Saturday, April 11, 2015

Guest Post by Wendy May Andrews, Author of The Duke Conspiracy

I'm happy to welcome Wendy May Andrews, author of The Duke Conspiracy, a sweet Regency romance. Wendy loves the Regency period-- here are her top reasons why:

Top Ten Reasons I Love Regency Romance

10. All the Books I get to read in the name of Research – as the Regency era is my favorite period to read about, and a writer really must keep abreast of what is current on the marketplace, it could actually be considered a tax deductable expense ;-)

9. The Settings – Regency era England had spectacular decor and architecture. I find it a challenge to sufficiently describe these but they are a great pleasure and one of the reasons I love Regencies.

8. The Clothes – I am sure wearing all those layers regularly would be wearying today, but everything a Regency lady wore was so elegant. And there was a specific, appropriate gown to be worn for each occasion. A lady could change her clothes up to six times a day! Gentlemen, too, had elaborate, spectacular wardrobes. I would have loved to see that time with my own eyes. It is a pleasure to write about.

7. The Manners – the lords and ladies of Regency England had such impeccable manners. They were so proper and there were quite rigid rules involving any social interactions. But it’s so fun to read how the characters either circumvent these rules or accomplish their ends within them.

6. The Vocabulary – connected with the correct manners, Regency lords and ladies were very well read and had a much more extensive vocabulary than most people today. And they had hilarious expressions for things, like bosky, foxed, or disguised means drunk and blunt, brass, and ready refer to money.

5. The Conflicts – Since the Regency era also coincides with the Industrial Revolution there were so many changes taking place. Women were gaining rights, and many members of the ton were gaining or losing their wealth based on various inventions. It is a fascinating time period.

4. The Research – There are reams of information available about the Regency era. I spend hours researching. So many fascinating things were taking place politically with the Napoleonic wars and then all the negotiations when the war ended. Fashions were changing. Industrialization brought modern conveniences.

3. Jane Austen – really, need I say more? Who doesn’t love her? Austen’s writings were contemporary for her but they have stood the test of time.

2. The Excitement – Regency romances always hold such an edge of excitement. The lords and ladies were so sly with their speech. There are so many subtleties; most Regencies need to be read carefully to catch the nuances. The conflicts and developments of the times lead to many exciting twists and turns to the story.

1. Georgette Heyer – the number one reason why I love Regency Romances. Georgette Heyer, the godmother of the genre, was amazing. Her comedic timing and use of tension and conflict keep readers coming back for more. I love to read and reread her books over and over.

So what do you think? I don't know about you, but I'm in the mood for a little Regency romance now :)
Isn't the cover gorgeous?


The Duke Conspiracy

Wendy May Andrews

Sweet Regency Romance
Clean Reads
March 2015

Amazon | B&N | iTunes

Miss Rosamund Smythe, the only daughter of a baron diplomat, is finding the Season to be a dead bore.  After her stint at spying while in Vienna with her father, she wants a higher purpose in life than “just” being a wife.

His Grace, Alexander Milton, the Duke of Wrentham, wants a quiet life with a “proper” lady as his wife after the tumultuous childhood he had.  His parents had fought viciously, lied often, and Alex secretly wonders if he was even his father’s son.

Rose and Alex grew up on neighboring estates and have been best friends since she was four years old but a family feud has torn their friendship apart.

At a Society event Rose overhears a plot to entrap Alex into a marriage of convenience.  Her loyalty to their old friendship as well as her knowledge of the conspirator, Sir Jason Broderick, causes Rose to overcome her aversion to Wrentham in order to warn him of his danger.  Alex’s complicated childhood has caused him to despise all forms of deception so Rose avoids telling him how she knows so much about Sir Broderick.

When Rose is abducted by Sir Broderick to prevent her interference, Alex must deal with his own conflicted feelings to help her rescue herself. Can they claim their happily ever after despite the turmoil?

Excerpt

Alex gazed at his old friend in admiration. If anyone had ever told him he would be standing in Burlington House surrounded by Elgin’s Marbles debating with Miss Rosamund Smythe about who might be conspiring to entrap him into marriage, he would never have believed such a claim. But here they were. And she looked mighty fetching as she gazed up at him expectantly. He had to make an effort to remember what she had said. Oh yes, something about ideas to investigate. He wondered absently what she could possibly know about investigations and clues and all that. But she was right. They needed to have a direction. The only trouble was he was drawing a blank about any possible ideas.
All he could do was shrug helplessly. “I am so sorry, Rose, but I have absolutely no idea where to start. To the best of my knowledge I have never had any dealings with Broderick. I developed an instant dislike of the man upon first making his acquaintance, but I cannot even tell you why, as we have barely conversed.”
The duke was clearly flabbergasted over this development and was even slightly ashamed to not have a ready solution. Rose must have realized this. She hastened to reassure him. “Never mind about that. We both agreed earlier that the best place for us to start is with Lady Anne. That will have to be my job, as you will just be walking straight into their plot if you try to do anything about it. Now, I really must be going, so we must hurry and establish another appointment to meet up to discuss any of our findings. In the meantime, you should speak to your solicitors or man of affairs or whatever you might have along those lines and see if they are aware of any issues Broderick might have with you. Those gentlemen might know more on the subject than you.”
“How did you get so smart about such things?”
Alex was intrigued by the blush that spread over her face at this unanswerable question. The only thing she could offer was “My father is a diplomat,” with as much dignity as possible.
Alex allowed the moment to pass and was rewarded by the look of relief on her face. He hurried to make an appointment as they saw her maid approaching. “Would it be remarked upon if you come here again tomorrow or the next day?”
“Probably not,” Rose answered. “My mother never rises before noon and is really only concerned with how I spend my evenings. But you had best give me at least one day to try to make the acquaintance of Lady Anne, so let us say the day after tomorrow. That gives me a day and a half to gather as much information as possible. I shall start with my friend Lady Elizabeth. She is a font of knowledge about the ton, as well as being friendly with Lady Anne.” While she was speaking she fumbled with her drawing supplies, finally tucking them under her arm. “Wish me luck,” she concluded as she once more faced the duke.
The duke watched a myriad of emotions chase themselves across his companion’s face. He was unable to identify most of them, but he thought she looked rather wistful as she offered him a brief curtsy before she hurried away without another word.
  Alex stood in the same spot for several moments, watching her retreating figure, wondering if she would look back before exiting the building. He was unprepared for the profound disappointment that swept over him as she strode away with purpose, never once glancing back in his direction. Slowly bringing his focus back to the statue she had been sketching, the duke allowed the entire interlude to play itself out in his mind. Giving his head a shake to rid himself of the melancholy that had befallen him, he followed in her footsteps and strode from the hall.

About the Author

Wendy May Andrews has been reading whatever she could get her hands on since the age of five. She has been writing for almost as long but hasn’t been sharing those stories with anyone but her mother until recently. Wendy lives in Toronto with her own real-life hero. When not writing or reading, they love to travel wherever the mood takes them.

Twitter:  @WendyMayAndrews

Friday, April 10, 2015

New Release: A Chaos Within by Sara V Zook - Giveaway

A Chaos Within Blitz Banner

A Chaos Within
Publication Date: 10 April 2015

A Chaos Within Cover

Synopsis:

Home. What does that word mean to you? To me it means a feeling of comfort, security, feeling like I belong. Home is where I’m by Lydic’s side.

It’s been a whole year. I miss him. I miss the danger that follows him. I miss feeling untouchable because of his magic. My own realm is no longer my home. But how can I live with the guilt of vanishing again? It will kill my parents, especially my mom. She just won’t understand. No one will. I can’t tell them about Nimbus. They already think I’m crazy. I have my own psychologist picking and prodding my brain

 It doesn’t matter how much they question me. I’ll never tell them about the magic. I find myself wondering about Lydic, how he’s been and what it would be like to see him again—and then I do.

Add to Goodreads

Other Books in the A Magic Within Series

A Magic Within

A Magic Within
by: Sara V. Zook
A Magic Within, #1
Publication Date: 10 April 2015
Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Paranormal, Romance
Amazon - Print

Synopsis:

Normalcy. I need to get back to a state of normalcy. What’s happened to me? Why am I here in this orphanage, and why am I forbidden to leave?

Everyone is so very cruel here. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. It’s the paranoia getting to me. It’s like someone’s always watching, always listening. There’s a general fear around here, and for some reason, it seems fueled by my arrival, but why are they afraid of me? I didn’t ask for this. I don’t even know how I got here. I need to go home. My parents must be worried sick. There has to be someone here who can help me, who can give me answers and lead me in the right direction so I can get out of here.

There is this one boy, Lydic. Could he be my key to getting out? I can see it in his eyes he feels sorry for me. He seems to know more than he’s letting on. These people aren’t like anyone I’ve ever met before.

Add to Goodreads

About Sara V. Zook

Sara V. Zook Sara graduated from Pitt with a degree in creative writing. After a short hiatus of having children, she is back to doing what she loves and has been writing ever since. She was born and raised in Pennsylvania where she resides still with her husband and their three young children. She's the author of the Strange in Skin Trilogy: Strange in Skin, Evadere and Solace. She also wrote Clipped, a stand alone novel, and is working on another series which will begin in December, 2013.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Guest Post by Patrice Lyle, Author of Killer Kung Pao + Excerpt & Giveaway


I'm pleased to welcome Patrice Lyle, author of Killer Kung Pao to the blog. Below are her top ten fave books. You'll also find an excerpt along with a giveaway at the bottom of the post!

Top Ten Favorite Books and Why
By Patrice Lyle 

My favorite genre is cozy mystery. There’s nothing better than lying on the beach and reading a fun light mystery while eating dark chocolate. Okay, maybe add in a glass or two of champagne, and I’m set! A dream day!

Here are my ten favorite mysteries:

THIS PEN FOR HIRE by Laura Levine

KILLER CRUISE by Laura Levine

KILLER BLONDE by Laura Levine

SHOES TO DIE FOR by Laura Levine

DEATH OF A NEIGHBORHOOD WITCH by Laura Levine (are you sensing a trend yet?)

TOTE BAGS AND TOE TAGS by Dorothy Howell

SHOULDER BAGS AND SHOOTINGS by Dorothy Howell

PURSES AND POISON by Dorothy Howell (are you sending another trend?)

ALIBI IN HIGH HEELS by Gemma Halliday

LIMENCELLO YELLOW by Traci Andrighetti

All of these books are fun and fabulous!

So readers, what do you think? I haven't read any of these books, but I've only recently discovered the cozy mystery genre. What are some of your favorites?


Killer Kung Pao
Health Nut Mysteries #1

Patrice Lyle

Humorous Cozy Mystery
Gemma Halliday Publishing


Nook | iBooks | Kobo | 

Dr. Piper Meadows heads to the Body, Mind & Spirit Expo expecting to solve health problems, not murder. But her first day starts off wrong when famous psychic Mystic Ming compares her hair to a "dung beetle's nest" and tries to get her kicked out of the show. But Piper's bad-hair day gets worse when her Aunt Alfa gets in a public scuffle with Mystic Ming, where he accuses her of trying to poison him with her peanut oil-based essential oils. When Mystic Ming drops dead from his serving of killer kung pao laced with peanut oil, it's no surprise that Aunt Alfa is fingered as the prime suspect.

Unwilling to let her auntie squander her golden years in prison, Piper orders a set of How To Be a PI flashcards and sets out to find the real killer. Secrets and suspects sprout up faster than wheat grass, including a handsome tattoo artist, Tattoo Tex, who intrigues Piper more than she'd like to admit. But can she trust him? Piper had better solve the case of the killer kung pao before the murderer turns his sights on victim number two...one sleuthing doctor!




Excerpt

My aunt was the most adorable health nut ever. Clad in her size-two teal velour pantsuit, matching foam rollers, and red, patent-leather Mary Jane pumps, she strutted across the beige carpet pulling a neon green duffel roller bag and munching on a gluten-free Cosmic Cupcake (her favorite). She hadn't changed at all—including her hennaed hair—in the last three decades. And I hoped she never would.
"Hey, Pipe." She planted a kiss on my cheek. "You'll never guess what happened on our walk. It was the craziest thing."
Even though it had only been a couple hours since I'd last seen her, I gave her a quick hug. "I was wondering where you—"
And that was when I noticed the suspicious pink snout sticking out of the side zipper of Aunt Alfa's bag. Oh, holy chocolate babka to the nth degree.
"You heard that yoga girl at registration," I said quietly. "Animals aren't allowed in here, and we have to follow the rules."
She pursed her lips as if she were sucking a lemon, which she did every day because lemons are great for the liver, and pointed at a woman nearby who was accompanied by a guide dog. "Check out that dog. Studies have shown pigs are fourth on the intelligence roll, behind humans, primates, and dolphins."
I was familiar with the study because she talked about it all the time.
"It's rude to point." I gently lowered my auntie's arm before someone noticed her. "That woman is blind, Aunt Alfa. Guide dogs are always allowed."
"I know." Aunt Alfa crumpled up her Cosmic Cake wrapper and tossed it into a nearby trashcan, making the shot like a basketball star. "Our piglet should be allowed too because he's smart enough to be a guide pig. Besides, I'm ninety-one years old. I defy anyone to stop me."
A nonagenarian with a 'tude was what her dead ex-boyfriend had called Aunt Alfa during the nightmare séance. I feared he might have been on to something.
"I don't like it either, Aunt Alfa, but you have to take Brownie to our room."
"You know how depressed he gets alone. He'll pig out." She jutted out her crepe-paper jaw. "I can't believe I forgot Charlotte's Web. That's the only movie he likes."
Finally, progress. "Actually, he loves Babe, and I brought the DVD with me."
"Really?"
"Yeah. We watched it last weekend, and he sniffled at all the sad parts." I'd been in major Floyd-avoid-mode so I'd spent my Friday night curled up with a movie, a bag of dark chocolate chip cookies, and a piglet.
Aunt Alfa shot me her pity grin. "He was just being polite, Pipe."
That figured. Guys were all the same. Even the potbelly breeds.
Aunt Alfa rose on her toes and glanced around the room. "I'm going to find the manager and force him to see things my way."
Oh, no. Had I made a mistake insisting she come? I'd worried about her starting a riot at my condo complex while I was gone, but I hadn't considered the consequences at the expo.
"You have to take Brownie to our hotel room," I said. "Seriously."
Brownie must have recognized his name because just then a high-pitched, someone's-murdering-me piglet squeal erupted from her bag.
Weee. Weee. Weeeeeeeeeeee.
Several people turned in response. One woman having a tarot card reading by the yellow-turbaned psychic looked perturbed and asked, "Was that… a pig?"
Then a sneeze louder than a New York City firework festival rang out. Followed by a coughing attack.
"Mystic Ming allergic to pig," a familiar voice choked out. "Ming berry berry allergic to many things."
I turned to see Mystic Ming wobbling in the aisle across from me. Then his skinny legs buckled, and his face lightened to the shade of a marshmallow.
Right before he collapsed onto the expo floor. 


About the Author

Patrice Lyle loves green smoothies, dark chocolate, mysteries, and humor. She wove these elements together when she created the Health Nut Mysteries, a cozy series about a naturopathic doctor who solves mysteries at health expos. Patrice also writes paranormal young adult and middle grade fiction, as well as holistic medical suspense. She has an MA in Writing Popular Fiction and a PhD in Holistic Nutrition. She's also a Certified Traditional Naturopath. She now lives in Florida with her husband and two kitties, and is a firm believer in the theory that laughter is the best medicine.


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Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Interview with Katherine Hayton, Author of Skeletal + Excerpt

I'd like to welcome author Katherine Hayton to the blog. She was kind enough to answer a few questions about her new YA mystery, Skeletal.

Tell us about the main character. Who is Daina? How did you come to write her as a spirit?
Daina is a girl with a lot of bad luck, but also with a lot of heart. She has an overwhelming desire to do the right thing, not because that’s the way she’s been shown to live her life, but because that’s a need inbuilt in her psyche. I think that if she’d grown up in a stable and supportive environment then she would have been saving lives in third world countries, or reducing the poverty divide. Because she ended up with an unsuitable home environment she wasn’t given the chance to save the world, but she still has that driving need to do what’s right even when it’s not to her benefit.
The main character of this book was always going to be dead, and then the story was looking back at how that occurred. When I was trying to find a way to tell Daina’s story, I found it was too harsh to leave it as the events happening to a teenage girl. I wanted her to be able to tell what had really happened from her point of view, but then also to have a ‘grown-up’ reaction to it as well to soften the blow. From that need the spirit Daina developed, and her ability to look back over the life she’d led with a grim sense of humour made it possible to reveal a lot more than just a recitation of events.

The plot is quite imaginative. Where did you find inspiration?
I watched a reality series produced in Australia which was about a coroner who travelled around the remote towns performing inquests in a variety of settings. While I was watching it I thought how interesting it would be if you could hear the statements made by the witnesses, and then could see what had actually occurred. 
I also work for an insurer in New Zealand, and we have seen a new technique that’s been used after the earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 which lifts houses off their foundations. During a roadshow demonstrating this my mind wandered and I thought how devastating it would be to the homeowner if human remains were found under their house when this building technique was performed. 
Together those two ideas formed the backbone of the story.

What are some interesting things you learned while writing/researching this novel?
I learned a lot about the different schizophrenic disorders, and how they manifest themselves for the first time. It’s incredible to read about patient’s experiences when they’re perfectly normal one day, and then another they’re having to deal with a whole lot of extra stimuli which is created by their own minds but arrives through the same channels as any other sight, sound or feeling would. Having to learn what is real and what isn’t, and what to pay attention to and what to ignore, on top of being a teenager (which I remember as being a hard thing in and of itself) is a lot to deal with for anybody. 
It gave me a lot of respect for people who have to expend so much energy on getting up to a normal level, and then are still expected to do everything that anyone else would be doing on top of it. I find just the business of living day to day confusing, complicating and tiring. Adding another full-time job of sorting out my mental state to that would be unworkable.

Were there any scenes that were particularly difficult to write?
There are two rape scenes in the book which I found difficult to write. Both of them are meant to appear “grey” in nature, there’s no dark man in a black alley, and it was hard to balance them out to make sure the reader knows these are attacks, yet make them casual enough that the girls involved aren’t entirely certain enough to claim they have been assaulted.

Is there anything you’d like to tell your readers about the Skeletal?
It’s a damn fine read, and you should purchase a copy immediately. Also, it’s open to a number of interpretations because nothing is ever exactly as it seems, so feel free to make up your own mind because your opinion is just as valid as anyone else’s.

If you could visit anyplace in the world (cost is no object), where would you go?
Mission Beach, Australia. My darling and I usually go there once a year, and it’s our favourite holiday spot on the face of the planet. The township only has a population of 500 or so, but it has the most beautiful beach that we’ve ever walked on, and has the most amusing crabs of any beach we’ve seen. It’s hot and it’s sunny and you can just relax all the time you’re there. 
Each time we come back from a holiday there we keep saying we should try somewhere else next holiday, and we never do because we’d rather go back than go anywhere else.

If you could invite any fictional character to dinner, whom would you invite, and what would you serve?
I’d quite like to invite around Hannibal Lector so we could have a good natter about psychopaths and their favourite methods of killing. I’d serve up something offal.

Where can readers find you online?
They can find bits of me on my website www.kathay1973.com, or on my blogger page www.kathay1973.blogspot.co.nz, or on my facebook page www.facebook.com/kathay1973, or my goodreads page www.goodreads.com/kathay, or my amazon author page www.amazon.com/author/katherinehayton, or my google plus page https://plus.google.com/+KatherineHayton, but mostly I hang out on twitter https://twitter.com/kathay1973




Skeletal

Katherine Hayton

YA Mystery
January 2015

Amazon | B&N

Three months before she died Daina Harrow faced a bully at school.
Six weeks before she died Daina Harrow suffered an assault in the park.
One week before she died Daina Harrow stole a secret people had killed to hide.

That was ten years ago. Ten long years.

Now, her bones have been found on a building site. A coroner's inquest has been reopened. A parade of witnesses is about to start.
And Daina's here. Watching every day as her mother cries in the courtroom. Watching every day as her friends, and her enemies, and her killers lie about her on the stand.
Watching, and making sure that no matter what the coroner hears, you know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

So help you God.

Warning: this book contains some bad language, and scenes of sexual assault. Recommended for ages 17+ only.

Excerpt

Watch this. Watch this now. Those men - the ones in the fluoro vests and the hard hats and the mud-caked boots. They’ve removed the bricks of the house, by hand. They’ve piled them up and put them aside in neat square packages wrapped in tarpaulin, ready to use again when the time comes. They’re about to raise the house off its foundations.  
   It’s amazing.  
   Before the earthquake, no one had ever really tried something like this before. It was a proposition of something that might work in a trade magazine that no one would ever have read. Except now it was read, and practiced, because there were so many opportunities to try out things people had never tried before.  
   Opportunity, and the potential to save money. A perfect combination for experiments. And this thing works. 
   Watch them. Right there. They’re lifting the denuded house up off the foundations. It creaks and groans but it holds together. Amazing. 
   And look down in the foundations. Where they’re cracked and broken and the floor on one side has dropped almost a foot in height because of the liquefaction souping up the earth. That bit, where it’s broken so much the bare earth can be seen straight through the concreted silt. Even before anyone starts to try to crack it up. Broken along a prior instability. 
   That’s where I am.  
   Watch them as they pull aside the hard clods, and now – that one – he’s reaching forward, pulling one aside to expose a creamy white bone. He’s taking a step back now. He’s calling over his shoulder to a colleague. His site manager is about to be wholly pissed off, and frustrated because he’s not allowed to show it. Not in this situation. 
   But the whole site’s going to be roped off and their work is going to be backed up and he’s going to be on the phone for the rest of the day trying to shuffle everything around so he doesn’t lose more than a day’s wages for his crew. 
   It’ll take a while before they know that it’s me. There’s going to be a stream of ‘professionals’ coming by. They’ll carefully dig, and photograph, and exhume each bone. They’ll lay it out on a board in a morgue, making sure that each and every little piece of me is tagged and laid out in place.  
   They’ll drill into the bone, the femur, and try to get a read on the DNA left in the dried out marrow. They’re going to find a match with a file on a missing person. And that missing person file is going to be me. 
   My mum’s going to get a knock on the door that she’s been waiting for, and dreading, for a decade. She’s going to break down and cry with the easy tears of a drunk, even though her ten year chip takes pride of place in her jewellery box. 
   She’ll cry, and won’t hear half of what they say. But they’ll be patient, and they’ll go through everything with her again. And again. 
   I would cry too, if I still had something to cry with. 
   But for now that’s all poised in the distance, a series of dominos not yet pushed into action. For now, there’s just the hi-viz workers and the glimpse of something they know shouldn’t be there. For now there’s just my dead bones and the cold ground they’ve been stored in, hidden in, waiting for the puff of fresh air to caress their curves and lines. Waiting for the dirt to be brushed aside and their porous surface to inhale the warmth of the sun. 
   Waiting to be found.

About the Author

Katherine Hayton is a 41 year old woman who works in insurance, doesn't have children or pets, can't drive, has lived in Christchurch her entire life, and currently resides a two minute walk from where she was born. Fascinating, eh?

She's the author of two spectacular un-bestselling books (unless you count tiny niche genres on Amazon, which of course you should) FOUND, NEAR WATER and new release SKELETAL.
She is currently curled up on her couch with her typewriter (laptop) while she tries very hard to give birth to her next novel AS YET UNNAMED BUT PROBABLY INVOLVING GRUESOME MURDERS.

Monday, April 6, 2015

The Outerlands by Jared R. Lopatin - Excerpt & Giveaway



The Outerlands

Jared R. Lopatin

YA Fantasy
March 31, 2015

Amazon | Goodreads

Alex didn’t want to die, but he just couldn’t take it anymore. Dwight’s pills seemed to promise escape… and escape is exactly what he gets. He ends up in a world reminiscent of his childhood Wonderland, but nothing is as it was in Alice’s day. The Outerlands are a twisted version of his favorite story, with strange characters and unnatural dangers. Before he can get used to his new home, it’s threatened by an outside force. Will Alex ever find a place where he feels safe?





Excerpt

A knot had reformed in his chest. White hot; full of fear, despair, frustration, and rage. Nothing about his life was fair. If he stayed passive, he was tortured. If he fought back, he was punished. No one else felt the way he did. No one else could because no one else had the horrible life he did. He couldn’t talk to anyone about it. Not his parents. Not his friends. Certainly not the Principal. He was alone. Utterly alone.
A sob, primal and full of darkness, ripped itself from his throat and filled the room. He sat down at one of the desks with a bang. Pain shot through his buttock and he lifted off the seat, reaching back into his pocket. He had forgotten about the canister. He pulled it out now, examining the contents with vision blurred by hot, salty tears. There was a paper attached to the outside, but it was half ripped. The only thing he could make out was part of the doctor’s name (Ink-something) and a few letters in the middle of the medication name (me). Laughter bubbled up as he read it together: Dr. Ink me. Dwight had a strange sense of humor. Hiccoughing with a mixture of tears and laughter, he decided he would follow these strange instructions and he twisted off the top of the container. Inside were a bunch of white pills.
They seemed so innocuous, piled up together. This was his salvation; his only option. He barely took a moment to consider anything further except that here, in his hand, was an escape from his pain. From his life. The thought actually excited him. He didn’t want to just be numb. He didn’t want to be high. He wanted to be done. They would have to find someone else to kick around. Someone else to destroy. He wouldn’t have to deal with it anymore. Alexander Carroll Lewis would be free.
He brought the canister up to his lips, took a breath, then tipped the contents into his mouth. The pills were hard and chalky and they left his tongue feeling gross. He took a water bottle from his bag and uncapped it. Taking a huge swig, he felt the pills lift from his tongue and enter the liquid, moving around together.
He swallowed.

About the Author

Originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Jared fell in love with stories at a very young age. This love led him to major in English and Theatre, a decision that brought him many adventures, such as performing in Footloose, Cats, and West Side Story.

His first full novel, Rising Sign, was started backstage during a production of South Pacific in Indiana. Five years later, his debut novel was complete and he headed back to school for his Masters in Special Education. By the time he graduated, he had written the following two books in the trilogy, Ruling House and Returning Planet. He used his school experiences as a base for his standalone novel, Let's Play It By Ear. His newest novels, The Outerlands and The Good Witch are slated for release in 2015.

Jared currently lives in New York City with his cats, Benedick and Beatrice. He works during the day as a high school English teacher and theatre director at a Deaf school. 

Connect with Jared on his Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads