THREE MINUTES with JEN S. SEVERSON

Where did you get the idea for A Karma to Kill For?

The idea for my second psychic mystery evolved out of my first story, A Deadly Tapestry. My lead character, psychic Zoe, is learning that her life purpose is to solve mysteries with past life origins, and help heal those involved in the process. This one starts with a funeral, where the dead woman (in spirit form) tells her she was murdered, then vanishes. (Blimey, as her spirit guide, Hamden, would say.) I also wanted to write about a never-mind-spiritual-ethics psychic to showcase how damaging that can be, and Wild Wanda does the job nicely.

How did you develop your lead characters?
Really, they've been dear friends for years. For me its been an intuitive process of simply letting them in and writing their words down. My job is mostly to just get out of their way and allow them to be true to who they want to be as characters. As a psychic myself, I also pull in personal knowledge and experience to augment as necessary.

What drives you to write psychic mysteries?
As a lifelong reader, I have always wanted to write for others. I want to a) entertain and b) lift and inspire my readers. My great hope is that my books help readers release fear, trust that life never ends, and to embrace all that love offers, in all its wonderful forms.

Here is a brief introduction to one of Jen S. Severson's psychic mysteries.

Truth, illusion and the circle of karma... the murdered woman's words to Zoe were more cryptic than clarifying, and even a psychic detective can't predict the outcome!

When psychic detective Zoe Nettlesom is hired by a dead woman's sister to investigate the murder, Zoe goes undercover as a family biographer to unearth the truth--and meets a mad-hatter psychic in the process.

Police detective Ted Andrews agrees to assist although he is uncomfortable with Zoe's woo-woo world and has logical objections to her methods.

With help from her spirit guide Hamden, Zoe races to find who has a karma to kill for... before they kill her!

Jen's books are on sale for 80% off at Musa Publishing. Click here to read excerpts or purchase.

Jen S. Severson began writing professionally in marketing communications, then settled happily (well, most days) into proposal writing for the health care insurance industry (where, very occasionally, she gets to use extended metaphors and run-on sentences).

Along the way, she tripped over larger life truths, studied metaphysics and psychic teachings, and became a trained clairvoyant, ethics and all. Today – some 15 years later – she continues to give psychic readings avocationally.

Jen and her husband who is also a published author have one daughter and a small zoo of three cats, one dog and a miniature rabbit. Jen loves knitting, bird watching, reading fiction and inspirational books of varying stripes. Her goal as an author of psychic mysteries is to tell rollicking good stories that also open windows of understanding to the greater metaphor of life. She is busy writing the next book in her series, Zoe’s Psychic Mysteries.

Learn more about Jen S. Severson on her website. Stay connected on Facebook.

HAMDEN LEADS THE WAY

by Jen S. Severson

As the author of Zoe’s Psychic Mysteries I seek to a.) write a rollicking good story, and b.) offer up ideas and concepts that help my readers see value, meaning and endlessly wonderful possibilities in their lives. To choose love over the many forms of fear, awareness over indifference, interconnectedness over isolation, and the seeds of positivity waiting to sprout in all life situations. Oh, and one more little thing: to see the reach of forever in their perspectives. The challenge I have set upon myself is to fully honor my first objective, so that my books are big enough to carry readers to my secondary goals.

Photo courtesy of Stuart Miles

By way of further illustration, I offer up a brief conversation between myself and Hamden, who is Zoe’s head spiritual guide. His role in my books is to assist Zoe in her life journey, which involves using her psychic abilities to solve mysteries with past-life origins, and thereby bring healing.

AUTHOR: Now that you’ve co-starred in both of my published e-books and are helping me write the third book in Zoe’s Psychic Mystery series, can you help me answer a reader’s question, Hamden?

HAMDEN: Of course, my dear. As I’ve often told you, every answer has a question, and vice versa.

AUTHOR: Okay, I see the unquenchable twinkle in that rascally eye of yours, so I’m not going to let you divert me this time, because at your level of understanding, OF COURSE answers have questions. But back to the point: this reader wants to know WHY I am writing these books. I’m having so much fun writing them, and I began writing them at least 20 years ago now, that I’ve forgotten what got me started in the first place. Do you remember?

HAMDEN: Yes, I remember. You wanted to write about the psychic/spiritual world you were discovering in stories that would appeal to many readers, without being preachy or heavy-handed.

AUTHOR: Exactly, and that will always be my main objective. To offer up windows of understanding to a different view, while telling a darn good story in the process.

HAMDEN: I think you’ve left out your third objective. Something to do with flowers.

AUTHOR: Clever of you to put it that way, dear, to help me recall. Yes, I also want to plant seeds that will flower into hope in each reader’s inner garden. ACK! I think that’s enough metaphor for a while.

HAMDEN: Not if I can help it. As I’ve often told you, metaphor allows the reader to travel quickly between two points yet see a deep truth along the way.

AUTHOR: And while I’m happy to travel that route with you, my editor is fond of nudging me down the simpler path of Sticking With The Plot.

HAMDEN: Speaking of which, perhaps it is time we return our attentions to solving your third mystery/romance/past-life/chick-lit plot, A Telling Tarot. I believe we left Zoe mid-battle with Ted’s mother, who thinks psychics like Zoe are nothing but frauds.

AUTHOR: Sigh. Well, some of them are.

HAMDEN: But Zoe is not one of them. Let’s hope she rethinks that view before her daughter – and the love between Ted and Zoe – pays the price for her ignorance.

AUTHOR: I agree. In the meantime, thank you for helping me remember my goals as a writer. Cheerio for now, dear!

HAMDEN: Allow me to offer a little on each of our books for the readers before I say Cheerio!

When a highly logical detective must rely on a reluctant psychic to solve a series of murders, no one can foresee the outcome.

Zoe has spent her adult life denying her psychic abilities. All that changes when she finds herself conversing with a tiny man only she can see and seeing details to a murder that only the murderer should know. Can she convince the annoyingly handsome detective that she was sent to help before he convicts her of the crime? Will she learn to trust herself —and her own heart—before more people are hurt? Or will the detective be the murderer’s next victim?

Truth, illusion and the circle of karma... the murdered woman's words to Zoe were more cryptic than clarifying, and even a psychic detective can't predict the outcome!

When psychic detective Zoe Nettlesom is hired by a dead woman's sister to investigate the murder, Zoe goes undercover as a family biographer to unearth the truth--and meets a mad-hatter psychic in the process.

Police detective Ted Andrews agrees to assist although he is uncomfortable with Zoe's woo-woo world and has logical objections to her methods.

With help from her spirit guide Hamden, Zoe races to find who has a karma to kill for... before they kill her!



To read excerpts from psychic mysteries by Jen S. Severson please click a vendor's name
Musa Publishing - Amazon.

Jen S. Severson began writing professionally in marketing communications, then settled happily (well, most days) into proposal writing for the health care insurance industry (where, very occasionally, she gets to use extended metaphors and run-on sentences).

Along the way, she tripped over larger life truths, studied metaphysics and psychic teachings, and became a trained clairvoyant, ethics and all. Today – some 15 years later – she continues to give psychic readings avocationally.

Jen and her husband who is also a published author have one daughter and a small zoo of three cats, one dog and a miniature rabbit. Jen loves knitting, bird watching, reading fiction and inspirational books of varying stripes. Her goal as an author of psychic mysteries is to tell rollicking good stories that also open windows of understanding to the greater metaphor of life. She is busy writing the next book in her series, Zoe’s Psychic Mysteries.

Learn more about Jen S. Severson on her website. Stay connected on Facebook.

Teach that Old Dog New Tricks

by Michael Weitz

It’s January! The first month of the New Year, a time to start fresh, make resolutions and think about what to make for your Super Bowl party. It’s also when many a humane society becomes the home for puppies that were given as cute and fuzzy Christmas gifts. Once the cuddly novelty of a new puppy wears off and the chewing of shoes, furniture and books (not books!) begins, when the cleaning up of indoor accidents and the constant training to “sit” begin to get on their nerves, many people throw up their hands, say “Enough!” and take their Rockwellian Christmas present to the pound. Easy fix for the human, not so much for the dog.

But dogs do make great companions. After all, there are plenty of dogs living comfortably in a home near you right now. Some of them might be too comfortable. If you’ve ever ventured out your front door you probably know how obsessive people can be about their dogs. The number of YouTube videos and Facebook memes dedicated to pets performing adorable - or deplorable - acts of anthropomorphic shenanigans are testaments to our love of our best friends, or at least how they entertain us.

Of course studies have been conducted to determine how dogs benefit our lives beyond sheer entertainment value. They make us healthier by getting us to exercise through daily walks and play, they give us something to look forward to when we get home after work, they make us feel good about ourselves through their loyalty and complete carefree attitude of our social status, wealth or number of likes we receive on our Facebook post about that wonderful lunch we ate today. The list of benefits goes on and as a dog owner, I can testify to the truth of these findings and more.

What does all of this have to do with puppies being taken to the pound? Many people get a puppy as an addition to their family and imagine the ball throwing, the loyalty, the reading by the fire with the dog at your feet moments and all of the cute pictures/videos and memories they’ll get. And that’s fine, but they forget puppies are babies; they need training, care, supervision and above all, commitment.

Which brings me to my point. If you want a dog in your family, first of all, please adopt, don’t buy. Secondly, when you do adopt, consider a senior dog. When you adopt a senior dog you’re saving their life. No kidding. Most people, when they decide to adopt a dog, look for a puppy or an animal up to around a year old. This translates to older dogs being passed up and in many cases, being euthanized after being in a shelter for a predetermined amount of time.

Okay, let’s lighten the mood a little. What other considerations are there in adopting a senior dog? All that frustrating stuff about why puppies get taken back to a shelter after Christmas? It’s pretty much non-existent with an older dog (although the commitment is still necessary!). My wife and I adopted our dog when he was 8 years old. He was already housebroken and knew the basics like “sit” and “stay.” After only a day or two he was comfortable in the house, never chewed anything that wasn’t his, respected boundaries, listened to commands, and was overjoyed when we went for walks and threw a ball. Three years later he’s as loving as ever and still wants to (constantly) play ball and go for walks.

My theory? Older dogs know you’re doing something for them, they know you rescued them from that little square cage. They’re pack animals so when you adopt them, you’re accepting them into your family and that’s a big deal. Our dog pays us back every day by being happy and excited to see us come home from work, making sure we get some exercise by walking him and throwing the ball and snuggling up to us with open affection – wait, that all does benefit us right? Yes, of course it does.

In both of my novels (Even Dead Men Play Chess and The Grandmaster’s King) Ray Gordon is a chess teacher who shares his home and adventures with Morphy, a lab mix named after the first “unofficial” World Chess Champion. Ray dotes on his dog a bit, but I don’t think anyone can blame him. I’ve had many readers tell me “I loved the dog!” and ask, “Morphy will be in the next book too, won’t he?” I’m always glad to hear these remarks because Morphy is based on the first dog my wife and I had. He passed away after being with us for almost 14 years but Morphy keeps him around, at least for me.

I make no assertions to being an expert in anything canine; I’m just speaking from personal experience and belief. I am certainly not against puppies, but if you’re thinking about bringing a dog into your family, please consider an older dog. You’ll be glad you did, and so will they!

Here is a link if you have questions about adopting older dogs. Be sure to follow Susie’s Senior Dogs on Facebook.

~Mike

Here is a brief intro to Michael's hit novel.

When chess becomes more than a game, checkmate can be murder.

The US Chess Championship is underway in Seattle but someone is killing the players. Clues are scarce and rumors as to who could be next have everyone on edge. Ray Gordon dives in where the police can’t and finds he’s over his head in a savage game that becomes personal in more ways than one. They say when it rains, it pours. For Ray that unfortunate cliché couldn’t be more true.

Read an excerpt here.

To read excerpts from other books by Michael Weitz please click a vendor's name Musa Publishing - Amazon

Michael Weitz is an award-winning author who grew up in the Pacific Northwest, usually reading anything he could get his hands on. He wrote his first novel in the 6th Grade -- an eight page rip-off of Star Wars.

A variety of jobs including waiter, gas station attendant, truck driver and a host of others, helped shape his world. After college he landed in the television industry where he wrote and produced a multitude of award-winning commercials, two documentaries about Mt. St. Helens and various other projects.

After a few years in Phoenix, AZ, Michael, his wife, and their dogs are back in the Pacific Northwest. Currently working on the next Ray Gordon mystery, Michael may also be found reading, playing chess or shooting pool. As an avid photographer, he enjoys traveling anywhere picturesque with his wife.

No Mystery on Jen S. Severson's Ability

My name is Jen S. Severson, and I write psychic mysteries. I also wear other hats (and some of them even fit) as a human being: writer for an insurance company, wife, mother, reader, addicted tea-drinker and knitter, and grateful friend to other odd ducks happily afloat on my personal pond.

Above is an artful image of the third eye, also known as the 6th chakra. When I began my psychic development class back in the late ‘80s, I had no idea what that meant, or what learning how to open that eye would allow me to see. Today, 25 years later, I am beyond grateful for becoming a skilled clairvoyant by opening that first very different door.

But let me back up to who I used to be before attending my first psychic class. A variety of terms come readily to mind: Anal Annie, Wendy Whiner, and never-my-fault-Nellie. I was always right, knew everything there was to know, and endeared myself to very few outside of family members, who kept their distance for reasons that are now abundantly clear. I jest, but only slightly.

As an ego-driven intellect, that’s where I “lived”… in my head. It was safe there, nice and black and white, no mucky feelings to hinder my progress, all very containable and, best of all, controllable. Now I understand that the Need to Control is one of the most cunning masks the ego wears to achieve its key goal: Be In Charge. It works hand in hand with its first cousin: the Inner Critic. That way, you are either controlling everything or FAILING to control everything (never possible of course) so it’s all covered. Ego is running the show, and you’re under its thrall, ping-ponging between being elevated – often at others’ expense – or feeling cheaper than worm sweat because you are unable to control the uncontrollable, i.e., life.) This really works out well for the ego, which is insatiable.

But back to my, ahem, thesis, I can quickly summarize what I learned over the next year of weekly psychic classes. I’ll put it in list in an attempt to be linear.
• We are all born with psychic abilities. It’s really standard operating equipment for human beings. Granted some of us are born with stronger abilities to begin with. We just call them different things… a hunch, a feeling in the gut, a knowing. Like developing a physical muscle through exercise, you develop psychic muscles in the same way: by using them. Regular practice helps, as does the guidance and validation of a teacher. As a lifelong reader, I had always seen little pictures in my mind when I read as I visualized the story unfolding. When I started seeing psychic pictures, I just thought it was my well-developed imagination making them up. Until she — a gifted clairvoyant — would describe what I saw through my inner eye. Before I told her. The more I opened to that new ability, the more I saw.
• Ethics are involved. As in traditional forms of therapy, one must honor boundaries, respect free will, and never take away a person’s right to choose their future by predicting it. They create it through thoughts and beliefs (oft-repeated thoughts). The mosaic of time is always under construction, and isn’t that a wonderful thing?

Here are other things I learned then, and continue to build my happy life on today:
• Your intuition is designed to balance and augment your intellect like yin balances yang. Wisdom (accessed by the intuitive) is thinking with your heart, infusing and elevating knowledge with compassion.
• You need to feel to heal. I’ve learned that the cliché carries a great truth: analysis causes paralysis. Once your allow yourself to feel your way through an issue, your really do get to the other side, better for the journey. When you deny, stuff, ignore, or (my classic) project inner pain onto hapless others around you, it only come out sideways in some form of illness to attempt to make you pay attention to its message.
• All healing begins within. Period. When you are able to love yourself, truly, deeply, and without condition, you are able to love others without condition.
• Thoughts create your reality. To put it more precisely, your thoughts create your perception of reality. If you are feeling some form of negative, let’s say grumpy, you look out at the world around you through a grumpy filter that will only reinforce your mood and make you all the grumpier, because…
• What you focus on expands. If you focus on negative thoughts, other negative thoughts will rush to join your ain’t-it-awful gathering. Entertained long enough, negative experiences will follow. On the other hand, if you focus on thinking positive thoughts, you will build a happy inner fire to warm your day – and your sense of self. Keep it up, and your life will get better, happier, and more joy-filled in experience as well. This is the Law of Attraction in action.
• You always do the best you can with what you have. If you knew how to do something better, you would, and when you do, you will. Simplicity itself. Can your average 3rd grader understand algebra? Not yet, but she or he will someday. In the same way, do not allow your Inner Critic to wag its finger at you for not understanding something. Anything. Then, if it interests you, pursue it.
• Let your heart drive. Ego can be a rider on your journey’s bus, but there’s great truth in the phrase: follow your heart.
• Put very simplistically, all emotions are based in either Fear or Love. Fear contracts, limits, isolates. Love expands, frees and unites. You have the power to choose one or the other in every interaction, in every moment.
• Cultivate an attitude of gratitude. Back to that focus piece. Focus on the good, and you will soon be amazed at all the good you’ve attracted into your experience by inviting it in with thought. The second part of this is valuable too: what you appreciate, you re-create.
• Promote your Inner Critic to your Inner Cheerleader. SO MUCH BETTER. Better hours, better pay, and a lot more laughter.
• Live and let live. Let others be who they want and choose to be. Judgment, criticism or intolerance of others is merely an expression of your unacknowledged inner pain projected onto others SO YOU SEE IT. Once you do, apologize if necessary, pull it back, accept it and serve it soothing hot tea.

Well, I’ve nattered on for long enough. Here’s a link to my website if you want to read more. In the meantime, be well, and do your best to let your heart drive. It knows the way.

~Jen

To read excerpts from psychic mysteries by Jen S. Severson please click a vendor's name
Musa Publishing - Amazon.

Jen S. Severson began writing professionally in marketing communications, then settled happily (well, most days) into proposal writing for the health care insurance industry (where, very occasionally, she gets to use extended metaphors and run-on sentences).

Along the way, she tripped over larger life truths, studied metaphysics and psychic teachings, and became a trained clairvoyant, ethics and all. Today – some 15 years later – she continues to give psychic readings avocationally.

Jen and her husband who is also a published author have one daughter and a small zoo of three cats, one dog and a miniature rabbit. Jen loves knitting, bird watching, reading fiction and inspirational books of varying stripes. Her goal as an author of psychic mysteries is to tell rollicking good stories that also open windows of understanding to the greater metaphor of life. She is busy writing the next book in her series, Zoe’s Psychic Mysteries.

Learn more about Jen S. Severson on her website. Stay connected on Facebook.

THREE MINUTES with MICHAEL WEITZ

We are delighted to have award-winning mystery author Michael Weitz with us today. His latest novel, The Grandmaster's King, won 2nd place in the Mystery category of the Idaho Author Awards.

Michael, where did you get the idea for The Grandmaster's King?
The Grandmaster's King is the second in a series (the first book is Even Dead Men Play Chess) featuring chess teacher and amateur sleuth Ray Gordon. The story takes place in Seattle, WA during the US Chess Championship. The idea really came about in a series of "what-if's" but the germ is really this: if you've ever participated in a big chess tournament, or even just imagined one, you know they are fairly quiet, orderly events. Well what if it wasn't? What would happen if one of the players was murdered? We all think of chess as a quiet, studious type of game, right? I love chess, and I have played in tournaments, so with my stories I wanted to go into the chess world and stir it up a bit.

How did you develop your lead characters?
I want to write characters who are very easy to understand in terms of believability, which means to me anyway, they have flaws. My main character, Ray Gordon, is a former cop who was on the police force for a remarkably short amount of time (which is divulged in The Grandmaster's King), he has relationship issues, he has his favorite burger joint and loves his dog. He's a regular guy, but he gets involved in circumstances beyond his control and since he was a cop, that inner curiosity is still there, his need to find out the truth still pushes him on. There's a lot of "will he or won't he" types of things going in Ray's life. He's interesting and fun for me to write and I hope that readers will agree. So in developing him and the characters he interacts with, I thought about people I know, people I've met and fictional characters I'm familiar with and thought about what's real, what "works" and what types of things are too far fetched and need to be avoided.

What drives you to write mysteries?
They say, “Write what you know” and my life is full of danger and intrigue! No, no, I’m not really that interesting. Or am I? Seriously, I have always enjoyed reading mysteries and when it was time for me to write my own books, mysteries were the path I naturally followed. I read most anything, but trying to figure out a puzzle along with why there's a puzzle in the first place has always been my favorite. Mysteries are fun because they are able to draw the reader into the story very quickly and keep them guessing. When I write I enjoy creating the real leads as well as laying down the red herrings. I have to challenge myself to make the clues neither too easy or too hard. Whenever a reader has told me they were surprised by something, I know I got it right and that's a great feeling.

Here is a brief intro to Michael's hit novel.

When chess becomes more than a game, checkmate can be murder.

The US Chess Championship is underway in Seattle but someone is killing the players. Clues are scarce and rumors as to who could be next have everyone on edge. Ray Gordon dives in where the police can’t and finds he’s over his head in a savage game that becomes personal in more ways than one. They say when it rains, it pours. For Ray that unfortunate cliché couldn’t be more true.

Read an excerpt here.

To read excerpts from other books by Michael Weitz please click a vendor's name Musa Publishing - Amazon

Michael Weitz is an award-winning author who grew up in the Pacific Northwest, usually reading anything he could get his hands on. He wrote his first novel in the 6th Grade -- an eight page rip-off of Star Wars.

A variety of jobs including waiter, gas station attendant, truck driver and a host of others, helped shape his world. After college he landed in the television industry where he wrote and produced a multitude of award-winning commercials, two documentaries about Mt. St. Helens and various other projects.

After a few years in Phoenix, AZ, Michael, his wife, and their dogs are back in the Pacific Northwest. Currently working on the next Ray Gordon mystery, Michael may also be found reading, playing chess or shooting pool. As an avid photographer, he enjoys traveling anywhere picturesque with his wife.

AND YOU THOUGHT EBOLA WAS SCARY

by Liese Sherwood-Fabre

Ebola

The word panicked the US population when the first case appeared in Dallas. I live in the area and happened to be at another event at the hospital when word hit. The media covering the event took up a whole parking lot with their news trucks.

While the disease strikes fear because of its high mortality rate, actually contracting the disease from casual exposure would be practically impossible. Note the cases where someone infected with the virus flew, cruised, or took public transportation without a single diagnosis being reported. A person has to come into direct contact with the individual’s body fluids to put themselves at risk.

But what if the virus could be transmitted through the air, making it easy to pass from person to person? Such a mutation would not only create a world-wide epidemic, it would have potential as a bioweapon. According to Ken Alibek, a former Soviet scientist involved in military bioweapon development, Russia had been involved in splicing the Ebola virus into vaccinia, a nonpathogenic virus related to smallpox with the goal of creating an Ebola-smallpox hybrid—where two diseases hit the infected person at the same time.

Imagine, then, that this hybrid falls into the hands of a country known for supporting terrorist activities.

This is the basis for my book Saving Hope, the story of an unemployed microbiologist (there were many following the fall of the Soviet Union) who happens onto a plot to sell such a virus to the Iranians.

Alexandra Pavlova is in a life-and-death struggle to save her daughter’s life. Born with a heart condition, the only way for little Nadezhda (Hope, in Russian) to survive is for medical care not available in Russia. When Alexandra turns to Vladimir, her oldest friend, for help, she’s drawn into the Russian underworld and a plot to export this very virus from the country. Her association with Vladimir and the Iranians bring her to the attention of Sergei Borisov, an FSB (formerly the KGB) agent, and she finds herself having to trust him in a race to save both her daughter and the world.

I lived in Russia during the time of this story, and so many of the places and events are based on true experiences—either my own or those documented by others such as Ken Alibek.

You can check out an excerpt from Musa’s Bestselling Suspense/Thriller below.

EXCERPT:
She’d heard nothing, merely became aware of his presence beside her. She flinched, dropped her keys, and bolted toward the stairs. The man picked up her keys and grabbed her arm in one fluid movement.

“Don’t run off, Alexandra Alexandrieva. You won’t get very far without these,” he said in a low voice.

He straightened himself and dangled the ring from one finger in front of her face. He gave her a slight smile, as if amused by her attempt to get away from him. “Besides, I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I thought you were someone else,” she said, glancing down at the hand still on her arm.
He released his hold.

“Your acquaintance Kamovski, perhaps? Or maybe Ahmed, Vladimir’s friend?”
She squinted at him, trying to make out his features in the hallway’s half light. “Who are you?”

“So rude of me. Borisov, Sergei Andreivich, at your service,” he said, giving a short bow. “I work for the FSB.”

She swallowed hard, trying to keep her face still and hide her shock. The KGB by any name still made her stomach jerk in fear. “I’ve done nothing.” Her level voice didn’t betray her racing heart. “What interest would federal security have in me?”

“We’ve been watching you for a while.”

“You’ve mistaken me for someone else.”

“Pavlova, Alexandra Alexandrieva. Born August 16. Widow of Yuri Ivanovich Pavlov. Daughter, Nadezhda Yuriyevna Pavlova, currently spending the night with her grandparents. Shall I continue? We do have the right person. You caught our eye some time ago. As soon as you left your job at the Institute.”

“That was several years ago. Any information I have would be of no use to anyone.”

“We’re not interested in what you used to do. We already know that. We’re interested in what you’re doing now.”

“Typing letters? I’m afraid that’s rather boring.”

A sound from a floor below made the man cock his head. Footsteps clicked on the tile floor and echoed in the stairwell as their owner descended the stairs. “Perhaps we should continue this discussion inside?”

“I have nothing to share with the FSB.”

“Did you know your friends Vladimir and Ahmed have been seen recently in the company of an Iranian?”

“And?”

“No one has asked you about your work at the vaccine lab?”

“No.”

“As you can tell, Alexandra Alexandrieva, we know a lot about you and your family. I can assure you we plan to keep our eye on you.”

“The FSB must have nothing to do these days if you’re following me around.”

“Your father died in service to his country. We want to make sure you don’t dishonor his memory.”

“I’ve done nothing to dishonor him. And I resent the implication I have or would.”

“We want to make sure you continue his memory. We’re here to make certain the Motherland he so unselfishly served remains for the future. You do care about the future, if nothing else, for your child?”

To read more work by Liese Sherwood-Fabre, please click a vendor's name.
Musa Publishing - Amazon


Liese Sherwood-Fabre was born and grew-up in Dallas, Texas. She was destined to be a writer when in the second grade she got an “A” for her story about Dick, Jane, and Sally’s Ruined Picnic.

For several years, Liese focused on professional writing as she earned a PhD in Sociology from Indiana University. She learned two valuable lessons during that time: you can’t edit what you don’t have down on paper and the power of keeping things simple.

Liese married and the young couple moved to Washington, D.C. During that time her work was reviewed by skilled professionals who taught her to tighten her writing. From D.C., Liese and her husband moved to Honduras, then Mexico, and finally Moscow, Russia. Her experiences have blessed her with people and places that inspire and populate her books.

Liese and her family are back in the US and living in Dallas.

To learn more about Liese Sherwood-Fabre, please visit her website.

NEW RELEASE for SUSAN RAE

Musa Publishing is thrilled to announce DELUCA FAMILY by Susan Rae released today. This box set contains the three full-length novels heartbeats, ICE blue, and TRUE blue.

Love makes your heart race, but passion can kill.

Three strong, captivating women.

Three intense, driven men.

One family devoted to justice.

Come journey with the DeLuca Family from the tumultuous streets of Chicago to the majestic peaks of Glacier National Park in these three intriguing full-length novels loaded with passion, suspense…and danger.

EXCERPT:
…She recognized him instantly. There was no mistaking the identity of the man who stood in the entrance to the ballroom, nametag in hand, as if he had just arrived. She stood, motionless, staring, unaware of the murmurs of uneasiness arising from the gathering. She watched, mesmerized, as his lips curved into that slow, Mona-Lisa smile of his and his chin lifted in acknowledgment of her awareness of him. Although quite a distance away, Elizabeth could easily make out the slight cleft in his chin, the sexy, firm line of his jaw—and those deep set eyes which she knew were the most amazing shade of midnight blue…

Later that night—

Elizabeth pushed the door open and stepped inside. The glow from the streetlights spilled in through the lace curtains…It caught her eye as it danced eerily with the tree shadows upon the ceiling. Turning her gaze to the right, down the dark hallway, she spotted a sliver of light coming from the bathroom.

“Julie?”

…She flicked on the light, aware of the click of the apartment door as it closed behind her…a quick scan of the living room revealed Julie’s evening gown draped across the sofa, the plastic dry-cleaning bag still covering it.

She glanced to the left where Allison’s door stood ajar. Sensing nothing there, she turned toward the hallway, debating whether to continue on or call the police. Now she was really being paranoid… Julie probably just changed her mind about attending the banquet, or—her husband had shown up.

She set her briefcase down, took her cell phone out of her evening bag, just in case, then started down the hallway. At the bathroom, she paused. Glancing around the partially opened door, she discovered Julie’s makeup scattered on the counter along with her own toiletries. A damp towel lay on the floor. She pushed the door open further, but the bathroom was clearly unoccupied.

She took another step toward the bedroom, then stopped as a dark spot on the beige carpet caught her eye. Bending down, she stretched her fingers out to touch it. The familiar texture of the moisture that wicked against her fingertips left her feeling somewhat dazed. She turned her fingers to the light, although her mind already knew what her eyes would tell her. The sticky substance was blood—spent blood—already drying with time.

Outside the apartment—

…as the officers started up the staircase, two steps at a time with Drake at their heels, Sal shouted over his shoulder, “Thirty-two-year-old woman—multiple stab wounds.”

Drake’s steps faltered. A cold sweat iced his back and he was sure his heart stopped, if only for a second…A muffled shout sounded from inside.

“In Here! Hurry!”

Elizabeth’s voice? Drake couldn’t tell… Leading with his weapon, he shoved through the door…

“In here!” the woman cried from around the next doorway. This time he was sure it was Elizabeth.

He paused to peer around the corner and scan the room. He nodded to the cop who raced passed him and checked out the closet. Finally, he allowed himself to look down toward her voice.

His stomach turned at the ghastly sight that met his eyes.

“Elizabeth…” he breathed.

BUY LINK

To read excerpts from other books by Susan Rae please click here.

Susan Rae loves writing romantic suspense because it allows her to combine a steamy love story with a gritty suspense tale—in her opinion, the best of both worlds. When she is not writing, you might find Susan smacking a golf ball around the course while working out a pesky plot point; or traveling around the country with her husband and empty nest puppies, Ginger and Nikute, seeking out new settings for her novels.

For more information on Susan Rae and her novels and writing life, please visit her website. Stay connected on Facebook, Susan's Author Page, and Twitter.

Family Holiday Traditions

by Susan Rae

“Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents!”

That’s the opening line from which famous novel? If you guessed, Little Woman, you are correct. It's also the opening line of the play, spoken by the feisty Jo--the role I was thrilled to perform in my school’s eighth-grade presentation of Little Women. Even then, I have to admit, it was probably a bit of typecasting as I was already showing an interest in novel writing.

And yes, it would seem Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without any presents, especially for children. As for Jo and her sisters, they were lamenting the fact that their father was off fighting in a war and the family had no money for presents. At first, they begin to contemplate spending their own hard-earned money on presents for themselves, until they realize that self-sacrifice, giving to others, is actually more satisfying, and that spending Christmas in the company of family and friends is more valuable than any present they could receive.

As we grow older, we too realize that Christmas is much more about giving than receiving, and very much more about being able to spend the holidays in the company of family and friends. But along with all that family gathering, we also have our traditions: some handed down from generation to generation, some new traditions which we start as our families grow and become more spread out. With Christmas almost here and in celebration of the release of The DeLuca Family Collection, I thought it would be fun to talk about family holiday traditions.

So what is your “Christmas won’t be Christmas without ______!”

In our home, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without Grandma’s Christmas Jell-O, or a huge platter of the family recipe lasagna, or the Swedish glögg which my husband starts on the stove the morning of our gathering. The spices waft through the house as the children arrive with their own kids in tow. I suppose one might think Jell-O, lasagna, and glögg is a strange combination, but it is actually a blend of old family traditions. My husband is of Italian/English descent, thus the lasagna; I am of Swedish descent and my husband adopted the making of the glögg; and as for the Jell-O, when my children were small, my brothers and sisters and all their children would gather at my parents’ home on Christmas Eve and no matter what the dinner’s main course was, we always had our Christmas Jell-O. I guess that couldn’t be more Midwestern American.

As my children grew up and the Christmas Day dinners moved to my house, I started the tradition of everyone getting a gift at the dinner table--something small, usually an ornament, or a puzzle, or a small book.

Now the children have moved farther away and have their own small children so understandably they want to be at their own homes for Christmas Eve and for Santa on Christmas day. That’s something I completely understand, so although our get-together may not always be on Christmas Day, we still gather the day or the weekend after Christmas and it is great fun. We have a quick snack, let the children open their presents, and then the adults spend the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying each others company while the children play with their gifts and their cousins, and at some point, of course, we have our Christmas dinner.

Another tradition which we have started recently, as our children live further away, is that when the kids are here for Thanksgiving, they help take out our Christmas decorations, we put up the tree, and the grandchildren put the ornaments on the tree. I’ve learned to love that just as much as our Christmas celebration. So you see, the more things change, the more things say the same.

So I ask again, what are some of your family’s traditions? How would you complete the line, “Christmas won’t be Christmas without _______!”

Leave a comment below and you will be automatically entered into a contest to win a free copy of Freefall, my romantic suspense novel set in Wisconsin and picturesque Door County. If you’d like the recipe for Grandma’s Christmas Jell-O, a fun go-together with any meal, you’ll find it on my website.

Thank you for spending this time with me. The DeLuca Family Collection, three full-length novels filled with romance, suspense…and danger is out tomorrow, December 12, but you can pre-order it NOW from MusaPublishing.

~Susan

To read excerpt from other books by Susan Rae please click here.

Susan Rae loves writing romantic suspense because it allows her to combine a steamy love story with a gritty suspense tale—in her opinion, the best of both worlds. When she is not writing, you might find Susan smacking a golf ball around the course while working out a pesky plot point; or traveling around the country with her husband and empty nest puppies, Ginger and Nikute, seeking out new settings for her novels.

For more information on Susan Rae and her novels and writing life, please visit her website. Stay connected on Facebook, Susan's Author Page, and Twitter.

NEW RELEASE for RAY WENCK

Musa Publishing is thrilled to announce the mystery novel The Long Search for Home, book 2 of Random Survival by Ray Wenck, released today.

When death surrounds you it's time to go home.

When the world changed Bobby and Becca found themselves in constant danger. With no where safe the brother and sister decide to take the long treacherous journey home in hopes of finding their family alive. However, along the way, they are captured by a Colonel who is building an army to protect the country from what he feels is an impending invasion.

Bobby and Becca manage to escape and find their father and a new home, but when an invasion actually occurs and the colonel's army is ambushed, they must decide stay home and be safe, or try to rescue the man who would have kept them imprisoned.

EXCERPT
Becca could feel them behind her. They were getting closer. Her breaths were already coming in deep painful gulps, but to quit would be the end. Knowing what they would do if they caught her she raced on, ignoring the pain, but the outcome was inevitable. They were bigger, stronger and more numerous; otherwise she might stand a chance.

Sprinting hard over the open, high grass of what had once been a golf course, she reached down, her hand finding the handle of the long survival knife her father had given her so many years before. In midstride she yanked it free of the sheath strapped along her thigh. With the blade now rising and falling in her hand like a relay racer’s baton, a quick thought of her father flashed through her mind. He was the reason for this journey. Well, if she was going to go down, she would make him proud.

BUY LINK
To read excerpts from other books by Ray Wenck please click here.

Ray Wenck has taught for thirty-four years. He began writing three years ago just for fun. Through the encouragement of his student teacher Ray continued writing and submitted his latest work to Musa.

Learn more about Ray Wenck on his website. Stay connected with Ray on Facebook.

THREE MINUTES with KM ROCKWOD

Where did you get the idea for the Jesse Damon Crime Novels?

Since I worked in a large state prison for a number of years, supervising an inmate work crew, I got to know convicted felons in an entirely different way. I saw how so many of them struggled with the burdens placed on them, especially when they were nearing release. Even the men who were determined to make do well faced huge barriers, and so many of them returned to prison.

They told of jobs they couldn’t get because they had 10 AM appointments on Tuesday with a parole officer, and 7 PM on Thursday for a therapy group, meaning they couldn’t get most day jobs or evening ones. And often they were hard pressed to reach those places on public transportation.

Landlords were reluctant to rent to them, they had no credit, often no car or even driver’s license, and were automatically suspect whenever any crimes were uncovered near them.

How did you develop your lead characters?
My lead characters are based on people I know, many of them coworkers in various jobs. The convicts on parole, the blue collar factory laborers who were sometimes illiterate but did their best and took pride in their work, the overwhelmed women torn between a combination of outdated stereotypes and unrealistic expectations that they should be able to “have it all.” And juggle it successfully.

I am fortunate that I have a network of buddies, both on parole and in prison, who I can contact to when I want to know something for a book. We sometimes meet over pizza (I buy.) But no beer! I don’t want to see anyone actively violating parole, although I’m sure many do. For those who are locked up, it can take a while. The letter has to get there, the inmate has to find or buy a stamp, paper and envelopes, feel like writing me back (time means nothing to those incarcerated for a long time) and get it in the mail. But eventually I will have my questions answered.

What drives you to write crime novels?
Crime novels and mysteries are my favorite leisure reading, although I have to admit I read fewer of them during the years I worked in the prison than either before or after. I think I got too many real-life stories. Some of the guys who worked for me would tell me their stories, and all too often they ended with “and then she was dead.”

One of my aunts who frequently visited us read Agatha Christie novels. I didn’t learn to read until I was fairly old, but once I did, I read anything I could get my hands on. I was completely intrigued by these books.

In my work, I like to give voice to segments of the population that don’t often appear in popular fiction, at least in a positive light. I would like to think that some people who read this series stop to think about how difficult our society makes it for someone to change their behavior and become a productive citizen after a lengthy incarceration.

To read excerpts from the Jesse Damon Crime Novels please click the title.
Steeled for Murder
Fostering Death
Buried Biker
Send Off for a Snitch
Brothers in Crime

KM Rockwood draws on a varied background for stories, among them working as a laborer in a steel fabrication plant, operating glass melters and related equipment in a fiberglass manufacturing facility, and supervising an inmate work crew in a large medium security state prison. These jobs, as well as work as a special education teacher in an alternative high school and a GED teacher in county detention facilities, provide most of the background for novels and short stories.

Learn more about KM Rockwood on her website. See all her books at Musa Publishing and Amazon.

THE WILD LIFE

by Michael Weitz

Growing up in a small rural community has its charms though we rarely appreciate them until we’ve grown up. One of the things I enjoyed was looking for deer, badgers, coyotes, birds and whatever else might be wild and not on a farm. It passed the time while my dad drove us through the surrounding agricultural fields on our way to a movie or to the home of a friend who happened to live seven miles out of town and surrounded by acres of wheat fields.

Today I live in a larger city that, if they’re smart, animals of an untamed nature tend to shy away from. After all, a raccoon driving a minivan around town to pick up his forest pals just doesn’t wash unless it’s in a Pixar movie, right? Besides, even though a raccoon has “hands” that could grasp the steering wheel, it lacks the size to reach the gas pedal and still be able to see where it’s going. That being said, my neighborhood surrounds a pond that is home to a number of creatures and my wife and I feel very lucky to be able to sit and watch their activities while we relax after a long day.

There are Canada geese, but the Canada moniker seems dicey because every spring we watch the newly-hatched goslings form a maritime train behind their parents in our pond so there is obviously some dual citizenship agreement; frogs and toads perform a nightly chorus that sounds more like broken fog horns than anything of the “ribbit” variety; Mallard ducks build their nests and receive an occasional visit from a colorful Wood duck, and there’s a turtle or two who are only seen when they sun themselves on a rock. We’ve even spied a fox trotting through our neighbors yard, but my favorite is a Blue Heron that appears nearly every day to stand majestically along the shore. It’s all very serene.

We’d recently bought our house and had been living in it for a few months before I finally dug out our binoculars in order to get a better look at the heron we’d arbitrarily dubbed “Simon.” The bright yellow eyes glared down his saber-like beak seemingly fixed in a permanent scowl of concentration. His grayish blue plumage smoothed back as he slowly stepped into the water of the pond. “Honey, come check out Simon!” I called to my wife. “The binoculars really bring him in close.”

She’d just poured a glass of wine and came outside to enjoy the warm weather. I handed her the optics and pointed to where the bird was standing stock-still. She looked through the binoculars and said, “Ooh, he’s so neat. He’s looking at something under the water. I wonder if-Oh! Blegh! He got a frog!”

“What? Let me look!” I said. She handed me the binoculars and I quickly focused on Simon. Sure enough he had a frog the size of a football dangling from the end of his beak. No sooner had I seen this, though, than the bird dropped the frog onto the grass and stared as it leapt twice and back into the water. Two giant steps and a flap of his mighty wings brought Simon to the water’s edge just as fast and with a lunge he snatched the frog and brought it back ashore. Again he dropped it and again he caught it and brought it back from the water.

“Do you want to look somemo…” That’s when Simon cocked his long neck into an S and with Bruce Lee-like speed, unleashed his beak of fury. In a flash Simon stabbed the frog, reared back and stabbed it twice more. That frog was dead, yep, no question. “Never mind, honey,” I mumbled and tried not to retch. The swift and bloody violence was shocking and worthy of a Scorsese film.

But I kept watching. The prey was dead, the predator victorious, now it was time to dine. If you’ve seen a heron, you know their necks are about as wide as a champagne flute and there are no knives and forks available at the pond side restaurant. I was genuinely, if somewhat morbidly, curious to see how Simon intended to down his dinner. In fact, it was a gluttonous scene of maneuvering the carcass into his mouth head first, lifting his head high and swallowing the frog whole. Through the binoculars I was awarded a splendid view as Simon’s neck swelled to near bursting as the night’s menu slid down into his stomach. No sooner had his neck retuned to its slender, graceful state than he knocked back a quick sip of pond water. If he had lips I swear he would have smacked them.

That was the first time we’d witnessed Simon dining on the local wildlife and it was the last time my wife took up the binoculars to look upon his beauty. But we still feel blessed to live here on the pond. Simon has grown fatter and the number of frog voices singing the nightly song has diminished, but we’ve seen other birds and been visited by the occasional mammal. Oddly enough though, no raccoons. Although now that I think about it, there were some unaccounted for miles on the car after I left the garage door open the other night...

Here is a short intro to Micheal's mystery novel for your reading pleasure.

Making house calls or meeting people in public places is how Ray Gordon makes his living. He’s not a doctor. He’s not a prostitute. Ray Gordon is a chess teacher.

When one of Ray’s students, Walter Kelly, is found dead in his shop, the police and his family let it go as an accident. Ray, however, doesn’t buy it. As a former cop with a lingering curiosity, Ray snoops around and stumbles into the murky world of methamphetamine, the worst drug epidemic of our time.

The problem? Walter Kelly was sixty-five years old and his only addictions were woodworking and chess. How does a sixty-five-year-old man become involved with illegal drugs? Why is a neighbor glad Walter’s dead? And just how do dead men play chess?

EXCERPT:
To take my mind off the task at hand, I thought about Brian Kelly. Was it just the cabin going to waste that rubbed him the wrong way or was it the land value he was afraid of missing out on? Real estate assessments had been big news over the last month or two. Housing prices and land deals had gone berserk and sellers were making massive profits. Maybe Brian was in trouble financially and he just couldn’t take it anymore? Walt refused to sell and Brian killed him for it, knowing the cabin would eventually come into his hands or he would at least be able to talk his mother into putting the land up for sale.

Outside, I heard Ed Carter’s back door creak open and closed. I poured fresh water over the floor and started mopping it up. If Ed planned on being neighborly again, I didn’t think he needed to witness the clean-up process. But after several minutes passed without an appearance from the Kellys’ neighbor, I began my attack on the table saw with a scouring pad.

Just as I got into a nice scrubbing rhythm, Morphy growled low in his throat and raised his head off of his paws. I stopped and watched him. His ears were erect and his gaze was on the window behind me. Goose flesh erupted on my arms. To hide the shiver that ran down my spine, I resumed wiping down the table saw with calm casualness. I kept my attention focused on Morphy, though, and he growled again. This time, the hair over his shoulders stiffened and rose up as his emotions kicked in. Someone was watching or trying to look in the window. Morphy wouldn’t get so angry over something like a skunk or a cat.

I twisted around just as Morphy leapt to his feet and barked. Someone ducked down before I could see a face. I ran to the door and pulled it open. Morphy tore around the corner, barking after the intruder and I followed as close as I could.

In the darkness of Margie Kelly’s backyard, I saw Morphy’s blond fur disappear into the black shadow of Walt’s shop. He chased a dim figure, which ran toward the back of the property, to Helen Parker’s house. I ran full out once I saw the shadowy form of the person who had been spying through the window. Gone were the trepidations of twisted ankles and bloodied shins from unseen objects lying hidden on the grass.

I ran.

BUY LINKS
Musa Publishing
Amazon

Watch the You Tube video HERE.

Michael Weitz is an award-winning author who grew up in the Pacific Northwest, usually reading anything he could get his hands on. He wrote his first novel in the 6th Grade -- an eight page rip-off of Star Wars.

A variety of jobs including waiter, gas station attendant, truck driver and a host of others, helped shape his world. After college he landed in the television industry where he wrote and produced a multitude of award-winning commercials, two documentaries about Mt. St. Helens and various other projects.

After a few years in Phoenix, AZ, Michael, his wife, and their dogs are back in the Pacific Northwest. Currently working on the next Ray Gordon mystery, Michael may also be found reading, playing chess or shooting pool. As an avid photographer, he enjoys traveling anywhere picturesque with his wife.

Neanderthal Cuisine at Its Finest

by Charles Suddeth

I consulted archeological and historical periodicals to assemble these recipes and show what life 50,000 years ago might have been like. Yes, in real life they probably didn’t eat on our schedule, but they got hungry just like we do. Warning, I am not a cook. For safety’s sake (and your taste buds’ sake) consult a food expert before attempting these recipes.

Neanderthal Breakfast (Neanderthal Porridge)

Handful of wild barley
Handful of emmer wheat (AKA farrow), a wild wheat
Handful of einkorn wheat, another wild wheat
Handful of sorghum seed
Handful of pistachios or chestnuts
Handful of dates (Neanderthals in colder climes might have used cherries)

Heat water in a birch bark tray, be careful to keep it out of direct flames to avoid a fire.

Mash wild barley, emmer wheat, einkorn wheat, and sorghum seed; add to the boiling water.

Hull and crumble nuts, then add to boiling mixture.

Pit dates or cherries and add to the boiling mixture to sweeten.

Boil until the porridge is soft

Neanderthal Lunch (Neanderthal cattail soup)

Half dozen of cattail flowers, pollen, & roots
Handful of chicory leaves & roots
Handful of dandelion leaves
Wild lentils with husks

Heat water in a birch bark tray, being careful to keep it out of direct flames to avoid afire.

Add wild lentils with husks to water, allow husks to dissolve and release the lentils.

Peel and pound cattail roots, remove the fibers. Add chicory roots, cattail roots, chicory leaves, and dandelion leaves to boiling water.

Finally add cattail flowers and pollen to boiling water.

If meat is necessary (Neanderthals ate what they had), add small animals or birds

My novel takes place in the present, so you might call this an old (very old) family recipe. And aren't you glad you live now with excellent restaurants and diverse markets to indulge your appetite?

Here's a brief intro to Neanderthal Protocol. I think you'll enjoy it more than the recipes above.

After cold-fusion physicist Greg Anderson’s DNA test marks him as Neanderthal, he is forced to live like an animal. Rachel helps him search for the organization trying to destroy him.

BLURB:
Greg Anderson is a physicist working on Project Cold Sun, which will generate electricity via hydrogen fusion. After a DNA test exposes him as a Neanderthal, he lives on the streets like a wild animal. Near death, he meets Rachel Waters.

After Greg’s former boss is murdered, the police blame Greg. She helps Greg search for the killers. Can Rachel and Greg find the people who are trying to destroy Project Cold Sun before the police charge Greg with murder and execute him?

To read an excerpt from Neanderthal Protocol please click a vendor name. Musa Publishing - Amazon

Charles Suddeth was born in Indiana, grew up Michigan, and has spent his adult life in Kentucky. He now lives in Louisville with two cats and likes to spend his days hiking and writing in nearby Tom Sawyer State Park. Charles is a graduate of Michigan State University. He belongs to the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI) and Green River Writers. His first book, Halloween Kentucky Style, was published in 2010.

Learn more about Charles Suddeth on his website. Stay connected on Twitter.

A Perfect Family Get-together Dessert

There was a time in America when Sundays were for going to Grandma’s for dinner and spending time with cousins, uncles, etc. Now those Sunday dinners are getting harder to come by. For the DeLucas, whose grown siblings include three Chicago cops, a paramedic, and an engineer, most with children of their own, finding time for those get-togethers is equally challenging. When they do get together, Mama DeLuca often does the bulk of the cooking, but it is up to the siblings to bring the dessert or a side dish or two.

In TRUE blue, book three in the series, it’s Joey’s turn to bring the dessert. That’s not a problem as the perfect dessert, apple strudel, is supplied by the baker Steven Johannsen when Joey and Meghan visit him to gain more information on the twenty-four year old murder of Meghan’s father, Chicago Detective Sean McConnell.

The apple strudel sounded so good when I wrote it, that I decided I had to try my hand at baking some myself. I searched the internet and studied apple strudel recipes. After much intense research (hey, I’m a writer, I overthink everything!) I borrowed a little from Emeril Lagasse’s traditional Apfelstrudel, Paula Deen’s strudel recipe, and a couple of other recipes to come up with my own which is both easy and delicious. My recipe uses less sugar than most, lemon juice, and dried bread crumbs to keep the juices from bubbling out as the strudel bakes. Try this one at home served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream at your next family dinner. I guarantee, no one will be disappointed!

Susan Rae’s Apple Strudel: A DeLuca Family Special
(serves 14)

1 pkg. frozen puffed pastry sheets (2 per pkg.)
1 ½ lbs. Granny Smith apples (3 to 4 large), cored and thinly sliced.
½ lemon, juiced
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup dried raisins
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
2/3 cup dried bread crumbs
2 tbsp, firm butter, cut into pieces
¼ cup melted butter
1 egg
1 tbsp. water

Remove frozen pastry dough from package. Lay on wire rack to thaw for appx. 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine the apples, lemon juice, sugar, and cinnamon. Stir with spoon until apples are evenly coated. Add 1/3 cup breadcrumbs and stir until coated again. Add the raisins and butter pieces and gently stir again.

Lightly coat a board with flour. Unfold one sheet of dough. Roll lightly with a rolling pin. With a pastry brush, brush dough with ½ of the melted butter. Sprinkle with half of the remaining bread crumbs. Arrange ½ of the apple filling into a log on the dough about two inches from the edge of the dough nearest you. Roll the two inch section up over the apple filling, then continue to gently roll the log to the end of the dough. Turn log with seam side up (this helps prevent the juices from oozing out when baked).

Wet fingers and run along edge and pinch. Press ends together and turn under. Using a spatula, gently slide under roll lengthwise and lift onto baking sheet. Slit the top of roll with a knife every two inches or so for venting.

Repeat for second roll.

Whisk egg and water together. Using pastry brush again, brush tops of rolls with egg wash.

Bake for 35 minutes. Remove pan from oven and cool. Cut into 1½ slices, serve warm with your favorite vanilla ice cream, and enjoy!

Note: If you only need one roll, after the second one cools completely, wrap in aluminum foil and freeze. Reheat frozen roll in a 375° F oven for approximately thirty minutes.

Until next time,
Happy Reading,
Susan Rae

And now a short intro to TRUE blue and the DeLuca family.

Sometimes we must revisit the past to embrace our future.

Twenty-four years ago, the murder of a Chicago police officer changed Joey DeLuca’s life. He lost his best friend and first love, Meghan McConnell, when her mother whisked her out of town. Now, on the eve of another officer’s death, Meghan is back and about to step into his life again.

There is very little gray in Joey's line of work as a Lt. Detective--it is either black or white, right or wrong. But Meghan’s insistence on finding answers to her father's murder threatens those beliefs and throws his marriage to CPD Detective Andi, his career, and the entire DeLuca family in jeopardy when new revelations come to light.

Can Joey save his marriage, solve the murder, and keep his family together all at the same time?

To read an excerpt from TRUE blue or purchase please click a vendor's name.
Musa Publishing
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

To read excerpt from other books by Susan Rae please click here.

Susan Rae loves writing romantic suspense because it allows her to combine a steamy love story with a gritty suspense tale—in her opinion, the best of both worlds. When she is not writing, you might find Susan smacking a golf ball around the course while working out a pesky plot point; or traveling around the country with her husband and empty nest puppies, Ginger and Nikute, seeking out new settings for her novels.

For more information on Susan Rae and her novels and writing life, please visit her website. Stay connected on Facebook, Susan's Author Page, and Twitter.

Be sure to enter Musa Publishing's easy contest,
Keep the Kids Reading
Click here to win paperback books from top children and YA authors.

Aren’t You Glad You Live Now?

from Charles Suddeth

I was working on Neanderthal recipes for my website and thought this you may be interested in a typical meal. I consulted archeological and historical periodicals to assemble this recipe and show what life 50,000 years ago might have been like. Warning, I am not a cook. For safety’s sake (and your taste buds’ sake) consult a food expert before attempting this recipe.

Water Lily Stew
2 or 3 medium-sized water lily pads
A handful of white acorns (hulls have round ends) or other nuts such as hazelnuts or walnuts
One squirrel or other small animal such as rabbit or rats
Handful of wild onions

Drop hot rocks into a bison-skin bag filled with water and boil lily pads until tender.

Skin squirrel and broil it. Add meat, innards, and bones to the lily pads.

Add wild onions and acorns to the mixture, and serve while warm.

My novel takes place in the present, so you might call this an old (very old) family recipe. And aren't you glad you live now with excellent restaurants and diverse markets to indulge your appetite?

Here's a brief intro to Neanderthal Protocol. I think you'll enjoy it more than the Water-Lily Stew.

After cold-fusion physicist Greg Anderson’s DNA test marks him as Neanderthal, he is forced to live like an animal. Rachel helps him search for the organization trying to destroy him.

BLURB:
Greg Anderson is a physicist working on Project Cold Sun, which will generate electricity via hydrogen fusion. After a DNA test exposes him as a Neanderthal, he lives on the streets like a wild animal. Near death, he meets Rachel Waters.

After Greg’s former boss is murdered, the police blame Greg. She helps Greg search for the killers. Can Rachel and Greg find the people who are trying to destroy Project Cold Sun before the police charge Greg with murder and execute him?

To read an excerpt from Neanderthal Protocol please click here.

Charles Suddeth was born in Indiana, grew up Michigan, and has spent his adult life in Kentucky. He now lives in Louisville with two cats and likes to spend his days hiking and writing in nearby Tom Sawyer State Park. Charles is a graduate of Michigan State University. He belongs to the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI) and Green River Writers. His first book, Halloween Kentucky Style, was published in 2010.

Learn more about Charles Suddeth on his website. Stay connected on Twitter.