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Excerpts Spotlights

Author Spotlight: Bruce Jenvey 1.1

spotlight

Bruce Jenvey is the award-winning author of Angela’s Coven and other tales of the paranormal. Here is an excerpt from his soon to be released third book in the Cabbottown Witch series, The Ragtime Coven, telling the story of the coven through the days of WWI and the Prohibition Era.

The sounds of Aaron’s motorcycle had barely faded down the road when Aunt Maddy started hauling a large collection of jars and storage containers out of the back pantry. With the help of Andrea and Angela, it didn’t take long to bring all the pertinent stores out to the dining room table.

“Alright, ladies,” Aunt Maddy began, “It’s inventory time! What have we got? What’s still good? What are we missing?”

“I can’t thank you all enough for your help with this project,” Angela said as she set the last of the large sealed jars down on the table.

“Nonsense!” objected Celia. “This is what we do.”

“And to do it for family is certainly no hardship,” Evelyn added as she started shuffling through the smaller Mason jars at the far end nearest the windows.

“Our goal here,” clarified Aunt Maddy, “is to come up with a protective talisman for Aaron and we have got to do this before he leaves for Europe.”

“Are we even certain he’ll be drafted?” asked Andrea with a ray of hope.

“Don’t think with your head, girl,” Maddy corrected her. “Use your gift.”

“Use your ability as a Sensitive, sweetie,” Evelyn encouraged her in a less gruff tone than Maddy’s. “He’s young, he’s strong… smart. Even I can sense he’ll be among the first to go, and I’m a Finder.”

“Sorry…”

“No sorry about it,” Maddy stepped in again. “You may well be the best Sensitive I’ve ever seen, bar none. But you got to start drawing that card first instead of thinking things through like regular people. Here, try this. Sit down and close your eyes.” Andrea reluctantly took a seat next to Celia. “Now, they closed?”

“Yes, they’re closed…”

“Keep ‘em that way, now.” Maddy took one of the sealed jars from the center of the table and placed it in front of the younger woman. “Keep ‘em closed, and put your hands on this.” Andrea wrapped her hands around the Mason jar. Almost at once, a faint smile crossed her face. “What you got there, hon?”

“It’s… Milkweed Extract!”

“Mixed or straight up?”

“There’s Pudding Plant in there, too!”

“Exactly!” Maddy congratulated her. “Here’s another.” She traded the jars in front of Andrea.”

“This is… ground oak bark.”

“You’re not peeking now, are you?” Evelyn teased.

“Nope! Aunt Maddy’s right, I can feel it!”

“Well, try this one.” Maddy placed another sealed Mason jar before her.

“This is…” but Andrea’s face fell in confusion. “This is… Marinara sauce.”

“No it’s not,” Maddy objected. “That’s Egg Plant Puree with Sprig Weed in it.”

“No, it’s Marinara sauce!” Andrea insisted. She opened her eyes and looked at the label on the bottom of the jar. “See?”

“Well, how the heck did that get on the wrong shelf…” Maddy puzzled aloud as she took the jar from Andrea.

“Well,” Celia piped in, “That explains the other night’s lasagna disaster.”

“Hush up, Celia. At least you won’t have to worry about constipation for a month!”

Suddenly, Evelyn could no longer contain her laughter though she tried to stifle it with her hands. It was contagious around the table.

“It’s not that funny, Evelyn!” Maddy protested.

“Yes it is!” Evelyn laughed through the tears in her eyes. “Aaron had seconds!”

“Oh my God!” Angela put her hands over her own mouth as she laughed aloud. “He did!”

“Well then, he can thank me for two months. But we’ve got to go through all this stuff and see what’s good and what’s gone bad.”

“This jar of St. Isaac’s Root is cracked,” Celia announced, holding up one of the smaller containers. “Look, they’ve even started to turn that brownish-blue around the top edges.”

“Just toss that one right into the trash bin, there,” Maddy said with a furrowed brow.

“There’s something black growing in the bottom of this one.” Angela handed one of the smaller jars to Aunt Maddy.

“That’s okay, this is just some Queen Ann’s Lace seeds mixed in with Web Dew. It’s supposed to do that… but this one will be a couple years yet before it’s ripe.”

“A couple years?” Evelyn said in surprise.

“I told you guys it was a pretty weak harvest last fall. Probably because of the cold summer we had. It’ll get there, just taking its time.”

“But we don’t have a lot of time,” Angela said, biting her lip.

“Why are we going at it this way, Maddy?” Celia protested. “We’ve made talismans before.”

“And they’re all based on mustard seeds, too,” Maddy tried to explain.

“Best ones are,” Evelyn threw in.

“So why aren’t we going that route?” Andrea asked.

“Listen, Talisman 101 for all of you. A talisman works by repelling things, not by shielding or any kind of avoidance, it’s just a repellant, that’s all.”

“And mustard seeds are the best at that, right?” Celia’s patience was thinning.

“Yes, normally. But there’s a problem this time. The Germans have weaponized mustard seeds into their latest form of poison gas.” Looking at the blank looks around the table, Maddy continued. “Mustard gas is their latest, craziest way of killing each other in mass over there. I read all about it in the papers. It’s worse than anything they’ve used so far. Almost makes me think they’ve had someone like us helping them out, if you know what I mean.”

“None of our kind would ever do that!” Evelyn said indignantly.

“It’s a new world, Evelyn, you just never know. Anyway, we can’t make a talisman based on mustard seeds, not if it’s the same dang thing we’re trying to protect him from. It mostly likely would be useless.”

“Only most likely?” Celia questioned.

“What’s more than most? And anyway, it’s a risk I know we don’t want to take.” Maddy’s words brought silence around the table and tears to Angela’s eyes. It was Celia that spoke first, trying to lighten the moment and bring the focus back to their work.

“We could always send the Huns some of your Lasagna.” Celia’s words worked and a ripple of laughter rolled through the room.

“What about…” Evelyn’s smile suddenly faded away. “What about Golden Rod Buds?” At this very mention, Maddy’s face brightened and the twinkle returned to her eye.

“Yes! They got many of the same properties as Mustard seeds, but they aren’t from the same family at all!”

“And last year was a great year for Golden Rod,” Andrea interjected. “We were picking it for days.”

“And we’ve got lots of Druid Dust and Thistle Milk to go with it!” Maddy said as she quickly picked up and inspected several of the sealed jars. “Oakie Doakie, that’s our way in! Girls, put a couple fresh pots on to simmer, big ones, and start heating the water. Evelyn, you and Celia start measuring out the Golden Rod Buds from the dry bin in the pantry. And let’s clear this table in the process.”

With a clear direction to proceed, the women went to work and Aunt Maddy’s kitchen was busy indeed.

To read more from Bruce and get copies of the first two books in this powerful series, click here.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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Fiction Author

Randy Attwood Interview

toiboxinterviewThe Eternal Curse Series Blog Presents an interview with author: Randy Attwood.

So tell me, who is Randy Attwood.?

I grew up on the grounds of a Kansas insane asylum where my father was a dentist. I attended the University of Kansas during the troubled 1960s getting a degree in art history. After stints writing and teaching in Italy and Japan I had a 16-year career in newspapers as reporter, editor and column writer winning major awards in all categories. I turned to health care public relations serving as director of University Relations at KU Medical Center. I finished my career as media relations officer of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Now retired, I am marketing the fiction I’ve written over all those years. And creating more.

I can see you’ve already had quite a career, but now that you’re retired, I’m sure the adventures will begin. Being an author is a lot more involved than most people realize.

So whacha got for me today?

Growing up on the grounds of a mental hospital and working in the cafeteria that fed its 1,500 patients meant I got to know a lot of crazy folks. “Write about what you know,” goes the adage. “Crazy About You” is told in first person from the point of view of a high school student who will have a week that grows him up far faster than he could have every wanted. Crazy is a coming-of-age, murder mystery, thriller story. It’s my most downloaded and purchased book with 17 five-star reviews. You can see them here.

Not too many people can write from firsthand experience in a mental hospital. Already your story sounds very intriguing.

So who’s starring in this 2 dimensional script read of “Crazy About You”?

Brad Adams is a high school junior. He’s a folk singer and a dreamer. When his dad, the mental hospital’s dentist, goes on a work trip, Brad has no idea that he will spend the week grappling with questions about sexuality, sanity and death. And some of the answers aren’t pretty.

There was once a time when hearing of a teen grappling with questions of sexuality meant that someone was having their first crush. Teens are so mature these day and subjects that were once taboo are now being openly discussed in healthy ways. This definitely sounds like a tale that will appeal to a wide audience.

Past, present, future, is there a rhyme or reason to your writing?

I write by the seat of my pants. A scene or situation or character comes to me and I start creating that scene and character and see what happens. I never know the ending of a story when I start it. I used to be upset when people would ask me how much of “Crazy About You” really happened. Then I realized that the writing created a reality for those readers. And that’s what I’m trying to do with words: create a reality.

I try to write by the seat of my pants, but I think I need a better belt. It never goes well for me. I need to plan; however, I do appreciate the creativity of others who can simply write.

What author(s) has most influenced your writing? Why or how?

Like my own writing, the taste in fiction is all over the map. Joseph Conrad was an early influencer. So was William Faulkner. Philip K Dick‘s science fiction grabbed me when I was in high school. I’ve read John D. MacDonald‘s Travis McGee series several times. Ditto, Adam Hall’s, Quiller series. Erich Remarque did some many other wonderful things than “All Quite on the Western Front.” Walker Percy, Evelyn Waugh, Robertson Davies and, of course, Elmore Leonard.

I think I’m detecting a theme here. Lots of crime fiction and thrillers here, but that’s great for influence and inspiration in your genres.

Whose brain are you just itching to scratch?

Joseph Conrad. We seem to know so little of what he was like as a person.

Nice choice and for good reason.

Who is so you and why?

I seem to connect deeply with many of Eric Remarque’s characters.

Fair enough. We can’t all always identify with just one person or character, but I can understand relating to many.

What’s your ideal reading spot for your next highly anticipated read?

from Goodreads

Outside when the weather is nice. Right now I’m reading Camp Concentration by Thomas Disch, which I’ve had on my shelf for decades and just reading. It’s brilliant.

I also enjoy reading outside though I hardly get to do it.

What was your favorite book or story, pre-teen years?

The Black Stallion series. I liked the character and set up and looked forward to the next tale. I’ve only tried to do one series, the Phillip McGuire series and found out how difficult it is to achieve.

I tried to read this book as a child, but had no luck. I never seemed to warm to books about animals, mainly horses, but I don’t mind to watch the film versions. I’m sure it’s all psychological.

There is more fun and insights to this interview, visit the Eternal Curse Series Blog for the full experience. For more information about this author, Randy Attwood, please visit the links below.

Blog: Attwood Collected Works

GoodReads: Randy Attwood

Facebook: Randy Attwood

Twitter: @AttwoodRandy

LinkedIn: Randy Attwood

Purchase links for “Crazy About You”: Amazon | Smashwords | Barnes and Noble | Apple

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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Promotion

Crane Goodreads Book Giveaway! via @Rourkewrites #YAfiction

I’m so excited I just can’t hide it! 😀

Lame, I know, but I don’t care.

Stacey Rourke has kept me on the edge of my seat with suspense and laughter all through her Gryphon Series (hint hint 😉 wink wink) and now, Crane, is one week away from release. I’ve added a digital copy to my library over at Smashwords.com as I await the release, but that didn’t keep me from entering the Goodreads.com giveaway for a chance to win a print copy.

Oh, ooo ooo ooo! I almost forget to tell you about the Facebook party.

This is going to be epic…you should totally tag along?

Check out Rourke’s, Diary of a Semi-Crazy Author, blog to read an excerpt and enter for a chance to win your copy of Crane!

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords