It’s My Turn

If you have followed my blog over the past year, you are familiar with the Underground Authors. If you are new to my blog, welcome! A couple of years ago a group of writers from around the country and Canada banded together and wrote an anthology of short stories called Beyond The Sea. It turned out to be a ton of fun. So much so, we decided to extend our group writing process to include a series of books all written about a fictional town in the lovely area of the Texas hill country. We called it Magnolia Bluff. Pretty or not, it sure is a deadly town. With each new book, the bodies are piling up, and law enforcement is struggling to keep up with the growing body count.

The latest tale is my book Justice, book eight in the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles.

I am especially proud of Justice. I have just learned that it very quickly proved to be an Amazon best-selling book when it launched last week. Yippee! Awards are cool!

Let me tell you about my story. Madison Jackson is a police officer with the Texas State Department of Fish and Wildlife. The title sounds pretty tame. Yes, Madison passes out tickets for no fishing or deer licenses. It was on just such a routine day that a child’s body was found in the tree line next to Burnet Reservoir.

Madison attends the child’s autopsy. The sight of that battered and bruised child on a stainless-steel slab in the morgue deeply moves her. Madison’s professional instincts are battered by memories of a lonely childhood precipitated by the death of her mother at the hands of a violent criminal. Evidence on the child indicates she was a victim of human trafficking south of the border. Madison impulsively drives to Tenancingo, Mexico hoping to locate the parents of Jane Doe lying unclaimed at Schiff’s Funeral Home in Magnolia Bluff.

Madison’s trip quickly catches the attention of the CJNG, the Jalisco New Generation cartel. Madison is kidnapped and subjected to extreme torture Will she ever make it home?

I just wanted to add a review of Justice that I am especially proud of. From Keith Mbuya of Reader’s Favorite. “If you love mystery murder thrillers laced with spicy romantic action, Kelly Marshall’s Justice is a must-read for you. Marshall had me captivated from the start. The narration focuses on love, secrets, unexpected affairs, family, sex trafficking, Mexican cartels, blackmail, espionage, thrills, and suspense. Marshall hatches an intriguing plot, featuring an amazing cast and spectacular twists. Marshall portrays the scenes vividly, capturing them with dramatic effect and a clever sense of humor. She develops the characters boldly, describing their traits and emotions, which made it easy for me to connect with them. Madison is an intelligent and tough woman, but with a big heart. Justice is the eighth installment in the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles and a stand-alone book.”

Here’s the Amazon link:https://www.amazon.com/JUSTICE-Magnolia-Bluff-Crime-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B0BKYDL3ZH

WARM and COZY

Author Linda Pirtle admits she is an avid fan of Agatha Christie and loves the murder mysteries solved by the unassuming female protagonist that stays on the scent of the criminal like a dog on a bone. Pirtle says it was a natural transition for her to become a writer after years of teaching writing and literature at St. John High School, Lancaster High School, and Ennis High School all in her home state of Texas.

After retiring from teaching, Linda joined her husband Caleb in creating a publishing company called Venture Galleries. Their website calebandlindapirtle.com is devoted to bringing readers and authors together. I personally have benefited from their generosity. They have written a number of articles about me and my books. They have a wide-reaching audience so I have felt blessed by their spreading the word about my work with so many of their followers. Self-published authors are always looking for creative ways to reach new readers. Caleb and Linda clearly understand the difficulty that authors struggle with to reach “the masses.”

Besides working in the publishing business, Linda jumped into the writing arena and penned a series of cozy books called The Games We Play. The first mystery titled the Mah Jongg Murders features her chief protagonist Lillian Prestridge, a strong female investigator. Her husband and two sons try to keep her in check but the lady definitely has a mind of her own. The book garnered a five-star Reader’s Favorite Award. Linda followed her successful first book with three more books in the series. Her second book, Deadly Dominoes, earned Linda a Best Cozy Mystery Award from the Texas Authors Association. Ditto for her third mystery. Tarot Terrors also took the award for Best Cozy in 2019. Her latest in the “Game” series is Scrabbled Secrets in 2020.

A year ago, several authors from around the country and Canada banded together and called themselves the Underground Authors. The purpose of the group was to give each other marketing support. We enjoyed each other’s company so much, we decided to pen a book of short stories. The successful collaboration resulted in Beyond The Sea.

We all decided to take it a step further and write entire novels sharing a Texas location and a whole town full of colorful characters. Linda’s latest book is book seven in the series called the Dewey Decimal Dilemma.

One look at the cover and your heart melts gazing at the sweet puppy that dominates the cover. That warmth and hometown uniqueness permeate Linda’s book. I especially loved her description of the Veteran’s Day Parade. I recall a number of times taking my grandson Dawson dressed in his Boy Scout uniform to our local parade in Buckley, Washington. It was a cacophony of blaring lumber truck horns, fire and police sirens, and high school marching bands.

So Linda’s book is warm and cozy for sure, but it is a mystery which means a dead body or two is going to show up. The police chief gets piqued because the ladies in the town seem to be running his investigation. Give yourself a treat. Buy The Dewey Decimal Dilemma at Amazon.com

A RARE WRITER

I became acquainted with Richard Schwindt a couple of years ago when I joined a band of novelists called the Underground Writers. We are all mystery writers and decided to meld together for marketing support. Most of the group hails from Texas while Richard, myself, and Cindy Davis work from different, far-flung locations. Richard is the international dude who lives in Ontario, Canada.

He is a learned, multi-faceted man who wears many hats. He has a Master’s in social work and still has a private practice in psychotherapy. He’s held clinical positions in Toronto, Sioux Lookout, and Kingston. He has a rare specialty in emotional recovery from workplace mobbing and has penned several books on the subject.

Author Richard Schwindt

Richard is that unique writer who can captivate in multi-genres. The first book I read by him was a hoot. Fifty-Seven Years and Fifty-Seven More was a humorous romp about a man who magically wakes up as a woman and his/her adventures discovering his female side. Somewhat au courant given the public’s taste for merging sexual identities. My review called it “kooky, crazy, offbeat, and just delightful.”

It was later when I read his more serious prose that my admiration for his literary excellence blossomed. Death In Sioux Lookout is a book rich in literary prose and the subtle undercurrents of human behavior. His background in psychology weaves a tapestry of flawed human behavior.

THE SHINE FROM THE GIRL IN THE LAKE is Richard’s latest fictional foray and the pages are filled with his colorful and intense writing. Here’s an example from page one.

“I knew what a Walker Coonhound could do, but my experience with Butch mostly
involved watching him roll over, and invite me to rub his belly on the days I wandered
next door to drink with Jack Rice.

This didn’t prepare me for the furious restraint of the animal now stalking beside me in
the hot brush, ten miles outside of Magnolia Bluff. His hackles rose stiff as knives, and his
mouth curled in a rictus of canine rage and anticipation.”

I’m hooked and I can’t wait to dig into the rest of the book. The Shine From The Girl In The Lake debuts on Amazon on September 20th. Special-priced for a limited time at $.99 starting September 20th at Amazon.com.

DYNAMIC DUO

Charles Breakfield and Roxanne Burkey have co-authored white papers and fiction for many years. As professionals in the Internet technology field, many might consider them to be straight-laced “nerds”. Nothing could be further from the truth. After a day of pounding out technical documents and putting out complex IT fires, the two slip out of their Clark Kent personas and step into the world of high-tech thrillers. They found their passion for fiction about ten years ago, and have amassed an impressive list of successful books including their well-known Enigma series. To date, they have written twelve Enigma Series novels and one prequel to the series called Out of Poland. They’ve penned a script and are shopping the screenplay to interested parties. Who knows? Breakfield and Burkey might become part of the Hollywood screenwriter’s set!

The two have a unique collaboration process. They call it Literary Badminton. Charles says, “Rox will write something then bat it over to me. I’ll chew on it, make changes and then return it. It works in both directions as we work through a story. This process allows us to smooth the characters and the story into a single voice. We typically trace out a few chapters at a time. We get together in person or via conference to discuss the progress of the project and our next steps. It works well for us.”

Their most recent project includes a novella called The Flower Enigma, book five of the Magnolia Bluff Crime Chronicles. This is a unique collaboration of nine authors from around the country and Canada writing about Magnolia Bluff, a small town in the picturesque Texas hill country. The town folk has to be frightened because murder and mayhem are exploding everywhere.

I just finished reading The Flower Enigma, Let me share my thoughts with you.

Globe-trotting lovers JJ and Jo find themselves in the sleepy, southern town of Magnolia Bluff, Texas. The two just want to be left alone to explore each other and enjoy a respite from their busy, glamorous work lives. Well, that was the plan anyway. But when a group of women in the small town is stymied from doing a podcast about a pressing local issue, the couple is drawn into their drama. Someone with malicious intentions is sabotaging the podcast and threatening the ladies. But it’s not just the podcast. Under the surface lurks a darker, more evil secret. The Flower Enigma is engaging, charming and a terrific read. If you’d like a copy, here’s where to find it.

https://www.amazon.com/Flower-Enigma-Charles-Breakfield-ebook/dp/B0B6QK4FGK

LOVE’S ENIGMA

Charles Breakfield and Rox Burkey are coauthors of the award-winning Enigma Books series. The books are steeped in the complexity of the tech world while intrigue and devious plots swirl around the main characters.

Charles Breakfield calls technology the new weapon of choice. You only have to look at today’s headlines to see that China and Russia are stealing our information through hacking of secure government websites to interfering with our election process. I was a personal victim of the Chinese-sponsored hacking of the Office Of Personnel Management in April of 2015. I still work for the federal government and foreign thieves stole money from my PayPal account while my KellyMarshallBooks.com website was also compromised. Hundreds of bogus emails were sent out allegedly from me. Godaddy helped to staunch the bleeding, but I certainly felt violated. An identity protection company warned me that my personal information was now on the “dark web” and that I will always be vulnerable. So Charles Breakfield is correct. Whether you are the President or a pauper, our personal information is under attack by villians from around the world.

Breakfield and Burkey are fellow authors and I was invited to read a short story they had written-also in the Enigma Series called Love’s Enigma. The main characters are Buzz and Zara, talented and capable computer programmers who work closely together and fall deeply in love. Buzz is committed and wants more, but Zara is evasive. She is a passionate beautiful Russian who loves where they are in their relationship, but she is eternally resistant to permanence.  She alludes to a deep, dark secret she dare not reveal.The couple relocate to the Caribbean to teach their programming expertise to students who will follow in their footsteps. Buzz is hoping the romantic locale will nudge Zara in the right direction. Since it is a short story, I will say no more, except to say buy the story to find out the dramatic ending.

Now that I have been introduced to this award-winning duo of techno-thrillers, I am going to dive further into their Enigma Series. If I’ve intrigued you enough, here’s a link to their website on all things Enigma: https://www.enigmanbookseries.com

Soon, I will introduce you to LOST SIDE OF AN ORPHAN’S MOON by one of my all-time favorite authors, Caleb Pirtle III. An author of 80 plus books, he a master of thriller fiction and will keep you reading deep into the night.

Happy reading!

Do You Read Anymore?

It’s a valid question. I’m a writer and I want people to read my books. Writing is hard. There are so many steps between an idea in my brain to holding the finished book in my hands. It’s a long, tedious, exacting process that can be exhausting and expensive.

But if I am to be completely honest with you, when I’m lying in bed at night, Kindle in my hands, I will peruse through the many books I have downloaded, and quite often, I will opt for a video instead. What? A writer choosing a video over a book! I feel like a traitor to my fans and fellow writers. When I analyze myself honestly, I chalk it up to laziness. When I’m tired and just want to be entertained, I choose a movie. My brain isn’t necessarily engaged. I am just passively watching the story unfold in front of me. When I read, I want to be totally engrossed, transforming the words I am reading into images in my head. It’s a different process where I am more present, more committed.

There is a certain amount of shame in my confession, but I don’t think I am alone in the process. Netflix, Hulu, Prime Movies. Roku TV, VUDU, tubi are all doing quite well. It used to be after a long hard day at work, after dinner, after the dishes were done, it was common for me to pull out a J.A. Jance mystery and read until bedtime. I’ve been a life-long reader, but not anymore. Instead, I’m mad for Starz and the latest Outlander episode. I frankly, can’t get enough of that Jamie. God bless author Diana Gabaldon for writing such an endearing character. I recently read her book, I Give You My Body (How I Write Sex Scenes.) I learned a lot from that book!

Ch-Ch-Changes

Hello friends,

I owe you an apology. I committed the cardinal sin of being inconsistent with my blog. I promised monthly conversations, but that didn’t happen. I admit last year, I was floundering with the direction of my writing career.

Part of me had always wanted a publisher. There was something credible about having a publisher’s logo on the spine of my books. I’ve had two publishers, one was successful, the other, well not so much. A few years ago, California Times Publishing, an Internet publishing website, contacted me and requested to represent me.  I admit to being flattered. I had not sought their support; Jeff Napolitano of California Times Publishing had found me. It was like being invited to the prom. I said yes.

You Too Can Be A Media Darling

Joanne McCall and I have been friends since the mid-eighties. We were broadcasters on sister stations in Portland, Oregon all those years ago. Because we were a minority, we banded together in a social organization we formed called Broads in Broadcasting. It was a way for us to network and support each other. But mostly, we just had a ton of fun.

We took diverse roads after broadcasting. I split my time between a job with the government and pursued my real love-writing dark murder mysteries in my free time. Joanne became a publicist and started her own company called McCall Media Group. 

I asked Joanne about her evolution from broadcasting to public relations. “That transition began in 1994 when I left broadcasting and went to work for a conference and retreat center as their PR director and special events manager. After I was there about a year, during which I was handling PR events and local media book tours for the likes of Kenny Loggins, Marianne Williamson, Wayne Dyer, and others, the CEO landed a book deal with a major publisher, Bantam Double Day Dell. They asked if I would like to head up the 25-city book tour and work with the publisher to do so, and I very excitedly said, “Yes! of course!”

The word publicist conjures up a number of images for me. What exactly do you do for authors who are interested in your services? “I work as a media trainer and publicist for nonfiction authors who specialize in business,
health, and some mindful/spirituality topics. I also work with fiction authors, business owners and others who want help positioning their work and delivering their messages in a compelling way. This is in the form of strategy sessions and media training. We discuss their goals, objectives, dreams, and desires, and then go about figuring the strategies that are the best way to make them happen.”

For me, the hardest part of the publishing business is marketing. Any suggestions? “I have a couple of handouts I can share with anyone interested. One is a Publicity Cheat Sheet and the other is How to Become a Media Darling.”

I know that you have a program to help authors get ready for media interviews. Would you tell us about the program and what advice you give authors to get ready for radio and television interviews?
“I am launching a new beta program and event called McCalls
Media Finishing School this fall. We will do a full launch in the
spring of 2020. In addition to learning how to position your book or business, it also teaches you how to create sound bites, media training, and adding creative visualization and NLP to the mix.”

How does someone prepare for radio and television interviews? You and I had plenty of practice as broadcasters, but most authors don’t. How can they get prepared? Listen and watch other interviews. Who does it well and who doesn’t? The secret is to learn why and then do better. Make sure you create a list of key messages about your book. 8 to 15 will be enough. Key messages are those points that you will get across in any interview you do. It helps you to keep on track. Then create a list of interview questions. Have someone help you and do some mock interviews. Invite them to ask the questions and you practice answering.”

Just one final question. How do my readers get in touch with you? “They can
email me at joanne@joannemccall.com or they can go to joannemccall.com and fill out a form that comes right to me. Thanks, Kelly for all these fabulous questions. It’s really delightful and I hope your audience has found some of this helpful.” 

Thank you, my friend, for sharing your PR secrets with us. Loved chatting with you!

A WOMAN OF MANY TALENTS

Like many authors, Sandy Nachlinger has spent years honing her craft. She took numerous college classes, has attended writer’s conferences, and has spent many lonely hours with fingers flying over the keyboard trying to fashion the perfect story.

Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Sandra has been writing  stories since childhood. She told me she wrote her first romantic tale in elementary school, in pencil on lined paper. And just like the novels she’d later write as an adult, the heroine got a kiss at the happy ending. Sandy still has diaries from her school days, one of which inspired I.O.U. SEX, her first book co-written with her childhood friend, Sandra Allen. Her second book is BLUEBONNETS FOR ELLY. Lately, Sandy has been creating shorter pieces while future novels still simmer in her imagination. Her focus is on contemporary romance, women’s fiction, and personal essays featuring mature women.

Sandy and I met when she first moved to the Pacific Northwest, almost fifteen years ago. We reconnected again at a creative writing class at Pierce County Community College. Once the course ended, several students formed a separate writing group for inspiration and feedback on our stories. That’s when we really got to know each other. The mix of five different women, each writing in a different genre, has been beneficial to us all—and it’s lots of fun.

Sandy is a gifted editor as well. She poo-poos the idea of hanging out a shingle and charging a fee. I’ve encouraged her to do just that though. I never send out any piece of significance without running it by Sandy first. She has an eye like an eagle and can spot a missing comma from miles high. Beyond that she has an uncommon intuitive sense that knows when a story line works and when it doesn’t. I trust her implicitly. I told her she’s going to have to live until she’s one hundred because I plan on writing that long.

It simply isn’t true that writers are introverts who seldom see sunlight and spend most of their waking hours either reading other authors’ novels or penning another tome. When not writing, Sandy likes to hike, make quilts, garden, take photos, lunch with friends, travel, and spend as much time as possible with her granddaughter, Corinna. Here’s Sandy enjoying lunch in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. Sandy is also written a number of magazine articles about her various pursuits and adventures.  Rollin’ On The River: http://sasee.com/2018/07/01/rollin-on-the-river/

Happy When I’m Hiking: http://sasee.com/2018/04/01/happy-when-im-hiking/

Sandy’s novels are available on Amazon in ebook and Paperback.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I.0.U. SEX: http://www.amazon.com/I-O-U-Sex-ebook/dp/B004CFAPA4/

BLUEBONNETS FOR ELLY: https://www.amazon.com/Bluebonnets-Elly-Sandra-Nachlinger-ebook/dp/B01C7KMBN

 

Dynamic Duo

I’ve never met the man, but he’s become a good friend and I would like to introduce my friends to him. He has a distinguished name, one you won’t easily forget. Caleb Pirtle III was once a newspaperman, winning both the Texas Associated Press and Headliner’s Awards.  Caleb also served as editorial director for Dockery House Publishing in Dallas, Texas for twenty-five years where he developed and produced magazines and books for the corporate and retail marketplace.

Caleb wrote three teleplays: Gambler V: Playing for Keeps, a mini-series for CBS, Wildcat: The Story of Sarah Delaney and the Doodlebug Man, a CBS made-for-television movie, and The Texas Rangers, a TV movie for TNT television. As if that weren’t enough, he has also penned over seventy-five books.  I stand in awe. I’ve poured sweat and tears into five novels. I can’t imagine seventy-five books! I’d like to share one of my favorite Caleb Pirtle novels with you.