tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3143381665270854032024-03-05T06:22:46.859-06:00TWISTED WEBBOne Writer's Twisted Journey To Publication And BeyondCK Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05869974943861167648noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-314338166527085403.post-17740004027773702612017-03-11T10:43:00.000-06:002017-03-11T10:43:56.553-06:00TWISTED WEBB RADIO<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">TWISTED WEBB RADIO</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> is up and running!</span></div>
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<b><i><u><span style="background-color: white; color: #cc0000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">ht</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #cc0000; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">tp://blogtalkradio.com/twistedwebb</span></u></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Anyone interested in booking an interview and book reading, please Email me at</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">ikillpeople73@gmail.com</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I can also be messaged via social media sites.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, SheWrites</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Shows are being lined up now for the next six months, so </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If Email is unavailable for you, feel free to leave me a message at</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">662-574-8502</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">and I will do my very best to get you scheduled</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Looking forward to getting back to the business of Books!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">CK Webb</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Host Twisted Webb Radio</span></div>
CK Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05869974943861167648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-314338166527085403.post-57204362403895851432013-01-29T14:51:00.001-06:002013-01-29T14:55:54.401-06:00HEROINES WITH HEART 2013 BLOGTOUR<div style="text-align: center;">
Heroines With Heart is a massive blog tour that runs throughout 2013, that features books with strong female protagonists. We have authors from several different genres, including young adult, mystery/thriller/suspense, romance, sci-fi/fantasy, and Christian fiction. We are also giving away fun digital prizes and sharing new and noteworthy books throughout the year. Want updates?</div>
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<strong>For readers:</strong> <a href="http://heroineswithheart.com/attendees">http://heroineswithheart.com/attendees</a> <strong> </strong></div>
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<strong>For bloggers:</strong> <a href="http://heroineswithheart.com/for-blogger">http://heroineswithheart.com/for-blogger</a> </div>
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<strong>For authors:</strong> <a href="http://authors.heroineswithheart.com/">http://authors.heroineswithheart.com</a></div>
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This week's selected feature is:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMBNrqvh6OGgPv5eIuqp7SObbpWb06U_667stDWCdUjAj-wa_QVRK4AOIdMdyg1PVmSz9mZ7EG5qTsBbgut0QGqc28RS8B7FfhArMtn5Rw92R06rS57CIW3WJahG5lrD5GPJr1Cfzn5EDh/s1600/payne_and_misery_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMBNrqvh6OGgPv5eIuqp7SObbpWb06U_667stDWCdUjAj-wa_QVRK4AOIdMdyg1PVmSz9mZ7EG5qTsBbgut0QGqc28RS8B7FfhArMtn5Rw92R06rS57CIW3WJahG5lrD5GPJr1Cfzn5EDh/s1600/payne_and_misery_cover.jpg" /></a></div>
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Payne & Misery</div>
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All that glitters is not gold for Christine Sterling.</div>
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The luster of her shiny Golden Years dream fades when Christine’s newly retired husband, Jesse, becomes obsessed with a hobby requiring extra time away from her.</div>
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Christine develops a bad reputation for conjuring wild tales and being chief complainer. Then she meets someone who has true reason to complain, if anyone does.</div>
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Lila Payne’s life is the mirror opposite of ideal. The plight of this seemingly abused woman gnaws at Christine, but the authorities turn a deaf ear to Christine’s pleas for help on Lila’s behalf. Spurred into action when her beloved dog Molly and Lila both disappear on the same night, Christine dives into a scary pool swirling with muddy secrets and misery. Sensing God at work in the situation Christine continues to search and pray, but even with God’s help, can they save Lila and Molly before it’s too late?</div>
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Excerpt #1: Chapter 1</h3>
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Dark—the word fit him like a bad guy’s black hat—complexion, glasses, expression, knit cap pulled low over his ears, tufts of curls poking out underneath. I concentrated on memorizing his suspicious features as I observed him through the plate glass window of the Humpty-Dumpty Restaurant where my husband Jesse and I often ate brunch after Sunday morning church. The man’s lurking worried me.</div>
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“Maybe he’s an Arab.” Not that I’d know an Arab if I bumped into one on the streets. Except for Hispanics, Grass Valley, California, maintained a mostly snow-white population, much like most small towns in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.</div>
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Around us, flatware scraped stoneware, glasses clinked, voices swelled and ebbed interspersed with occasional laughter swirling through the appetizing breakfast smells, but I couldn’t pry my eyes oð the shady man in the parking lot. Nevertheless, I would guess Jesse didn’t so much as look up from his breakfast when he answered. “Who?”</div>
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“Out there.” I jabbed a finger toward the culprit. </div>
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“Where?” </div>
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I let out the anxious breath I’d been holding in and pointed again. “See the man hiding behind that forest green car?”</div>
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Jesse frowned as he chewed a few more bites of chili bean omelet. “Honestly, Christine. If he’s behind a car, how can I see him?”</div>
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“He keeps popping up. There he is! Look, look. Now.”</div>
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Jesse dutifully followed my pointer and then sustained a long stare before turning his attention back to his food. “Okay, I see him. So?”</div>
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“He staked out that car. He’s been waiting the whole time we’ve been here. He paces behind it, trying to stay out of sight. When the driver comes back, he’ll jump out and mug her—take her cash and jewelry and who knows what else. Bet he has a gun or a knife in that pocket where his hand is. Watch him.”</div>
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Jesse rolled his eyes. “Give it up, will you? You’re jumping to conclusions again. How do you know a woman drives that car? Even if there is a man driver, maybe he’s in a hurry to get home and his wife is taking too long in the restroom.”</div>
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“Then why doesn’t he unlock the car and get in?”</div>
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Jesse stopped chewing and blinked. Ha! I got him there. I went back to studying the perpetrator, in case I got called on to identify him in a line-up.</div>
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Jesse’s delayed answer mumbled out between chews. “Maybe his wife has the car keys.”</div>
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After being married to this man for thirty-five years, I should expect Jesse’s reaction to my gift of observation. He never took it seriously. “You’re going to be sorry when you read in tomorrow’s paper that some poor woman got murdered in the Humpty- Dumpty parking lot while you gobbled down a chili omelet.”</div>
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Jesse didn’t look up, just harrumphed and kept on eating.</div>
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I returned to surveillance, thankful for last year’s laser surgery, which had given my vision razor-edge clarity. The man stood in the shadow of an overhanging oak, but from the direction of his head, I could tell his eyes remained fixed on the front door of the restaurant. My stomach knotted into a pretzel. Danger! I narrowed my eyes. Would Jesse run out to save the woman when the man attacked her? Jesse, my hero, the love of my life. I’d be right behind him, swinging my heavy purse.</div>
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Just then, a woman in a leopard-print Spandex dress exited the restaurant and minced across the parking lot toward the man. I held my breath and then whispered, “Jesse!”</div>
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Neither of us moved while the woman’s rectangular bag flopped from side to side on its thin strap in rhythm with her swaying hips. Like a lamb to the slaughter, she sauntered closer to her fate without a trace of fear in her walk.<br />
A gasp escaped my lips when the dark-complexioned man popped from the shadows directly in front of his victim. After a short verbal exchange, the woman opened the door of the green sedan and slid in. The mysterious villain hurried to the other side and settled in the passenger seat. Back-up lights flickered. The automobile reversed out of the parking space and sped away.</div>
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Without so much as a punch or a yell. He didn’t even grab her bag.</div>
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I leveled my gaze at Jesse and blinked. </div>
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He opened his mouth. </div>
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I held up one hand. “Don’t say it.” </div>
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Instead, he shook his head and grunted again before returning to his omelet. </div>
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I gulped coffee and fidgeted with my napkin. “He did look suspicious. You can’t deny that.” </div>
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Jesse buttered his biscuit, took a big bite, and chewed. I felt the lecture building in his brain like a sudden summer thunderstorm. He stared at me with a curious expression—as if I’d grown a second head—swiped his mouth with his napkin and sighed. “You never give up, do you? There’s something sinister happening everywhere we go. Face it, Chris. This is an ordinary small town in northern California. Good people live here. Bad things don’t happen. That’s why we retired here. Remember? Extremely low crime rate. But you insist on seeing evil everywhere we go. You won’t stop snooping into other people’s affairs. Looking for …” His shoulders sagged and he waggled his head once more. “If it wasn’t so sad, it would be funny.”</div>
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“Funny? What would?” Do I dare ask?</div>
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“Your imagination.” He leaned forward and pointed his fork in my face. “Someday, that wild imagination of yours is going to get you into real trouble.”</div>
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EXCLUSIVE BLURB:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8UqbXpiq-JT1K1ZZju5pRbXZwEnVaqVMd0PmbhOKFJKuEDz3VykWOb98h97JDr28mc_0bqXZzviiy-VHjmpDxm6fZsgfUyYqUvTLb4zALWz7puVbqK964qEclHNrI4iWpZXIlehyphenhyphen4lPSW/s1600/catherine_leggitt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8UqbXpiq-JT1K1ZZju5pRbXZwEnVaqVMd0PmbhOKFJKuEDz3VykWOb98h97JDr28mc_0bqXZzviiy-VHjmpDxm6fZsgfUyYqUvTLb4zALWz7puVbqK964qEclHNrI4iWpZXIlehyphenhyphen4lPSW/s1600/catherine_leggitt.jpg" /></a></div>
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Catherine Leggitt is the author of the cozy mystery novels, “Payne & Misery,” The “Dunn Deal,”and “Parrish the Thought.” She is also an inspirational speaker presently residing in northern California. During her first career–after raising children and before caring for her aging parents–Catherine worked as an elementary school teacher, where she developed her flair for playacting and storytelling. </div>
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Struggling with retirement, Catherine needed a distraction. She found it at her keyboard.</div>
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In addition to writing and speaking, Catherine is the mother of three brilliant children who have collectively produced six incredible grandchildren. An avid Bible student, she sings in the church choir. Catherine is passionate about reading.</div>
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“Payne & Misery,” a Christine Sterling Mystery, won second place at the Orange County Christian Writer’s Conference in 2010. “Parrish the Thought” made the quarter finals in the 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest before Ellechor published the the trilogy starting in 2011. The remaining books, “The Dunn Deal” and “Parrish the Thought,” were published in 2012. Also, visit her at <a href="http://www.catherineleggitt.com/">http://www.catherineleggitt.com/</a>.</div>
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CK Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05869974943861167648noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-314338166527085403.post-24854796658938743222013-01-24T08:33:00.000-06:002013-01-24T08:34:49.610-06:00Announcing the AVENGING INNOCENTS FIRST KILL COMPETITION<span class="userContent"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">ATTENTION READERS:</span></strong></span> <br />
In appreciation for all of your support of Cruelty To Innocents & Collecting Innocents, we are introducing...</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: red; font-size: x-large;">'THE AVENGING INNOCENTS FIRST KILL COMPETITION'</span><br />
What we want from you- <br />
-<span style="color: red;">-</span>An original character with unique, q<span class="text_exposed_show">uirky, or creepy characteristics<br /> <span style="color: blue;">*</span>this includes: name, skin, eye, and hair color, and any backstory that is specific to that character<span style="color: blue;">*</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;">--</span>A great tagline for your character (good examles are '"I'll be back!"and "They're Here!")<br />
Participants will need to submit their entries to me at ckwebb73@gmail.com OR via the 'contact' page on The Innocents website <a href="http://theinnocents.weebly.com/" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://theinnocents.weebly.com/</a> </div>
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<span style="color: cyan; font-size: x-large;">WHAT THE WINNER GETS:</span><br />
<span style="color: red;">--</span>Your character will replace our already-dead first kill, which is set up and carried out in chapter 1!!!<br />
<span style="color: red;">--</span>We will include your name and your winning character in our acknowledgements, on our dedication page.<br />
<span style="color: red;">--</span>Your character and their tag-line, will go in the synopsis for the book on the back cover!<br />
So, that is all there is to it... </div>
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WINNING CHARACTER DIES FIRST!!!</div>
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</span><br />CK Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05869974943861167648noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-314338166527085403.post-12716201462471828342013-01-18T11:48:00.000-06:002013-01-22T07:33:00.591-06:00PLEASE ENJOY THIS EXCERPT FROM OUR FRIENDS AT VIKING/PENGUIN BOOKS:<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="border: 1pt windowtext; font-size: 12pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">Reprinted by arrangement with Viking, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., from</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> <i>There Once Lived a Girl Who Seduced Her Sister’s Husband, and He Hanged Himself</i> <span style="border: 1pt windowtext; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya, selected and translated by Anna Summers. Copyright © 2013 by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya. Translation and introduction copyright © 2013 by Anna Summers.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> This
is what happened. An unmarried woman in her thirties implored her mother to
leave their one-room apartment for one night so she could bring home a lover.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> This
so-called lover bounced between two households, his mother’s and his wife’s, and
he had an overripe daughter of fourteen to consider as well. About his work at
the laboratory he constantly fretted. He would brag to anyone who listened
about the imminent promotion that never materialized. The insatiable appetite
he displayed at office parties, where he stuffed himself, was the result of an
undiagnosed diabetes that enslaved him to thirst and hunger and lacquered him
with pasty skin, thick glasses, and dandruff. A fat, balding man-child of
forty-two with a dead-end job and ruined health—this was the treasure our
unmarried thirtysomething brought to her apartment for a night of love.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> He
approached the upcoming tryst matter-of-factly, almost like a business meeting,
while she approached it from the black desperation of loneliness. She gave it
the appearance of love or at least infatuation: reproaches and tears, pleadings
to tell her that he loved her, to which he replied, “Yes, yes, I quite agree.”
But despite her illusions she knew there was no romance in how they moved from
the office to her apartment, picking up cake and wine at his request; how her
hands shook when she was unlocking the door, terrified that her mother might
have decided to stay.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> The
woman put water on for tea, poured wine, and cut cake. Her lover, stuffed with
cake, flopped himself across the armchair. He checked the time, then unfastened
his watch and placed it on a chair. His underwear was white and clean. He sat
down on the edge of the sofa, wiped his feet with his socks, and lay down on
the fresh sheets. Afterward they chatted; he asked again what she thought of
his chances for a promotion. He got up to leave. At the door, he turned back
toward the cake and cut himself another large piece. He asked her to change a
three-ruble bill but, receiving no reply, pecked her on the forehead and
slammed the door behind him. She didn’t get up. Of course the affair was over
for him. He wasn’t coming back—in his childishness he hadn’t understood even
that much, skipping off happily, unaware of the catastrophe, taking his three
rubles and his overstuffed belly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> The
next day she didn’t go to the cafeteria but ate lunch at her desk. She thought
about the coming evening, when she’d have to face her mother and resume her old
life. Suddenly she blurted out to her officemate: “Well, have you found a man
yet?” The woman blushed miserably: “No, not yet.” Her husband had left her, and
she’d been living alone with her shame and humiliation, never inviting any of
her friends to her empty apartment. “How about you?” she asked. “Yes, I’m
seeing someone,” the woman replied. Tears of joy welled up in her eyes.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 200%;"> But she knew she was lost. From now
on, she understood, she’d be chained to the pay phone, ringing her beloved at
his mother’s, or his wife’s. To them she’d be known as <span class="ITAL"><em>that
woman</em></span>—the last in a series of female voices who had called the same
numbers, looking for the same thing. She supposed he must have been loved by
many women, all of whom he must have asked about his chances for promotion,
then dumped. Her beloved was insensitive and crude—everything was clear in his
case. There was nothing but pain in store for her, yet she cried with happiness
and couldn’t stop.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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CK Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05869974943861167648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-314338166527085403.post-19556781905089023162012-04-24T16:22:00.000-05:002012-04-24T16:22:33.647-05:00<br />
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<br /><span style="color: magenta; font-size: x-large;">A Southern Haunting</span></div>
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<span style="color: magenta; font-size: large;">True Hauntings of the South</span></div>
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By: CK Webb</div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">Tuscaloosa, Alabama</span></div>
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With the college football world, and of course my state, still buzzing over Alabama’s win in the BCS National Championship game, I couldn’t think of a more suiting place to explore for ghosts than Tuscaloosa, Alabama</div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">The University Of Alabama</span></div>
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Situated in the heart of Tuscaloosa is the beautiful campus for the University of Alabama. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6yRvCvpTTDFrIv1oAp2axMb0QzqPm89Mp2ZoLrbLPzsjO8Y5va4vws8tcukoAEahcFlviH6VVoDwBfsNXlRciHCexTPyCDEZfosfGlvVxQyDjKAI-MKWwbc0zeEYNR3qd9BiULeZBQnz5/s1600/BamaSeal.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6yRvCvpTTDFrIv1oAp2axMb0QzqPm89Mp2ZoLrbLPzsjO8Y5va4vws8tcukoAEahcFlviH6VVoDwBfsNXlRciHCexTPyCDEZfosfGlvVxQyDjKAI-MKWwbc0zeEYNR3qd9BiULeZBQnz5/s1600/BamaSeal.png" /></a></div>
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Established in 1831, the university catered to around 100 students at its inception. With the strain of the civil conflict looming and the inevitable coming of the Civil War, the university saw its share of conflict. Discipline and student behavior was a major issue at the university almost from the day it opened. Early presidents attempted to enforce very strict rules where conduct was concerned. Students were prohibited from drinking, swearing, making unauthorized visits off-campus, or playing musical instruments outside of a one-hour time frame. Even with all the rules, riots and gunfights were not an uncommon occurrence. To combat the severe discipline problem, President Landon Garland lobbied and received approval from the legislature in 1860 to transform the university into a military school. As such, many of the cadets who graduated from the school went on to serve as officers in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. As a result of that particular role, Union soldiers burned the college to the ground on April 4, 1865. Only four buildings survived the burning: the President's Mansion, Gorgas House, Little Round House, and Old Observatory. Though the campus was eventually restored to its former glory, ghostly happenings began to take shape, and the history of the university became ripe with, not only school spirit, but a few ‘ghostly spirits as well.</div>
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One of the more common ghost stories is that of a union soldier who was murdered while in the cadet guardhouse. The guardhouse, now known as Jason’s Shrine or The Little Round House, has had numerous reports from students and faculty who claim to have heard the young cadet wandering around in the room, only to have the sounds disappear upon their inspection.</div>
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Other ghostly reports include the feeling of being watched in the basement and a shadowy figure on the 13th floor of Tutwiler Hall. This ghost is said to be that of a female student who committed suicide by lighting herself on fire.</div>
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There are also claims of the sounds of horses and buggy, footsteps following behind, and even reports of people being touched by a hand that they cannot see. There have been voices heard and even desks scattered all around in the classrooms where a boiler exploded many years ago, killing several students.</div>
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The ‘Quad’ is also a hotbed of activity and many reports have noted seeing four confederate soldiers marching about, the sounds of cannon and gun fire and even voices shouting military style orders.</div>
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Denny Chimes on the Quad</div>
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I have seen these places first hand, and though I have never had any ‘ghostly’ experiences of my own while on campus, the long and rich history of the place makes it a prime area for residual and intelligent hauntings.</div>
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Old Bryce Mental Institute</div>
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Commonly called "Old Bryce", the institution was used for over one hundred years and is now in terrible decay. In the 1960’s it was shut down and almost everything was left behind. Today you can still locate old patient records, chairs, mattresses, wheel chairs and other medical medical equipment in the dilapidated building. Late at night, strange sounds can be heard such as footsteps when no one is there, and banging on the walls and metal structures. There are also several cemeteries that belonged to the hospital where many patients were laid to rest.</div>
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One of Bryce Cemetery Historical Markers</div>
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If you plan on going for a visit, it would be a good idea to get permission. The grounds and cemeteries are patrolled by security and Bryce is still considered ‘private property’.</div>
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<span style="color: cyan; font-size: large;">The Drish Mansion</span></div>
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Completed in the late 1830’s then transformed between 1860 and 1862 into a hybrid, bracketed Greek Revival Italianate Villa, the Drish Mansion is one the most unusual antebellum mansions around. After the Drish family sold the property, the mansion became a suburban focal point and was remodeled in 1887 and then surrounded by a traffic circle with wondrous views down each of the newly laid streets and avenues.</div>
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Dr. John Drish had originally constructed the home for his wife Sarah. When Dr. Drish died, Sarah burned candles in the upper room as he lay in state before his burial. After the funeral, Sarah put the candles away and requested that the same ones be used at her funeral. As Sarah grew older, it is said that she became obsessed with the candles being burned at her funeral and made friends swear to grant her last wish. But, after her death, friends and family were unable to locate the candles and Sarah’s last wish was never granted. </div>
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Shortly after her passing, the tower where Sarah had burned the candles for her husband spontaneously caught fire. But, when fire crews arrived, they were shocked to find no flames and no evidence of smoke or fire. The ‘ghost fire’, as it has come to be known, was reported several more times and many people wondered who or what could be causing the strange happenings. One night, after one of the fires was reported and then mysteriously vanished, the first ever sighting of the Sarah Drish ghost was documented.</div>
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Today the Drish Mansion is again in a serious state of disrepair and in need of a caretaker, but that has not stopped the reports of the ghostly figures and unexplainable fires. If you get close enough and look to the highest room in the tower, you can see the faint glowing reds and oranges of the ghostly flames flickering in the night. </div>
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With its long and vibrant history, the city of Tuscaloosa has some wonderful stories to tell. Though I have highlighted a few haunts from Tuscaloosa, by no means have I told all the tales that this college town has to offer. If you ever find yourself in Tuscaloosa, make sure you indulge yourself with some of the finest food in the South, visit the beautiful campus of The University of Alabama, stop into the Bryant Museum for a look at history and venture out into the lights, music and wine bars of the night scene. If you find yourself in Tuscaloosa and are searching for something on the darker side, take a detour to one of the fabulous places that I have told you about and test out your nerve.</div>
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That feeling of being watched or of that cold, unexplained breeze on the back of your neck may be just the thing you need to push Tuscaloosa, Alabama to the top of your favorite haunts list!</div>
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*Though I have highlighted several documented haunted sights from the city of Tuscaloosa, it is by no means all of them. Below is a list of a few more places that deserve recognition for their ghostly inhabitants and for the things there that go bump in the night.*</div>
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<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Jemison-Van De Graff Mansion Tuscaloosa</span></div>
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<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Jemison Center, Northport</span></div>
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<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Amelia Gorgas Library and guard shack, Tuscaloosa</span></div>
<br />CK Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05869974943861167648noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-314338166527085403.post-14487819532836062902012-04-16T07:17:00.002-05:002012-04-16T08:27:09.172-05:00Vote for WEBBWEAVER REVIEWS in the INDEPENDENT BOOK BLOGGER AWARDS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtXEZEZVw2BhRZCT0n8a3wYBvzBiiM_D5EUsbc0wCmHs7Zciy_znzH1kN9nCJ4njQbjLgnhCxCWk5WvMIQLbb4DSmPvES9bjpKdxOQBmAaLwXl3iTHFwC5PY5QcUnL23LPoodcZDmYBrYa/s1600/ibba.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="205" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtXEZEZVw2BhRZCT0n8a3wYBvzBiiM_D5EUsbc0wCmHs7Zciy_znzH1kN9nCJ4njQbjLgnhCxCWk5WvMIQLbb4DSmPvES9bjpKdxOQBmAaLwXl3iTHFwC5PY5QcUnL23LPoodcZDmYBrYa/s400/ibba.gif" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">WEBBWEAVER REVIEWS <a href="http://bit.ly/HWQKW">http://bit.ly/HWQKW</a> has been around for three years. In that time we have made a ton of wonderful friends, met some really great writers and picked up a few fans along the way. WebbWeaver is in the running for the Independent Book Blogger Awards on Goodreads and we would love to have your vote!! There will be 15 blogs chosen for the semi-finals, but only 4 blogs will win. The winners will receive airfare, hotel stay and passes to Book Expo America!!! Those of you, who know us well, know how badly we have wanted to attend events such as this one and that DJ and I would be incredibly humbled to get your votes. Thank you for being such fabulous family, friends, colleagues and fans… Win, lose, or draw we adore each and every one of you!!</div><div style="text-align: center;">You have to be a member of Goodreads <br />
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to vote, but registration is simple and quick!!!!</div>CK Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05869974943861167648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-314338166527085403.post-35090860323565872842012-03-20T13:28:00.000-05:002012-03-20T13:28:21.973-05:00A SOUTHERN HAUNTING: True Hauntings of the South<div style="text-align: center;">There are a million reasons why someone might want to come to the south and a million things to do, see and experience while you are here. There are beautiful cities, rich, wonderful foods and historical buildings and sites that mark major turning points in the history of the United States, but NOTHING seems quite as intriguing as the South’s deep rooted love and connection with… ghost stories. </div><div style="text-align: center;">I have been asked dozens of questions about living in the south from the far-fetched (Do you have indoor plumbing?) To the truly absurd (Do you fry everything you eat?) In case you are curious, I do have indoor plumbing and don’t actually know anyone who still uses an outhouse. I don’t fry everything I cook, but if I could, I just might! The one question I have never been asked is, ‘Are there really that many haunted houses in the south?’ My answer to this would be a resounding… YES!!!</div><div style="text-align: center;">For the next several months I will be tackling as many of the local haunts as I can and delving deeply into their past to see just what we can uncover. For some of my visits I will be interviewing owners, curators and even those who believe they have seen a ghost in these famous or not so famous haunted places. I will also be sneaking out and trying to get a glimpse of these spectral beings and the properties they haunt and even snapping a photo or two to get you, the reader, a little closer to the south; a little closer to the place I call home.</div><div style="text-align: center;">I set out to find as many haunted houses or buildings as I could and then narrowed it down to the ones with documented sightings. These included any photos of full bodied apparitions or unexplained orbs, any EVP’s that were taken with clear disembodied voices and of course, any homes or buildings that are on the National Historic Registry and are open at any time for tours based on their individual hauntings. What I found was mind blowing. In Columbus, Mississippi (the town where I was raised) there are five documented cases of hauntings within private residents and ALL are available for tours in the early spring months and are registered as landmarks. My whole life I knew of only one, Waverly Mansion, and now I find four more have been there all along just under my nose.</div><div style="text-align: center;">I could write for days and never come close to a complete listing of every haunt that I was able to find just in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia & Louisiana! So, I have decided to find the ones that I hold particularly near and dear in my heart and share them with you.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Just down the road from my current home in Alabama is a very famous haunt that boasts an extremely interesting story to go along with its very long history. </div><div style="text-align: center;">Pickens County courthouse is located in Carrolton, Alabama in Courthouse Square. Easily one of the more famous haunted buildings from this area, the courthouse has seen its share of Ghost Hunters and ghost investigations. With a little digging on the Internet you can come across a ton of information as well as some pretty incredible EVP’s (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) that are available from the investigations that took place there.</div><div style="text-align: center;">The Pickens County Courthouse has a long history dating back to the early 1800’s, but it would be November 16, 1876 that would change the town and add a harrowing twist to the courthouse’s history. It was on this date that the Courthouse burned to the ground for the second time. The first burning had come at the hands of Union Army soldiers during the chaos of the American Civil War. Carrolton Courthouse was the pride of Pickens County during those years mostly because it had been rebuilt during the Reconstruction Era, a time when money and resources were scarce for all Americans. The locals became so outraged at the second burning of their beloved courthouse that they set out for some swift justice of their own. Although nothing was ever proven, the local people believed that a hooligan by the name of Henry Wells was the perpetrator of the heinous crime.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Henry Wells was never given the opportunity to plead his case in court… his would be a much more malevolent and infamous type of justice. As a black man during a very tumultuous time in our nation’s history, a time when racism was rampant, Henry Wells quickly became an easy target. He was accused of burning down the courthouse and was arrested two years later in 1878 and charged with arson, burglary, carrying a concealed weapon and assault with intent to murder. He was whisked away and taken to the brand new jailhouse located inside the newly re-constructed courthouse. When word of his whereabouts spread, an angry mob was assembled and made their way to the courthouse.</div><div style="text-align: center;">As the mob assembled at the base of the courthouse steps, Wells became afraid and (as the story goes) it was then that he began to shout: “I am innocent. If you kill me, I’m going to haunt you for the rest of your lives.” Just as they were about to break through the doors and drag Wells from the courthouse, lightning struck and Wells was killed instantly. What remained behind was a permanent imprint of Wells face etched into the windowpane in the room where he stood as he died that night.</div><div style="text-align: center;">No one in the town noticed the window until daylight broke and it was then, while walking past the courthouse steps, that locals looked up and saw the haunting image of Henry Wells looking down over Carrolton, Alabama.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq-rOMw5mXyJub2EZ8JIj_d4AMCfDO8GS5nGJWmIkZTA_sllghKVJzPeW7wRfTWQbcAZ23Ou8PdvceHAKJcHVUzYBsEARZ4LUpBTZGWfKxQpNT4ONFRQjvLvoiabYqj_FlTx24_5ektGt7/s1600/ch.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img aea="true" border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq-rOMw5mXyJub2EZ8JIj_d4AMCfDO8GS5nGJWmIkZTA_sllghKVJzPeW7wRfTWQbcAZ23Ou8PdvceHAKJcHVUzYBsEARZ4LUpBTZGWfKxQpNT4ONFRQjvLvoiabYqj_FlTx24_5ektGt7/s320/ch.png" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">That same piece of glass is still in the window to this day and no amount of washing, scraping or the passage of time can remove the stain.</div><div style="text-align: center;">If you go to the courthouse in Carrolton you will find an old historical marker which reads:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlwizPyLWlq5cqKYPLZZB2x544Y4vQ6X0O0Auan8M_GmhdprSoFMtSwjsNG6C0j5hho0aBeo6OJXGwGqP15V9kdOV1cSojhGnc3Lc0HIkO25FZXQLhvo5V5MkHoDrHt1FkTE7-r1LFuT4C/s1600/courthouse.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img aea="true" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlwizPyLWlq5cqKYPLZZB2x544Y4vQ6X0O0Auan8M_GmhdprSoFMtSwjsNG6C0j5hho0aBeo6OJXGwGqP15V9kdOV1cSojhGnc3Lc0HIkO25FZXQLhvo5V5MkHoDrHt1FkTE7-r1LFuT4C/s1600/courthouse.png" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">If you walk just a few yards from that sign you will find a magnifying viewer that points to a lone window on the courthouse and for twenty-five cents, you can get a close up look into the face of Henry Wells. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Just remember, if you are ever in these neck of the woods, be sure to bring your camera and maybe, just maybe you might get a glimpse of this Sothern Ghost.</div><div style="text-align: center;">By: CK Webb</div>CK Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05869974943861167648noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-314338166527085403.post-42960292302342839402012-03-13T05:31:00.000-05:002012-03-13T05:31:29.074-05:00WRITING A SERIES by: Kara Lennox<div style="text-align: center;">A BIG, HUGE thank you to Kara for taking the time out of her busy writing schedule to share a wonderful post on writing a series. You can pick up a copy of Kara's book TODAY and you can also leave any comments or questions you have for her at the bottom of her post.</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH-GW59R_FDACuwu8XdM-4kDdG06lPlLIbe-y_1EkKONLAGB5Qwa0XLtl_D_Y3yzKTy2yfXjJLMvnfASFDYNadINiog8OSdZxO7q9Kq1OOkZ98mWKu0BKOcTkbLi8gUr6rp0k-Y11DayJ4/s1600/outsidethelawBIG.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img aea="true" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH-GW59R_FDACuwu8XdM-4kDdG06lPlLIbe-y_1EkKONLAGB5Qwa0XLtl_D_Y3yzKTy2yfXjJLMvnfASFDYNadINiog8OSdZxO7q9Kq1OOkZ98mWKu0BKOcTkbLi8gUr6rp0k-Y11DayJ4/s320/outsidethelawBIG.JPG" width="202" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">There’s no doubt readers love connected books. They become invested in a certain world and eagerly await each new installment. It’s fun to revisit the heroes and heroines of former books, like spending time with old friends, and to anticipate the romances between characters you know you’ll see starring in future books.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">But writing a connected series is harder than it looks. It takes more than simply moving characters from one story to another. You have to plan, from the very beginning, where the series is going, and you have to plot at least three books ahead so that you can set up the stories you want to tell in future books. For example, you can introduce the hero and heroine for Book Two in Book One as secondary characters and show how sparks fly between them so readers are anxious to pick up that next book. Or, you can set up a mystery that carries over several books.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">You also have to keep track of all the people, their ages and descriptions, the locations, and you have to establish a time line so if a character is pregnant in Book #2, you know how old the baby is in Book #5. You think you’ll remember, but you won’t. If you don’t keep track of the details, they’ll come back to bite you. I have the floor of an office building lobby as marble in one book, and wood in another. Dang it! (Now I keep a detailed “series bible” with descriptions of characters and settings, time lines, etc.)</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Before I started Project Justice, my ongoing romantic suspense series for Harlequin Super Romance, I’d written several trilogies. I at first envisioned Project Justice as stopping at three books. So I created three heroes and three heroines, setting up a mystery that would carry over for all three books, and planting hints in Book One for the romance in Book Two, etc.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Then, after all three books were turned in, my editor said she wanted three more in the series.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I was jumping up and down with excitement … at first. This was the first time any editor had wanted more of a series from me. But then I realized that I hadn’t set up anyone else to star in their own books. I had to hustle up some heroes and heroines from the existing cast of characters to populate the new trilogy.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Book #4, which is the one that came out this month, Outside the Law, wasn’t so hard. I already had introduced an evidence analyst from the lab in previous books and hinted that she might have the hots for a Cajun computer hacker, so it seemed natural to give them their own story. For Book #5, I still had Billy Cantu in my back pocket. He was one of the Project Justice investigators mentioned in passing in the earlier books. So I gave him a larger role in Book #4, and a starring role in the next book. I paired him with another minor character, a consulting psychologist who had appeared only in one scene, in the first book.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">But, Book #6 had me stumped. Who was left?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Then, inspiration struck. The billionaire hero of Book #3 had a personal assistant, Jillian, who had appeared in every book. The problem was … she was a bit of a pill. She tried to break up her boss’s romance, and at one point she was even suspected of trying to kill someone. But I liked her; she was flawed, but real and fully formed in my mind. I just had to find a way to make her sympathetic and show that she was remorseful for her less-than-heroic behavior.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I did it by revealing that she’d been an overweight, homely teenager who had suffered a major humiliation at the hands of her high school crush. Then I made that crush her new boss. I also made it clear that she was trying to repair her reputation by working hard and being a good employee, despite the fact no one trusted her.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Finally, I gave her an admirer. Cranky Celeste, the septuagenarian office manager who seldom has a kind word for anyone, sees something of herself in plucky Jillian and takes the young woman under her wing. (The hero of this book, Hidden Agenda, is an entirely new character. It will be available in July.)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Now, my editor wants more Project Justice books. Having learned my lesson, I tried my best to set up characters for future books. I have at least one couple’s story worked out, but books #8 and #9 are going to tax me. I’m in awe of the authors who plot out a dozen books from the very beginning. It’s like playing chess, thinking ahead several moves, and I never was very good at chess. With each new book, the world gets more complex, the cast grows larger. More and more balls in the air to juggle</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Still, I’ve had more fun writing these books (and more aggravation!) than any I’ve previously written. I’m looking forward to expanding the series indefinitely.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Kara Lennox</div>CK Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05869974943861167648noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-314338166527085403.post-18277313127335904482012-03-05T08:43:00.000-06:002012-03-05T08:43:55.257-06:00Blog Tour Stop March 13, 2012<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Please don't miss the Blog Tour on Twisted Webb March 13, 2012. We will have a wonderful post by Kara about writing a series, as well as a glimpse at her upcoming novel from Harlequin!!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hZFSNBCVjQs/T1TQDQRbSdI/AAAAAAAAAb0/DyTM3iJDp6U/s1600/karaheadshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hZFSNBCVjQs/T1TQDQRbSdI/AAAAAAAAAb0/DyTM3iJDp6U/s200/karaheadshot.jpg" uda="true" width="156" /></a>Kara Lennox, a.k.a. Karen Leabo, is the award-winning, bestselling author of more than sixty novels of romance and romantic suspense for Harlequin and Random House. Currently she is working on the next installment of her romantic suspense series, Project Justice, published by Harlequin Super Romance. Also, several of her classic Bantam Loveswept novels (writing as Karen Leabo) are soon to be re-released in e-book form by Random House. Her novels have finaled in several contests including the Rita, the Reader’s Choice award and the Holt Medallion. Romantic Times awarded her a Reviewers Choice Award.</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Prior to writing romance, Karen was a freelance writer with hundreds of magazine articles published, as well as brochures, press releases, advertisements and business plans. Her former clients include Working Woman Magazine, Hallmark Cards and Marion Merrill Dow.<br />
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Karen has written ten screenplays, three of which have been optioned by Hollywood, New York and overseas producers. She lives with her writer/publisher husband and several pets in a shabby-chic (heavy on the shabby) Victorian fixer-upper in Southern California. When not writing or sanding floors, she loves bicycling, bird-watching, hunting for flea-market treasures, painting and making mosaics.CK Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05869974943861167648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-314338166527085403.post-68786489461107120612012-02-22T05:22:00.002-06:002012-02-22T05:26:11.669-06:00Magic, Monsters & Mythical Creatures: WIZARDS<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipXscZ7NMcCDZxPL-du6fni3U15H65WJXm-Ifxu09-D9pRusEpdFYN4KLpwmHWsHlqwV8BgHp1p1nBR0Qw9-SrSHLPkypZV1EpGi7JLQ4zhN4jxwBySQvt65zpKoKNZi0dj7FzKQ1zamRP/s1600/imagesCA178JT5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" lda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipXscZ7NMcCDZxPL-du6fni3U15H65WJXm-Ifxu09-D9pRusEpdFYN4KLpwmHWsHlqwV8BgHp1p1nBR0Qw9-SrSHLPkypZV1EpGi7JLQ4zhN4jxwBySQvt65zpKoKNZi0dj7FzKQ1zamRP/s320/imagesCA178JT5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">We have talked of witches, dragons, Leviathan and the Basilisk, but this series would be incomplete if we did not delve into the mystery of… <br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><strong>WIZARDS</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">In the beginning of the days when magic took the forefront of the human psyche, there were two types of common spell casters. There were priests, who gained their powers from their deity or gods, and there were sorcerers, who worked their magic without any divine assistance, using sheer talent alone. Wizards, who required neither divine assistance nor talent, but seemed to be born with their powers, came later on.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The origins of a wizard’s talents are not clear, but every culture has its own explanations which add to the ever growing legend. The most popular explanation is that the person in question has either a deity or a demon in their family bloodline. Some cultures think the talent comes from having draconic blood, while others believe that sorcerers are the descendants of great heroes who took their magic from other races, typically dwarfs, either by force or with trickery. There are even some cultures who believe that wizards are given their power as a sign of favor from one of the elemental lords. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The origins of wizardry itself are a bit more solid and can be traced back to ancient cities where the Gilded League now holds sway. It is there that the first wizards began to study the magical arts and learn to cast, rather than simply wield the power they had. Nobody is quite certain who the first wizard was or how he learned his craft, but some legends tells us he learned by sneaking into a god's workshop and spying on him as he practiced his powerful spells. The legend tells us the wizard sought to learn the secret to working magic the way the gods did without being dependent on a talent as the sorcerers were. Dwarfs and elves however, claim a different origin for their wizards. The dwarfs claim wizardry developed as a natural extension of their skills as craftsmen, while elves claim their wizards were taught by gods.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The first recorded wizards appeared thousands of years ago in prosperous cities. Theirs was an art involving conjuring and summonings that had been adapted from the rites of evil clerics. They called on demons, devils, and other hideous beings and then made dark pacts with them in their search for knowledge and power. Death and madness were the ultimate risks for wizards and all those who kept company with them. More often than not, the biggest danger that wizards faced came from their fellow wizards who were always seeking to further their craft. Defeating another wizard and stealing his knowledge was the easiest way to learn and far less dangerous than dealing with the foul creatures that bubbled up from the belly of Hell itself. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">As a result, magic became a secretive profession with all knowledge jealously guarded and only taught to the rare apprentice. Though a few were rich men who paid exorbitant sums for a chance at great power, all too often such apprentices were only clever youths taught just enough to be of use in the lab who supplemented that education with whatever scraps of knowledge they could filch on their own. The latter were often never intended to be anything other than menial helpers and only managed to learn enough to become a wizard in their own right. Because of this, most wizards were only half trained and possessed incomplete knowledge with the predictable dangers associated with it.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Even with such terrible risks and such jealously guarded knowledge, wizardry spread. Every culture has people who will do anything for power and they sought out wizards for training. Thus, over the centuries and millennium, the wizard's art spread throughout the world. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Merlin is a legendary figure best known as the wizard featured in the legends of Arthur. The character first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written in 1136. The writer claims to have gleaned all his information from historical documents and scrolls that track the life of this mysterious and well known wizard. The stories of Merlin have survived decades of time and each new generation places its’ own unique spin on the ages old tale. The newest Arthurian tale with a Merlin twist is HBO’s original series, Camelot. In it we see a more conniving, plotting Merlin who is actually afraid to use his powers because he cannot control them. When he does use them, they suck the very life from his body. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Another wizard that is famous from the literary world is Gandalf. He first appeared in 1937 in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Gandalf was first introduced as Gandalf The Grey and reintroduced later as Gandalf The White when he was brought back from the abyss of death. Other Tolkien books featured this well-known wizard and followed the hobbit’s journey into the very fires of Mordor. The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King all carried Gandalf as a central character. The books were later adapted to film and directed by Peter Jackson in 2001. Receiving 13 Academy nominations, The Fellowship of the Ring took home four Academy Awards and is, to this day, the 19th highest grossing film of all time. The Two Towers and The Return of the King would also be adapted to film and become classics from our time and see their fair share of Academy nominations and wins. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is the highest grossing film trilogy of all time and brought in a whopping $2.91 billion dollars worldwide.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I would step on a few toes if I failed to mention some more famous wizards from our time… The wizards of The Harry Potter series. In the series written by J.K. Rowling, we meet Harry Potter, an ordinary boy with extraordinary powers. As the series progresses, we watch Harry hone his skills as a wizard. In the meantime, we are introduced to a whole cast of wizards including Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape. Though the series is considered a young adult series, there are some extremely dark elements to the book and some of the wizards within its pages. As the series progresses, it becomes more and more harrowing as wizards began to kill other wizards in an attempt to be more powerful. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Through books and film we have discovered magic, monsters and mythical creatures. Though many of these things are fiction they still hold a very real place in our hearts and minds. They allow us to see possibilities we could not see before and they allow us to dream. We can dive into a fictional world filled with wizards, witches, dragons, Leviathan and the Basilisk and we can, for a short while, believe. Though these magical, mythical beings may not exist in our world, there is a wonderful place where we can go to find them all. It is a world filled with pages from great writers and the stories they have told, with films that we have fallen in love with, and full of dreams that can only exist in the most magical of places…</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">It is our imagination, and with it there are no boundaries and magic IS real.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">CK Webb </div>CK Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05869974943861167648noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-314338166527085403.post-23513189032649851592012-02-02T14:26:00.000-06:002012-02-02T14:26:39.461-06:00Magic, Monsters and Mythical Creatures<div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ChPNYsn-n4rWpve6NcNxIpaFIPp1iyFSeo6ONx7NUXXa1CPk5K0zOFEs8nA8aGSTUS4LvWgTXW0Kh2Le_1lkIka8-gqprBA-aIpb9rUg1bK-e_-HxEpfxFkrJw-CwvJ2EuPLJE4Gv5UI/s1600/imagesCATOO3NR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" sda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ChPNYsn-n4rWpve6NcNxIpaFIPp1iyFSeo6ONx7NUXXa1CPk5K0zOFEs8nA8aGSTUS4LvWgTXW0Kh2Le_1lkIka8-gqprBA-aIpb9rUg1bK-e_-HxEpfxFkrJw-CwvJ2EuPLJE4Gv5UI/s320/imagesCATOO3NR.jpg" width="229" /></a><span style="color: red; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Basilisk and Leviathan</span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Sometimes magic, monsters and myth collide. The end result is something far more elusive and harrowing than we care to believe. Whether they are fiction or real, the Basilisk and Leviathan are creatures that will not be denied their rightful place in our worlds. Ever present not only in literature, but in film as well, they have woven themselves into the very fabric of some cultures and are truly the stuff that nightmares are made of. Though similar in some ways, their traits vary considerably and give each creature its own unique flair and its very own killing style.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">In some European legends, a Basilisk is a legendary reptile reputed to be king of serpents due to the crown-shaped crest upon its head. Alleged to be hatched by a cockerel from the egg of a serpent or toad, the Basilisk is rumored to cause death to anyone who locks eyes with the beast. One of the earliest accounts of the Basilisk comes from Pliny the Elder's Natural History, written in 79 AD. In it, he describes a monstrous, cow-like creature of which "all who behold its eyes fall dead upon the spot”. It is also believed that the venom of the Basilisk is so destructive that the creature leaves behind a burnt and scorched earth as it slithers across the landscape.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Many writers have been seduced by this legendary monster and brought forth their own ideas and slight variations of the beast. Geoffrey Chaucer featured a ‘Basilicok’ in his famous Canterbury Tales. He made use of the legend which states that basilisks can be killed by hearing the crow of a rooster or gazing at itself through a mirror. Chaucer would incorporate one of these killing methods in the legend of the basilisk of Warsaw. This tale would see the Basilisk killed by a man carrying a set of mirrors.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">More and more stories added to the enormity of the Basilisk’s reputation and gradually added to the Basilisk's killing powers as well. Some began to describe it as a large beast capable of breathing fire and killing with only the sound of its voice. Some writers would even claim that the Basilisk could kill by touch and could even kill by touching something that a poor soul was touching. So, a sword held in the hand of a great warrior would yield almost certain death the very moment the hero struck the killing blow into the creature. All of this death came from a beast that would become the guardian and traditional symbol of strength for the city of Basel in Switzerland.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Many other writers would toy with the idea of this mythical monster and introduce it to millions of readers in the process. William Shakespeare, Samuel Richardson, Alexander Pope, Voltaire and even Charles Dickens dipped their quills into the world of this mythical monster and referenced it and its killing power in their work. Of course, the most famous telling of a Basilisk tale today is most likely J.K. Rowlings’ Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets. In this novel, the Basilisk, an enormous, snake-like creature with monstrous fangs almost kills Harry with its deadly venom, but he is saved by the tears of a phoenix. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Artists would also put forth their renditions of the Basilisk. Leonardo da Vinci included a Basilisk in his Bestiary. He describes it as so utterly cruel that when it cannot kill animals or humans by its baleful gaze, it turns upon the earth and withers everything in its path.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Unlike the Basilisk, Leviathan is widely claimed as a sea creature. In demonology, Leviathan is hailed as one of the seven princes of Hell and known as its gatekeeper.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Mentioned several times throughout biblical text, Leviathan finds its history deeply rooted in the traditions of Near Eastern Mythology and dates back as far as the 3rd Century BC. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">In the Canaanite myth, ‘Liviathan’ was considered an interpretation of the chaos that spilled forth at the beginning of the Universe’s creation. From this chaos, a seven headed, fire-breathing crocodile-like dragon was formed. He lurked in the depths of the sea and waited for an opportune moment so he could rise up and steal away unsuspecting victims. A great warrior named Anat fought Leviathan and bound him in chains, bringing order to the universe. Though the tale ended there, it is believed that Leviathan is not dead, but simply waiting for the day when he will again rise up from the depths and destroy us all. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Beliefs about Leviathan and its origins vary greatly from one culture and religious background to another. If you are a Christian, Leviathan is a bringer of death sent forth by Satin himself. On the other hand, according to Anton Szandor LaVey, the author of The Satanic Bible, Leviathan represents the element of Water. The element of Water in Satanism is associated with life and creation. In The Satanic Bible, Leviathan is known as one of the Four Crown Princes of Hell.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">We see two different takes on a mythical monster that looks the same to both groups and yet, is so very different in its intentions. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Other variations of this monstrous creature would show up in great literary works and the name Leviathan would become synonymous with any large creature living in the ocean. One in particular would become an instant classic and introduce us to a new spin on the Leviathan tale. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">In 1851 American author Herman Melville published his novel, Moby Dick. The story tells the adventures of a wandering sailor named Ishmael and his voyage with Captain Ahab. The captain has but one purpose, to seek out a specific whale: Moby Dick. The whale is described as a ferocious and elusive white sperm whale that, in a previous encounter, destroyed Ahab's boat and bit off his leg. Ahab becomes consumed with bitter anger and longs to seek his revenge by killing the beast.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Leviathan would also gather some film credits when in 1989 a movie of the same name was released. Often compared to Alien and The Thing, Leviathan’s storyline focused on underwater deep-sea miners. After finding some Soviet wreckage, the crew brings back deadly cargo to their base on the ocean floor with horrifying results. The crew must then fight to survive against a genetic mutation as they are hunted down and killed one by one by LEVIATHAN!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Though their similarities are unmistakable, the tales behind the Basilisk and Leviathan could not be farther apart. Whether you are a fan of the classic tales or have only recently been introduce through Harry Potter, chances are you will not soon forget these monstrous and mythical creatures. Steeped in magical folklore and transported through time by literature, paintings and film, the Basilisk and Leviathan will surely be with us for hundreds maybe even thousands of years. I cannot tell you whether these creatures exist or if they are merely a figment of a most active imagination. The question still remains: Are they magic, monsters or mythical creatures… only you can decide.</div><div style="text-align: center;">CK Webb for Suspense Magazine </div>CK Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05869974943861167648noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-314338166527085403.post-56782440850298864702011-11-30T13:47:00.000-06:002011-11-30T14:10:53.989-06:00MAGIC, MONSTERS & MYTHICAL CREATURES<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidmU8RCScR3e-vjZqnJV4HgLMXkIy35LTUWJRilR95jsaHN1QKJZujEj_sK2njRyk0PC9MKbD-KeZUvcag9CUqkwgzOR7N1BSRd6ZZ3z9IZMB8smAV18JGcAmltgGyRWogN82oB_adF3qT/s1600/imagesCABKBAXG.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 201px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 251px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680882687288228290" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidmU8RCScR3e-vjZqnJV4HgLMXkIy35LTUWJRilR95jsaHN1QKJZujEj_sK2njRyk0PC9MKbD-KeZUvcag9CUqkwgzOR7N1BSRd6ZZ3z9IZMB8smAV18JGcAmltgGyRWogN82oB_adF3qT/s320/imagesCABKBAXG.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div align="center">As summers’ long, lazy days come slowly to an end and autumn begins to push into its place, we find ourselves on a brand new journey of discovery. This journey will take us from witches to warlocks, from devils to demons, from elves to fairies and everything in between. So, light the candles and pull up a seat as I welcome you to the world of…</div><br /><div align="center"><br /></div><span style="font-size:180%;color:#000099;"><strong></strong></span><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;color:#000099;"><strong>WITCHES & WITCHCRAFT </strong></span><span style="font-size:180%;color:#000099;"><strong><br /></strong></span>Throughout the ages, many different eras have come and gone in mankind’s history. Some are rumors, whispered in dark rooms and rarely spoken of in the daylight hours. But others twisted our history and our psyche as they left huge black marks on our past.<br />Witchcraft, in history, has been defined as the use of mythological, religious, supernatural or magical powers. Naturally, anyone who practices witchcraft is labeled a witch and oftentimes, with harrowing consequences.<br />It was often believed, in many cultures, that witches were in league with the Devil himself and only used their powers for evil or to bring harm to others. Today, there are many thoughts on witches & witchcraft, but more often than not, they are viewed simply as good or bad. It was not always this way.<br />In the early fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in Europe, witchcraft was brought to the attention of those in positions of power within the churches and towns. So began the infamous witch-hunts, where an estimated forty to one hundred thousand men and women were accused of witchcraft and subsequently executed for their deemed roles as cohorts of Satan. They suffered horrible deaths by hanging, burning or even drowning and many were most likely, innocent of their accused crimes.<br />Europe was not the only place where witchcraft was condemned and, in what has become widely known throughout the world, Massachusetts would leave a dark stain on our nation’s history, forever.<br />In 1645 in Springfield, Massachusetts, the very first accusations of witchcraft were brought forth by a husband and wife. While each accused the other of evil dealings with the Devil, the husband was later found innocent while the wife was, at first, acquitted then subsequently convicted of murdering her child and sentenced to hang. She did not make it to the noose and died while imprisoned. What began as a domestic squabble, quickly spun out of control and within the next eighteen years, eighty people would find themselves accused of witchcraft. Thirteen women and two men met with an untimely demise during those years and each were executed for their presumed roles as witches.<br />In what would later become the most widely known witch-hunts in history and would be the inspiration for many books and films, the Salem Witch Trials took place from February 1692 through May of 1693. The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings held before the local magistrate in Essex, Suffolk and Middlesex Counties in colonial Massachusetts. Over one hundred fifty people were arrested and imprisoned for witchcraft. The two courts convicted twenty-nine people of witchcraft, which was considered a capitol felony, nineteen of which, were hanged. One man who refused to enter a guilty plea was crushed to death beneath giant stones in an attempt to coax a confession from him. At least five others, who were accused, but never convicted, died while imprisoned.<br />Though known in history as the "Salem" witch trials, the hearings took place in several towns including Salem Village, Ipswich, Andover and Salem Town, Massachusetts. The best-known trials were conducted by the Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692 in Salem Town. Twenty-six people went to trial before this court…<br />All were convicted.<br />The same town where witchcraft was once met with disdain now makes a mean business of witches and the art of witchcraft. Salem, Massachusetts’ tourism is the backbone of their economy and many visitors come to get a look at the town where witches who were once hung are now celebrated. You can visit famous places where witches were hanged, take a haunted tour at Halloween and even take home a witchy souvenir or two.<br /><br />The focus on witchcraft died down after the trials, but some writers would see to it that no one ever forgot. In 1953 American playwright Arthur Miller wrote his dramatization of the Salem witch trials, The Crucible. The play was made into a movie of the same name many years later and starred Winona Ryder & Daniel Day-Lewis. It is also the basis for study throughout many of our school systems and today, considered a classic. The Witches is a children's book by Roald Dahl and it was first published in London in 1983. With beautiful illustrations and a ton of controversy to go with it, it remains one of the greatest witch books ever written and can be found in most libraries.<br />There would be a TV show that would emerge in the 1960’s with a fresh new take on the witch. Bewitched, starred Elizabeth Montgomery as an average wife with some above average talents and with just a wiggle of her nose, she gave America a new outlook on witches. Other TV shows would later follow in the footsteps of Bewitched by offering a more positive take on the dark subject of witches. Charmed debuted in 1998 and featured the four, fictional Halliwell sisters—Prue, Piper, Phoebe and Paige. Known as The Charmed Ones in the magical community, they were from the most powerful line of good witches in history and sent to protect innocent lives against evil beings, such as demons and warlocks. Each sister possessed her own unique magical power that she tried, often without success, to keep hidden from the world, while living a somehow normal life in San Francisco. The series was a huge hit and ran for many seasons. It is still in syndication today.<br />Two unknowns would ignite the world’s fascination with witches when they introduced their debut young adult novel in 2009. Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl made a huge splash in the literary world with their novel Beautiful Creatures. Billed as one of the best debuts of 2009, the book was followed up by a second book in the series, Beautiful Darkness, the following year. The next book in this franchise, Beautiful Chaos, will be released in October of this year. Not only did the books gain worldwide recognition from readers, but also grabbed Hollywood’s attention and has been optioned by Warner Brothers as a major motion picture! That is a far cry from the Salem Witch Trials.<br />A recent movie release that would bring a little of the darkness back to the witch is 2011’s Beastly. In it, a boy is cursed by a modern day witch, played by Mary-Kate Olsen. He is given one year to change the person he has become on the inside & find someone to love him for who he is or spend the rest of his life severely scarred and tattooed from head to toe.<br />Witches and witchcraft have come a very long way from the days of witch-hunts and mass executions. From Bugs Bunny’s fantastic Witch Hazel with her broom stick and flying hair pins that we loved as kids, to the unusual loveliness of Lena in Beautiful Creatures, witches have fascinated us for many years been a huge part of our history as a people.<br />Witches are no longer the hideous hags we believed them to be as children. There is no wart on their long, bulbous nose to give them away or a cackle in their voice that spells certain doom. Witches are all around us, but often hidden from our view. They could be your neighbor or the girl down at the super market or even the writer who weaves those wicked tales you love to read. So, whatever you do, watch what you say and how you treat those strangers you pass on the street or risk hearing the dreading words…<br />For a charm of powerful trouble,<br />Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.<br />Double, double toil and trouble!!!</div><br /><div align="center">CK Webb</div>CK Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05869974943861167648noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-314338166527085403.post-7520368810402444402011-10-10T11:04:00.000-05:002011-10-10T11:15:06.740-05:00AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT:<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAvdhWKHGRahyaGYBz-ZoOlylP_Vv1espm-Umgtphw5z0lmtkqCfPEYDjaj1jxprm7FfXDY8NmTIqXtDyD6udhznHNJvHbXdcVF-sx7rAyvMNyyu4GGv8ayRgPXzFgPIVKeFCsXxp9qvVx/s1600/Mark2_Med.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 293px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5661895328324517250" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAvdhWKHGRahyaGYBz-ZoOlylP_Vv1espm-Umgtphw5z0lmtkqCfPEYDjaj1jxprm7FfXDY8NmTIqXtDyD6udhznHNJvHbXdcVF-sx7rAyvMNyyu4GGv8ayRgPXzFgPIVKeFCsXxp9qvVx/s320/Mark2_Med.jpg" /></a> <span style="color:#000099;">MAR</span><span style="color:#000099;">K P. SADLER<br /></span><br /><br /><br /><div>Sadler’s humble beginnings started in a small caravan in his grandmother’s garden in Post War Britain, May 1956.<br /><br />Life started in the little nursing home in Dudley, and moved to a caravan in his grandparents back garden, until his aunt and her new husband moved out of the big house. For the next three years the new family inhabited the upstairs of the house on the hill in Woodsetton. Young Sadler quickly learned the joy of discovery through books as his mother, a pre-school teacher, read countless stories to him. He was reading at a level two years ahead of his age by the time he entered school and won his first reading prize in his beginning year at St. Nicholas’ Primary in Codsall, Staffordshire.<br /><br />The family had by this time moved to the country, living in a small bungalow in Codsall Wood. By the time he graduated from Codsall Comprehensive in 1974 a future in writing seemed to be taking a clear path. The following year Sadler immigrated to the States on a student visa to attend Ambassador College Big Sandy Texas and participated in journalism and speech classes, intent on becoming the next big television news anchor.<br /><br />As is often the case life got in the way. After hitchhiking from Dallas to Los Angeles a random blind date turned into a serious commitment, and just four months later, a blushing bride with a blooming belly, led him to Oklahoma City. With a family to care for Sadler went about his way over the next seven years trying to find a way to support what had now become two boys and a wife unable to work through illness. Writing took a back seat.<br /><br />From the factory floors of Robberson Steel to the sales floor at Intempo Wood Factory, from employment counselor to debt collector, he finally found a permanent position at Retail Merchants Collection Service. Debt collections led to career that has now spanned over thirty years and has remained the one constant in his soap opera of a life. There were times, as the boys became teenagers that the opportunity came to write.<br /><br />One day in 1980, picking up a copy of a new publication, OKC Sports Fan Forum, he noticed that there was no soccer mentioned, typical of just about any publication in Oklahoma that was so entrenched in football, basketball and baseball. When he called to complain to the editors he was offered the opportunity to write an editorial column covering the progression of soccer in Oklahoma as America faced the hosting of the World Cup.<br /><br />When 2007 rolled around it found Sadler remarried and living in Tucson, having moved there in 1993. His two boys were now young men with children of their own, and a third son from his third marriage starting high school. With a little extra time on his hands he once again took up the skills that had engrained themselves in him during high school, and took on the task that he knew one day he would succeed in; it was time to write a book.<br /><br />Inspiration hit, as it tends to do, at one in the morning. Armed with bludgeoning thoughts he turned on the computer and let the words flow. Several months later he enrolled in a class at Pima Community College and under the tutorial of Meg Files learned how to control the form of the words until Blood on His Hands was born.<br /><br />The search for an agent for a new unpublished author proved daunting, nay impossible, and so along with one in every three books written this year Sadler decided to self-publish. Seeking the services of print on demand publisher Infinity Publishing the project went ahead. The novel should be available for ordering by early May 2009.<br /><br />Sadler lives with his wife in Tucson, where he is working on his next novel. He is a contributor for Suspense Magazine. You can learn more about Mark by visiting his website at <a href="http://marksadler.com/">http://marksadler.com/</a> </div><br /><br /><br /><div>You can prchase Mark's book, Blood On His Han<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blood-on-his-Hands-ebook/dp/B004BSH1O0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1318263096&sr=8-2"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 181px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 278px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5661897422023301714" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCZYegLWA6u4rIU24kamO2Fju3u26UUMqTDN19fUgXDrUEMOhJDgSMaN7IhL-04Iu5-dIzNBMDk5WDjmGJlr4iOJKdTGfsgZN9OJt3Ek8FiDZe0fV6DK9K9iRpFqHH8mTKjZMwEtwMIcmg/s320/images.jpg" /></a>ds, by clicking the book cover. </div></div>CK Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05869974943861167648noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-314338166527085403.post-91639785327203302862011-09-26T21:31:00.000-05:002011-09-26T21:56:48.398-05:00Things That Come Out At Night<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn5-LHixPhzQs0GrGHqs7it2DbnQKS3N4fAbbC9OWOV0N8DyzEDSm21EPmAII9_gInpA-BHBPXUWy5MFjGERSRI7qS1CjDvZwU3eIaP9TqE17pwViMLE5oMHjenb7bu2zgyMiK_8ftib70/s1600/imagesCAPDDHUL.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 251px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 201px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656865183078884946" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn5-LHixPhzQs0GrGHqs7it2DbnQKS3N4fAbbC9OWOV0N8DyzEDSm21EPmAII9_gInpA-BHBPXUWy5MFjGERSRI7qS1CjDvZwU3eIaP9TqE17pwViMLE5oMHjenb7bu2zgyMiK_8ftib70/s320/imagesCAPDDHUL.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:lucida grande;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="color:#ff0000;"><strong>WereWolves</strong><br /></span><br /></span></span>“Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolf bane blooms, and the autumn moon is bright.” Wolfman ~1941<br /><br />No matter your age or where you are from, chances are, at some point you were frightened by a creature that comes out at night. Some had fangs and drank blood, others were walking corpses that feasted on the brains of the living, but some looked no different than you and I. They could roam the world as everyday humans and go unnoticed until...the next full moon would find them sprouting thick coats of fur and preying on the throats of unsuspecting travelers in the night. Some werewolves were even graced with the ability to transform at will, making them an even more frightening creature of the night.</div><br /><br /><div>The very first werewolf movie that I cut my teeth on as a child was An American Werewolf In London. Even today, it is the standard by which I judge all werewolf books or movies. I was 8 years old and it was absolutely brilliant. Considering the date and the technology available then, it is still one of the greatest transformation scenes I have ever watched and very few can hold a candle to it.</div><br /><br /><div>Werewolves hold a unique place in our hearts and minds, but where did this concept of half man, half wolf emerge from and how has it changed throughout the years? Let us quickly find out before the full moon's glow shines brightly and some of us are no longer the same.<br />As children our first taste of werewolves probably came from the childhood fairytale Little Red Riding Hood, but in history, werewolf folklore dates back thousands of years. In 8 A.D., Ovid wrote the Latin narrative poem Metamorphosis which follows a man cursed to roam the earth as a werewolf because of the heinous crimes he has committed against a child. Other great poets of the same era would dip into the werewolf tale. Virgil, Pliny The Elder and Gaius Petronius Arbiter, were just a few. Some of Arbiter's works on the subject date back as far as 60 B.C.</div><br /><br /><div>The origins of the werewolf tale stem from a primitive time when forests covered most of the landscape and animals were quick to steal a bite to eat from the sparse populations of humans that inhabited their lands. Europeans were some who turned terror and misunderstanding into legend and are credited with some of the very first werewolf tales. </div><br /><br /><div>In a time where medicine was confined to medicinal herbs, hocus pocus remedies and cures, mental illness was not something that anyone had ever heard of. As such, a person who was suffering from lycanthropy was not mentally unstable and in need of medication, sedation and observation, but was someone who was indeed cursed to be a werewolf and needed to be exterminated in order to save their soul. Sounds crazy to us, but to those living in these wilderness times when humanity was just finding its way, it made perfect sense. Today we understand lycanthropy to be the mental illness associated with schizophrenia where a person becomes convinced they are or have already, transformed into various animals, including wolves.</div><br /><div><br />In European folklore it was said that even in human form, signs existed to distinguish a werewolf from other humans. If you had curved fingernails or low set ears, you could easily have been mistaken for a werewolf. For those poor folks who had the misfortune of having eyebrows that grew together, in a time before tweezers had been invented, they too were thought to be werewolves. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsZcfxANmC8hiPdpNjiI70Na5teEuihWirSzpP_tJ7a6Oz8bYR50oiDjQsPv5tnteUcNmJZWquJ4PJNmOWPE3rC6rzfoINgkEzFnwjoOyWTnDKMhT3lq-Ct_z1-5zZuv_SOw-CMN7WvoYp/s1600/imagesCADACAFI.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 193px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 262px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656865781338842706" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsZcfxANmC8hiPdpNjiI70Na5teEuihWirSzpP_tJ7a6Oz8bYR50oiDjQsPv5tnteUcNmJZWquJ4PJNmOWPE3rC6rzfoINgkEzFnwjoOyWTnDKMhT3lq-Ct_z1-5zZuv_SOw-CMN7WvoYp/s320/imagesCADACAFI.jpg" /></a> </div><br /><br /><div>The means by which a person could be become a werewolf, were almost as plentiful as the stories themselves. A person could be bitten or scratched by a werewolf, the most popular means, but there are some more obscure methods that are a lot more fun. There was rubbing your body with magic salve, drinking from an enchanted stream and even sleeping under the full moon on a Wednesday or Friday with the moon's glow shining on your face. My personal favorite has to be, drinking rainwater from the footprints of the beasts that were found in the forest!<br />As the years passed and we, as humans, became more sophisticated & educated, our take on werewolves changed drastically, but our desire to carry their tale with us through history did not.</div><br /><br /><div>Literature has adapted a plethora of these iconic tales into short stories, novels and later on, into the movies we have grown to love over the years. The nineteenth century would see a host of very famous writers tackle the werewolf story from the likes of G.W.M. Reynolds, Sutherland Menzies and even Alexander Dumas.</div><br /><br /><div>The twentieth century would usher in the true emergence of the werewolf as a staple in horror fiction and an explosion of stories and movies based on the tale would come blazing onto the scene. In 1933, American author Guy Endore wrote The Werewolf of Paris which has since come to be known as the Dracula of werewolf literature.</div><br /><br /><div>The very first feature film to use the werewolf premise was Werewolf of London in 1935. It would however be Lon Cheney Jr.'s portrayal of the tragic character Larry Talbot in 1941's The Wolf Man that would set the standard for all movies in the genre. The movie catapulted werewolves into the public eye and from this one film two very crucial werewolf staples were established...werewolves always kill those they love the most and they can be quickly dispatched from this world by a silver bullet.</div><br /><br /><div>Other movies and books would come along and werewolves would be further rooted into the horror genre until the introduction of the paranormal romance and young adult books that embrace the these creatures.</div><br /><br /><div>J.K. Rowlings gave a new take to werewolves in her Harry Potter series in which she creates them as dangerous, but also as misunderstood and widely discriminated against. Other authors in the young adult genre would give new life to werewolves with books such as Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, Dark Guardian by Rachel Hawthorne and Night Shade by Andrea Cremer.<br />Movies have been plentiful and werewolves have graced the big screen hundreds of times. From feature length cartoons like 2005's Wallace And Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, to the 2010 remake of the classic The Wolf Man and even the new adaptation of the childhood tale in 2011's Red Riding Hood, werewolves have found for themselves, a home within our books, our films and our minds.</div><br /><br /><div>Even music has grabbed up a portion of this iconic creature that comes out in the night with songs like Monster by Skillet, Wolf Moon by Type O Negative and Of Wolf And Man by Metallica. These are barely scraping the barrel. You can literally find dozens of songs about werewolves and some you may never have even suspected were about them.</div><br /><br /><div>Though werewolves have a deeply rooted place in the media of our world, one thing has not changed much in the thousands of years since the very first tales were told. Werewolves were then and are almost always now, portrayed in a negative light. They are the thing to fear, they are the curse from which no one can ever return and they are the stuff of nightmares. I am happy to have them there in our songs, in our books and films in our very history. The alternative is, they walk amongst us, beside us and they are there waiting... waiting for the lights to go out, waiting for that next full moon, wanting to show us what really comes out in the night. </div><br /><br /><div>CK Webb</div>CK Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05869974943861167648noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-314338166527085403.post-48828265332978852382011-09-16T05:50:00.000-05:002011-09-16T05:57:32.331-05:00CONGRATULATIONS!!A big congrats to Lisa Faye Coombs & Nona Matherne on winning a copy of Jim Bernheimer's book, CONFESSIONS OF A D-LIST SUPER VILLAIN!! Lisa will receive a signed copy of Jim's book and Nona will receive an e-copy of the book. Thank you ladies for being loyal readers of Twisted Webb & WebbWeaver. Please use the contact page to send me your addresses and e-mails. Enjoy your books!!<br /><br />CKCK Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05869974943861167648noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-314338166527085403.post-70367520119452702842011-09-06T09:12:00.000-05:002011-09-06T09:14:00.133-05:00Guest Post & Signed Book Giveaway from Jim Bernheimer<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><i>The Necessary Evils of Marketing </i></b><br />
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It has probably been said before, but if not, I’ll say it. The beauty and the curse of being a small press or independent writer (Indy) is that you are responsible for making everything happen. That includes all the nuts and bolts of getting the book into publication, which is to be expected. Heck, portions of that can even be fun like cover selection (editing not so much), but then the author is hit with a nasty little shock - they have to successfully market their new shiny novel.<br />
This isn’t Field of Dreams. Just writing a novel is no guarantee that “They will come.” It takes a lot of hard work that has absolutely nothing to do with writing a good story.<br />
The first thing I recommend is to see what successful independent authors in your genre are doing and make a list. I write science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Some things I do won’t do squat for a romance or humor author, so examine the people in your genre and decide what person’s career you’d like to emulate.<br />
Once you’ve come up with a list of possible strategies, you now have to face the likelihood that you won’t be able to do all of these things. You can look no further than the numerous social media choices available to connect with your potential readers like Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Google+, MySpace, Kindleboards, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and all the review blogs out there. It’s an endless buffet and you’ve only got so much room in your stomach.<br />
Yes, just because you can go make a video trailer for your book doesn’t mean you should. This is just an example and I’m not slamming book trailers, but I haven’t seen any real evidence that they sell more books than a good description will. In my case, I don’t see the ROI (Return on Investment) because most of my sales come from Amazon and as an “Indy,” I haven’t come across a way to get a video trailer up without paying a large fee to their Createspace business unit. Yes, you can put it on your Author Central page, but the reality is only a small percentage of people who arrive on your book’s page will click over to your author page. It makes a nice addition to your website or blog, but now you need a reason for a person to come to your website or blog, and that goes back to making a large investment of time and effort into hosting a successful blog. As with all my advice, your mileage may vary, but the time spent creating that video trailer is time you could have been writing or blogging.<br />
In my own case, I have a wife, two feisty daughters, and a full time job to occupy most of my waking hours. This limits the amount of time that I can spend on the computer for both writing and marketing. So, I pick and choose where I maintain an online presence, because doing three things well is better than doing a dozen things poorly. There is something to be said about not biting off more than you can chew!<br />
Generally, I stick to Facebook, my webpage (www.jimbernheimer.com), my Amazon Author Page, and make an occasional appearance on Kindleboards. Give readers a place where they can contact you, but you don’t have to scramble like a crazy person trying to be everywhere at once. Take a deep breath and remember that this is supposed to be fun. If it’s not fun, try and figure out why it isn’t and fix it.<br />
Guest blogging, reviews, and sponsoring giveaways are my bread and butter when it comes to marketing. Many authors also run their own blog. I haven’t gone that route because (once again), I don’t think I could add another ball to my juggling routine and do it properly. Instead, I spend my time contacting all the folks who have taken the route of posting regular content and attracting followers. For me this makes the most sense. Guest posting introduces my novels to this blogs followers and maybe a few are intrigued enough to give one of my books a try. The nice folks who run the book review blogs know that content is king and more interesting content keeps the readers coming back for more. Having authors come in and do guest posts is a mutually beneficial relationship for the author and the book blogger.<br />
With the advent of “Blog Tours,” it seems lots of other authors and the publishing houses as well have figured it out too, but keep in mind that being late to the party still means you’re at the party, so don’t get discouraged if this blog turns you down because they have a large to be read pile. When deciding whether or not to contact a blog, look at how often they update. The quantity and quality of their postings will tell you a whole bunch about the person or persons you are dealing with. I rank it just as important as the number of followers/networked blogs a review site has.<br />
One big thing to remember, the majority of book bloggers are doing it because they love reading. They are volunteering their time. Things do come up in their lives that may interfere with reviewing your novel. One of the mistakes I made about six months ago was contacting a blog and accepting an offer to do giveaways for three of my novels. I sent them two copies of each book for a grand total of six, which ended up being about seventy-five dollars after shipping and handling. You can probably already see where this is going, but yeah, none of my books have been reviewed or given away.<br />
Lesson learned - wait for the review and then coordinate the giveaway.<br />
In conclusion, I’d like to thank CK and DJ for having me and offer encouragement to any author out there trying to get his or her stories published. If you don’t know where to start when it comes to marketing, I say, “Keep it simple,” and find things you can do and do them to the best of your abilities. Jim<br />
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Jim has graciously agreed to give away a signed copy of his book to one US resident and an e-copy to one international winner!!! For an opportunty to win a copy of CONFESSIONS OF A D-LIST SUPER VILLAIN please leave a comment below or at WebbWeaver Reviews <a href="http://bit.ly/HWQKW">http://bit.ly/HWQKW</a> and the winner will be chosen from those entries!! Best of luck folks.<br />
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CK Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05869974943861167648noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-314338166527085403.post-3389272321907781952011-08-15T19:41:00.000-05:002011-08-15T19:51:30.545-05:00Special Guest Post: Meet Karla Telega
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<br /><div>Two years ago, I decided that I would rather floss with barbed wire than spend another day staring at spreadsheets and memorizing the Internal Revenue Code. I spent about a nanosecond deciding whether or not to quit my high stress job. Cons: ill-conceived, poorly-timed, totally rash. Pros: avoid an emotional meltdown that would make Chernobyl look like a leaky faucet. I went with column B.
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<br />Step two was to look busy, so I started writing. I figured that I could avoid looking for a new job, make a bucket of money, and retire to a little cabin in the wilderness. What I discovered was that I truly loved to write, and you can only fix rice and beans so many ways. I was able to pour all my fears and insecurities into my writing. The result was a humor book that received enthusiastic responses from editors and agents, who then turned me down.
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<br />Apparently, an editor’s critique that contains the word “hilarious” eight times in three paragraphs is not enough to sway a publisher. The harsh reality is that humor is a hard sell even for nationally syndicated writers, which I wasn’t. Undeterred, I decided to try the back door, and put my humor into a novel.
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<br />I like to read mysteries, so on that recommendation alone, I chose a book that told me in 100 pages how to write one. (Did I mention that I have a short attention span?) I’ve always enjoyed acting out the stories in my head … at 3:00 AM, with the curtains closed and the lights out. When it came time to do research, I threw myself into character. I slogged through swamps looking for a lizard man and panned for gold. I visited locations in my book, and talked to police, coroners, and correctional officers. I never knew research could be so much fun!
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<br />My main character, Maggie is based mainly on the changes I’m experiencing. She is coping with mid-life, anxiety, and an internal alarm clock that leaves her scrambling for purpose, identity, and adventure. She and her friend, Cher, set the irreverent tone of the story from their very first conversation.
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<br />“Do we really have to go to that damn book club meeting tomorrow?” Cher asked. “When we joined, I thought they were going to serve daiquiris while discussing Jane Austen. Somehow, we found the only dry book club in the county.”
<br />“Come on, Cher, we’re going for the intellectual stimulation and thought-provoking dialogue. That’s why we’re reading Pride and Prejudiced Vampires.” Maggie stuck her tongue out and made a gagging noise. “Oh, hell! Which of us wants to fake the Ebola virus to get out of it?”
<br />“Your turn,” Cher reminded her. “Last month I had bubonic plague.”
<br />“Yes, but the month before that I had terminal hemorrhoids. That should earn me a pass tomorrow.”
<br />Cher laughed. “That doesn’t count. When you got your second opinion, the doctor decided that you just needed more fiber in your diet.”
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<br />My writing career has been marked by making it up as I go, but in one regard, I absolutely followed “the rules.” Know your readers. Right now, over 35% of Americans are age 50 or older. Both my humor book and my novel are aimed at the AARP crowd. So many writers want a book that is universally appealing, and end up with something that is not a good fit for any reading audience. I’ve gotten very positive feedback from people of all ages, but I absolutely keep my target readers in mind when I’m promoting my book.
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<br />I’m currently working on book two in the Maggie Gorski mystery series, but I haven’t forgotten my humor writing. My partner and I are working on producing a series of humor anthologies, featuring some well-known humor writers, along with promising newcomers to the field. We wanted to provide an opportunity for exposure and publishing credits for some very talented writers, helping them to build their platform. We are currently editing our first book, My Funny Valentine, which will come out in January, 2012, published by Bauu Press.
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<br />Box of Rocks, published by Adoro Books is now available at Amazon, and through the Adoro Books website.
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<br />I would love to hear from you. You can contact me at info@telegatales.com, or visit my humor blog at <a href="http://www.telegatales.com/">http://www.telegatales.com/</a> </div>
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<br />CK Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05869974943861167648noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-314338166527085403.post-40079135200385830612011-08-05T20:01:00.000-05:002011-08-05T20:15:54.564-05:00AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: JEAN JOACHIM<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPXlJy16kozUToDvIM517-PIDQIZ_Y1iJbdzHdvjxiim72pxkOy3s6b8wEztGaUwZSBRHNR_gS9cTsWpe_9Uq1aDvytNDJK6h2Dl3xyagTFKT2LW3C-BOrjQQvA_uBH__88ZJrx7MgM9xY/s1600/163761_1604940762229_1197435371_31333547_241968_n.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 210px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 236px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637542740468718786" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPXlJy16kozUToDvIM517-PIDQIZ_Y1iJbdzHdvjxiim72pxkOy3s6b8wEztGaUwZSBRHNR_gS9cTsWpe_9Uq1aDvytNDJK6h2Dl3xyagTFKT2LW3C-BOrjQQvA_uBH__88ZJrx7MgM9xY/s320/163761_1604940762229_1197435371_31333547_241968_n.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;color:#000099;">From Jean's website:<br /></span>I didn't start writing until about 15 years ago. I had two small children and used to get up at 5:30am to write for two hours before they went to school.<br /><br />I wish I could say that I did this with support from others, but I did not. No one believed I could be a writer...least of all me...but I was driven to do it anyway. After years of denying myself, I just couldn't help it...like an addict I was compelled to write.<br /><br />So I started out writing 500 word articles on advertising, business and children, all based on my own experience and expertise. Lo and behold, after my first article failed, everything else I wrote got published.<br /><br />This was exciting and encouraged me. I guess even I could no longer deny that I was a writer. So I decided to attempt my first book, "Beyond the Bake Sale, the Ultimate School Fund-Raising Book."<br /><br />I got an agent from a friend of mine and she found a top publisher, St. Martin's Press, with a fabulous editor, Elizabeth Beier and I was off.<br /><br />After six more non-fiction books, I tried my hand at fiction. one cold day last January, while I was recuperating from loss and illness, Callie and Mac just landed in my head and told me their story. I flew to my computer to get it all down, just the way they were telling me in my head.<br /><br />Thus was born, "Now and Forever, a Love Story". The characters have no resemblance to anyone I know and, least of all, to me. They are completely formed total strangers that leaped out of my head and onto the page.<br /><br />It was a wonderful experience, listening to their story. in my head. I fell in love with them. After the book was done, I just couldn't let them go. So they were kind enough to bring another character to the forefront, Danny Maine, Kyle's brother. Then he told me his story and "Now and Forever Again, the Book of Danny" was born.<br /><br />Now I am recovering from the onslaught of more characters, Mac's brother, Peter and his father, Sam, and others and, of course, Callie and Mac, because it wouldn't be a "Now and Forever" book without them.<br /><br />i will be doing a final edit of the third book in the series, "Now and Forever After, Blind Love". I don't know if I will be able to separate from these characters when this book is finished. I love them all so much.<br /><br />Now it's on to the final edit for book two and more editing for book three, trying to sell book one and find a publisher for the next two. I'm a busy lady.<br /><br />Before I can finish editing my Now and Forever books, another book landed in my head. The characters, Kit Alexander and Tunney Nichols made me fall in love with them, too. So I'm writing their book as a straight romance, no mystery...a new challenge for me. This book, my fourth, is called "The Renovated Heart." I'm finished with my first draft and first two rounds of editing. I know what I need to change, but that book will have to get in line and wait until the Now and Forever series has been submitted to publishers and agents. Callie's sister appears in "The Renovated Heart."<br /><br />In the meantime, I wrote ANOTHER book and found an ebook publisher! "Sunny Days, Moonlit Nights" is coming out in February, published by Astraea Press. I'm very excited. You can see the cover here on my site.<br /><br />I have another story that has been nudging my brain, waiting for attention. It will have to wait until I have finished the final edits for the Now and Forever series.<br /><br />I will be a guest blogger in February and have another radio interview. More on that later. Back to the computer. Please keep reading because I want to keep writing.<br /><br />I'd love to hear from you. Email me at jean@nowandforeverbooks.com.<br /><br />Best wishes,<br />Jean <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sunny-Days-Moonlit-Nights-ebook/dp/B004MMEFMG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312593022&sr=8-1"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637543500015692306" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXTJ8x0TLrqDsx1L1X-NXDDDOA6TOt5Q77xDBXT3IgDwCXL81xLn7xIPzrDwJwluhklBMK7GTwVmTiEf6EOzyh32aFYaf_TxY_1kUZZPQFOeMBaOA6gmLuMOY3oYSTFZzL6Lsj6razk7uA/s320/Sunny_Days__Moonlit_Nights_200_x_320.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXTJ8x0TLrqDsx1L1X-NXDDDOA6TOt5Q77xDBXT3IgDwCXL81xLn7xIPzrDwJwluhklBMK7GTwVmTiEf6EOzyh32aFYaf_TxY_1kUZZPQFOeMBaOA6gmLuMOY3oYSTFZzL6Lsj6razk7uA/s1600/Sunny_Days__Moonlit_Nights_200_x_320.jpg"></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div>CK Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05869974943861167648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-314338166527085403.post-85061403332649647252011-07-28T07:51:00.000-05:002011-07-28T09:26:44.186-05:00Author Spotlight: Tim Ellis<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCxyFczc3A9QZyDx0v7LA-Try18GR5zS6SjuhWki1nQ13OEaki6hoALR3cEkvywMIHihDcDal5y_TG_qnxatXkDHTgTwi1mu0NrqTFMXSp5ITuZL8SHmrFx6d9uvNNKCgYdT2XFFuiTQT7/s1600/1076122.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 198px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 270px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634385251239231618" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCxyFczc3A9QZyDx0v7LA-Try18GR5zS6SjuhWki1nQ13OEaki6hoALR3cEkvywMIHihDcDal5y_TG_qnxatXkDHTgTwi1mu0NrqTFMXSp5ITuZL8SHmrFx6d9uvNNKCgYdT2XFFuiTQT7/s320/1076122.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:180%;color:#000099;">From Tim's Website:<br /></span>I started writing about four years ago, but before I wax lyrical on the now, let me take you back to 1953. I was born in the bowels of Hammersmith Hospital, London, on a dark and stormy night. Grew up in Cheadle, Cheshire, frequently visiting Beach Road in Old Colwyn, North Wales where my Gran lived. After a handful of years at a Primary School in Cheadle Hulme, which I can't remember the name of, I went to Broadway Secondary Modern school in 1968, but left before taking my CSE examinations - I hated school. These were the days when you could leave school with no qualifications and walk into a job. It was during this period that I discovered one of the main musical and literary influences in my life – Leonard Cohen, and began writing poetry. A collection of my poems was duly despatched to a publisher and subsequently rejected. I therefore had my first rejection slip as a 15 year-old boy. After leaving school, I had three or four mind-numbingly boring jobs before finally joining the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) in 1971 at the tender age of 18.<br /><br />I spent 22 years in the Army – which is a story in itself - leaving as a Regimental Sergeant Major in 1993. During this time, I wrote reams and reams of drivel on weighty topics such as Army Medical Organisation, Leadership, Military Law, etc. I did, however, find another three literary influences in JRR Tolkien, Bernard Cornwell, and Isaac Asimov. After leaving the Army, I was employed as a Senior Financial Manager in a Secondary School, and took up writing with a vengeance – assignments and dissertations for two Masters degrees, and a PhD Thesis.<br /><br />Following 10 years of counting a dwindling amount of beans, I became a teacher of Psychology and Sociology and devoted another 6 years of my life to writing – lesson plans, objectives, outcomes, etc, but I did find more literary influences in Conn Iggulden, R.J. Ellory, and Stieg Larsson. I also began – at last – to write fiction myself.<br />In January 2009 – days before my 56th birthday – I had a heart attack. By this time, I had already researched and written two Historical novels on Genghis Khan (Warrior: Path of Destiny and Warrior: Scourge of the Steppe), and a YA Science Fiction novel (The Knowledge of Time: Second Civilisation). It was also becoming increasingly difficult to go to work and teach when what I really wanted to do was write fiction. I was lucky in that I was financially able to take the decision to retire, and by August of 2009 I was a man of leisure and a full-time writer.<br /><br />In 1968, becoming a writer of fiction wasn’t a career option for a 15 year-old working-class boy without any qualifications. It took over forty years of living life before I could choose that option. Since retiring, I have written book after book – now standing at ten (plus a collection of short stories), branching out into crime, fantasy, and science fiction. I’ve acquired a drawer full of rejection slips, but I have had some small minor successes. My YA Science Fiction novel was accepted for publication by a small press in America, I was awarded two short story 3rd prizes, and had four literary agencies request the full MS of Solomon’s Key, which ultimately came to nothing.<br /><br />Anyway, in March of this year I uploaded all of my books onto Amazon, Smashwords, etc., and made them available for the Kindle. To date, I have sold over 3,700 books, which is not bad for someone who left school at 15 with no qualifications!<br />For the future – well, I’m a writer now – and in a way it’s what I’ve always been. I’m currently finishing the third book in the Parish & Richards series called The Flesh is Weak, which should be available for downloading by mid-August 2011. I then plan to finish another YA Science Fiction novel called The Timekeeper’s Apprentice, which is already half written, and I've been asked to 'please finish Quigg 3: The Skulls Beneath Eternity Wharf'. I’m playing about with a biopunk novel called Triple Helix set in an alternative Victorian London, and another dozen ideas such as one called Footprints of the Dead about an American ex-policeman who lives in a haunted town and... Well, you'll just have to read them all. I have so many ideas, which I turn into the first chapters of novels so that I don't forget them, and then put them on here. One day, I might get round to finishing them, but in the meantime you can read them.<br /><br />Also, I've talked about snippets of my life on my Book Blog, times like the Isle of White Festivals in 1969 and 1970, my time at the Royal Engineer's Apprentice College in Chepstow, Gwent, my ancestors - especially David the One-Eye. Well, if you want to know more - read them!<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Raga-Man-ebook/dp/B005DPFKS4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311863078&sr=8-1"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634408582462228690" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiPitynwPJ7Mk98ppK9WyPJOws2_sji51ImIN3B63e7Jf1db-r3qdpU_Vj2uC_YfLzt7y-Wos8HTmkC0s7fcmrIgQ0_ql1QEaCtx3PD0ehcmYLU1u4lWF8tDLtU_LcguhGX7eoZRUMzurV/s320/51cEBgz-%252BLL__SL500_AA278_PIkin4%252CBottomRight%252C-45%252C22_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg" /></a><br />You can visit Tim's website at <a href="http://timellis.weebly.com/">http://timellis.weebly.com/</a> to learn more about him and his books.<br /></div>CK Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05869974943861167648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-314338166527085403.post-1590896861584579192011-07-20T07:48:00.000-05:002011-07-20T07:53:00.212-05:00VAMPIRES<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtV1CuEjRJMaykEvuh_oiUO-uwxwWm3ZRmeLuu4Lbfh6c6fjFzm_Pdl6mSozAG11e1Fh_cYaiu4P9YkA76UI82PBC1tsCnkNCO31O31NuobRy07zc9IxuRkKcIlsDu7jrUno8Y0n7LwQjm/s1600/imagesCAXP5I0E.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 276px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 183px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631416222505777042" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtV1CuEjRJMaykEvuh_oiUO-uwxwWm3ZRmeLuu4Lbfh6c6fjFzm_Pdl6mSozAG11e1Fh_cYaiu4P9YkA76UI82PBC1tsCnkNCO31O31NuobRy07zc9IxuRkKcIlsDu7jrUno8Y0n7LwQjm/s320/imagesCAXP5I0E.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div align="center">Things That Come Out At Night:<br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:180%;color:#cc0000;"><strong>VAMPIRES</strong></span></div><br /><br /><br /><div align="center">By: CK Webb<br /><br />People all around the world are intrigued by the things that send shivers up their spine. While we are young, the idea of the unknown causes many sleepless nights, but as adults we seem to gravitate towards the very things that we feared in our youth.<br />As a small child, there weren't many things that I was afraid of. Children are often fearless in the face of dangers that would leave grown men trembling and soiling themselves. But, there were some things that absolutely tortured my young mind and those things I hid from the world.<br />As nightfall would draw closer, my fears would begin their torturous assault on my psyche. What did I have to fear really? It was after all, only darkness, but the dark is always capable of hiding many hideous things from human eyes. It was inevitably, those long hours of worry and anxiety, pulling the covers tight around my feet and head that forever changed the way I viewed the world and the possibility of the things that could be in it. Each night I met the darkness with the same goal... make it through, unscathed, to the glorious coming of the dawn. As you can see, I succeeded, though many might argue that I am far from normal and perhaps they would be right. I have heard it said, by those closest to me, that the fears of my childhood were the very thing that shaped and molded me into the weaver of dark tales that I am today.<br />For this I say, “Thank you creatures of the night and thank you impenetrable darkness.”<br />One of the most memorable obsessions I had, were with Vampires. How they held my fascination like no other creature could. They were scary and unexplainable and they were real, I would have bet any number of weekly allowances on that! Then, a strange thing happened...I grew up. Suddenly the fear that had once been prominent was replaced by captivation and an unusual, sensual allure. I had reached that precipice where we cross over from fear into understanding and all those things from youth become silly. After all, vampires can't be real, can they? I will tell you what I know and you can decide that for yourself.<br />Through the decades, vampires and their tales have changed exponentially. One thing however, has remained a constant. For whatever reason, we are helplessly drawn to these creatures that go bump in the night.<br />The beginnings of vampire tales in history are extremely difficult to trace. Many different cultures have often told stories of bloodsucking abominations that rise from the dead and prey on the living. So many in fact that some people argue, vampire tales date back all the way to the very origins of mankind itself.<br />Vampiric entities have been written of in dozens of cultures globally and called by many different names. The Greek referred to vampires as vrykolakus, while Romanians penned the more popular name, strigoi, for their bloodsuckers.<br />It wasn't until the early 18th century, that the Oxford English Dictionary introduced the world to the word, vampire. The catalyst for this move was a plague of vampire superstition in Eastern Europe so strong, some corpses still bare the stakes that were plunged into their decaying remains.<br />In these countries, where vampire legends had taken hold, the appearance of vampires ranged from bloated, flesh eating corpses to almost human, blood suckers. All these descriptions would soon change with the introduction of John Polidori's 1819 novella, The Vampyre.<br />With his tale, Polidori was able to transfer fear into awe by giving the vampire a charismatic, sophisticated and beautiful appeal. The Vampyre, would also influence another writer whose novel would provide the standard by which all other vampire novels would be judged.<br />Bram Stoker's Dracula is, to this very day, the major catalyst from which all vampire tales have sprung. What began as a single novel has spawned an entire, distinctive genre and what has followed are books, movies, video games and even television series that focus on this one thing...the vampire. There has never been another book like Dracula and dare I say there never will be. Fortunately for us, many authors and directors have tried their hand at new tellings of this classic tale.<br />In 1976, author Anne Rice introduced the world to the captivatingly cruel vampire, Lestat. Rice followed up her novel, Interview With the Vampire, with several sequels that came to be known as The Vampire Chronicles. Her books were well received initially, but gained a worldwide resurgence when, in 1994, the book was released as a major motion picture with an all-star cast.<br />Vampires would also find a place in the comedy/horror arena with the film Fright Night which hit movie theaters in 1985. Introducing a new take on this ages old tale, Fright Night brought in the second highest gross of any horror film that year, edged out only by A Nightmare On Elm Street 2. A novelization, video game and a comic book were all spawned from this masterpiece. To this very day, I still have a copy of the first issue, first printing, October 1988 edition. Yes, I'm a big vampire, comic book geek!<br />In 1992, Francis Ford Coppola brought his rendition of the vampire classic Bram Stoker's Dracula to the big screen. In this entrancing film, Gary Oldman gave the world a seductive portrayal of the sensuous beast that is, Dracula. Not only was the film highly acclaimed, grossing over two hundred and forty five million dollars word wide, but it also took home an Academy Award in three separate categories.<br />In a world where vampires have seen their fair share of demeaning take offs including Count Chocolate breakfast cereal and Sesame Street characters, what I am about to write may be disturbing for some readers....<br />One of my all-time favorite retellings of the vampire tale came in the film, Dracula 2000. Although it received mostly negative reviews and did not fare so well at the box office, the writers, Joel Soisson and Patrick Lussier, wrote a storyline for Dracula's origin that was unlike any other. If you have not seen Dracula 2000, you should if for no other reason than to experience a brand new twist on this ages old tale.<br />Dozens of writers have taken on this creature that goes bump in the night and many have made a household name for themselves in the process. Lara Adrian, Laurell K. Hamilton and Sherri Lynn Kenyon have all written unforgettable books that center around vampires. But, there is one author whose books became a worldwide phenomenon and brought about a following that spanned every nation, gender and age. Stephanie Meyer's Twilight Saga included four young adult novels and found its way onto the big screen to hoards of screaming fans that could not get enough of her characters, Edward, Bella and Jacob. The films alone have grossed over 1.7 billion dollars word wide. Yes...billion!<br />When all is said and done, readers and movie goers alike, have always had an obsession with vampires. Even the darker side of these creatures cannot take away from the allure that they hold. Just when you think you have seen enough movies and read enough books with vampires as their central theme, another one comes along. For some strange reason, we just can't give up our vampires. They are strangely intoxicating and no matter how afraid you may be, we are drawn to these dark, ominous and sometimes sexy blood suckers. Are vampires real? Yes, they are alive and well and living in our books and our movies and they are there in the darkness, waiting to go 'bump' in the night.<br /><br />CK Webb<br />Co-author of Cruelty To Innocents </div>CK Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05869974943861167648noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-314338166527085403.post-3889375088109728022011-06-19T09:11:00.000-05:002011-06-19T09:14:35.065-05:00The Source of the Suspense<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVWts2Rhq9Gu9coeblOwELUwf98aPDR0UiMxIDIjJpK1GD3mEp6k8SpNfdQ-1We1TzibgtEwpstgYCxQlEyPSX6oGFlUlCn9ArGc6ZS7sxXZAb92rFkqFLTlKMhCWP4lGQ1jfo-7rdC2S1/s1600/imagesCAOXYE6B.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 204px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 204px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619933528405477474" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVWts2Rhq9Gu9coeblOwELUwf98aPDR0UiMxIDIjJpK1GD3mEp6k8SpNfdQ-1We1TzibgtEwpstgYCxQlEyPSX6oGFlUlCn9ArGc6ZS7sxXZAb92rFkqFLTlKMhCWP4lGQ1jfo-7rdC2S1/s320/imagesCAOXYE6B.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><br />We have reached our very last installment in 'The History of' series and, as they say in the song...'We saved the best for last'.<br /><br />Webster's Dictionary defines the word suspense as: a state of mental uncertainty, usually accompanied by a degree of apprehension or anxiety.<br />The word suspense is quite old and can be traced back to Latin roots dating between 1375 and 1425. But, where did the suspense genre get its beginnings and how has it changed in the years since its debut? I sincerely hope we can answer those questions with as little anxiety as possible.<br />There are many genres that contain suspenseful undertones and as confusing as it may sound, a suspense can be a thriller, mystery, detective fiction or even a horror. A suspense may contain all of these elements or none.<br />As with many genres, the exact origins of the suspense are a bit hazy but there are several places that could have easily been a good starting point.<br />The Epic of Gilgamesh, written sometime between 1300 & 1000 BC, tells a tale that had been handed down through generations from as far back as 2500 BC. On these twelve tablets made of clay, historians have discovered, what appears to be, the origins of several literary genres, include suspense. Many years would pass before other writers would give the world their contributions in the suspense genre.<br />Homer was an ancient Greek epic poet who was born between 850 & 1180 BC. His works begin to show up at the beginnings of the Western Canon of literature. Homer's epic poem, Odyssey, would help to mold and shape the literary world and even today, holds great sway in the writing community.<br />Another well known collection of stories that easily boasts some suspenseful moments is One Thousand and One Nights. The oldest known manuscript of One Thousand and One Nights, dates back to the 14th century but, scholars believe that the story told in its text, date back to the 9th century.<br />A plethora of other writers would emerge in the following years until finally, one would step fourth in the 1800's and give the world its first real taste of the suspense novel. In 1829, a Danish author by the name of Stech Steenson Bilcher, wrote a novella that has been billed as the first, true murder mystery and contained within its pages, all the workings of what would become, the suspense genre.<br />The next in line was Alexander Dumas, who's first works of suspense were published in June of 1844 and introduced readers to d'Artagnan. The Three Musketeers, was a huge success and soon two other books were added to the series that came to be known as, The d'Artagnan Romances. Dumas would again leave his mark, not only on literature, but on the suspense genre as well, with one of his most famous works. The Count of Monte Cristo was published between 1844 and 1846 and remains, to this day, one of the great classic suspense novels in literary history.<br />Wilkie Collins introduced us to his novel The Woman in White, in 1860. He would then follow it up in 1868 with, what many consider his finest work, The Moonstone, all the while giving us his own take on the suspense genre.<br />In 1866, Victor Hugo, known for his masterpiece Les Miserables, released his novel Les Travailleurs de le Mer (Toilers of the Sea). A broad step away from his previous novel, Toiler of the Sea, contained all the suspense that lovers of the genre could ever ask for.<br />Of course, we cannot talk of suspense without throwing in one of the true greats in literary history... Mr. Edgar Allen Poe. Poe's incredible pieces have shown up in almost every genre that we have discussed and suspense is no different. The Murders in the Rue Morgue, while billed as mystery, easily slips into the suspense genre as does his haunting classics, The Tell-Tale Heart and The Raven.<br />Thousands of authors have written books that are categorized as thrillers, romantic thrillers, mysteries, detective fiction and even horror and all have a common theme... a degree of apprehension or anxiety that draws them into the suspense genre.<br />During the late 1880's, the introduction of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, brought a surge in readers not only to mysteries and detective novels but to suspense as well.<br />Sales of the suspense genre began to skyrocket as the Golden Age of Detective Fiction emerged in the 1920's. Famous writers such as, Dame Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers left their pen strokes vividly displayed, not only in the detective fiction genre but also, in the ever growing world of suspense.<br />Soon, suspense began to take on a much more sinister, psychological approach when, in walked Sir Alfred Hitchcock. With him, Hitchcock brought the ability to toy with our emotions and raise our anxiety levels and he did so in a most unusual way... on film. Starting in 1927 in silent films and continuing on through 1976, Alfred Hitchcock became the premier writer/director/producer and is still known today, impressively, as The Master of Suspense.<br />Dozens of authors have written in the suspense genre and made big names for themselves along the way. Mary Higgins Clark, Dean Koontz, Stephen King, David Baldacci, Tasha Alexander, John Carpenter, Gregg Olsen and Michael Palmer are just a small sampling of well knowns who's books have flirted with the suspense genre.<br />The film industry took hold of suspense enthralled consumers and gave them a wellspring of anxiety and mental uncertainty in the form of feature length films and TV shows.<br />In 1990, David Lynch introduced his psychological suspense series Twin Peaks, causing audiences to clamor for the answer to the question, “Who killed Laura Palmer?” What transpired as a result of this suspense TV series was, an almost cult-like following of viewers from around the world. I too, must confess to being a member of the millions who tuned in and hung on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what else Mr. Lynch had in store for us. Even today, Twin Peaks, is still listed as one of the Top 100 TV Shows of all time.<br />Other writer/directors have preyed on us with their suspense laden movies and the likes of Stanley Kubrick, Roman Polanski, Martin Scorsese and M. Night Shyamalan have become household names. Bringing us such suspenseful movies as, Eyes Wide Shut, The Shining, Shutter Island and Signs these writer/directors find a way to torment their viewers and keep them coming back for more.<br />With a rich history dating back thousands of years, the suspense genres appears determined to remain with us for many more years to come. Today you can pick out thousands of books or movies devoted to the edge of your seat suspense we have all grown to love.<br />From the music that plays in the background of your favorite movie, to that long, agonizing walk to your mailbox in search of a dreaded letter; suspense is all around us. The suspense genre has become a meshing together of all the things that we, as readers, hold near and dear.<br />The suspense genre can be mysterious, thrilling, romantic or even, a little horrifying. So, what is the deciding factor that truly says suspense...YOU, the reader. Who better to judge the feelings that a piece of literature invokes than the very person who is doing the reading?<br />While many would argue the origins of the suspense genre, the truth of it is only known by those who's heart race and anxiety levels rise while delving into that TV series, movie or great piece of literature. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>CK Webb</div>CK Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05869974943861167648noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-314338166527085403.post-85951008742366301052011-05-23T18:53:00.000-05:002011-05-23T19:38:27.159-05:00A Signature For Your E-Book?!?<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UOWuz16InmI/Tdr2TUNxzfI/AAAAAAAAAL0/rkGklKu9nJ8/s1600/IMG_6604_610x407.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610067097547820530" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UOWuz16InmI/Tdr2TUNxzfI/AAAAAAAAAL0/rkGklKu9nJ8/s320/IMG_6604_610x407.jpg" /></a><br />Our debut novel will be available for purchase Thursday May 26, 2011. It is pretty exciting to know our book will be in the hands of readers and hopefully well received. More than anything, we would love to be able to sign every single copy for each reader. The drawback to e-books is 'No signature'. Of course there is an e-reader signature app, but where is the fun in that?<br />We wanted to do something a little bit different and special for the first 50 people to purchase Cruelty To Innocents. Just send us your e-receipt or a picture snip-it of it and we will send you a Cruelty To Innocents: The 911 Abductions postcard, signed by us or a refrigerator magnet with the book cover on it. We can't say how much we appreciate each and every one of you for supporting us on this long journey and this is just a very small way for us to say 'Thank You, we couldn't have done it without you'.<br />Attach your receipts or snip-its in an e-mail & send it to me <a href="mailto:ckalexx73@yahoo.com">ckalexx73@yahoo.com</a> It's that simple! I look forward to hearing from you and hearing your thoughts on Cruelty To Innocents: The 911 Abductions.<br /><br />CK Webb & DJ WeaverCK Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05869974943861167648noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-314338166527085403.post-73496596792844319642011-05-23T11:36:00.000-05:002011-05-23T11:39:33.289-05:00BOOK TRAILER FOR CRUELTY TO INNOCENTS<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwIGypHHA2UVventhi4kIq6ZNTaLpYopOENN6jmMjYoG2POwEKZMkP-TX-cz1iPH0FSDtd3IMcX-qVJ0yNyXQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>CK Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05869974943861167648noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-314338166527085403.post-68031169093095460592011-05-05T18:30:00.000-05:002011-05-10T11:39:14.360-05:00Innocents Blog Tour<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI8Wky1Pz9Sg5Q7sJGrcxclny3qhkngmT5jNd1ZFQQlqvuxq0ekhhYneZ2Ezf80vIricntLRzCkjk0jwgGfRkRTBj4-kPvp6ny_o86RWU_xlQt8-gGqw6PYQS4jjQgimvNp96b5fa84M4E/s1600/131067481896.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 192px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603378924401887570" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI8Wky1Pz9Sg5Q7sJGrcxclny3qhkngmT5jNd1ZFQQlqvuxq0ekhhYneZ2Ezf80vIricntLRzCkjk0jwgGfRkRTBj4-kPvp6ny_o86RWU_xlQt8-gGqw6PYQS4jjQgimvNp96b5fa84M4E/s320/131067481896.jpg" /></a><br />Our debut novel, <em>Cruelty To Innocents</em>: <em>The 911 Abductions</em>, will be released May 26, 2011. To kick it off right, we will be featured on over a dozen sites during our virtual <em>Innocents</em> Blog Tour. There will be reviews of the novel, interviews, giveaways and so much more. To show our appreciation for these wonderful bloggers and to introduce them to you, I am posting the entire blog tour schedule. Please take some time to visit these fantastic sites and see the hard work that goes into making them run smoothly. While you are there, click on those 'Follow' buttons. All participating blogs will be giving away an e-copy of <em>Cruelty To Innocents</em>, but you need to follow the blogs!<br />Once again, we would like to give a gigantic 'Thank You' to all the bloggers...You are an intricate part of the process and we are incredibly thankful for your support.<br /><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;"><em>INNOCENTS</em> BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE</span><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;"></span><br /><span style="color:#cc0000;"></span><br />May 23, 2011 '<em>Innocents</em> Blog Tour Kick-Off ' A Women's Voice: book review, interview & book giveaway <a href="http://www.doloresayotte.wordpress.com/">http://www.doloresayotte.wordpress.com/</a><br /><br />May 24, 2011 Reading, Reading & Life; book review, interview & book giveaway <a href="http://www.readingreadingandlife.blogspot.com/">http://www.readingreadingandlife.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br />May 25, 2011 Kindle Fever: All day stop! Book review, interview, Q&A and book giveaway <a href="http://www.rebgeo.com/">http://www.rebgeo.com/</a><br /><br />May 25, 2001 Author Kelly Moran's blog: book cover & blurb <a href="http://kellymoranauthor.blogspot.com/">http://kellymoranauthor.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br />May 26, 2011 'Book Release Day' My Life. One story at a time: book review & book giveaway <a href="http://www.mylife-in-stories.blogspot.com/">http://www.mylife-in-stories.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br />May 27, 2011 Life In review: book review & book giveaway <a href="http://www.lifeinreviewblog.wordpress.com/">http://www.lifeinreviewblog.wordpress.com/</a><br /><br />May 28, 2011 Suspense Radio Interview with John Raab 10:30 a.m. PST <a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/suspensemagazine">http://www.blogtalkradio.com/suspensemagazine</a><br /><br />May 29, 2011 Cutting Room Floor Radio Interview with Casey Ryan 12:00 p.m. EST <a href="http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=81947&cmd=tc">http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=81947&cmd=tc</a><br /><br />May 30, 2011 The Hot Author Report: interview<br /><a href="http://www.thehotauthorreport.com/">http://www.thehotauthorreport.com/</a><br /><br />May 31, 2011 Jean Joachim: book review, interview & book giveaway <a href="http://www.jeanjoachim.blogspot.com/">http://www.jeanjoachim.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br />June 1, 2011 Reading frenzy: book review & book giveaway <a href="http://www.lumorgan.blogspot.com/">http://www.lumorgan.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br />June 2, 2011 AJ & Charlie Bite Back: book review & book giveaway<br /><a href="http://www.ajandcharli.blogspot.com/">http://www.ajandcharli.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br />June 3, 2011 Dragonfly 419 Attempts To Combat Boredom: book review & book givaway <a href="http://www.dragonflyy419.wordpress.com/">http://www.dragonflyy419.wordpress.com/</a><br /><br />June 4, 2011 Emeraldfire's Bookmark: book review, interview & book giveaway <a href="http://www.emeraldfiresbookmark.blogspot.com/">http://www.emeraldfiresbookmark.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br />June 5, 2011 Best O' Books: book review, interview & book giveaway<br /><a href="http://www.thebestobooks.blogspot.com/">http://www.thebestobooks.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br />June 7, 2011 Life Is But A Dream: Q&A 26 Questions & book giveaway <a href="http://www.kendallgrey.com/">http://www.kendallgrey.com/</a><br /><br />June 8, 2011 Melanie's Book Addiction: book review, interview & book giveway <a href="http://www.melaniesrandomthoughts-melanie.blogspot.com/">http://www.melaniesrandomthoughts-melanie.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br />June 9, 2011 Books, Books The Magical Fruit: interview & book giveaway <a href="http://www.booksbooksthemagicalfruit.blogspot.com/">http://www.booksbooksthemagicalfruit.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br />June 10, 2011 Wrapped Up Like A Blog: book review & book giveaway <a href="http://www.richsteeves.blogspot.com/">http://www.richsteeves.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br />June 11, 2011 Just Another Book Addict: book review & book giveaway <a href="http://www.justanotherbookaddict.blogspot.com/">http://www.justanotherbookaddict.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br />June 13, 2011 Eulana: book review & book giveaway<br /><a href="http://www.eulana.wordpress.com/">http://www.eulana.wordpress.com/</a><br /><br />June 15, 2011 The Phantom Paragrapher: book review, interview & book giveaway <a href="http://www.thephantomparagrapher.blogspot.com/">http://www.thephantomparagrapher.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br />June 16, 2011 '<em>Innocents</em> Blog Tour Finale' Just Another Book Addict: interview <a href="http://www.justanotherbookaddict.blogspot.com/">http://www.justanotherbookaddict.blogspot.com/</a>CK Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05869974943861167648noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-314338166527085403.post-31134859642192689802011-05-02T17:39:00.001-05:002011-05-02T17:40:07.931-05:00Cruelty To Innocents: The 911 Abductions by CK Webb & DJ WeaverCHAPTER 2- Train Ride<br /><br />Sloanne Mae Kelly's cab stopped short of the unloading area that lined the front curb at sprawling Penn Station. She dropped a twenty dollar bill into the cash slot, said a quick, 'keep the change' and jumped out of the cab, grabbing her two, small bags and her lap top as she went. The train to Aberdeen Maryland would be leaving soon and she had to pick up her ticket before the gates closed. People seemed to sense the urgency in Sloanne's determined look and hurried pace, stepping to the side, allowing her to pass.<br /><br />Penn Station was a massive, cavernous space that boasted unique architecture and was filled with people of every size, shape and color. The intensity of the noises and smells assaulted Sloanne’s senses, making her want to run away, but instead she pressed forward. In her mind, she ran through a million different destinations she would rather be traveling to. Instead, she was heading back home, if home is what it could be called. Her brow tightened at the selfish thoughts. She knew this trip and the circumstances behind it, where all that mattered.<br /><br />Sloanne held a lucrative position as an interior designer at a top firm in New York City, where she now resided. She loved the city and took advantage of all the things it had to offer. She took Yoga, she went to power lunches and ran in the best circles with some of the city's elite--most days. But this particular day, she was just a girl heading back to her past. Back to a place she would rather not be going. No, she never wanted to return to Aberdeen, but she had to support her best friend who desperately needed her now.<br /><br />She ran through the station and out onto the platform where her train waited, the day’s events thrumming through her head like a hurricane ripping across the shoreline. A knot rose in her throat as she willed back the burning sting of the first tears in her eyes. This day was an unthinkable nightmare, but one she would not awaken from. She stepped onto the train and glanced at her ticket for the seat number: 26A. She turned side-ways, lifting her bag over the other passengers’ heads as she made her way to her seat. There was no one in the seat next to hers and for this, she was grateful. The air felt like walls closing in around her on all sides and her mind was overtaken by grief. She placed her bags in the overhead compartment, then took her seat just as her cell phone rang, jolting her out of her thoughts.<br /><br />Sloanne’s assistant Ann, was calling. She left the woman a hasty message to give her a call as soon as possible and now she had to tell her assistant why she would be away for a few days. She would have to acknowledge aloud why she so quickly departed from her job and her life to assist her friend. Sloanne's beautiful, charming, loving goddaughter had been abducted.<br /><br />“Thank you for getting back to me so quickly,” Sloanne breathed heavy into the receiver.<br /><br />Her mind rebelled against the story she was about to relate to her assistant and the words were like acid in her throat.<br /><br />“Ann, I received some terrible news earlier today. I am on my way back to Aberdeen now. My best friend’s daughter was abducted and Chloe needs me desperately.”<br /><br />The gasp at the other end of the line told her that her assistant was shocked by what she was hearing. Sloanne kept a lovely picture of Danni on her desk and everyone in the office, including Ann, often commented on what a beautiful girl she was.<br /><br />“I will need you to cancel all my appointments and forward all my emails to my personal account. Also, please call Mr. Miera and let him know the situation. Tell him I will be in contact with him as soon as I know more. I can't say at this point, how long I'll have to be away, but please reassure him I am holding up as well as can be expected.”<br /><br />The last words faded off to a whisper, as tears slipped from her eyes.<br /><br />Sloanne thanked Ann for her help and quickly got off the phone. Her head ached as she thought back to the earlier phone call she received. The last time she'd been home was in 2003, to bury her parents. Back then she made a vow: it would be the last time she would ever go back, until today it had been. She kept her word to herself for all these years, but someone had taken her goddaughter. Now she was forced to go back.<br /><br />At exactly 6:30 p.m. this evening, she received the phone call that no one ever wants to get or imagines possible. Chloe Jacob’s neighbor called to say that Chloe’s daughter Danielle--or Danni as they liked to call her--had been abducted. Sloanne could barely hold down the hastily-eaten, take-out dinner she ordered earlier in the day. The word tore at her insides: abducted...taken from a grocery store in broad daylight in her own home town. It was not something that ever happened in Aberdeen. Sure, the town had its share of petty crimes, but child abductions were unheard of. In fact, she couldn't remember a single child who had ever been taken from that area.<br /><br />The one thing that made the events even more unbelievable was the manner in which Danni was abducted. An elderly man suffered a massive heart attack. While Sloanne's best friend worked desperately to help a complete stranger, some asshole helped himself to her daughter.<br /><br />According to the local authorities and from what she already knew, the first forty-eight hours were the most crucial time period in an abduction situation. It was during this period when most kids were found. Chloe knew no matter how much Sloanne would hate returning to Aberdeen, she would drop everything and high-tail it back. She had run out of the office, gone home, grabbed a few things and caught the first train smoking out of Penn Station.<br /><br />As the train sped along on its track, the rain began to fall. Sloanne stared, trance-like, out the window, blinking as each lightening strike blazed across the sky. While she tried to play out all the possible scenarios in her mind, she rolled her shoulders to relieve the stiffness and tension building in her neck. She ran one hand through her long, auburn hair as she gazed out the window and saw the reflection looking back at her.<br /><br />Her normally bright, green eyes looked somber and heavy and her clear, pale skin appeared sallow and lifeless. The face that usually smiled back at her, was not smiling now. She wondered if she would ever be happy again. Every ounce of her five-five willowy frame was draped in sadness. She wanted to think that by the time she arrived, Danni would have been found at some boy's house or over at a friend's they'd forgotten to call. She imagined Danni spending an eternity locked in her room, allowed out only for school, bathroom breaks and the occasional meal. A slight grin played across the corners of her mouth as she once again told herself, everything would be just fine and life would continue much as it had before.<br /><br />She wanted so badly to believe all these things, but could not drown out the sound of that nagging voice in the back of her mind. The voice of reason that kept asking the really tough questions. What if they never found Danni? Or worse, what if her best friend's, precious daughter became another face on a flyer, just another name on a long list of missing and exploited children? Worse still, what if they found her and nothing turned out well? What if everything went horribly wrong and Danni was found raped, injured or dead? She reached up and gently traced Danni's name into the fog on the train window, then leaned back in the seat and closed her eyes, trying to shake the terrible thoughts from her mind.<br /><br />She thought back to her life in Aberdeen and all she left behind. She had been an average, little girl raised by Irish parents and her family was always very close. Her father and her Uncle Patty--who was actually her godfather--were partners for years on the NYPD: New York's finest. They trained together, worked together and were fast friends. Sloanne knew they had even fallen in love with the same woman...her mom. But her mother had chosen to marry her dad and in the end, Uncle Patty understood her mother's decision. He stepped aside, but remained a true friend to them both. Dad and Uncle Patty moved up through the ranks on the force and both made detective within three months of each other. They worked together then as well. Even when her dad was shot in the line of duty and was forced to retire, Uncle Patty was still there for them all.<br /><br />He helped out: first, when her parents decided to move to Aberdeen so their little princess could live in a relatively, crime-free environment. Later, when Sloanne was older, he'd been her adult confidante. She remembered begging her dad to teach her to drive and he refused, so afraid she would get hurt. Good old Uncle Patty taught her to drive on the sly and took her for her driving test. Her dad never knew until she came home with her driver's license. Dad put on a big front in the beginning, acting upset with Patty for letting her have her way. She believed that secretly, he had been grateful to Patty. Dad would have been terrified to teach her how to drive himself, this way, Patty saved him from that nightmare. Sloanne smiled to herself at the memory of her father’s stern face, but he eventually relented and asked her to drive him to his favorite ice cream parlor. It was then she knew all was well.<br /><br />Uncle Patty saved the day again when her mom was diagnosed with cancer. He made sure her dad had enough money so it was possible for her mom to receive the finest care available. In a short period, her mother was doing much better and in remission.<br /><br />As a young girl, she always wanted to live and work in New York City and both, her parents and Uncle Patty, supported her in these hopes. Little had she known in those days, after high school graduation, the desire to live in the city would be overshadowed by her need to be in a drug rehabilitation facility. Those had been her darkest days, but her father and Patty pulled together the love, support and money needed for her to check into the most progressive drug treatment facility in New York. Sloanne never used drugs and was always an excellent student...until she met him in her senior year.<br /><br />His name was Skyler Anthony Perryman, better known around Aberdeen, as Skip. He was the son of the richest and most influential couple in the area, John A. Perryman and his powerhouse wife, Rochelle Ana. He was into banking and investments and she was into real estate. Skip's parents were the epitome of a well-to-do family and owned most of the real estate in and around Aberdeen, along with some of the private docks and marinas on the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay.<br /><br />Sloanne believed then, that the sun rose and set because of Skip--for a while. Skip attended a private school that cost more per year than most elite colleges. He was a member of the Lacrosse team, the Rugby team captain and probably the most well known person in and around the community with the exception of his father and mother. Skip was also the local drug connection for every man, woman and child with good breeding and a fat bank account in Aberdeen. His friends hated Sloanne for what she was not...rich and he loved her for what she was...not rich.<br /><br />In the beginning of her relationship with Skip, she told herself he would love her more if she used drugs with him, believing that she would more easily fit into his world by being like his friends, who all used. As time progressed, she managed to convince herself that was the reason she began using drugs.<br /><br />Luckily, through years of hard work fighting her addiction and facing the reality of it, she now knew it was all about choices. She made the wrong choices. She wanted so badly to fit-in with the high-class crowd Skip ran with, she simply forgot who she was and the things she believed in. Somewhere in loving Skip, she forgot to love herself.<br /><br />Eventually, it became apparent to everyone, including her parents and the local authorities, that she was routinely testing Skip's drug supply. She became a complicated liability and Skip very quickly left her high and dry. In her family’s mind, all that was left to do was for her to get cleaned up and start over fresh in a new town. Her dad, mom and Uncle Patty were her saviors. Her dad worked out the details with some help from Patty and she was soon checked into a nice room in drug rehab in New York City, receiving the help she needed.<br /><br />The program at the clinic was operated and overseen by Columbia University. Some of the patients there were alumni of the school and were, for whatever reason, discreetly tucked away to handle their problems away from the watchful eyes of their co-workers, peers and families.<br /><br />One older gentleman there, Philippe Miera, took the time to really listen to her and never judged her. At the end of their six months together, he offered her an internship at his architectural firm with the stipulation, she go back to school and get her degree. So, that's just what she did. She petitioned his Alma Mater, applying for and receiving several grants. To show her how much he believed in her, Mr. Miera paid for her books, fees and all the extras. He also went as far as to pay her a salary that allowed her to live comfortably without having to ask for help from her family. She studied hard and excelled in her school work, while learning the ins and outs of interior design and architecture.<br /><br />This arrangement was just fine with her parents and Uncle Patty. They knew she needed the structure and socialization that college and a job could provide. They also believed being farther away made it easier to get Skip out of her mind. These facts, along with the added benefit of building a lucrative career with a highly reputable design firm, made this opportunity golden in their eyes. Toss in the fact she was only a two-and-a-half hour train ride from Aberdeen and everything was nearly perfect.<br /><br />She made every effort, never to go back to Aberdeen for any reason. There was no need to during her college years. Her mom, dad and Patty would either drive up or take the train almost every weekend to visit. On the weekends they couldn't come, Chloe and Danni made the trip as often as possible and they would all ‘do’ the city.<br /><br />Now, she thought back to the last day she was in Aberdeen. It was the worst day of her life and one that would live with her forever. Sheets of rain driven by wind, pounded the sea of umbrellas and the sad faces of those without any shelter. Two coffins sat, side-by-side, covered with so many flowers it was hard to say what color they were. Beautiful words were spoken by strangers and friends alike and condolences given from lips, quietly whispered with heartfelt hugs.<br /><br />"We commit these bodies to the ground. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust," the priest's last words. Sloanne’s parents were killed in an accident while driving up to see her. It was Uncle Patty who knocked on her door that day and as she saw him standing there alone, she instinctively knew. Her dad, while driving with her mom, lost control of the vehicle, which flipped several times before an eighteen-wheeler slammed into the remains of their car. There wasn't much left, really. It took the rescue crew three hours to extract what they referred to as 'the bodies'. But, they were her parents and she'd never gotten to see them again.<br /><br />She watched as they’d slowly lowered her mom and dad, one at a time, into the muddy ground. They were there for her beginning and she had been there for their end. There were three people in this world who loved her as their child and she wanted to die as she watched two of them disappear into darkness. Uncle Patty was there to catch her as the first shovel full of dirt was thrown in.<br /><br />"Don't cover them up! It’s dark in there!" she screamed as she dove for their caskets.<br /><br />But Patty held her back and they both watched and cried as the two best people on earth were buried.<br /><br />The rest of that day was a blur. People coming and going, bringing food that would never be eaten. Everyone grieved the loss of a wonderful couple. She didn't believe a single person who knew her mom and dad, did not love and respect them and it showed in the number of mourners who came to pay their final respects.<br /><br />Patty remained close by for months after the funeral. He was her rock and kept her sane in the weeks and months after her parents’ deaths. When she returned to the city, he called her constantly, visiting every weekend to make sure she was okay and that her life was getting back on track. They were family and they did the best they could for each other. She tried to be there for him and he helped her to feel loved as a daughter.<br /><br />Time was winding down now and in fifteen minutes she would be back there. Back where all those feelings and memories lived. The announcement came, "Next stop, Aberdeen Maryland."<br /><br />She tensed, knowing she could not run away any longer. This time she had to stay and fight. This time she could not break. She had to be strong for Chloe and even stronger for Danni. She whispered a prayer for guidance, then gathered her things and stepped into the aisle.CK Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05869974943861167648noreply@blogger.com0