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Indie Reads Appreciation Week

Indie Reads Appreciation Week & Giveaway- McCarty Griffin

By Barb Drozdowich

Welcome to another day of Indie Reads Appreciation Week!

So lets review a bit!  We started off the week meeting Norah Wilson and finding out about 3 of her books – Guarding Suzannah, Saving Grace and Protecting Paige.  We then met Amber Scott and learned about her new book Irish Moon and Bestseller for a Day, which was yesterday, by the way – and a success by all measures!  Yesterday we met Philip Ellis and found out about his book Sweet Tooth.  I’m also running a giveaway of an ebook of His Elle and a Gift Card from Barnes & Noble.  This giveaway continues until Sunday.  Just leave me a comment with your e-mail address to enter this giveaway.  Today is also the start of The Lucky Leprechaun.  For lots more free books, be sure to enter that giveaway!!

Today we are going to learn about McCarty Griffin and her book Half-Inch.  McCarty’s bio from Smashwords says the following:

McCarty Griffin lives in the Pacific Northwest, at the foot of the Cascades, with her husband, two children and several nonhuman family members. She is a transplanted hillbilly, born in Texas, but raised in the hollows and hills of West Virginia, where most of her works are set. She does not limit her creative efforts to any particular genre, although she does have a special love for horror, which she traces back to a childhood of Saturday nights eating Chef Boyardee pizza and watching Chiller Theatre with her mother. Before beginning her second life with her current husband, and settling in to raise her daughter and son, she served in the United States Army, went home to earn her undergraduate and law degrees, and then practiced criminal defense law for more than ten years. After half a lifetime spent doing everything but what she truly wanted to do, she finally just sat down and started writing, and she hasn’t stopped since.

McCarty Griffin’s book Half-Inch is listed as a Thriller/Suspense.  Here’s the blurb to give you an idea of what the book is about.

Pammy has had enough of Bobby, her abusive drunk of a husband. One lovely spring day, she decides to kill him, despite the fact that they will soon be divorced and he will, at least in the eyes of the law, be out of her life for good. Indulging in homicidal daydreams for years has led her to devise her own perfect and completely bizarre plan.

Sounds pretty interesting, doesn’t it!  I’m thinking this book will scare the pants off me at the same time it gets my adrenalin going!  It’s on my TBR pile, and I think I’m going to be careful when I read it 🙂

I asked McCarty to write a few paragraphs about her book – to give us more information that just the standard blurb.  In otherwords, why should we read this book.  Here’s what she had to say.

Pammy Hilts, the main protagonist of Half-Inch, is a hero and a villain and a victim all rolled into one. She is brutalized for years by her husband and finally decides to strike back in a manner for which many of us would cheer her on and possibly even say out loud, “It’s about damn time.” However, very few go as far as Pammy does to get a little of her own back. Some might say she goes way, way too far, and that, I hope, is what will capture readers’ interest in this tale of extreme revenge and much-deserved comeuppance.

I’ve met many Pammys over the years, although none who took matters into their own hands so drastically. In my prior life as an attorney in West Virginia, I represented battered women at their hearings to obtain protective orders against the men in their lives, and in some cases against the women in their lives. I must admit that sometimes I wished at least one of them had taken a baseball bat to their abuser just once. Pammy is an amalgam of all those women, with a few extra kinks in her personality to keep her and the story interesting.

Sad to say, I’ve also met many Bobbys in my life and not just as an attorney, although I certainly got an advanced education in the mental workings of the garden-variety domestic batterer during my practice. Some readers may think Bobby Hilts is an exaggerated version of the men (and occasionally women) who bully and abuse their spouses and children, but I can honestly say I don’t really believe he is. The ugliness that goes on in a family, when no one from the outside world is looking, can be appalling, and so many times goes unknown and unpunished. There are far more people in the world like Bobby Hilts than many would like to admit. This time, in Half-Inch, he doesn’t escape retribution.
Half-Inch isn’t completely grim and grey, however. Pammy’s dark side, which she has suppressed for far too long and has come to think of as the “Other Pammy,” does have a sense of humor, albeit a somewhat warped one. Pammy has fun at times with her revenge in a way that may shock some, while amusing others.

After I had finished the rough draft, I submitted a portion of this story to a critique site for objective reactions and comments, and I was surprised by the number of people who wanted to know how Pammy is saved. Some readers thought that perhaps the good ol’ boy deputy character, Dwayne Parks, would rescue her from her plight, and possibly from herself before she did something irrevocably evil. I almost felt guilty about the fact that Pammy is not saved, at least in the traditional knight-on-a-white-charger sense. She is irredeemably lost from the start to her grief and hurt and rage, and wanders ever farther off the path as her story progresses. If she can be said to be “saved” in any way by the story’s end, it is simply redemption in the act of finally defending her own humanity, even if she loses a good chunk of it in the process.

Just in case there are any readers who are scandalized by the thought of a killer going unpunished, keep reading to the end for a twist that even Pammy herself, with all her plotting and planning, didn’t see coming.

Finally, I would like to thank in advance anyone who decides to give Half-Inch a try. Every writer wants someone to read what she has written; ultimately, it’s the whole reason behind the writing. I hope you enjoy reading Half-Inch as much as I loved writing it.

Please follow McCarty on Twitter or Facebook

McCarty has two books for sale on Smashwords- be sure to check them out!  The links below take you directly to each book.

Half-Inch and Monster Story

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Indie Reads Appreciation & Giveaway – Philip Ellis

By Barb Drozdowich

Welcome to another day of Indie Reads Appreciation week.

Today we are going  to learn about another favorite author of mine.  Monday we met Norah Wilson and Tuesday we learned about Amber Scott and her efforts.  I tell you, starting up this blog was the best thing that I’ve done in years.  I had been reading the same, relatively small, collection of authors for quite some time – never venturing out to read something new.  I am now presented with so many choices in my reading and I’m enjoying every minute of it!

Before we meet Philip Ellis, I want to remind you that this week I am giving away both a Barnes & Noble Gift Card and a copy of His Elle by Jemima Valentino.  Read my post on His Elle to find out about the book!  To be entered, just leave me a comment with your e-mail address.  This draw will occur on Sunday.

Philip Ellis is another example of me breaking out of my comfort zone.  He asked me to read his book, Sweet Tooth.  Sweet Tooth is certainly not an example of the glittery Regency Romances that I usually lean towards.  Feeling adventurous, I loaded it onto my Nook and headed off to read while the kid’s activities took place. I was both captivated and horrified in a dozen pages.  I couldn’t put the book down!

After reading Sweet Tooth, I asked Philip to be part of this week by putting together a blurb that I can put on my blog about him and his writing.  Here is what he has to say!

When I was a child, real life was never quite enough for me.  A keen devourer of books that were slightly above my reading level, I was constantly under the impression that my world would soon blossom into something more thrilling.  If the Pevensie children could escape the drudgery of life in the Forties through a wardrobe, why couldn’t I?  How was it that Huckleberry Finn was allowed to make his own way in the world, when I could barely make it to the end of our road without hearing somebody call me back?
So I retreated, like many other kids, into my imagination.  When we went on holiday in Wales, I became convinced that the mountain overlooking the beach was in fact a sleeping dragon.  The old woman who lived at the corner of our street was a witch (even now, as an adult, I am convinced of this).  My grandfather’s garden gnomes were an army of dwarves, similar to the kind I read about in The Hobbit.
Of course, I grew up.  My imaginings changed.  I no longer wondered what life would be like if magic was real or if UFOs existed.  I thought, what if that person over there felt about me the way I feel about them.  I thought, what would the world be like if my father was still in it.  I thought a lot of things, and so my stories became a series of “what if” scenarios.
Sweet Tooth, my debut anthology of short stories, is compiled of fiction written over the last five years.  Each piece was written in isolation, with no other purpose than for the sheer pleasure I felt when writing it.  I had no idea until I came to put them together that all along I’d been creating a world.  Not the kind where there are dragons, or magic.  A world that might almost be real, were it not for the curious events that happen from time to time.  Essentially, this world was built by my inner child who was always screaming for life to be more interesting.
In my world, misfits get to play by their own rules.  You’re lonely, and sick of people pitying you for being on your own.  Why not simply make up a girlfriend?  Shut them up and be a little happier for the fantasy.  Any decent person, upon finding somebody else’s diary, would resist the urge to read it.  Not in this world.
Obviously, writing is an incredibly personal process.  And as soon as Sweet Tooth was complete, I began to feel protective, even defensive, about its contents.  Did I really want anybody and everybody treading the streets in my town?  The answer is, of course I do.  It’s not just my world anymore, nor should it be.  Some of the stories in Sweet Tooth take you to a pretty dark place.  But others , I hope, lift you out again.  If I had to sum it up, I’d say my twisted little book is about pleasure and pain.  Darkness and light.  Love and hate.
Just like real life.

As I mentioned above, I was lucky enough to get an advance copy of Sweet Tooth from Philip to read.  I had some trouble find the correct words to describe it, but here is my effort.

Sweet Tooth dives under the skin of the twenty-first century animal to bring you stories of love, loss, desire and revenge. An unearthed diary yields terrible secrets; a lonely young man tells a lie that spirals out of control; a trip to Italy goes horribly wrong for two lovers, and a little girl hears screams from the house next door…

At times funny and poignant, at others chilling and provocative, ‘Sweet Tooth’ is Philip Ellis’s page-turning debut collection of fictional tales that will leave you wanting more.

I got a copy of this book to read and review from the author.  It seemed so far removed from my comfort zone that I agreed to read it, but if I didn’t like it, I would decline to review it.  Mr. Ellis agreed.  It took me a bit to get to this book, but finally the time had arrived.  So I read it……in one sitting….and then couldn’t sleep.  Did I like it?  That seems to be such a lame word with respect to this book!  Let’s start with the fact that I was absolutely astounded with the excellence of Mr Ellis’s writing!  I don’t think that I’ve read something this clear and concise in a long time.  This little book is a collection of 16 stories.  Although I like reading anthologies, I have a great deal of difficulties reviewing them.

Some of the stories I loved, some I thought were cute and creative, some were graphic and disturbing and some completely freaked me out.  I find it amazing that in just a few short pages, a story can be created that causes me to lose sleep!

My  two favorite stories were The Girlfriend and Nine Lives.

The Girlfriend is started with the quote from Sir Walter Scott: “Oh what a tangled web we weave,when first we practice to deceive.”  This story is about a young man, Paul, who is tired of being single and lies to his friends, telling them he has recently started dating Caroline.  He creates this whole fantasy girlfriend whom his friends and family never meet – there is always an excuse.  He gets himself in deeper and deeper, and as the the quote says, when we practice to deceive.  I won’t give away the ending.  The reader is allowed to totally sympathize with this young man, tired of being alone, tired of looking for someone to share his life with.

Nine Lives is a story about a cat and a dog who knew each other in a previous life.  The form of this life is insinuated and the outcome is assumed.  This one is my favorite because of the wealth of information that is packed into 3 short pages.

As I said at the beginning, this book is about as far removed from my cherished Regency romances as I can get.  That said, I would recommend this book and this author to anyone regardless of preferred genre.  His writing is not to be missed!  I look forward to what he produces next.

Jemima Valentino also had the opportunity to review this book.  This is what she had to say: “I was lucky enough to be able to read Sweet Tooth with an advanced reader copy given to me by the author, Philip Ellis. Normally I am not a huge fan of anthologies as I have found it difficult in the past to fully focus on an entire book made up of a sequence of stories. But, Sweet Tooth is something else entirely. Each work of fiction is uniquely and beautifully crafted. One or two had me laughing until I cried (watch out for that one line in particular in ‘Local Haunts’ – you’ll know the one I mean when you get there) and others made me say “Oh my God!” out loud, so my husband asked me what the hell I was reading. My favourite reads within this anthology were; Nine Lives, Vlad, The Girlfriend and Can’t Go Back.”

Please take the opportunity to follow Philip on Twitter, or his blog and do yourself a favour and buy a copy of his book – prepare to be amazed!
http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=sugsboonoo-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B004LGTRBW&ref=tf_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr

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Indie Reads Appreciation & Giveaway-Amber Scott

By Barb Drozdowich

Welcome to another exciting day in the Indie Reads Appreciation Week!

This week we are celebrating Independent authors.  Quite frankly, before I started this blog, I hadn’t read any books by other than the big name authors.  I was astounded by how much talent is out there.  Yesterday, you met Norah Wilson who has writen three books that I have read – Guarding Suzannah, Saving Grace and Protecting Paige.  You also found out that I am currently giving away a copy of His Elle by Jemima Valentino as well as a Gift Card for Barnes & Noble.  If you are interested in this giveaway, just leave me a comment with your e-mail address.

Today, we are going to learn about Amber Scott.  I first “met” Amber Scott when it was suggested that I review her book, Play Fling, and then participate in “Bestseller for a Day“.  I was interested!  The idea is to see if concentrated advertising through social networks can push a book significantly up the Amazon lists – in essence, make it a bestseller in the space of the day.  It was amazing to watch this book go up and up in the ratings over the space of a day.  Amber along with some other independent authors have formed the Indie Book Collective.  They are an interesting collection of hard working authors trying to get their books marketed and sold!  The next Bestseller for a Day is on Wednesday (tomorrow) and the book being marketed is Irish Moon. Really, who wouldn’t want to read a book with a cover like that?  If you want to play along with Bestseller for a Day, follow the Twitter addresses found at the bottom of this post and have fun Twittering all day! Or simply sit back and watch what happens!

I asked Amber to send me something creative for her guest post.  She certainly is creative!  Here is what she has to say!

How I Met My Muse
By Amber Scott

© 2011 by Amber Scott

Milla likes her toenails violet, her eyeliner ebony and her jeans ripped. When it comes to romance, many genres will do. Dark paranormal, Light paranormal, historical fantasy. Even erotica. And crossing genres? She’s blends them as readily as her electric blue eyeshadow.
Milla is my muse.
Interestingly enough, I only met her–officially–six months ago.
Now, how in the world could I have completed ten manuscripts, two screenplays and published six novels before even recognizing I had a muse?
As they say, denial ain’t just a river in Egypt. Basically, for the last five years, I’ve pretended I was in charge.
You see, Milla is a spontaneous and cocky little thing. She’s a pantser through and through.  I, on the other hand, am a plotter. One of my nicknames, Anal Amber, was inspired by my love for straightening, organizing and color coordinating refrigerator magnets.
How did I not acknowledge Milla though, when I’ve clearly been listening? And, more importantly, why?
I’ve heard her and followed. I wrote every varying genre, despite my perfectionist anxiety that I should just pick one. I followed my favorite ideas down each dark tunnel and found their light. Then, a month ago, as I trotted along my well planned path, polishing one work in progress for submission, drafting another in a nice succinct rhythm, Milla put her spiked heel down.
I found myself suddenly and inexplicably obsessed with an erotica series idea that had been sitting in my mental green room for years. Milla had decided. It was time. So much so that all my waking thoughts revolved around this character and premise. To the point that I couldn’t read or edit or write another thing.
So, I tried to indulge her. I jotted down some notes thinking I’d “get it out”. And get back to work! Yeah, uh, not so much. Two weeks later, I completed a novella that knocked my own socks off. Whoa. I didn’t even know writing could be like this! No, that isn’t true. I knew it could, but somehow didn’t think it would for me. It took facing—embracing—my muse and all the fear doing so conjured in my heart.
I’d heard Milla all along. I just hadn’t seen her. I hadn’t accepted her for who she is, and therefore, I suppose, me for the author I am. What a relief! Milla’s warm and generous and contagiously enthusiastic, but watch out, she’s got heels and knows how to use them. (No wonder Charles hates my shoes—another story entirely.)

Amber loves to chat with her readers!  You can find her at:

Her Blog

Twitter

Facebook

If you are interested in Twittering for Bestseller for a day follow Amber, @RachelintheOC,  @craftycmc and have fun!

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