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Paying it Forward…with Jami Gray

I met Jami through Black Opal Books, where we were some of the first authors. Bright, clever, a strong writer with a quirky turn of mind, Jamie shows what happens when you combine innate ability with a good work ethic. And she’s never too busy to take time to help others. This book: Hunted By The Past, is a second series for Jami. It puts a different spin on “quirky.” Take it away, Jami…

The first in an exciting new Paranormal Romantic Suspense series-HUNTED BY THE PAST available from Muse It Up Publishing!

When facing off with danger, some situations require a few more unique skills than most. Come meet the men and women of the Psy-IV Teams…

huntedbythepast

HUNTED BY THE PAST: PSY-IV Teams book 1

Sometimes death is the only way to out run the past…

A reluctant psychic who can relive the past, a man well versed in keeping secrets, and a psychopathic killer enter a deadly game where the past determines the future.

Changing the past is an impossibility ex-Marine, Cynthia “Cyn” Arden, understands all too well. Struggling in the aftermath of a botched mission, which cost her two teammates, her military career, and a fledging relationship, she’s brought home by a panicked phone call. The psychic killer behind her nightmares has escaped military custody to hunt down the remaining teammates, one by one. Next on his murderous list–Cyn. Her only chance at survival is to master the psychic ability she’s spent years denying.

The killer’s game brings her face to face with the one person guaranteed to throw her off kilter—the unsettling and distracting man she left behind, Kayden Shaw. Once she believed he’d stand by her side, until he chose his job and his secrets over her. A choice that’s left the scars of the past etched deep on her mind and heart.

To survive this twisted game, Cyn must risk trusting her heart and accepting who and what she is, or lose not only her life, but the man she loves.

Available for pre-order at: MUSEITUP Publishing

READ AN EXCERPT

Since I didn’t want to touch him, much, I poked a finger against his chest, ignoring the unexpected zap of awareness. “I don’t know how you found me or why, but right now I have other, more important things to do. So, why don’t–”

The ringing of the phone interrupted my tirade.

I shot a look at the phone sitting on the counter to our left, and then narrowed my gaze at Kayden.

He quirked an eyebrow.

The phone rang again.

“You going to answer it?” he drawled.

Stepping back, I plucked the receiver off the cradle. “Hello?”

“Cyn?” What do you know, it was Thomas Anderson Gunderson, A.K.A. Tag.

I stared at the man standing across from me. “Yeah.”

“Where have you been? And why the hell won’t you answer my calls?” Despite his questions, there was a thread of relief in my friend’s voice. Ex-friend, I reminded myself.

“Why would I?” I gave my answer absently, watching Kayden make his way over to the other side of the counter and take a seat on a barstool.

In my ear, Tag cursed. “Dammit, Cyn. I don’t have time to explain shit now— ”

“Why are you calling me?” I cut him off, ice coating every word.

“Why are you in Sedona?” he shot back, his voice hard.

“I’m more concerned with how you got this number and why everyone seems determined to turn my cabin in to Grand Central Station.”

Momentary silence filled the line. “Shaw’s there?”

“Got it in one.”

“Thank God,” Tag muttered. “Be as bitchy as you want, Cyn, but tell me you’re okay. You ran away—”

“I didn’t run from shit, Tag, I was kicked to the fucking curb as soon as you and everyone else got what you wanted.”

“That’s not what happened.”

“Really? Because from where I stood, it sure as hell looked like it.” Silence answered. Turning away from Kayden’s too avid gaze, I tried to regain control so I could kick both of these men back out of my life. “I’m fine, but I’m little busy dealing with my own situation.”

“What kind of situation?” It actually sounded as if he gave a damn.

Closing my eyes, I tried to shove aside the urge to bang my head against a wall at the single minded intensity of the male gender. “My sister is AWOL. Now, can we just focus on why you’re bothering me and Kayden has decided to pursue a career in B&E?”

“How long has Kelsey been missing?”

The urgent note underlying Tag’s question reignited my earlier sense of unease, as if there was something bigger at play here. Worry about Kelsey trumped hurt feelings, so I answered. “Not sure, a couple hours maybe. Her car is here.”

The string of oaths spewing over the line from Tag proved no one could swear like a Marine. “Son of mangy bitch,” he muttered, then he took a deep breath. “The cabin’s an hour and half outside of Phoenix?” He didn’t wait for my answer. “I’ll meet you up there. Stay with Kayden.”

“Tag,” his name came out as a warning of my waning patience. My fingers tightened around the phone, and it took an amazing amount of will-power to not share my own colorful vocabulary. “You need to tell me what’s going on. Right. Now.” The last two words emerged around gritted teeth.

“It’s about Flash. His killer is out.” His unexpected answer stabbed deep, drawing blood under my skin. Brutal memories boiled up and I almost missed his, “Stay with Kayden, Cyn.”

The drone of a dial tone filled my ear. My world spun. I concentrated on setting the phone back in the cradle. My legs were doing a great impression of spaghetti noodles, so I let them fold under me and sat on the cool tile. Six months, I’d run as hard, as fast and as far as I could, but in a matter of minutes I was right back where I started, trapped in a never-ending nightmare.

You have to wonder which fickle fate decided to dump everything on me at once. If I ever got my hands on her, I’d beat her to a pulp. Damn, damn, and triple damn!

The past surged, breaking through to rise in a swamping wave of ghostly screams and the stench of burnt flesh. I dug my fingers deep into my thigh muscles in a desperate attempt to stave it off. No such luck. Greedy memories sucked me down.

My kitchen disappeared, replaced by a fetid alley behind a dive in Where-the-fuckistan. Sprawled on the ground, my head spinning with dizzying sickness and my leg screaming with agony, all I could do was watch and listen. Watch the spreading pool of blood and brains seep from Ortega, his sightless eyes staring past me. Listen to the snap and crackle of a raging fire hissed through the night while the smell of burning flesh wrapped around me. Behind me, someone screamed, his wail high-pitched and full of hopeless agony.

I knew that broken voice.

Even as excruciating pain beat inside my skull, I turned my head, recognizing the figure in the midst of the hellish scene. Searing loss, rage, and fear rose to a scream. My mouth opened and the stench coiled down my throat, blocking the air in my chest. No, no, no!

The shocking feel of hands against my face snapped my paralysis, bringing a touch of the present into the past. Desperate to escape, ignoring the pain radiating down my leg and through my head. I struck out, my hand connecting with flesh. “Don’t touch me!”

Harsh breathing filled the air around me. It took a few seconds to realize it was coming from me. A few more before the low soothing voice penetrated the layers of the past. “Come on back, Cyn. You’re safe.”

 

Now available for pre-order at: MUSEITUP Publishing

 

Jami Gray Small

Jami Gray is the award winning, multi-published author of the Urban Fantasy series, The Kyn Kronicles, and the Paranormal Romantic Suspense series, PSY-IV Teams. She is surrounded by Star Wars obsessed males and a male lab, who masquerades as a floor rug as she plays with the voices in her head.

Come stalk Jami at any of these fine locations:

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads / Google+ / Amazon

 

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Heroes everywhere

I had a lightweight blog planned, all about reviewing the reviews. Because some of those review comments are guaranteed to keep you chuckling. Until I came across a Lebanese news program, with a female anchor. THESE are the heroes we need to honor. Along with Rosa Parks, and all those who stood up for personal rights and freedoms…and for the right to be treated with some dignity. I’m sure some people will say “that woman had NO right to be so rude to that man.” Yet they have no problem with their own favored male anchor cutting off a rude guest.

A female Lebanese news anchor was told to shut up—here’s what she did instead

It’s not women’s rights we want to demand. It’s HUMAN rights. The right to be heard, the right to discuss without fear of reprisal. The right to clean water and healthy food. And an education so at least our children will know there’s more to life than prejudice and anger and fighting.

Hug your loved ones.

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Believing in Happy Endings

As a Romance writer, I need to believe in the happy endings. As a realist I know they are all too often more fantasy than reality. Some writers do like to deal only with reality. I’m not one of them nor do people read Romance so they can be reminded that life all too often sucks. The perfect hero and heroine with just a few flaws help some people put themselves into a happier existence, at least while they are reading.

All too often life does suck, up one side, down the other, and horizontally. But amidst the doom and gloom we often have at least better than average moments. Even if it’s nothing more than getting your burger the way you asked for it and not the way the grill chef decides to make it.

Emotionally we can take Eeyore’s approach that nothing is ever going to go right so we might as well mire ourselves in doom and gloom. Heaven knows relationships are never as exciting in real life as they are in books. Who ever heard of a genuine hero leaving dirty underwear stacked on top of the hamper instead of tucked neatly inside? How can your average husband compete with such a perfect human being…right down to those sparkly white teeth?

Most of them can not. Nor do we actually want them to. Just think, gorgeous, ripped, brilliant…and neat? How can we average women compete?

Just to pull this all together, here’s a favorite song from a favorite singer.

The Carpenters lived in Downey, CA, where my husband taught.What happened to Karen should not happen to anyone. She tried so hard to live up to an impossible image, she destroyed her health.

Sorry not such a happy ending but she did leave us her voice. And a reminder not to rush to judgement on anyone else’s life or appearance or actions. Take a minute to find the happy in your own life, and share it with those around you.021

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“It Was Her Fault”…Delhi Bus Rapist Speaks Out. TRIGGER WARNINGS

This is not an easy story to write or read

I had the idea I could keep on with lightweight observations of the human race. Until this came across my feed.

Rapist Blames Victim

In 2012, in New Delhi, a 23 year old college student paid her fare for a bus ride home. She was with a male companion. Once on the bus they were attacked, and beaten with a tire iron. If you’ve ever picked up a tire iron you know how heavy it is. The rapist claims she should not have been out after dark, and if she just had not fought back they wouldn’t have had to hit her. Even worse, their lawyers stated pretty much the same thing…it’s in the article.

This isn’t some back water third world country. India offers the opportunity for education. It wasn’t a mugging gone wrong. The men were driving a bus, collecting fares, so it wasn’t an act of desperation. They wanted to hurt this young woman, so they did. And blamed her for being there.

Since then laws have been enacted, outrage has been declared. More women have stepped forward to report rapes, but rapes have also increased.

Problem is, India is not alone in their treatment of women. Nor is the attitude of this prisoner unique. “if women would cover themselves, they would not tempt men” is a popular refrain. Same as “she didn’t want to be touched, she shouldn’t have let it hang out.”

Sound familiar?

I wish I had answers. I don’t. I’m just sharing this story so Jyoti Singh is not forgotten.

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Sharing Emotions on Sunday…What Do You Fear?

Do You Fear the Wind?
By Hamlin Garland

DO you fear the force of the wind,
The slash of the rain?
Go face them and fight them,
Be savage again.
Go hungry and cold like the wolf
Go wade like the crane:
The palms of your hands will thicken,
The skin of your cheek will tan,
You ’ll grow ragged and weary and swarthy,
But you ’ll walk like a man!

I pulled most of this blog together last night but it didn’t seem complete. I knew I wanted to stir up some of my emotions, share them with you. But I wasn’t sure why. Until I hunted up a poem that has stuck with me since high school. And found a  particular favorite song of ours about a love as timeless as possible these days.

I knew this song had a foundation in truth, and this You Tube version tells the whole story. Kathy Mattea’s husband wrote the song about his grandparents, and shared it with Kathy before they were engaged. In the write up, she reveals: “When Jon told me the story for the first time, it was before we had even gotten engaged, and he just cried and cried. When he played the song for me and the first chorus came around, I knew where he was going with the lyric, and I just couldn’t believe he could be that vulnerable as a writer, to put that moment in a song.”

As writers we need to be vulnerable, to put all our love and memories and fear out there, if we want to be honest with our readers, and with ourselves.

I think I’ll be sharing the Streisand indulgences next Sunday.

006

 

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Pay it Forward…Cover Reveal for Amy DeClerk #MFRWAuthor

Long before the movie or the book, my late Saluki mentor introduced me to the concept of Pay It Forward. When I was planning to leave the depressing dead end existence I had let myself get into, she handed me $100.00 to help fund my new life. Her one condition was that I help someone else in the future.

Wow, that was a long time ago. I have when possible followed her advice: help others even when I’m not going to get anything back directly. And I find the more I do this, the less I stress about life and helping others. Okay, I’m no angel and sometimes I do let myself fall into a “why doesn’t anyone help ME” sort of funk. In the end it all works out, and I feel better for the experience. RIP Shirley, you were an awesome human being.

This is an introduction to my Pay It Forward Saturday blog plan. Each week I’ll promote someone who has asked for the exposure. If no one is scheduled, I’ll introduce the work of one of my many artist friends.

This first post is for AmyDeClerk. We’re going to help with her cover reveal for BOUND TO YOU. Wow what a great way to start paying it forward!

Title: Bound to You
By: AR DeClerck
PREORDER 3/1/15
Blurb:

Jackson Baine is a man with a gift, and he has never had a problem with selling it to the highest bidder. His newest bound1job is with one of the biggest terraforming companies in the universe, and the money he stands to make will allow him and his crew to retire on any planet in any galaxy they choose. His biggest problem: Ferrell Terraforming has assigned him a company liaison to see to his needs and protect their interests. But that’s not his only problem. Lia Bernardi is smart, beautiful and strong, and she entices Jacks in a way no other woman ever has. She is a distraction he cannot afford on the surface.
Anatolia Bernardi is ready to climb the corporate ladder, get out from under her egotistical boss, and impress her overbearing father. All she has to do is turn one dead, empty planet into an oasis. Her company says Jacks Baine is the key, and it’s her job to make sure he’s productive and happy. Both of which, she soon learns, are harder than she’d thought they’d be. For some reason Jacks can get under her skin and break down every wall she’s constructed between herself and the world.
On the surface of a long-dead planet Jacks and Lia will be forced to face the startling realization that the past never really goes away.

Author Bio:
amypicAR DeClerck lives in the Quad Cities, IL. She is a wife and mother of two daughters. She has two dogs and a cat, and always has her nose in a book. She’s either reading one, or writing one. She writes romance in many sub-genres, and has always had a soft spot for sci-fi romance. She credits her love of reading and writing to her mother, who always keeps a book handy.

 

AMY’S WEBSITE AND BLOG
FACEBOOK

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Formula for Success #AmWriting #MFRWAuthor

Flourish where you're planted and hold on

Flourish where you’re planted and hold on

Don’t Quit.

Well, DUH, you say. We already knew that. True. But there’s knowing and there is understanding what you know. And there’s really understanding what we need to know, to achieve success. Kristen Lamb nudged me into seeing this (think in terms of that anvil the Road Runner used on the Coyote:  Five Principles of Achievement

Right. That.

You might back slide. You might do something else for a while. But you do NOT quit.

I once decided to research what former profession successful writers held. Some of them continue in this profession since this is not the most stable of vocations. Lots of nurses, ever notice? Police, military, teachers. Mmm Hmmm. Business owners, especially entrepreneurs, people who have started and held together various businesses; successful sales people. Lawyers, quite a few of those, and also teachers.

What is the common denominator for these professions? You can’t skate through these jobs on charm and a smile. And with most of them you also need an extensive education. No faking it in nursing or law (well, some lawyers…) Most if not all of these professions require good scheduling and a tremendous work ethic.

I know, these are very broad generalizations. But writing, especially writing prolifically, requires dedication, scheduling, and determination to succeed. All of which are invaluable in the above professions.

Of course, there’s a lot to be said for a scattered approach to your prior to writing occupation. If nothing else, you

Keep holding on...the same bush in the winter

Keep holding on…the same bush in the winter

gather a plethora of experience…**holds hand up high and proud**…I never made it into vet school but I waited tables and groomed dogs and trained horses with the best of them. Leading me, in my 30s, to a temp position as a buyer’s assistant at a power plant. And I discovered it’s just so much nicer to work indoors when the thermometer is busting out the top of the glass. Not to mention being paid if you’re sick!!! Another plus is not smelling like cigarette smoke or flea dip when you drag yourself home from work.

Win. Win.

With my mind not obsessing over paying my bills without destroying my back I was able to free my thinking patterns up to write down the stories I’d been mentally collecting for decades.

Write. Rewrite. Edit. Submit. Repeat as needed, ad infinitum

Definitely the formula for success.

shine wherever you land

shine wherever you land

 

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Twenty One…and Older. MUCH Older

When I Was One-and-Twenty

By A. E. Housman

When I was one-and-twenty
       I heard a wise man say,
“Give crowns and pounds and guineas
       But not your heart away;
Give pearls away and rubies
       But keep your fancy free.”
But I was one-and-twenty,
       No use to talk to me.
When I was one-and-twenty
       I heard him say again,
“The heart out of the bosom
       Was never given in vain;
’Tis paid with sighs a plenty
       And sold for endless rue.”
And I am two-and-twenty,
       And oh, ’tis true, ’tis true.

I was managing a stable when I was twenty one. I cleaned stalls, groomed horses, helped prepare horses for training or lessons. When you’re the only person who sticks it out, you become by attrition the manager, it’s not always about being the most qualified.

One of the students was the son of a veterinarian who admired something about the way I did my work. He tried to encourage me to go to vet school, and be more than a stall cleaner.

“But…but…I’m over twenty. By the time I finish vet school, I’ll be thirty or more.”

And he pointed out, not so gently: “By that time you’ll be thirty or more whether you go to vet school or not.”

Oh

Hmmm

Yeah, he was right.

I didn’t go to vet school. For one thing it wasn’t exactly my path especially since I am so not a people person. Plus my journey led to a different destination…though I was not sure at that time what that destination might be. However, I took that wisdom with me wherever I did go.

You say you can’t write a book since it’s going to take six to nine months and you just don’t have that time? Or maybe you can’t write a series since OMG it will be several years and you’ll be so old?

Well, MONA, you’ll be that old anyway.

So pull up your BIG girl panties (the purple ones with lace) and DO IT.

Don’t come to the end of days with a bucket load of “wish I hads”

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A Bit of Jocularity…Seriously

When my post with Peter, Paul, and Mary published, a friend in Kansas called to share a bit of trivia.

It seems her family reunions in HOLYROOD, KS from time to time. The last census shows Holyrood has a population of 447. Right, 447, no commas, no zeros. I bet it would be pretty hard for anyone to prank here since everyone would know everyone else and what they’d been up to.

Lebanon KS is the accepted geographic center of the contiguous United States; Holyrood is due south about two hours.

Although mildly interesting, none of this has anything to do with my friend’s telephone call.

It seems Holyrood, population 447, has three churches. One is Catholic, one is Lutheran, one is United Church of Christ.

The Lutheran Church is St Peter Lutheran Church

Or you can visit St Paul‘s United Church of Christ

The Catholic church is St Mary‘s Catholic Parish House

Think I’m joshing? HERE check it out for yourself.

Yes, truth can be stranger than anything you can make up. My friend suggested I put this in a book…but who would believe me?

In appreciation for you staying to the end: Classic Peter, Paul, and Mary.

Peace and love

 

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What’s So Bad About Being Good?

The Billionaire’s Girlfriend

The Sheik’s Secret Passion

The Trillionaire’s Hidden Girlfriend

The Duke’s…The General’s…The Warlord’s…The Alpha’s…

These tropes have been a part of romance writing from the beginning. Along with the Lost Heir, Secret Baby, Self Made Huge Success. Plus name brand shoes, expensive cars, the best of the best of the best.

For good reason. These are popular themes, and these books sell. Some people want books to take them away from the mundane. They want to put themselves in the expensive shoes of the most beautiful woman in the room, being appreciated by the richest, most powerful man in the world. Fantasy is a wonderful thing and if you like writing these stories then you should indulge.

But if this is not your lifestyle and it’s an effort for you to come up with all the necessary accoutrements; if you’re more of a dusty boots and old truck kind of a writer…then write about dusty boots and old trucks and people who fall in love in small towns.003

If you’re uncomfortable with clinical sex scenes and don’t understand the BDSM lifestyle, don’t try to fake it. You will be found out.

Small town series sell. It wouldn’t take much to name multiple successful books set in towns where the readers want to move one day. Good people going about their lives, loving each other, fighting, making up. Well written, honest conflict piques interest the same as extravagant lifestyles and high drama. For me as a reader and a writer, it’s better when the citizens in that small town are believable, and not a cast of wealthy people, highly successful, former champions. But again, that’s my personal preference.

Do not be afraid to write about ordinary people who live and laugh and love. Ordinary people who do extraordinary things: fight fires, foster children, contribute to the idea that life is worth living. And if you do write those books, don’t be surprised at the number of readers who thank you for writing about people to whom they can relate.

We can’t all wear Jimmy Choo.

 

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