Book Blast - Tales of the Ocean City by Christopher R Kaufman

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Christopher Kaufman will be awarding $45 worth of digital products from his website to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

A young civilization is turning the corner into the future, but first they must face a terrible enemy from their deepest past - The Vorm..

The main characters are a young man named Harl’ut and his lifelong companion Vispushin - who is a perIanth, a kind of telepathic pegasus. Join them on this epic adventure as they lead a group of young warriors into the heart of the Vorm Hive.

Book One: Battle In The Sky is the first of five books which comprise the opening series of this epic tale. Here, Harl’ut and Vispushin and The Princess Bryn’lynn, engage in desperate battle over the southern plain with savage Vorm warriors. You will be uplifted by the passionate and thrilling conclusion of the first installment of this fantasy adventure.

Book Two: Descent Into The Abyss, Harl’ut recovers from his harrowing adventure from Book One: Battle In The Sky. He walks through the streets of The Ocean City, visits the Sculpture Garden and his friend, Elá, the bard, and engages in exciting training games with warrior/mentor, Calanctus. Then the story takes you down the throat of the vast volcano, Pla’than’taa, once worshipped as a god, where Harl’ut enacts a deadly initiation ritual, confronts the barbaric past of his people and battles a terrifying monster.

Read an Excerpt

Bryn’lynn stood in a weary fighter’s crouch. She brandished her slender blade in her remaining hand and held her torn wrist, bound with tunic, against her breast. Though intensely brave, she was yet filled with horror as the monster approached. A riotous gout of spikes and horns, shadows and glare-trails attacked her senses.

It stopped in front of her, a full twelve feet in height. It had dropped the barbed net it had carried and now wielded a huge, wickedly shaped scimitar in both hands.

Its mission of capture was now changed to one of a quick kill and return to its central hive. The protuberant antennae on the top its head pulsed with energy, a vertical slit in its cold white face dilated open and closed. Shark-like teeth gleamed a lustrous pink.

A chill cascaded coldly along Bryn’lynn’s spine. She raised her weapon. She reached out her mind to Zhi- i’gla and felt only his pain and desperation, but then, through his eyes, she saw a shaft of white light as Vispushin arrived. Hope rose in Zhii’gla’s breast and thence to her own. Zhii’gla charged. Bryn’lynn’s war scream mingled with his.

“Kayaaaaaaa....!”

She drove herself against her enemy. She felt a violent impact and then stood back a pace. Her blade was broken, she dropped it to the dusty earth.

About the Author:

Christopher Kaufman is an author, composer, presenter, illustrative artist and performer. He started imaginative fantasy books with illustrative art at the age of nine. During high school years he found music and attended The New Orleans Center for The Creative Arts and went on to major in music composition in college. He finished his schooling - earning his DMA in music composition at Cornell University where he studied with Pulitzer Prize Winning composers who prize his abilities as a composer.

Christopher is the type of person who needs imaginative fantasy scenarios to get to sleep. Therefore, he emerged from Cornell, not only with his degrees in music, but with the full event structure for his classic epic fantasy series Tales Of The Ocean City in his mind.

He began writing the story down in the early 2000’s, but it did not really come to life until he developed his home music ‘laboratory’ and started creating the music and text at the same time. Thus books one and two of TOC came about simultaneously as both graphically illustrated pages and effulgent audio albums filled with cinematic epic symphonic music.

They exist now as physical books and audio albums (that go together) and the new Video Book version. He performs live tours with the music pouring through speakers, live narration and the colorful pages streaming on screen -a true immersive multi-media experience.

Home Page: http://www.soundartus.com
Author Page: http://talesoftheoceancity.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@soundartus4807
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/talesoftheoceancity

Christopher believes in the transformative power of imagination. “Live with imagination!” a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Blast - Only in September by Cynthia Flowers

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions to celebrate the release day of ONLY IN SEPTEMBER by Cynthia Flowers. Cynthia will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

When Jacqueline follows her trusty Labrador Bailey down a hidden path to the beach, she's unaware that her vacation plans on a small island off the New England coast has already taken her life in a new direction. Running into an unassuming local beach comber stirs new thoughts, desires, and a self-determination she never knew she possessed. Jacqueline will need to trust her instincts and make the most of what fate has in store if she wants the future that, until now, she has only dared to dream of.

Read an Excerpt

The ferry was taking its sweet time making its way to Block Island.

Time is the ultimate dictator. Where did I hear that? I couldn’t have just come up with that one on my own.

Jacqueline French grabbed one of the last outside seats on the Block Island Ferry. It had only left Point Judith, RI, ten minutes ago, but for her, it seemed like ten hours ago. This would be her fourth September visiting this tiny tear drop-shaped island nestled between the south coast of Rhode Island and Montauk Point, located at the eastern tip of the south fork of Long Island, New York.

She always preferred visiting Block Island this time of year, after many of the Labor Day vacation stragglers dispersed and the kids were back at school. Although there were still a fair number of visitors, the din of racing mopeds was confined mostly to the weekends. Thanks to Michael, who she met on her first trip to Block Island, she came to know virtually every back road and trail on this seven-mile-long by three-mile-wide island. Beyond its beauty, Jacqueline’s deeper connection with the island was its shape. She shed many tears lately over the fate of her marriage and the direction her life had taken.

She always brought Bailey, her chocolate Labrador retriever, on her September sojourns to Block Island. Bailey enjoyed seeing the seals every year, and they seemed curious about her. But Bailey had become too arthritic to make the trip this year.

About the Author: Cynthia Flowers, a recently retired advertising professional, now grant writer, resides with her husband and four-year old Labrador named Eddie, at their “sanctuary” in Upstate New York, Although previously published, this is Cynthia's first book of fiction. Early on in grade school, Cynthia looked forward to creative writing class and enjoyed reading her stories aloud to her eager classmates.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Only-September-Cynthia-Flowers-ebook/dp/B0DWT79L6N/ref=sr_1_1

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Blurb Blitz - Everything You've Ever Wanted by Jess Ames

It's a blurb blitz and this time it's for Everything You've Ever Wanted by Jess Ames. You'll want to keep reading. Why? There are prizes in addition to this new book! Like? Jess Ames will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. How cool is that? Want more chances to win? Then follow the tour. You can do that here: https://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2025/03/blurb-blitz-tour-everything-youve-ever.html

EVERYTHING YOU'VE EVER WANTED

by Jess Ames

Jenna Mitchell has spent her adult life under the control of her husband, her dreams of owning her own bakery pushed aside. But at twenty-eight, she's finally ready to reclaim her life and pursue her passion. Well… almost.

With the unwavering support of the Sensational Six—her close-knit group of friends—Jenna can finally envision a day where she is in charge of her own destiny, a big step forward for her. As she works at her friend’s café, Jenna begins to discover the strength and courage she needs to break free from her past and begin focusing on her future.

But can she quiet the echoes that keep finding their way back to her? Will the doubts they’ve created make it impossible for her to see—and trust—the path forward before her chance at a better life slips through her flour-dusted fingers?

Fans of Rachel Hanna will enjoy this warm and uplifting story about self-discovery, finding the courage to start anew, and the unbreakable bonds of chosen family.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now for An Excerpt:

I was sifting powdered sugar over a just-cooled apple strudel when my husband called from county jail. Leaning over the tiny kitchen table in my tiny new apartment above the café where I worked, I was imagining myself with my apron-covered hip propped against a gleaming stainless steel table, putting the finishing touches on a last-minute order that had come in through my bakery’s website. Back and forth with the sifter… downy, white flakes danced around each other as they floated and settled into their resting places.

B-r-r-r-r-r-t

The rumble of the phone against the white laminate broke me from my time-worn daydream. I reached up to adjust the white baker’s cap that existed only in my mind, pressed pause on my dream, and shook my head to clear it. When I read the caller ID, my stomach folded in on itself.

‘Collect call’

Craig.

I took a deep breath that settled in my chest and refused to return. I set the sifter down on a nearby dish and picked up my phone. For a moment, just a moment, I held it in my hand and considered letting him go to voicemail. But a lifetime of experience told me that ignoring a man who will not be ignored would only delay the inevitable.

"Hello?" I said, forcing the air from my lungs.

My husband’s out-of-touch politician's voice poured through the phone. “Jenna, sweetheart. Are you busy?” Without waiting for me to answer, he continued. “I need you to do me a favor, baby. Can you please come down here and bail me out? I can’t sit here for one more day.”

I shifted the phone to my other ear and wrapped my free arm around my waist as I paced the twenty steps it took to reach the other end of my apartment and back. He wasn’t going to like my reply. "Craig, I just don't think I can do that. I don't have the money for it right now. I'm sorry."

This was apparently not the answer he was expecting, because, as expected, his demeanor slipped from the fake, sticky sweetness of corn syrup to hot, burning rage faster than a falling soufflé. "You're sorry? You're sorry? Be sorry that you haven't already come down here to get me. I'm your husband, Jenna. Remember the vows you took? Love, honor, and obey?"

Recognizing the opening line to the endless refrain of our marriage, I pulled a chair away from my kitchen table and willed my shaky legs to deposit me safely into it.

"Yes, I do remember, Craig. But I still can't afford to come and bail you out right now. I have expenses I need to think about."

The sound of what I could only assume was the phone bashing against a hard surface assaulted my eardrum. "You have expenses because you decided to leave our home and go live above that — that woman's café."

"That woman is my boss, and my friend," I reminded him, "and she’s been nice enough to let me stay here."

"You don't need to stay there," Craig argued back. "What you need to do is come and get me so we can go home together where we belong.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About the Author:

Jess Ames is knocking on the door of fifty, but has the sense of humor of a twelve year old and the body of a fifty-four-year-old (according to her fitness app).

She is “mama” to nine, “mimi” to four, “friend” to all, an adequate wife, and living the dream of the little girl who wanted to be a writer when she grew up.

They are both still waiting for that moment, so she’s writing in the meantime.

https://JessAmesAuthor.com
Facebook.com/JessAmesAuthor
Instagram.com/JessAmesAuthor
TikTok.com/@JessAmesAuthor

Everything You’ve Ever Wanted

Ebook (Kindle):
https://www.amazon.com/Everything-Youve-Wanted-Clearwater-Dreams-ebook/dp/B0D9FMKVTQ

Paperback:
https://www.amazon.com/Everything-Youve-Ever-Wanted-heartwarming/dp/B0DZJ1DTXN

Signed paperback:
https://jessicaames.com/collections/books/products/everything-youve-ever-wanted-signed-paperback

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

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Book Blast - The Last Door, Ajar by Michael Holly Barrett

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Michael Holly Barrett will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

It is 1945. The infamous Max Smartz, superspy; Eva Braun, wife of Adolf Hitler; Joseph Goebbels, propaganda minister; and Otto Klugg, intelligence officer, do not die at the end of World War II, but trick the guards in the Fuhrerbunker tunnels, allowing them to make their escape. Their escape plan is to reach war-neutral Southern Ireland, where Maxwell Smartz has an established base and is familiar with rural south Kerry and its people. They evade capture and eventually reach France. Here, they meet with a good friend and colleague, an undercover agent called Maurice Le Blanc, who asks them to assist him in retrieving some stolen gold bars.

After finding the fortune, the friends attempt to retrieve it in an old Dutch van but are continually thwarted and risk losing everything. To complicate matters, they learn that Max's brother, Victor, has been incarcerated in the notorious Spandau prison and is being tried for Nazi war crimes. They hatch a plot to save him, but is it worth the danger of going back to Berlin and being caught?

Read an Excerpt

After the D-Day landings, things started to go all wrong for Hitler and his Third Reich. Even before that, things started to go wrong for Hitler. He was not a good military strategist, in fact he was a bad one, and he meddled where he shouldn’t have poked his nose in. Invading Russia and attacking England were two big mistakes. That weakened his former strength. When 1945 came, it was near the end for him. By April the 20th, his birthday, it was almost all over for Germany. The bunker was built as a last resort, tunnels were dug out as escape routes when the worst came to the worst, and the worst did come to the worst. But all was not lost for Herr Hitler and he didn’t know it; his wife of only a few weeks, had other plans. She was not about to give up her life to some mad dog Russians or Yankee Americans. Now she was scheming on how to broach the subject with the boss. When is the best time to let him know of their plans of escape? She already had made contact with people on the outside who could help her, them. The Russians and the English, Yanks were all involved in a race to get into Berlin first and claim the head of the monster, Hitler. Goebbels was given implicit instructions when the final day would come to commit suicide, and he would have to dig a hole outside the bunker and then set fire to their bodies and fill in the hole. It was all so depressing for the newly-wed woman — the honeymoon was short-lived, and her grave was just a few hundred yards away.

About the Author: My humble beginnings in a terrace house with an outdoor toilet and indoor rats. The drinking water was got from a public pump in the street. We were all sailing in the Titanic,Third Class, but we were not aware of anything better. We had so much fun, swimming in the river. As kids we had wonderful imaginations.The only luxuries we ever saw were in the Cinema, usually American films, people smoking and drinking alcohol.

Everyone in the town of County Cork, Ireland seemed to be in the same boat; we made the best of it until the swinging sixties came along and changed everything. In spite of our poverty, I managed to get a College education. But opportunities were as scarce as rich Uncles. The Christian Brothers were brutal, and handy with the cane, in National School. I was lucky like many fellows my own age to get an apprenticeship as a diesel mechanic. Soon developed a taste for Alcohol, and got into trouble pretty soon, was lucky again to find A.A. and get my act together in 1978.

My hero died in 1977, Elvis Presley, the music stopped, the sixties was over, the Beatles were broken up, CCR, too. So getting sober was the best thing to do, under the miserable circumstances. I got a job as a Pipe Welder with ASME 1X certificate and began working around Europe, finally settling in warm Spain, Barcelona and met a Catalunya woman. Started writing for the first time, mostly comedies, Peter Sellers style, another hero of mine.

This is my second published book, I also self published earlier works Like ,'Gorilla Days in Ireland' by Michael Barrett, on Amazon. The Frankie Stein Enigma, and others, I paint oil and acrylic pictures, write mountains of poetry, sing and play the guitar.

' I do just about everything, that doesn't make any money for me.' But love doing what I do, writing poetry is mind stimulating, energising.

My favourite actors are William Holden, Warren Oates, Gregory Peck, and favourite detective the great Peter Falk in Columbo, a genius and Clouseau, Peter Sellers, and Peter Ustinov.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100045861996652
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-barrett-78b686103/

AMAZON.COM: https://amazon.com/dp/177962574X
AMAZON.CA: https://amazon.ca/dp/177962574X
BOOKTOPIA: https://www.booktopia.com.au/search.ep?keywords=9781779625748
ABEBOOKS: https://www.abebooks.com/products/isbn/9781779625748
BETTERWORLD BOOKS: https://www.betterworldbooks.com/product/detail/9781779625748

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Book Blast - Being Broken by Geoffrey R Jonas

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Geoffrey R. Jonas will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

A young woman dies alone in a hotel room, her fentanyl-poisoned cocaine still on the desk. She had been missing for nearly 2 weeks. Social Services had been trying to find a place for her to live with her 3-year-old son, whom she had left with her parents. Six months later her father fights for his life in intensive care, but succumbs to his illness because of a lifelong use of alcohol and tobacco. A month after his death her mother is assessed by doctors to be unable to care for herself because of her Alzheimer's and mental health issues brought on by benzodiazepine and alcohol addiction.

The son, brother, stepson is the only one left to pick up the pieces. He begins a journey of the self and finds out the truth of his family. After going over letters, notes, emails, videos, and text messages, he uncovers a disturbing picture of the abuse his sister suffered at the hands of their parents. He also begins to better understand his own struggles with mental health and substance addiction because of the trauma and abuse he also suffered from their parents.

Follow the son as he looks through his family history to discover the generational abuse that trickled down through the years. Learn about how parents who suffer from narcissistic personality disorder emotionally abuse and manipulate their children. See how the abuse and trauma becomes mental illness in the abused, and how they fall into vicious traps of addiction, eating disorders, self-harm, and complex post-traumatic stress disorder. Witness the transformational change of the son as he works on the recovery of his inner child and tries to become the man he was meant to be.

Read an Excerpt

Essay: Fault vs. Responsibility and Blame

Before I continue, I wanted to interject a discussion on fault versus responsibility and blame. My ability to have forgiven my father all came down to a discussion with my therapist on whether they were at fault for my trauma, or if they were responsible or to blame for that trauma.

Human beings are not born with instincts. A baby left on its own will die. It will not search for food, it will not try to move or walk, and its only means of communication are cries. Many animals are born with instincts, such as marsupials or rodents that instinctively move to a mammary gland or an ungulate that will attempt to get up and walk or move, as soon as it is able, to find food.

With this truth in mind, the conclusion is that all human behaviour is learned from our caretakers, then our peers as we get older. Early childhood development dictates that children learn behavioural responses as soon as they are engaged by a caregiver. If we give them love and support, they develop healthy adaptations to the world around them. If their cries are unheeded and we leave them abandoned and rejected, a myriad of mental health issues will emerge as they get older.

This leads to how we apply fault vs. blame to behaviour and choices people make as they get older. We can’t fault a child for being racist if that is what their caregiver taught them; however, we can blame them for their actions if they are cruel and make the choice to harm others because of what they learned.

Further, we cannot fault an individual that suffers from a serious mental health issue if they have learned that adaptive behaviour due to not being provided with the proper love and support as they were developing. Again, however, we can blame them for making choices that cause harm to others. It is not their fault that their learned behaviours condition them to make poor choices, but they are still choices that have consequences.

This is a key factor in generational abuse and trauma. A child that grows up in an abusive home develops poor adaptive skills and behaviours. This can lead to all kinds of poor coping skills such as abusive behaviour towards others, self-harm, eating disorders, Substance Use Disorders, Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and an array of other mental health issues.

However, these disorders are treatable. It is critical that once we identify these types of behaviours, the individual begins a process of treatment and therapy to unlearn them and develop healthy ones instead. This took me years, and it is a lot of work. Many cannot do so without the proper support structures to allow it to happen. It is vital that treatment happens to end the generational cycle of abuse.

About the Author: Geoffrey is a first-time author. He lives peacefully by a lake, spending his time writing, painting, gardening, and woodworking. His recovery is ongoing, and he enjoys his privacy and seclusion.

Website: https://geoffreyrjonas.ca
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/55118142.Geoffrey_R_Jonas
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/livingwithcptsd.bsky.social
Amazon: https://a.co/d/eJTO4wq

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Book Blast - Life in Rotations by Farid Yaghini

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Farid Yaghini will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Farid Yaghini's unforgettable memoir takes you on a journey from escaping persecution in Iran to rebuilding a life in Canada and serving on the frontlines with the Canadian military. Filled with humour, heart, and unflinching honesty, his story of resilience, redemption, and the founding of Camp Aftermath will inspire you to believe in the power of hope and human connection.

Read an Excerpt

Sitting on the floor of my two-bedroom apartment, surrounded by half-assembled IKEA furniture and that damn Allen key, I wondered, What the hell have I done?

Callie, my three-year-old daughter, sat happily among the chaos, blissfully unaware of the weight of the decisions that had led us here. Cindy and I had split, and although it was amicable, I knew that simply clocking in for a nine-to-five job and coasting through life wasn’t going to cut it—not for me, not for her. I needed to be better. I needed to be someone she could look up to. But how?

As I wrestled with my own demons, I kept seeing news about veterans taking their own lives—men and women who had faced the same wars, same losses, same struggles as me. What if I could do something? What if I could take all my lessons, my pain, and turn it into something meaningful?

That idea turned into an obsession. My bedroom became an ops room, plastered with notes, ideas connected by strings like a tactical plan. Then it hit me—Camp Aftermath. A way to help veterans and first responders heal through volunteerism, to find purpose, to rewrite their stories.

I had no funding. No roadmap. Just a promise to my daughter that I would become the kind of man she could be proud of.

And once I made that promise, failure wasn’t an option.

About the Author

Farid Yaghini was born in Iran and fled to Pakistan with his family to escape religious persecution following the Islamic Revolution of 1979. At the age of nine, he immigrated to Canada as a refugee, navigating the confusion and frustration of adapting to a new way of life. Through it all, he carried a deep sense of resilience, hope, and an irrepressible knack for finding humour, even in the most challenging moments.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/F.Yaghini
Website: http://campaftermath.org
Amazon Buy Link: https://amazon.com/dp/0228884977

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Free Book! Patricia Leavy is giving away copies of SHOOTING STARS ABOVE

Patricia Leavy is giving away copies of SHOOTING STARS ABOVE, her upcoming romance from

She Writes Press. How to get yours? It's easy... just complete the Rafflecopter below and you'll

receive one from the author!

So, what's the book about? Here's the info:

For fans of Colleen Hoover comes an emotionally charged contemporary romance about a

internationally best-selling novelist and a federal agent fighting to heal past wounds.

Tess Lee is a world-famous novelist. Her inspirational books explore people’s innermost

struggles and the human need to believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel—but despite

her extraordinary success, she’s been unable to find personal happiness. Jack Miller is a federal

agent working in counterterrorism. After spending decades immersed in a violent world, a

residue remains. He’s dedicated everything to his job, leaving nothing for himself.

The night Tess and Jack meet, their connection is palpable. She examines the scars on his body

and says, “I’ve never seen anyone whose outsides match my insides.” The two embark on an

epic love story, but old traumas soon rise to the surface as Jack struggles with the death of a

loved one and Tess is forced to confront her childhood abuse. Can unconditional love help heal

their invisible wounds? Together, will they be able to move from darkness to light?

Praise for the book

Featured on Ms. Career Girl “A Book for Every Type of Reader to Kick off 2025.”

Featured on She Knows “22 Incredible New Books That You’ll Want to Get Your Hands on in

2025.”

“Patricia Leavy crafts a riveting narrative that shows the healing power of love and how it helps

wounded souls become whole once again.”—Readers’ Favorite, 5-star review

“For readers seeking a story that restores faith in humanity and shines a light on the beauty of

connection, this novel is a must-read.”—Literary Titan

“For so many of us, perhaps all of us, life is challenging as we learn to live through and with

trauma, grief, and loss. Shooting Stars Above shows us how to thrive through unconditional

love. Read this book—it will crack your heart wide open.” —Laurel Richardson, author of Lone

Twin

“Leavy has done what she does best: write a story that you won’t be able to put down until you

finish the final sentence. Shooting Stars Above is a love story about friendship and real

romance, but most importantly, it is a story about learning to love ourselves, the most difficult

love of all.” —Sandra L. Faulkner, author of Poetic Inquiry: Craft, Method, and Practice

For a free copy of the book, please fill out the Rafflecopter below:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f5119/

Book Blast - Mean Cuisine by Wendy M Webb

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Wendy will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Beluga Stein is taking a cooking class and it's a real killer. This time she's traded her signature loud muumuus for ill-fitting chef attire, including a toque the size of her ego.

A well-liked chef is found dead and it's up to Beluga and her feline familiar, Planchette, to investigate. There's no recipe to follow, only the hope that her erratic psychic ability will hit the spot. Is a supernatural entity stirring up trouble, or something far more dangerous?

Beluga and Planchette can't stand the heat, but there's no way out of this kitchen while murder is the main dish.

Read an Excerpt

Beluga Stein’s Diary

The evil smell lingers.

Even with all the windows in the house open, the doors cracked a notch, the attic fan going full blast, and Planchette’s tail fanning his face like he was Egyptian royalty preparing for personal delivery of a peeled grape, the odor of exploded eggs clings to everything like a sock stuck to the back of a shirt by static cling.

Alas, there is no magic laundry cloth to separate one thing from another. So for now I’ll have to live with sulfuric fumes and pretend I like them. Or at least pretend they weren’t there even after the water long since boiled out of the pot and left the eggs all alone. My choices are severely limited.

Not that I didn’t consider Tanya’s suggestion to move into a hotel room for the night. I did. Briefly. But my reputation in this small town precedes me, so the various housing entrepreneurs said. In rather unkind tones, I should add.

So what if my reservation for three included a surly goat, a cat with an attitude, and myself? Emerson, while a gifted goat in many ways, has not yet mastered opening a mini bar. Planchette has little interest in watching expensive in-room movies unless there’s a female cat in the leading role, and I’ve been housebroken for months now. So why not take us for the night?

Honestly, people can be so rigid.

To: Food-Co
From: Culinary Program
Re: Weekly Purchase Order

—Wheat flour, 100 lbs.
—All purpose flour, 100 lbs.
—Sugar, 50 lbs.
—Butter, 50 lbs.
—Eggs, 4 cases
—Body bag, 1

About the Author:

Wendy W Webb (aka one of the many Wendy Webbs) has published dark fantasy short stories and novels, co-edited anthologies, and has had productions of stage and radio plays. After a hiatus as a doctoral student of emergency management and as a disaster responder, she welcomed the return to fiction with The Wild Rose Press writing the gothic Widow’s Walk, and two updated books in the Beluga Stein supernatural-humor-murder mystery series, Bee Movie and Mean Cuisine. Sunbury Press under the Milford House imprint published the paranormal, travel, “memoir,” Eye of the Gargoyle. She adores her husband; two dogs, one of which turns on iTunes whenever Wendy leaves her office; dry red wine; theatre; and travel as long as she doesn’t see anymore ghosts!

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/mean-cuisine-wendy-w-webb/1007879485
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Mean-Cuisine-Beluga-Stein-Mystery/dp/1509259279

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Book Blast - Bad Order by Mike Elliott

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Mike Elliott will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

This is the incredible true story of railroad worker and union official Mike Elliott, targeted by his railroad employer, BNSF Railway Company, for his safety-related activities. As the union's state legislative board chair, Elliott was the top safety official in the state, and the voice for over 900 rank & file locomotive engineers operating trains around the clock, every day of the year.

When his members reported a plethora of trackside signal malfunctions on the BNSF Seattle subdivision, Elliott went to the railroad first, asking that they fix the problems. When the BNSF failed to act, he contacted the government's regulatory authority, the Federal Railroad Administration. That led to an FRA inspection of over 130 miles of the railroad's track and signal systems turning up hundreds of federal defects – all with potential to put workers and the public at risk.

What followed was a retaliation plot reminiscent of the Nineteenth Century Robber Barons: A management-staged conflict at work, police called in, arrest, jail, criminal charges, and termination from his job – not once but twice.

The wrath, influence and power of North America's largest freight railroad is unleased in full force and in an all-out attack on a whistleblower's life, liberties, and career. An amazing journey of one man's righteous battle against impossible odds and the nearly unlimited resources of a multi-billion-dollar corporation.

Read an Excerpt:

His train was about three-quarters of a mile from the Longview yard office, which it passed less than seventy seconds later.

The approach signal to Longview Junction South was located at milepost 100.7. The Longview yard office was at milepost 100.3. If functioning as designed, this signal should have displayed a solid yellow aspect, indicating “approach and proceed prepared to stop at next signal, trains exceeding 35 MPH immediately reduce to that speed.” Burlington Northern dispatching records indicated that BN 111 passed the Longview Junction approach signal at approximately 12:20 A.M. Just after this time, the conductor of the local freight job, UP Train 59, was walking to the manually operated “hand-throw” switch at the north end of Longview yard. He later reported to investigators that the five locomotives of BN 111 passed him before he reached the switch, so he only saw the rear portion of the train, whose speed he estimated at 40 miles-per-hour.

While standing beside the switch, the UP 59 conductor heard what sounded “like thunder, just a rolling thunder.” At 12:24 A.M., BN dispatching records show that the Longview Junction South interlocking had a “power off” alarm. That marked the moment when southbound BN 111 collided head-on with northbound UP 09 at milepost 102.8. At least two motorists driving north on Interstate 5 witnessed the collision. One told investigators that he was traveling between 65 and 70 miles-per-hour when he passed UP 09, which he estimated “was probably doing 55.” What he saw was “a major explosion. It was unbelievable.” Another motorist reported that he saw the headlight of BN 111 coming at him; this because the railroad tracks were close and parallel to the freeway. He watched the train, waiting for the two converging trains to pass each other; instead, they slammed head-on into each other.

“There was just fire and devastation,” he said.

The impact of the collision ruptured the fuel tanks of six of the eight locomotives. Fire engulfed those six, as 10,000 to 15,000 gallons of diesel fuel spilled onto the tracks and over the banks of the Columbia River. The first fire-fighting unit arrived at 12:36 A.M., twelve minutes after the collision, and began knocking down the flames surrounding the locomotives. Although a total of forty-four fire and rescue units responded, the on-scene fire commander soon concluded that no one could have survived the flames; he ordered his units to stand down and let the fire burn itself out to consume the leaking diesel fuel and thus prevent further environmental damage.

About the Author: Mike Elliott was born and raised in Washington State. He enjoys the great outdoors of the Pacific Northwest, classic rock & roll music, vintage stereo gear, home cooked meals, and Seattle Mariners baseball. He lives in Tacoma, Washington.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/224714537-bad-order
Buy Link: https://amazon.com/dp/1779626037

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VBT - THE ANGEL SCROLL Penelope Holt

 It's a virtual tour and there are prizes to be won as well as a cool book to check out. What's there to win? One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $25 Amazon/BN.com gift card. How cool is that? Want more chances to win? Then follow the tour. You can do that here: https://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2024/11/fs-nbtm-virtual-tour-angel-scroll-by.html

THE ANGEL SCROLL

by

Penelope Holt 

ONE ANCIENT PROPHECY, TWO HEARTBROKEN LOVERS, AND A WORLDWIDE SCAVENGER HUNT FOR THREE MIRACULOUS PAINTINGS.

After her husband’s death, New York artist Claire Lucas has baffling dreams and waking visions as she channels an enigmatic and healing painting of a holy man in India at the deathbed of a young woman. When widowed antiquarian Richard Markson announces that Claire’s canvas is one-third of three paintings prophesied by the Angel Scroll, a recently discovered Dead Sea parchment, she is pulled into an international scavenger hunt to find the stolen scroll and the paintings it predicts.

As she pursues the paintings with Richard across historic and holy sites in America, Israel, and Europe, Claire encounters a series of remarkable teachers. A Buddhist, a Benedictine monk, and a professor of early goddess worship all provide rich explanations for the artist’s compelling and perplexing psychic experiences — until she assembles the incredible triptych and deciphers its inspirational message for the modern world.

Now for An Excerpt:

In Benares, India, the sweltering night dragged on. Moonlight slid through the bedroom window and bathed the young, Christlike figure who sat cross-legged on the floor. Only a loincloth covered his slender hips, and his long, coarse hair was coiled in a topknot on his crown. He’d been watching the young woman on the low bed for hours. She was feverish, her breathing shallow, as she squinted at him now through half- closed lids. Her husband held her hand and shot the young man a pleading look. “Please let her live. I’m a rich man. I can pay you. I can help the poor of Benares, the poor of India.” 

“To thwart death is not to conquer it,” the young master said, and the husband buried his head in the bed’s embroidered cover. In a single, fluid movement, the holy man rose and stroked his host’s bent head, His long, graceful fingers raking the dark hair, slick with perfumed oil, revealing a channel of pale, moist scalp. 

Beyond the bedroom, in the narrow hallway, the master found his three companions propped against a wall and dozing. He tapped the closest with a calloused foot, and one by one the sleeping men awoke. “Is she well now?” the tall one asked, stretching. 

“She will be dead come dawn,” his master whispered, as the four men stepped into the dusty and deserted Indian night. 

The phone rang. Claire woke up and realized her face was wet. She’d been crying again. She eyed the clock—9 a.m. She cleared her throat, picked up the phone, and tried to sound awake. “Hello?” 

“You still sleeping?” Claire held the phone away from her ear to stop Deirdre Vetch’s whine from piercing her brain. “You’re coming to the gallery to talk about the painting, right? We must talk.” Deirdre’s verbal pummeling began. 

About the Author:

Penelope Holt was born and educated in England and now lives in New York. She is a novelist, playwright, business writer, and marketing executive, whose work has been performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, York Arts Center, and New York’s American Folk Theater. In addition to writing fiction,  The Angel Scroll, and The Apple, based on the controversial Herman Rosenblat Holocaust romance, Holt is a prolific writer, editor, and co-author of non-fiction, including Business Intelligence at Work A Personal Operating System for Career Success, Singing God’s Work, the story of the Harlem Gospel Choir, and many other works. She is married with two children.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Angel-Scroll-Prophecy-Destiny-Novel-ebook/dp/B0D56KD3N5/ref=monarch_sidesheet_title

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