First Course — The Amuse Bouche
Whispered Pain (by Ashley Fontainne): “Who am I? Where am I? How do I escape this black void? Help. Please, help me.”
The Scarlett Mark (by Shelley Kassian): “A Lord cursed. A Princess cast aside. A Mark that could change everything!”
Second Course — The Appetizer
Changing it up a little this week, I’m sharing one of my favorite novels of all time, The Big Sleep, by Raymond Chandler. You might be familiar with the movie starring Bogie and Bacall, but, take my word for it, the book is even better. I saw the movie first, many years ago, and later found the book and was wowed by it. Since Chandler is long dead, this book is posthumously printed by Black Lizard Publishing, a Penguin Imprint for classic books. They set the price. Here’s the blurb for it.
“When a dying millionaire hires Philip Marlowe to handle the blackmailer of one of his two troublesome daughters, Marlowe finds himself involved with more than extortion. Kidnapping, pornography, seduction, and murder are just a few of the complications he gets caught up in.”
If you love murder mysteries of the noir, hard-boiled detective kind, get this first of the Philip Marlowe, Private Investigator, books and enjoy. It’s set in Los Angeles, my old stompin’ ground, and it’s quite authentic. The language is also perfect. I try to emulate his brilliance with each of my mystery-based books.
Third Course — The Entrée
Are you familiar with my Journey Family series? There are seven books, all about the five Journey siblings, their father, their trusted and loved housekeeper, and their spouses. Meet Ace, Deuce, Queenie, Trey, and Jackie (their mother was a poker player and named the five), Leo and Consuelo. These books are about Texans, and the main action takes place in that state on the large cattle ranch, Journey’s End. Each sibling has his or her own story, and often other siblings are mentioned in the various books, though it is not strictly necessary to read all the books in order.
The series has been available on Kindle for a while, but now the books are available as a three volume paperback set as well. The first paperback volume (Journey’s Luck) includes, Liv’s Journey and Ace-High Flush; the second volume (Journey’s Turn) includes, Spanking Her Highness and Deuce’s Dancer; and the third paperback (Journey’s Chances) includes, Jackie Draws a Straight, Journey’s End, and a bonus novella, Journey’s Valentine. If you’re into paperbacks, the set is worth having. If you’d like the Kindle books, they’re available as individuals. Following any of the links in this Entrée segment will lead you to the descriptions and excerpts from each book.
Fourth Course — The Dessert
I would like to give a public thank you to Joey Buchan, the terrific person who put me in touch with so many drag queens for the book I’m writing right now. Without him, I couldn’t have begun the work. You can find Joey at Blushing Books and Mystic Books, where he is an awesome publishing professional.
