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Thursday, December 20, 2018

Retrieve


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YA action adventure
Date Published: 26 December 2018
Publisher: Double Edged Sword Publishing

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What if the job you took to stay alive might be what kills you?

Kade knows what it is to suffer. He knows what it's like to lose everything and everyone around him.

His job in a Stormer Unit guarantees not just his survival in the decimated country of Azetaria, but his sister Meg's. Even if it means facing the Numachi warriors baying for his blood, he'll do what it takes to keep her safe.

Hadley is alone and surviving the only way she knows how. By hiding where predators won't find her and scavenging enough just to keep her alive.

When desperation drives Hadley to search for her missing brother, she mistakenly accepts the offer of recruitment into the Stormer's camp, only to be partnered with Kade and sent as a scout into Numachi territory.

The intimidating young Stormer may just know where her brother has gone. But can they stay alive long enough to find him?



Excerpt



Kade’s footsteps were heavy as he approached and stared down at her. “This isn’t going to work. You need to be wearing something lighter, or we’ll never make it to Lazen.”

Hadley tried for a weak shrug but could barely muster the energy. “What do you suggest?”

Kade raised an eyebrow, and a deep frown appeared on his face as he considered her.  He continued to stare at her as she sat, legs sprawled out on the ground. “The best I can come up with is cutting your clothing.”

His eyes narrowed as he searched the length of her. A bolt of alarm jostled her into thinking. “How much are you cutting off?”

Kade dipped his chin, his voice low as he spoke. “Enough, so you don’t keep fainting, enough, so you still pass for a boy.”

He reached for a knife and wore the slightest of smiles as he unsheathed it. “Let’s hope you have hairy legs then eh?”

Hadley’s lips split into a smile before she remembered she was annoyed with him for being so smug.




About the Author

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Sarah Addison-Fox is a New Zealand-born misfit who writes action-packed fantasy with a smattering of punch-ups, mega amounts of romance and a dash of family values. She has an astonishing amount of nail polish, has all her creative writing credentials shoved in a drawer somewhere, and has a husband who, after 28 years, can still make her blush. When she’s not working on her multiple YA fantasy romance series' she can be found binge watching Mission Impossible movies, drinking lager and eating curry.


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Monday, December 10, 2018

PROMO: The Mindset Accountability Journal


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Self-help, inspirational, motivational
Date Published: December 10, 2018
Publisher: Lucid Books

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Are you stuck in a life you want to be different, but have no idea where to start?

The Mindset Accountability Journal will jump-start you to a life you can enjoy living every day. By establishing incremental daily habits, you will embark on a path to gratitude, self-growth, and fulfillment. This journal will help you:

·        Discover who you were meant to be

·        Shift your focus to what is good and wonderful in your life

·        Create an attitude of mindset growth

You will never regret taking charge of your life and living with gratitude. The journey is rewarding and challenging. It takes only 30 minutes each day to make progress with your future, one day at a time.

A portion of the book's proceeds will support BridgeHope, whose efforts enable survivors of exploitation and trafficking to THRIVE!



Excerpt


I have always been fascinated by the butterfly and how, through its metamorphosis, it changes from an ugly worm into a beautiful insect. It flies free and brings so much beauty to our lives. This journal is the beginning of your metamorphosis. It may not seem like this small change, spending 30 minutes a day working on your inner self, can change your life so much, but it will.


About the Author

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Allie Hudson grew up in LaGrange, Ohio, and attended Moody Bible Institute, studying education. In 1991, she married Larry Sellers, who passed away of a heart attack in May 2009. In 2010, she married Michael Hudson who passed away of cancer just three years later. In January 2012, Allie lost her corporate job of 20 years because of downsizing in the newspaper business. Throughout this five-year period of three major losses, the only way she survived was to focus on God and trust that He had a plan for her life. After struggling to maintain a daily consistent practice of growth and gratitude, she began a 40-day challenge to practice gratitude and personal growth. That journey taught her the need to help other people develop a daily practice of thankfulness and inspired her to share 'The Mindset Accountability Journal' with the world.


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Sunday, December 9, 2018

PROMO: Christmas in Prague



Psychological Romance
Date Published: November 24, 2018
Publisher: Foolishness Press

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Christmas in Prague is the story of Joseph, a divorced American twenty-something living as an expat in Prague. He's obsessed with Karina, a Czech waitress-turned-supermodel. She's freshly back from a trip to Italy with her English teacher, and she's ready to give Joseph the attention for which he's been longing. Will his Christmas wish come true?



Excerpt

After soup, we have Buck’s vánočka, sweet bread with apricots and raisins that have been soaked in hot brandy for days. I am not a huge fan, but I have a taste to prove that I am game. Next comes the fried carp with bramborovy salat. As the dishes are being served, Avi tells a story, an earlier expat Christmas at Beth’s apartment, the one that Kamil took after she left.

“I walk in and there she is, Beth, on her knees. Dressed in a white plastic apron, dishwashing gloves and lab goggles. The dish washing gloves were purple. On the floor were a rubber mallet, various rusting knives with wooden handles, and a pair of yellow gardening shears laid out on newspaper. There was blood all over. She was digging out guts, clipping off fins and the tail. Bits of guts and fish and blood were everywhere. Splattered all over the white tile. It looks like a massacre. She stuffed the offal in a plastic bag. It said Kotva on it. She stood up - bag in one hand, carp head in the other. She slipped in the blood on the floor and caught herself. The head kept mouthing, looking down. Beth looked at me, my mouth hanging open. She said, ‘What?’ I told her I would help her clean up. It was hilarious.” The potato salad is very tasty, but the carp is pungent. It is cooked to perfection, there’s nothing that could have been done better, but it is just a dark and smelly fish. No getting around it. I eat a couple of bites, wash it down with beer and move on. Whew.

Brad speaks up. “Barbora, can you ask your babička why carp for Christmas? I know it is a tradition, but why?” Barbora smiles and leans toward her grandmother, translating.

Barbora answers, “She says it is for good luck. You know in Slovakia and Poland they have the same tradition. Buy a carp at the Christmas Market, and it becomes a family pet for a few days, living in the bathtub. Some people ask the fish monger to cut the filets right there on Old Town Square, but the real way to do it is to bring it home and butcher it yourself.”


About the Author


Rick Pryll is an award-winning author and poet. His book, "The Chimera of Prague" was selected as the winner of the 2018 New York Book Festival for Romance. A graduate of MIT, Rick wrote a novella as the thesis for his Mechanical Engineering degree. Having grown up in Western New York State, Rick and his wife, ArtPop Charlotte 2018 artist Holly Spruck, live in Charlotte.  They have two children, two cats and a dog.

First published to the web in 1994, his hyperfiction short story “LIES” has garnered praise from the Wall Street Journal, SHIFT magazine, and several other publications in print and online.  It is cited in more than seven books, has been translated into Spanish and Chinese.

From 1996 to 2002 Rick lived in Prague, in the Czech Republic.  While there he published two books including Displaced (Foolishness Press, 1998) and Wallow (Foolishness Press, 1999).  His stories and poems have been featured on the pages of THINK and OPTIMISM.


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Wednesday, December 5, 2018

PROMO: Conduits


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Magical Realism
Date Published: December 3, 2018
Publisher: Transmudane Press, LLC

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It exists in a long-forgotten corner of the American dream.

Green Valley County is home to murders and heroes, ghosts and jinxes, gods, devils, and even a pygmy Big Foot.

But the biggest menace is Jinx Jenkins and the string of bad luck he bestows upon the townsfolk.

Can the good people of Green Valley overcome this one man’s curse?

If you love the classic comic and magical realism, you’ll lose yourself in this piece of Americana.

Become a citizen of the City by the Shore and see how seemingly random occurrences come to shape an entire civilization.





Excerpt

MILLENNIAL

Once, a poor, old woman lived in the foothills of Green Valley. Made old by the circumstances of her life. Mary Foster was known the county over as The Human Incubator, as she had been pregnant for the last 257 months.

Her pregnancy went as any pregnancy might. She received regular ultrasounds, took vitamins, and kept away from cigarettes and alcohol—save the occasional glass of wine.

Everything appeared to be right on schedule until her due date. Yet the baby never came. The doctors told her to be patient because these things sometimes happen.

So, she waited.

But the baby never came. When seven days passed without any change, the doctors decided to induce. To their surprise, the child held tight. The only course of action was to retrieve the child through C-section. The doctors put Mary under and sliced her open. The lead surgeon put his hands inside and was shocked to feel a bite.

A tiny hand came out and extended a middle finger.

The doctors had a single option: sew Mary back up. The child did not wish to be born. And so, the baby never came.

Holidays passed, children grew tall and strong, and Mary remained pregnant. Her life was thrown out of whack. And as the months and years ticked by and the child inside her grew, she found herself incapacitated. Soon, the burden grew too large for her to walk, and she needed to be wheeled around. Her diet changed, as did her bathroom schedule. She sold all of her normal clothes and spent a fortune on muumuus—the only thing that fit her belly. But worst of all, consumed with pain, she hardly attained a few hours of broken sleep each night. Mary was forced to move in to a nursing home where they tended to her needs.

The father was a one-night stand, a passing traveler on his way out west. She’d never got his name, let alone a number to reach him, but he might as well have not existed at all. Nonetheless, Mary habitually pictured and cursed his face. After a while, though, even his face faded, and she was left with a melting pot of emotions. Hatred and fear and anxiety and discomfort and frustration and happiness and love and lots and lots of pain.

At first, she referred to the baby as It. But after a while, Mary saw fit to give the child a name, so she called him Junior.

Junior aged within Mary, siphoning away her youth. Middle age brought her liver spots and wrinkles. Her skin grew thin and her eyes weary.

Hope had left her.

When the last drop of life was suckled and nothing was left for Junior to reap, the baby finally came. Fully grown with teeth and hair and a beard, Mary awoke one morning to find Junior at the foot of her bed. Despite his appearance, he had the mental capacity of an infant.

Mary spoon-fed him, scooping up the spittle and shoveling it back into his man-sized mouth. She changed his diapers and clothes and even gave him baths. And in spite of all her newfound hardship, Mary had never been so happy.

At last, she was able to stand and walk on her own—a thing she’d dreamt of whenever she did sleep. She could drink alcohol again. And although she never smoked cigarettes before, she started up, just because she could.

She had her body back.

Junior relied on his mother for everything. She cooked and cleaned and earned the money despite his fully capable body. For he was naïve to the ways of the world and, like any child, assumed all the world to be his juvenile right.

One day, old and withered and drained, Mary grew ill. She needed Junior to take care of her.

The man pouted and kicked and cried and cursed.

Dishes piled high, and clothes grew in heaps, soiled and stained. An odor fell about the place so foul, not even Junior could deny it.

At last, he realized the weight he must bear, so Junior picked up a spoon and fed his mother the way she once did for him.

He ventured out into the world and discovered, ever so harshly, that the world was not immediately his. Rather, it was up to him to earn his way and stake his claim. He found work, and in time, an appreciation for his mother took hold. Resentment gone, he realized Mary, with all her hardship, always did the best she could. And wasn’t that all anyone could ever ask?

The day came when Mary finally died, old and gray with a smile on her face and Junior at her side.


About the Author

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J. Ryan Sommers has an MFA in creative writing from Columbia College Chicago. He and his wife recently left the windy city and relocated to Houston where Sommers teaches and continues to write. Sommers has been writing stories since he was a kid. He found it to be an escape at one of the most difficult times of his life, his childhood.


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Tuesday, December 4, 2018

PROMO: Death By Payback


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Thriller
Date Published: November 2018
Publisher: AuthorSource

Free With Kindle Unlimited!

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After confessing to killing fourteen young men in La Crosse, Wisconsin, sultry serial killer Genevieve Wangen escapes custody for the second time. Aided by her Mafia contacts, she settles in at a remote cabin in the Bitterroot Mountains of Montana. Now, safely hidden behind her new identity as Samantha Walters, she happily continues her deadly work for the Carbones. But Detective Al Rouse and Deputy Charlie Berzinski are bent on locking her away for good. When they finally catch up to her, as she is about to wed her latest debonair lover, Genevieve finds that she must escape more than just the law!



Other Books in the Series



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Thriller
Date Published: July 2017

When Shawn Sorenson drowned in 1987, no one in La Crosse, Wisconsin, took much notice. They thought it was simply another drunken accident. When another student, Tad Schwartz, drowned a year later, the residents began to suspect foul play. Why else would a healthy young man drown? Even so, the police had no leads or clues to suggest anything other than a tragic accident. Were these truly accidental deaths? Suspicion became reality one fateful morning in 2011 when Police Detective Allan Rouse, Sheriff's Deputy Charlie Berzinski, and pathologist Rick Olson pulled the 15th victim from the river. The body had a tale to tell.

Dr. Olson, physician Patricia Grebin, and researcher Sarah Giles discover an obscure piece of evidence. It leads Berzinski and Rouse down a tangled trail of clues before reaching a mind-boggling conclusion. Will Berzinski and Rouse catch the killer before it's too late? Filled with intrigue, betrayal, and gut-twisting suspense, Death by Drowning will draw readers into a Midwestern town full of secrets and clues as breathtaking as the Mississippi River.




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Thriller
Date Published: Spring 2018


Beautiful assassin Genevieve Wangen continues to work on her deadly concoctions from her secret lab in the woods, far from the prying eyes of the law. But just as soon as she has love and a new life in her sights, Genevieve is pulled into a far more dangerous high-stakes game of cat and mouse. She already upended her life and identity once. How far will she need to go this time to stay alive?


About the Author

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Gary Evans has turned his passion for novel writing into a post-retirement career, with book four soon to be released, and book five already in the works. Evans spent 30 years in Midwest newsrooms as an award-winning writer, editor, and publisher. He spent 12 years as vice president at Winona State University. He ended his career as the president and CEO of Hiawatha Broadband Communication, one of the nation’s first alternative entrant telecommunications firms, after 15 years. Married to Ellen, they have two grown children, Gregory and Natalie.


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PROMO: Hell is the Tie That Binds


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Paranormal Romance/Erotica
Date Published: October 5, 2018

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FREE with Kindle Unlimited!

All is not well in paradise...

Zoey cannot forgive Pack Alpha Ryan for a wrong that hits too close to home. They’ve kept secrets from one another, but it hasn’t kept Zoey from wanting Ryan with the same intensity as day one. The question is, does Ryan still want her?

Ryan will keep his Pack safe above all else. He accepted the position of Alpha, and will now play his part. Even if keeping them safe means he has to get blood on his hands.

In a story of love and revenge, can two flames come together in a time of crisis and lead a Pack and a Coven to victory or will they burn so hot, they destroy everything they have created?




Hope Daniels:
International Best Selling Author Hope Daniels grew up in a small resort area in Michigan where she and her husband still live today. As the third child of four, she had an exhaustive imagination. From straddling the back-porch railing as a wild cowgirl, to saving the world as Wonder Woman complete with homemade bullet stopping bracelets. She was always taking what she read and making it as real as she could, now if she could just find the wolf shifter of her dreams…

Daniels loves to write in multiple genre which includes her short in the Amazon Bestselling Anthology Black Magic (A Women of Urban Fantasy Production), a Contemporary and YA short in the LDLInk Anthologies and a MM Gay Romance in the Encompass Ink’s All You Need Is Love Anthology, titled Always and Forever. She is also the co-author to the Magical Forces series books with Author Alicia Dawn.

Alicia Dawn:
Your average 9-5 workalcoholic that took care of every day business. After 10 long years of having no life, outside of home and work, she found Facebook as so many others had. Always having the passion, since she was in the fourth grade, to read and write, she got drawn into the Role Playing world. Living, via roleplay, a place where stories picked up and continued on even after the book was done. This was a whole new world.
Loving that the stories, she had devoured and loved to read were now never ending. She became captivated by all the tales that others with the same passion created, and Role Played out on Facebook. Getting drawn into something that she had never done before, but always in back of her mind wished she could do, Alicia started Role Playing on Facebook in 2010, meeting Nikita Jakz along the way, and many other fascinating people.
After a year, she decided to be an adventurist and create her own characters. Not unlike what all authors do, when creating those awesome books that she had coveted and devoured when they came out. Joining a group of independent writers. A lot of voices were yearning to be wrote and she got busy working on letting them out!
With four books self-published in paranormal and one in young adult, she is working on a new paranormal series with writing partner Hope Daniels.


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Monday, December 3, 2018

PROMO: From Plowing to Preaching


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How God Redeemed and Used an Ordinary Farm Couple
Christian, Christianity, Religion
Date Published: December 3, 2018
Publisher: Lucid Books

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Discover a Christ who is alive and active in the lives of ordinary people.

In a culture where those who claim the name of Christ seem to live most of their days in apathy and spiritual boredom, From Plowing to Preaching shares event after event of God's personal intervention in providing leadership, provision, and blessings. Author Carol Bayne writes of the amazing ways God revealed Himself in His redemption of herself and her farmer husband Don Bayne, and how He led them from a life as farmers to Bible school and then to pastoring their home church.

From her own brokenness, Carol shares lessons learned in the crucible of pain and disappointment and the beauty that can come from the ashes of our lives. Through the teachings of scripture and the wisdom that comes from personal experience, she shares truths and insights that will guide any broken or struggling believer to overcome and find victory in their walk with Christ. Throughout the book, Carol draws attention to important themes in the Christian experience such as:



    Pursuing your dreams

    Learning the fear of the Lord

    Overcoming the lies of the enemy through the truths of scripture

    Finding your joy in the Lord and in serving others



Carol's heart is to reveal a Christ who is very much alive and active in the lives of ordinary people who are totally committed to His purposes and glory. In short, From Plowing to Preaching will remind the reader that with an authentic faith in the risen Lord and an eternal perspective, the Christian life will be one of adventure, purpose, meaning, and hope.


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About the Author

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Carol Bayne, is a blogger, author, and speaker. Her husband, Don Bayne, pastored Grace Bible Fellowship for 33 years until his death in 2009, and Carol served the church as Women’s Ministries Director. She is the mother of four, grandmother of nine, and great-grandmother of one. She graduated from the University of Oregon with a bachelor’s degree plus a fifth year majoring in English and education. She taught high school English a number of years and taught two years at Prairie Bible Institute in Alberta, Canada. She is currently married to Arthur Mueller.


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Blog Tour: Death Opens a Window

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Mourning Dove Mysteries, Book 2
Mystery
Date Published: October 19, 2018
Publisher: Acorn Publishing

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Emory Rome is back in DEATH OPENS A WINDOW, Book 2 of the Mourning Dove Mysteries and the follow-up to the national bestseller MURDER ON THE LAKE OF FIRE.

As he struggles with the consequences of his last case, Emory must unravel the inexplicable death of a federal employee in a Knoxville high-rise. But while the reticent investigator is mired in a deep pool of suspects - from an old mountain witch to the powerful Tennessee Valley Authority - he misses a greater danger creeping from the shadows. The man in the ski mask returns to reveal himself, and the shocking crime of someone close is unearthed.



Excerpt

Emory tapped the bell on the counter in the lobby of Willow Springs – senior living spaces converted from a nineteenth century Italianate house. Sounds of a mountain forest from overhead speakers pacified the air, and silk flowers sprung from every available surface. This place doesn’t seem so bad. It’s peaceful.
A scream rippled through the tranquility. Emory leapt over the counter and pounded through the door behind it. His eyes darted about in search of danger, but all he found was a fiftyish woman clutching her chest with a horrified look. Before her was an open drawer. Inside was a chicken-bone doll with a bird’s foot attached as if grabbing at the heart. The woman saw Emory and pointed frantically at the drawer. “Get it out of there! Get it out!”
That’s odd. It looks kind of like the one from Corey’s office. Emory threw the doll into a nearby wastebasket. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” The woman’s breathing ticked down from asthmatic. “Okay, I’m fine now. Thank you.” Her chest-clutching hand dropped to her side, revealing a company badge hanging from the collar of her purple polyester blouse. “Can I help you?”
Emory found himself staring at her swept-back, brittle hair – a patchwork of brown shades given a yellow luster from the fluorescent ceiling light. She must color it herself. He pulled his eyes away, glancing at the name on her badge before offering her a smile. “Hi Lucy. I’m here to see Mary Belle Hinter.”
“Ms… Ms. Mary Belle?” Her hand returned to her chest. “Are you a relation?”
“I’m Emory Rome. I’m investigating the death of someone she knew.”
“Oh good heavens. How awful.” Lucy fanned herself with her hand. “She’s on the veranda. The door down the hall to your right. You can’t miss it.”
“Thank you.” Emory pointed toward the wastebasket. “By the way, how did that thing get in your drawer?”
The woman placed a hand over her heart. “I can’t rightfully say. I imagine someone confiscated it from… one of our residents. We’re a Christian establishment.” Emory started toward the door when the woman stopped him. “Em’ry, you don’t believe she had something to do with that death, do you?”
“No, I just need to talk to her.”
Lucy pursed her lips. “Are you sure?”
That’s an odd question.
Lucy continued, “I don’t mean to speak ill of the misfortunate, but that woman is a hellion straight from the loins of the devil!”
“Thanks for the warning.” Emory left Lucy to her shudders. That’s twice I’ve been warned about Mary Belle Hinter. Who is she?
When Emory stepped onto the veranda, he was greeted by a stifling warmth, in spite of the weak winter sunlight slavering through the glass roof. I wonder which one is her. Among the tight scattering of more patio heaters than were necessary, he saw about two dozen elderly denizens – some sitting alone and others playing cards or board games. One small woman with wild silver hair, however, was kneeling in front of a tree and digging in the dirt with her hands, just beyond the veranda’s wood-slat flooring. Emory smirked. Lord, don’t let it be the crazy one.
A thin fortyish man in scrubs approached him. “Can I help you?”
“I’m looking for Mary Belle Hinter.”
The man scanned the area before the tips of his mustache reached for his chin. “There she is digging at that tree again.”
Emory’s shoulders slumped. Of course, it’s her.
The attendant hurried toward her. “Ms. Mary Belle, what have we said about messing with the foliage?”
Either she didn’t hear him or she ignored him altogether because she broke off a small offshoot of the horse chestnut tree’s root and pulled it from the ground.
“Don’t put that in your mouth!”
Before the attendant could grab it, she sure enough stuffed the piece of root into her mouth and sucked on it as if it were hard candy.
The attendant threw his hands up in the air and turned to Emory. “She’s all yours.”
Emory nodded and extended a hand to the old woman. “Ms. Mary Belle, could I help you to your feet?”
She looked up at him and rasped through cracked lips, “If I’d a wanted on m’ feet, I’d be on ’em.”
“Fair enough.” Emory crouched on the ground next to her.
“Ms. Mary Belle, I need to talk to you about Corey Melton. Do you know who that is?”
“I know who he was.” She looked at him with jaundiced eyes and pointed an arthritic finger at his face. “Who’re you?”
“I’m Emory Rome.” He handed her a business card. “I’m an investigator. You said you knew who Mr. Melton was. Why did you say that?”
The old woman buried Emory’s card into one of the oversized pockets of her brown tattered cloak. “I ain’t ne’er forgit a name or face.”
“No, why did you use the past tense?”
Ms. Mary Belle’s lips curled toward her withered cheeks. “I know why you’re here.”
“And why’s that?”
“You’re askin’ ’bout a feller I knew but for one reason. The curse musta met its intention.”
Emory clenched his jaw. Here we go. “Curse?”
“The thief stole m’ prop’ty! So I hexed ’im. Hexed ’im good.”
Yep, she’s crazy.
Ms. Mary Belle laughed so hard, the root fell from her mouth. “When God closes a door, Death opens a window.”
“When did you last see him?”
“Ne’er did. Coward wrote me a letter! Sheriff done his dirty work. Cursed ’im too.” Her last statement added a proud glimmer to her eyes. “He still wit’ us?”
“As far as I know.”
“Well, give it time. Give it time. Oh me…” Without warning, a flash flood of tears washed away Ms. Mary Belle’s self-satisfaction.
Emory placed a hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“That prop’ty’s been my family’s for gen’rations. From when I came ta ’wareness as a girl, I knowed I was gonna die there.” She looked over his shoulder as if she could see her erstwhile land from where she sat. “Summer’s always m’ fav’rite. Dancin’ ina black willer seeds that’re floatin’ ina wind. Cooling off ina crick. Course, ’tweren’t deep enough ta swim in, but it’s fun all a same. Ne’er did learn ta swim. And the taste o’ the sassafras trees.” Her tongue poked through her gummy smile to lick her crackled lips. “You e’er had a place like that?”
Emory shrugged. “I can’t say I have.”
Ms. Mary Belle wiped her eyes and focused them on Emory. “So you fixin’ ta ’rest me?”
“What? No, I’m not going to arrest you.”
“Takin’ pity ona ol’ woman.” She patted the back of his hand. “You’re a good young’un.”
“Thanks.”
“Can you he’p me get m’ prop’ty back?”
“Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do about that.”
“Sweet sassafras, you an inves’gator! Inves’gate how ta git back what’s mine.”
“I’m sorry.” Emory shook his head. “It’s not that simple.”
“I got money. I can pay.”
“It’s not that. It’s just too late to do anything about it now. It’s out of our hands.”
“Our?” The old woman’s pitiable fragility evaporated, leaving behind a desiccated grimace of anger. “You workin’ wit’ ’em! You all in cahoots!”
“No, I meant there’s nothing you or I could do.”
“Stealin’ what’s mine!” Ms. Mary Belle clawed at the back of his hand, drawing blood. As Emory recoiled from her, she sucked the tiny bits of his skin from her fingertips and then spit in his face. “I curse you! No moment’s peace ’til your reckonin’, whena cold handa death’ll come a beckonin’!”
Emory jumped to his feet and backed away, almost tripping. He wiped the spit from his face and glared at her in disbelief.
Ms. Mary Belle screamed, “Git out!” followed by incomprehensible words.
Emory could feel his arm hair shrieking to attention as he retreated to his car.





About the Author

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Bestselling mystery and science fiction author Mikel J. Wilson draws on his Southern roots for the Mourning Dove Mysteries, a series of novels featuring bizarre murders in the Smoky Mountains region of Tennessee. Building on the success of the first book in the series, Wilson continues his “no guns or knives” philosophy for murder as he delves deeper into the lives of the characters and their evolving dynamics.




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