Spotlight – The Crimson Masquerade by Vickie Britton & Loretta Jackson

The Crimson Masquerade

by Vickie Britton and Loretta Jackson

Mystery writers and sisters, Vickie Britton and Loretta Jackson, are back!

Co-authors of more than 40 mysteries, suspense, and western novels, plus numerous short stories, and the adventure continues in this third edition of The Ardis Cole Series, The Crimson Masquerade.

Trouble precedes Ardis Cole to the site of a Han Dynasty tomb in China. Dr. Yong Po, who has asked for her assistance, is being stalked by a person wearing a crimson opera mask. Ardis is concerned when her co-worker, Grant Merlin, fails to arrive at the project, and his ex-wife, Sheri, takes his place. More problems arise when Sheri is attacked on the cliffs by the same masked intruder. Ardis’ search for the tomb of emperor Sun Yan leads to ancient intrigue surrounding a captive princess, referred to in his poetry as the “Lady of White Jade.” As Ardis delves deeper into the tomb’s secret, a centuries old crime of passion is eerily replayed in the present.

ISBN: 978-1-939054-05-0
Softcover: Perfect bind
ebook: Kindle and Nook
Trim Size: 5.5″ x 8.5″
Pages: 268

Available at Rowe Publishing – http://www.rowepub.com

Elvis Attends 50th Class Reunion

Lady Justice and the Class Reunion by Robert Thornhill

Robert Thornhill has been dubbed “The Master of Hysterical Fiction.”

In Lady Justice And The Class Reunion, main character Walt Williams, one of Kansas City’s finest, goes undercover as an Elvis impersonator at his class reunion to smoke out one of his classmates that might have been involved in a shooting.

Ckick on the link below to see the author’s performance at his wife’s 50th class reunion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ludb2sTutSA#t=210s

Excerpt from Chapter 2

“Okay, Paddy,” Frank said as the three friends huddled in Ernie’s apartment at Whispering Hills, “now that we’re away from prying ears, what’s the scoop on this drug thing?”
Patrick O’Brian looked sternly at his two companions. “I’ll tell you what I can without breaking the confessional seal, but you must promise two things.”
“Sure! Sure!” Frank replied impatiently. “Anything. Just get on with it.”
“First, what I tell you today must remain absolutely confidential. You can’t breathe a word to anyone. If someone discovered that I was sharing confessional information — well— it could stir up all kinds of problems.”
“That’s not a problem,” Ernie replied. “What else?”
“Don’t press me for more than I can give.” He looked directly at Frank. “You can be a bit pushy at times, my friend. If I tell you something is off limits, back off!”
Frank raised his hands in a mock defensive posture. “I read you loud and clear, Padre. You’re the boss.”

 

Lady Justice and the Class Reunion is # 12 in the Lady Justice series.  Visit (http://booksbybob.com) for more information about Robert Thornhill and his books.

Hint! Hint!  If you visit his web site you can download some FREE books.

Calling All Self-Published Authors

There are catalogs listing books traditionally published by publishers and these catalogs get distributed to bookstores, public libraries and academic libraries.

I have not seen a catalog with self-published books listed.  Therefore, I am creating one.

If you are a self-published author, send me the information on your book to be listed in the self-published book catalog.

At this time, this catalog will be FREE for all self-published authors to list your book(s).

See our web site ( http://www.blacklilackitty.com/book-fair.html) as to the information needed.

The information we need is the same as for the Summer Book Fair.

Note – the catalog will be strictly for self-published authors while the Summer Book Fair catalog is for any and all authors.

Please share this information with all your self-published book friends and contacts.

 

 

Wayne Wakefield, The 40 Laws of Wisdom – Law # 8

In The 40 Laws of Wisdom, Wayne Wakefield‘s Law # 8 is “Most people quit just before they make it!”

That is what we see at Black Lilac Kitty Literary Service: authors give up to quickly, whether it is in writing or in promoting their book.

Wakefield also stated that lack of discipline and organization will help you fail.

Keep Law # 8 in mind as you write and promote your book.

 

Do Your Best…

  Once again, congratulations to:

Jennifer Sullivan – First Place – “Moon Dreams”

Ramona Scarborough – Second Place – “Unsweetened Revenge”

M. P. Witwer – Third Place – “Writer’s Block”

Tammy Hawkins – Honorable Mention – “Rocky and Tibbles”

Thank you to all the judges.

And thank you to everyone who entered our contest.  We had 25 entrants and some very good stories.

 

 

 

 

 

Connect with Black Lilac Kitty Literary Services at:

http://www.blacklilackitty.com

Winners of the Gracie Award Writing Contest are:

Narrative Spring 2013 Story Contest now open

Narrative Magazine’s Spring 2013 Story Contest is now open for submission.   See their website at:

http://www.narrativemagazine.com/node/205992

for more information and the guidelines.

The deadline for this contest is July 31, 2013.

Entry Fee: $22 and with your entry, you’ll receive three months of complimentary access to Narrative Backstage.

Awards:

First Prize – $2,500

Second Prize – $1,000

Third Prize – $500

Ten finalist will receive $100 each.

All entries are eligible for the $4,000 Narrative Prize for 2013 and for acceptance as Story of the Week.

Visit Narrative’s website to see what all they have to offer.

Library Use of E-books, 2013 Edition

From: Library Resources Group (LRG)

http://www.LibraryWorks.com

 

The 120-page study is based on data from 68 public, academic, corporate, legal and government libraries, with data broken out by type of library, size of library and other criteria.  The study paints a portrait of how libraries are using e-books, and covers spending,  budgets, contracts, licensing, number of licenses maintained, and aggregator and publisher preferences and aggregator vs publisher sales as a percentage of total e-book spending. 

The report also presents detailed data on library spending on particular retail vendors such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble and all other online book vendors. Additional coverage includes data on e-audio books, use of consortium purchasing arrangements for e-books, the impact of e-books on Interlibrary loan, range of titles typically available for e-book rental at libraries, the impact of tablets and other e-book reading devices, the impact of e-book on course reserves for higher education libraries, the evolving state of dedicated endowments for e-books, use of and spending on e-directories, trends in e-book pricing as experienced by libraries, trends in e-book collection planning, use of e-textbooks and more.

Key findings:

• Spending on e-textbooks will increase from a mean of $1,042 in 2012 to approximately $1,528 in 2013 for the libraries in the sample
• Public libraries have spent a mean of $8,750 on electronic and internet versions of directories.
• Libraries in the sample spent a mean of $118,676 on e-books in 2012
• 32.86% of libraries in the sample have a contract with Ebrary, including 19.23% of libraries with a total budget of less than $500,000
• Libraries in the sample expect to renew almost 75% of their current e-book contracts upon completion.
• 37.13% of e-book orders made by libraries in the sample are placed with e-book divisions of traditional book jobbers or distributors
• On average, libraries in the sample have experienced a mean increase of 17.93% in the price of e-books in the last year

***********************************

What does this mean for authors?

It means you should make sure that you have an Extended Distribution for your book so that it is included in the catalogs sent out to Libraries.

Dare To Do Dirt!

The book, Osborne County Kansas Scenic & Heritage Backways, Eleven Tours for Explorers Who “Dare To Do Dirt! is now available for order.

Osb Co Scenic & Heritage Backways Order Form

“There is much to Osborne County, Kansas that cannot be experienced when sticking to the normal driving routes,” says author Von Rothenberger

If you ever get to this county, take one of the eleven day trips through the county by bicycle, motorcycle or by vehicle on two-lane highways, rock or dirt roads.  There are over 150 historical markers on these tours.

Author Tom Ufert will discuss his book, Adversity Builds Character

On Saturday, May 11, 2013, author Tom Ufert discusses addiction, disability and overcoming the odds in his book Adversity Builds Character: An Inspirational True Life Story of Disability, Addiction, and Acceptance.

Join us at 1:00 pm for a reading and Q&A with Mr. Ufert, followed by a signing in support of the Literacy Volunteers at Centenary College.

Location:

Barnes & Noble Booksellers Youree Dr.

6646 Youree Drive, Shreveport, LA, United States

About the Author from his Amazon Author’s Page:

Tom Ufert, a 46-year-old quadriplegic afflicted with three different disabilities is an inspirational voice in our troubled times. He received his bachelor of arts in political science and history as a scholarship recipient from Centenary College of Louisiana. Tom is a former Rotary International graduate Fellow who attended Australian National University in Canberra, ACT, specializing in East Asian political affairs and was a White House Fellow nominee. He is a former Lyndon Baines Johnson Congressional Intern and constituency aid for two former United States members of Congress. His past services for 11 political campaigns on both sides of the aisle were highly valued by former Louisiana Governor Charles “Buddy” Roemer, Henson Moore the former assistant chief of staff to U.S. Vice President George H.W. Bush, and the present U.S. Trade Ambassador, Ron Kirk.

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At age 23 he was the youngest artistic Board Chairman in the United States as head of the Shreveport Summer Music Festival. Mr. Ufert has served as a member of two other 501(c) three charity boards including his beloved fraternity Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia as well as the community advisory board for his former rehabilitation hospital. Over the years he has acquired extensive customer service experience in the food and beverage, hotel, insurance, home security, and pharmaceutical industries. Mr. Ufert has served as a member of two other 501(c) three charity boards including his beloved fraternity Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia as well as the community advisory board for his former rehabilitation hospital. His professional memberships include Phi Alpha Theta, Sigma Tau Delta, and the Worldwide Who’s Who. In recent years he has worked tirelessly as a volunteer fundraiser for numerous AIDS charities in his community and served briefly as the community affairs liaison for Legacy Founders Cottage. Tom Ufert, a native of Louisiana, now resides in Texas.

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