Many of you know the authors of Do No Harm medical thriller set raised money for Operation Renewed Hope (for American Veterans) and Anicara Pet Care to support Senior Pets. We were told by the publisher, the now defunct Genius Media, that each charity would receive $1,800. Then Wid Bastian, owner of Genius Medial told us there were NO royalties for authors or money for the charities. In short, the 17 authors and named of DO NO HARM were #SCAMMED and #CHEATED along with our 501c3 charities. While we are pursuing criminal and legal action, I feel badly for the charities who have counted on those monies. I have enclosed the link to contribute to Anicarahttps://crm.bloomerang.co/HostedDonation?ApiKey=pub_9eadd07a-39d0-11e9-9f3d-0aa640fb8062&WidgetId=1615872
Please, if you can, help us raise these amounts as the charities has counted on these dollars. You can use your credit card. Every little bit will help these organizations. Many thanks and Happy Holidays!
Following my enthusiastic review of Book One in the series (The Crimson Death Bringer)
here are my announcement of Book 2 going on pre-sale and my pre-release review – thanks to the author’s preview copy.
You will all know that I rarely dive into science fiction reading but I saw the author’s quirky tweets and got into the series that way.
THE GOLDEN VIPER is a bit more serious than the first and the novel gets you more of the sci-fi action with more focus on the actual science fictions story, the fighting scenes, the different species and other fantasy elements.
A surprise attack of unexpected dimensions forces our heroes to think quickly on their feet and come up with solutions how to fight off the invaders. All the more disturbing is the re-appearance of a character previously thought dead. From there the action never lets up and keeps…
Thanks Olga for alerting me to this new book in Amy Metz’s fabulous series.
I’m a big fan and can’t believe I would have missed this.
The Blurb:
It’s election season, and there’s a new candidate in town. Virgil Pepper is determined
to take the job from Goose Pimple Junction’s long-time mayor. Virgil is a charming and
charismatic candidate but someone who will say anything (and mean none of it)
to get what he wants. Three things top his list: to become mayor, to acquire Jackson
Wright’s land, and to make Caledonia Culpepper one of his many conquests.
Wynona Baxter is back, and she’s a new woman. Now Daisy has a new identity, new life,
and new business–ironically named Killer Cupcakes. But the town soon finds out that
isn’t the only kind of killer in town. Book five of the Goose Pimple Junction mystery series
combines political hijinks, delicious cupcakes, Goose Juice moonshine, the ups and downs
of finding true love, and, of course, murder.
It is said that “It’s a basic truth of the human condition that everybody lies. The only
variable is about what.” Lying in politics, lying for personal and professional gain,
lying about an identity . . . What are the folks of Goose Pimple Junction willing to
lie for . . . and what are they willing to die for?
Amy Metz is the author of the Goose Pimple Junction mystery series. She is a former first grade teacher and the mother of two grown sons. When not writing, enjoying her family, or surfing Pinterest and Facebook, Amy can usually be found with a mixing spoon, camera, or book in one hand and a glass of sweet tea in the other. Amy loves unique Southern phrases, cupcakes, and a good mystery. She lives in Louisville, Kentucky. Find out more at http://authoramymetz.com
The author provided me with an ARC copy of this book that I freely chose to review. This in no way influenced my opinion.
I have read and enjoyed some of the books in the collection, but I somehow missed number 4, and that, perhaps helps me tailor my comment also towards readers who might be considering reading this book without having checked the rest. Yes, the story is self-contained, although there are references to events that have taken place in previous books, and a lot of the characters will be familiar to those following the series, who will be in a better position to understand the background to some of the interactions and also the web of relationships and the ins and outs of life at Goose Pimple Junction. And yes, in case you’re wondering, I love the name of the place! So, regarding the issue of reading it as a standalone, I’d say one does not need to have read all the books in the series to enjoy it, but because some of the characters have names and nicknames (witty and funny, I admit), and their relationships are not always evident, it might get a bit confusing to follow the story if you are totally new to it. On the other hand, as I said, I had missed one of the books, and I could pick up the narrative without any problem. I am convinced, though, that reading them all in order enhances the experience, and it’s like visiting a familiar place where you always have fun and renew old friendships every time you go.
The way the story is told is quite interesting, and it adds to the mystery. We start with a murder (a new character, Virgil, who is in the race to become the mayor of the town, is murdered in mysterious circumstances), a confession, and then we go back to several months before the event, counting back to the time of the crime, and then moving forward with the investigation. It works well, because we keep mulling over in our minds how everything we read might relate to the crime (and there are other suspicious deaths as well), and this results in plenty of red herrings, more and more suspects and plenty of possible motives (Virgil is far from a nice man, as we discover. In fact, he is a narcissist who treats women badly, and his business practices and politics aren’t much better either). Although told in third person, the narration follows the points of views of several of the characters, without ever giving us an advantage when it comes to solving the mystery. We might think we know what has happened, and we are privy to some information the sheriff department don’t have, but things are, of course, not as straightforward as they seem to be.
As the mystery part of the plot advances, we also get to learn more about some new arrivals to the town (not totally new, but I’ll avoid spoilers), and also catch up on what has happened to those inhabitants we have come to know and cherish. There are romances developing, a new cupcake shop (if you’re on a diet, I’d take care with the book, as there are many reference to Killer Cupcakes, both the shop and the actual items), there are shady business deals (moonshine liquor, buying land with coercion and under false pretences), there is Oktoberfest to spice up things and bring in the party atmosphere (the fancy dresses, mostly wordplay related, bring in plenty of chuckles), and the ending is very satisfying, and it hints at even better times to come for Goose Pimple Junction. (Yes, I want to move there, or at least go for a very long holiday).
The story flows well, moves at good pace, and the combination of the mystery aspects with the lives of the characters is seamless. I highlighted so many parts of the dialogue, funny repartees, and quotes, that I was unable to choose just a few to add to this review, so my recommendation is to check a sample of the book if you’re trying to decide if you’ll enjoy it or not. I wonder if a list of characters, with their names, nicknames, and relationships might serve as a memory aid for readers visiting the town again, and might also assist readers totally new to the series.
The Southern-style sayings and the dialect of the region (Tennessee), the peculiar lingo and expressions of some of the townspeople, the new characters (I liked Daisy, but her mother, Kaye, must be my favourite new addition), and the quotes at the beginning of the chapter (all about lying and liars), give this book its unique flavour, and people who’ve read previous books in the series and loved them, will have a blast with this one.
I recommend this book to lovers of cozy mysteries, especially those who enjoy stories set in the Southern part of the USA and prefer their crimes laced with plenty of humour, wit, and local flavour. I think the novel works better as part of the series, and I’d recommend people who like the sound of it to start at the beginning, with Murder and Mayhem in Goose Pimple Junction (you can check my reviews of the first three books in the series, here). I hope to keep on visiting the town in the future, that is, if I don’t manage to move there!
Very excited today to receive a copy of “30 Days in June” in the mail today. The perfect Christmas present. Thanks Christ Westlake
After completing a Creative Writing course in 2010, Chris Westlake’s short story, Welsh Lessons, was awarded 1st place in the Global Short Story Award (not bad for the first writing competition he had entered). He followed this up with 1st place in the Stringybark Erotic Fiction Award and 2nd place in the HASSRA Literary Award.
Chris has written three novels. 30 DAYS IN JUNE is his first crime thriller. He is currently writing his second thriller, on schedule to be completed in 2020. He is determined to write many, many more – his main regret is that he didn’t start writing earlier.
Chris considers himself to be a developing author. He is always looking to improve, to make his next novel even better than the last. He is continuously experimenting with different styles, different genres.
You can discover more about Chris on his website, chriswestlakeauthor.co.uk
You can contact Chris at chriswestlakeauthor@hotmail.co.uk
I recently became a USA Today bestselling, something I’m very proud of. But in the process, Wid Bastian, an alleged marketer, stole more than $20,000from me and other authors I worked with.
That’s not okay.
(I have no concerns about what follows because the truth is the best defense. Here goes.)
The idea was…
cross market between 17 authors, our fan bases, our newsletter subscribers (some of these authors have 30,000 subscribers!), buy ads, AND – this is big – get a few big charities to work with us: we’d give 100% of the preorder money to the charities if they advertised our book to their donor list (that’s tens of thousands of people, gang).
So… we did.
The charities, contacted by authors in the group, advertised our books to their donor list.
Here is a little warning about a “service” I subscribed to recently: Wid Bastian of Genius Media who now has a new business named Kairos Phoenix Company (KPC).
I’m usually sceptical when it comes to professional indie author support but was taken in by his string of box sets. So many authors couldn’t be wrong?
Our book, Do No Harm, A collection of Medical thrillers, did well. Thanks to advertising and our own huge efforts we made USA Today and gathered 1.5 millions page reads during the short time it was in KU.
Two charities were named for this set, both 501c3 charities in the US and were to receive the pre-order proceeds. The charities advertised and marketed the set along with the authors.I’ve seen predominantly the marketing efforts from charities and the authors involved – actually next to nothing from his company.
Anyway, when it came to the end of the project and payments were due Wid stated in a Facebook post to us that Genius Media spent over $15,000 on the set (his own fee was $7,050 USD not counting his two staff members) and the total revenues for the set were only $14,000, hence no payout.
Hang on – we already paid the expenses upfront. Per contract our own fee to him should have covered all advertising and labour already so he double pocketed – fees and earnings!
And even if our fees hadn’t been paid, we earned well in excess of the fee, with some KU money still to come. Yet, at a rate of $75 per hour for his ‘work’ or more and despite what’s in the contract there will be no money for the charities and no royalties for the authors.
It’s appalling and I am so sorry to all the people who helped us promote the set under the impression they were helping veterans and dog shelters. Beastly to rob charities. Some of us have donated their own money to said charities in embarrassment while others are pursuing legal action against Wid.
I understand Wid has other Box Sets as a marketing product line in KPC and is currently engaged in recruiting other authors and promising them potential success in a USA Today run. Please let other authors be aware of him. This is so wrong on so many levels. He keeps moving companies and apparently uses variations of his name but the picture is verified by one of our authors who has met Wid.
Here’s what our contract stated:
“For the purposes of the USA Today Bestseller Medical Thriller Author Publishing Collaborative Boxed Set program, Genius Media shall not incur any publication and promotion expenses of any nature in excess of the fees paid under the terms of its author agreements and shall have no power to obligate the author or any other author for any publication and promotion expense above author fees paid whatsoever at any time.”
We paid a total of $12,750 which was the total amount GM would receive for publication and promoting expenses for DNH, which, of course, would include labor costs associated with that promotion and publication.
Happy weekend and happy holidays, my chuckaboos! Between the launch work of the past two weeks (prep and actual launch) for Thistledown – Midsummer Bedlam, I was working hard. Now, I’m blessed to have a friend offer to do some handyman-type work around my house — things I’m not able to do. Now that’s a great Christmas present. However, with all those things, I haven’t had a minute to work on The Delta Pearl. I promise the steampund riverboat will be back next weekend.
Meanwhile Dan Antion at No Facilities, had done a delightful post about Thistledown. Dan has channeled the faery character named in his honor for my book. I hope you’ll click over and visit his post.
Keep reading, there’s more!
A Guest Post – by Carver Eastdoor I don’t often have guest posts on No Facilities, and I don’t often talk about fairy, excuse me…
I’m very pleased to announce the release of my latest book, The Old Gilt Clock. As all profits from my books go to help get dogs out of kill shelters I want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who purchases my book and also to those who write reviews and help spread the word. I’m truly grateful for your support.
Cover photo: Willem Arondéus, Public Domain
SYNOPSIS
During one of the darkest times in human history when millions of innocent Jews and others deemed “undesirables” were being sent to concentration camps to be brutality worked to death or slaughtered, a group of Dutch resistance workers rose up against the atrocities. Their resistance to the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands created a vast counterintelligence, domestic sabotage, and communications network to help hide Jewish people from German authorities. The Old Gilt Clock is the story of how one Dutch resistance…
Seasons Greetings, all!Things might have seemed quiet here at the summerhouse, but it’s been a buzz of activity behind the scenes. More on that next week in my Christmas post. For now, it’s great to return with a hearty welcome to my lovely friend, blogger and prolific author, Geoff Le Pard.
Geoff Le Pard started writing to entertain in 2006. He hasn’t left his keyboard since. When he’s not churning out novels he writes some maudlin self-indulgent poetry, short fiction and blogs at geofflepard.com. He walks the dog for mutual inspiration and most of his best ideas come out of these strolls. He also cooks with passion if not precision.
Some of you know Geoff well through blogging. I first met him five years ago at the very first Bloggers Bash in London and it’s great to catch up with him here and there. I’m delighted to…
I’m delighted to present my review for this hugely entertaining and simply brilliant book. Lucy and her books have been on my blog several times and I just can’t get enough.
We’re back in Old College with the bunch of academics and associates that often do everything but educate others.
The toxic Dean, an obsessive Bursar, the Porter team and some new characters, including an eccentric American professor, on this occasion on their search of a precious historical item that may or may not be located on the College grounds.
Having watched my husband reading the book in almost one sitting on the beach I grabbed it as soon as he had finished and got sucked into it in the same way. The search involves travel to France – always good for a few jokes, some coincidences including an annoying police man on holiday, a few people with what I would call a hat fetish, chaotic wedding plans and basically, a lot of hysterical fun.
The characters are always quirky, the plot is very playful but spiked with enough twists and surprises to avoid predictability.
If you want more details, here is the official blurb and the link to Amazon:
‘A peculiar type of morality’
Head Porter’s hopes for a quiet life are dashed not only by the return to Old College of one of academia’s most controversial Fellows, but also the revelation that the Knights Templar may once have left behind something quite important in the College grounds. As Deputy Head Porter and The Dean mount a typically ill-considered investigation, knowledge of this esoteric legend had already fallen into dangerous hands…
Abandoning Head Porter to deal with a College wedding, a mysterious big hole, troublesome felines and a potentially murderous Bursar, Deputy Head Porter leads The Dean and the highly unpredictable Professor Horatio Fox in a race against time to solve puzzles, crack codes and follow a trail that takes them to the very heart of the legend of the Knights Templar – an ancient chateau in Chinon, France.
Coincidentally, this is exactly where DCI Thompson chooses to spend his summer holiday and if he is hoping for an escape from the rigours of fighting crime, he is to be sorely disappointed. In fact, he could be the only one standing between our heroes and the enigmatic, unseen pursuer who appears intent on stopping them in their tracks once and for all…