visibility she couldn’t see either the bow or stern. She needed to reorient based on rope slack but Matteo was already descending it. So with little time to waste, she used her injured hands to negotiate the wreck. Silt filtered through her fingers, gently coated her hands and washed across her face. She brushed it off her dive mask, tucking loose strands of blonde hair back into her hood.
She found an open hatch and looked back to check on Matteo before penetrating the wreck. She could barely see him. Matteo’s careless movements had stirred up quite a bit more algae and she began to seriously question her decision to dive with him today. Yet anticipation and curiosity called her into the wreck anyway. Once inside the enclosed, clouded space, she waited for Matteo and tried to quiet her nerves.
During those few minutes, she felt a rush of nausea. Her intuition urged her not to dive with Matteo, an inexperienced diver and someone who could not be trusted to think soundly on land. Ignoring her intuition, she refused to let it stop her from diving today. It wasn’t the first time she had trusted him to her dismay.
When Matteo joined her inside the wreck, they entered the main cabin where visibility was marginally better. Scouring the sunken boat for details, she recorded it foot by foot by mapping it on her slates.
Barely recognizable broken benches lie next to tables on their sides, earmarks of a once lively galley. The eerie scene reminded her why she loved diving wrecks -- their human element. She thought about the last meal this ship might have served. Fish crackling on the stove with the scent of garlic in the air.
Their dive plan was to find the main cabin then separate to search for the bridge where most likely would also be the captain’s quarters. They signaled each other to confirm the plan was on and it was ok to go. She, the more experienced and better-trained diver, would enter a small opening into a confined compartment and she turned to swim toward it. Matteo motioned he’d explore the opposite end, near a large gaping whole in the wreck, an area where you could view the open sea and a school of sardines swirling about.
Matteo had no intention of continuing directly to the bridge and when he was sure Louisa had entered the confined compartment at the opposite end of the ship, he cased the area. His eyes darted around the room, scanning it quickly, his breath slowed and instinctively and continuously he looked around and behind him. Spying some interesting cabinetry and being familiar with boats, he realized he was in the galley, began to look for drawers and instantly spotted one. He struggled for a few seconds to open it then grabbed his knife and swung it ferociously at the drawer until it relented.
Well, well, what wealth was waiting underwater to welcome me, he mused when he discovered the drawer was full of eating utensils made of what appeared to be fine silver.
Not much time, lucky he was good at what he did. Anyone on this boat won’t miss their treasure, he thought and then yanked the drawer out, dumped the contents into his mesh bag and tossed the drawer aside.
Next his attention moved to what would have been the floor. The wreck being slightly tilted on its side, he knew to look for its lowest point, logically knowing that this is where any heavier objects would have come to rest. His sharp vision, trained by years of thieving and fishing, caught a glimpse of sparkle amidst the soot. His hands carefully siphoned through the settled silt and he slowly lifted an old gold chain. He kissed it thinking, my dear darling, I am so sorry you had to sleep here alone all of these years, but now that I found you I will take very good care of you, and he placed it gleefully in a zippered pocket.
A small creature moving in the corner drew his attention. A tiny crab pulled stones and coral pieces one by one into its den, a hole in the wall. He remembered Louisa holed up in a small compartment alone.
At the opposite end of the ship, Louisa had been attempting to move carefully and nervously through several confined cabins much smaller than she had imagined they’d be. It was awful. She pictured the eerie scene, the city of Venice only eighty feet above her, but with visibility and confinement closing in on her, it felt more like being hundreds, even, thousands, of feet at the bottom of the ocean.
Back near the bridge, Matteo spotted what looked to be bones, possibly human bones. He stepped away from them, not out of fear, but out of respect. He was an honest thief, he would never take those off the ship. So he knelt and crossed himself next to their grave, undisturbed but by the changing currents and sea life.Magic Island
What Happens In Venice
Book Three
By Diana Cachey
About Magic Island:
Sexy sleuth Louisa is back — with Venice as the lush backdrop for double murder and a web of passionate intrigue. In this final installment of the Trinity, Louisa captivates readers by deciphering clues planted by ghosts & struggling to resist the wicked charms of the very tempter she suspects. Her unfinished love story continues to compete against her love affair with Venice and its secrets. She tries to enjoy her days of Venice travel, food and fashion and new admirer’s own brand of magic but the mystery of the dead glass makers still looms in the lagoon.
Lively supporting characters add more sex, chuckles and suspense to the already twisted plots and turned phrases as they too must navigate their own romantic liaisons and thought provoking ghost encounters. Magic Island gives everyone plenty to puzzle over right up to its surprising finish!Available at AmazonMAGIC ISLAND, Excerpt #1
She couldn’t discern which was which. Who was a human messenger? What was a ghost? Had some concerned Venetians, too afraid to come forward themselves, sent all of these cryptic clues to her?
It didn’t matter. Somebody or something, maybe both supernatural and human, wanted her to find clues and decipher the mystery of the dead glassmakers. Louisa had even stopped trying to determine if Matteo had arranged or participated in the deaths and she didn’t care if the deaths were accidental or homicides. All she knew for sure was that, for some important reason, she’d been guided to uncover a tragedy or a scheme that threatened all of Venice — a tragedy or scheme that she assumed was related to a “commercial endeavor.”
The merchants of Venice were at it again — someone was seeking to profit.MAGIC ISLAND, Excerpt #2
At the landing point, halfway to the upper level, she felt it. A cold wind blew.
Why would the thrift shop women leave the window open during one of the coldest days of the year? Venetians, and Italians generally, were obsessed with energy conservation, not out of duty or political bent, but out of necessity or greed. Why would the darling elf-man allow it? Why hadn’t he gone up to close it?
She blinked.
In the second floor attic room, a man stood by the open window and fanned himself. He’d removed his coat, hat, scarf and shirt. Bare-chested, he was about to try on what looked to be the next best deal in the shop, a cashmere sweater with Armani label.
The room wasn’t suffering from the dreaded “they heat the place like people don’t always come in dressed for the outdoors.” It was not an unbearable oven. It was chilly. Yet sweat poured down the man’s face.
Louisa couldn’t help but stare for he stood half naked with perfect abdomen and a peek of what was below the belt. His pants hung low on his tan, tempting, tapered waist.
The man jumped and gave an unnecessary apology in thick Buranese dialect.
“My name is Antonin. Your friend, Marco, sent me,” he whispered. He made no attempt to cover up for which Louisa gave another silent nod of gratitude.
She stepped closer then remembered she was supposed to seek guidance before acting. She started to speak but he gestured for her to be quiet and pulled her to the window. He pointed to the canal.
Not exactly the answer to my prayers, but go with it, she reckoned.
She leaned squarely up against him then wrapped an arm around his waist, that tempting, tapered waist.
He felt her desire rising so he moved them both away from the window where he pulled his pants a little further down to reveal those, those whatever those lines are, those muscle things that go diagonally from the hips to the important region.
“Spetta mattimo,” he whispered, “wait a minute,” or something like that, and he pressed his hips against hers.
“Prima, guarda la,” (First, look at this) he said and nodded towards the window.About the Author:Diana Cachey is a licensed attorney, published academic, and former adjunct law professor. She also holds a BA in English, and while in law school, she was the first female editor in chief of her university’s law review.
The author of the novel Love Spirits, she has trained with several New York Times best-selling writers, including Robert Allen, with more than seventy-two million books sold.
For more than a decade, Cachey has been traveling to Venice, the setting of her novel, on extended trips several times a year. The cafés, restaurants, and many other haunts of Venice play a prominent role in her sexy paranormal mystery-romance about a beautiful American lawyer guided by the Ghosts of Venice in the investigation of a hushed-up crime.
- http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00N6HDHSG
- https://www.youtube.com/user/dcachey
- @dianacachey
- https://www.facebook.com/diana.cachey
- https://www.facebook.com/pages/Diana-Cachey/153347544749839
- HAUNTEDP-PALOOZA VIDEO: https://youtu.be/4wTodeBxiY8
Tour giveaway
(1) Signed copy of all THREE books!
(1) Halloween mask (ie full head werewolf)
(1) halloween swag (bloody shower curtain, Carnival-Venice mask etc).ScheduleOctober 12- November 9
October 12 Spotlight
Zenny's Awesome Book Reviews
https://zennysawesomebookreviews.wordpress.com/
October 12 Review
Book Bling
http://www.elizabethalsobrooks.com/blog
October 13 Spotlight
3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, and Sissy, Too!
http://3partnersinshopping.blogspot.com/
October 14 Spotlight
A Bookaholic’s Fix: Feeding the Addiction
http://Bookaholicfix.wordpress.com
October 15 Spotlight
Teatime and Books
http://www.teatimeandbooks76.blogspot.com
October 16 Interview
Literary Musings
http://literarymusing.weebly.com/
October 19 Spotlight
Lisa’s World of Books
www.lisasworldofbooks.net
October 20 Guest Post
Mythical Books
http://www.mythicalbooks.blogspot.ro/
proposed topic: Trilogies (about how a trilogy is built, how the story evolves etc)
October 20 Review
Book Bling
http://www.elizabethalsobrooks.com/blog
October 21 Guest Blog
Preternatura
www.suzannejohnsonauthor.com
Topic: I'd love for her to talk about using Venice as a setting--it's one of my favorite cities and I've been to Carnivale there twice. :-)
October 22 Spotlight
Coffee Books and Art
http://sarityahalomi.blogspot.com/
October 23 Guest Blog
Fang-tastic Books
www.fang-tasticbooks.blogspot.com
October 26 Guest Blog
Roxanne’s Realm
www.roxannerhoads.com
October 27 Review
Book Bling
http://www.elizabethalsobrooks.com/blog
October 27 Spotlight
aobibliosphere™
http://aobibliosphere.blogspot.com
October 28 Character Interview
Eclipse Reviews
www.totaleclipsereviews.blogspot.com
October 29 Guest Blog
Sapphyria's Book Reviews
http://saphsbookblog.blogspot.com/
October 30 Spotlight
Deal Sharing Aunt
www.dealsharingaunt.blogspot.com
November 2 Spotlight
Books and Tales
http://booksandtales.blogspot.co.uk/
November 3 Guest Blog
The Creatively Green Write at Home Mom
www.creativelygreen.blogspot.com
November 4 Spotlight
CBY Book Club
http://cbybookclub.blogspot.co.uk
November 5
November 6 Spotlight
Around the World in Books
http://www.aroundtheworldinbooks.ca/
November 9 Interview
Author Karen Swart
www.authorkarenswart.blogspot.com
Oct 20, 2015
BOOK and AUDIOBOOK TOUR: The Path: Tag Series #1 by Peter Riva @PeterRivaAuthor and @iReadBookTours #sci-fi #cyberpunk #audiobook #audible
Book Description for The Path:
All life on earth is about to be terminated by an entity as old as the galaxy itself. To make matters worse, Simon has broken everything already.
In a future world that is run by computer systems and that is without want, how can a man find his role? Then, if the very computers he works on to try to make them more human suddenly try to kill him, revealing a secret so vast that it affects every living soul on the planet, can that man be a hero?
These are the questions that face the stumbling, comic, and certainly flawed Simon Bank. His job is to work with the System’s artificial intelligence, making it fit more perfectly into human society so that it can keep the country running smoothly. But when the System threatens the peaceful world he knows, Simon suddenly must rush to save his own life, as well as the life of everyone on earth. Forced to reassess everything that he thought he knew, he is caught within circumstances way beyond his control.
Simon’s only hope is to rely on intellect and instincts he didn’t know he had, and on new friends, not all of them human, to change himself and all humanity. And he doesn’t have much time.
Author's Bio:
Peter Riva has worked for more than thirty years with the leaders in aerospace and space exploration. His daytime job for more than forty years has been as a literary agent. He resides in New York City.
Connect with the author: WebsiteTwitter Facebook
Audiobook Review: If you are reviewing the audiobook, please consider posting the review on Audible. See link below. You will get 2 credits for it.
http://www.audible.com/pd/Sci-Fi-Fantasy/The-Path-Audiobook/B00QKTUU8W
Giveaway:
Win 1 of 10 print or audiobook copies of The Path
and (2) $25 Amazon gift cards (International)
Tour Schedule:Oct 12 - A Simple Life, Really?! - reviewOct 12 - Coffee, Books & Art – book spotlight / giveawayOct 13 - The Autistic Gamer - reviewOct 14 - Bloody Bookish – review / giveawayOct 15 - Heidi's Wanderings – audiobook review / giveawayOct 16 - Bound 4 Escape – audiobook review / giveawayOct 19 - Blooming with Books – review / giveawayOct 20 - Jaquo Lifestyle Magazine – audiobook review / guest postOct 21 - Brian's Book Blog – reviewOct 21 - Deal Sharing Aunt – review / giveawayOct 22 - Science and Fiction – review / author interview / giveawayOct 23 - Dab of Darkness – audiobook review / author interview / giveawayOct 26 - Snowflakes and Spider Silk - audiobook reviewOct 27 - Bookishly Devoted - reviewOct 28 - JBronder Book Reviews - reviewOct 29 - Library of Clean Reads – review / guest post / giveawayOct 30 - Pure Jonel – review / guest post / giveawayNov 2 - Book Stop Corner – review / giveawayNov 2 - A Bluestocking's Place – book spotlightNov 3 - Olio by Marilyn – review / author interview / giveawayNov 4 - Book and Ink – review / giveawayNov 5 - Janeen Ippolito - reviewNov 6 - Pinky's Favorite Reads – audiobook review / giveawayNov 6 - Laura Fabiani – Top 500 Amazon.ca Reviewer - review
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