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Monday, November 27, 2017

Cyber Monday! Some Great Reads! #mystery #horror #romance #thriller

I'm featuring a bunch of books today
 for the Cyber Monday Sale!

If you're into horror, don't forget my two takes on the historic Lizzie Borden murders of 1892. Read more about her at my website. Keep scrolling for more great reads!



 I follow the trial and include actual news, inquest and trial transcripts in my book, Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter

Every family has its secrets…

One hot August morning in 1892, Lizzie Borden picked up an axe and murdered her father and stepmother. Newspapers claim she did it for the oldest of reasons: family conflicts, jealousy and greed. But what if her parents were already dead? What if Lizzie slaughtered them because they’d become... zombies?

 About The Haunting of Dr. Bowen, A Mystery in Lizzie Borden's Fall River...

Was Lizzie Borden's doctor haunted by what he saw that day?

Gruesome deaths haunt the industrial city of Fall River, Massachusetts.

Dr. Seabury Bowen—physician to the infamous Lizzie Borden—swears he’s being stalked by spirits, though his beloved wife thinks it’s merely his imagination. But the retired doctor insists that neither greed nor anger provoked the recent sensational axe murders in Fall River. Rather, he believes the city is poisoned by bad blood and a thirst for revenge dating back to the Indian and Colonial wars.

Now, two years after the Borden murders, Dr. Bowen is determined to uncover the mysteries stirring up the city’s ancient, bloodthirsty specters. Can he discover who, or what, is shattering the peace before Fall River runs red? Or will he be the next victim?


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Click on any of the book covers to be taken to the page that has more information on the novel, as well as the Buy Links! 
(** If the links don't work, see the books here.)

** Don't forget to enter the Giveaway below!

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Saturday, November 25, 2017

Talking #Horror at The Horror Tree


 I'm talking books, horror, zombies and a little of everything. And I answer that burning question, why am I drawn to horror? 

* Check it out over at The Horror Tree Presents...

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

YA Thriller, The Hypnotist's Daughter



YA Thriller

Though things look beautiful to the naked eye, when you look between the cracks of fame and fortune, things aren’t always what they seem.

Prosperity Baxter (Peri) is selling her soul for fame – figuratively of course. Everyone who is anyone in Hollywood has gone through Jameson Frye to get there. Peri has a once in a lifetime meeting with him, set up by her father Harris Baxter, the biggest name in hypnotism on the entire West Coast.

But in the movie industry, you don’t get something for nothing. Peri pays the ultimate price before she is thrust full speed ahead into her new acting career. The manager Jameson sets her up with, bad-boy HUDSON GREGOR, is known for his amoral reputation. Peri learns early on that Hudson is not to be crossed. But when secrets begin to surface as the scenes from the horror film she is starring in begin to dredge up memories she was never supposed to remember, she will have to learn to rely on him.

Lies, cover-ups and an unthinkable initiation all leave her desperate for answers.

Prosperity is determined to find out if there is enough good in this world to overcome the evil she sees everywhere she looks – even in her own eyes.

Get it at:
Amazon - B&N - Kobo - IndieBound - BookLaunch


Recent Praise for The Hypnotist's Daughter:

"A shocking debut that leaves us pondering the origins of evil and the power of memory." -- J.C. Sasser, author of Gradle Bird

"Raw and hypnotizing. This is the first chapter in what promises to be an unnerving and mysterious series." -- Peter L. Harmon, author of The Happenstances young adult book series

"A triumphant debut novel from Brittany Raschdorf." -- Charlotte Bowyer, author of His Frozen Fingertips

"Imaginative ride into the fantasy realm" -- Meisha Camm, author of Brewer Archives





Meet the Author:



Brittany Raschdorf is a devoted mother of two who lives in Chesapeake, Virginia with her husband and their two dogs. Growing up, Brittany was always tethered to a book, only putting them down occasionally to play in the mud or roughhouse with her brother. She knew deep down she had a passion for words—it was the way the black jumped off the white and landed in her soul as she read. But it wasn’t until she began to write that she truly came alive. And it wasn’t until she became a mother that she realized she had a story to tell.


Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Today in History: Lizzie Borden Grand Jury

Today in History:

The grand jury convenes on Nov. 15, 1892  to consider the evidence regarding Lizzie Borden as a suspect in the murders of her father, Andrew Borden and stepmother, Abby Durfee Borden. 

The grand jury ended its deliberations on November 21 and indicted Lizzie for the murders on December 2. 



 I follow the trial and include actual news, inquest and trial transcripts in my book, Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter

Every family has its secrets…

One hot August morning in 1892, Lizzie Borden picked up an axe and murdered her father and stepmother. Newspapers claim she did it for the oldest of reasons: family conflicts, jealousy and greed. But what if her parents were already dead? What if Lizzie slaughtered them because they’d become zombies?

Thrust into a horrific world where the walking dead are part of a shocking conspiracy to infect not only Fall River, Massachusetts, but also the world beyond, Lizzie battles to protect her sister, Emma, and her hometown from nightmarish ghouls and the evil forces controlling them.

Monday, November 13, 2017

New #Romantic Suspense She Do Run Run

Can't beat a book that makes you think of a song, right?




Romantic Suspense
Date Published: September 26, 2017
Publisher: Broadback

 photo add-to-goodreads-button_zpsc7b3c634.png

She Do Run Run is a fast, double-shot-of-espresso read. Its heart-racing story can be consumed in a few quick hours.

Jenny’s life is shattered when her Special Ops husband is killed. To escape the pain, she falls into a dangerous cycle of random sex and booze, and one night she kills a violent man.

She runs off into the unknown, desperate to survive and change her life. That’s when Lieutenant Jon Dowling appears.

Excerpt

Enraged, KC bounced off the bed, faltered, then whirled about to face me.  He broke for me, spitting threats and curses, his giant shadow of a body charging.  I felt a twist of terror in the pit of my stomach.

I slipped the Luger from my purse easily—feeling the cool, sticky grip.  There was no time to shout out a warning.  He was coming—a charging, killing animal.  I squeezed off two shots.  The impact stunned him, jerked him erect.  Froze him.  I could see his eyes, wide in the bright flash of yellow neon.  He heaved out a loud breath, like a snort.

“You shot me, you bitch!  I’ll kill you!  You fuckin’ shot me!  I’ll kill you!”

He came at me, a big angry bear reaching.  I fired two more shots.  I watched in horror as he teetered, and stumbled backwards off-balance.  He bounced off the wall, face blank, and dropped like a heavy sack.  I felt the thud of his body shake the floor under my bare feet.

I stood breathing, sweating, heart kicking.  I knew he was dead.  I didn’t need to check.  I mean, I shot him four times, for Chrissake!  Did anyone hear the shots?  I strained my ears.  Dead quiet.  Were there people next door?  Would someone call the police?

Strangely, I felt calm—incredibly calm.  Where was the shock?  Methodically, I slipped the handgun back into my purse.  Then I realized I was naked.  I found my clothes, slipped them on, turned the room lights on dim and searched the room, refusing to look at KC, making sure I hadn’t left anything: still had my earrings, watch, phone, purse.  Would there be finger prints?  Maybe.  I knew, from some of Kyle’s police buddies, that prints were hard to find.  I hadn’t touched many things.  I hadn’t even drunk from a glass or used a towel.  What about hair in the bed?  A broken nail?  No time to search.  Impossible anyway.

I turned off the lights and slipped out of the motel into a dark humid night.  The motel office was 70 feet or so away and, fortunately, I hadn’t stepped inside the office with KC when he registered.  I had not been seen.  I listened for police sirens.   Nothing.  Strange.

We had come on KC’s motorcycle, leaving my car in the bar’s parking lot.  I’d have to walk the five miles or so, and I did, keeping my head low, edging along in the shadows.

When I arrived back at the bar, the parking lot was still bloated with motorcycles, trucks and old dinged up cars.  I glanced about, saw a couple locked in a kiss near the front door, climbed into my car, cranked the engine and drove away, still feeling oddly calm.  Why?  I had just killed a man.

The police would soon be looking for the killer, of course.  The bartender had seen me, and the man who had moved to give me his barstool, had seen me.  Would they remember what I looked like?  As far as I knew, they were the only ones.  No one knew my name or anything else about me.  Still, there was no doubt the police would find some evidence.  If there was hair in the bed, they’d run a DNA test.  This was Florida after all, and Florida cops weren’t stupid, at least not the ones Kyle and I had known.

So, what now?  I drove, and drove, and kept on driving.  I lost track of time and place, my mind soon entranced by the blurring white lines of the road, by the hum of the car engine and the expanding, chilling realization that I’d just killed a man. 

About the Author:
I'm a Florida-based writer, who loves all things romantic, with a shot of suspense.  I also love to write Time Travel Novels.
When the characters keep me up nights, I feel good about the story.

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Writing & Miniatures

It's MONDAY! 

Here's a little chuckle for you; this is too good not to re-post. ha!


A short post today. 

Slacked off on Nano - will get back to it this week. I promise!

I was sidelined by going to the annual miniatures show. And of course I got another small project to do, too!  

The two do coincide for me. In both, I flit from project to project until I get fully enthusiastic and really get into it. 

I'm going to be scheduling some other book posts while I concentrate on my own writing so you'll have some new stuff to read. Stay tuned!


Wednesday, November 8, 2017

#1LineWed, Lizzie Borden, #Zombies & Nano

It's another 1 Line Wednesday! 

Nanowrimo is still going on, of course. I slacked off slightly having to do other writing.  So, it's still ongoing though I am toying with length ideas and what-not, and how best to continue the story of Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter.   



Writing is an odd thing - you can outline and plan, but often the characters tell their own story or veer off in directions you don't expect. Lizzie is yearning for romance, I think, with a certain well-muscled, attractive self-defense instructor, despite her denials and such. Well, we'll see where that leads--or not. 

Now I know there are zombie-book purists who hate romance, but... it's part of life, and part of Lizzie's life I'd think being involved so closely with her instructor, Pierre Moret. Despite the press of the day in real life calling her a "plain old maid" at her trial, there is perhaps some quality that someone finds redeeming in her? Maybe someone did in real life at some point that we never knew of, too. If she really is innocent, of course. 

No, the Lizzie I'm writing is NOT the 1892 Lizzie Borden. It's hard to pinpoint the real Lizzie. Killer? Psychopath? Protecting someone else? Repressed? Who really knows?

My version of Lizzie naturally has some modern attributes. After all, society has labeled her a murderess even if she was acquitted. She's shunned and continued to live her life, no matter what. Did she thumb her nose at society by staying in her hometown after the trial? Hard to say. 

It makes sense to me that if you're going to flout conventions and fight zombies, and no one really wants anything to do with you anyway, then there will be changes. She may very well have walked to her own drummer. So, I expect I'll take some liberties with her character again. I've pushed the story to a year after the 1893 trial, though I may push it back a bit. We'll see on both counts.

Anyway, here's a teaser from Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter 2: Aftermath - title and lines subject to change as I go along. - Titled - Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter 2: The Axe Will Fall - and it's out! See website.

And well... it has to be more than one line since I always include a historic snippet at the top... (all (c) c. verstraete -  do not copy or re-post.)


Chapter One

“We pray thee that innocence may be revealed and guilt exposed…”
—The Rev. M.C. Julien, opening prayer, Trial of Lizzie Borden, June 5, 1893

Fall River, Massachusetts—June, 1894

    Lizzie Borden sprang awake, startled by a sound she never expected, or prayed, to hear again—a low, eerie keen that made her skin crawl and the long, straight hairs on her neck curl up into tight ringlets.


Here's the opening of the original book,  Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter.   (new 2nd edition & new cover!)

Chapter One
Q. You saw his face covered with blood?
A. Yes sir.
Q. Did you see his eyeball hanging out?
A. No sir.
Q. Did you see the gashes where his face was laid open?
A. No sir.
—Lizzie Borden at inquest, August 9-11, 1892, Fall River Courtroom

August 4, 1892
Lizzie Borden drained the rest of her tea, set down her cup, and listened to the sound of furniture moving upstairs. My, my, for only ten oclock in the morning my stepmother is certainly energetic. Housecleaning, already?

Monday, November 6, 2017

New Lizzie Borden story!



I have a new Lizzie Borden story, this time nonfiction, in the Big City Cops 1 issue of Mystery Readers Journal.

This time I talk about the police aspect of the crime in Lizzie Borden: Murder and Mistakes? 

This is a great journal with various essays and stories by different authors. You can purchase it in pdf or a hard copy.




Saturday, November 4, 2017

Deck the Halls, Lizzie Borden style

I hate to even mention Christmas already when Halloween barely passed, but in case you need some ornament ideas this year, I found these at Horrornaments...

For Lizzie Borden readers and writers, how about an axe to hang on the branches? 


Or, if you must, they also have others like a zombie ornament.and a bunch of creepy tombstones, a mummy, and yes, even a severed arm and leg, ho-ho....oh.




Friday, November 3, 2017

How's Your #NanoWriMo going? Or not?

NaNoWriMo - official Day 3.


How's it going for you? Or not? Not giving up, are you? That is so easy to do. You feel like, eh, why keep doing this, why bother, why....?

Now remember, I already had some written ahead on my project, so the key was to keep going. Keep it alive. Keep ahead if I can.

Day 1 - Weds. - a bomb. Still felt too tired to write. Getting over this cold thing has been awful.

Day 2, Thurs. - so far, 1600 2127 words. Not bad. Feeling sluggish as I write this Thurs. afternoon. But I want to do more as it's early yet. Problem is I've dropped a few clues, now what to do next? The story has already veered somewhat from the outline. Took out a couple things, substituted. Had to look some things up, which takes you off course... 

Yes, good when you find a solution. Had to add a subtle clue in, that works...

And... probably time for another #zombie fight!

Day 3 , Friday  - yes did another 400 words. Not enough, but that's ok. I'll have to do more next week so I don't fall behind.  And I'm not counting weekends in this as I usually have other writing work to do.

How are you doing? Feel free to share! Stuck? Get that free brainstormer worksheet jpg

Friend me chrisv07 - at NaNoWrimo.org

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Do You Nano?


It's Yes, November! In writer's parlance, that means it's NanoWriMo time?

What is that? Well, it's a kick start or kick-in-the-pants kind of thing, a chance to write 50,000 words in 30 days.

I tried it once. Didn't stick to it. 

I thought about it and realize, well, this year, I may do it. 

I've been outlining most of Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter 2. Toying with it. Deciding: do I or don't I write it? 

Yes, I've started it. Got a good portion done that I like though I'll likely change one plot line that is somewhat similar to the first book, Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter.  So... still thinking on that, but I can toy with it as I go along.

The main thing is now that I got over being sick this past couple weeks and actually having some time off not writing, I decided I'm going to try doing this. Nano will give me the framework to at least push through and get most of this done. Otherwise I may just keep procrastinating or talking myself out of it.

I'm not a fast writer, but I've figured out word counts to know how much I should try to get done in a week. I don't believe in writing sloppy. Filling pages to fill pages is a time-waster. But I know I can write enough to put in some quality words. I'm really interested to see that I can actually get a good working copy done in the time period given - or at least close to it. This will be a test for myself.

I've outlined a good portion of it, and some I know will come as I go along. Hoping that I don't find that black hole but once I start, I have to finish it. So, that's my idea and the goal. (Oh, and I found this cool Brainstormer Worksheet if you - or I - do get stuck.)

Anyone else doing Nano? Friend me - chrisv07

Let's all cheer each other on.