#OnSale #Promo – Entire Wake-Robin Ridge Series – $1.99 each

Merry Christmas, Everybody! As of today through Christmas Eve, each of my Wake-Robin Ridge novels will be on sale for the low, low, LOW price of $1.99.  This is your chance to check out all four books at a rock bottom bargain price! Hope you’ll take advantage of this holiday special! Happy Reading!

BTW, the wake-robin, for which this series is named, is the beautiful wine-red trillium that blooms in the forests of North Carolina every spring. You’ll see it pictured on the cover of all books in this series. 


WAKE-ROBIN RIDGE

BLURB:

“A PHONE RINGING AT 2:00 A.M. never means anything good. Calls at 2:00 A.M. are bad news. Someone has died. Someone is hurt. Or someone needs help.”

On a bitter cold January night in 1965, death came calling at an isolated little cabin on Wake-Robin Ridge. Now, nearly 50 years later, librarian Sarah Gray has quit her job and moved into the same cabin, hoping the peace and quiet of her woodland retreat will allow her to concentrate on writing her first novel. Instead she finds herself distracted by her only neighbor, the enigmatic and reclusive MacKenzie Cole, who lives on top of the mountain with his Irish wolfhound as his sole companion.

As their tentative friendship grows, Sarah learns the truth about the heartbreaking secret causing Mac to hide from the world. But before the two can sort out their feelings for each other, they find themselves plunged into a night of terror neither could have anticipated. Now they must unravel the horrifying events of a murder committed decades earlier. In doing so, they discover that the only thing stronger than a hatred that will not die is a heart willing to sacrifice everything for another.


A BOY NAMED RABBIT: Wake-Robin Ridge Book 2

BLURB:

“Evil’s comin’, boy…comin’ fast. Look for the man with eyes like winter skies, and hair like a crow’s wing. He’s the one you gotta find.”

The remote mountain wilderness of North Carolina swallowed up the ten-year-old boy as he made his way down from the primitive camp where his grandparents had kept him hidden all his life. His dying grandmother, gifted with the Sight, set him on a quest to find the Good People, and though he is filled with fear and wary of civilization, Rabbit is determined to keep his promise to her. When he crosses paths with Sarah and MacKenzie Cole, neither their lives nor his, are ever the same again.

The extraordinary little boy called Rabbit has the power light up the darkness, and the resourcefulness to save himself from the one person his grandparents had hoped would never find him. His dangerous and bittersweet journey will touch you in unexpected ways, and once you’ve let Rabbit into your heart, you’ll never forget him.


HARBINGER: Wake-Robin Ridge Book 3

BLURB:

“. . . he felt the wet slide of the dog’s burning hot tongue on his face, and the scrape of its razor sharp teeth against the top of his head. A white-hot agony of crushing pain followed, as the jaws began to close.”

The wine-red trillium that carpets the forests of the North Carolina Mountains is considered a welcome harbinger of spring—but not all such omens are happy ones. An Appalachian legend claims the Black Dog, or Ol’ Shuck, as he’s often called, is a harbinger of death. If you see him, you or someone you know is going to die.

But what happens when Ol’ Shuck starts coming for you in your dreams? Nightmares of epic proportions haunt the deacon of the Light of Grace Baptist Church, and bring terror into the lives of everyone around him. Even MacKenzie Cole and his adopted son, Rabbit, find themselves pulled into danger.

When Sheriff Raleigh Wardell asks Mac and Rabbit to help him solve a twenty-year-old cold case, Rabbit’s visions of a little girl lost set them on a path that soon collides with that of a desperate man being slowly driven mad by guilt.

As Rabbit’s gift of the Sight grows ever more powerful, his commitment to those who seek justice grows as well, even when their pleas come from beyond the grave.


THE LIGHT: Wake-Robin Ridge Book 4

BLURB:

For Robert MacKenzie Cole—or Rabbit, as he’s known to all—the chance to accompany his family to see North Carolina’s infamous Brown Mountain Lights has him nearly dizzy with excitement. And what better night to watch this unexplained phenomenon unfold than Halloween?

But when the entrancing, unpredictable lights show up, Rabbit gets far more than he bargained for. He’s gifted with what folks in the Appalachians call “the Sight,” and it’s this extrasensory perception that enables him to spot the one light different from all the rest.

In his biggest challenge to date, Rabbit—aided by his daddy and his newest friend, Austin Dupree— begins a quest to learn more about the mysterious light. Their investigation unveils a web of cons and corruption none of them expected and exposes a brutal murder along the way.

Throughout all, Rabbit is unfaltering in his commitment to do whatever it takes to understand the truth behind the glowing orb and to determine how he can help it. After all, it followed him home.


Hope you’ll check these out while the sale lasts. There’s nothing like a new book (or four) for Christmas, and it will probably be some time before these books will be available at this price again.  Hope you’ll enjoy them (and might even consider leaving a review or two.)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Last Day! $.99 Sale On All #WakeRobinRidge and #Riverbend Books! #TuesdayBookBlog

beware1-sale
LAST DAY!

Don’t miss out on this one! If you haven’t downloaded your copies yet–RUN, don’t walk–to Amazon.com, and take advantage of these rock-bottom prices. Offer good for a limited time only, as they say, and that time ends tonight.

This is your chance to read Books 1 and 2 of the Riverbend series, before Book 3 is released next month.  That way, you can move right from the shocking ending of Finding Hunter to the even more shocking beginning of That Darkest Place. No waiting required! 😉 And if you haven’t read any of these, what are you waiting for? Grab ’em today!

~~~

Wake-Robin Ridge, where ghosts walk, ancient legends abound, and things still go bump in the night!

51vxpu-or9l-_uy250_  51y55bnkuzl-_uy250_  Harbinger

Wake-Robin Ridge Book 1
A Boy Named Rabbit: Wake-Robin Ridge Book 2
Harbinger: Wake-Robin Ridge Book 3

~~~

Riverbend, where the beasts that lurk in the dark river waters are never as dangerous as those that walk the quiet neighborhood streets!

51bfsz59fxl-_uy250_  51eimlgojbl-_uy250_

Swamp Ghosts: Riverbend Book 1
Finding Hunter: Riverbend Book 2
That Darkest Place: Riverbend Book 3 (Coming Soon)

Sharing Janet Gogerty’s Great 5* Review of Wake-Robin Ridge

thank_you_banner-500

One of the best things about The Write Stuff is the way our fellow writers and readers support each other. In addition to all the friendships and  helpful advice engendered here, this blog encourages the sharing and promoting of all our talented authors. Janet posted this review in the Comments section of Rosie’s post on August Reviews, and I just wanted to share it with all of you as a reminder of the ways we help each other. (And because it’s a terrific review, too. THANK YOU, Janet!) Enjoy!

***

Even the two dogs will steal your heart in this gripping story.
2016-08-05

‘A great story teller’ was my first impression as I quickly got into this story, or rather two interwoven tales. I enjoy novels set in more than one time and in this book the chapter headings helpfully tell us when and where we are. I have never been to the USA and if I ever get there I would rather visit Wake-Robin Ridge than Disneyland! This is a rounded tale, a romance and ghost story, but also a delightful journey to a beautiful part of the USA. Two very different love stories and four very different lives. I was so involved, that half way through the novel I thought I had misread that it was also a ghost story, so when the first paranormal event occurred it came as a complete shock. Without giving anything away, the description of that first night of terror was more vivid than any horror movie. If I did visit the Blue Ridge Mountains, I would certainly not stay by myself! I look forward to reading more by this author.

 WRRnewsmall
Now Permanently Priced at $.99
Wake-Robin Ridge Book 1

 

#WakeRobinRidge Book 3: #Harbinger

Final Harbinger Cover at 25percent

 

Nope, I haven’t actually launched this book yet, as I haven’t finished deciding how to go about it, but it is available in Kindle and print format, and already selling, in spite of my lack of a cohesive plan.  (Boy, do I hate that “P” word.) So I figured I’d better let you guys know, at least! This is the third book in my mountain series, and for those of you who enjoyed #WakeRobinRidge and #ABoyNamedRabbit, I hope you’ll be eager to follow Rabbit’s latest shivery adventure.  (Meanwhile, I’m trying to remember how to put the image/link in the right sidebar with my other books. Doh! Brain is on vacation!)

Blurb

“. . . he felt the wet slide of the dog’s burning hot tongue on his face, and the scrape of its razor sharp teeth against the top of his head. A white-hot agony of crushing pain followed, as the jaws began to close.”

The wine-red trillium that carpets the forests of the North Carolina Mountains is considered a welcome harbinger of spring—but not all such omens are happy ones. An Appalachian legend claims the Black Dog, or Ol’ Shuck, as he’s often called, is a harbinger of death. If you see him, you or someone you know is going to die.

But what happens when Ol’ Shuck starts coming for you in your dreams? Nightmares of epic proportions haunt the deacon of the Light of Grace Baptist Church, and bring terror into the lives of everyone around him. Even MacKenzie Cole and his adopted son, Rabbit, find themselves pulled into danger.

When Sheriff Raleigh Wardell asks Mac and Rabbit to help him solve a twenty-year-old cold case, Rabbit’s visions of a little girl lost set them on a path that soon collides with that of a desperate man being slowly driven mad by guilt.

As Rabbit’s gift of the Sight grows ever more powerful, his commitment to those who seek justice grows as well, even when their pleas come from beyond the grave. 

Wake-Robin Ridge Book 3: Harbinger

#RomancingSeptember Day 30

2015 cover

This last interview of the series features…moi! I am so tickled that I got to join this list of romance writers, and talk about my first romantic suspense novel, Wake-Robin Ridge. Many thanks to both Rosie Amber, and Stephanie Hurt, for putting this event together, and for inviting me to take part. I do hope you’ll go read the interviews, and please share both of them (and this post, as well) everywhere you can. I’ll be very appreciative of that, believe me. 🙂 Thanks, and happy reading.

Rosie Amber: #RomancingSeptember Day 30 with Marcia Meara
Stephanie Hurt: #RomancingSepte4mber Day 30 with Marcia Meara

(NOTE: There are a couple of small formatting errors in the longer interview, probably because my submission was set up a bit differently than most, letting my characters do a bit of the talking for me, and thus, making it trickier to cut and paste. This is not Rosie Amber’s fault, and all of the interview made it, so it’s all good.)

 

Aaaahhhhh…that’s better!

coverat25% cover at 35%

Thankfully, last week’s problems seem to be sorting themselves out satisfactorily, which is nice, because it frees me up to deal with THIS week’s problems, as they arise. And they are sure to arise. 😉

Swamp Ghosts, it all its forms, seems to be looking correct once again. Finding Hunter has been corrected on Kindle, so that the formatting is prettier, and I have just ordered a new proof of the print version from CreateSpace.  So Hunter Painter’s distressing tale seems resolved, at the present time.

I can breathe again. And possibly even sneak in some reading this weekend. (I’m close to the halfway point in Lee Child’s latest Reacher book, Make Me. OH, how I love watching Jack Reacher tug on threads one at a time, as he slowly unravels the latest mystery he’s uncovered.) And I can even catch up on my Bookin’ It reviews, perhaps.

However, I can’t dawdle for long. Rabbit has a story to tell, and when that boy gets to talking, there’s no stopping him. So, I plan to start Harbinger in the next day or two. I’m already putting together my inspiration board, filled with gorgeous images of the North Carolina mountains. *sigh* Makes me want to load up my car and go!

But…here’s the biggest news of all. Starting on Monday, here at The Write Stuff…we’re going to have an EVENT! Nothing earth-shattering or difficult, but it should be fun. Stay tuned for details shortly.

And that’s it for me today. What wonderful things are you guys up to this weekend?

cover2at304.jpg Final FH Cover Smaller

 

Building a Local Readership

DeBaryNursery
DeBary Nursery
61 S Charles Richard Beall  Blvd
DeBary, Florida 32713
386-668-4466

It’s not a large nursery, but it’s a great one, crammed full of wonderful things for plant lovers, and employing folks with friendly faces, happy to answer any gardening questions you might have. I discovered it quite by accident a few years ago, while on my way to lunch at Highbanks Marina. Little did I know then that both the marina and the nursery would play such a big part in my life, one day.

The marina was part of the inspiration for my second novel, Swamp Ghosts. The little town of DeBary was, too. And of course, Captain Jeanne Bell and her husband, photographer Doug Little, inspired my main characters in the book, since I fell in love with their Eco-Boat tours, and decided to build a story around a similar enterprise. But that’s not the surprising part of this story I’m sharing today. No, that came after my book was written and published.

It happened one afternoon, as I was plant shopping at DeBary Nursery. I got into a conversation with the owner, Bev McCain, about books. I gave her a couple of my bookmarks, with Wake-Robin Ridge and Swamp Ghosts pictured on them, told her a bit about the books, and she promptly decided she wanted to read them both. So she did. And she enjoyed them. A lot, apparently (thankfully), because she started passing out bookmarks to all her customers and recommending them. And some of them read, and enjoyed them, too.

Before long, Bev decided she’d like to sell the books in her nursery gift shop, so we set up a little counter display. She’s very much into local businesses helping each other, and she wanted to be sure everyone knew I was a local author, and that Swamp Ghosts was set in a fictional version of DeBary, and featured a fictionalized version of Highbanks Marina. Done, and done, with a printed sign in an acrylic counter “frame.”

And this is where it gets good. Bev started by ordering 5 copies of my first two books. In a few days, she wanted more. Now, she orders from me nearly weekly, and has sold just over 100 copies of my books in just a few weeks…from her nursery. I don’t know about you, but I find that astonishing. She doesn’t have a book store, and other than a few pamphlets and whatnot on gardening, doesn’t sell books. But she sells the heck out of mine. Partly because she really liked the books and it shows when she tells people about them, and partly because she’s a dynamite sales person. (I once saw her sell a copy of Swamp Ghosts to a woman who told her up front that she didn’t read! “Aw, that’s too bad,” Bev told her, “because this book is really a fun read, and you’ll recognize so many central Florida places in it.” The woman decided her husband might like it, and left the store carrying my book!)

Will I get rich on the sales of 100 books? No, of course not. But just last week, a customer came into the nursery, walked straight up to the counter, and asked to see the book set in DeBary, adding that she’d heard from several people how good it was. Now THAT kind of word of mouth is gold.

The moral of this tale is, you never know where you might find an opportunity to sell your books, get your name out there, build a group of fans, meet your readers face to face, and take another step up that ladder to writing success. I highly recommend keeping your eyes open when you are out and about. You never know where your next chance to find readers will come from. It could be anywhere, even in the gift shop of a local plant nursery.

If you live in central Florida and you love to garden, I also highly recommend stopping by DeBary Nursery. Tell Bev I said hello!

Wake-Robins & Other Thoughts

trilliumerec
Wake-Robin (Trillium erecta)

Several people have asked me about the flower on the cover of A Boy Named Rabbit and Wake-Robin Ridge. I thought you might like to see a photo or two. Aren’t they beautiful? The more common white trilliums of spring are lovely, too, but the wake-robin has captured my heart.

2186248291_82de4146c7
Trillium grandiflora

When I think of my springtime trips to the Blue Ridge Mountains, trillium and dainty bluebells are what come to my mind. And if you haven’t ever been to that part of the Appalachian chain (the oldest mountains in the world), you really owe it to yourself to go someday. Beautiful at any time of year, of course, but absolutely breathtaking in the autumn. Why…someone ought to write a book…or two…set there! 😉

If you have any photos that inspired a book you’ve written, or are writing, please feel free to share them with us. I know I’m always interested in what sparks a writer’s imagination, and I’m sure others would be, as well.

Have a great day, folks. It’s Thor’s Day, and if you’ve ever visited Bookin’ It, you know what that means! Jokes will be appearing over there shortly.

My Inspiration for MacKenzie Cole

macsmall

Cover Model John Paul Pfeiffer

As promised, photos! Or at least one more. 🙂 I fell in love with this model due to the wonderful covers on Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series, and I always picture Mac looking just like him. Only taller. (MacKenzie Cole is 6’3″ with exceptionally pale blue eyes, fair skin, and very black hair.) This blog will give me a chance to answer questions about my characters, and share inspiration photos with you guys. If anyone wants to know anything about MacKenzie Cole & Sarah Gray, you’ve come to the right spot. Questions on Ruthie Carter/Ruth Winn? Frank Everly? Or even the plot line of Wake-Robin Ridge? I’ll be happy to answer them.

Mostly, I hope those of you who have read Wake-Robin Ridge enjoyed it. I’m proud to say it was on amazon’s Top 100 (Paid) Best Selling Fiction/Ghosts lists for four weeks last month, and continues to pop up there on and off, even now. For a first book, that’s just the best news, ever!

Rob Frazier - 3