Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Virtual Blog Tour Stop of Author Patricia Guthrie and Her Novel, In the Arms of the Enemy


































For much more information about Patricia Guthrie and In the Arms of the Enemy, visit her virtual book tour site - http://inspiredauthor.com/promotion/Patricia+Guthrie Get it at AMAZON and Barnes and Noble .



Book Summary:
WANTED: ASSASSIN TO KILL RACE HORSES ON DEMAND
FLEXIBLE HOURS-GOOD BENEFITS.


Light Sword Publishing announces the release of Patricia A. Guthrie’s first published novel “In the Arms of the Enemy.”


When the death of a racing stable’s prize horse and his trainer is blamed on the stable’s owner; his son, Adam Blakely, goes undercover convinced that the trainer’s partner, Maggie McGregor, is the killer.


Determined to leave the tumultuous world of horse racing, Maggie returns home to try and find peace. When a handsome horse owner moves his horse into her father’s boarding stable and asks Maggie to train his horse, family finances dictate that Maggie accept--and that’s when the accidents begin.


Drowning in deception and lies, Maggie and Adam search for a killer and uncover an insurance scam so insidious, it threatens to rock a horse racing empire and bring the killer to their doorstep. They need to learn to:
Keep your friends close; but your enemies closer.


Review magazine "Affaire de Coeur" says, "With a strong mystery and a sizzling romance, Ms. Guthrie captivates readers from the start. This is an enjoyable thriller with a plot that will keep you guessing until the climactic end.”
* * * * * Rated five stars


AUTHOR BIO
Patricia A. Guthrie is a resident of Park Forest, Illinois. A recently retired music teacher from the Chicago Public Schools (May Community Academy and Chicago Vocational Community Academy) and former opera singer, Author Patricia A. Guthrie is now an avid horse owner, dog obedience trainer and writer. Ms. Guthrie lives with three feisty collies who act as “ghost writers” and help her write at every given opportunity.
This story is dedicated to those horses lost to man’s greed and inhumanity and to those humanitarians whose mission is to save and protect them.
In the Arms of the Enemy By Patricia A. Guthrie




1.) -Please tell us about your latest book.


When the death of a racing stable’s prize horse and his trainer is blamed on the stable’s owner; his son, Adam Blakely, goes undercover convinced that the trainer’s partner, Maggie McGregor, is the killer.


Determined to leave the tumultuous world of horse racing, Maggie returns home to try and find peace. When a handsome horse owner moves his horse into her father’s boarding stable and asks Maggie to train his horse, family finances dictate that Maggie accept--and that’s when the accidents begin.


Drowning in deception and lies, Maggie and Adam search for a killer and uncover an insurance scam so insidious, it threatens to rock a horse racing empire and bring the killer to their doorstep. They need to learn to:
Keep your friends close; but your enemies closer.
~
Review magazine "Affaire de Coeur" says, "With a strong mystery and a sizzling romance, Ms. Guthrie captivates readers from the start. This is an enjoyable thriller with a plot that will keep you guessing until the climactic end.
Affaire de Coeur fated In the Arms of the Enemy five stars and chose it to be a reviewer’s pick.


2.) -What can we expect from you in the future?


My next book, Waterlilies Over My Grave, is due to come out in spring of 2008. There are two other novels in the works.

3.) -How do we find out about you and your book? Where can readers find it?

www.lightswordpublishing.com, www.Amazon.com. www.Borders.com,
www.waldenbooks.com
, Barnes and Noble and most other online sites.
You can order the books if you go into your local Barnes and Noble and Borders.

4.) -How may readers contact you?
My email address:
Patguth@aol.com. Website: www.patriciaanneguthrie.com,
www.paguthrie.blogspot.com, and www.myspace.com/paguthrie and, of course at Nikki Leigh’s virtual book tour site, http://inspiredauthor.com/promotion/Patricia+Guthrie.

5.) -How would you describe the genre in which
you do most of your writing?
Romantic suspense/ mystery/suspense, depending on the varying degree that the romance plays. In Arms of the Enemy, the romance between the hero and heroine make them equal players. The romance and mystery entwine, don’t separate. You could pull the romance out, but you’d have to rewrite most of the book.

6.) What motivated you to start writing in this book?
The seed started years ago when the disappearance of the candy heiress Helen Brach set off a huge horseshow scandal. Horses were being murdered for the insurance money; a lot of insurance money. Many horsemen were indicted. Many went to jail.


I lost the idea that all horse people were benevolent souls who loved their horses. Money plus greed plus valuable horses equals some of the sleaziest excuses for human beings in existence.

By the way, most horse people do love their horses. I want to mention that most strongly. Many of us are horse poor. Many of us get kicked, bucked, thrown and licked to death. Some of the nicest people in the world are horse and dog enthusiasts.

7.) -What kind of research do you do?


Whatever needs to be done. I’d like to say when I’m writing about Romania, I spend a nice leisurely month in the Carpathians. However, I’m not that rich.


I spend hours on the internet, books, pamphlets, talking to people etc. I spend a lot of time throughout the different drafts of the novel making sure my facts are correct. In The Arms of the Enemy, I talked to my barn owner (where my horse is boarded) she is a horse show judge and has been in the business since she was a child. She read my books for any inconsistencies or incredible stupid bloopers on my part. For Waterlillies Over My Grave, I took the visual scenery from upper Maine where we’d stayed when I was a kid for the summer months. Perfect setting.


8.) -Do you have a set schedule for writing or do you just go with the flow?


I try for eight hours a day and usually get five or six. I get more done when I have a set schedule. If I go with the flow, the flow may never come. I have to treat writing as a day job. When I was teaching (working full time) I might take a few precious moments during the day to write and plot, but mostly I had to work at night and on weekends. Of course, I plotted on the way to work and on the way home. But half the time I’d forget the most important details. And no, a tape recorder has never worked for me. But, I understand it works for others.

9.) -Where do your ideas come from?


Seeds are usually planted from news stories or live events. In the Arms of the Enemy came from an exposed horse show scandal from long ago. Water Lillies came from my interest in psychology and watching a man descent into madness.

10.) -Who, if anyone, has influenced your writing?


Probably Agatha Christie, because I read her books a lot growing up.I’d also give credit to some of my workshop leaders: Debra Dixon, Joanna Wayne, Margie Lawson, Sue Viders, Linda Daly. I can’t remember them all. At one time, when I had the time, I was addicted to workshops devoted to different areas of writing. I would suggest new writers do the same. Not only are many of the group leaders great, but the other writers in the class would make great friends and colleagues.


11.) -How long have you been writing - have you always wanted to be a writer?


I’ve always been in the creative arts in some way. I started out as an opera singer which means theater, acting and singing the works of writers-composers.


Writing is just the other side of the coin. Now I’m making up the stories. I started realizing this is what I wanted in the late 90s, but it wasn’t until I retired from teaching music in the Chicago Public School System that I realized I was now a full-time writer and when I got published, I was a full time author.

12.) -What is the most rewarding thing about being a writer?


Whenever someone tells me how much they loved reading my book and ask if there’ll be a sequel. That feels warm and squishy.


13.) Among your own books, have you a favorite book? Favorite hero or heroine?


I can’t say I have a favorite book. I prefer romantic suspense, mystery and suspense as a genre and/or subgenre. I think my favorite heroine has to be Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice. SheĆ¢’s so human. Not afraid to speak her mind in a time when that was not expected of women. OH, and I love Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum. She does all that with a gun that usually goes off in the most unexpected places.

14.) -Please tell us about yourself (family, hobbies, education, etc.)


My family: I have a brother who lives in Brooklyn and works with computers (very handy brother) and a sister who’s an Episcopal priest who worked as chaplain at Cornell University for years.

I have a master’s degree in music and opera theater from Manhattan School of Music. I sang professionally for years, until I moved into other endeavors and ended up as a music therapist then as a music teacher for the Chicago Public Schools.
My three collies (Alex, Roxi and Zuri) take up much of my time as does my horse, Jackson. I also like to read and to doze off to the primary election results.

15.) -Are there any words of encouragement for unpublished writers?


Yes. I hope this is encouraging. This is an extremely difficult and frustrating business. Just because you get published does not mean you have talent coming out of your ears. And, just because you don’t get published does not mean you don’t have talent coming out of your ears. You have to learn to wear two hats. One the recluse who stays behind the computer and writes and the other outgoing personable business person who networks and learns to sell. Hard because the two skills are not always compatible.


Obtain all the writing skills you can. There are many great books out there. Donald Maas, Self Editing by Renni Browne and another author who escapes my mind, Creating Memorable Characters by Sue Viders, Goal Motivation and Conflict by Debra Dixon, Stephen King’s On Writing. I could go on and on. Those books lie in my treasure cove of books easily obtained at a moment’s notice. They’re all dog-eared.


The next thing is to write-write-write and write. Anything Garbage if necessary.
There are two types of writers: the pantzers who write from the story in their heads and the plotters who organize everything before they even start. Some of us are in between and our finished product looks nothing like our original outline.

I suggest you read everything in your genre you can. Go to conventions and seminars. Join your local RWA (Romance Writers of America) if you’re a romance writer, or Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime. I believe there are organizations for almost any genre.
But above all write. WRITE Did you hear that? WRITE.


16.) Now for something fun:

Chocolate or vanilla?
smell of vanilla. Life is good...

Favorite color?
Don’ t really have one.

Favorite character in a book?
I love Samwise Gangi from Lord of the Rings. He’s the real hero to me.

Favorite mythological being?
The unicorn.

Do you like science fiction, fantasy, horror, romance or mystery?
I’m crazy about mystery and romance, (that’s why I combine the two into romantic suspense) and some of the old fantasy types, like Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, LOR, Harry Potter. I’m not turned on by the new fantasy that muscles its way across lines into erotica. I love good horror. Stephen King’s The Stand and It remain two of my favorite books of all time and Dean Koontz with his hero retriever Einstein melts my heart.

All time favorite actor?
Varies from day to day. Pierce Brosnan has always been a favorite as has Hugh Jackman. Kenneth Balogh for roles in Shakespeare plays.

Actress?
Maybe Joan Hickson as Miss Marple, Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman come to mind. Emma Thompson, Cate Blanchett, Gwenyth Paltrow as Emma. Oh dear, I am going on.

All time favorite book?
What ever I happen to be reading at the time. Some soft spots though: Black Beauty, Seabiscuit, Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, anything by Janet Evanovich or Agatha Christie. Etc.

Favorite TV show?
Nancy Grace and Glenn Beck I haven’t a clue why.

Favorite Movie?
Seabiscuit with Toby McGuire.

What makes you laugh out loud?
My animals.

If you could go anywhere in the universe where would that be?
A composite spot. My house in front of a lake with pine forests behind me. A place for my horse and dogs. That would also be my secret desire. Although I could transfer to a log cabin if someone would build on for me. Sigh. No, I have no desire to go to the Moon or to Mars.

A secret desire? See above.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Review of Prosperity by Deborah Woehr



Find this book at AMAZON

Amanda Thorne is an embattled clairvoyant, who refuses to believe in God or the afterlife, even when the ghost of her murdered husband confronts her from his grave. More ghosts confront her when she finds herself stranded in a tiny town in Arizona.Two of them mistake her for a prominent woman who was murdered 79 years ago. One of them wants to avenge him for the murder, and the other wants to kill her all over again. She and her misplaced deputy friend must uncover the truth about the murder before history repeats itself." Read the excerpt HERE . Read more of Deborah Woehr's writing and book announcements at: HER BLOG .

Ghosts hang around for a variety of reasons. There’s unfinished business. Maybe it’s due to their mortal realm home being more their heaven on earth so why go beyond the veil? Another reason that is given is due to terrible violence done to the ghost when he/she was alive, and the spirit wants justice or revenge. Even if the ones who did it to them are no longer there, or are haunting the same space as the victim. This is the reason for the frightening occurrences in Prosperity, Arizona.
A clairvoyant that neither believes in God or the afterlife, Amanda Throne is confronted by her murdered husband at his grave. He threatens her, telling her she should be in the grave, not him. He promises to get her and then she wakes up, finding herself actually standing in front of his grave. This is just part and parcel of what makes up her life after his death and as we find out, their marriage when he was alive. She has known Hell long before she gets to Prosperity. Finally, between her husband’s ghost and her living mother-in-law, she decides to get in her car and take off. She makes it to Arizona, where her car breaks down in the desert, about a mile from Prosperity.
She finds herself forced to stay in the town, due to circumstances and the sheriff. She gets together with one of the sheriff’s deputies, Travis Colbain, and at first they want nothing to do with each other. But gradually, as the hauntings increase and people in the town die and become earth-bound spirits stuck in the town’s dimensions themselves, both join together to dig up the past and hopefully end the growing horror.
Deborah Woehr’s horror tale, Prosperity has interesting, complex characters. Each person, even the nice ones, has a nasty side. There are those too who refuse to hide this, like the Wilders and even Bud. And when townspeople die, they find that they are already in Hell, unable to escape the boundaries. Worse, Amanda discovers that two of the spirits mistake her for a murdered woman from seventy-nine years ago. One wants her to avenge him while the other wants her dead.
This book explores not only the theme of the paranormal kind of hauntings, but digs into those of the psychological kind that haunt both the living and even the dead. Lines between evil and good can be splattered by many shades of gray. That sometimes, a town is more than just s town, but the center of Hell itself. And that is why Prosperity will scare you.
I give Prosperity 4 Dragons.

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Catch Me at Galacticon 2008 in Virginia Beach, Virginia 3/22

I'll be at this one-day convention, doing an author panel 4 to 4:45PM and manning the Ravencon 2008 table rest of the time.

GALACTICON 2008
WHEN: Saturday, March 22, 2008

TIME: 9:00AM to 5:00PM

WHERE: Central Library 4100 Virginia Beach Boulevard Virginia Beach, Va. 23452-1767
757-385-0110


ADMISSION: FREE

A science fiction, fantasy and horror mini convention with panels, dealers, events and more. it's free to attend. For more information:
Galacticon 2008


Directions:
Take 64 East to 264 East
Take Second Independance Exit to Pembroke
Right onto Virginia Beach Blvd.
Library is on the Left Five stoplights up.

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Read an e-Book Week March 2-8th-Get Anthology as e-Book Free




Be GREEN and reduce your carbon footprint by reading ebooks! Read an Ebook Week is March 2-8 this year. Here's the site to read the environmental stats and the history of ebooks: http://www.domokos.com/readebookweek.html .

You can download one free--an anthology, Mining the Muse, the Collective Works of Chesterfield Writers Club Anthology, I have a horror flash fiction, "Prey", included. The print book costs, but the download is free. Check it out at http://www.lulu.com/content/1490758 .

Monday, March 03, 2008

New Review for Haunted Richmond in Campfire Tales. Issue 5



Below is some of what the reviewer for Campfire tales, in Issue 5, had to say about Haunted Richmond, Virginia:

I am proud to say that Mrs. Kinney has weaved a work that not only informed and educated me, she did it in such an entertaining and escapist way that I didn't even notice: such is the power of her narrative. Upon reflection, her skill at presenting unbiased facts in such a fashion as to leave the reader's mind open to the possibilities of…what if…is the greatest single accomplishment of Haunted Richmond and the very gifted lady that penned it.Haunted Richmond is, in itself, like a walk through the cemetery that lurks just beyond the reach of the city lights, no matter where you live. The very one where you'll find yourself whistling a tune just to break the eerie silence that can too easily become ominous—and the thrill that you made it through without an unseen spirit grabbing your ankle or some lurking beats biting into your flesh. In short, Haunted Richmond is one awesome journey through a very frightening and very exciting place.