New Release: The Goddaughter's Revenge

by

Melodie Campbell

 

 Just in time for Halloween … MESS WITH ME, DARLIN’?
 WATCH ME KILL YOU WITH WORDS.

(Revenge is sweet when coupled with royalties.)

Here’s some news for all those sociopaths out there, and just plain nasties: Don’t mess with a crime writer.  We know at least twenty ways to kill you and not get caught.

On paper, of course <insert nervous laughter>. We’re talking about fictional kills here.

Or are we?

My name is Melodie Campbell, and I write comic mob capers for a living. And for the loving. So I know a bit about the mob. Like espresso and cannoli, you might say they come with my Sicilian background.

This should make people nervous. (Hell, it makes ME nervous.)

But I digress. To recap:  the question offered was:

Are any of your victims based on people who pissed you off in real life? Do you ever take out real life rage on fictional murder victims?

Oh sweetie, don’t I ever.

One of the joys of being a writer is playing out scenarios in your fiction that you dream about at night.  One of these is murder.  (The other is sex, but that would be my other series, the Rowena fantasy one.)

Back to grievous bodily harm. Like in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Mikado, I have my little list.

To the covert colleague who made out to be friends and then bad-mouthed me to the board at a previous job.  Yes, you got caught red-handed. I called your bluff.  But better than that, I made your mealy-mouthed sorry hide a star of THE GODDAUGHTER’S REVENGE.  Take that, Carmine the rat.  You live forever in fictional history.

He never will be missed.

Oh, the joy of creating bad guys and gals from real-life creeps!  The crafty thing is, when you design a villain based on people you have met in person and experienced in technicolor, they sound real. Colorful.  Their motivations are believable. No cardboard characters here!

Of course, I may fudge a few details to keep out of jail. Names and professions change. Males can morph into females.

But fictional murder can be very satisfying. (Definitely more satisfying than fictional sex.)  Revenge is sweet, when coupled with royalties.

You can ignore that crack about fictional kills only. Of course we’re only talking books; in my case, light-hearted murder mysteries, and mob crime capers.

That’s right: mob capers. Like I said: never mess with a Sicilian Goddaughter.

Melodie Campbell achieved a personal best this year when Library Journal compared her to Janet Evanovich.  Her first book, ROWENA THROUGH THE WALL, was an Amazon Top 100 bestseller. Her fifth novel, THE GODDAUGHTER’S REVENGE, has just been released by Orca Books. 
Library Journal says this about Melodie`s third novel, The Goddaughter (Orca Books):

``Campbell`s crime caper is just right for Janet Evanovich fans.  Wacky family connections and snappy dialogue make it impossible not to laugh.``

Opening to THE GODDAUGHTER’S REVENGE

     Okay, I admit it. I would rather be the proud possessor of a rare gemstone than a lakefront condo with parking. Yes, I know this makes me weird. Young women today are supposed to crave the security of owning their own home.

     But I say this. Real estate, shmeel estate. You can’t hold an address in your hand. It doesn’t flash and sparkle with the intensity of a thousand night stars, or lure you away from the straight and narrow like a siren from some Greek odyssey.
     Let’s face it. Nobody has ever gone to jail for smuggling a one bedroom plus den out of the country.
However, make that a 10-carat cyan blue topaz with a past as long as your arm, and I’d do almost anything to possess it.
    But don’t tell the police.

THE GODDAUGHTER’S REVENGE on Amazon http://tinyurl.com/kmgjgsf

THE GODDAUGHTER on Amazon http://ow.ly/dnObH

Follow Melodie’s comic blog at  www.melodiecampbell.com

"Spirit Shapes" by Marilyn Meredith

Today, as part of her blog tour to promote her latest novel, Spirit Shapes, Marilyn Meredith is visiting with us. I've asked her to tell us where she got the idea for her novel. Welcome, Marilyn! 

As with all my books, the idea came from several different places. I’d been reading about different ghost hunters on Facebook. We have one that advertises tours in nearby Porterville and another I see who visits haunted places around Ventura County. I was privileged to go on one with the ghost hunter from Ventura.

Along with a small group of friends we toured the old Ventura Court House in the evening and in one section without any lights on. We were told tales about many of the ghosts who resided there but didn’t see any. The ghost hunter led us all around the old part of Ventura pointing out various ghostly hangouts and telling us about the ghosts when they were alive.

Hubby and I stayed twice in one of the places that he pointed out, a remodeled bed and breakfast that once had been a residential hotel and a flophouse. The first time we stayed, we had a large room that had obviously been an apartment at one time. The closet probably had once held a Murphy bed. The bathroom was big enough to be a kitchen—which I bet it was back in the day when everyone shared the bathroom down the hall. On this trip we learned that one of the rooms in the B & B was haunted—Room 17.

The next time we made a reservation we asked for Room 17—and were warned it was haunted. This room was tiny compared to the first one we’d stayed in—and much to our disappointment, no ghostly visitation. Our daughter informed us hubby would have had a better chance if he’d stayed there alone, as the ghost was a prostitute during her lifetime. Frankly, the room we stayed in previously felt more like it might have some ghostly residents.

Though there are many other elements in Spirit Shapes, ghost hunters and spirits play a bit part in the story.

Blurb for Spirit Shapes: Ghost hunters stumble upon a murdered teen in a haunted house. Deputy Tempe Crabtree's investigation pulls her into a whirlwind of restless spirits, good and evil, intertwined with the past and the present, and demons and angels at war.

To buy directly from the publisher in all formats: 

http://mundania.com/book.php?title=Spirit+Shapes 

Also available directly from Amazon.

Marilyn at the Library

Bio: Marilyn Meredith is the author of over thirty published novels, including the award winning Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series. She borrows a lot from where she lives in the Southern Sierra for the town of Bear Creek and the surrounding area, including the nearby Tule River Indian Reservation. She does like to remind everyone that she is writing fiction. Marilyn is a member of EPIC, three chapters of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. Visit her at http://fictionforyou.com and follow her blog at http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com/

Contest:

The person who comments on the most blogs on this blog tour will have the opportunity to have a character named after him or her in the next Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery.

Tomorrow I’ll be visiting at: http://crimewriters.blogspot.com/

Mystery Author of the Month, Jean Henry Mead

Jean Henry Mead 

Jean Henry Mead is a national award-winning photojournalist as well as a mystery, Wyoming historical and children’s novelist. Many of her 19 books have occupied various Amazon bestseller lists and she has served as a news, magazine and small press editor. She’s currently working on the fifth Logan & Cafferty mystery, A Murder in Paradise, due out this fall. Her website is www.JeanHenryMead.com

Patricia: Jean, please tell us, where did you grow up and did your childhood contribute to your desire to be a writer?

Jean: I was born in Hollywood, California and spent my formative years on Cameford Avenue, a block and a half from Paramount Studios. I remember sitting on the front porch with my mother and waving at the movie stars who drove by in their limos. I’m not sure whether that influenced me to become a writer, but I did write stories from a young age. My first book was written at age nine—a chapter a day to entertain classmates. Years later I interviewed actors and screen writers for several of my interview books.

Patricia: Where do you live now? Do you use that locale for settings in your novels?

Jean: We have a small ranch in Wyoming’s Laramie Mountains at 7,000 feet. It’s beautiful during the spring, summer and fall, but cold (and pristine) during the winters. I’ve set two of my Logan and Cafferty mysteries in Wyoming, one of them here in the Laramies (Gray Wolf Mountain) as well as one of my Hamilton Kids’ mysteries (Ghost of Crimson Dawn).

Patricia: What inspired you to write your most recent novel?

Jean: Because I started my writing career as a news reporter, I wrote five nonfiction books before I attempted my first novel. I spent two years behind a microfilm machine during the 1980s researching a centennial history book of central Wyoming (Casper Country: Wyoming’s Heartland), which became a college textbook. During my research I came across newspaper articles about a young couple who had been hanged by cattlemen who claimed they had been running a rural brothel and accepting stolen cattle as payment for their services. However, another article said that they were respectable people, the husband appointed by the governor as justice of the peace and postmaster of Sweetwater Valley. I spent over 25 years attempting to research the story that was reported around the world in 1889. Fortunately, George Hufsmith was commissioned to write an opera about the murders and spent the next 20 years interviewing people in the area who knew the truth. When his nonfiction book was published I finally had the missing puzzle pieces to begin writing my historical mystery-suspense novel, No Escape, the Sweetwater Tragedy.

 I also researched single woman homesteaders of that era—some 200,000 of them—and created a composite, Susan Cameron, a young Missouri woman seeking independence and the right to vote and hold office well before the rest of the nation. I didn’t want to end the book with the murders so Susan experiences the aftermath of the story when her new friends, Ellen and James Averell are killed. Ellen, by the way, was known as “Cattle Kate,” and movies, books, songs and poetry have depicted the innocent young woman as a rustler and prostitute.

Patricia: When did you “know” that you wanted to be a writer?

Jean: When I was in elementary school. I dabbled in both writing and art and was placed in a special class, skipping the fifth grade, to work on advanced projects. That helped my creative talents immeasurably.

Patricia: Name three of your favorite authors in the mystery/suspense genre. What makes them your favorites?

Jean: I learned to write fiction by studying the books of Dean Koontz. I like the way he strings his words together although I didn’t really didn’t care for his horror novels. Agatha Christie lured me into the mystery genre, where I stayed, also reading all of the alphabet series written by Sue Grafton. I’ve read many other mysteries written by a variety of authors, but Koontz, Christie and Grafton remain my favorites.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_15?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=jean+henry+mead&sprefix=jean+henry+mead%2Cstripbooks%2C334

 

Jean is giving away a paper copy of No Escape: The Sweetwater Tragedy to someone who leaves a comment on this post.

Getting to know Diane Bator

I'd like to welcome mystery author, Diane Bator. Let's get to know her.

Patricia: Diane, what are your favorite things to do when you’re not reading or writing?

Diane: When I'm not writing, which isn't often some days, I love to putter in my garden, hike, attend karate classes -- oh, and I show up for work a few days a week. Lucky for me, I'm a part-timer so I do get some quiet time in the mornings while my kids are at school!

Patricia: What’s your favorite color? Why?

Diane: My favorite color? That's hard. Purples, pinks and blues are the best. I'm not the kind of person who surrounds myself with dark colors since I love how energetic bright, bold colors make me feel. Being a writer and artist, color is one more way to express myself!

Patricia: How would you describe yourself, personality wise?

Diane: Personality wise, I am loyal, trustworthy and hardworking. While I am a bit of a loner and would rather sit alone to write than be at a loud party, I do enjoy the company of good friends and good food.

Patricia: Do you like to travel? If so, what are some of your favorite places to go and/or what was your favorite vacation?

Diane: One of my favorite vacations ever was renting a house on the beach in Daytona Beach. We had the entire beach to ourselves for the entire week (everyone else was in school!) and had a great time in the ocean. I love any vacation where I can sit back, listen to the ocean (or one of the Great Lakes) and relax to get some great ideas for new novels.

Patricia: How would you complete this sentence? If I won a million dollars, I would  ------

Diane: If I won a million dollars, I would quit my job and move to the beach. Big surprise. Okay, the practical me would set money aside for my kids' educations and get a new car. Bye-bye mommy van!

Then I'd move to the beach...

Bio:

Diane has been a writer since she was able to hold a pencil and tell a story. An avid hiker, Reiki Master and martial artist, she loves to make a mess in the kitchen and putters in the garden at will. Joining the Headwaters Writers' Group in 2007 was the catalyst for her unearthing several old writing projects. Her first murder mystery, Murder on Manitou, was published after winning a writing contest in 2010. She lives in Southern Ontario with her husband, three kids and a cat who thinks he's a dog.

My website: http://penspaintsandpaper.com

My blog: http://dbator.blogspot.ca

The Bookstore Lady Available at:

Amazon:   http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DWKNGPQ