Friday, July 29, 2016

Tamara Ferguson - An Author Interview in the HBS Author's Spotlight

Today our blog puts the Spotlight on Author Tamara Ferguson. She is the award-winning author of Tales of The Dragonfly Romance Suspense Series, the top-ten bestselling Kissed By Fate Series, and the #1 Two Hearts Wounded Warrior Romance Series. Tamara writes Romance and Suspense novels.



Author Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Suspense

Website: Tamara Ferguson - Kissed by Fate
Author's Blog: Tamara's Blog "Tammys Dragonfly"
Tales of the Dragonfly homepage
Twitter: @Tammysdragonfly
E-Mail: Tammysdragonfly@gmail.com
Goodreads: Check Out Goodreads
Google+: Check Out Google+
Facebook: Check Out Facebook
Pinterest: Check Out Pinterest

Amazon Author Profile



Author Description:
A member of the Romance Writers of America, Tamara Ferguson is the #1 best-selling, multi-award winning author of the Tales of the Dragonfly Romance Suspense Series, the Kissed By Fate Series, and the Two Hearts Wounded Warrior Romance Series.

Her latest wounded warrior romance novella, Two Hearts Unspoken, is included in the top-ten bestselling Holiday Anthology, Mother’s Day Magic…With Love, which was also #1 in Wounded Warrior Fiction. Since being released independently, Two Hearts Unspoken has just become a #1 Best Seller at Amazon as well as a #1 Hot New Release in both Ebooks and books. It’s also been #1 in 8 Wounded Warrior categories.

The wounded warrior romance, Two Hearts Surrendered, was originally published in the bestselling Magical Weddings anthology, which included stories by fifteen USA Today, best-selling, and award-winning authors. Two Hearts Surrendered independently earned 3-5 star reviews from Readers’ Favorite, and has just become a double #1 Best Seller at Amazon. Two Hearts Surrendered was also a New Adult Finalist in the Romance Reviews 2016 Reader’s Choice Awards.

Two Hearts Undone (Two Hearts Wounded Warrior Romance #3) was released in May of 2016 by AA Publishing and was #1 in 8 Wounded Warrior categories at Amazon. This short story is also included in the Annie Acorn 2016 Romance Anthology.

That Unforgettable Kiss (Kissed by Fate Book 1) was a top ten Amazon bestseller in Kindle Saga Fiction, earned 3-5 star editorial reviews from Readers' Favorite, and was the 2015 WINNER of The Romance Reviews Readers' Choice Award in New Adult Romance.

That Unforgettable Kiss is currently featured in the #1 bestselling A Touch of Passion, 8 full-length novels by USA Today, New York Times bestselling and multi-award winning authors. This anthology is a #1 Holiday Romance (and more), and has just WON the 2016 Romance Reviews Reader’s Choice Award in Anthology Romance.

Tales of the Dragonfly In Tandem was a romance finalist at the 2013 Indie Excellence Awards, while Tales of the Dragonfly In Flight was a 2014 WINNER at the Readers' Favorite International Book Awards. In Flight is currently being rereleased by Blue Harvest Creative.

Since she remains a full-time caregiver for an autistic son, you can usually find Tammy working at home, where she spends a lot of time not completing her numerous home improvement projects, because she's writing or helping other author friends promote their books on twitter.


SPOTLIGHT Questions and Answers with the Author

Congratulations on your book: Two Hearts Unspoken. Rumor has it that you have another book in the Tales of the Dragonfly Series on the horizon called Emergence. Can you tell us the timeline for its release and give us a little tease?

Emergence is my third Tales of the Dragonfly Novel. This is the story of Lucy Callahan, who was kidnapped and assaulted in In Tandem. The members of the human trafficking ring who were responsible for capturing her have remained at-large. It’s nearly a year later, and Lucy’s still having troubles recovering from her ordeal, when she realizes she’s being stalked by the man who raped her. Her inner strength shines through when she assists the FBI and confronts her rapist – while falling in love with a former FBI agent who’s acting as her bodyguard. Lucy lives and works in Gabe Giordano’s home, as his seven-year old daughter’s nanny, while attending the college where Gabe has become an instructor. My readers will get a glimpse of Kelly Callahan and Luke Bryant’s troubled past growing up together in Crystal Rock, before their Two Hearts Surrendered.

My Tales of the Dragonfly novels are much more complex than my Two Hearts and Kissed by Fate stories. Not only does my Dragonfly series include a distinct romance in each book, but there is an ongoing, underlying story about a human trafficking ring operating at Dragonfly Pointe. My series begins in the 1980’s, but might very well return to the early 1900’s, since there are many questions to be answered as the FBI moves forward.

What I’m working on now is a Christmas novella, yet to be titled, as well as another novella for the Wedding Pets & Kisses anthology coming out next spring.

I’m hoping to release Emergence in the summer of 2017, along with a revised edition of In Tandem, my first Tales of the Dragonfly Novel.

You have a good following on twitter. How important have your social media relationships been? How did you build your following in your niche? Do you see a carry over to your writing success?

Social media has made a HUGE impact on my life. I’m beginning to use Facebook a lot more now, but I spend a lot of time at twitter. Two and a half years ago, after spending a few months there, I didn’t particularly see how it would be helpful. By then I had a decent following, and spent most of my time chatting with authors and friends I’d made.

But I really wasn’t selling many books. One day I just decided to switch up my tweeting entirely and began doing shout outs for authors and organizations, by encouraging participation. It’s a little different now—I was spending too much time at twitter, and I’ve had to automate with the volume of tweets I’m sending out. But over these last few years, I’ve made a bunch of great friends in our writing community.

And If I hadn’t become so visible, I would’ve never been invited into my first anthology!

Do you do any book signings, interviews, speaking and personal appearances? If so, when and where is the next place where your readers can see you? Where can they keep up with your personal contacts online?

Because I’m the mom and caregiver of a severely autistic son with diabetes, I haven’t been pushing personal appearances. I’m an outgoing person, and have no problems with speaking or doing interviews. I was once very active in college organizations and was a horticulturist who dealt one on one with customers nearly every day. But it’s difficult and costly for me to be away from my son with his medical issues.

Online, it’s a different story. Besides being active on Twitter and Facebook on a daily basis, I’ve done numerous interviews and have a blog where I post author interviews too.

You have great covers. They carry a theme and your brand with them. How does your book cover creation process work? Do you hand over the basic theme or do you have more of a hands-on approach? Do you get your readers involved in its development?

I’ve actually been working with three different cover designers. But my go to person has always been Adriana Hanganu of AdipixDesign.com. Not only is she a lovely person to work with, but she’s become a good friend.

The process?? I can be very picky. Although there is sex in my novels, I consider it tasteful, so I want my covers to reflect the romance of my stories. Sure, I would probably sell more books with sexier covers, but what’s on the cover needs to reflect the characters in my books. So Adrianna and I sift through people pictures first, as I imagine my characters to be. And she works with the background, which I prefer to be outdoors. From there, we go back and forth.

I’ve also had the privilege of working with Angel Sefer, who’s an author and a cover designer with AA Publishing. She designed my Two Hearts Undone cover to resemble Two Hearts Surrendered and Two Hearts Unspoken.

And Blue Harvest Creative is working on my revised Tales of the Dragonfly Novels. I don’t have quite as much say so with them, but they design and format the interior of the book as well. I won a design package from Readers’ Favorite, and I’ve joined their author group.

I haven’t had readers involved in cover design at this point, but I have entered the covers in contest where I’ve asked followers at Twitter and Facebook to vote. In Fact, Two Hearts Surrendered won first place in the RWA Cover The Words Contest.

You have written several novellas. Can you tell us if they had an impact on the sales of your novels? Are shorty’s one of your styles of writing or are they created to give readers a sample of your work? Do you feel short reads are a product of our email and smart phone age?

I’d NEVER written a novella or short story before I wrote Two Hearts Surrendered for the Magical Weddings Anthology! (not counting high school and college, of course) Kind of crazy-isn’t it, considering all the opportunities writing this one story has created for me: Two Hearts Unspoken, for Mother’s Day Magic, and Two Hearts Undone, for Annie Acorn’s 2016 Romance Anthology, as well as being asked to write two other novellas for anthologies which will be coming out next year.

Yes, obviously short reads are becoming much more popular, and I do think it’s because of the convenience accessing technology. It’s so easy to download a story whether you’re traveling, sitting in a waiting room, or lying on a beach.

And working in anthologies has impacted my sales in a positive way.

I like the idea of Author bundles. You are a part of a novel collection called A Touch of Passion. What was the impact on your other sales? What was the main objective of bundling your works with other romance authors? How did you put something like that together?

The romance bundle for A Touch of Passion is comprised with full-length novels. When my dear friend Uvi Poznansky invited me into the group, I immediately said yes. She is the most amazing organizer I’ve ever met when it comes to putting together an anthology, and setting up promotions and Facebook events, and she’s very talented graphic designer as well. It takes a lot of patience to work in a group; particularly when some members don’t have the ability to contribute as much time as others, because of previous commitments.

The goal, of course, is to boost the sales of books for each author in the group. And, if in the process, we take it to the next level and become Amazon bestsellers (which we did), it would assuredly boost our sales even more.

What many authors don’t realize is the category rankings for anthology sales will also be associated individually with your numbers.

E.G. In Magical Weddings, we were ranked high in the paranormal category because of the authors in the group who did write stories with an element of fantasy. Even though I don’t write paranormal (at this point), I ranked at #105 in paranormal romance during our best week of sales!

A bestselling anthology can definitely boost your career as an author, and you should always think carefully before turning an offer down.

Besides the Romance Writers of America, what other writer support groups do you belong too? Do they help with the writing, marketing and the publishing process?

As I mentioned earlier, I am now affiliated with Blue Harvest Creative and they will be publishing my Tales of the Dragonfly Novels. Not only will they format and design the cover and interior of my books, they will also offer marketing opportunities along with projects I can submit stories for, if I wish. Since I haven’t been working with them for long, I’ll have to see how this goes.

I’m an affiliated author with AA publishing, since they’ve published Two Hearts Undone. They’re a small publisher, and organize anthologies in assorted genres. They do offer some marketing.

I’m a member of IAN 1, which is an Indie support group. They offer contests as well as regular promotions for books. They have many members, so they can be a big help at twitter.

I’m also a member of (probably) 20 other author groups. It’s hard to tell which ones are helping me the most. Goodreads, of course, can be beneficial, as well as joining and sharing with Facebook groups on a regular base.

Truthfully, the best promoter of your books when you’re an indie author is YOU.

What has been your experience in giving your books away free? Have you been involved in any other type of giveaways and how did that work out? What was your main goal in doing this? Did you run into any obstacles?

Actually, I’ve only given away one of my own books for free, and that was two and a half years ago. That Unforgettable Kiss did make it into the top ten for Saga Fiction, which was great, since it’s a huge category. My books began to sell regularly afterward. Offering anthologies for free can really be beneficial, because an anthology can introduce several new authors to a reader. Readers tend to scoop these up because of the amount of extra reading material.

As far as individual books? I think that offering for 99c is the way to go. I’ve discussed this with other authors, and there tends to be more negative reviews doled out to free books. Also, achieving a rank of bestselling author is more beneficial with a paid book, because it classifies you more prestigiously at Amazon.

Do you maintain a reader list? What are the methods you use to find your readers and create the list and the relationship? Do you use social media, forums, newsletters and/or support groups to build your list?

I’ve just begun creating a list in the last 6 months. I HAVE to get a newsletter out soon. Everything has just happened so quickly for me, my days whiz by in a blur. It’s difficult for me to get other things done because of it. The one thing I think that’s important is not to put people on a list unless you ask them first. Say, you have a giveaway? Don’t automatically assume it’s alright to add that person who wins onto your reading list.

I do regular giveaways with author friends on rafflecopter. These can go either way. Sometimes, everyone who wins contacts you right away for their books, other times you don’t hear from anyone. I think you get more benefit from promoting the giveaway, as opposed to giving away the books.

What is your method of getting reviews for your novels? Do you seek professional reviews, use social media or do you rely on your reading audience to supply them?

It’s difficult requesting reviews one at a time, because of the extra time involved, so I’ve only recently begun to discover reviewers. An author friend of mine, Allyson R. Abbott, and I are actually recruiting a street team to help us find reviewers, along with assisting us with assorted tasks such as posting on our Facebook pages and our blogs. I’ve been using Readers’ Favorite for editorial reviews for a couple of years now, but am just beginning to discover some review groups out there at Goodreads. I’ve just tried out Ebook discovery, and I’m really happy with the results from submitting my two novellas to them.



Author's Book List
Two Hearts Undone - Two Hearts Wounded Warrior Romance Book 3
Located in the town of Crystal Rock, Wisconsin, Crystal Visions is a school and residence for the physically and mentally impaired. Now, a wounded warrior facility is being built nearby, for the military heroes returning home from war.

What drives the caring people behind the scenes? Meet Melinda McDaniel and Steven Ryder.

Mel’s an R.N., and Steve’s an ex-Navy medic and physical therapist. What’s their motivation for dedicating their lives to the care and rehabilitation of those in need?

Both have suffered incredible loss with the death of their significant other. They’ve known each other for three rocky years. Are they finally ready to recognize the attraction they’ve been fighting for each other just might be love?


Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store


TWO HEARTS UNSPOKEN - Two Hearts Wounded Warrior Romance Book 2
The single mom of a severely autistic son, Elizabeth Bowen is a full-time accountant in Illinois. But the plant where she's been working will be closing soon, due to the struggling economy in Illinois. She's had her hands full with her son Kyle, since his father's been long out of the picture, so when the opportunity to enroll Kyle in a vocational facility in Wisconsin comes up, she gladly accepts.

Retired air force captain, Zachary Logan, is a wounded warrior, searching for anew life for himself outside of the air force. When he relocates to the town of Crystal Rock at the invitation of his friend, Luke Bryant, he realizes he's found it, and accepts the position of administrator at the recently built wounded warrior facility.

When Beth and Zach meet at the beach at Dragonfly Pointe, their attraction to each other is instantaneous. And the most wonderful thing of all? Zach is accepting of her special needs son, Kyle, for exactly who he is.

But even after getting to know each other better, and sharing an incredibly passionate kiss, Beth is puzzled by Zach's behavior. What's Zach hiding, that's preventing him from taking the next step?

Could these two lonely people discover love is that something unspoken, that's been missing from their lives?


Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO Store


TWO HEARTS SURRENDERED - Two Hearts Wounded Warrior Romance Book 1
Luke Bryant and Kelly Callahan met on the beach at Dragonfly Pointe when they were only kids. And ever since thirteen-year old Luke saved six-year old Kelly from drowning, they've felt an undeniable connection. But Luke has a tarnished past, and despite his attraction to Kelly when they're growing up, he just doesn't think he's good enough for her.

When Luke comes home on leave from the Air Force, and attends the Magical Wedding of Kelly's sister Kate (Romance Reviews Readers' Choice Award WINNER-That Unforgettable Kiss), Luke and Kelly finally share an enchanting night of passion. They simply can't help themselves--they've loved each other nearly their entire lives.

College student Kelly has everything going for her--she's not only beautiful, but intelligent too. So when Luke eventually returns home from Iraq as a disheartened wounded warrior, even though he appears to want nothing to do with her, she refuses to give up on him. It's not about his looks, or his past--it's all about the connection they've shared since they were kids. Fate has always meant for them to be together--she's sure of it.

But will that past night of enchantment, be strong enough magic, for a military hero to finally surrender his heart to the woman he loves?


Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble


That Unforgettable Kiss - Kissed By Fate Book 1
Kate Callahan has always known that, someday, she'd run the family business. So men have always been merely a distraction for Kate; she just doesn't have time for love.

Until fate steps in by way of a prophecy foretold, years ago, by a friend who'd been blessed with a remarkable gift. Kate has been warned that, one day, she'll be kissed by fate. And love will happen with that unforgettable kiss.

Michael Murphy already has his life mapped out. After graduating with his degree in Architecture, he'll be working at a prestigious firm in Chicago. When he arrives in the town of Crystal Rock to serve as an intern at Callahan Construction, the last thing he expects is his instant attraction to lovely crew boss, Kate Callahan.

Kate's immediately drawn to Murphy, too. And sparks fly when they unite in an attempt to discover the identity of the thief who's been stealing construction materials from her family's company.

But how could a long-term relationship between them ever survive? They're both young, with different dreams and goals. So even after their unforgettable kiss, Kate lets Murphy go.

Six years later, Kate's finally admitted her mistake; she's just never been able to forget that kiss. Devastated when she learns that Michael Murphy's become engaged, Kate comes up with a plan to try to win him back. But will she be too late?


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Amazon
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In Flight - A Tales of The Dragonfly Novel
The dragonfly is said to be a symbol of renewal after a time of great hardship.

A woman who’s afraid to trust. Successful designer, Penny Wentworth has arrived from New York to take charge of the wedding flowers for the new owners of the Dragonfly Pointe Inn. As a single parent of a severely autistic and mentally impaired son, she has no romantic illusions; her experience with an abusive husband has left her wary of relationships.

A man who’s afraid to love. Haunted by his past since discovering a six-year old girl brutally murdered at Dragonfly Pointe over twenty-two years before, Sam had intentionally avoided returning home. But after resigning from his job as a homicide detective in New Orleans when his marriage fell apart, Sam is now the chief of police in Crystal Rock, Wisconsin.

An undying passion that’s endured throughout the years. Penny’s escort for the wedding, Sam had once been the object of every single one of her teenage fantasies. Despite his overwhelming attraction to Penny as a teenager, Sam had deliberately kept his distance because of their age difference. But from the moment Sam meets Penny again, he realizes she’s always been the only woman for him.

And when Sam and Penny spend the entire weekend of the wedding together, their sizzling attraction turns explosive.

But unaware his divorce was never legally finalized, Sam has no idea that Vanessa Gerard Danielson is on her way to Crystal Rock attempting for reconciliation.

And now there’s a killer in their midst. Sam is stunned when Vanessa’s body is pulled out from the Crystal Rock River.

Indian legend claims Dragonfly Pointe has a mysterious power to ensure new beginnings. When Sam’s search for a killer, astonishingly, leads him back through his own tarnished past, will a woman who’s afraid to trust be able to forgive a man who considers himself undeserving of her love?


Order the Book From:
Amazon
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Tales of the Dragonfly Book I: In Tandem
Separated by circumstances fifteen years earlier, Jake Loughlin and Danielle Reardon are fatefully reunited at Dragonfly Pointe.

But the mysterious Dragonfly Pointe has a history of tragedy. An unsolved brutal assault and murder of a six-year old girl over twenty years before has remained unsolved.

A successful entrepreneur, Jake has hidden his status as a special investigator for the FBI. As owner of the Dragonfly Pointe Inn, Jake has returned to restore and renovate the abandoned property.

But, unofficially, he’s investigating the theory that a ring of human traffickers is operating in the area. With three to five kidnappings occurring at the end of each year over the states of Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, Jake can trace a pattern going back as far as thirty-five years.

And there could be a connection to the death of the little girl at Dragonfly Pointe twenty-two years earlier.

After the death of her grandmother several months before, Danielle has returned to the family cabin for a short vacation. A former model and vocalist for a band, Danielle escaped her chaotic life as a celebrity when her boyfriend died of a drug overdose. After obtaining her horticulture degree, she opened a successful landscape business in New York.

When Jake and Danielle finally meet again, it's magic.

But something odd is going on at Dragonfly Pointe. During the reconstruction process, not only is a strange vehicle noticed, several times, traveling back and forth to Dragonfly Pointe, but a suspicious stranger is sighted around the area.

When a young girl is kidnapped from a nearby community, the FBI investigation becomes official, and Jake is put into action.

Then lovely eighteen-year old Lucy Callahan is kidnapped. Granddaughter of the former police chief of Crystal Rock, Lucy is like a sister to Danielle.

When the FBI investigation leads back to Dragonfly Pointe, Danielle, herself, is put in danger.

Despite its tragic history, the beauty and power of the magic at Dragonfly Pointe enables new beginnings.

Suffering tremendous loss, or surviving abuse and tragedy, each character featured in the series will create their own new beginning, aided by the power of love.


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Amazon
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Author Recommended by: HBSystems Publications
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HBS Author's Spotlight
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Check out the index of other Spotlight authors. Spotlight Index.

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Wendy Corsi Staub – Blue Moon is featured in the HBS Author's Spotlight Showcase

The Showcase is a special feature of the Author's Spotlight. It is designed to highlight Spotlight author's NEW releases and their soon to be released novels.

The HBS Author's Spotlight SHOWCASES Wendy Corsi Staub's New Book: Blue Moon.

New York Times bestselling suspense novelist Wendy Corsi Staub is a Mystery & Thrillers and Suspense writer.








Blue Moon

Mundy's Landing Book Two


Author: Wendy Corsi Staub


AVAILABLE
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Hair neatly braided, hands serenely clasped, eyes closed, the young woman appeared to be sound asleep. But the peaceful tableau was a madman’s handiwork. Beneath the covers, her white nightgown was spattered with blood. At daybreak, a horrified family would discover her corpse tucked into their guest room. The cunning killer would strike again . . . and again . . . before vanishing into the mists of time.

A century ago, the Sleeping Beauty Murders terrified picturesque Mundy’s Landing. The victims, like the killer, were never identified. Now, on the hundredth anniversary, the Historical Society’s annual “Mundypalooza” offers a hefty reward for solving the notorious case.

Annabelle Bingham, living in one of the three Murder Houses, can’t escape the feeling that her family is being watched—and not just by news crews and amateur sleuths. She’s right. Having unearthed the startling truth behind the horrific crimes, a copycat killer is about to reenact them—beneath the mansard roof of Annabelle’s dream home . . .

Excerpt from BLUE MOON

Annabelle inhales deeply as she opens a search window on the computer. The antique woodwork is particularly aromatic in the muggy heat, infused with the sweet old-fashioned perfume of mock orange, honeysuckle, and peonies blooming beyond the screens.

Is this the same scent Florence Purcell breathed on that awful morning a century ago?

Fingers poised on the keyboard, she fights off morbid curiosity. Additional information about the Sleeping Beauty murders is the last thing she needs right now. Instead, she types Mundy’s Landing summer programs for 12-year-olds and hits Enter, then scans the results.

Mundy’s Landing has overshadowed her other search terms, and is, predictably, synonymous with Mundypalooza. Every hit revolves around the upcoming extravaganza, with its well-publicized daily schedule of events, everything from a “Forensics Expert Q&A” to a “Whodunnit Roundtable”—whatever that is.

She deletes Mundy’s Landing and presses Enter again. This time, she gets a number of promising summer programs for kids—but none located in this geographical region. A third search yields several local options Oliver might enjoy, but all are past the enrollment deadline, filled to capacity, or too expensive.

Frustrated, she leans back in her chair and sips her ice water.

What am I going to do with him?

The rubbery-gravelly sound of a car floats through the screened windows behind her. Rather than driving on past, it slows in front of the house. Turning, she spots an unfamiliar black SUV lingering in the middle of the street. She can’t see the driver, but she can feel him watching her.

No wonder Florence’s daughter, Augusta Purcell, cloaked the windows in layers of heavy fabric until the day she died.

I’ll ask Trib to install those vinyl shades down here, too, Annabelle decides. I don’t even care what it looks like. I don’t want to be a sitting duck for snoops all summer.

At last, the shadowy driver moves on down the street.

But I’m sure he’ll be back, she thinks as she resumes her dogged online search.

* * *

This is what it must feel like to be high on drugs, Holmes decides, as he turns the corner from Bridge onto State Street.

Unlike his idol Sherlock, who dabbled in cocaine and morphine, he doesn’t use illegal substances. He prefers to derive pleasure from being squarely rooted in every moment. Surely no chemical-induced sensation could rival his exhilaration when he saw Annabelle Bingham sitting in her parlor. It was all he could do to move his foot from the brake to the gas pedal and drive on past 46 Bridge.

To think he almost hadn’t allowed himself to detour through The Heights this morning. He’d promised himself he’d stay away, but the house pulled him like a magnet, as always.

There she was, plainly visible through the front parlor window.

Once again, he could have sworn she’d seen him.

Once again, she didn’t let on. She didn’t jump to her feet and rush to the window, or disappear from view.

Until now, he hasn’t wasted much time wondering what makes Annabelle Bingham tick. There are too many others to worry about.

The Beauties are becoming a problem.

“Shut up!” he hollered this morning, amid their incessant wailing. “I can’t hear myself think!”

A pity, because frankly, one of Holmes’s most pleasurable pastimes is hearing himself think. And speak.

“I love the way your mind works,” he says aloud, a perfect imitation of his mother’s admiring tone. She often said those very words to him. Now that she’s gone, Holmes carries on the tradition.

“There’s nothing wrong with talking to yourself,” he adds, driving on down State Street. “How else can you be assured of an intelligent speaker and attentive audience?”

Of course, if you are alone, some errant eavesdropper might misinterpret one-sided conversation for loneliness, or even mental illness. Holmes suffers from neither affliction, though when he was in London a few years back, he was memorably accused of the latter. He quite sanely and methodically set matters straight, though his efforts went unappreciated by the accuser, lying as she was in a puddle of her own blood.

No raging madman, Holmes.

He goes sensibly yet stealthily about his business just as his predecessor did a century ago. How else can one expect to hide in plain sight?

With a satisfied smile, he drives on through The Heights. The infamous dates—three of them, spaced about a week apart—loom as tantalizingly close as the trio of Murder Houses themselves.

June 30: 65 Prospect Street.
July 8: 46 Bridge Street.
July 14: 19 Schuyler Place.


The agenda is set for the Sleeping Beauty Killer’s return visit to Mundy’s Landing, and the clock is ticking.





Author Genre: Mystery & Thrillers, Suspense, Contemporary

Website: Wendy Corsi Staub
Author's Blog: Wendy Corsi Staub
Twitter: @WendyCorsiStaub
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Author Description: New York Times bestseller Wendy Corsi Staub is the award-winning author of more than eighty novels, best known for the single title psychological suspense novels she writes under her own name. Those novels and the women's fiction she writes under the pseudonym Wendy Markham also frequently appear on the USA Today, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookscan bestseller lists.

In 2015, Wendy will publish three new novels: THE BLACK WIDOW (on sale in February), which concludes her cyber predator suspense trilogy for HarperCollins; BLOOD RED (on sale in September), which launches Mundy’s Landing, a new psychological suspense trilogy for HarperCollins; and NINE LIVES (on sale in October), which launches Lily Dale, a new cozy mystery series for Crooked Lane Books. Her Wendy Markham novel HELLO, IT’S ME, originally published in 2005, will air as a television movie starring Kellie Martin and Kavan Smith on the Hallmark Channel in September.

A two-time finalist for the prestigious Simon and Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award, she’s won the 2008 RT Award for Career Achievement in Suspense, the 2007 RWA-NYC Golden Apple Award for Lifetime Achievement, an RWA Rita award, and five WLA Washington Irving Prizes for Fiction.

She previously published a dozen adult suspense novels with Kensington Books as well as the acclaimed young adult series Lily Dale with Walker/Bloomsbury. Earlier in her career, she published in a broad range of genres under her own name and various pseudonyms, and has co-authored and ghostwritten for a number of celebrities.

Wendy grew up in Dunkirk, New York, a small town near Buffalo and graduated from SUNY Fredonia. She moved to Manhattan and became an editor before selling her first novel in 1992. She now lives in the New York City suburbs with her husband and sons. A vocal and active supporter of Relay for Life, Support Connection, and the American Cancer Society, she was a 2012 Ovarian Cancer Awareness month national spokesperson for the Sandy Rollman Ovarian Cancer Foundation. As an animal rights advocate, she fosters for various rescue organizations.





Author's Book List
Nine Lives - A Lily Dale Mystery
In this warm and witty series debut from New York Times bestseller Wendy Corsi Staub, a widowed young mom plans a fresh start in Chicago--but instead finds her way to a quirky lakeside village that just happens to be populated by mediums.

When reluctant road trippers Bella Jordan and her son Max detour to Lily Dale, New York, they're planning to deliver a lost cat to its home and then move on, searching for one of their own. But the footloose feline's owner Leona Gatto has unexpectedly passed away, leaving behind a pregnant pet without a mistress, a busy inn without a keeper--and a lovable circle of neighbors who chat with dead people.

After agreeing to help out temporarily, sensible Bella doesn't need psychic gifts to figure out that a houseful of tourists and a litter of kittens lie in her immediate future--or that Leona was murdered. It's up to her to solve the case so that she and Max can leave town, but their new home--like Leona's killer--might just lurk where she least expects it.


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Blood Red - Mundy's Landing Book One
The razor's gleaming blade slices effortlessly through skin and tendon, and he relishes the final anguished moments of his prey. There's only one thing he prizes more: their long, silken strands of red hair. But these women are merely stand-ins . . . a prelude to his ultimate victim.

Nestled in New York's Hudson Valley, Mundy's Landing is famous for its picturesque setting—and for a century-old string of gruesome unsolved murders. Rowan returned to her hometown years ago, fleeing a momentary mistake that could have destroyed her family. Life is good here. Peaceful. Until an anonymous gift brings Rowan's fears to life again.

The town's violent history was just the beginning. Soon everyone in Mundy's Landing will know that the past cannot be forgotten or forgiven—not until every sin has been paid for, in blood.


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Witch Hunt
Abbey Hanover's parents have just inherited a run-down old house in Seacliffe, Massachusetts. Being forced to spend the summer there is bad enough, but the place gives Abbey the creeps. Especially when she learns that Felicity Crane, a teenaged girl who lived there 300 years before, was falsely accused of being a witch...and hanged.

Then Abbey meets Zachariah, a guy who wears weird-looking clothes and talks strangely. So does Elspeth, who breaks into Abbey's house one night and threatens her with a knife. Soon Abbey makes a shocking discovery: Zachariah and Elspeth are really time travelers from the long-ago past!

Now, as Abbey suddenly finds herself hurtling back through time, she meets the real Felicity Crane. Can Abbey save Felicity from the hangman's noose...or will she be the one who's branded as a witch--and sentenced to die?


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The Black Widow
In a chilling new thriller from New York Times bestselling author Wendy Corsi Staub, one woman looking for love online is entangled in a killer's terrifying scheme . . .

In the moonlight, shovelfuls of earth fall on a wooden crate at the bottom of a deep pit. Soon the hole will be filled and covered over with leaves, erasing all trace of the victim below, waking to the horror of being buried alive . . .

Newly divorced Gaby Duran isn't really expecting to find her soul mate on a dating site like InTune. She just needs a distraction from pining over her ex-husband, Ben, and the happy marriage they once had. And she's wise enough to know that online, the truth doesn't always match the profile. Almost everyone lies a little—or a lot.

But Gaby quickly discovers there is much more at stake than her lonely heart. Local singles are going missing after making online connections. And a predator is searching again for the perfect match. One who will fulfill every twisted desire . . . Or die trying.


Book Trailer: The Black Widow



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The Perfect Stranger
In New York Times bestselling author Wendy Corsi Staub's new thriller, one woman finds herself in the crosshairs of a twisted predator who might just be masked behind a familiar screen name . . .

During the darkest period of her life, Landry Wells found solace in a group of bloggers who had been in her shoes and lived to tell the tale. She's shared things with her online friends that even her husband and children didn't know. Things that now, looking back, make her uneasy.

One of the bloggers is dead, victim of a random crime—or was it? Did she trust too easily; reveal too much? At the funeral a thousand miles from home, Landry is about to come face to face at last with the others. These women are her closest confidantes in the world: they understand her; they know everything about her—and one of them might be a cold-blooded killer . . .


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Cold Hearted
In this prequel novella to New York Times bestselling author Wendy Corsi Staub’s psychological suspense novel THE PERFECT STRANGER (Harpercollins, on sale 7/29/14), readers are introduced to the enigmatic Johanna Hart. Abandoned by her teenaged birth mother and raised by callous grandparents, Johanna is determined to escape her bleak Midwest existence at any cost. But that blind ambition comes back to haunt her years later, after she’s reinvented herself as glamorous golden girl Jenna Coeur. Now her secret past has caught up with her, embodied in a calculating young woman who will stop at nothing to destroy her—a woman with a strangely familiar face...


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The Good Sister
In New York Times bestselling author Wendy Corsi Staub's electrifying new thriller,a mother races to save her daughter beforeher darkest nightmare comes true.

Sacred Sisters Catholic girls' school has hardly changed since Jen Archer was a student. Jen hoped her older daughter would thrive here. Instead, shy, studious Carley becomes the target of vicious bullies. But the real danger at Sacred Sisters goes much deeper.

The only person Carley can talk to is "Angel," a kindred spirit she met online. Carley tells Angel everything—about her younger sister, about school, about the sudden death of her former best friend. Angel is her lifeline. And Angel is closer than she knows.

When another schoolgirl is found dead, Jen's unease grows. There are too many coincidences, too many links to her past. Every instinct tells her that Carley is the next target. For someone is intent on punishing the guilty, teaching the ultimate lesson in how to fear . . . And how to die.


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She Loves Me Not
She loves me … she loves me not.

When a homemade, heart-shaped valentine with no signature shows up in Rose Larrabee's mailbox, she is surprised to say the least—as a widow and mother of two young children, she has little time for romance. But what one might mistake for a sweet gift is really a terrifying reminder of the secret she shares with two other women … a secret that has deadly consequences.

I want her … I want her dead.

When the phone rings in the middle of the night, playing a song that chills her to the bone, Rose is determined to keep her family safe from the threat she cannot see but knows is out there ... watching. After one of the other women is murdered, it becomes clear that each valentine is not the gift of a secret admirer but a warning from the madman who is getting all too close to the very heart of her deepest, darkest fears …


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Shadowkiller
Nestled in the warm, domestic cocoon of loving husbandand family, Allison finally feels safe—unaware that astranger's brutal murder on a Caribbean island is the first step in an intricate plan to destroy everything in her life.

For seasoned NYPD Detective Rocky Manzillo, the signs are clear that something terrible has emerged from the shadows:a murder victim left without a face and a faded photograph that yields a startling connection.

Now, as Allison's murky memories of a troubled childhood creep back to light, a cunning predator who shares her history prepares toenact a horrifying retribution—and won't stop killing untilAllison faces a shocking truth . . .and pays the ultimate price.


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Fade to Black
Sometimes secrets can kill . . .

I know who you are. When Elizabeth Baxter reads these words, her world crashes. Five years ago, she was Hollywood superstar Mallory Eden—until a mysterious stalker turned her life into a nightmare. Now she hides in the small town of Windmere Cove, Rhode Island, living in fear, constantly looking over her shoulder . . .

Then her house is ransacked. The phone rings, and no one is on the other end … And very soon Elizabeth realizes she's being hunted again. Her only peace is the solace she's found in the arms of Harper Smith. She longs to tell him the truth—and then she learns of his own secret past … a past that connects to Mallory Eden's.


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Lullaby and Goodnight
Hush Little Baby, Don't You Cry. . .

At thirty-nine, Peyton Somerset has an enviable life, with a thriving advertising career and a beautiful Manhattan apartment. And now she's going to have the one thing she wants most--a baby. Peyton's biological clock went off just as her fiancé took off, leaving her at the altar. So Peyton's going it alone. Already, she's making plans for the little one inside her. . .buying the layette, daydreaming, and worrying over the littlest things. That's only natural. All mothers do. But Peyton has reason to worry. In fact, she has every reason to be terrified. . .

Mama Won't Be Singing Any Lullabies.

As the months pass, Peyton can't help feeling that something is terribly wrong. She's certain that someone has been in her apartment, that she's being followed, that someone is watching her. Maybe it's just hormonal paranoia that makes her distrust everyone around her. Or maybe her maternal instincts are dead on. Maybe there's someone close who doesn't think she should give birth at all. Someone who would do anything to have a baby. Anything. . .


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Sleepwalker
Ten years after the catastrophe, a great fallen city has risen again. Ten years after, a horror begins anew . . . or never truly ended.

The nightmare of 9/11 is a distant but still painful memory for Allison Taylor MacKenna—now married to Mack and living in a quiet Westchester suburb. She has moved on with her life ten years after barely escaping death at the hands of New York’s Nightwatcher serial killer. The monster is dead, having recently committed suicide in his prison cell, but something is terribly wrong. Mack has started sleepwalking, with no recollection of where his nighttime excursions are taking him.And here, north of the city, more women are being savagely murdered, their bodies bearing the Nightwatcher’s unmistakable signature.

Suddenly Allison must confront a devastating truth: her life is in jeopardy once again . . . And quite possibly from the man she trusts and loves.


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NIGHTWATCHER
As the city sleeps in the early hours of September 10, 2001, the killer waits and watches, unaware of the cataclysm to come. Even the nightmare of 9/11 will not postpone his private reign of terror. Allison Taylor adores her adopted city, New York, loving every minute of the invigorating urban hustle. But on a bright and clear September morning, the familiar landscape around her is savagely altered—and in the midst of widespread chaos and fear, a woman living upstairs from her is found, brutally slaughtered and mutilated. For Allison . . . for her neighbor, James "Mack" MacKenna, desperately searching for news of his missing wife . . . for homicide detective Rocky Manzillo, hunting for a monster called "The Nightwatcher" amid the smoking ruins of a devastated city, this tragic day will hold a special horror. Because a different kind of terror has entered their lives . . . and it's coming to claim Allison Taylor as its next victim.


Book Trailer: NIGHTWATCHER



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Dearly Beloved
To have. To hold . . . To die.

On a windswept New England island, he waits, fingering the wedding gowns he's had made for each of them . . . the dresses they will wear when he kills them.

Three women have come to the Bramble Rose Inn. Sandy Cavelli longs to find romance through a personal ad. Liza Danning hopes to land a publishing deal with a reclusive author. And Jennie Towne, masquerading as her own twin, seeks a getaway weekend. They have nothing in common—or so it seems.

Then a storm bears down on the eerie, isolated inn, and the three women are plunged into a terrifying fight for survival. Because someone consumed with revenge has chosen them—for better, for worse . . . 'til death do them part.


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Mike, Mike & Me - Red Dress Ink
Written by Wendy Markham, a pseudonym
Once upon a time in the 1980s, a girl named Beau was torn between two Mikes: did she prefer her high-school sweetheart or the sexy stranger she'd picked up in an airport bar? One she eventually married, the other she left behind (and forgot all about, or tried to, anyway).

But which Mike did she choose? This delightful tale by the bestselling author of Slightly Single and Slightly Settled alternates between the story of Beau's summer of Mikes and the outcome fifteen years later…without giving away which Mike ended up where—in Beau's marriage bed or in her memory.

In "The present" chapters, the former swinging single lives in the 'burbs with a childbirth-traumatized body, an increasingly distant husband and a sad sack maid who isn't much for cleaning. When out of the blue the Mike-not-taken sends her a flirty e-mail, she suddenly finds herself back to square one, trying to decide which man is the Mike of her dreams.


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Slightly Single - Red Dress Ink Novels
Written by Wendy Markham, a pseudonym
A heat wave in Manhattan is enough to drive a girl crazy, and for Tracey Spadolini, a 24-year-old New York transplant who's been "left behind" for the summer, there's even more to sweat about. Her Slightly Significant Other, Will, will be returning from summer stock in September, to pick up where they left off. (Or will he?)

But, in the days after Will's departure, Tracey decides it's time for a reality check. Her un-air-conditioned East Village apartment is a dump, her entry-level ad job sucks, her thighs don't seem to be getting any thinner, and Will seems to have dropped off the face of the earth. So, Tracey, with the help of her friends and one very attentive guy, decides to spend her summer reinventing herself…and taking a chance on liking the new woman she becomes.


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Author Recommended by: HBSystems Publications
Publisher of ebooks, writing industry blogger and the sponsor of the following blogs:
eBook Author’s Corner
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Check out the index of other Spotlight authors. Spotlight Index.