Thanks for the support

Thank you, readers and Internet friends, for all the support through the publishing and launch of my third book, Army of Worn Soles.

Publishing any book is an intense and drawn-out process—a lot of work over a long period. As I said in my post of June 16, I did not accomplish this on my own. First credit has to go to the protagonist and subject of the book, the man who lived the story and somehow survived Operation Barbarossa, scorched earth, capture and starvation, my father-in-law, Maurice Bury. Without his surviving, and later cooperating with me, this book simply would not have happened.

I have to thank my beta-readers for their insight: Literary Gary Henry, Action-writer Alan McDermott and Flawless Frederick Lee Brooke.

Rockin’ Rebecca Tsaros Dickson, as I said, did a fantastic job of bringing out the best I can do as an editor.

I asked a number of people to do advance reviews, and they responded not just with a blurb, but also with suggestions that really improved the book:

• Scintillating Cinta Garcia de la Rosa

• The Exemplary Elise Stokes

• Dynamic David C. Cassidy, who is also responsible for a beautiful cover.

Thanks to all the people who posted reviews on Goodreads and Amazon:

•  Alex B. “Afobos”
• Samreen Ahsan
• Kate from “Kate’s Reads
• Stephen Woodfin

And then all the bloggers who agreed to host the cover reveal and/or an excerpt:

• Dawn Torrens
• RS Guthrie

• CR Hiatt

• Rebekah Lyn and Onisha Ellis

• Michael Lorde

• Karen Wodke and PJ Hawkinson

• All the members of BestSelling Reads

• Seb Kirby

• Michele Chiapetta

• Gae-Lynn Woods

Let’s not forget my family: my beautiful and ever-supportive wife, Roxanne, for not only filling in some critical information about her father, but also putting up with me over these past months when I’ve been sitting at my computer, researching or writing or editing or some damn thing instead of fixing things around the house; and my mighty sons, Awesome Evan and Super Nicolas, for enduring their dad’s weirdness.

Oh, yeah, and the won't let me leave out the cats. So thanks, Simba, for howling all morning while I try to write, and Cloudy, for putting your fluffy tail in front of the computer screen when I'm trying to type something. I don't know where I'd be without you.

I’m grateful to you all.

It's launch day today

Image courtesy SpaceX

Army of Worn Soles, my third book, launches officially today.

It’s exclusively on Amazon, at least for three months, allowing me to take advantage of the marketing and promotional tools available through the Kindle Select program.

Go to Amazon right now for a look inside (or to buy it if you can't wait)

• US site
• UK site
• Canada site

And in celebration of the launch, I’m putting my previous books, The Bones of the Earth and One Shade of Red, on sale for just 99 cents each on all channels, all week long:

• Amazon
• Smashwords
• Kobo
• Barnes + Noble

What’s it about?

Ukraine, 1941

A Canadian is drafted into the Soviet Red Army, just in time to be thrown against Nazi Germany's invasion. Caught in the vise of the Nazi and Communist forces, Maurice Bury concentrates on keeping his men alive as they retreat across Ukraine from the German juggernaut. Now the question is: will they escape from the hell of the POW camp before they starve to death?

Follow the tour and win a signed paperback

Sixteen awesome bloggers are supporting the launch of Army of Worn Soles by posting excerpts. Coming up:

Monday, June 23: Rebekah Lynn’s Books blog

Tuesday, June 24: Michael Lorde’s M.E. Author blog

Wednesday, June 25: BestSelling Reads’ Win-a-Book Wednesday—two chances to win!

Thursday, June 26: Wodke Hawkinson’s Find a Good Book to Read blog

Friday, June 27: Seb Kirby’s New Words for New Times

Saturday, June 28: Michelle Chiapetta’s Chipper Muse

Sunday, June 29: Gae-Lynn Woods’ The Big Heat

Monday, June 30: Back to Written Words for the wrap-up.

Read each blog on its day and collect the clue. Put all the clues together and unscramble them for a chance to win a signed paperback copy.

And if you enter the clue into the comments field in the respective blog, you’re eligible to win a free e-copy. Don’t delay—enter now!

You still have a chance to go back to the previous blogs. For a list, visit my blog post from the start of the tour.

Why June 22?

June 22 is the anniversary of a key event in the book and the life of its protagonist, Maurice Bury. What is it? Well, you’ll just have to read the book to find out.

Get it from Amazon today!

Army of Worn Soles launches this weekend

Image source: Wikipedia

My third book comes out this Sunday, June 22.

A true story told in novel form, it presents the opening of the eastern front of World War II through the eyes of a man who lived through it: my father-in-law, Maurice Bury, a Canadian citizen drafted into the Red Army just in time to fight against Operation Barbarossa.

It’s an important book to me, and I am so gratified for the advance reviews it’s already received. You can see them in a Goodreads group, Army of Worn Soles Army.

To celebrate the launch, I’m putting my earlier books on sale for the first week of Army of Worn Soles’ publication. You can now get The Bones of the Earth and One Shade of Red for just USD $0.99 each from your choice of e-tailer—Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Diesel or iBooks.

And because the solstice is coming, Initiation Rites, the first part of The Bones of the Earth, is free all weekend.

Don’t forget to follow the blog tour

Collect the clues, solve the puzzle and you could win a signed paperback copy (signed by me, that is; sorry if you were hoping for an autograph from a celebrity) and a $50 gift card for Amazon.

How to win:

Where can you find the clues? Follow the trail below. If you’re checking in after one of the dates shown, that means the post is already up.

The tour dates

Sunday, June 15: Dawn Torrens’ My Books & I… blog

Monday, June 16: Gary Henry’s Honest Indie

Tuesday, June 17: David C. Cassidy’s blog

Wednesday, June 18: Cinta Garcia de la Rosa’s Indie Authors You Want to Read

Thursday, June 19: Frederick Lee Brooke’s Author Unplugged

Friday, June 20: RS Guthrie’s Rob on Writing

Saturday, June 21: Writer CR Hiatt’s site

Sunday, June 22: Back here on Written Words 

Monday, June 23: Rebekah Lynn’s Books blog

Tuesday, June 24: Michael Lorde’s M.E. Author blog

Wednesday, June 25: BestSelling Reads’ Win-a-Book Wednesday—two chances to win!

Thursday, June 26: Wodke Hawkinson’s Find a Good Book to Read blog

Friday, June 27: Seb Kirby’s New Words for New Times

Saturday, June 28: Michelle Chiapetta’s Chipper Muse

Sunday, June 29: Gae-Lynn Woods’ The Big Heat

Monday, June 30: Back to Written Words for the wrap-up.

Enter now!

Book launch: Inferno

Book 2 in The Drone Wars
by Frederick Lee Brooke

When 19-year-old Matt Carney saved his girlfriend, Raine, from the crossfire between the government’s increasingly ruthless Homeland Security and March22, a terrorist group taking steps to strike a new, legitimate path, he thought his work was done.

Was he ever wrong.

Kidnapped by the brutal Dark Fiber militia, Matt is shocked to discover he’s been betrayed by those he trusted most. Stranded in an isolated location in the middle of Michigan, far away from the girl he fought so hard to regain, Matt is made March22’s point man in a plot to get control over a cache of thousands of stolen ground-to-air missiles. As time runs out, he’s their last—and best—hope of sparing the country of a heinous attack on commercial aviation that could quickly turn the United States into a permanent war zone.

In this action-packed, explosive follow-up to Saving Raine, the first book in Frederick Lee Brooke’s The Drone Wars, Matt Carney finds himself at the center of a firestorm of stolen missiles, stolen drones, and stolen dirty nukes, tormented by stinging betrayals, clinging to a last hope for love. Sure, he was able to save Raine—but as the inferno rages around him, can he find a way to save the country from further violent chaos…and a way to save himself?

Inferno is available on Amazon now.

About the author

Frederick Lee Brooke launched the Annie Ogden Mystery Series in 2011 with Doing Max Vinyl and followed with Zombie Candy in 2012, a book that is neither about zombies nor sweets. The third mystery in the series, Collateral Damage, appeared in 2013. Saving Raine, the first book in Fred’s entirely new series, The Drone Wars, appeared in December, 2013.

A resident of Switzerland, Fred has worked as a teacher, language school manager and school owner. He has three boys and two cats and recently had to learn how to operate both washing machine and dryer. He makes frequent trips back to his native Chicago.

When not writing or doing the washing, Fred can be found walking along the banks of the Rhine River, sitting in a local cafe, or visiting all the local pubs in search of his lost umbrella.

Army of Worn Soles: The cover reveal blog tour

Army of Worn Soles launches June 22 and it's time to reveal the beautiful cover designed by David C. Cassidy.

David is creating a well-deserved reputation as a designer of wonderful book covers. Check out his website to see his excellent work.

Thanks, David!

I'm thrilled with David's design, and I've asked a number of prominent bloggers to share it with the world. You'll be able to see it on a different blog each day this week. 

Start with David's blog on June 5. 

And thank you, too, Cinta.

Today, June 6, visit Cinta's Corner and Indie Authors You Want to Read by Cinta Garcia de la Rosa.

Tomorrow, June 7, Rebekah Lyn will show off the cover on her Books blog.

Raine Thomas

And on June 8, it will be on Raine Thomas's blog, Write as Raine.

Through the next several days, I'll be updating this blog with links to other places where you can see the cover in its full glory. Keep checking in!

Rebekah Lyn

Operation Book Launch looms

Image by Clément Bucco-Lechat. Licenced under Wikimedia Commons

Army of Worn Soles, my third book, will launches June 22, the anniversary of the start of Operation Barbarossa, Nazi Germany’s invasion of the USSR in 1941.

Army of Worn Soles is the true story of my father-in-law, Maurice Bury, who was drafted by the Soviet Red Army in 1941 just in time to be thrown into that struggle.

“But I am a Canadian citizen,” he told the conscripting officer.

“You live here now, tovarisch,” the officer said. “You must help defend the motherland.”

Listening to my father-in-law tell stories like that inspired this book. Army of Worn Soles is his view of the war, a perspective rarely seen in the West. The popular image of the war in movies and books mostly focuses on events in western Europe or the Pacific. The only movie I can think of about the eastern front is the excellent Enemy at the Gates.

The details will shock some readers—Maurice’s accounts certainly shocked me the first time I heard them. One example? The way the Germans deliberately starved their eastern front prisoners of war. It was an explicit policy, the “Hunger Plan.”

I only wish I had buckled down and written it years ago, and he were still alive to read it.

Surprises in store

There are a lot of other little facts that surprised me and I hope will inform the readers. You’ll have to wait to find out, but not necessarily until June 22.

David C. Cassidy

Your first chance comes on Thursday, June 5, when the David C. Cassidy reveals his fantastic cover design on his website. The cover reveal continues to the blogs of my good friend Cinta Garcia de la Rosa, and then Raine Thomas, Onisha Ellis, Gae-lynn Woods, Frederick Lee Brooke, Dana Griffin and the BestSelling Reads site.

The Army of Worn Soles blog tour kicks off on June 15, when D.G. Torrens, author of the bestselling Amelia’s Story, hosts the first excerpt. That will be followed by excerpts appearing on the blogs and websites of Literary Gary Henry, Scholarly Fred Brooke, Cultivated CR Hiatt, Scintillating Cinta Garcia, Dazzling David Cassidy, Raffish Rob Guthrie, Ozzie Onisha Ellis, learned Michael Lorde and Stupendous Seb Kirby.

Thank you all very much for your support. I’ll send each of you a free e-book.

Win a paper copy

And for all you readers who follow the tour, something special: I’m borrowing a page from Fabulous Fred and making a contest out of it. Collect the clues on each stop on the tour, email me the solution and I’ll send you a free, autographed paperback copy.

Come back to this blog often for updates and links to every stop on the tour. 

Book launch: Toby's Neal's newest Lei Crime mystery — Shattered Palms

Bestseller Toby Neal has just launched her sixth Lei Crime novel. I asked her how she has changed as an author since she launched the first novel, Blood Orchids, in 2011.

I know my characters so well now that dialogue really flows—banter between Lei and her partner, Pono, interdepartmental meetings with Captain Omura, therapeutic phone calls with Dr. Wilson, Lei's therapist, interviewing and depositions in different settings that are part of the investigation, and most of all, scenes between my protagonist, Lei, and her fiance Michael Stevens. Their bumpy romance began in book one and culminates with a possible wedding in this book!  

I also have the steps and "rules" of a police investigation fairly well memorized, so plotting the scenes of the book is easy compared to when I first started writing police procedural and had no idea how police actually went about investigating. Now, hundreds of hours later, with friends and fans in police circles training, coaching, and reviewing my work, I actually think I could be a helpful addition to a homicide investigation, with my psychology background. 

I also have confidence now that I didn't have then. Confidence that, even though I don't know what the "twist" at the end of my book will be, my brain will come up with one by the time I need it. Confidence that, whether everyone "gets" it or not, I'm doing a good thing with these books by shining an entertaining light on current society and Hawaii issues. Confidence that I can write a first draft within three months and get four books out in a year. Confidence that  I can breathe life into even small characters, like the hippie lady with dreadlocks in the lime green Prius who helps Lei in Shattered Palms.  

I have confidence I can give readers what they want, leave them satisfied and yet hungry for more—and to me, that's successful storytelling. 

Thanks for the friendship and support, Scott!Aloha

So, what's Shattered Palms about?

Maui is lush mountains, cloud forest and exquisite birdsong—but for Detective Lei Texeira, arrows break that peace.

Someone is stalking poachers that are capturing Maui’s rarest birds, and Lei pursues the case with her usual leap-first, look-later style—but will she be able to catch a killer, save the birds, and still make it to her own wedding? Shattered Palms is a roller coaster ride from the top of Haleakala to the beach and back again, with extinction at stake.

“Toby Neal creates a captivating balance of the beauty of the islands contrasted with the ugliness of murder, and complicated by the trials of Lei’s personal life. A must-read for Neal fans.” — Thomas K. Matthews, author of Rejection.

You can get it NOW on Amazon. 

Best-selling author Toby Neal was raised on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, where she lives today after “stretches of exile” to pursue education. A mental health therapist, Toby credits that career with adding depth to the characters in the Lei Crime Series. She is a member of BestSelling Reads. 

Visit 

• her BestSelling Reads Author page
• her website and
• her blog.

Cover reveal: Revenge — Tube Riders, Book 3

Now this is a striking cover!

Book 3 in Chris Ward's Tube Riders trilogy launches this month, only a couple of months after Ward released the second volume, Exile.

The Tube Riders trilogy is an original idea, set in a decidedly dystopian futuristic, dictatorial society. In Mega Britain's inner cities, gangs of youths seek excitement by riding on the outsides of underground trains. After being pursued by government Huntsmen, they spark a revolution. Revenge is set three years after the action in Exile. 

The Governor of Mega Britain is preparing for war with Europe. In Mega Britain's inner cities, pockets of rebels fight and die in the name of Marta Banks, brave leader of the surviving Tube Riders. 

The Tube Riders themselves, though, have disappeared. With their trail gone cold, the Governor and his deadly Huntsmen have no way to find them. 

That is, until the day the Governor recovers a long lost treasure from his past, an ancient artifact that could crush the rebellion for good.
Marta Banks is about to lose everything.

Look for Revenge this month, and in the meantime, check out Chris Ward's blog, his Amazon author page, and his earlier books, Tube Riders, Tube Riders: Exile, Head of Words, and The Man Who Built the World.

And re-read the review I gave of what he describes as his "best work," Head of Words, here in Written Words.

Book launch: The Darkness Comes by Bruce Blake

Am I ready to kill?

A cloud of swirling mist sighed out between Kuneprius’ lips, rising into the night to smear the glow of the winter moon. He watched it dissipate, then exhaled another long plume, blowing it out the way he’d seen the Brothers do when they smoked their pipes filled with sweetweed. Instead of swirling the wreaths he’d watched them create, his breath came out a ragged column. 

“Shh.” 

Kuneprius cocked his head toward the urgent sound, an apology teetering on the tip of his tongue. At the last instant, he remembered himself and said nothing, pressing himself flatter against the side of the hill. Fildrian lay less than ten man-lengths away, but the Brother’s black hood and robe hid him in the darkness; despite his proximity, empty loneliness ached in Kuneprius’ chest. 

The lad grasped the short sword’s hilt tighter, testing its uncomfortable weight. Though he’d seen the seasons turn but twelve times, he’d trained with this very sword for six of them. The temple blacksmith formed it with him in mind, the grip molded to the shape of his fingers. Its length and weight had proved too much for him when he first held it, but he’d grown into it, its size ideal for a boy of his age. He shifted minutely, searching for comfort and understanding that the prospect of swinging the weapon to wound rather than in practice caused his unease, not the sword itself. 

Will I be able to wield it when the time comes? Can I kill if I need to? 

He’d never been sent on a hunt, so the sword’s edge hadn’t tasted blood other than his own when he got clumsy or distracted while sharpening the blade. He shifted his grip on the leather-wrapped hilt, hand slipping with the slickness of the sweat on his palm. For so many seasons, he’d trained for this moment; he knew he’d kill if the need arose. 

I hope it doesn’t. 

The rattle-clunk of wooden wheels on dirt track rolled along the shallow valley and up the hill to Kuneprius’ ears. Soon, he’d need wonder no more. 

The apprentice angled his head to peer down the weed-clogged road, squinting as he attempted to pick out the wagons in the darkness. The lanterns hanging at the front of each, bobbing and swinging with the horses’ gaits, made it easy. He counted them silently. 

One, two, three…four? 

His heart lurched. Brother Fildrian had said to expect three—two carts and a covered wagon. Kuneprius’ gaze flickered to the spot where he expected to find the expedition leader’s dark shape, but he saw nothing. He glanced back to the track, the horse-drawn vehicles drawing closer and, in the glow of their lanterns, he counted two covered wagons. 

Which one?

The second volume in Bruce Blake's Small Gods series is now out. The Darkness Comes picks up where When Shadows Fall leaves off. 

What's it about?

When shadows fall, the darkness comes...

 A disgraced Goddess Mother wanders blind and alone, praying for her agony to end. When a helpful apostle finds her, could it truly by salvation, or does worse torment lie ahead? A sister struggles to understand a prophecy that may not be meant for her while her brother fights for his life. If the firstborn child of the rightful king dies, will it spell the end for everyone? Darkness and shadow creep across the land in the form of a fierce clay golem animated by its sculptor's blood. It seeks a mythical creature who's sacrifice portends the return of ancient evil banished from the world long ago. With its return will come the fall of man. As the game unfolds, the Small Gods watch from the sky, waiting for their time to come and their chance to rise again. They wait for the fall of shadows, the coming of the darkness. They wait for night to descend.

Bruce Blake continues his incredible productivity, releasing the second volume in this brilliantly executed only a couple of months after the first volume, and he promises the third book soon. I don't doubt it for a second.

Now that you've read the sample, get the book from your choice of vendors.

The Darkness Comes: 

Kindle: http://viewBook.at/darknesscomes 

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/391730

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-darkness-comes-bruce-blake/1117886146

But before you read the second book in the Small Gods series, you have to read the first. When Shadows Fall is on sale for 99 cents for the rest of the week. 

Kindle: http://viewBook.at/shadows 

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/362347

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/when-shadows-fall-bruce-blake/1117001229

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/when-shadows-fall-2

Wattpad: http://www.wattpad.com/story/8483067-when-shadows-fall-the-first-book-of-the-small-gods

"... this is some great storytelling. .. It’s positively addicting!" — Ms. Nose in a Book, reviewer

Book launch: Tube Riders 2 — Exile

Book 2 in Chris Ward's original and excellent Tube Riders trilogy has just launched.

Earlier this year, I gave five stars to Ward's stand-alone novel, Head of Words. It's a deep and dark psychological story that shows Ward's talent and professionalism as a writer.

Now, I'm telling everyone I can to pay attention to this original writer's steampunk-inspired Tube Riders series, which achieves the same standard of excellence.

What are Tube Riders?

Set in Britain in 2075, the Tube Riders are a gang of young people who defy a brutal dictatorship by playing a dangerous game of riding on the outside of London's Underground trains.

Book 2, Exile: 

Having narrowly escaped the Governor's savage Huntsmen, Marta Banks and the other surviving Tube Riders are on the run in northern France. Trapped inside a government-assigned quarantine zone, they search for a way out of a bleak countryside littered with abandoned worker robots and haunted by sinister monks, while at the same time a far deadlier threat than any they have faced before is searching for a way in ... 

From the towering spires of Mont St Michel through the dark horrors of the Paris Catacombs to the treacherous peaks of the French Alps, The Tube Riders: Exile is an epic continuation of Chris Ward's Tube Riders series. 

Chris Ward is from the UK but currently lives and works in Japan. In addition to the Tube Riders Trilogy, his work includes a number of short stories (available on Amazon) and the stand alone novel The Man Who Built the World as well as Head of Words.

What inspired the story?

"For the whole of my novel-writing life, I always wanted to write in different genres, try different styles and push myself as a writer and an artist. I had a rule that no two novels could be the same. In around 2009 I decided I wanted to write a big sci-fi dystopia. While my novels had always ranged from horror to comedy, my short stories had usually been in the speculative fiction vein, because they were easy to write and relatively easy to sell to magazines. Looking for ideas, I came across an old story I wrote in 2002 about a group of kids who hung off the sides of trains for fun getting into trouble with a rival gang. And hour and two sheets of A3 paper later, the Huntsmen, Dreggo, the Governor and the dark world of Mega Britain was born.

"I once promised myself to never write a sequel, but by the time I had written all 165,000 words of the first draft of the Tube Riders, I realised that it was really just the first part of one long story. Now, with Revenge, that story has reached its end.

"It felt strange to leave the Tube Riders behind, but while the main story is done there is a likelihood that there will be prequels or possible novels set within the three years between Exile and Revenge, mostly focusing on side or minor characters."

Exile launched on December 16, and book 3, Revenge, will appear in January. Watch Written Words for a cover preview!

Where to get it:

Amazon: Tube Riders: Exile
Tube Riders: London

Visit Chris Ward's Amazon author page to see all his published work.

Visit Chris Ward's blog, A Million Miles from Anywhere.

Book launch: Binder

David Vinjamuri, fellow member of Best-Selling Reads and a columnist with Forbes magazine, has released his second novel, Binder.

What's it about? 

In the mountains of West Virginia, hooded men ambush and beat a group of environmental protestors. An Army colonel’s daughter goes missing, and ex-operator Michael Herne travels to West Virginia to find her.  But the girl wasn’t with the protestors and as Herne tracks her he encounters cults, communes and supremacists on the path to unraveling a deadly conspiracy. 

Binder is the sequel to the best-selling thriller, Operator.

Advance praise

"A terrific, fast-paced read.  It’s not just technically accurate but really gets into the mindset of the Tier 1 operator." 

– Master Sergeant Rodney Cox,  Instructor, SWCS (U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg, NC)

After a brief stint as an intelligence analyst, David spent nearly 20 years working with corporate brands. He writes for Forbes, teaches at New York University and loves reading and the outdoors. He is an active member in Best-Selling Reads, as well.

Check out his book on Amazon.

Cover reveal: the newest novel by New Fiction author Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar

An Unlikely Goddess 

launched October 14, 2013. From Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar, winner of the SheWrites New Novelist Award, 2011

…The Hindu goddess, Sita, is said to have been born from the Earth.

King Janaka discovers the beautiful infant and in her beauty, believes in her divinity. He raises her as his own daughter……

A coming of age story, An Unlikely Goddess centres on Sita, the daughter of South Asian immigrants, growing up in all the wrong places. From Hinduism to Christianity, Brad to Naren, she's looking for love but gets anything but.

Excerpt:

Unlike her namesake, Sita's first mistake was being born.

     A girl, her mother thought, eyes dark in abject terror. What if he leaves me? She swallowed, increasing the dryness in her post-delivery mouth, the stiches across her abdomen itching. No water. Only ice chips until her bowels passed the tests. Mythili pressed back against the pillows. She closed her eyes, pushing her fingers into the sockets until the darkness was punctuated by bone-white stars. She wished she could as easily tune out the gurgles of the baby in the bassinet beside her.

Yet, even premature and unwanted, Sita was obliviously happy to enter the world, beaming her infant smile at anyone or anything she saw: the nurse, her aunt, her mother's back, the noxiously-pink cement walls of the Madras hospital in which she found herself. Several pounds underweight, she was otherwise fine—a petite, brown-skinned baby with tufts of black hair crowning a smooth scalp. How could she be expected to know that from her first breath she was, and always would be, a living reminder of her mother's failure to produce a first-born male heir?

       Though swaddled and placed in the bassinet immediately after delivery, her eyes were alive with motion. She blinked up at the faces of passersby, but they were admittedly few, so instead, she followed the blinking lights, the creeping shadows and the occasional appearance of a nurse. Everything about the world kept her busy with delight until sleep washed over her little body.

“Look at that smile,” the young nurse said, cradling Sita against her flat bosom.

“Aamam,” Priya, the childless aunt, agreed, rubbing a forefinger across the baby’s somewhat wrinkly face.

Instead of replying, Mythili, Sita’s mother, pulled a see-through blue sheet up to her chin and turned her face away.

You can buy An Unlikely Goddess now from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FVSP82Q

About the author

Mohana is the modern mother, writer, wife. If you tell her something interesting, it's fair game for a blog post or her next novel. With eight e-books, two kids and a PhD, she's got a lot to say. 

A Difficult Mirror: Independent novel launches TODAY!

I'm excited: the newest Independent Authors International title and Benjamin X. Wretlind's third novel, A Difficult Mirror, hits the e-stands today, September 23. 

Others agree: "Combining horror, fantasy & mystery with elements of the traditional hero's journey, A Difficult Mirror contains a unique and detailed plot, rich characterization & a very real sense of danger," says Michael K. Rose, author of Sullivan's War, Chrysopteron and Darkridge Hall.

"Wretlind conjures visions beyond your wildest nightmares," adds Bruce Blake, author of the Icarus Fell series and the Khirro's Journey epic fantasy trilogy.

You can win a copy by entering the Goodreads giveaway at the bottom of this post — but first, you have to read an excerpt.

See for yourself

The sun dropped from the sky at a snail's pace, creeping past a few wispy cirrus clouds, past a small hill, a saguaro cactus arm and on and on. In time, the sky changed from a brilliant blue to a deep, blood red with spats of yellow and orange. The day's heat remained, as it typically did in the rainy season of the Southwestern United States. It wasn't quite official yet, but the seasonal shift of wind was only a few short weeks off and the humidity had already shown its ugly face. Off in the distance, a thunderstorm grew taller, its anvil transforming from bright white to orange to red as the sun finally disappeared without fanfare. Lightning flashed in chaotic patterns, stabbed at the desolate landscape and illuminated a torrential rainfall that flooded the land below. 

Another thunderstorm moved closer, fed by the unequal heating and cooling of the mountains to the north and the valley to the south. Soon it would be overhead, and in the downpour, Stephen Casey would have a hard time examining the body of a young woman whose head had been crushed by a rock.

Yellow tape, strung between the giant cacti, lent surrealism to the otherwise mundane crime scene. A gentle wind blew the tape back and forth, making the cordon look fragile. On the inside of the taped perimeter, in an area roughly the size of a small house, officers dressed in khaki mixed with the blue uniforms of unneeded paramedics. The body lay in the center of the scene, as yet untouched, and bathed in the final light of the day.

She had been a young woman, about twenty, slender and medium in height. Her clothes were bargain brand, and her shoes looked a few sizes too big. She had no discerning features other than long fingers which ended in chewed-off nails. Her head had been crushed, not by a single blow, but by what appeared to be a methodic erasure of her identity. Matted blonde hair covered with blood and mixed with the dirt of the environment surrounded the remains of her skull like a sick halo. 

As Casey knelt down, he covered his mouth with a handkerchief to mask the smell of the bloody corpse that had been sitting in the hot sun for a least a day. He examined the woman from the remains of her head to her feet, looking for a clue, looking for a reason or a method to the madness. His eyes wandered past the skullcap lying in several pieces mixed with brain matter, past what appeared to be eye sockets picked clean by birds, past a nose caved in about an inch. A small spider crawled from the remains of a nostril, zigzagged past a tooth, and left the scene via the remains of a crushed ear. Three earrings lay near the right ear, one of them torn off by the trauma. On the other ear, a single diamond stud remained intact.

Across her neck lay a gold-colored necklace, probably purchased from a street-corner vendor. Attached to it, caked in blood, was a small pendant that might have held some meaning, at least to the woman. The material was stone, like onyx, and possessed a white glow that shone even in the fading light of dusk. It was carved in the shape of two 'R's, linked together with a sword or staff through the middle. It seemed ugly, odd, and out of place. Casey scrunched up his nose in thought, grabbed his pen and made a quick sketch of the symbol.

A light flashed above his head. The crime scene photographer moved quickly, shooting pictures of the body, probable belongings and anything that didn't seem like it was a natural part of the landscape. Casey looked up, pointed to the pendant, and asked for a close-up. Quickly, the camera rose, the picture taken, and the photographer moved away.

Casey continued his cursory examination. Writing rapidly, he noted the meticulous manner in which the victim had been placed—legs together, feet pointing up, arms crossed over her chest. In her right hand, the victim held a tiny yellow flower, dotted with blood. This wasn't a haphazard murder, brought on by rage and carried out with carelessness. The body had been positioned, the flower planted and then—and only then—the head crushed beyond recognition.

"Peaceful looking, ain't she?" The voice came from behind Casey, raspy and full of phlegm.

"From the neck down." Casey stood He turned to the voice, grabbed a cigarette from his breast pocket and lit it. "Weird, though. What do you think?"

A small man—thin in the neck and face, with wire-rimmed glasses dangling on a pointed nose—cleared his throat, snorted once then spit out a wad of green phlegm as far from the body as he could. "Looks like the perp wanted a piece of ass, got pissed off when he didn't get it, knocked her in the head once, got scared, then crushed her skull so no one would recognize her." He looked down at the body.

"Lover? Pimp? Plumber?" Casey took a long drag of his cigarette. "Take a look at the clothes, Byron. Not from around here."

"No, not from around there." Byron pointed over a ridge to the brightening glow of million-dollar homes and upscale golf courses in the distance. "She's from the city. Just look at the shirt."

Casey looked down at the woman's shirt, just below the crossed arms. A cheesy slogan from a local gift shop, black words mixed with stains of blood: "I survived 123 degrees . . . but it was a dry heat!" 

Casey chuckled to himself. I have that shirt, too.

The photographer stepped up to Casey. "I'm all done here," he said without looking at anything or anyone in particular. He turned and walked away.
Thunder vibrated the desert floor, muffled only by the humid air and the distance. To the west, the thunderstorm had grown in size and threatened to drown the crime scene. The sun had set far enough that the reds and oranges had faded to deep indigos and grays. Around the perimeter of the cordon, halogen lights illuminated the scene, and a crew of younger officers was busy unfolding a makeshift tarp over the victim's remains.

Casey looked off in the distance toward the expensive homes and sheltered life of planned subdivisions. Just under the lights and on top of a small hill, he thought he saw a man observing the scene. Casey squinted and wished for a moment he hadn't left his glasses in his car. He never wanted to believe his eyesight was failing him, but there were times he chastised himself for not listening to what others had to say.

Byron tapped Casey on the shoulder. "See something of interest?"

Casey thought for a moment of all the times he'd been at a scene and felt the stares of onlookers. He'd been told once to look at all the faces in the crowd; murder is an act, but evasion is a sport. So often, the demons would be there mingling with the anonymous, hoping to gain some insight into what others might find.

In this case, though, the murder was remote. Why would there be onlookers?
"Nothing, Byron. Just thought I saw something." 

"Kind of hard to do that without your glasses, isn't it?"

Casey frowned and turned back to the scene. He walked slowly around the body, looking for something different in the artificial light, a tiny detail that might give him an advantage in this game of evasion. Watching where he stepped and avoiding the yellow evidence flags, he moved toward the woman's feet. Once more, he looked at the placement of the legs, the arms, the flower, and the shirt.

He scrunched his nose. Something was wrong. From his vantage point at the woman's feet, he saw just under the area where her arms crossed. Sure there was plenty of blood, but it almost looked . . .

"Byron," Casey called while still staring at the chest. "Come here and look at this."

Byron walked over. "What is it? More brains?"

"No. Take a look at the chest below the arms, and then the neck. Notice anything?"

Byron looked down at the victim and adjusted his glasses. He made a small noise of interest. "Move the arms out of the way."

Casey walked around the other side of the woman, knelt down, and pulled a pair of latex gloves out of his pocket, snapping them over his fingers. Reaching over the body, he lifted the arms. 

His eyebrows stood as his stomach sank. "Where's her heart?"

With a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder, the rain fell. Instinctively, Casey turned back to see if there really had been someone on the hill.

So, what's it about?

Four-year-old Justine has been lost to the world and with her an ability feared by many. But the balance of power has been shifting for years, and Justine may be able to tip those scales for good...if someone can find her in a pitiless place of sorrow and pain.

When Marie Evans meets a strange man on a deserted road and a body is found mutilated in the desert, a deep resentment teetering on the edge of release is about to explode. Someone, somewhere has drawn a line in the sand, and when Harlan Reese, Marie's ex-lover, enters a forest in central Arizona looking for his daughter, that line will be crossed.

In a world between Heaven and Hell, the past becomes the present as Harlan and Marie find each other once again. Their journey across an unforgiving land to find a way home with Justine by their side will be wrought with both pain and triumph.

It is, after all, A Difficult Mirror.

Now that you're hooked, you can win a free copy by entering this Goodreads giveaway: 

Goodreads Book Giveaway

A Difficult Mirror

by Benjamin X. Wretlind

Giveaway ends September 23, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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