#Riverbend

Review Reminder Memes

/ Marcia Meara / 27 Comments

wrr review meme 1

Thought I would make a few Review Reminder memes specific to my own books. This is what I came up with. Just a start, but maybe tweeting these out or posting on FB now and then (but not a constant barrage) might remind folks to leave reviews if they’ve enjoyed my books. Sometimes something more specific helps, I think.

As you might guess, I’m feeling the pressure for not having had enough time to market my books lately. When I’ve only got a short time to play, sometimes graphics are easier than trying to get into writing a scene.  But I’m still experimenting, here.

Thoughts on this idea? Or the memes themselves? Just curious.

Riverbend meme1

#ThatDarkestPlace Labor Day Sale – #SundayBlogShare

/ Marcia Meara / 7 Comments

Labor Day Sale!

Starting tomorrow, Book 3 of my Riverbend series, That Darkest Place, will be on sale for $1.99. For one week only, save $3.00! Physical trauma, grief, survivor’s guilt, love, and the unbreakable bond between brothers. This one has it all!

BLURB

The new year is a chance for new beginnings—usually hopeful, positive ones. But when Jackson Painter plows his car into a tree shortly after midnight on January 1, his new beginnings are tragic. His brothers, Forrest and Hunter, take up a grim bedside vigil at the hospital, waiting for Jackson to regain consciousness and anxious over how he’ll take the news that he’s lost a leg and his fiancée is dead. After all, the accident was all his fault.

REVIEWS FOR THAT DARKEST PLACE

“. . . This novel is a frank and realistic portrayal of a family who has had more than their share of tragedies and has come out on the other side better, stronger, and closer for it all. The best part is there’s no candy-coating or false happily-ever-after. These types of problems don’t go away in a few weeks, and Meara shows that reality in a compassionate and unidealized manner.”

“. . . Hunter, Forrest and Jackson Painter, like all of us, struggle with getting it right in dealing with life, friends, and loved ones. Throw in a vindictive mystery letter writer and you have another great Riverbend story. “

” . . . refreshing to see strong female leads in the story rather than damsels-in-distress. That doesn’t mean these ladies don’t feel pain or need support. It just means they can give as good as–actually, much more than–they get.”

“. . . excellent series which includes romance, heartbreak, suspense and family dynamics, in a wonderful setting…and not forgetting those Painter brothers.”

~~~


That Darkest Place $1.99 Sale 1 Week Only!

I’m Baaa-aaack.

/ Marcia Meara / 29 Comments

Did you miss me? Rats. I was afraid of that. But for anyone who may have noticed that I’ve been quieter than usual, I am happy to announce, I should be much more visible now. I’ve been in full-on Edit Mode for the last couple of weeks, but guess what? It’s DONE! The Emissary has been tweaked, nudged, tickled, polished, and otherwise edited to a fare-thee-well, and will definitely be released for public consumption in the next couple of weeks.

I’m pretty excited about this one, as it is a bit of a departure for me in several ways. For one, it’s my first novella, and if rapidity of writing and editing is anything to go by, it won’t be my last. Not quite instant gratification, but darn close. I’m definitely planning on doing more novellas in the future, and the next two will be the second and third books in the Emissary series.

It’s also my first attempt at something in the fantasy/urban fantasy vein–Urban Fantasy Lite, shall we say. Yes, there are paranormal aspects to the Wake-Robin Ridge series, with a few ghosts, an Appalachian legend or two, and some ESP, but this one is definitely new subject matter for me.

The Emissary is a spin-off of my Riverbend series, featuring a character introduced in Finding Hunter, but Riverbend is set firmly in reality, and The Emissary is most assuredly not. Since the story doesn’t take place in Riverbend, I think the genre change works. After all, Willow Greene did pose a question as to whether a certain trucker named Gabe Angelino might, in fact, be a real angel, so she opened the door. Blame her, if you don’t like what walked through. 😀

Telling this tale might have been the most fun I’ve had since I started writing. Look for more info (and possibly an excerpt or two) very soon.

 

#ExcerptWeek – The Emissary: A Riverbend Spinoff Novella by Marcia Meara

/ Marcia Meara / 63 Comments


The Archangel Michael (apparently) Throwing Lucifer Out of Heaven
~~~

Doing something different, here. Decided to share a rough draft of a scene from my current WIP, The Emissary. I have no cover to show you, and no Buy Links for this, of course, so I’ll share the links for the other three books in the Riverbend series.

To set this excerpt up, you need to know that in Finding Hunter, a trucker named Gabe Angelino brought Hunter Painter home to Willow, after a six-month-long disappearance he nearly didn’t survive. Willow has always thought Gabe Angelino was a real angel. She’s wrong on that, but not TOO wrong. I don’t want to give away too much, but the following scene between Jake (Gabe’s real name) and Azrael, a very old, very powerful angel, demonstrates the kind of thing that can happen when you aren’t careful about saying no to powerful entities.

DRAFT FROM CHAPTER 1 OF THE EMISSARY

A Dark, Deserted Truck Stop
Halfway between Here and There 

AZRAEL’S EYES FLAMED a furious blue. In one blink, he disappeared from the cab’s passenger seat, reappeared by the driver’s door, and ripped it right off the truck, flinging it to the pavement. Before Jake could get his mind around that little trick, Azrael snatched him out of his seat, and hurled him across the empty parking lot with so much force, he might well have continued traveling a half mile or more, had it not been for slamming into the trunk of an enormous oak. Hard.

This was a learning experience of the eye-opening kind, except for the fact that his eyes were squeezed tight in response to fear, shock, and excruciating, back-meeting-tree-trunk pain. Perhaps he couldn’t be killed outright—he was a bit cloudy on that issue, in spite of earlier reassurances—but clearly, breathtaking agony was still on the table.

He’d had no idea Azrael possessed that kind of power. Yeah, he knew the angel was very old—possibly an archangel—but they were careful not to reveal too much about themselves, certainly not to those being recruited to help them on a more or less trial basis. The ferocious strength Azrael had just displayed left Jake stunned. Shaken to his core.

Still groaning from the brutal pain in his back, he slumped to the ground at the base of the tree, desperate to catch his breath. He blinked away the red haze clouding his vision, only to wish he hadn’t. Azrael strode toward him, looming larger and more ominous with each long step. Somehow, the angel had acquired a colossal, glowing sword, which he brandished overhead, and his heretofore pale blonde hair floated this way and that around his face, blindingly bright, and looking far too much like flames for comfort.

With a thunderous roar that shook the very ground beneath them, Azrael’s voice shattered the silent darkness. “You quit? You quit? You cannot quit, you ungrateful idiot! You have been accepted into a cadre of potential emissaries. There is no such thing as quitting!”

Apparently, angels of Azrael’s rank came with built-in loudspeakers featuring a volume capacity rock stars would weep to possess. Jake clapped his hands over his ears, praying he wouldn’t feel blood seeping between his fingers.

It was all he could do not to curl into a fetal position with his arms crossed over his head, the better to await the smiting that was surely on the way. Not that he was exactly certain what-all smiting might entail, but it was bound to be a painful way to die. Again.

~~~

JAKE’S FIRST DEATH—which he had really hoped would be his last—hadn’t been easy. Maybe no death ever was, but drowning had been a cold, terrifying experience. At least he’d had the satisfaction of knowing the woman he’d jumped in to save had been pulled from his arms and into a boat, even as he slipped below the surface, and drifted down to the silty bottom of the river. The last thought passing through his mind as his world went black around him was his fervent hope she wouldn’t waste a single day he’d bought her.

The next time Jake had opened his eyes, he’d discovered to his utter astonishment that he wasn’t dead anymore. At least, that’s what he’d thought at the time. Instead, he rested on a warm, comfortable, and gloriously dry bed in the hushed stillness of a room painted the soft purple-gray of an early evening sky. Looking back on it afterward, he wondered if perhaps it had really been the sky he’d seen around him, and not walls at all. But at the time, he assumed he was in a hospital room, having been rescued from the ice-cold depths of the murky river just in the nick of time.

If only.

~~~


Marcia Meara, Author
(For Those New to The Write Stuff, This is Me,
And My Bio is Below)

Marcia Meara lives in central Florida, just north of Orlando, with her husband of over thirty years, two big cats, and two small dachshunds. When not writing or blogging, she spends her time gardening, and enjoying the surprising amount of wildlife that manages to make a home in her suburban yard. At the age of five, Marcia declared she wanted to be an author, and is ecstatic that at age 69, she finally began pursuing that dream. Three and a half years and six novels later, she’s still going strong, and plans to keep on writing until she falls face down on the keyboard, which she figures would be a pretty good way to go!

Riverbend Series

    

Marcia has published seven books to date, all of which are available on Amazon in both print and Kindle format: 

Wake-Robin Ridge
A Boy Named Rabbit: Wake-Robin Ridge Book 2
Harbinger: Wake-Robin Ridge Book 3
Swamp Ghosts: A Riverbend Novel
Finding Hunter: Riverbend Book 2
That Darkest Place: Riverbend Book 3
Summer Magic: Poems of Life & Love

Marcia’s Amazon Author Page

You can reach Marcia via email at marciameara16@gmail.com or on the following social media sites:

The Write Stuff : https://marciamearawrites.com/
Bookin’ It: http://marciameara.wordpress.com
Twitter: @marciameara
Facebook: www.facebook.com/marcia.meara.writer
 Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/marciameara/

To keep up with the latest news and giveaways, sign up for Marcia’s Mail List here:https://marciamearawrites.com/mail-list-win-free-stuff/

 

 

#ThatDarkestPlace Now In PRINT!

/ Marcia Meara / 20 Comments

Yay!! Finally, That Darkest Place: Riverbend Book 3 is available on Amazon in print format, as well as Kindle. Don’t know why it takes me so much longer to get the print one done–other than waiting on snail mail proofs, of course–but it’s finally here.

If you have time, please help me let the world know! THANKS a million! And while I’m not done with Riverbend, I do feel I’ve focused on the Painter brothers long enough. They’re on their own, now! 😀 Me, I’ve got a Riverbend novella to write, featuring Gabe Angelino, and time’s a-wastin’!! 😀

In the meantime, feel free to check out That Darkest Place yourself, in either format, if you’ve read the first two books in the series.

Swamp Ghosts: A Riverbend Novel
Finding Hunter: Riverbend Book 2
That Darkest Place: Riverbend Book 3

It’s Coming Soon!

/ Marcia Meara / 30 Comments

Woohooooooo! I will have my proof copy of That Darkest Place in my hand on Wednesday! If all goes well, and it looks good, I’ll okay it, and order my first box of books that afternoon. You folks who’ve been waiting patiently, or not so patiently–you know who you are–will soon have yours! I will be delivering copies to Bev at DeBary Nursery and Doug at St. Johns River Eco Tours just as soon as I get these.  (And of course, they will be available on Amazon almost immediately.)

Doing the happy dance, here! (See?)

That Darkest Place: Riverbend Book 3
Available in Kindle Format Now and in Print Format  Next Week

#ThatDarkestPlace Has Arrived!

/ Marcia Meara / 32 Comments

It’s here at last! That Darkest Place: Riverbend Book 3 is now available on Kindle, and will soon be out in print. And I’m so excited, I’m running a One Week Only sale on it, and ALL of my other books, as well. Yep, my characters are celebrating from Riverbend, Florida, all the way to Wake-Robin Ridge, North Carolina! The Painter Brothers, Maggie & Gunn, Sarah & Mac, and even Little Rabbit are putting out the word that this is the best deal you’ll get all year, and a chance to begin each series from the beginning, if you haven’t already done so. 

Starting today, and continuing through Sunday, 5/21, you can download my books at the following prices:

That Darkest Place: Riverbend Book 3 – $2.99
Finding Hunter: Riverbend Book 2 – $.99
Swamp Ghosts: Riverbend Book 1 – $.99

Harbinger: Riverbend Book 3 – $.99
A Boy Named Rabbit: Wake-Robin Ridge Book 2 – $.99
Wake-Robin Ridge Book 1 – $.99

That Darkest Place Blurb

“There are dark places in every heart, in every head. Some you turn away from. Some you light a candle within. But there is one place so black, it consumes all light. It will pull you in and swallow you whole. You don’t leave your brother stranded in that darkest place.” ~Hunter Painter~ 

The new year is a chance for new beginnings—usually hopeful, positive ones. But when Jackson Painter plows his car into a tree shortly after midnight on January 1, his new beginnings are tragic. His brothers, Forrest and Hunter, take up a grim bedside vigil at the hospital, waiting for Jackson to regain consciousness and anxious over how he’ll take the news that he’s lost a leg and his fiancée is dead. After all, the accident was all his fault.

As the shocking truth emerges, one thing becomes obvious—Jackson will need unconditional love and support from both of his brothers if he is to survive.

Just as he begins the long road to recovery, danger, in the form of a sinister, unsigned note, plunges him back into bleak despair. Scrawled in blood red letters, the accusation—and the threat—is clear. “MURDERER!”

Will the long, harrowing ordeal that lies ahead draw the Painter brothers closer together, or drive them apart forever?

Suspenseful and often heartbreaking, this small-town tale is a testimonial to the redemptive power of love and paints a story filled with humor, romance, and fierce family loyalty.

~~~

I hope you’ll share my good news far and wide! Shout it from the rooftops. Have a t-shirt made. Hire a skywriter. Okay, maybe not. But I’d love it if you’d share this post via social media, and help me get the word out. I thank you, Forrest and Hunter thank you, but most of all, Jackson Painter thanks you. He spent a long, long time in a very bad situation, waiting for me to return to Riverbend, and now he wants his story told.  😀 

While you’re helping  spread the word, you really should swing by Amazon and grab your copy, too.

And now, it’s back to work for me. So many stories, so little time!

 

#ExcerptWeek – #FindingHunter No. 1

/ Marcia Meara / 9 Comments

Final FH Cover Smaller

You guys with books to promote should really take advantage of #ExcerptWeek, you know. But as long as it’s this slow, I’m going to fill in with excerpts of my own, so be forewarned. This is the first scene of Chapter 2 in my latest book, Finding Hunter, which is Book 2 of the Riverbend series. Hunter Painter is a quirky, shy man, who carries a lot of secrets close to his heart. Some of them are tragic, and some pertain to how he feels about Willow Greene. Namely, that he’s loved her since high school, and never had the nerve to tell her, or anyone else, before confessing to his best friend. He has just hung up the phone and realizes he’s agreed to lunch at her house. Blind panic is all he feels. (And in this book, there is a poem at the start of each chapter that relates to the prologue, and hints at a mystery to come.) Enjoy!
*********

Before, I never thought about taking a life. Not once.
Now, the thought fills my mind day and night, and
I wonder how I’ll hide that terrible need,
As an old car swings to the shoulder,
And stops.
~ Traveling Man ~ 

~~~
Doomed
~~~ 

8:15PM Friday, December 28, 2012

“OH, MY GOD, Biscuit. What have I done?” Hunter Painter flung himself backward on his bed, and stared at the ceiling in shock. His dog immediately took this dramatic event as an excuse to leap onto the bed and begin administering first aid. This mostly consisted of lots of very warm, very wet licks to Hunter’s face.

“Stop, Bisk! If you’re staying up here, lie down and be still.”

The smooth-haired collie lowered himself, head on paws, concerned eyes watching every move Hunter made, in case more attention was needed. But it seemed the drama was over, except for some muttering and grumbling.

Hunter scratched his tan and white companion behind the ears as he replayed the phone conversation in his mind. He had only intended to test the waters, just wanting to see if he could handle a one-on-one conversation with Willow and not turn into a gibbering idiot. Like a moon-drunk fool, he had confessed to Gunnar Wolfe that he had been in love with Willow since the eleventh grade, and Gunn had urged him to call her. After a week of long, hard thought—and fortified by three cold beers—he had decided he would.

Of course, he had only meant to thank her for inviting him and his brothers to Gunn’s wedding. Just that. “Hi, great party, thanks, goodbye.”

He figured that would be enough for a start. When had he lost control?

“Soon as she said hello, that’s when,” he muttered. “Never, ever thought she’d ask me over. How in God’s name will I handle that? Can’t be in the same room with her, even in a crowd, without breaking out in a cold sweat. Don’t know if I can do this, Biscuit. Can’t just waltz into her home, tour her garden, and have lunch with her, like we’ve been hanging out together for years. She screws up my brain, you know. Years and years gone by, and still—one smile from her and everything in my head short-circuits.” Continue reading →

Finding Hunter Excerpt #1

/ Marcia Meara / 6 Comments

Final FH Cover Smaller

Finding Hunter is Book 2 in my Riverbend series. It follows Swamp Ghosts, and can be read as a standalone, but since most of the characters were introduced in Swamp Ghosts, it makes more sense to read that one first. 

At the beginning of Chapters 1 through 20, there is a “snippet” at the top of the page. I’ve included the one from Chapter 2 here, even though the excerpt is actually from the middle of Chapter 1. This is Willow Greene thinking back to meeting Hunter Painter when they were in the 11th grade at the small town high school. Enjoy!

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

CH 2 Snippet First:

Before, I never thought about taking a life. Not once.
Now, the thought fills my mind day and night, and
I wonder how I’ll hide that terrible need,
As an old car swings to the shoulder,
And stops.
~ Traveling Man ~

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

CH 1 Excerpt:

He had been a quiet, thoughtful boy, cut from completely different cloth than his brothers. Forrest, a senior that year, and the oldest brother, Jackson, were like peas in a pod. Outgoing, popular, and always up to something. But not Hunter. He marched to that different drummer we’ve all heard tell of, always present, but never quite in the moment.

Willow was very popular with both girls and boys, but the more the other boys came calling, the more Willow had thought about Hunter. He never seemed to be dating anyone, and he always greeted her with a smile and a quiet word or two, but then he would turn away, ambling off to find a quiet spot by himself.

The only class they shared that first year was English, and even though Willow had chosen the seat directly behind Hunter, he never turned to talk to her before the final bell. In fact, he usually waited until the last minute to enter the room and take his seat, leaving Willow to stare at the soft, brown hair curling against his neck, fascinated by the slight bump of each vertebra marching along under his pale skin.

It was his neck that did it. I never would have loved him so much if I hadn’t fixated on that one bit of skin, right in front of my eyes, five days a week. Who falls in love with a neck? And who still remembers it sixteen years later?

All that junior year, Willow had longed for Hunter to call her, to ask her out, or at least to sit by her at lunch. But he never did, and she never told anyone—not even her best friend, Maggie—that out of all of the boys they knew, only Hunter Painter touched her heart.

****

Finding Hunter for Kindle is Available on Amazon now.

Happy Ending Almost In Sight!

/ Marcia Meara / 5 Comments

cover2at304.jpg

Even as I type, the correct version of Swamp Ghosts is being restored to its rightful place between the alligator infested covers of same! Woohooo. And the Usurper, Finding Hunter, has been sent back to his OWN book, with firm instructions never to stray from within those covers again! Ever!!

Like many of Life’s Learning Experiences, this one wasn’t fun. But it did teach me to be very, very careful in the future, and not let anything cause me to rush, or to work when I’m too tired to think straight. But, when everything’s said and done, all’s well that ends well. (I made that up. No, really. I did. Okay, I didn’t. Not a bit of it. So sue me.  *grin* )

By tonight or tomorrow, this whole thing will be nothing but a memory, and me? I’m movin’ on! I have stories to tell, books to write, and self-marketing to . . . to . . . to try and palm off on somebody else! 😀

Have a great week, you guys! I think next week, we’re due to have an event around this place. Maybe an Excerpt Week. Haven’t had one of those in ages, and I’m sure you all have books you’d like to promote. Stay tuned!