Winner! Winner!

BIG THANKS to everyone who turned out yesterday to support my FABULOUS CP, Jo Robertson in the release of her debut novel, THE WATCHER!

I really appreciate your support and Jo was overwhelmed with your wonderful, positive responses.

As for the winner of a free download of Jo's romantic thriller, THE WATCHER...

CONGRATS KATHLEEN O!

Please contact Jo at:
jo.lewisrobertson AT yahoo DOT com to arrange for your FREE book!

Jo Robertson and The Watcher

Today I'm happy to welcome a special guest, my fantastic critique partner and fellow Bandita Jo Robertson! We're going to talk about her debut book THE WATCHER and give away a free ebook to one lucky commenter.

JR: First, Aunty Cindy, thanks for inviting me to blog with you today. You are my CP extraordinaire!

AC: Thanks a bunch for being here, and for your wonderful critiques of my work! But, tell us about your current project.

JR: I'm very excited that THE WATCHER, my Golden Heart-winning book, is available on Amazon, both in paperback and as an electronic download.(Just click on the title of this post to go to the kindle page on Amazon!)

THE WATCHER is the first book I completed that didn't have to be stuffed under the bed never to see the light of day again! It's the story of forensic psychiatrist Kate Myers and Deputy Sheriff Ben Slater who work together to solve a serial murder crime. Both Kate and Slater are struggling to leave the dark places in their lives. As they take this dangerous journey to capture a killer, they must learn to trust and rely on each other.

Here's the back blurb:

Forensic psychiatrist Kate Myers believes the killer of two teenage girls in Bigler County, California, is the same man who savagely murdered her twin sister over fifteen years ago. Working with a single-minded tenacity, she sets out to prove it.

Deputy Sheriff Ben Slater hides his personal pain behind the job, but Kate's arrival knocks his world on its axis. He wants to believe her wild theory, but the idea of a serial killer with the kind of pathology she proposes is too bizarre.

Together they work to find a killer whose roots began in a small town in Bigler County, but whose violence spread across the nation. A Janus-like killer, more monster than man, he fixates on Kate. The killer wants nothing more than to kill "the purple-eyed girl again."

AC: THE WATCHER has an unusual kind of villain. Where did you get the idea for him?

JR: Actually, I got the idea when I was taking a Women's Psychology course at our local college. I was fascinated by one of the true cases our professor told us about. I took that concept, tweaked and twisted (really, really twisted) the idea until I came up with the very unusual kind of serial killer in THE WATCHER. Since the book's a romantic thriller, I don't want to spoil anything!

I get many of my ideas from TV shows or movies, classes I've taken, lots of administration of justice class which are really fascinating, or books and magazines. It only takes a kernel to spur a writer's imagination.

AC: I completely agree about ideas coming from everywhere. Why do you write romantic suspense?

JR: The two genres I most enjoy reading are historical romance (preferably with a daub of mystery) and romantic suspense. Everyone's saying the RS market is soft right now, but I figure that's what I like to read and it's the easiest for me to write.

This particular book definitely came out of the psychology case I mentioned earlier. I won't say too much, but I will say that the crux of the mystery involves the idea that sexuality isn't the fluid kind of thing psychologists once thought. It's much more complex than that, and sometimes a person's genetic makeup is in opposition to his/her real sexuality.

AC: I loved this story and I'm thrilled to have this book released so that everyone can read it. What's next for Jo Robertson?

JR: The second book, THE AVENGER, in this loosely connected trilogy will be available on Amazon in September. It's another serial killer book and involves two childhood sweethearts who are tragically separated and then meet again to solve a current case. We'll see Sheriff Ben Slater return in this one as a secondary character.

I've also completed two historical suspense stories and most recently a young adult paranormal, which made the first cut in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest.

AC: I'm lucky enough to have read THE AVENGER and it is another GREAT read! Plus we get to see Ben Slater again -- YIPEE! I've read Jo's other work too (Being her CP has definite perks) and enjoyed all of them. I'm sure readers will be just as happy as I am to have these books available!

Thanks so much for joining me today, Jo. Now get back to work on THE AVENGER!

Jo was inspired by her psychology class. What was your favorite class when you were in school?

Jo will be giving away a free download of the electronic version of THE WATCHER to one lucky commenter. Also, if you'd like a postcard of either THE WATCHER or THE AVENGER, or even a postcard of Aunty Cindy's THE SIDHE PRINCESS send your snail mail addy to: cindymm18 AT gmail DOT com

5 Landmarks

August is winding down and here in Nor Cal so are vacations. As mentioned in a previous post, we took an early vacation this year to Mackinac Island and had a fabulous time. But then, I seldom have a bad time on vacation!

I love to go and see new places and I've been lucky enough to visit so many of the wonderful places I read about as a child and young adult. All this led me to thinking about some of my favorite landmarks that I once studied in school and got a chance to see for myself up close and personal.

Here then are my Top 5 Landmarks In the USA:

1. The Grand Canyon -- Truly lives up to all the hype. I've been to it several times -- even got food poisoning there once! -- and am always awestruck.
2. Mount Rushmore -- Ever since I saw the movie "North by Northwest" when I was a kid, I wanted to see "the faces" as my DH calls them. We finally made it there about ten years ago and it was well worth the trip! I found the film about how the carvings were done every bit as interesting as Rushmore itself.
3. The Washington Monument -- As far as man made landmarks go, this is a BIGGIE in my opinion. On my very first trip to Washington DC back in the mid-1990s, I found the Washington Monument way more impressive than either the Capitol or the White House.
   
4. Old Faithful -- I'd seen a gazillion photos, films, even cartoons about the famed geyser, so of course, it was the first place I headed on my first visit to Yellowstone Park. The whole park is full of fantastic sights, but Old Faithful truly is the crowning jewel. I had to sit around waiting for 45 minutes, but once the geyser actually erupted it was spectacular!
5. The USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor -- Being a history buff, I'd read and seen tons of info on the memorial built over the sunken battleship. Since WWII was before my time (and even before my parents' time) I didn't think visiting the memorial would be such a moving experience. I was wrong. I've gone back every time I've been on Oahu because it truly is that compelling. I even took my then-15-year-old nephew once and he was equally moved.

I had a really difficult time narrowing down my list to only five! So please, tell me what are some of YOUR favorite landmarks? And you don't have to stick to the US.

The Sidhe Princess Blurb

Next month I plan to release my first attempt at Indie publishing -- my paranormal novelette, The Sidhe Princess.

Here's my GORGEOUS cover, created by the lovely and talented Kim Van Meter (see more of her covers at
http://bit.ly/pbVV45 )

And here is a first look at the "blurb" for the story:

In the rural Northern Ireland of the 1960s, sixteen-year-old Moira Mullins is newly released from her second stay in a mental institution. Her problem is that she can't seem to escape the notice of the other-wordly inhabitants of the wild lands bordering her family's farm. Creatures nobody else can see or hear.

When one of these beings, a fairy princess called the Maid of Ulster, offers to foretell the future, Moira jumps at the chance. But the Maid has ulterior motives that could have tragic results for Moira, who learns the future is sometimes better unknown.

I'll be sharing more details about when and where you can purchase The Sidhe Princess when I know them.

In the meantime, if you'd like a post card of the cover, email me (via my website, link on the sidebar) your snail mail addy and I'll be happy to send you one!

WTH HAPPENED?!?!?!

You may have noticed that all the pictures have disappeared from my blog.

ME TOO!

WTH?!?!?!?!

Okay, I'll admit, this was partly my fault. A couple of weeks ago, I volunteered to be a beta tester for a new Google online community. Why not? Sounded like fun, and it was for a few days. Then, to my HORROR, I logged onto my "profile" in this community and discovered that in addition to the photos I'd downloaded, ALL my photos-- personal, family and vacation shots, the works -- were sitting there on my profile just waiting for someone to come along and... ACK!!!

I admit, I freaked out more than a little and rushed to delete those "photo albums" that I had not downloaded. No, I did not read the fine print. I was too flustered. But Google, in its infinite wisdom, also deleted those pictures from ALL Google products. Since this blog is a "Google product" (on a Google platform) --

CHOP! CHOP!

I've filled out their customer service forms, but to no avail it seems. And I'm too old to possess the time or patience to go in and add pictures to over four years worth of blog posts.

So... as of today, I'll be starting again to include pictures in my blog... HERE!