Thursday, November 10, 2011

Out of the Blue by Mary H. Collins


After her husband leaves her for a younger woman, Erika is slow to open her heart to another man. But when she finds the sexy neighborhood gardener standing shirtless on her doorstep, she decides to give love another chance. Unsure of herself after being out of the dating game for so long, Erika takes it slow, only to have her sister swoop in and steal him away. For the second time, her heart is broken. She sells everything and moves to an island where no one knows her. Thinking she has left her past behind, she gets a call that changes her life. Her ex-husband has been in an accident.
When he wakes up thinking he’s still married to Erika, her real trouble begins.
 
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Find out more about Mary H. Collins

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Hunter Green by Brianna Stoddard

HUNTER GREEN will blow you away! It is an amazing story that will show you the world in a whole new light! It is focused on an incredible teenage girl, named Emily, who sadly loses her mother from a menacing, evil werewolf. Emily vows revenge and begins hunting the creatures down. She gets help from Isabella, a kind Psychic Gypsy that knows how to help her become the ultimate hunter. Emily realizes her destiny and becomes a killing machine. She starts her journey across the world and leaves no werewolf's blood un-spilled in this wonderfully dark and bloody story.

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Monday, November 7, 2011

Rachel Beam's Hear Him Cry

58-year-old Henry, a remorseful man who lives mainly in his head, has just been reunited with Tessa, the daughter of his estranged best friend. Tessa has just been abandoned in a strange city by the last man she was able to trust.

Each essentially alone in the world, they forge an instant and seemingly unbreakable bond. But Henry must come to terms with an unforgivable mistake he made 15 years earlier; a secret shame that tore Tessa’s family apart. As the past begins to unfold, he struggles to confess before she discovers the truth for herself.
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Who is Rachel Beam and where can you find her?

James L. Hatch Guest Post

“Hello and welcome to all our readers. Thank you for stopping by the Solstice Publishing blog. I’m Mary Duke, and we are trying something new and exciting today—a mystery guest. In fact, this one is such a surprise, I have no idea who she is … or where she is. I knew this would be exciting, but I expected she would be here by now.”

Mary checks the hall for the tenth time, but only sees Andrea roaming around. “Andrea, aren’t we supposed to have a mystery guest today? You did tell her to show up fifteen minutes early, didn’t you?”

“Sure. All our guests are asked to come early. You don’t suppose she’ll stand us up, do you?”

“I hope not. That would be awkward. I don’t know who she is. It would be difficult to fill her time slot just talking about her.”

Andrea takes Mary by the shoulders and looks into her eyes with great resolve. “You can do this. Even if your guest is rude enough to miss her appointment, you can come up with something.” Then, with a wink, “Why don’t you just blow her out of the water?”

“Ah, I guess I could do that. It would be a lesson to others not to be late. Besides, ‘no shows’ make me angry enough to throttle them.”

Mary sighs and returns to her office. As she sits at her desk in a large pile of gloomy disappointment, a young woman pokes her head through the door. It is hard to see the woman’s face through the long blond locks curling down below her chin, until she flips her hair aside with a casual toss of her head. The woman steps in like she owns the office, struts to the guest chair and sits with the authority of the Queen of England. She’s wearing a form-fitting scooped-neck white cocktail gown, red heels and white gloves that extend from fingertip to elbow. Her makeup is flawless, highlighting sea-blue eyes that radiate confidence, and her skin emits a light scent of Diamonds perfume that has the same powerful impact as the ‘come hither’ aroma of fresh brewed coffee first thing in the morning. After many garment and posture adjustments, the young woman offers, “You must be Mary Duke” while extending her hand.

Mary reaches out with trepidation, wary something isn’t right. The woman is too self-assured; too perfect. Mary’s mind races with strange and conflicting thoughts. Does she have a comic’s buzzer in that gloved hand? She just flicked her mop when she came through the door, but not one hair is out of place. I hate that. My God, she’s attractive. If I were male, I’d ask her to lunch. Hell, I might anyway.

Their hands touch; there is no buzzer. The woman takes the tips of Mary’s fingers and moves them up and down as if afraid to break them. “I’m Miss Havana; pleased to meet you, I’m sure. Sorry to be tardy—it was unavoidable. I had a little ‘official business’ to take care of in order to appear here today. Not everyone in my chain of command believes I should show myself, if you know what I mean.”

“Actually, no, I don’t have a clue what you mean. Are you a government official?”

Miss Havana giggles. “No, silly, I have a much higher calling. If you like, you can call me the Angel of Death.”

Mary bolts upright; her posture stiff with apprehension. Melissa is setting me up! The woman is a nut bag. She doesn’t seem dangerous, but I think I’ll humor her to see where this goes. Opening the file on her desk, Mary responds, “Oh, of course. I must have missed that little detail in your file. So, when you say you had to get permission to ‘appear’ here, you meant ‘to be visible’, right?”

“Well, of course. Angels are not visible to the living; we have to get permission for that. I had to move some pretty heavy rocks to make this happen. You know, like heaven and earth.”

What a load of crap floats through Mary’s mind as her eyebrows narrow like the V-8 symbol on an old Chevy. “If I seem a little skeptical, I hope you’ll forgive me. It’s not every day I meet a real angel.”

“To forgive is divine.” Miss Havana crosses her legs and tugs her hem a tiny bit toward her knees, but leaves enough exposed leg to distract any male who might wander into the office.

Mary’s eyes break from Miss Havana’s shapely legs, and follow the graceful curves of her body until reaching Miss Havana’s eyes. “I’m familiar with the Old Testament concept of the Angel of Death, but I haven’t read much about one running around lately. What have you been up to?”

Miss Havana flicks her wrist, like she’s swatting at a fly. “Oh, same old, same old. Just dispatching evil on the surface like my predecessors did long ago. There are some pretty bad hombres above, you know. Most need a stern lecture about right and wrong. I was a substitute teacher before my death. The men I take time for now are a lot like some of the students I put in detention. I enjoy teaching them lessons they’ll never forget.”

 “So you’re the Miss Havana, the one from The Substitute? You look pretty good for someone murdered so many times … and with such vigor.”

“Why, thank you, Mary. I try. I believed appearance is important, like brushing your teeth. Yes, my death was nasty, to say the least, but I had the last laugh!” A wicked smile crosses Miss Havana’s face and an evil snicker emanates from her throat as she drifts in a moment of private reverie. Her bright smile returns when she snaps back to the interview. “Sorry. Personal memories sometimes bring as much pleasure as righting wrongs now. Too bad I had to endure Lucifer to get my retribution.”

“Lucifer? If you’re the Angel of Death, what’s he got to do with it?”

Miss Havana rolls her eyes. “It’s all in The Substitute, dear. You really should do your homework before inviting a guest aboard.”

“Okay, point made, I will. What are you doing now … as the Angel of Death? Are you and Lucifer still an ‘item?’”

“Right now I’m between tasks. I haunt a gorgeous advice columnist at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. She needs me, and she’s my kind of woman. You know, fastidious, a great body, dresses to the nines … she’s made to party if I can just loosen her up.”

“Can you give us an example of your work? Who have you lectured recently? How did that go?”

Miss Havana shudders, almost like she’s having a mild climax ... or a seizure. “You might check the Denver Post for articles on The Red Reaper.”

Mary’s demeanor becomes serious as she leans toward Miss Havana and frowns. “The one they found gutted like a fish and hung out to dry? That Red Reaper?”

With a simper, Miss Havana responds, “A stern lecture indeed. He won’t be a problem for any others. BTW, my story is being documented now. Solstice Publishing will soon expose my gifts in the novel, Oh, Heavens, Miss Havana! I thought I was invited here to discuss that.”

Mary looks puzzled and responds in flat monotone. “No. You were a surprise guest. I’m not sure why you were invited.”

Miss Havana stands, places her fists on her hips and her hurt look morphs to a glare. “I don’t believe this crap. You’re taking my time, and you don’t have a purpose? I could be lecturing some deserving individual right now! It’s not nice to screw with Mother Nature.” She slams the door on the way out.

*****

Author’s note: In a moment of inspiration, the concept for my paranormal comedy novel, The Substitute, flooded my mind. The main character, Miss Havana, would be beautiful, conniving, resourceful, wicked beyond comprehension and hypocritical to the max. As a substitute teacher, her public life would be above reproach, but her private life as a party girl, drug dealer and extortionist would be something else entirely. She would be the character readers would love to hate, but even more, she would be the woman who would bring the devil down. I was giddy with anticipation when, in the wee hours of the morning, I sat down to write the opening line. The chapters flew by; the character took on a life of her own. The novel was completed in only two months and has consistently garnered five-star reviews. Following The Substitute, Miss Havana became the lead character in a sequel paranormal comedy novel, Oh, Heavens, Miss Havana! The sequel comedy has also received five-star reviews, and will be released by Solstice Publishing soon. A third paranormal based on Miss Havana is in work now, The Training Bra. In all novels she retains the evil and quirky characteristics that draw readers to her.

Thank you, Solstice Publishing, for having me here today. Thank you, readers, as well. I hope you will take the time to read the following reviews of The Substitute and Oh, Heavens, Miss Havana! If you like the reviews, please feel free to purchase the book from the Solstice Publishing web site, Amazon.com or other outlets where fine books are sold.

Five Star Review – The Substitute: http://www.bookwenches.com/september10reviews.htm#636925762
Additional reviews are posted on the Solstice Publishing web site and on Amazon.com.


Five Star Review – Oh, Heavens, Miss Havana! by Tony-Paul De Vissage:  I have included the text of this review below because the web site at
http://www.tony-paul.com/ only retains reviews through 24 Jul 2011. The review of Oh, Heavens, Miss Havana! was originally posted on July 1, 2011.

“Divorced from Lucifer, overthrown by daughter Lilith, Miss Havana is surprised to find herself at the Pearly Gates in preparation for undergoing the Twelve Step Program for entering Heaven. She’s dubious and delighted by turns, but isn’t prepared for what’s awaiting her. Discovering she still retains some of her Nether World powers, the ex-Mrs. Satan launches herself into vigilante-mode, deputizing Hellish former henchman Waldo to help her out. Believing she’s now the Angel of Death, Miss Havana becomes a one woman clean-up committee, dedicating to abolishing terrorism and human trafficking from the Earth, and in doing so, sending a good many deserving souls to her daughter for proper punishment.

“For a while, it appears she’s succeeding, removing evil from the world and filling up Hell in the process, but things in the divine realm, as in the devilish one, are never what they seem, and in short order, Miss Havana, the woman whose motto has always been “Look out for #1, No One Else Will,” is going to find some of her beliefs shaken, discover some truths about herself, and learn of her murky origins…

“MY SOMEWHAT JAUNDICED OPINION: A little bloody in places, until you realize it’s purposely that way. Just as the slaying of Christian in A Pilgrim’s Progress was blatantly overkill, Miss Havana’s heavy-handed but gleefully righteous way of bringing to justice the wicked of this world have to be viewed as satirically, ironically overdone, and sometimes if she doesn’t exactly smell like a rose after an encounter, she at least reeks of righteous indignation. There’s some fundamentally true philosophy in this one, in keeping with the tone of the story, and though Miss Havana is in turn overwhelmed and underwhelmed by all she always goes through, she’s gradually touched by her surroundings, even when she refuses to admit it. Oh Heavens, Miss Havana isn’t the romp the first story was but its more serious note only underscores the ending. And what an ending…! I won’t give it away but if it doesn’t give you at least one sniffle, in the midst of all that dark laughter, then you’ve got Lucifer’s sensitivity.”

Thank you for reading,



James L. Hatch






James L. Hatch's Book's and Bio

Miss Havana’s public persona was far from the truth because, in her capacity as substitute teacher, the small community where she lived knew her as the breathtakingly beautiful young woman who demanded every student learn, but in her private life, ostensibly caring for aging parents in Chicago, she raced through the lives of powerful men, leaving a wake of destruction…and a deep desire for revenge. Little did she realize her conflicted life would end in a chaotic death at an early age, and to an eternal conflict with the devil. Clever and witty, the reader will not guess the conclusion of this novel until the final paragraph.
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*Not available yet.*

Author Bio
Although his Bachelors, Masters, and Ph.D. are in Chemistry and Meteorology, James worked as a scientist and system/software engineer before retiring a third time, then turned to writing. Extensive travel, from Thule, Greenland to Australia’s Great Barrier reef – and to dozens of countries in between – provide the real-life experiences he incorporates into everything he writes.

James enjoys boating, kayaking, skiing, traveling, hiking, tending nine grandchildren (no more than two at a time), and ballroom dancing, but his first love is writing, and all other activities are molded around it. He has completed eight novels and one short story, and intends to continue writing in the Sci-Fi and Paranormal Comedy genres. He has titles with xoxopublishing.com and Solstice Publishing.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Keeping Promises

The surprise alien attack nearly decimated their world…years later a young woman struggles to keep a promise made to her dying father—a promise to keep his dream alive…an ex-warrior strives to live by the oath he took—his promise to serve and protect the people of his world, or die trying…and a man journeys to find his long-lost brother with a promise to deliver a message from his brother’s dying wife—a promise to keep before his own time runs out…but when these lives cross, dangerous and outright deadly things happen. Soon the three realize that life can get complicated very quickly and it’s not always easy—keeping promises.
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Who is P. J. Lawton
I’m Paul F. Johnson, a military and civil service retiree. Always an avid reader, I decided to try my hand at writing and achieved quick success with over two dozen Mysteries, Sci-FI and Horror short stories published on-line and in print under the pen name P.J. Lawton.
My P.J. Lawton writing credentials now include three Private Detective mystery-adventure novels, Lethal Option, Lethal Judgment, and Lethal Knowledge and the recently completed time travel-mystery Time Ripples. My Sci-Fi novel, The Adventures of Majestic Kane, Galactic P.I. will soon be e-published as a ten-part series.
I have also published two paperback volumes of my horror and Sci-Fi short stories, Fleeting Glimpses and Beyond Hyperspace along with four children’s books in my Timmy series.
Now fully retired, I still enjoy reading and writing and keep busy working on several new projects and as a book reviewer for two different online review sites. Please check out my website for information on all my books.
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Friday, November 4, 2011

The Kidnapping of Olivia Hammond

With Blood trickling down her face and chained to a basement wall, Olivia Hammond tries to figure out why she was kidnapped. It couldn't be for ransom because she has no money or rich family. Revenge is not a motive either because she is at peace with everyone and always tried to be a good neighbor. Her only hope is that her brother will discover the truth, but with no food or water, will he find her in time?

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Find out more about Gary Peterson


While I was still in high school in the early sixties my family moved in an old house out in the country. The walls creaked and dark shadows abounded. This was the inspiration for my novel.
Currently I live near the small community of Yakima, Washington with my wife and dog. I have a B. A. Degree in Business Administration and a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology. I acquired much of my knowledge about court procedures while working as a child protective services worker for many years. My hobbies include hiking, bowling, and reading a good mystery novel.