Featured Author: Anna Patricio

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Today's Featured Author is ANNA PATRICIO, an author from "down-under" who has written a beautiful historical/biblical romance titled, ASENATH.

What inspired me to write Asenath?

The story of Joseph of the coat-of-many-colours is one of my favourites from the Bible. Though I have known it all my life, what with having attended Sunday school and all, it was later on that I realised what a powerful and moving tale it is.

I was 17, making the difficult transition from the school I had known all my life to the unknown and frightening university environment (though I later came to love it, even much more than my former school. I loved the freedom it offered). As if that was not difficult enough, my little sister was being operated on for her scoliosis. Needless to say, the stress was overwhelming.

Then, I rediscovered the story of Joseph. Until then, I had thought of him as a distant, larger-than-life Biblical character. But having read it after everything I had been through, I found myself relating to him. I admired too how he remained sweet, strong and kind amidst the numerous travails that befell him. I felt like I was encountering the story for the first time, and fell in love with it.

I delved deeper into my newfound interest. I used to think everything about Joseph was only in Genesis, but research led me to various Jewish folktales, rabbinical legends and even some interesting episodes from the Quran. I never knew there was so much interesting stuff about him out there!

Along the way, I became curious about Joseph’s wife, Asenath. It was as if she was a tiny voice begging to be heard. All Genesis told me was that she was the daughter of a priest of On / Heliopolis. So I sought to look her up. However, the results were scant, not to mention they were all fictional.

I then began to imagine for myself what Asenath might have been like. I somehow like to think that she might have been a strong woman who went through her own share of travails, just as her husband did. The contemporary fiction I had read about Joseph usually portrayed her as some spoiled brat or pampered trophy wife – plus, they didn’t give her much attention. But now, in my novel, she has the spotlight.

Asenath is available on Amazon, Smashwords & more.

Anna Patricio is a lover of ancient history and Biblical stories. She recently had the pleasure of travelling to the setting of Asenath, which is her first novel. She is now playing around with ideas for a second Egyptian novel which takes place in the time of Moses.

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S.C.R.E.A.M. for P.E.A.C.E. and Valencia Radio features WHAT FEARS BECOME

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In case you missed San Francisco's Valencia Radio FM special Halloween event, S.C.R.E.A.M. for P.E.A.C.E., you can listen to it via podcast as they interview some writers and talk about fears, The Horror Zine and the critically acclaimed anthology published by Imajin Books--WHAT FEARS BECOME.

You can listen to the podcast HERE.

WHAT FEARS BECOME: An Anthology from The Horror Zine is available in ebook and trade paperback editions via Amazon, B&N, Smashwords and more.

Featured Author: Kat Flannery

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Our next author up is KAT FLANNERY, author of the wild, adventurous western romance, CHASING CLOVERS...

What inspired me to write CHASING CLOVERS?

History has always fascinated me, but I am especially fond of cowboys. This could be from my parents over indulged love of John Wayne westerns. Family movie night often consisted of similar choices, Big Jake or True Grit. It wasn’t so much the gun fights and the Indian raids that intrigued me, but the characters these films were created around.

I’ve always loved to write, but as I grew older the need to scribe intensified. It wasn’t just a way to express my emotions but more of a need to expel the voices and ideas in my head. Stories would run across my mind while at work, or playing with my children. My thirst for writing wasn’t satisfied until I put pen to paper and wrote the scenes that had taken refuge in my mind.

The idea for Chasing Clovers didn’t come to me right away. Snippets of scenes and dialogue had begun to surface, but nothing that I could create a story with. I wanted to write a novel that would touch people’s lives.

My Grandmother lost two children a month a part in the 50’s and I often wondered how she made it through each day without crumbling. How she had more children? And how she learned to smile again? This is how my protagonist, Livy Green was born. I took the scenario of losing a child, turned the year back to 1884 and placed her inside a saloon. Then I began researching mail order brides. What would make a woman marry a man she’s never met before? One word popped into my head...desperation. As I wrote, Livy became a part of me, and I needed to tell her story. I needed to take my readers on this journey of pain, loss, and turmoil, but also one of redemption, as, John Taylor and Livy Green learn to overcome their hardships. And renew their faith, love, and happiness in their tale of Chasing Clovers.

Chasing Clovers - available at Amazon, Smashwords and more.

Kat Flannery has had her writing published in numerous periodicals. She’s received her diploma for Creative, Freelance, and Business Writing. She is co-owner of Prairie Dog Publishing, where she devotes her spare time as head of Marketing and Communications. CHASING CLOVERS is Kat’s first published novel, and she is currently hard at work on her next. Visit www.katflannery-author.com and www.kat-scratch.blogspot.com, and connect with Kat on Facebook and Twitter.

Featured Author: Rosemary McCracken

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Today, we introduce you to ROSEMARY McCRACKEN, author of the soon-to-be-published mystery, SAFE HARBOR.

What inspired me to write Safe Harbor?

Safe Harbor will come out soon as a paperback and an ebook. It’s been a long birthing process, and here’s how it came about.

As a journalist, I've earned my living by writing, with some time out for editing and teaching. But after years of making sure I had the facts right, I wanted to let my imagination run wild. I wanted to tell stories of my own.

I had two short stories published, then started a novel. A character was murdered in the second chapter, and my writers' group pointed out that I was writing crime fiction. I was? Yes, I realized I was writing crime fiction, and that’s what I wanted to write.

I needed a central character that could sustain a mystery series. Plot is the backbone of crime fiction, but I believe it really comes down to character. Characters do things for reasons and these reasons form the plot. I wanted my central character to be a woman, a mature woman. I like to read about characters close to my own age, in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and I’m sure other baby boomers do too. And she needed a challenging profession.

I'd recently given up my full-time job at a newspaper and was doing freelance work. Much of it came from trade publications for the financial services industry. My articles involved interviewing financial planners and investment managers. I was impressed by many of them. They were helping clients get their financial houses in order. A light went on in my head. I'd found my central character: Pat Tierney, financial planner, champion of small investors and little guys in general.

Safe Harbor introduces Pat. She’s 47 and single again after her husband’s death four years before. There’s an eligible man on the scene, but she’s not sure she wants to get involved. Or how to get involved. The novel explores some of my favorite themes: romance over age 40, the plight of immigrants and white-collar crime. In 2010, Safe Harbor was a finalist for the Debut Dagger, Britain’s Crime Writers’ Association’s contest for the best unpublished English-language crime novel.

And very soon, Safe Harbor will be available to readers, courtesy of Imajin Books. Just Imajin!

Rosemary McCracken is a Canadian journalist and fiction writer. She hails from Montreal, and now divides her time between Toronto and a stone cottage in Ontario’s Haliburton Highlands. Follow Rosemary on Facebook and Twitter, and check out her website and blog.

Featured Author: Melodie Campbell

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For the month of November, we will be featuring some of our published authors and some that are soon-to-be published so that you will get to know them and maybe get some insights into why they wrote their works. Our first author is MELODIE CAMPBELL, author of the humorous romantic fantasy, ROWENA THROUGH THE WALL.

Have you ever needed to escape your life for even a little while?

Rowena Through the Wall came about because I needed to find a world to escape to in order to cope with things happening in my own life that I could not control.

I was sitting in the hospital by my mother’s bedside in the palliative care ward. For the 36th time, she had been admitted to hospital, dying. Thirty-five times, they had brought her back to life. This time…

I have no sisters and my only brother is autistic. The burden of care was mine and this time the weight of it was almost too much. I looked at the dreary hospital room wall and wished I could walk through it to another world. That night, Rowena got her start.

Every day, I would go to work, then run to the hospital for my ‘shift’ with Mom. When they kicked me out, I would dash home, and escape into the world that I could control.

The world of Rowena Through the Wall.

Rowena falls through her classroom wall into a medieval world, and the adventures start almost immediately. At my mother’s bedside, I would play a game of ‘what’s the worst thing that could happen to Rowena now?’ Or – ‘what’s the funniest thing?’ I would jot these ideas down in a journal in between attending to my mother’s personal care chores, and then, when home late at night, I would start writing.

Each new adventure Rowena had gave me a burst of energy that helped me deal with news that got worse and worse.

I could control the world of Rowena. I could satisfy my need for escape by putting Rowena in dangerous and sometimes riotous situations that she could use her wits to get out of. I could live vicariously through my heroine.

Mom died last month, but not before I put the published paperback of Rowena Through the Wall into her hands. She loved it. And now I am half way through book two of the series.

Melodie Campbell got her start as a comedy writer, so it’s no surprise that editors have called her work ‘wacky’ and ‘laugh out loud funny’. General Manager of Crime Writers of Canada, she has over 200 publications and five awards for fiction. Check out Rowena Through the Wall on Amazon and Smashwords. Learn more at Melodie Campbell's website and blog.

Imajin Books Publisher Cheryl Tardif is Judge for Scribes Digest's 'Best Pitch Contest'

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Imajin Books publisher and acquisitions editor Cheryl Tardif will be taking on a new role this November in Scribes Digest's 'Best Pitch Contest.' If you're a writer, here's a great way to pitch one of your finished works.

Here's some info on the contest...

Hello writers of all genres! The November Scribes Digest contest is FREE to enter and will give you a chance to publish your entry in our December issued EZINE!
In order to enter, you must have a completed work in any of these genres: feature film, short film, short story or novel.
We are looking for the TOP 3 best elevator pitches! An elevator pitch (or elevator speech or statement) is a short summary used to quickly and simply define your script, short story or novel. It should take no more than 5 lines to give your pitch and the writers with the best 3 pitches will have excerpts from their completed script, story or novel published in our December EZINE.
Our team of editors will be joined by two fantastic industry judges to choose the winners: Michael Baker, Producer and Founder of Bunk 11 Pictures Inc. and Cheryl Tardif, Publisher & Acquisitions Editor of Imajin Books.
Read more.

Win What Fears Become on Halloween

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UPDATE: And the winner is...Treenie.

Tomorrow, we'll be rewarding one of our Imajin Books Inner Circle members with a FREE copy of WHAT FEARS BECOME, the perfect treat for Halloween day. Keep reading to learn how to enter. No purchase necessary--open to all.


From classic horror and pure suspense to Twilight-Zone-style dark fantasy, WHAT FEARS BECOME relentlessly explores our basic fears and leaves you with twisted endings that will make your skin crawl…
This spine-tingling, international anthology contains contributions from the critically acclaimed online horror magazine, The Horror Zine, and features bestselling authors such as Bentley Little, Graham Masterton, Ramsey Campbell, Joe R. Lansdale, Elizabeth Massie, Ronald Malfi, Cheryl Kaye Tardif, Melanie Tem, Scott Nicholson, Piers Anthony, Conrad Williams, and many more.
Edited by Jeani Rector of The Horror Zine and featuring a foreword by award-winning, bestselling author Simon Clark, it also contains deliciously dark delights from morbidly creative writers, poets and artists who have not yet made it big―but will very soon.
Come and discover…
WHAT FEARS BECOME

So what do you need to do to qualify to be entered in the draw? It's easy!

Just sign up for our I.B.I.C. rewards program.

SUBSCRIBE TODAY
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Happy Halloween!

Midnight Street Magazine and Midwest Book Review give WHAT FEARS BECOME two thumbs up

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Check out these featured reviews for WHAT FEARS BECOME: An Anthology from The Horror Zine, edited by Jeani Rector and showcasing works by well-known suspense/horror authors and some on the rise. As well as horrific shorts, this hefty book comes complete with dark poetry and art from talented poets and artists.

Here is a clipping from a review from UK's horror zine, Midnight Street Magazine:

"This is a feast of horror, an explosion of ideas that reach into every aspect of the genre...an inspired mix of energetic and captivating horror. This anthology is like a fearful breath from an ancient crypt; enter if you dare!"

You can read Trevor Denyer's full review on pg. 79 of Midnight Street Magazine. (PDF)

Here is a clipping from a review by Christina Francine that will be featured in November at Midwest Book Review:

"What do reader’s fears become when they’re examined? Top-notch tales, poems, and images will horrify and delight readers in this anthology called What Fears Become. Each feature rips through reality plunging readers into frightful situations deep enough to provoke a bag full of nightmares. It is unlikely readers will set aside a single whisper-read word. Like stepping onto a monstrous scene, their wide eyes can’t look away. Thirty-one finely honed eager narratives, eighteen delicious poems, and eighteen visions touch all who dare venture inside."

New Release: The Bridgeman by Catherine Astolfo

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Catherine Astolfo's beloved mystery series gets a fresh new look--one that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Complete with a stunning new cover, this second edition comes to you in the form of an ebook edition. If you haven't read The Bridgeman, book 1 in the Emily Taylor Mystery series, you're in for a real treat.

Some secrets can come back to haunt you…

Principal Emily Taylor feels safe in the friendly little town of Burchill—until she finds a body in her school. The murder of caretaker Nathaniel Ryeburn brings back memories she'd rather forget and plunges Emily into a mystery that involves a secret diary, an illegal puppy mill and a murderer innocently disguised as an ordinary citizen.

As fear rips through the traumatized town, Emily's investigation inadvertently leads the police to her door, and to her husband Langford, who is hiding a secret of his own. It becomes clear to Emily that many of Burchill's residents are merely wearing masks. And it's time for those masks to be ripped away…and for a killer's identity to be revealed.

Available now in ebook edition via Amazon and Smashwords.

Check out the reviews:

"Love and depravity, rebirth and rot, veneer and the real wood underneath—Astolfo brings these opposing forces into play as she creates the complex community that is Burchill. Ordinary people find themselves in an extraordinary situation. Astolfo reveals their personalities in delicious detail." —Garry Ryan, author of the Detective Lane Mysteries

"Master storyteller Cathy Astolfo pulls out all the stops as old secrets come back to kill…in this chilling story of twisted desires. Astolfo grabs small-town Ontario and shakes it until its ugly secrets pour out. You won't catch your breath until the last page turns." —Lou Allin, author of She Felt No Pain

"Catherine Astolfo's descriptive prose and well-crafted characters soon make you feel part of the community of Burchill, sharing Emily's terror at what is happening in her perfect little town. It's a story rich in detail with unexpected twists and turns that keep you involved right through to the shocking end." —Meredith Henderson, actress, film producer, poet

"Astolfo throws opens the door of her idyllic setting into a world of darkness, depravity, and danger...After reading The Bridgeman, you’ll want to go home, lock the doors, and hug your pet." —Anthony Bidulka, author of the Russell Quant Mystery Series

Available now in ebook edition via Amazon and Smashwords.

New Release: Chasing Clovers by Kat Flannery

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Today's new release from debut novelist Kat Flannery is the perfect mix of sweet romance and wild west adventure, with a generous dash of emotion. Check out CHASING CLOVERS...


Mail order bride, Livy Green, is desperate to escape the memories of her past. John Taylor will never love another woman again, but his children need a mother. Will they learn to trust each other, or will their pasts interfere?

Longing to escape the awful memories and the saloon she once sang in, Livy Green lies about her past so she can be a wife to John Taylor and mother to his two young children. Overwhelmed by the task, she struggles to put her resentment aside and love them as her own.

John loved his first wife and is still heartbroken over the loss, but he needs a mother for his children. When his distant and unfriendly mail order bride arrives, he begins to doubt his decision, though one glance into Livy's terrified green eyes tells him he can’t turn his back on her.

As Livy's past catches up with her and suspicious accidents begin to happen on the ranch, she is tempted to come clean and tell John the truth. But will he send her back if she does? Or will they forever be CHASING CLOVERS?

Available now in ebook edition via Amazon and Smashwords.

Check out the reviews:

"A compelling story line. A combination of suspense, tension and romance will keep you turning the page until the end." —Michelle Ferguson, author of From Away

"Everything I wanted in a Historical Romance was in this story…Any romance aficionado will love this book and this author." —Tammy Gaines, NovelOpinion

Available now in ebook edition via Amazon and Smashwords.