Tegon Maus & 'Machines of the Little People' @TegonMaus @GoddessFish #Technothriller

Today we have author Tegon Maus visiting. Welcome!

What would you like to tell readers about yourself?

* I was raised pretty much the same as everyone else... devoted mother, strict father and all the imaginary friends I could conjure. Not that I wasn't friendly, I just wasn't "people orientated". Maybe I lived in my head way more than I should have, maybe not. I liked machines more than people, at least I did until I met my wife.
* The first thing I can remember writing was for her. For the life of me I can't remember what it was about... something about dust bunnies under the bed and monsters in my closet. It must have been pretty good because she married me shortly after that. I spent a good number of years after inventing games and prototypes for a variety of ideas before I got back to writing.
* It wasn't a deliberate conscious thought it was more of a stepping stone. My wife and I had joined a dream interpret group and we were encouraged to write down our dreams as they occurred. "Be as detailed as you can," we were told.
* I was thrilled. If there is one thing I enjoy it's making people believe me and I like to exaggerate. Not a big exaggeration or an outright lie mine you, just a little step out of sync, just enough so you couldn't be sure if it were true or not. When I write, I always write with the effort of "it could happen" very much in mind and nothing, I guarantee you, nothing, makes me happier.

A look into...

~ Blurb ~ * When Ben Harris' sister passes away, her husband, Roger Keswick, is mysteriously absent from her funeral. It's not until 6 months later that Ben is pulled back in to Roger's life, only to find that he's moved on. His new wife may be called Jessica, but she's the spitting image of Ben's sister. Things escalate when Roger claims there's a factory under his house run by little people called the Katoy. ~ Excerpt ~ * "Ben?" Audry called from the far gate.
* "Here, Audry," I said, getting to my feet.
* Roger did the same.
* By the time we made it to the front yard the police were driving away.
* Jessica and Audry approached us, each slipping an arm around Roger and me.
* "Jessica, Audry. I..." Roger stammered before he broke down into tears.
* Arm in arm we went into the house.
* "Come over here, all of you," Roger said, rushing into the living room. Opening the wall cabinet that held his computer, he flipped it on. "Let me show you. I have proof."
* The girls moved, one to each side of him and I in the center, just far enough not to interfere. The monitor hummed to life.
* Audry silently wiped tears from her face and held my hand tightly.
* Roger opened file after file until reaching one called 'Katoy.'
* Excitedly, he got up, knocking over his chair, and rushed to turn on the stereo. He adjusted it, making it a little louder than usual before righting the chair, retaking his place.
* "You must promise never to speak of this outside of these four walls," he said, covering the screen with his left hand.
* We looked at each other and vowed our oath of silence.
* "Ok, Bob," Roger said and a new image jumped to the screen.
* "Bob is your computer?" I asked a little bewildered.
* "Yeah. Cool huh?" he said, grinning, half turning to me. "I have him hooked up all over the house." Buy Machines of the Little People here... Tirgearr Publishing | Amazon | Barnes & Noble Find Tegon Maus here... Amazon Author Page | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest | Twitter | Website | Shelfari | LinkedIn Thank you for joining us here today, Tegon Maus! It was a pleasure getting to know you and your story.

ANNOUNCEMENT! Tegon Maus will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour! So be sure to leave a comment AND use the Rafflecopter below. Also, visit the other tour stops for a greater chance of winning!

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R. Scott Mackey & 'Courage Resurrected' @smackey17 @GoddessFish #Mystery

Today we have author R. Scott Mackey visiting. Welcome!

What would you like to tell readers about yourself?

* Scott Mackey lives in Northern California, where he writes both fiction and non-fiction. His first book, Barbary Baseball, achieved critical acclaim from baseball historians for its quality research and writing. He followed that with two young adult novels. His popular Ray Courage Mystery Series includes Courage Begins, Courage Matters, and Courage Resurrected. The fourth book in the series, Courage Lies Beneath, is scheduled for release later in 2015.
* Scott's career arc has included stints as a corporate communications manager, college professor, copywriter, bartender, and youth sports coach. In addition to obsessing over punctuation and grammar, he cares about his family (including his dog and cat), the San Francisco Giants, and his rather sad golf game.

Today R. Scott Mackey will be talking about how she handles balancing life and writing.
* Good question. I’m not sure if I always do a great job of balancing the two, especially when I’m writing a new book. I do try to allocate certain hours of the day just to writing. This is typically two to four hours in the morning. I may then return in the evening for two more hours of writing. In between, life happens.
* The problem for me is disengaging in the morning and going about the rest of my day. My mind is constantly returning to the story, and I find myself making mental or written notes on parts of the book that need to be reworked, expanded, edited, and so on. Sometimes, I will flash on an idea that completely changes the story’s direction. That happened to me in Courage Matters, the first book in the Ray Courage mystery series. I was driving at the time so I had to pull over and spend about thirty minutes writing notes to myself. I completely changed the final third of the book, but in the end, the book was much better for it.
* The same was true when I wrote Courage Resurrected. This story has a lot of moving parts and some tricky scene sequencing to keep track of. I’d be having dinner with my wife wondering “Does the Mastrov scene with his mistress need to move to the next day? Or can it come before Ray leaves for San Francisco.” That kind of thing. I’m sure it was very annoying for my wife having me, literally, in another world.
* Overall, however, I do try to compartmentalize my writing time from my family time and my other obligations. Especially when writing my first drafts, I need to have solid blocks of time—no less than two hours—to get significant writing done. Anything beyond four hours at a stretch is just too exhausting, and I find myself needing to go workout or play golf to get away from my work. A look into...

~ Blurb ~ * Ray Courage’s wife Pam died thirteen years before in a car accident. Or did she? Ray’s world is turned upside down when he receives a series of e-mails from someone claiming to be his dead wife, accusing him of attempting to kill her and vowing revenge. Ray sets out to find the identity of the e-mailer only to discover the circumstances of his wife’s apparent death appear to be all but accidental.
* Soon Police Detective Carla Thurber comes to suspect Ray of killing his wife, and of a subsequent murder of Pam’s confidant. Meanwhile, a murderous predator who does not want the facts of Pam’s death to surface aims to stop Ray. In the greatest challenge of his life, Ray must outrun the police and elude those who are out to kill him as he seeks the truth about his wife’s death. ~ Excerpt ~ * After she left I took out my phone and opened the email from Pam1111, fully intending to delete it after a quick glance. Instead of some offer for an erection booster or the chance to aid a Nigerian princess, the message gave me an immediate chill:
* Ray,
* How could you have done that to me 13 years ago? Me, the person you said you loved? Well, it didn’t work. I’m not dead and I am going to make you pay after all these years. Better look over your shoulder.
* Pam Buy Courage Resurrected here... Amazon Find R. Scott Mackey here... Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter | Website Thank you for joining us here today, R. Scott Mackey! It was a pleasure getting to know you and your story.

ANNOUNCEMENT! R. Scott Mackey will be awarding a $50 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour! So be sure to leave a comment AND use the Rafflecopter below. Also, visit the other tour stops for a greater chance of winning!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Welcome special guest: author Melanie Surani ~ @melsurani @GoddessFish

Today we have author Melanie Surani visiting.
What would you like to tell readers about yourself?

* When Melanie Surani isn't cutting hair, she's thinking about killing people (for mystery novels). She grew up in Memphis, TN before taking extended trips to Toronto, Canada, Eichstätt, Germany, and Philadelphia, PA. She lives with her husband and cat in New York City.

So, Melanie Surani, what/who inspired you to become a writer?
* Ultimately, my parents probably inspired me. From a very early age, I thought being a writer was as normal as learning to read. Even today, so many people I associate with are writers. But when I expressed this to someone, he just shook his head and said, "not everyone wants to do that."
* What inspired me more than anything else was my parents reading to me. It wasn't just bedtime stories when I was little, my dad read the classics to me and my sister. Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, Dracula, Sherlock Holmes, etc. And because I was homeschooled, I would read a chapter in a book to my mom in the morning, she would read something to me and my sister, and every night before bed, I was allowed to stay up an extra 45 minutes to read something of my own choosing. Books were everywhere, and writing became a natural way for me to express myself.

When did you attempt your first story? What length was it? What's become of it?
* My first story was in the first grade, called The Bad Carwash. It was the front and back of a piece of paper, and I have it in a notebook.
* I can't remember why I wrote it — maybe it was a school project, or maybe I thought I could write something like the books I was reading. All I know is that once I started writing, I felt like it was something I should have been doing already. That lightbulb of inspiration flashed on and never switched off.

How many stories did you complete before you sold your first?
* I probably had dozens finished before I sold anything. I was constantly writing something as a kid and teenager, which was bad news for my family because we only had one computer, and I was on it as much as I could be. But I also had a loose-leaf notebook I used to hand write things when I couldn't type.

What are the best and worst pieces of writing advice you ever received?
* The best piece of advice is the quote from Toni Morrison: If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, you must be the one to write it.
* The worst was probably that I shouldn't write male main characters since I'm female.

The book you’re promoting, is it a stand-alone story or part of a series?
* Awake is stand-alone. I had thought about expanding the story into a sequel or series, but I love the way it is right now. There might be a loose end or two to inspire my readers into thinking what might come next. I wouldn't be opposed to reading some fan fiction, if someone wants to take a stab at it, but for now, my part is done.

What sparked the idea for the story/series?
* Awake came from a dream. I wrote a novel called Nocturne based on that dream, and it contained none of the same characters I ended up using, and very little of the existing plot.
* My main inspiration for what became Awake came from Madame Tussauds' Chamber of Horrors (and specifically the rumor Charles Dickens started that anyone who was able to spend the night there would win a cash prize) and the TV show LOST. While the novel isn't "based on" either of those things, they certainly inspired ideas. 1) Wouldn't it be cool to be locked in a museum and not know how to get out or why you're there? (Chamber of Horrors) 2) Wouldn't a novel that slowly revealed answers to mysteries be interesting? (LOST)

*** Now for some fun info… ***
Would you/have you own(ed) a snake or some other exotic pet?
* I've actively looked into buying a cheetah. After seeing a photo of Josephine Baker with a cheetah on a leash, I've wondered why anyone would keep such a dangerous animal with them. After a little research, though, I learned that cheetahs don't think of humans as a food source because we're bigger than they are, and if you raise them from cubs, it's possible to domesticate them.
* The downside is that they eat so much every day and need many acres of land to run, and you cannot litter train a cheetah. Much too expensive, and they're also endangered. Also, have you ever seen a tiny house cat flip out and attack something? A bigger one would do the same thing.

Which do you prefer: rain or sun & warm weather or cold weather?
* Probably rain. I grew up in Memphis, TN, where the summers get upwards of 100º, and now I live in New York City, where winters get down to 5º. I don't like either one. If I had to pick between hot and cold, I'd pick cold because I can always put something else on. If it's too hot, even if I walk around naked, my skin is still gonna feel like it's melting, and I'm gonna be in a bad mood.
* I'm about to move again, this time to Edinburgh. The temperature there is a moderate 50-60º in summer, 30º in winter, coupled with drizzle almost every day. That's seeming like a really good deal right about now, especially with the temperature climbing to 85º the past few days. It's difficult to walk to work and not stink when I get there.

If you could live anywhere in the universe, where would it be and why?
* I'd probably stick with Earth because I know people here.
* My dream right now is to move to Edinburgh, Scotland, and I'm putting the wheels in motion for that one, partly for the weather reason I mentioned in the previous question. Edinburgh is big on literature — so many writers have lived there and been inspired by the medieval architecture. It's really one of the most beautiful cities I've ever visited. It was clean, fun to explore (some streets are "upstairs" — it's really strange how the hills effect the landscape), and the people were so friendly. In New York, I'm lucky if I can get the cashier to tell me what my total is, in Edinburgh, the cashiers held little conversations with me. Nobody bumped me on the sidewalk, and people said "excuse me" when they wanted something I was blocking. I felt that old knot of anxiety loosen and disappear when I was there. Sure, it was a vacation, but I've visited other cities that didn't feel that way — places I would visit again, but wouldn't stay.

If you were stranded on a desert island and were only allowed to have five modern conveniences with you, what would they be?
* Air conditioning; a fully stocked and operational grocery store; a yacht, so I can leave said stranded island; wifi; my laptop
*** About the book… ***

~ Blurb ~ * In author Melanie Surani’s edgy thriller novel, opera singer Joshua Gray wakes in an eerie art museum exhibit. He comes to believe he’s been kidnapped and abandoned. And he isn’t the only one…
* As Josh and four others struggle to piece together their new reality, they discover the museum’s main building has been razed and the place is boarded with no obvious exit. Who left them in the museum and why? How can they escape? The only link that binds them together is a mysterious woman named Blair, who they each encountered before blacking out. Josh unexpectedly finds himself drawn to one of the other captives, a long-time fan named Sophia. Their attraction plunges the group into a dark pool of suspicion. When allegiances shift and pieces connect, the strangers are forced to reassess their situation. Is the real danger inside or outside of the museum?
* Suspenseful, romantic and filled with drama, Awake will keep you up all night.
~ Excerpt ~ * Costumed mannequins, wearing everything from Rococo dresses to the "50's Housewife," lined the room and clustered in the center. They had coverings over their heads: burlap sacs sewn to fit the face, or draped with gauze over antlers, or covered in feathers.
* One of them might move.
* To get to the rest of the exhibits now, she either had to go through or turn around and catch it from the opposite direction. As she turned, though, an Employees Only sign caught her eye.
* The door opened with a creak. Sophia checked the costumes for any sign of life before ducking inside and slamming the door. She panted for a moment with her eyes shut. When she opened them a crack, the light hadn't come on. After waving her arms over her head, she threw the door open again with a hammering heart.
* Like so much topiary at the Overlook Hotel, she expected the mannequins to have clustered around the door. Of course, nothing had changed since she'd checked the gallery before. She eyed the figures again, before propping the door open and returning to the dim office.
* Unused items crammed the floor. A computer and phone sat on the single desk, files stacked on the floor. An empty closet in the back stood open, yawning darkness. Multiple metal signs leaned against a wall, notices pointing toward restrooms, galleries, a café, and the lobby.
* "Damn it," she whispered. Who the hell took all the signs down?
* Sophia picked up the phone, pressed the switch-hook, but no dial tone sounded.
* "Why…" Why leave the electricity on and cut the phones?
Buy Awake here... Amazon Find Melanie Surani here... Blog | Facebook | Goodreads | Google+ | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter Thank you for joining us here today, Melanie Surani! It was a pleasure getting to know you and your work.

ANNOUNCEMENT! Melanie Surani will be awarding a $30 Starbuck Gift Certificate to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour! So be sure to leave your name and email with your comment AND use the Rafflecopter below. Also, visit the other tour stops (find them here: _) for a greater chance of winning!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Sinfully Sexy Saturday with @Kenyawright77 @LoveBitesSilk #SSS #erotica

It's Saturday! Yay! Here's a sinfully good treat by author, Kenya Wright, to add to a great day. Welcome!

Author Information

* Kenya Wright has these words to say about herself...
* Writer. Lover. Foodie. Mother. Book Addict. Masturbator. Comedian. Super Hero. Blogger. Professional Adventurer.

You can find Kenya Wright here...
Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook Fanpage | Goodreads | Goodreads Kenya Wright Fan Club

Now for some book information!
A look into

~ BOOK Series Summary ~ "This story can be summed up in one word. SEXY." T, Bynum Reviews.
* This chess board is different than a normal one. Instead of a king and queen, we have a Killer and Survivor. Where knights and bishops should be, there are Strippers and Gangsters. Yet, in this game of SEX and DECEPTION, blood stains and life, an intense love grows in the most unusual places, leaving all of the players to consider dropping their guns and rethink why they started the battle in the first place.
Bad for You is an Interracial & Multicultural erotic romance serial novel involving a complicated love triangle.

Buy Bad for You here...
Book 1 | Book 2 | Book 3

Thank you for joining us here today! It was a pleasure getting to know about you and your story.

Saturday Spotlight Special ~ Welcome special guest: author J.E. Taylor ( @JETaylor75 )

Today we have author J.E. Taylor visiting. J.E. Taylor is a writer, a publisher, an editor, a manuscript formatter, a mother, a wife and a business analyst. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and two children and during the summer months enjoys her weekends on the shore in southern Maine.

So, J.E., what inspired you to become a writer?
My daughter inspired me to get back to writing. I’ve always had stories playing in my head and when I was younger, I wrote quite a bit. But when I graduated from college and got married and obtained a job, things got too crazy to write. Then came kids and I just set it aside until 2007. Once I started, twenty years of stories flooded onto the computer screen.

When did you attempt your first story? What length was it? What's become of it?
I wrote my first story in sixth grade. My father recently gave it back to me and I’m going to laminate it for posterity. It’s illustrated too and let me tell you, I still can’t draw worth a damn.

How many stories did you complete before you sold your first?
I spent the first eighteen months just writing and ended with seven books. It took another two years of polishing those one by one before I was signed with a publisher for my erotic series. Since then, I’ve pulled my books under my own e-publishing label due to the amount of control that allows and I’m very happy I took that jump.

What genre(s) do you write in? What drew you to write in it/them? What’s your favorite genre of all to write in?
On writing...
"It’s a walk into the darkest corners of my imagination where my nightmares fester until something living and breathing escapes onto the screen of my laptop." - JET
That’s how I described my writing and in general, I write thrillers. Almost all my books fall into that vein – whether they are considered adult only thrillers or mainstream or young adult. I’m somewhat of an adrenaline junkie and love being scared, so this is just a natural extension of how my mind works. I do have a couple erotic romance shorts that don’t fall into this box, but those offer a different intensity level – so, I guess my adrenaline fix is satisfied in a different way with these.

What are the best and worst pieces of writing advice you ever received?
Best – dig deeper and engage all the senses, striving for a bouquet of descriptions meant to hook readers on a visceral level so they are unable to put your book down.
Worst – self-editing is all you need.

How do you celebrate/deal with acceptance/rejection letters?
I don’t anymore. :)
However, as a publisher, there is nothing more exciting than offering that acceptance letter and helping to bring a writer’s story to publication. It’s a fantastic journey and sometimes I’m not sure where my true passion lies – my own stories or those I bring into our publishing house. Both are satisfying in very different ways.
As far as writing rejection letters – that is one of the hardest things to do because I try to give some feedback that I hope the author is open enough to take to heart. I have written the standard no thanks too, but I really try not to do that because when I was on the query-go-round, I hated receiving the standard template.

In regard to the book you’re promoting, which actor and actress do you envision playing the roles of your hero and heroine? If there’s a villain or other characters who are pertinent to the story, who would play those parts?
Hmmm – this is a tough one because I can only envision Agent Steve Williams right now and I flip flop between Jensen Ackles – who portrays that gritty dark side so well in SUPERNATURAL, besides – he has that killer smile that just fits with my Steve Williams character image. The other actor I can see easily stepping into the role of Steve is Tom Welling. He is a much closer match to the face on the Hunting Season cover, but I’m not as sure about the translation into an FBI agent on the edge.
I haven’t put much thought into the other characters – but then again, none of the others in Crystal Illusions have occupied a space in my head or my heart like Agent Williams has.

The book you’re promoting, is it a stand-alone story or part of a series? If it’s part of a series, please list the order the books need to be read in for maximum reading enjoyment.
While Crystal Illusions is tagged as being A Steve Williams Novel, it truly is a standalone book. The main character in this book is not Steve Williams. My main character is Carolyn Hastings, an assistant district attorney in Manhattan. The focus is her life and what happens when she starts seeing a string of murders through the killer’s eyes. Agent Williams makes an appearance about halfway through the book after the killings are identified as serial killings and the city reaches out to the FBI for help. There are references to past situations that Agent Williams has been in, but nothing that would require the reader to have read the prior books in order to make heads or tails of this one.
However, with that said, the Steve Williams Series is comprised of five books: Dark Reckoning, Vengeance, Hunting Season, Georgia Reign and Crystal Illusions. The sixth Steve Williams book – Saving Face – is coming out later this year.

*** Now for some fun info… ***
What’s your favorite color?
Blue – like a crisp fall late afternoon sky when you have sunglasses on.

What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?
Mint Chocolate Chip.

Which do you prefer: rain or sun & warm weather or cold weather?
Sunny, warm beach weather.

What’s your favorite day of the week?
Saturday – my day to rest and relax in some way or another and let the stress of the work week melt off.

*** About J.E’s book/series… ***
CRYSTALL ILLUSIONS…
Assistant D.A. Carolyn Hastings has an uncanny knack for putting away criminals. With one of the best prosecution records in recent history, her future as Manhattan’s next District Attorney looks certain. But her sixth sense for winning cases threatens to work against her when she starts seeing a string of murders through the eyes of the killer.
With suspects piling up as fast as bodies, and the motives of those closest to her questionable, Carolyn doesn’t know who to trust. When the FBI assigns Special Agent Steve Williams to the case, Carolyn discloses her deepest fear - that the man she loves may be the one responsible for the city’s latest crime spree.
The only thing Steve knows for sure is Carolyn has an inexplicable psychic connection with the killer, and all the victims have one thing in common…a striking resemblance to Carolyn Hastings.
And he knows it’s only a matter of time before this psychopath knocks on her door.
“Taylor has a strong thriller where every single character has reasonable doubt flashing like a neon sign hanging over them, and right from the beginning you are trying to guess who the killer really is. Gripping, rich and magnificent - crime whodunnits don't get any better than this!” Author Poppet / Gemma Rice – Author of Quislings, Blindsided, Djinn and Dusan

***Find J.E. Taylor here***
WEBSITE
BLOG
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
GOODREADS

Thank you for joining us here today, J.E.! It was a pleasure getting to know you and your work.

Readers, thanks for swinging into this stop on my Blog Tour and I hope you’ll swing in to Bitten By Books on the 20th for a chance to win a $50.00 Amazon gift certificate and if you’d like to check out Crystal Illusions, you can purchase it here on Amazon.
Until next time, Ciao, JET