Ghost Moon by Rebecca York

GHOST MOON is the seventh book in a werewolf series I never planned.

When I wrote my first Moon book, KILLING MOON, I simply wanted to write a werewolf story, and I thought of the idea of a werewolf detective who uses his wolf senses to solve crimes. Then Berkley asked me for more werewolf books–and I was off and running.

By the time I got to the third book, I realized I needed to add another major theme that would expand the series. So I began writing about heroines who had psychic powers.

I used that in several books. Still, I felt that I needed a bigger canvas, so I introduced an alternate universe, parallel to our own. Only something happened there so that a lot of people suddenly acquired psychic powers, completely disrupting civilization. I’ve had characters from that world come into this one. And I’ve had characters from our world go there.

In GHOST MOON, I’m using that new setting to its full advantage, but I’m also looking for traits that will make each of my werewolf heroes unique and will create conflict between the hero and the heroine. Which is how I came up with the basic idea for the story. Caleb Marshall is the ghost of a werewolf killed 75 years ago by his cousin. And he wants to avenge his own death–which puts him in conflict with the Marshall werewolves my readers know and, hopefully, love. The heroine, Quinn, who comes from my alternate universe, is friends with the Marshalls, so she’s immediately afraid that Caleb will go after them. With my usual twisted glee, I set up a situation where she and Caleb are forced to work with them to defeat a terrorist plot.

As I planned the book, I didn’t want to back myself into a corner with a ghost hero. So I needed a way for Caleb to acquire a body. That’s part of the terrorist plot. But I don’t want to give away any more of the story by telling you more about it. Except to say that I had one more horrible idea. What if the body Caleb acquired couldn’t change to wolf form? What would that do to him?

Rebecca York

There's a Storm on the way in GONE WITH THE WITCH, May 6, 2008

“Psychic witches with attitude SPELL identical-triplet trouble in spikes!”
In a nutshell this is the story of my Triplet Witch Trilogy:

SEX AND THE PSYCHIC WITCH, Harmony’s story, in stores now.
GONE WITH THE WITCH, Storm’s story, due in stores TODAY!
NEVER BEEN WITCHED, coming in February, 2009.

But Today’s blog is about Storm, the Goth rebel with attitude. Storm Cartwright grew up knowing she was the straw that broke the camel's back, that it was her arrival that sent their mother running from the hospital before their father ever came to pick them upl.

Each of the triplets has a psychic gift. Harmony sees the past. Destiny sees the future, but Storm sees the present. What good is that? Everybody sees the present, don't they?

Storm thinks so until Aiden McCloud arrives on the scene:

In his presence she hears a baby crying. Abducting him is the only way to follow the sound and find the child. Her scheme includes his luxury motor coach, seduction . . . and four pairs of fuzzy purple handcuffs.

Neither Aiden nor Storm knows who they really are and it takes a wacky road trip and discoveries of all sorts, including secrets, secrets, secrets, for Storm to spot the real Aiden inside the hermit wanderer, and for Aiden to peel away Storm’s tough outer layers to find the jewel hidden deep inside.

I had a blast writing their story. I fell in love with all of them. GONE WITH THE WITCH is like nothing I've ever written, and I can't wait to hear what you think of it.

So don’t forget: handcuffs and secrets, psychics and sex, the sound of crying babies, dragons and tabloids . . . a bad boy and a bad girl, and all the trouble they can get into.

GONE WITH THE WITCH . . . on sale TODAY.

ps: It’s already hit some bestseller lists!
Click below for:
An excerpt!

The Story of the story
"OMG, what a fantastically fun story! GONE WITH THE WITCH has it all; sensuously personable characters, breath-taking romance and a story line that is amusing and totally unique. Talented Annette Blair continues her triplet witch books with Storm’s story, my favorite of the triplets. GONE WITH THE WITCH, don’t you love that title, is a stand alone book but I bet you won’t be able to resist buying just this one book by Annette Blair; she is addictive! Sultry." Sensual & Erotic Ecataromance

"A spellbinding story that totally knocked my socks off! Once again I find myself in awe over the author's ability to make the characters so memorable...will leave you with a big smile on your face. Author Annette Blair writes priceless romance adventures." Detra Fitch, Huntress Reviews

"GONE WITH THE WITCH is sensual, close to being erotic...a touching emotional tale. I’ve read all the ‘witchy’ tales from Ms. Blair...I recommend them all for your reading pleasure." Carol Carter, Romance Reviews Today

"Great fun! Wonderful characters, a riveting storyline and a sensuous undercurrent...phenomenal... Storm is a hoot! She had me rolling in laughter through the entire story. She’s wild and carefree while Aiden has his own surefire beliefs about everything. The romance that blooms between these two...will have reader’s hearts melting. The adventure Aiden and Storm embark on to find this crying baby will have you riveted to the pages... Annette Blair always has fun with her witch characters...very evident in this story. If you’ve never read her before, please do! I guarantee you’ll be a die-hard fan in no time." ~Amanda Haffery, Romance Junkies

"Annette Blair’s second contribution to her Triplet trilogy should come with oven mitts as it is hot, hot, hot. The ending is just wonderful, with fantastic characters and a strong narrative. If the reader likes her romantic comedies just shy of being classified as erotica, this is definitely the book for you! Believe me when I say, this is one road trip you do not want to miss!" Betty Cox, Reader to Reader

"An emotionally charged story...GONE WITH THE WITCH starts out as somewhat light, bawdy, entertaining fun, which is what I thoroughly enjoy in all of Ms. Blair's books. She can be hysterically outrageous, and I can count on several laugh-out-loud moments. This story tugged at the heart as I was drawn into a tale of two people who've lived on the surface of life, afraid to seek greater depth to their existence for fear of being hurt yet again. Storm and Aiden are made for one another, and their discovery of this fact makes a truly satisfying story. This book is a definite addition to my keeper shelf." Paula Myers, Fresh Fiction

"Again there is plenty of magic and spell casting, as well as lots of hot, sexy situations. There are a number of familiar characters mentioned and some charming new ones, and both main characters develop wonderfully over the course of the story." Susan Mobley, Romantic Times

"Whimsical, witty, and wonderful,
Blair's Witches are a magical bunch that are sure to enchant readers everywhere."
~Madelyn Alt, Author of HEX MARKS THE SPOT

Don’t forget: First in the trilogy: SEX AND THE PSYCHIC WITCH, available now.

HAPPY READING!
Annette
www.annetteblair.com
www.myspace.com/annetteblair

H A U N T E D

Haunted Bookshop Mystery #4: The Ghost and the Femme Fatale

(Alice Kimberly)

"...That booming, masculine voice in my head was either the ghost of P. I. Jack Shepard or a delusion of my half-demented mind. Which was true? Take your pick."

Such are the words of Penelope—single mom, bookstore owner, and star of my nationally best-selling paranormal series The Haunted Bookshop Mysteries. The Ghost and the Femme Fatale is the latest release with more titles on the way in 2009 and 2010.

There were A LOT of ideas and influences behind the opening of my haunted bookshop, starting with the classic "What if" game. "What would happen," I asked myself, "if a street-hardened detective like Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe found himself forced to coexist with a younger version of Agatha Christie's feisty amateur sleuth Miss Marple? And what if that hard-boiled private eye was (you guessed it) a ghost?"

At the start of my series, young widow Penelope McClure moves herself and her seven-year-old son back to her little Rhode Island hometown. Using her late husband's insurance money, Pen breathes new life back into her elderly aunt Sadie's nearly dead bookshop. As she remodels the store's interior, however, Pen brings something else back to life, as well: the spirit of Jack Shepard, a private investigator from New York City who was gunned down on the premises in the 1940s.

City-hardened Jack is less than thrilled to find his spirit marooned in some kind of backwater purgatory. Spending eternity in a bookstore in the godforsaken sticks was not the sort of afterlife he'd imagined. When he encounters auburn-haired Penelope, however, he's a little less cranky (Jack always was a sucker for a redhead). Then Pen gets mixed up in murder, and she realizes that the ghost of a professional P. I. is a pretty handy haunter—even if his off-color wisecracks and arrogant attitude are a real pain in the neck.

As fans of this series can tell you, a major inspiration for me in developing these paranormal mysteries was the novel The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. (As a tribute to Mrs. Muir's late author, Josephine Leslie, who wrote under the pen name R. A. Dick, I always quote a line from her novel at the beginning of my own books.)

Published in Britain in 1945, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir became a bestseller, and it's not hard to see why. This was right after World War II, when far too many women in their prime had become instant widows. Any new widow, still haunted by the memory of her young, vital husband, would have found a great deal of comfort in Josephine Leslie's novel, which tells the story of a young widow who finds companionship with the ghost of a virile sea captain. The tale is chockfull of metaphor and meaning, too—the ghost represents everything from hidden female desires and longings to the latent power of a woman's creativity. (Captain Gregg effectively becomes Mrs. Muir's muse, dictating his adventures as she writes them into a book.)

In my own stories, there are metaphors at work, as well. Sure, my bookshop is inhabited by a real ghost, but it's also haunted by something else: the power of one woman's imagination. Is Jack a real ghost? Or is he a very helpful part of Penelope's own repressed spirit? For me, Jack Shepard is very real indeed. Like Mrs. Muir's salty Captain Gregg, Jack even has his own personal journey: The big city private eye realizes that his purgatory of an afterlife isn't so terrible after all, because he's found a worthy woman to protect and cherish.

Yes, this is a love story as much as a story of haunting and mystery. And even though it features a dead man, it's very much a story about how to live because this is a love story for me, too—the love of a sixty-year-old book and movie (a love that I will continue to have until the day I die). And that's really the very best idea behind my Haunted Bookshop series: When you find a book to love, or a fantastic fictional character that inhabits its pages, you may end up being haunted (happily) for the rest of your days.

To learn more about my Haunted Bookshop Mysteries or the Coffeehouse Mysteries that I write under the pen name Cleo Coyle, visit the Haunted Bookshop page on my virtual coffeehouse website at: http://www.coffeehousemystery.com/ I also have a message board, a newsletter, and a monthly giveaway of free coffee to my newsletter subscribers. Cheers!

Alice Kimberly

Pelham Fell Here: A P.I. Gets a Little Help from His Friends

Pelham Fell Here is the first book in the P.I. Frank Johnson series (The Dirt-Brown Derby, The Blue Cheer, Troglodytes are the other titles). Pelham tells how Frank comes to decide to work as a private investigator. After Frank finds his cousin and best friend Cody Chapman murdered, he wants to get to the bottom of what happened. Easier said than done, Frank finds.

The further Frank digs into Cody’s life, the more betrayal and chaos he finds. Before long, Frank tangles with a cult of bad guys Cody knew who only understands the bloody way to settle any conflicts.

However, I quickly realized Frank couldn’t do it all as the lonewolf detective. He has to call on his friends for their assistance. Dreema Atkins who works at the Virginia Forensics lab offers her expertise on running the science on the clues Frank discovers. I wanted Frank to enjoy some romance, and Dreema fit that bill quite nicely.

Chet Peyton, fearless but young, helps Frank until reinforcements arrive on the scene to lend a hand. I knew Frank,outnumbered and outgunned, needed a loyal, impact partner to stand with him against such heavy odds. Enter Gerald, bounty hunter extraordinaire. Gerald is a force who levels the playing field for Frank to catch an even break in this murder case.

Law enforcement takes a dim view of Frank’s stirring up loud trouble and arrests him as Cody’s killer. Then I created the rich, smart, and larger-than-life defense attorney Bob Gatlin top lead Frank’s case in the courtroom. Gatlin also happens to also need a P.I. to do some investigative work for him, so Frank gains an employer as well as a lawyer in his corner.

I’m glad I gave Frank all his pals in Pelham Fell Here because it allowed me to create a more interesting mix. So, if you’d like to read a story about a P.I. with a lot of different friends, Frank’s tale in his hometown of Pelham should be just the one for you.

Ed Lynskey