SMALL PRESS TREASURES BLOG HOP GIVEAWAY!!!!!

Well guys as you know its taking me a long time to get back into my blog, what with the move and everything and for that im so sorry. But im all most sorted in my new home and I hope to be back on top of things soon, Now today im here to  take part in another giveaway hop. iv got 3 amazing authors for you to check out. One very lucky winner will be walking away with 3 books. 

AUTHOR BIO JERRY LAST.

I'm a Professor of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of California's Medical School at Davis, near Sacramento in Northern California. I have a Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry and do research in asthma and health effects of air pollution on the lungs. My lifelong hobby has been reading mystery novels, especially the California mystery novels of my favourite authors, Raymond Chandler, Ross MacDonald, Michael Connelly, Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins series, and Robert Crais, and wandering out of California, Robert B. Parker's Spenser series and James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux stories.

My interest in writing my own mysteries came from reading the masters and from a Freshman seminar I taught for many years at UC Davis on California Mystery Novels. The setting for my novels thus far has been South America, especially Uruguay and Northwest Argentina, both places we lived during a sabbatical I took several years ago. I've been back to Montevideo and Salta several times since then for collaborative research and teaching programs there, so I know the locales, the food, and the people I use for the books. Novels to come will be set in Chile, Peru, and Brazil, all places I have spent time in thanks to the various scientific collaborations that began during our sabbatical leave.

I try to write books that are fast moving and entertain the reader, while introducing the readers to a region where I've lived and worked that is a long way from home for most English speakers. Montevideo, Salta, Machu Picchu, and Iguazu Falls are characters in these books, and the novels will have succeeded for me if some of you say that you'd like to visit these places because they seem so vivid and real.

 

EXCEPT

 

We found the corpse on a rocky stretch of beach in Montevideo, about a mile east of the harbor. Pieces of the body were apportioned equally between the Graf Spee Memorial and the Holocaust Memorial, which are side by side on a grassy knoll overlooking the Rio de la Plata shore facing Buenos Aires to the south. Because of her strategic location shared between two antithetical monuments, one to the German warship scuttled near Montevideo Harbor in 1939 and the other to the victims of Nazi genocide in World War II, the Uruguayan press named her “The Ambivalent Corpse” (“El Cadáver Ambivalente”). But I’m getting ahead of myself in telling this story.

Early the morning after Suzanne and I arrived in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, we began a long run to start adjusting to the 4-hour time difference from California. Hopefully, the run would help us make up for only 4 hours of sleep. When dinners end at midnight as is typical for Uruguay, people sleep as late as they can the next morning. Thus the streets were mostly deserted. I better understood why the tradition of the siesta, or noon-3PM nap, became institutionalized in Spain and Latin America hundreds of years earlier.

After walking south and east from the hotel to the Rambla as a warm-up we ran east towards Punta Carreta at a pretty fast pace. Traffic at this hour was light. The Rambla was deserted at this hour except for a few older folks walking their dogs. Since everybody in Montevideo lived in an apartment, the dogs were small. So were most of the people at the end of the leashes.

Our run lasted only as far as the park with the lake on our left and the Maritime Museum, the Graf Spee Memorial, and the Holocaust Memorial on our right. Beyond the Museum was the Rio de la Plata. Far out of sight across the river was Argentina. Suzanne and I were the only live people visible anywhere in this area. It was impossible not to see the pieces of dead body lying by the two Memorials so we stopped and checked things out. Pieces of body were apportioned half and half between the Graf Spee Memorial and the Holocaust Memorial. The victim was a young woman who had almost certainly been murdered.

The Graf Spee Memorial features a six-inch cannon salvaged from the wreck and an explanatory plaque. The body parts were carefully placed around the concrete base the cannon is mounted on. Beside the Memorial was almost half of a dismembered corpse: a jean-covered leg beside an arm covered by the sleeve of a sweater, and the top half of the torso minus its head. The half-body was dressed in what was left of a turtle-necked sweater and obviously had belonged to a woman. She looked to have been young and in pretty good shape. There was very little blood visible, just the body parts.



Lying precisely between the two halves of the corpse was its head. The victim had long dark hair and was mid-20s to 30-ish and good looking. From the overkill brutality it seemed that the murderer was really pissed off at her.

Despite my years as a homicide detective in Los Angeles and the many dozens of murder scenes I've investigated the brutality and the cold-blooded theatricality of this murder scene caused my stomach to lurch. Years of training kicked in to make me seem a lot calmer than I actually was.

Suzanne turned a pale shade of green. I turned her gently away until she was no longer looking at the body.

"Take a couple of deep breaths," I said. "Her suffering is finished. Think of it as if you were taking your old gross anatomy lab. What can you learn from what you see? Let your brain take over. You can handle this."

She buried her face in my chest and trembled for a few moments while I held her tightly against my body. Then she tilted her head back and looked up at me.

"I can do that," she said in a barely audible whisper, took a deep breath, and said again, this time in her normal voice, "Yes, I can do that."

We had to find a telephone and call the police. I flagged down a passing empty cab from the wide boulevard by the Rambla. Fortunately the driver had a cell phone and contacted the police almost immediately. The first police car was there within 3 minutes. Within 20 minutes a crowd of cops was standing around staring at the remains. Suzanne and I stood out of the way and waited for the detectives. I looked at the scene carefully and observed all of the details I could.

Things were much too clean for this to have been the site of a bloody dismemberment. Obviously the body parts had been moved here after they were cut into seven different pieces. They were carefully arranged and displayed to send someone a message. The killer, or more likely killers, obviously thought their message was important enough to take some serious risks. Transport of body parts and setting up the display was very risky because the nearest place to park a car was at least several hundred yards away. I guessed that forensic evidence would be non-existent. 

 

AUTHOR BIO LISA ORCHARD

Hello! My name is Lisa Orchard and I’m guest blogging today. I just wanted to take a moment and thank Susie for giving me the opportunity to blog on this colorful holiday.

Since today is St. Patrick’s Day, I thought it would be fun to go behind some of the stories associated with the holiday, play a little fact or fiction.

 First of all, it’s been reported that St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland. Unfortunately, this appears to be more fiction than fact, since snakes have never been indigenous to the country. Most likely this myth came about from the fact that he is credited for ending pagan practices in Ireland.

Another symbol for the holiday is the shamrock. According to some historians, the shamrock was used by St. Patrick to explain the concept of the Holy Trinity. (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost).  However, according to Wikipedia this is probably false, because it was first recorded in 1726 and is considered a “late tradition.” None the less, it is a symbol of Ireland; much like the rose is a symbol of England.

Right along with the shamrock, the color green has been associated with St. Patrick’s Day as well. Many say the color stems from the story that St. Patrick used the green shamrock in his teachings. Many people wear this color to celebrate St. Patrick’s birthday. In fact, Chicago even dyes their Chicago River green in honor of this day. However, according to Irish folklore green wasn’t always considered lucky. Why—because it was the color worn by Leprechauns. J

Speaking of green, check out the color of the cat eyes on my debut novel, “The Super Spies and the Cat Lady Killer.”  Also below are a blurb and a chapter excerpt. Let me know what you think? Leave me a comment. J

BOOK EXERPT

This book opens in a small town in Michigan where fifteen-year-old Sarah Cole is stuck spending the summer at her Aunt and Uncle’s with her sister, Lacey. She’s not happy with the situation until she befriends a girl named Jackie. The three girls stumble upon the ruthless murder of a reclusive neighborhood woman. One of the officers investigating the crime believes the girls are responsible for her death. Fearing that this officer will frame them for the murder, the girls organize their own detective squad. They become the Super Spies and start their own fact-finding mission.  The Super Spies can’t understand why anyone would want to murder the “Cat Lady” until they start digging into her past and discover a horrible crime that happened thirty years ago. They uncover a connection between the two crimes and attempt to bring this information to the police, only to be reprimanded for meddling in the inquest. Not only are the girls upset by the admonition, but they also struggle with the fact that their exuberant investigating could provide a legal loophole allowing the killer to go free. To make matters worse, the police don’t even believe them. Frustrated by this turn of events, the Super Spies realize it’s up to them to snare the Cat Lady killer.

Alarm bells rang in Sarah’s head—this has to be out of character for someone who never leaves their home. She turned back and whispered to the other girls. “Hey!”

Jackie poked her head out. “What?”

“The storm door’s open.”

“So?”

“So…what do I do?”

“Duh…Ring the door bell.”

Sarah shrugged and pushed the doorbell. It let out an irritating buzz and she had the feeling it had been broken long ago and never fixed. She dashed down the stairs.  The cats scattered, alarmed by the sudden activity. Reaching the shrubs, Sarah hid with her sister and Jackie.

            Gasping for breath, Sarah waited for a reaction from the old woman. Her heart pummeled her ribs and she pressed her hand to her chest to calm it.

After a few minutes, Sarah started to pace. “Well…nothing’s happened.” She peeked out from behind the shrub and saw the screen door hanging ajar. “I bet she’s not even home. I’m going to try again.”

Jackie shrugged. “Be careful, remember she’s a witch.”

Sarah shook her head, and then peered out from behind the shrubs. Once again, she climbed the stairs. She was braver this time and it didn’t take her as long to make it to the door.

She looked inside, her heart lurching in her chest. She tiptoed to the picture window and peered through it. Gasping, she ran back to the entryway. Pulling it open, she lunged inside.

Sarah stared, unable to tear herself away.  Shock ran through her body like an electrical current as she eyed the scene before her. The crumpled form of the Cat Lady lay on the living room floor, just inside the door. No life flickered in the old woman’s staring eyes. Her mouth gaped open in a silent scream and her hands were up around her head as if she were warding off blows. Turning away from the Cat Lady’s body, Sarah gagged as the coppery scent of blood assaulted her. There was blood splattered everywhere, on the wall, on the carpet and under the Cat Lady’s body.

Suddenly, Sarah’s throat constricted and she gasped for breath. Fearing she would faint, she stumbled back out the door and collided with Jackie and Lacey on the porch.

Jackie grabbed Sarah’s arm and shook her. “What are you doing? Are you crazy? I never said to go inside!”

Sarah didn’t speak—she just stared blankly at the porch.

Jackie shook her again. “Are you under the Cat Lady’s spell?”

Lacey whimpered. “Hey, Sarah….can you hear me? Sarah?”

“She’s under the Cat Lady’s spell,” Jackie said waving her hand in front of Sarah’s eyes.

“Oh my---,” Sarah moaned and clutched Jackie’s arm.

“What is it?” Jackie shook her again. “Speak…say something!”

“Th-th-the C-C-Cat Lady, sh-sh-she’s,” Sarah stuttered.

“She’s what?” Jackie demanded.

“Sh-she’s dead.”

Thanks for spending time with me today. You can follow the development of the Super Spies series at www.lisaorchard.com. I’m also on Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin

AUTHOR BIO GABRIELLE BISSET

A college history professor by day, Gabrielle Bisset is an erotic romance author by night. Her first book, Stolen Destiny, was published by Siren Publishing in June 2011, and since then she's released the three novellas of the Victorian Erotic Romance Trilogy--Vampire Dreams, Love's Master, and Masquerade--along with two more novels, Destiny Redeemed and Blood Avenged. Currently, she's at work on the second book in the Sons of Navarus series that began with Blood Avenged. She lives in Pennsylvania with her son and a herd of pets. Readers can find her online at:

BOOK BLURB

I am everything you desire. I am vampire.

Powerful and manipulative, Vasilije does as he pleases. A vampire beholden to no one, he takes what he desires, drinking deeply the pleasures this life has to offer.

When one of his own is staked, Vasilije must travel to New Orleans to exact his revenge. There he meets Sasa, a beautiful woman who arouses him like no other has for centuries. Vasilije’s need for vengeance is equaled only by his passion for her, but what he finds in his revenge is just the beginning...

 

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So as you can see I have 3 very different books to offer you today, now iv spoke to all 3 authors and all 3 are very amazing people and i will be asking them to come back to SBC so we can find out more about them and there work. Now to be in with a chance of winning these 3 amazing books then please follow the  rules below.

 

1, be a follower

2, leave me a comment (with email address)

 

yes thats all you have to do. if you want to be nice you can dind me other places like goodreads and facebook but I wont make you follow me there as well lol. I want to say sorry again for the lack of action on my blog but as I say ill be back in the swing of things soon and I hope your all missing me ;) lol.