A writer's journey...

Today through Tuesday, April 23rd, be sure to  grab your FREE copy  on  Amazon  and tell others about it! For the lucky ones, there is a love so powerful that when it comes along, it changes everything. As teenagers, just a chance meeting at a county fair, would change Barry and Tessa's lives forever. Yet with a summer romance that didn't fully blossom and ended without warning, two hearts were torn apart by time and circumstance. Tessa pursued her love of dance and found herself a ballerina in the 1962 production of The Nutcracker in New York City. But she still thought of Barry.   Reunited nearly a decade later, only to be ripped apart by war and loss, Tessa wonders if they will ever be together and dreams fulfilled. 18,000 words

One bulb at a time.  At least that’s how the story goes to explain the above field of daffodils.   Nearly one million were planted over a period of forty years. Ever feel like you’re never going to accomplish your goals?  Sometimes we set rather large ones for ourselves--yet they are attainable.  We’ve heard it said before, ‘break down larger goals into smaller ones’.  And the advice is sound.  Think about writing a novel.  The task may seem very daunting when you start out, but as the words start to flow, the story comes together, and before you know it you’ve written a full length novel. Maybe you have yet to reach your goal of completing a novel.  Take heart.  A book may be made up of 60,000-100,000+ words, but when you break that down, what do you have?  One word at a time. The same advice and mindset can be taken when in the editing process, which can sometimes feel more daunting than a first draft. B...

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...