Extract: Josie James & the Teardrops of Summer, by Lily Mae Walters

Josie James and The Teardrops of Summer

Josie James is an ordinary 13-year-old until something extraordinary happens during her summer holidays. Whilst staying at her Great Grandmother’s cottage in the country she finds herself swept into the cursed world of Suncroft where it is perpetual winter. Her new friends believe she could be the Chosen One who it is foretold will lift the curse, but there are more pressing matters. The Teardrops of Summer – magical crystals that render the owner immortal – have been stolen. Along with her telepathic husky-dog Protector Asher and her new friends, Josie must race to find the Teardrops and prevent catastrophe for their world.

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In this chapter, we are starting to learn more about why Josie is the chosen one. Here is where she first meets Asher and realises she can hear his voice.

Josie watched Murphy walked towards him as if summoned.

“I’ve never seen a Husky so big.” Josie was still in awe of Murphy’s size.

“As you can see, Murphy here has the same green eyes as my crystal and if you look at his tail…” Her grandad held his crystal against Murphy. It was an exact match to the black tear drop shape on his tail. “Most Protectors are born and bred in Suncroft, their special gift, like ours, being passed down through the generations. But occasionally one is found in your world.”

With these words a red bundle of fluff raced into the room and launched itself onto Josie’s lap, licking her face and nuzzling her ears. Murphy placed one of his huge paws on its back and suddenly it sat down, green eyes staring intently at Josie.

“Asher is the name, protecting is the game.” Josie could hear a voice with a strong Cockney accent echoing inside her brain. She shook her head in disbelief and looked around the room, bewildered. “It’s me talking, well not talking, oh you know what I mean.” Josie looked at the small Husky sitting on her lap. It appeared to be smiling at her.

“Erm…” Josie looked over to her nan and grandad who had leaned forward in their seats, a look of anticipation on their faces. Even Murphy looked like he was waiting with baited breath. “He says his name is Asher?” Her grandad suddenly leapt up, a huge smile on his face.

“Oh Josie, you don’t know how good it is to hear you say that.” He hugged her tightly. “This is Asher, as you know. He was found in London a few weeks ago after Murphy sensed him and we just knew he was meant for you.” Josie scrutinised the puppy. He was about six months old but already quite large. His fur was long, fluffy and a deep auburn colour. His tummy and legs were a dark cream and like Murphy he had a black tear drop on his tail. “We’ve been waiting for you to be old enough to understand and also to see if you were the one we all hoped you were.”

There’s a follow up, if you’re interested in this one.

Josie James and The Velvet Knife

“For you to find the Velvet Knife, you must solve the riddles thrice.” A mysterious hooded figure, known only as the Velvet Knife has appeared in the cursed village of Suncroft. No one knows who he is or what he wants but when he starts leaving riddles around the village, it is time for Josie to return to Suncroft for a second time.
With Asher, her faithful husky Protector by her side, Filan, a half elf, and her great grandad, will they be able to solve the clues in time and discover his identity? The Velvet Knife is not the only one causing problems for Josie. Her rival for the position of the ‘Chosen One’ continues to grow stronger, and now he has a Protector of his own.
What does all this mean for Josie? Is she destined to lift the wintery curse of Suncroft or will another take her place as the ‘Chosen One’?

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Author Bio

Lily Mae Walters chose her pen name in honour of her beloved grandparents who also stare in the Josie James series.

She is married with two teenage children, and two huskies that are the inspiration behind Murphy and Asher in the books.

Lily Mae lives in Nuneaton, England and finds herself using local places and even her old school in her stories.

Family and friends mean the world to Lily Mae and many will find themselves popping up throughout the series.

Lily Mae also writes for adults under the name of Florence Keeling.

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/josiejames100/

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/lilymaewalters/

Twitter- https://twitter.com/LilyMaeWalters1

Extract: In Two Minds, by K.T. Findley

Extract – Finding Deena and Deana

(K.T. Findlay – In Two Minds)

In this extract, Thomas and Wulfstan think they might have found two possible candidates for their team of warriors. They’re looking for women who’re tough, smart and determined, and these two look to be all of that…

It was in a manor almost exactly half way between Tamworth and Hengist’s that Wulfstan made his first discovery. Under his guidance, Thomas brought his group off the road down a track that led to an assart in the forest. A small cluster of huts and one modest hall sat near a stream that ran through the open space of farmland and pasture that was bounded by trees. The smell of wood smoke, ever present at any centre of human habitation in this world, hung lightly in the summer air, but here the sharper scent of burnt charcoal got stronger and stronger, the closer they got.

Coming around the corner of the barn into the main yard they saw a brazier, charcoal coals glowing red hot. A man with a grimly determined expression checked the heat of a long handled glowing poker, then plunged it back into the coals. Behind him stood the rest of the village, jabbering and chattering.

Next to the brazier was a strongly built “A” shaped wooden frame, with a young woman bound to it, face in, standing up with her hands tied to the top of the “A”. The new arrivals could see her equally determined face glaring at them through the framework.

It was a striking face. Elfin in structure, framed with straight mousey brown hair. Even more striking was a very similar face standing next to her.

‘Identical twins!’ thought Thomas.

‘Good day to you my friend, from Prince Wulfstan of Mercia.’ he said to the man at the brazier. ‘What is happening here?’

‘I know who you are Your Highness.’ said the man bowing low. ‘Welcome to my home.’

‘Thank you.’ said Thomas. ‘And what home entertainments are you performing here?’ indicating the bound girl.

‘She is a thief! Or her sister is.’ he said pointing to her unbound companion. ‘We can’t tell them apart, but we know one of them stole a whole roast goose last night! She was seen! But each blames the other.’

‘So how do you know you are punishing the right one?’ asked Thomas.

‘We don’t Your Highness. They are both slaves. They are jointly lying to avoid punishment, so we are going to make sure we can tell them apart in future. This one is going to be branded on her right shoulder.’

‘Won’t that affect her work?’

‘Only for a week Your Highness. And if she’s the one we think she is, she doesn’t do very good work anyway, so we won’t notice much difference.’

Thomas nodded. ‘And their work is?’

‘Weavers Your Highness. One does wonderful work, always laughing and smiling. The other, this one, does mediocre work, always being punished, always scowling.’

‘And how do you know they don’t swap roles all the time just to tease you?’ laughed Thomas.

The man smirked. ‘Well if they do that Your Highness, they are very good at keeping up the game! Anyway, this girl was the surly, rude one when questioned about the theft, so she’s the one getting marked. If they are swapping roles, the branding will tell us that too!’

He turned back to the brazier, took out the poker and checked the colour. ‘Not hot enough yet. Another couple of minutes I think.’

‘Or perhaps I can offer you an alternative solution.’ said Thomas. ‘I am looking for slaves to take part in my battle with Lord Grimketil in a year’s time, and these two might be suitable.’

The man raised his eyebrows. ‘You want to buy them Your Highness?’

‘Only if they want to come. They have to know what will be asked of them, what they are risking, and what will be the reward. I can pick only slaves, yet I will choose only volunteers. May I ask them?’

‘Of course Your Highness!’ replied the man, who recognised a good opportunity to get rid of a troublesome slave for good money when he saw it.

Thomas dismounted and went over to the frame, beckoning the other girl closer. Huddling together, there was much low voiced muttering. Thomas returned to the man, took out his money bag and counted out a more than fair value for the two girls. ‘Would that meet with your approval?’

The man beamed. ‘Yes Your Highness! It’s an honour doing business with you.’

Thomas laughed. ‘You mean it’s an honour getting more than you were expecting for them! In this matter I want you to feel you have been treated honourably, and that’s part of the price I pay. I want no complaints later on.’

‘There will be none from me Your Highness, I swear on my mother’s grave.’ said the man.

An old lady came up quietly behind him. ‘May I remind you Egbert, that I am not yet dead.’

He grinned ‘Just practising mother!’

Extract: The Inheritance, by Anne Allen

The Inheritance by Anne Allen is one year old. To celebrate all the seven books in The Guernsey Novel series will only be £1.99 on Kindle for a limited time. Each of the books can be read as a standalone too.

**The Inheritance – Book 7 –** **https://amzn.to/352abv5**

Extract

Chapter two

Tess – Exeter March 2012

Tess stared in horror at the face of the young boy on the trolley. It was clear he was dead.

‘You all right, Doctor? It’s not someone you know is it?’ The paramedic’s voice sounded concerned.

Tess looked at him, trying to stay calm, but struggling. Surrounded by the perpetual noise of Accident and Emergency with the constant flow of trolleys carrying patients of all ages and injuries, the sight of the dead boy had hit her like a physical blow.

‘No, not really. He…he came in last week after a road traffic accident, knocked off his bike by a car. Nothing serious. What…what happened?’

The paramedic, known for his cheerfulness, looked solemn.

‘He was playing in a football match at school and, according to whoever called us, just keeled over as he was about to score.’ He touched the boy’s head. ‘There was nothing we could do, Doctor. Poor kid. But we had to go through the motions, like. Recorded as DOA, I suppose.’ She nodded as he handed her his report.

‘What about the parents?’ She held her breath, knowing she would find it difficult to face them now. What if it was her fault?

‘Away. The lad’s been staying with friends.’ He nodded towards an ashen-faced woman with her arms around a boy wearing the same football kit as Gary. Both looked as if they were about to be sick. Tess called a nurse over and asked her to take them into a private room and give them tea.

‘Thanks, Tom, would you mind taking the…body – Gary – downstairs? I’ll just sign the report and they can carry on from there.’ She dashed her name at the bottom of the report, trying not to look at the pale, unmarked face of the thirteen-year-old boy who had been so chirpy only a week ago. And alive.

Anne was born in Rugby to a Welsh father and an English mother. As a result, she spent many summers with her Welsh grandparents in Anglesey and learned to love the sea. Now she is based in Devon to be near her daughter and two small grandchildren. Her restless spirit has meant many moves, the longest stay being in Guernsey for nearly fourteen years after falling in love with the island and the people. She contrived to leave one son behind to ensure a valid reason for frequent returns. Her younger son is based in London – ideal for city breaks ☺

By profession, Anne was a psychotherapist who long had a desire to write and Dangerous Waters, her first novel, was published in 2012. It was awarded Silver(Adult Fiction) in TheWishingShelfAwards 2012. Since then she has published six more books in The Guernsey Novels series; Finding Mother, Guernsey Retreat, The Family Divided, Echoes of Time – winner of The Diamond Book Award 2017, a finalist in Readersfavorite awards and granted a ChillWithABookAward, The Betrayal, and The Inheritance, published April 2019.

To find out more about Anne visit her website – www.anneallen.co.uk

You can also find her on Twitter – @AnneAllen21

Extract: Holding Out for a Hero, by T.E. Kessler

Excerpt from chapter fifteen.

Macy Shaw, a journalist, has become obsessed with Jelvias—another species living alongside the human—and is certain they aren’t the heinous assassins the media claim them to be. For research purposes, on a story she hopes to write, she travels to the famous ‘Jelvian Caves’ in Cornwall. She shouldn’t have entered the cave, but being impulsive is one of her faults and it is there she meets a man who isn’t human—a Jelvia. Her obsession turns to devotion very quickly. Is she being played?

She smiled into the dark. She felt his fingers touch her face, and her chin was tipped up, and his lips brushed her mouth.

‘The majority of the Jelvian community have no problem with humans. I can’t say that about humans liking Jelvias, however,’ he said. ‘We’ll just have to tread carefully, and yes, we’ll have to be a secret, to begin with. But let’s see how you feel when we’re out of this cave.’ He sounded guarded. ‘Your feelings may change the moment we’re in daylight.’

‘They won’t.’

‘They might.’ He turned back, and began to walk, his hand holding hers behind him. His stride matched hers.

‘Can you see?’ she asked.

‘I can,’ he said. ‘You weren’t far from the entrance. The bats nest here, so it’s easy to tell when you’re almost there.’

Macy looked up at the roof area, but couldn’t see anything. She could hear them from time to time though.

‘Does it bother you that I’m a reporter?’

‘No, but be careful of anyone who wants you to work alongside Jelvias. There have been, er, problems in the past where humans have placed other humans in danger for the advancement of knowledge on the Jelvian community. Keep an open mind on things this friend William may tell you about us.’

‘Do you know him?’

‘Never heard of him.’

‘He’s on your side.’

‘If you’re willing to tell me, I’d like to know what he wants you to do.’

She hesitated, and he squeezed her fingers again. He said, ‘You don’t have to tell me.’

‘I’ve just signed a data protection clause, that’s all. I’m unable to discuss the whys and hows, and I can only tell you that I’d like to interview Jelvias. Aldarn is in charge, I believe? I’d like to interview him first.’

Narcifer stopped to look at her. ‘At Springfield’s insistence or yours?’ he asked, the twin beams of light on her face.

‘Mine.’

‘Yet you told Aldarn that you wanted to interview me,’ he said, catching her out on her fib. He turned back, and they began walking again. It was still very dark, and walking was slow as she had to hold his coat to avoid tripping over the ends. ‘You’re too trusting of this William Springfield,’ he added.

‘I’m an excellent judge of character. I’m not too trusting!’

Macy felt Narcifer squeeze her hand. ‘Are we having our first argument?’

‘No, I’m just saying I’m not too trusting.’

‘Okay, I believe you. I just want you to be careful. Springfield shouldn’t have allowed you to come to these tunnels. You could have died, Macy.’

‘He didn’t know what I planned. He knows I’m in Cornwall and that’s all. Christ, I didn’t know I was going to follow a Jelvia into the caves, either!’

‘But if I hadn’t heard you scream…’ His fingers rubbed the base of her wrist. ‘I couldn’t get to you fast enough!’

‘Hey, the dark is lifting. I can see outlines now,’ she said. ‘And I’m sure I can hear the sea again.’

‘Yes, not long now. The opening is just around this corner,’ he said and pulled her in front of him. Then daylight swamped them, and the sound of the sea crashing against the shore reached Macy’s ears.

Macy tried to turn around to look at Narcifer, but his hands on her shoulders wouldn’t let her. His breath fanned her cheek as he said in her ear, ‘Once you see me, you’ll be afraid again.’

‘No, I won’t.’

‘You will. I’ll see fear and mistrust in your eyes, and I think that will break my heart.’

‘You’re just going to have to trust me.’ She reached up and took his hands away from her shoulders and then turned around to face him. He was as she remembered: tall, beautiful, completely black eyes—but there was no grin this time. He looked serious, and for the first time Macy noticed his uncertainty, but it endeared him to her. The sound of the ocean and its light spray added to the surreal moment Macy found herself in—staring into a black cave and straight into the eyes of a Jelvia. His expression was impassioned, and his fingers brushed the side of her cheek.

‘I’ve dreamed about you every night since we met,’ he said, ‘and I’ll always be your hero, Macy Shaw, whether you reciprocate my sentiments or not.’

Review: A Prison In The Sun, by Isobel Blackthorn

A Prison in the Sun

After millennial ghostwriter Trevor Moore rents an old farmhouse in Fuerteventura, he moves in to find his muse.

Instead, he discovers a rucksack filled with cash. Who does it belong to – and should he hand it in… or keep it?

Struggling to make up his mind, Trevor unravels the harrowing true story of a little-known concentration camp that incarcerated gay men in the 1950s and 60s.

Purchase Link: http://mybook.to/prisonsun

Blog Tour Calendar: Point of no Return, by Tanya Jean Russell

Blog Tour Calendar: A Prison in the Sun, by Isobel Blackthorn

Review: Helene, by Karl Drinkwater

Helene

Dr Helene Vermalle is shaping the conscience of a goddess-level AI.

As a leading civilian expert in Emergent AI Socialisation, she has been invited to assist in a secret military project.

Her role? Helping ViraUHX, the most advanced AI in the universe, to pass through four theoretical development stages. But it’s not easy training a mind that surpasses her in raw intellect. And the developing AI is capable of killing her with a single tantrum.

On top of this, she must prove her loyalty to the oppressive government hovering over her shoulder. They want a weapon. She wants to instil an overriding sense of morality.

Can she teach the AI right and wrong without being categorised as disloyal?

Lost Tales of Solace are short side-stories set in the Lost Solace universe.

Purchase Link – https://books2read.com/b/Helene

Extract Post: Distorted Days, by Louise Worthington

**Distorted Days**
If she could speak to them, she would say they have exploded her heart, released firecrackers through her senses. She wishes she could call the police, the ambulance, the fire brigade, to arrest and anaesthetise and waterboard the bastards.
So what happens when your husband runs off with your best friend? When you discover the dead body of an old man halfway through your delivery round? When your house is burgled and you get beaten up? Doris, Andy and Colleen are about to find out. They’re also about to discover that you can find friendship and support in the oddest of places…
Heart-rending, humorous and above all authentic, *Distorted Days* is an exquisitely written account of the ways in which life can knock you off our feet – and how you can pick yourself up again. If you’ve experienced the fickleness of fortune, this is a book that you’ll never forget.
**Purchase Links**
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0244236143
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0244236143
**http://www.lulu.com/shop/louise-worthington/distorted-days/paperback/product-24338530.html**

Extract One- from chapter one. Doris’ husband John has left her for her best friend Lisa on Christmas Eve. Doris gets drunk in the bathroom. The extract includes a refrain used throughout the book (in italics) to convey Doris’ destructive habit of drinking heavily when life gets tough. This habit affects her judgement & leads to John leaving her. The title of the novel is derived from her impaired judgment caused by depression & drinking. (323 words)

Her voice has walked out and left her too; carried itself down the stairs to someplace else where it might be listened to. ‘Your fucking wife! That’s who it is, love.’ That’s what she should have said to John, but she’s never been good at thinking of a comeback on the spot. Besides, she has no courage to fight back, to admonish, because she is a damp firework.

If she could speak to them, she would say they have exploded her heart, released firecrackers through her senses. She wishes she could call the police, the ambulance, the fire brigade, to arrest and anaesthetise and waterboard the bastards.

If she screws up one eye, she can see the colour of the glass rolling pin on the bathroom tiles. It’s a noisy one because it was expensive, carefully chosen by Doormat with the aid of an assistant in Tesco called Freda who had a nasty twitch in one eye. Freda’s twitch got excited when Doris loaded her shopping trolley with twelve bottles of wine, four colours of each hue. She and John used to go on alcohol percentage and special offers but Freda opened her eyes to the aromas and blends and whatnot.

They make her drink. Guzzle until her stomach is a well, so full it begins to pour over the top and trickle down Utkinton Street, a red rivulet, an S shape all the way to the corner shop and back. They still make her drink, sip it if she has to, faces at the bottom of the glass. She keeps drinking, swaying, and they are still watching. Then it is dark, the colour of a drinker’s liver.

This hurt is like a lit cigarette dabbed across the ribs. A grenade in her chest. Cock John and Twat Lisa stir cocktails with the linchpin. She breathes air through a damp handkerchief. Delirious, she lies on the cold tiles; sleep wants to take her.

Author Bio

Louise is the author of ‘Distorted Days’ and ‘Rachel’s Garden of Rooms.’ ‘The Entrepreneur’ will be available later in 2020. ‘The Thief’, a short story published by Park Publications, is available to download Louise Worthington’s website.

Before writing full time, Louise worked mainly as an English teacher after getting a degree in Literature and later, studying business and psychology at Masters level.

Louise grew up in Cheshire and now resides in Shropshire.

“Louise’s characters, without exception, are skilfully wrought which make the reader genuinely care for them.”

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