A writer's journey...

Hubby and I haven't been away on a plane for 13 years...that was until March 16th when we boarded a plane for Cancun, Mexico!  And what an amazing week we had there.   The resort we stayed at was wonderful.  The food was delicious, the drink was flowing, and a terrific highlight was everyone we met.  We must have met at least 50 people.  We met people from the United States, England, Argentina, Brazil, Russia, Germany, Australia, and other countries I'm sure I'm forgetting right now. And even though communicating could be hard at times with language barriers, gestures and smiles go a long way.  It never hurts to have a toast with new friends either.  It would be wonderful if life was like this all the time, yet I can only imagine if I approached people in my city when at a bar and introduced myself, what the reaction would be....yeah, let's keep the site PG rated (unless my crime novels already graduated that rating?). LOL Anyway, here ar...

Here they are, the winners of Assassination of a Dignitary: Grand Prize: Gifted Kindle Copy and 1 Autographed Paperback Katie Jennings A Gifted Kindle Copy also goes to each of the following: Jason Joy Crawford Sue Heil Thank you to all who entered.  If you didn't win, don't let it get you down, though, because you can still get a copy. Amazon US Amazon UK Amazon Canada

Assassination of a Dignitary by Carolyn Arnold Excerpt of Chapter 1 “Why her?”  Behler was the first female to serve as Governor in the state of Michigan. Christian laughed.  He lifted the glass to his lips but lowered his arm again.  He rested it on the sofa arm.  “You know we don’t answer those questions.  Yet she must know where her death is coming from.  And, to the media it must appear as an assassination.” “So you want it to take place from a distance, or close range?”  I asked for clarity.  His words seemed to contradict each other, know where her death is coming from, yet it must appear as an assassination . “A statement must be made.” “In-her-face-personal then?  And you want the last words she hears to be—” “From Pietro Russo.” “From Pietro Russo?”  The woman must have wronged the man on a personal level.  For all of my past close range kills, they would know where their fate came from, but the Don...

Pleased to announce  Assassination of a Dignitary is here early!  Here's an inside look. Book Overview: Raymond Hunter's dark past has returned and demands one final favor. Now fifteen years later, settled as an accountant and family man, he assumed life would be calm. He thought wrong. The Italian Mafia wants him back.  The directions were simple: Kill Governor Behler and be out for good. Despite the odd request since the Mafia typically respects dignitaries, in order to protect his family, Raymond has no choice but to accept the job. He picks the date and location—Niagara Falls, New York—two hundred and forty miles away. But by the time he returns home, he finds out the assassination attempt failed, his family has been kidnapped, and he has twenty-four hours to set things right if he wants to see them again.  With time running out, Raymond discovers the real reason they wanted Behler dead and finds out he’s placed himself and his family ri...

We have Christian Russo, the son of Pietro Russo, with us today.  Pietro is the Boss of the Russo Italian Mafia Family. How does it make you feel to be his son, not even necessarily second in power? Who says I’m not second in power?  As far as I’m concerned, I’m blood. Is it rumor that the mob will torture and kill those who betray them? You will never find evidence to incriminate me or my father.  Because you don’t take care of the jobs yourself, or you’re that good? You don’t need to be good when things are in place.  But I am good. You say you’d never get caught for a crime, so let’s talk hypothetically; say this guy did the family wrong, he owed debts and couldn’t repay? If what I says goes outside of this room, I will find you and I will kill you.  First off, I don’t have a preference when it comes to a means of killing.  It’s whatever fits my current mood.  I love to torture and what...

The scientific study of hair is called trichology and this field dates to the mid 1800s.  If you’re an avid researcher of forensics you’ll know that hair can tell an investigator a lot of things such as where the hair came from (animal or human), and if human, what part of the body it came from, the race of the person, and if the scenario is just right DNA. But did you know scientists are working on the connection between hair and diet and environmental factors?   It turns out you are what you eat to the tips of your hair. Scientists have discovered that with animals everything they eat and drink is recorded in their tissues and this includes their hair.  With water, for example, it reasons that chemical elements come in different forms and concentrations depending on where the water comes from. “The hair becomes a linear tape recorder,” says Ehleringer. “So it tells us a little story about the history of what an animal was eating or drinking.” ...