Guest Post and Giveaway: CH Admirand, Author of A Wedding In Apple Grove

I've had the pleasure of reading and featuring some of CH Admirand's books here on Wendi's Book Corner, so it is with great pleasure that I get to host a guest post written by her today.

She has just written and released a new book called A Wedding In Cedar Grove, so I had an opportunity to host a guest post and I got to ask Ms. Admirand about the challenges and benefits of writing about a small town.  Here is what she shared with me:

Hi Wendi, thanks for inviting me to guest blog today about the challenges/benefits of writing about a small town. For me, thinking in terms of a small town was very easy. Having grown up on Cedar Hill, a small community of 25 homes on dead-end streets in a tiny corner of Wayne, NJ…if you didn’t live on Cedar Hill, you really didn’t have any reason to drive up there. We always felt as if we were a world away from everyone else in town. We were always the last neighborhood to see the plow whenever there was a snow storm…and boy did we pray that it would be as close to lunchtime as possible so that we’d have to stay home. For the last 30 years, we’ve lived in Lindy’s Lake—a small lake community in West Milford, NJ. The lake had a wonderful mix of long-time residents and new residents just starting out and having families. There were five of us pregnant at the same time, so our kids attended pre-school through high school together. Before pre-school we started our own play groups and then decided our lake needed an arts and crafts day for kids. So many fun activities and all within walking distance to the Manor House…our lake’s community gathering place.

The challenge for me was trying to keep my quirky characters, based on real-life people from sounding too over the top. When my editor and I were first discussing the types of people and setting for the book I started thinking about all of those delightful people I’d grown up with and met over the years. I just had to include the little old man we used to see walking in town…he had a walking stick and was always dressed in khaki jodphers, a white button-down shirt and wellingtons—no matter what the weather was. He looked as if he’d been transported from England to West Milford and would nod regally to passersby. The twist was that I could just see a little old lady dressed in the same attire because she would be running her own garden center…that’s how Miss Trudi Philo came to be. J

The sense of community is what has always been the strongest in the neighborhood where I grew up and where we raised our family, and that is what I wanted to make sure I convey to readers…that marvelous sense that your family, friends, and neighbors care about you and for you. I love embracing that aspect of small town life and hope readers will enjoy reading about small town life in Apple Grove, Ohio.

A WEDDING IN APPLE GROVE BY C.H. ADMIRAND – IN STORES NOVEMBER 2012

He's not so sure about small town life.
She can't imagine living anywhere else.

Welcome to Apple Grove, Ohio (population 597), where everyone has your best interests at heart, even if they can't agree on the best way to meddle. When the townsfolk of Apple Grove need handiwork done, there's no job too small for the Mulcahy sisters: Megan, Caitlin, and Grace.

Specializing in hard work and family loyalty, tomboy Meg Mulcahy has left behind any girlhood reams of romance. Enter newcomer Daniel Eagan, looking to bury his own broken heart and make a new start. He's surprised-and delighted-by the winsome girl with the mighty tool belt who shows up to fix his wiring.

But Dan's got a lot to learn about life in a small town, and when Meg's past collides with her future, it may take all 595 other residents of Apple Grove to keep this romance from short-circuiting.

Praise for A Wedding in Apple Grove:
“A terrifically fun read... With quick dialogue and a homey feel, this is a wonderful book to curl up with. Small-town romance at its best!” —RT Book Review, 4 Stars
“Raw charm... one to read.” —Publishers Weekly

“Sexy and fun... Admirand’s series will be popular, especially with fans of Susan Wiggs and Janet Chapman.” —Booklist

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

C.H. ADMIRAND was born in Aiken, South Carolina, but grew up in New Jersey. She has been delighting readers with her Secret Life of Cowboys Series, featuring three cowboy brothers with Irish charm, and is now working on the next books in her small town contemporary romance series, featuring the town and quirky characters of Apple Grove, OH. She lives with her husband, who is the inspiration for all of her heroes’ best traits, in New Jersey. For more information, please visit www.CHAdmirand.com.


I'd like to extend my deepest thanks to CH Admirand for taking the time to visit with us!

Giveaway Details: One lucky winner will receive a copy of CH Admirand's A Wedding in Apple Grove.  Open to residents of the US and Canada, enter now through 11/30, midnight EST.


a Rafflecopter giveaway



~ Wendi

Review, Guest Post and Tour/Giveaway: The Tudor Secret by C.W. Gortner

One of the things I love about reading historical fiction is the glimpse we get into times long past.  The Tudor Secret was an amazing story surrounding the Tudors, full of political intrigue and secrets.

I loved that this story largely surrounded a young man, who spent his youth surrounded by the Dudley brothers, who often found ways to pick on him.  They leave the household, and he is later called to court by Lady Dudley to serve her son Robert.  At this point, his life is changed forever, as he is pulled into court intrigue, where he stays with the hope of eventually finding out who he really is.

Hard to put down and well researched and written from a fresh perspective, this will be a great book club pick as well as highly enjoyable by anyone who enjoys historical fiction.



The Tudor Secret (The Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles)
by C.W. Gortner
St. Martin's Griffin (February 1, 2011) ~ 352 pages
Fiction / Historical Fiction

Edition Reviewed: Paperback - Review copy received courtesy of the publisher and Pump Up Your Book Promotions, many thanks for sending me a copy to review!

About the Book:

The era of the Tudors was one of danger, intrigue, conspiracy, and, above all, spies.

Summer 1553: A time of danger and deceit. Brendan Prescott, an orphan, is reared in the household of the powerful Dudley family. Brought to court, Prescott finds himself sent on an illicit mission to the king’s brilliant but enigmatic sister, Princess Elizabeth. But Brendan is soon compelled to work as a double agent by Elizabeth’s protector, William Cecil, who promises in exchange to help him unravel the secret of his own mysterious past.

A dark plot swirls around Elizabeth’s quest to unravel the truth about the ominous disappearance of her seriously ill brother, King Edward VI. With only a bold stable boy and an audacious lady-in-waiting at his side, Brendan plunges into a ruthless gambit of half-truths, lies, and murder. Filled with the intrigue and pageantry of Tudor England, The Tudor Secret is the first book in The Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles.

Guest Post from C.W. Gortner:

Interweaving Fact with Fiction: On Writing THE TUDOR SECRET

In my latest novel, THE TUDOR SECRET, Book One in the Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles, I set myself to a challenge that proved more daunting than I originally thought. Despite its shorter length, compared to my other novels THE LAST QUEEN and THE CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI, THE TUDOR SECRET is deceptively complex, interweaving three storylines—a factual one; a “What if?” one; and a fictionalized one. This was also the first time I decided to work with fictional characters interacting with historical ones, and these interactions were both unexpected and exciting.

My first storyline is factual, based on the tumultuous events surrounding John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, and his familial conspiracy to replace Princess Mary Tudor in the succession following the untimely death of Mary’s brother, Edward VI. Though this event, known as the Succession Crisis of 1553, has often gotten short thrift in both biographical accounts of the lead players and in other Tudor-themed novels, I’ve always found it fascinating— a dramatic coup d’état staged by a powerful courtier, aimed at the Catholic heir to the throne, who was herself an embattled survivor of her father’s rupture with Rome. Northumberland had risen through the ranks to the pinnacle of success. In control of the realm after the execution of Edward’s uncle, he was resolved to protect his interests at any cost. Northumberland’s frantic race against time to secure the throne offers riveting contrast to Mary’s emergence from the shadows as the stalwart granddaughter of the famed warrior-queen, Isabella of Castile. Though many initially thought her cause hopeless, history proved differently.

My second storyline focuses on: “What if?” Though it’s established that Mary did in fact visit court to see her ailing brother several months before his demise, less is known about their sister, Elizabeth. Many believe Northumberland refused Elizabeth the same privilege, thus relegating her to her country manor, isolated from the events about to unfold. But my imagination was stirred by the idea of what if she’d ignored Northumberland’s refusal. Hindsight is everything when reconstructing historical events; we now know what Northumberland planned, yet what if Elizabeth, unaware of the extent of the duke’s plot, arrived unannounced in London, determined to see her brother? Rumors of Edward’s demise ran rampant and Elizabeth was known for being both headstrong and fiercely protective of Edward. The possibilities that opened before me as I envisioned this bold nineteen year-old princess descending upon Northumberland and his clan proved irresistible.

The last storyline is fictional. The idea for this series was to explore the birth of the grand era of Elizabethan espionage. I also wanted to envision this world through the eyes of an ordinary man, a foundling (as many were) who is brought to court to act as a squire. My lead character, Brendan, only seeks to persevere in his new post, perhaps even gain his freedom from servitude. Disdained by the noble family with whom he has spent his life, still mourning the death of the woman who cared for him, but also keen and observant, if ignorant of the treachery of the court, Brendan is the perfect vehicle for my story: a seemingly every-day youth who, unbeknownst to him, carries a secret that could overturn everything he believes in. His fateful meeting with Elizabeth as she seeks an answer to her brother’s disappearance throws these two characters into a labyrinth of deceit that will test their mettle and forge a lifelong alliance.

Lastly, THE TUDOR SECRET pays humble homage to my lifelong admiration of the spirited historical adventures of Alexander Dumas, Rafael Sabatini, Lawrence Schnoover, and the swashbuckling films of the 1950s.  I hope you enjoy this foray into the underworld of the Tudors— a place where dukes battle princesses, betrayal is rife, and one man fights to save a future queen from destruction while unraveling the secret of his own mysterious past.

Thank you so much for spending this time with me. To learn more about me and my books, as well as access special features, please visit me at: http://www.cwgortner.com. Happy reading!

About the Author:

C.W. Gortner is the author of the acclaimed historical novels The Last Queen and The Confessions of Catherine de Medici. He holds an MFA in Writing with an emphasis on Renaissance Studies from the New College of California. In his extensive travels to research his books, he has danced a galliard in a Tudor great hall and experienced life in a Spanish castle. He is also a dedicated advocate for animal rights and environmental issues. Half-Spanish by birth, he divides his time between Northern California and Antigua, Guatemala.

The Tudor Secret is the first book in Gortner’s The Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles series.

You can visit the author online at www.cwgortner.com or his blog at http://historicalboys.blogspot.com/.

Giveaway Details:

One lucky Wendi's Book Corner reader will win a copy of The Tudor Secret. It will be shipped directly from the publisher.  Open to the US and Canada.

To Enter: (Leave a comment for each, please include your email so I can contact you if you win!)

1. Simply leave a comment!
2. Follow via Google (link is on the right hand sidebar)
3. Follow via Twitter
4. Subscribe via Feedburner
5. Follow via NetworkedBlogs
6. Join Wendi's Book Corner on Facebook
7. BONUS ENTRY: Share this giveaway on you blog, twitter or facebook and leave a link here.

The drawing will be held February 25th. Winner: I will send you an email, please reply with your address so I can forward it to the publisher!

~ Wendi

Guest Post: Boston Scream Pie by Rosemary and Larry Mild (Giveaway Details)

It is my pleasure to be a host in the Omnimystery Book Tour for Rosemary and Larry Mild's new book Boston Scream Pie.

Rosemary and Larry Mild coauthor the Paco & Molly Mysteries: Boston Scream Pie (new! Five stars on Amazon and more great reviews on our web site); Locks and Cream Cheese and Hot Grudge Sunday. They teach mystery writing at Anne Arundel Community College in Arnold, Maryland. They're members of Mystery Writers of America and both the Chesapeake and Hawaii chapters of Sisters in Crime. Visit them at www.magicile.com. E-mail them at roselarry@magicile.com.

SEAMLESS IN SEVERNA PARK
By Rosemary Mild

My husband, Larry, and I coauthor the Paco and Molly murder mysteries: Boston Scream Pie (new), Hot Grudge Sunday (2004), and Locks and Cream Cheese (2001). We sit at our dueling computers in opposite corners of our very small home office in Severna Park, Maryland. Most days we're at our keyboards from three to six hours. Larry has a way longer attention span than I do.

How do a husband and wife write a novel together so that it comes out “seamless,” sounding like one author?

When I met Larry twenty-two years ago, I had no idea how to accomplish that feat—or how to write a novel at all. Here I was, fifty-one and divorced for eight years, out on a blind date. As he was driving me home, he announced: “When I retire, I'm going to write a novel and I want you to help me.”

Now . . . I was a career editor and journalist, I'd never written a word of fiction and neither had he. He was an electrical engineer. And I had only known this man for four hours! So I chirped, “Okay!”

We married the following year, but it was seven years later that we started writing together. Larry retired and, with his typical gusto, wrote the first draft of the novel he’d dreamed about. It’s a suspense/thriller set in Hawaii called Cry ‘Ohana. (meaning “family”). Then he handed me his 450-page manuscript and said, “Okay, your turn.”

Yikes! It was truly the halt leading the blind. This is the book on which we cut our fiction teeth. We’ve subjected it to two critique groups, three different titles, and umpteen drafts. It’s been kicking around so long that now we’re on the brink of self-publishing it. (We spend our winters in Hawaii, so it’s loaded with local color and cultures, and we have a ready market there—we hope.)

But I didn’t really have fun writing fiction until we launched into Locks and Cream Cheese. I love our characters, including the ones we love to hate.
When I tell my women friends about our office arrangement, they stare at me in disbelief: “How can you stand working in the same room? I'd go bats if I had to spend that much time with my husband.” A Baltimore Sun reporter asked us: “How can any couple spend so much time together and not produce real-life mayhem?” It's chemistry, for one thing. And Larry’s my soul mate. I’m convinced we knew each other in a previous life.

So how does the actual writing process work? Larry says he's more devious than I am, so he always conjures up our plots and writes the first draft. I come behind him, chapter by chapter, cutting, tossing, and dressing the narrative salad. I polish the prose, flesh out the characters, sharpen the dialogue. If a romance seems too sappy, I might charge the woman up, make her more feisty to give her scenes more conflict. Of course, that tactic has consequences; it can actually affect the plotline.

Then . . . with sleeves rolled up, we negotiate. Here’s our typical scenario.
Larry: You cut that whole paragraph! It’s cruel—operating without anesthesia.

Me: Just a little judicious pruning, dear. (That’s an expression I learned as an assistant editor at Harper’s.)

Larry: But it took me hours to create those metaphors.

Me: It's too much already. Less is more.

Larry: Talk about overdoing. Your description of Mr. Snitzel goes on for a whole page.

Me: But his backstory really gives him depth.

Larry: He’s a grocery clerk, a pass-through, not a major character.

Me: You’re squashing my creativity.

Larry: You’re trimming my subordinate clauses.

Me: You’re acting like a spoiled brat.

Larry: I can’t stand to hear a woman cry.

Our jousting is usually short-lived. I sigh and submit. Larry licks his wounds, and we resign ourselves to the compromises required. Maalox helps, too. We both relish the writing process, although Larry says, “Some days it’s harder to get down and wordy.” And he groans when I even edit a one-paragraph business letter he’s written. Well, you know how it is. Stephen King said, “To write is human. To edit is divine.”

The great advantage to co-authoring is that you’re never working in a vacuum. Reading aloud to each other slows down the word rate to a point where the minutiae, typos, and errors literally jump out at us. It’s so necessary to hear what you wrote— what it sounds like. We might discover Clara walking into the room in a sequined gown and leaving in cut-off jeans. It’s during the reading process that our individual writing styles blend into a single seamless product.

Recently, at a Left Coast Crime convention, I confessed: “Unfortunately, we work at different speeds. I’m the tortoise of the two.”

Larry chimed in: “There isn’t a hare of truth to that.”

See what I have to put up with? The night we met, he slipped a pun or two into our dinner conversation. I parried with a small jab. “Do you pun in your sleep?”

“Sure,” he said. “I was born in the Year of the Pun. That’s the thirteenth sign of the Zaniac.”

I still laugh. I’m pretty sure our marriage depends on it.

About the Book:
Seventeen-year-old Caitlin Neuman, a Maryland high school student, is plagued by a series of bizarre nightmares about a horrific car accident on a snowy road. The lone survivor of a car crash that claimed both her parents and twin sister years earlier, Caitlin was too young to remember the details of that fateful night. But are these present-day nightmares simply Caitlin’s mind working out the past, or is there more to these vivid images that haunt her every waking moment?

As the harrowing images escalate, Caitlin takes matters into her own hands and seeks out the one source she knows can solve the mystery of the nightmares: retired Baltimore detective Paco LeSoto.

For any other detective, such a case would seem impossible. But for Paco LeSoto, nothing is impossible. Paco, after all, has both a keen ability to solve mysteries, and the loving support of his wife and biggest cheerleader, Molly, a woman whose deliciously skewed language, exquisite culinary skills, and shrewd cleverness are equaled only by her girth.

As Paco and Molly set out to find answers, they’ll uncover a string of unsolved deaths and a case of mistaken identity buried deep in the past. As the clues mount and the tension builds, Paco and Molly are led to a nearby family embroiled in a crisis of its own.

Newlyweds Newton Boston and his blonde bombshell wife Delylah are mired in their own family turmoil as Delylah’s adult children churn up trouble that threatens this already-fractured family. But what Newton doesn’t know is that four dead husbands lie in Delylah’s past. When another Boston family member dies under suspicious circumstances, all clues point to murder.

Can Paco and Molly stop another killing, bring justice to the culprits, and right an egregious wrong from the past—before it’s too late? As they uncover the sinister clues, Paco and Molly will either shed light on a long-hidden secret, or stir up a recipe for disaster.

About the Authors:
Rosemary and Larry Mild have published award-winning short stories and essays. Members of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and the Maryland Writers Association, the Milds divide their time between their homes in Maryland and Hawaii. Most of all, they treasure spending time with their five grandchildren in Hawaii and South Carolina’s horse country.

Giveaway Details:

Rosemary and Larry Mild are giving away a signed copy of their book, Boston Scream Pie, to one lucky tour visitor. Go to their book tour page, http://rosemary-larry-mild.omnimystery.com/, enter your name, e-mail address, and this PIN, 6717, for your chance to win. Entries from this Wendi's Book Corner will be accepted until 12:00 Noon (PT) tomorrow. No purchase is required to enter or to win. The winner (first name only) will be announced on their book tour page next week.”

Guest Post: Katherine Center, Author of Everyone Is Beautiful

On Friday, I posted my review of Everyone Is Beautiful by Katherine Center. I absolutely loved this book, and was thrilled that I also get to share a guest post with the author with you!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Katherine Center’s second novel, Everyone Is Beautiful, is featured in the March issue of Redbook. Kirkus Reviews likens it to the 1950s motherhood classic Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, and says, “Center’s breezy style invites the reader to commiserate, laughing all the way.” Booklist calls it “a superbly written novel filled with unique and resonant characters.” Katherine’s first novel, The Bright Side of Disaster, was featured in People Magazine, USA Today, Vanity Fair, the Houston Chronicle, and the Dallas Morning News, among others. BookPage named Katherine one of seven new writers to watch, and the paperback of Bright Side was a Breakout Title at Target. Katherine recently published an essay in Real Simple Family and has another forthcoming in Because I Love Her: 34 Women Writers on the Mother-Daughter Bond this April. She has just turned in her third novel, Get Lucky, and is starting on a fourth. She lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and two young children.

You can visit her website at http://www.katherinecenter.com/.

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Lanie Coates’s life is spinning out of control. She’s piled everything she owns into a U-Haul and driven with her husband, Peter, and their three little boys from their cozy Texas home to a multiflight walkup in the Northeast. She’s left behind family, friends, and a comfortable life–all so her husband can realize his dream of becoming a professional musician. But somewhere in the eye of her personal hurricane, it hits Lanie that she once had dreams too. If only she could remember what they were.

These days, Lanie always seems to rank herself dead last–and when another mom accidentally criticizes her appearance, it’s the final straw. Fifteen years, three babies, and more pounds than she’s willing to count since the day she said “I do,” Lanie longs desperately to feel like her old self again. It’s time to rise up, fish her moxie out of the diaper pail, and find the woman she was before motherhood capsized her entire existence.

Lanie sets change in motion–joining a gym, signing up for photography classes, and finding a new best friend. But she also creates waves that come to threaten her whole life. In the end, Lanie must figure out once and for all how to find herself without losing everything else in the process.

Katherine Center’s Everyone Is Beautiful is a hugely entertaining, poignant, and charming new novel about what happens after happily ever after: how a woman learns to fall in love with her husband–and her entire life–all over again.

And now, without further ado. . . a guest post from Katherine Center:

Comedy and tragedy are not the same thing. Of course not. We all know that. Comedy is funny and tragedy is—um—not.

They’re opposites. One is happy and the other is sad. One is hopeful and the other is hopeless.

In the novel I’ve just finished writing (which won’t hit the stores for a year) two characters—sisters—talk about love and hate between men and women:

She raised her eyebrows. “Hate is kind of the same thing as love.”

“Not really,” I said.

“They’re two sides of the same coin.”

“Sure,” I said. “Except one side is love and the other side is hate.”

The sisters talk a little more, and then one concludes that hate, because it’s a strong emotion, is good.

“Listen to yourself talking,” I said. “Hate is not good. It’s the opposite of love.”

“No,” she said, making sure I held her gaze. “The opposite of love is indifference.”

Some people don’t think comedy and tragedy can be mixed up together in the same novel. It’s like a story must either be serious or lighthearted. But my favorite stories are often both at the same time. I love novels that can make you laugh and make you cry. I love stories that examine that intense connection between opposites—funny and sad, light and dark.

Real life is that way. It’s jam-packed with opposites. Humor makes heartbreak bearable, and heartbreak gives meaning to humor. They are not the same, but they exist together. They need each other. They help us make sense of the world.

My husband is the funniest person I know. He has many gifts, but one of them is that he can find humor in almost any situation. And in the years since we’ve been parents, there have been plenty of occasions to use that gift. Once you have babies, your heart is so naked. You love them so desperately, and they are so tiny and so hard to understand. So much is out of your control.

When my son was a baby, our doctor thought he might be very sick. He turned out to be fine, but for months and months we didn’t know. We just had to watch him and hope for the best. And I was almost overcome with worry then. I just walked around all day with my entire body squeezed into a fist.

Many things about that time in our lives amaze me, looking back. The fact that I even made it through the day, for one. But also: The amount of joking we did. The way we sought out ways to laugh about our sorrows. The way that laughter kept us all afloat. It was impossible that we were laughing. But we did it. And that’s how we carried on from one moment to the next.

Guest Post: H. Terrell Griffin, Author of Blood Island: A Matt Royal Mystery PLUS Details on Signed Book Giveaway!

Today, it is my pleasure to welcome H. Terrell Griffin, author of Blood Island: A Matt Royal Mystery, as a guest blogger as part of a book tour coordinated by Lance with Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.

Guest Post:

I have the great good fortune to spend much of my time on Longboat Key, an island off the west coast of Florida, south of Tampa Bay. The key is small, about ten miles long and a quarter-mile wide. It is peopled with some of the most fascinating characters I have ever met; a mélange of retirees, working people, waiters and waitresses, and fully employed folks who are lawyers, physicians, stock brokers, business executives, salespeople, and assorted others who travel daily to the mainland for work.

Longboat Key is a veritable cornucopia of bartenders of every stripe, men and women, gays and straights, young and old, Florida natives and refugees form colder climes, black and white and Hispanic and Caribbean, and even a Canadian. These are the keepers of the island secrets, the ones who know the people who come to live or visit in our paradise; the ones who know who is real and who isn’t.

There are a lot of stories on the island, some real, some made up, and some that fall in between. People come to Longboat to start over. Many were successful in their earlier lives and retired to the quiet and sun and sea that is our key. Others, not successful or worse, came to the key and reinvented themselves and their past. One does not scratch too far below the surface of our residents for fear that one will find a lie, or a truth that would be better hidden to us all.

The key is a boiling pot of fodder for the writer. He hears the stories as he visits the bars that make the island human, that bring together the disparate characters who make it home or who visit regularly. He takes mental notes and turns the reality, or what passes for reality to the teller of the story, into fiction. He peoples his books with the characters that he meets daily on this vulnerable and small spit of sand that rests uneasily on the shores of a great sea that sometimes brings hurricanes that ravage the people and the land.

The key is a place with little crime, so the writer has to invent it, move some of the mainland crime to the island, bring in bad guys who are, in reality, not tolerated on our island. The key is the setting of my books, my home and the place I love best in the world. I hope I do it justice in my scribbling. I invite you to join me there, in reality or in my books. I think you’ll fall in love with it, too.


About the Author

H. Terrell Griffin is the author of Blood Island, the third mystery in the Matt Royal series.

Born in Waycross, Georgia, H. Terrell Griffin moved to Sanford, Florida, at the age of twelve. Upon graduation from high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Army. After three years of active duty, he began his studies at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, where he earned degrees in history and law.

A board-certified trial lawyer, Griffin practiced law in Orlando for 38 years. In addition to Blood Island, Griffin is the author of Murder Key and Longboat Blues.

He and his wife Jean divide their time between Longboat Key and Maitland, Florida. His website is HTerrellGriffin.com.


Blood Island: A Matt Royal Mystery

What’s happening on this island will make your blood run cold. Matt Royal never has to look far for excitement. Excitement–and sometimes trouble–has a way of finding him first. But for this fun-loving lawyer turned beach bum, things are about to get serious. Dead serious.

When his ex-wife asks for help in tracking down her stepdaughter, last seen in Matt’s hometown of Longboat Key, Matt agrees to do a little searching.

But what looks like the case of one missing girl turns out to be something much bigger–and much more dangerous.

Enlisting the aid of his buddies Jock Algren and Logan Hamilton, Matt launches a full-speed-ahead search that leads from Longboat Key to Key West to an ominous strip of land called Blood Island.

But this is no island paradise. Blood Island is home base to a cult of religious zealots. And they’re making devastating plans that could change the world forever.

Bullets fly, and as the clock ticks down, it will be up to Matt to make sure that what happens on Blood Island stays on Blood Island.

Enter to Win a Copy of Blood Island, Signed by the Author

H. Terrell Griffin is giving away a signed copy of his book, Blood Island, to one lucky tour visitor. Go to Terry’s book tour page, http://h-terrell-griffin.omnimystery.com/, and enter your name, e-mail address, and this PIN, 7226, for your chance to win.

Entries from this blog site will be accepted until 12:00 Noon (PT) tomorrow. No purchase is required to enter or to win. The winner (first name only) will be announced on Terry’s book tour page next week.

For more entries, go to each of the blogs participating in the tour and enter again using the PIN from their sites! You can get up to 10 entries!! Good luck!!

H. Terrell Griffin's Book Tour Schedule

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

• In Reference to Murder: Author Interview
• Jenn's Bookshelf: Book Review

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

• Reader's Respite: Book Review
• Lesa's Book Critiques: Author Guest Post

Thursday, December 04, 2008

• The Friendly Book Nook: Author Guest Post

Friday, December 05, 2008

• Murder by 4: Author Interview
• Mystery Reader Discussion: Book Review
• Wendi's Book Corner: Author Guest Post

Saturday, December 06, 2008

• Allie's Musings: Author Interview
• Bookish Ruth: Book Review