Goddess Fish Presents: Cooking for Ghosts

Cooking for Ghosts

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GENRE:  Science Fiction/Fantasy, Magical Realism

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BLURB:

A Vegas cocktail waitress. An Indian herbalist. A British chemistry professor. An Italian-American widow. Four unique women with one thing in common: each is haunted by a tragedy from her past. The women are surrounded by ghosts long before they step aboard, but once they do...

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Excerpt:

Somewhere in the Atlantic, 1949

In an ocean as dark and still as death, the Queen floated. The scythe-shaped moon engulfed in mist gave off only a dank tinge of light. Waves skimmed lazily along the Queen’s sides, like the careless caress of an indifferent lover. She was only fifteen years old, but she’d already witnessed so much misery: war, love lost to tragedy, and once, a vile murder that had left a stain on her no sea she traveled had ever washed away.

           

Now she was about to witness another. The killer’s rage was silent and patient. And yet, she could feel it. In desperation, the Queen willed her fog horn to blow…

***

Under the cover of the dimly lit stairwell on the deserted sports deck, the sailor waited. He’d timed it well. The watch wouldn’t make his rounds up here until after it was over.

           

Long before he could see his prey, he heard the click of her heels on the planked wood, echoing off the water as she approached. He pressed himself back further into the darkness as she came into view, her eyes focused on what he’d stolen to lure her, carefully placed so that it would be visible to her while he remained hidden. As she bent to pick it up, he stepped swiftly behind her and clamped his forearm around her throat, cutting off her scream and her breath as he pulled her into the shadows.

           

She felt her windpipe close up and the blood rush to her head.  She couldn’t twist around to face him, but ─ oh, God ─ she knew who he was. How ironic. In a life as mousy as the color of her hair, the one impetuous thing she’d dared do, would end her. As dreary as her life had been, she didn’t want it to be over.

           

So she struggled. She dug her nails into Death’s rigid forearm and clawed at the skin on his elbow. But he only swore at the blood she’d managed to draw and kept that arm hooked resolutely under her chin, dangling her legs up off the deck, pressing even tighter against her throat as she kicked. He shook her and she felt the cool night air hit the sole of her foot as one of her shoes fell off. The thump it made against the deck startled him. He lost his vice hold on her for an instant and she tried again to scream. He slammed his other hand across her nose and mouth. With a rush of stinging pain, the salty iron taste of blood filled her mouth, mingled with the smell of his familiar aftershave. Who’d have thought Death would come wearing Old Spice?  He’d groomed himself as carefully for her murder as he once had for her seduction. She went queasy with the realization that his arms were not the only part of his body that felt rigid against her.

           

But mere seconds later, she was too lightheaded to feel disgust or even fear. She now lay in his arms, compliant, his hand still pressed against her bloodied mouth and nose. Her head was tipped back as he continued to suffocate her and she could see the night sky, a depthless backdrop for the stars that flickered through the gauzy veil of ocean fog. And the moon looked like a grin. Lovers walking the decks below must think it all so romantic.  Dimly, she could hear the band playing in the ballroom. She was amazed she could even recognize the tune ─ a new one, just come out that year:

           

“Some enchanted evening, you may meet a stranger…” 

           

Her final act was to pray that he wouldn’t dump her before she was truly dead. As cruel as his arms were, at least they were warm. She didn’t want the ice cold water to be the last thing she felt.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Patricia V. Davis is the author of the bestselling Harlot's Sauce: A Memoir of Food, Family, Love, Loss and Greece, and The Diva Doctrine: 16 Universal Principles Every Woman Needs to Know. Her latest work, "Cooking for Ghosts: Book I in The Secret Spice Cafe Trilogy" first of three novels set aboard the RMS Queen Mary, is due to be released in October 2016.  Despite the diversity of Patricia's writing projects, they share the universal theme of "female dynamism," a term she's coined which signifies women taking positive action to support each other and better the world around them. To that end, Patricia also founded The Women’s PowerStrategy™ Conference:  http://womenspowerstrategyconference.com/

Website URL: http://www.TheSecretSpice.com

Facebook Contest and Updates Page: http://www.facebook.com/thesecretspice/

Amazon Page:  https://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Ghosts-22The-Secret-Trilogy-22/dp/0989905640

COOKING FOR GHOSTS is also available at retail book outlets.

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2091952.Patricia_V_Davis?from_search=true

http://www.patriciavdavis.com/

http://twitter.com/patriciaVdavis

https://www.facebook.com/patriciaVdavis

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

Patricia V. Davis will award a randomly drawn commenter via Rafflecopter a $30 Amazon/BN GC.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Zombies Are Real: Voodoo Background for Rae's New Book

With the so-called zombie apocalypse approaching, one must be educated about the different kinds of zombies before prepping for defense. First, there is the most common and believable-the human that turns into a zombie because of mental collapse, disease, infection, and/or radiation. They stagger around dazed and confused and cause panic to others. Then there is the man-made monster kind or the kind Hollywood and horror authors like me tend to capitalize on.

Zombie interest continues to fascinate the world. Jeffrey Dahmer drilled holes then poured acid down his victim’s heads in hopes of creating his own zombie. His madness didn’t work. Can man make his own zombie? Are these monsters real?

According to Wade Davis, author of The Serpent of the Rainbow, zombies are real. They are a product of the Voodoo religion. He was originally hired by a pharmaceutical company to find out about the drugs Voduists used in their death rituals. He believed that datura also known as zombie’s cucumber was a plant that could medically make one who ingested it appear to be dead for a certain length of time. Sounds like the stuff Juliet Capulet used to fake her death. Could Shakespeare have known about the magical zombie-making plant?

Datura or sometimes Cimora, a close relative of Datura’s, eventually wears off but leaves the victim in a state of confusion, highly susceptible to the art of persuasion. Presto! A zombie slave is at the captor’s disposal. Mr. Davis didn’t just find his datura flower, but witnessed zombie phenomena as he immersed himself within the Haitian culture.

Revenge, Lust and Voodoo is a unique blend of paranormal, romance, and fantasy. Besides The Serpent and the Rainbow, I read volumes of other Voodoo material and watched hours of TV specials. Some of the terms I learned can be found below:

Bokor: A wizard who practices black magic, a zombie maker.

Loa: deity/spirit

Ghede Family: A family of loas known as the spirits of the dead. Three barons rule the family. Baron Samedi is the loa of resurrection. Baron Kriminel is the most feared loa associated with cannibalism and souls. He’s honored on The Day of the Dead. Baron LaCroix is the loa of the dead and sexuality.

Poppet: Voodoo doll

Ti-bon-ange: “little good angel” The part of the soul that represents a person’s individuality.

Gros-bon-ange: “great good angel” Part of the soul that is collected into a reservoir of the Cosmos or spirit world.

Baka: Voodoo spirits in animal form.

Loup Garou: werewolf

Djab: a devil

Dessounin: Death ritual that separates the gros-bon-ange from the body.

Bizango Society: Secret society of Vodouists. They have Freemason-like qualities such as aprons, secret handshakes, oaths, hierarchy, and symbols. Legend states they change into animals at will. They are known for stealing black cats and boiling them to death for Voodoo services. They drink each other’s blood from a human skull chalice.

Revenge, Lust and Voodoo is available for 3.99 on Amazon.

LINK: https://www.amazon.com/Revenge-Lust-Voodoo-Dina-Rae-ebook/dp/B01LX22TC3/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1475445658&sr=1-1

The Real American Horror Story: Roanoke Island

American Horror Story is really scaring the heck out of me with their Roanoke Island themed season.  The story line is about a couple (Cuba Gooding and Sara Paulsen) who buy their "dream" house in North Carolina.  The house is dingy, but really cool.  I love the character of unique windows, floating stairs, and arches everywhere.  The house is in the middle of nowhere and has quite a history that comes with it.  Matt (Cuba Gooding) has his sister (Angela Bassett) and niece who stay with them.  The niece makes friends with a ghost and gets lost in the woods.  This of course happens after Shelby (Paulsen) also gets lost in the woods and finds a colony of ghosts.  Scary ghosts and symbols include animal-like children, pigs, old people, nurses, cannibalism and hillbillies.  

My daughter told me the Roanoke Island theme is based on a true story.  I looked it up and she was right.  

Facts:

John White, the appointed governor of Roanoke Colony leaves to England for more supplies. (Kathy Bates plays his wife and is left in charge per the show)

Everyone disappears (115-116 people) when John White returns in 1590.

The word "Croatoan" was carved into the fence.

The rings of a tree suggest that there was a drought between the years of 1587-1589.

There is no evidence of the group moving somewhere else or dying. 

An Indian tribe took over the area.  The tribe was called Croatoans and some believe the colonists were taken in.

The mystery still remains unsolved.

If you like the paranormal, check out Revenge, Lust and Voodoo.

https://www.amazon.com/Revenge-Lust-Voodoo-Dina-Rae-ebook/dp/B01LX22TC3/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1475372513&sr=8-4&keywords=dina+rae

Goddess Fish Presents: Sinners and Saints: A Patriot's Manifesto

Sinners & Saints : A Patriot's Manifesto

by Kristina Garlick

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GENRE:  YA Fantasy

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BLURB:

My name is Zoey Major and I live in Fort Star, New Jersey. I am also a survivor in the zombie apocalypse. Seems very cut and dry but I have been hiding something- like really huge. My secret is game changing. I am not like the others... I know, what a surprise twist! Unfortunately, I can’t tell you why I am different. If you really want to know, you have to figure it out. Hey, even in these dark times, a girl needs her secrets.

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Excerpt:

United we... united we... we were supposed to stand together as a society but it did not work out like that. The United States and much of the world, actually went to sh*t for a little bit when the zombies came. Perhaps the only saving grace was the fact that man learns to adapt. We always do. A prime example would be the invention of the wheel, the television or even a toaster pastry because why the f*ck not eat something bad for you?

           

For you see, if man has a want or desire, it may take years, but he'll invent it. One thing I am still waiting on is that damn time machine. I am looking at you, Doc Brown. Ha! However, not all inventions should ever leave the paper. Sometimes an idea is just an idea as biological weapons rarely ever make anything better. Yeah, perhaps not every weapon should be tested or even used, as the results can't always be contained. United we... united we... we were supposed to stand together.

Present Day, June 30, 10:25 pm

Catey: "So is it cool that I sign you up for speed dating?"

Zoey: "What? No, f*ck no."

Catey: "Why not?"

Zoey: "There should be no speed dating in the zombie apocalypse."

Catey: "It's post apocalypse so get it right."

Zoey: "For now."

Catey: "And this is why you are single. You are so negative."

Zoey: "Huh, I didn't know that was the reason. I just thought it was because every eligible bachelor who isn't a toad has been either taken or eaten but hey, maybe I am wrong."

Catey: "I think it's because you put up a wall."

Zoey: "Stop analyzing me, or at the very least give me a Rorschach test or at the very least a crossword puzzle to pass the time then."

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Kristina Garlick lives in Warren County, New Jersey. She holds a Masters in Parks & Resource Management from Slippery Rock University. While she loves the outdoors and has many hobbies such as soap making, writing has always been her passion. Kristina wrote her first full length fantasy story at ten and had her first book published when she was fourteen. She has a unique style of writing, which she calls Diary-Play format. Kristina is also available for book signings, panels, discussion groups and other special functions.

Sinners & Saints is $0.99 cents during the tour.

Website: www.kristinagarlick.com (Where you can buy Kristina’s Books)

Email: authorkristinagarlick@yahoo.com                                          

Twitter: @KristinaGarlick

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

Goddess Fish Presents: Emma G. Loves Boyz: A True Love Journal

Emma G. Loves Boyz: A True Love Journal

by Taro Meyer

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GENRE:  YA/Middle Grade

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BLURB:

Emma G. is CRAZY about Aaron, lead singer of Boyz3000. Of course, she doesn’t actually know him, but so what? Feelings are feelings. That is until Josh appears… and he’s soooooo CUTE. Navigating her two crushes and her middle school life, especially with eighth-grade hater Renee around, is a challenge. And oh yeah, she’s got to earn money for an AWESOME trip to the Bahamas to see the band of her dreams. Hello???? How much can one thirteen-year-old take???

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Excerpt:

“You know that thousands of girls like Aaron,” she said. “Right?”

“So??”

“So it’s statistically almost impossible that a pop star boy will date a fan.”

I should have known she’d say something like that. I wanted to say, “Okay, just forget it.” But instead I said, “Whatever! I mean I just love his singing and his writing. That’s all.”

But that’s not all. How do you change what you feel just because some stupid statistics say you don’t have a chance? An article in Tigerbeat said Aaron had dated a girl from his high school for three months! And she wasn’t a star! So who knows what can happen? When you feel something, you have to believe! Your feelings are totally crucial to your life! When I look at Aaron’s face I get those stomach flutters! And feelings CANNOT BE IGNORED.

I started thinking about stomach flutters instead of the essay and wondering why they happen with just one particular boy. Why can one boy make your stomach go CRAZY????

I called my cousin Elyse to ask what she thought because she’s older and experienced.

“No one really knows,” she said. “That feeling just hits you. But you want to make sure that the boy you like, likes you back.”

“How can you tell?”

“Well,” she said after thinking for a minute, “sometimes boys don’t want you to know they like you. So they look at you like they are trying to look like they aren’t looking at you or liking you, but really, they are.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Taro Meyer is a Grammy, Parents’ Choice, and Audie Award winning Audio Producer who has been producing and directing YA audiobooks for over 20 years, including The Princess Diaries Series starring Anne Hathaway, the All American Girl Series starring Ari Meyers, The Inheritance Cycle (Eragon, Eldest, Brisngr) and Judy Blume’s The Pain and the Great One, Here’s to You Rachel Robinson and Tiger Eyes among others.  

She co-produced two touring companies of Trans-Siberian Orchestra's smash rock show Christmas Eve and Other Stories and their TV special The Ghosts of Christmas Eve, receiving Gold and Platinum Albums for her work with the team. She was associate producer of the award winning anti-bullying movie, “The Contest,” and co-produced the premier showcase of off-Broadway’s Little Willie. 

           

As an actress and singer, she starred on Broadway in the musical Zorba, in numerous regional and off-Broadway shows, and on TV’s All My Children, Another World (for which she also composed music) and the mini-series Memories of Midnight, amongst others. 

Meyer wrote and produced the upcoming children’s album: Mighty Musical Fairy Tales, starring international artist Patti Austin; an updated, joyous musical version of Classic Fairy tales, accompanied by an illustrated book, The Ugly Duckling.

Buy now at amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/Emma-G-Loves-Boyz-Journal/dp/151770636X/

Red Sky Presents:

Website: http://redskypresents.com

Blog: https://redskybookblog.wordpress.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RedSkyAuthors

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/redskypresents/

Emma G. Loves Boyz:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EmmaG_lovesBoyz

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

Taro will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

911: Conspiracies You Might Not Know About By Frank Fontaine

With 911 right around the corner, Dina asked me to share.  As a retired fireman, the day was personal. Most of you probably know about the following:

1) Jet fuel doesn't burn hot enough to melt steel in a skyscraper.
2) Put options bought on the fall of stock on AA and United Airlines.  (Osama bin Laden was said to have profited.)
3) How NORAD was supposedly told to stand down.
4) 4000 Jewish employees took the day off.
5) The odd collapse of Building 7 later on that day.
6) The survival of some of the terrorists' passports.  And speaking of terrorists, some of them were supposedly alive and well, seen in different countries.
Pennsylvania crash, Flight 93-
7) A hole filled with charcoal.
8) One witness saw a mushroom cloud.
9) The mayor of the town said he heard a missile.
10) Faked calls from passengers who supposedly took down the hijackers and made them crash the plane.
Pentagon, Flight 77-
11) No evidence the plane crashed into the building.
12) The hole from the plane was much too small to be from a plane.
13) The pilot performed an odd loop to hit the end of the Pentagon that was undergoing construction and very few people were at.
14) There was no damage from the plane's wings.
15) Hardly any debris was found from the plane.  A wheel rim from the 757 jet didn't match and a panel wasn't the same color blue from American Airlines.
16) The glass from the street light was right next to the light and should have been several yards away.
17) Was there a plane? No bodies, luggage, seats, along with plane parts.
18) Videos from the Pentagon, a nearby gas station and hotel were never released to the public.  Why?
19) No Arabs were on the passenger list.
20) What happened according to the black boxes?

Did you know that 911 might have been planned by a group called Project for a New American Century?  Cheney, Rumsfeld, Bolton (from Fox News), Perle, and many other famous names within Bush's circle of advisers wanted American dominance in the Middle East.  They needed a "Pearl Harbor-esque" moment and 911 fit the bill.  They also needed to send our troops to Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan. They got two out of three. What I could never understand was this-If a bunch of Saudis declared war on us by the 911 attack, then why did we go to Iraq?  Afghanistan sort of makes sense because that was there they supposedly were hiding, but why Hussein?  Why was Saudi Arabia spared?   Yes, I am being rhetorical.  Sounds like another element of New World Order.
Dina, thanks for having me!  Loved The Best Seller!
Love to hear from you, Frank Fontaine

Goddess Fish Presents: Water Bearer by Wendi Christner

Water Bearer

by Wendi Christner

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GENRE: Contemporary Romance

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BLURB:

In a small Southern community, inseparable lifelong friends prepare to follow their own paths, but one last summer together changes their lives forever.

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Excerpt:

Jared parked the tractor next to the barn and stepped down. He had a clear view of Cassidy as she hefted a rug over the clothesline behind Gima’s house. Her dark blond ponytail swung with the effort, and her long legs extended as she rose onto her toes. The shift of her body twisted his gut and sent an ache even lower. He couldn’t imagine a day when she wouldn’t be there, but that day was coming. And coming fast.

She whacked the rug with a broom, and a cloud of dust billowed out around her.

“When’s she leaving?” Clarence asked.

Jared glanced over his shoulder. He stood taller than his father. Two years ago they’d been the same height, but Clarence’s shoulders had started to bow. The lines in his face were carved too deep, and his hair had turned solid gray. He was too young to look as old as he did.

“End of August. Week after the Corn Dance.”

“Sooner the better.” Clarence slapped him on the shoulder and started toward the barn. “Just let her go.”

“I’m going to town,” Jared called after him.

“See if Lilith needs anything.”

Jared wiped the sweat from his brow and climbed in his truck. At the end of his driveway he turned right and pulled onto the narrow rutted path that led to Gima’s.

He heard Cassidy coughing before he made it to the back of the house. If she’d heard him drive up, she didn’t let it stop her from her chore. Dirt smudged her face, and the sweat that trickled from her temples had left trails in the grime.

A familiar heaviness settled on his heart at the same time his groin tightened. She was the only girl he’d ever seen who would look beautiful if she wrestled a pig on its own turf, and she didn’t have a clue how gorgeous she was or what she did to him.

“Hey, beautiful,” he said with a smirk.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Wendi Christner is the author of Writer’s Digest Short-Short Story Competition winner “Throwing Stones,” a fairy self-help book, and several novels written under various pseudonyms. Her gritty, emotional stories tend to have a Southern voice born of her roots in the Florida panhandle. She currently lives in Tampa with her husband, son, and their fur family.

www.WendiChristner.com

www.facebook.com/WendiChristnerAuthor

Twitter/Instagram @WendiDarlin

Buy Link:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Water-Bearer-Southern-Skies-Collection-ebook/dp/B01JIWVIUG/ref=sr_1_1

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

Wendi will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway