IN THE WOODS Murder In The North East Kingdom by Zguta

Book Release Today!

I am happy to announce that my novel

IN THE WOODS Murder In The North East Kingdom is now available in eBook format. #MurderMystery #thriller 

I worked on this story for years, it actually started out as a blog post which I abandoned, and later I was inspired to change the location and develop the character into the novel it is today.

The main protagonist is a strong female role model, no fancy fighting and far from perfect, but she does do battle within herself while she investigates a death.

A role-playing game staged in the remote woods of the North East Kingdom, turns into a deadly pastime when a killer uses the game as a means to seize his victims. 

A dead body is discovered in the woods by Samantha Tremblay, a Forest Ranger who works at Maidstone Lake. The locals call her Sam. She swears to bring the killer to justice for the victim but soon finds herself in over her head, as she works alongside New Hampshire Trooper Zachary Gerard assigned to the case. More bodies turn up and motivation to solve the crimes mount. 

Old secrets get in Sam’s way, and she isolates herself from others. Haunted by unanswered questions about the past, she lives with cracked relationships—between herself and her father—her friends. Mourning her mother, Samantha feels a pull toward her heritage, the Abenaki tribe, but is afraid to open that doorway. Could the tribe help discover the answers to her quest for the truth?

Pulled emotionally from all directions, Samantha Tremblay searches for answers to find a killer, and to discover herself.

I hope you grab a Kindle copy HERE and enjoy the book. 

Also available here at Smashwords. For those who prefer a more physical reading experience ⤍ the paperback will be available soon.

Help me spread the word and Thank you for sharing my news! 

Keep Reading - Keep Writing!

Quick Review- Letters To The Damned by Austin Crawley

Letters To The Damned by Austin Crawley

This book is an old fashioned creepy tale that will immerse you into the world of an old village and pumps the imagination with pictures that move, disappearing sounds, magic ceremonies and vague threats by bulls.

The author brings dimension to the character Cris Lopez, not the usual type to be venturing into an English village alone on vacation. There's charm in the details of the village, and definitely loads the atmosphere with mystique.

The story has an authentic Gothic feel to it for those who like the old fashioned tales. It doesn't have a fast pace but it didn't lag either.

A few elements in the story were confusing, and maybe they were meant to remain that way, or maybe a follow up book - perhaps. In my opinion, there were some chances missed in the story to build up the suspense. The characters' emotions could have been shown more intensely, and then this would have been a terrifying tale. At times the small everyday minutia became a little redundant and took the focus away from the protagonists emotional pull, but not long enough for me to give up on the story. I wanted to finish the book and find out how it fleshed out.

Over all, a good read. If you enjoy pondering what lies in the mist, and don't worry about perfection with an author, then this story is for you. I think this author is someone to watch for future books.

Keep reading - Keep writing!

Curses - Haunted By Them - Or Thrilled?

Labor Day is over, school is back in session, and another autumn is upon us.  The cooler fall evenings get me in the mood to cuddle up with a good horror book, or watch one of the old detective or monster films.

That's right - I am that person.  I love the autumn, love Halloween, and love a good scary story.


That's the reason my first novel BREAKING CURSED BONDS was released for this fall.  Usually it is better to wait until January and avoid being plunged in with the fall glutton of new books on the market, but I really think my story belongs in the darker days of autumn.

The main story begins with an ancient book that tells the tale of how an ancient curse befell the De Gourgues family - back in 1565!  A spiritual ceremony went wrong when an evil element was added to the mix.   A curse was created - causing a history of deadly consequences.

If you like the subject of curses and the spiritual realm, then you may like an interesting website  The Mystica   I discovered.  There is a post explaining curses which listed some of the history about how possession, voodoo mystical spells and the paranormal magic and how
they were used in different cultures.  Of course there is a lot more out there for those who dare dabble with the supernatural.

Soon Halloween will be upon us, and we will watch our thrillers and read about witches and spells - but be warned, there are many out there who believe in supernatural with all the revelry.  So be careful and always keep an open mind.

http://vintageholidaycrafts.com/

Keep reading - Keep writing!

TOP TEN HORROR FILM TRAILERS FOR 2013 - Which is your favorite?



Some Classic Reads -

  

The-Thin-Man-Dashiell-Hammett

                                                                Calamity-Town-Ellery Queen eBook

 

Halloween-Tree-Ray-Bradbury

And here is my new book -

  Breaking-Cursed-Bonds-ebook

Bravo Writing Community - Thank you! For your Enthusiasm & Guidance

Yes the end of the road is near...

Soon the eBook version of BREAKING CURSED BONDS will be released, and...

I would love to take a breather, but where one road ends - another begins!

Once the eBook is available September 1st, then promotion will be needed, as well as finishing up on the paperback formatting which will be released in November 2013.  I am a new author and self-publisher, and all this work to get the story finished has been a new experience with a wide learning curve.  Anyone who has a story to share can do it, and if your tool belt is rusty just ask for help.
 
My previous lines of work did not involve the same tools needed to write and publish.  I had a lot to learn.

I turned to fellow authors in the writing community, many who were happy to share their experiences and knowledge.

While every journey is unique, I was thankful for all the marvelous people who call themselves writers and authors.
 
In many business formats, competition rules, often cut throat competition.  One thing I have noticed in the modern world of independent publishing is that while there is still competition - it is more of a community of sharing, and collaborating.  We sponsor each other with blog hops, we promote each other's books, platforms, blogs, websites, and anything else we create.  It is a wonderful thing to be involved in a community so sharing and open.
 
There are now groups that help self-publishers like AiA (Assoc. of Independent Authors) and ALLi (the Alliance of Independent Authors).  Of course not everything is always rosy, there have been a few who chose to write bad reviews to stack the deck, but it is at a minimum.  They get called out by the community protests with their Facebook posts, tweets and blog posts.  As a writing community they will not let abuse go on without the outcry for moral and civilized actions.  The individual is still respected as an individual with a unique right to freedom of speech, we are all encouraged to act responsibly and with care.

This profession of writing is evolving to face the new challenges in the free world.

Since the wide world web has given access to so much, we are experiencing new trends.  So if anyone can give real sound advice to a newbie like me it has to be something like this -
 "Keep your eyes open, watch and learn, because it changes fast, and we need to swim with the tide." 
The bottom line is to keep writing, tell your story, share with the community and be true to yourself.

Keep reading! - Keep writing!

What Will You Cross Off Your Bucket List in 2013?

BUCKET LIST CHALLENGE BLOG HOP

With Dana Sitar to celebrate the launch of "A Writer's Bucket List"
http://writersbucketlist.com/challenge

   

HELLO FRIENDS - We all have our BUCKET LISTS

As writers, our lists usually involve publishing a piece of work, our ART. This is the year I plan to release my first novel,

“BREAKING CURSED BONDS”

 

It is a manuscript that has been on my writer's bucket list for a while now!

A work in progress for three years, finally I see the end of the tunnel. 

 

Now only two more items to check off my list in 2013!

#1 Sending free copies to a few choice friends and readers asking for some final feedback, and hopefully a review or two.  I have it formatted, so anyone interested, please send me an email.
 

#2 finalizing my cover design – currently there is a working option, but the final cover is not chosen, hoping for a few more choices.  I plan to use a designer to check the final file and formatting.

 

With all the steps below already checked off, and the last two soon to be done, I am confident I will be releasing the novel this year.  How do I feel about it? - SCARED!  It is difficult to let go.

My first work has been a labor of love, and I have enjoyed the process.  I have two more manuscripts in the works and hope to follow shortly with another release after “BREAKING CURSED BONDS”.  I hope you will enjoy my work in the near future.

 

THE PROCESS:

Working on my manuscript part time while working a full-time job for two years, I am now writing full time. I decided I needed to finish what I began, and give it my best effort.

I have a lot I can check off as accomplished, and that makes me feel good.

ü First Draft Finished

ü Requested Feedback & Comments from First Readers

ü Revised and Added Material

ü Printed and Made Corrections

ü Sent Copy to an Editor

ü Reviewed Editor’s Report and Revised Manuscript

ü Rewrite & Self Edit (this actually was done in a few cycles!)

ü Then it was converted to epub and mobi format to view and edit again, checking how the new material added looked.

ü Then I read it aloud and made more changes to dialogue

ü Again edited and checked for straggling mistakes not caught with built in spell and grammar checks

 

Best of luck to you and YOUR ART! Keep Writing.

 

 

Support our Blog Tour Host:

 

A message from Dana Sitar-

Thank you for your support of “A Writer’s Bucket List” throughout this journey. I’m so excited today to announce the book’s OFFICIAL RELEASE!

You can buy it here: http://e-junkie.com/danasitar

Today through February 12, the book is 30% off the list price. Get “A Writer’s Bucket List” plus a free copy of the DIY Writing “Brainstorming Workbook”, the “Bucket List Workbook”, and “Bucket List Exercises” for $6.95 -- so be sure to share the book today, so no one misses out on the discount!

How To Be More Productive (Book - "Extreme Productivity" by Robert C. Pozen)

Every day we are bombarded with meetings, get tons of email and face deadlines.  There are ways to help stay focused, so we can be more productive.
 

First and foremost you must know your GOALS. If you haven't already, write down your long term goals, yearly goals and then monthly & weekly goals. Breaking them down to the smaller element, helps you organize and identify your work.

· Prioritize your work

· Spend the most time on the most important tasks & goals

· Don't watch the clock, manage the clock

When you prioritize your responses to emails, or which meetings you attend, you in essence spend your efforts in the most critical places first. This will help you achieve your goals.

 

Many have used the 80/20 rule. Spend the first 20% of your time getting rid of the smaller stuff, or at least identifying them. Then spend the 80% of your time working on the most important tasks that are prevalent to your goals. 

 

Robert Pozen (lecturer at Harvard Business School)  uses the 80/20 a little differently.  He says you probably have to respond to only 20% of emails, and could disregard the other 80%.  Either way, 80/20 sounds like a good way to sort.

 

We all love to track. We watch the clock and think we spent so much time on something we must have accomplished a good days work. Not always so. If we waste our time working on reports that are not needed, or we spend too much time 'socializing' which sometimes is referred to as building bridges, then we have not always spent our time wisely.

Ask yourself the hard questions –

Will this task help me achieve my goal? Will this task make a difference?

 

If not then stay away and focus your time elsewhere. 

To be productive a person needs to manage their time, not be overwhelmed by tasks.  

Keep the perspective.  Step back and ask yourself the right questions. 

 

 

 Most important, always move forward.