#Excerpt from "MAKING WISHES" by Marilyn Holdsworth @M_Holdsworth #AmReading #Historical

HOUSEWIFE ELLOREE GETS INVITED BACK TO WORK
(from Marilyn Holdsworth's Novel, MAKING WISHES)

Elloree’s hand tightened around the receiver. “I know you have a very large and capable staff now, Mark,” she said. “Alex Tenner is one of the best, and I read you stole him from Hallmark just last year.” Mark laughed, the deep bellowing sound shaking the phone. “You’re right there, but we call it ‘making an offer he couldn’t refuse.’ Yeah, we’ve got him on our side now. But between you and me, the guy’s a light-footed ass who spends too much time thinking with what’s below the belt. No, this operation needs someone special.”​How very like him, Elloree fumed, pacing the kitchen, still clutching the phone. Today, without warning, one phone call had transformed an ordinary Saturdaymorning into something that was anything but. Impulsive, aggressive Mark Williams had always known what he wanted. And as he phrased it this morning, “I want and need you to come back to work, El. This project can’t fly without you.”

​ I wish I’d just let the answering machine pick up the call, she thought, I wouldn’t have had to talk to him and hear those persuasive words. Just like that, go back to work. Damn him. But even as she thought it, she knew she’d made her decision when she’d heard his voice. Still, she answered carefully. “You know I can’t just come back, Mark. I would need time.” She hesitated and then added, “Time to talk to Tom. And there are things here to work out before I could even think of it.” She tried to sound firm and in control, but her heart was racing with excitement.

​“Fine, fine; take all the time you need. Call me on Monday with your answer.”
​She wondered if he could detect the quiver in her voice when she promised to call on Monday.

For more, please see Making Wishes by Marilyn Holdsworth at: http://marilynholdsworth.com/making-wishes/

As a novelist, I draw on many real life experiences to provide background for my books. After completing studies in Literature and History at Occidental College, I became a staff writer on a travel magazine, and throughout my career I have traveled extensively all over the world. Because I love horses, I owned and trained them. I support horse rescue and wild mustang preservation. Based on my experience with horses and my research on abuse issues, I wrote Pegasus.

As a descendant of James Monroe, I did extensive research at the James Monroe Museum in Virginia about him and his wife Elizabeth Kortright Monroe. I also visited their home, Ashlawn/Highland in Albemarle County. This resulted in my novel, The Beautiful American. Making Wishes, was based partly on my experiences as creator, owner and operator of a greeting card company.

Elloree Prince is an attractive, creative young woman who marries a wealthy businessman, Tom Randall. After courting his bride with unrelenting determination, Tom moves her into old-moneyed Oak View, where generations of Randalls have lived for years. Outwardly, Elloree appears to settle into raising their two sons within Oak View’s stifling social structure, but inwardly, she yearns for her artistic work. An unexpected phone call from Mark Williams, her former employer, offers her the career opportunity of a lifetime, and she must make a choice. She is torn between her devotion to her sons and her love for her work. Her decision to return to Wishes, Inc. brings dramatic life changes to her and the people she loves.

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Genre - Women’s fiction

Rating – PG-13

“Abby Long is thrilled when she offers the winning bid for an antique desk at an auction. With its intricately inlaid woods and elegant style, the desk is perfect for Abby; it is the gift she promised herself to finally celebrate her thriving antique business. She has no idea that the antique desk holds a secret that will lead her on a fascinating, life-changing journey back in time.

When Abby discovers a hidden diary stuffed inside a secret compartment in the desk, she can hardly wait to read the spidery, faded script. As she carefully turns the tattered pages, she reads the captivating story of two remarkable women from opposite backgrounds who somehow manage to form an unforgettable bond against the backdrop of a fledgling America struggling to find its place in the world. Elizabeth Kortright Monroe, the wife of James Monroe, and Jasmine, a young slave girl, develop an extraordinary relationship as they are united by pivotal historic events, political intrigues, and personal tragedies.

From a bucolic Virginia plantation to the bloodied, starving streets of post-revolutionary Paris, this powerful tale follows the lives of two courageous women from the past as they quietly influence—and inspire—a woman of today’s world.”

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Genre - Historical fiction

Rating – G

Widowed at thirty, Hannah Bradley is a successful journalist focusing on animal abuse issues. An accidental meeting introduces her to lawyer, Winston Caughfield III. Drawn to Hannah’s gentle beauty and fierce commitment to her work, Win joins her in a fight to save wild mustangs from slaughter. Together they rescue a badly injured horse with a mysterious background. 

Hannah’s search to discover the animal’s true identity leads them into a web of black marketeering and international intrigue. Action packed with crisp colorful dialogue the story propels the reader to a race against time conclusion. Marilyn Holdsworth delivers a gripping tale of mystery, adventure and romance guaranteed to hold the interest and capture the heart. She brings true-life characters together with real-life issues to create a fast-paced irresistible story.

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Genre – Contemporary fiction

Rating – PG

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 Connect with Marilyn Holdsworth on Facebook & Twitter

Website  http://marilynholdsworth.com/

Blog http://marilynholdsworth.com/blog/

Mike Hartner on The Eternity Series Having Several Inspirations @MHartnerAuthor #HistFic #Goodreads

What Inspired Me to Write This Book

This book is the second in a series of books called The Eternity Series.

The Eternity Series has several inspirations.

The first inspiration is to show that each life, each person, is different. We all have our crosses to bear, and how we overcome them determines who we are as a person. Whether we blame everyone else and fester in the crap that we are given by fate, or overcome the challenges and have a good life is up to us.

The second inspiration is to show that nobody’s life is perfect. Everyone has challenges. And appearances are not always what they seem.

More than that though, The Eternity Series is an epic saga of good vs evil, of man’s desire to survive and thrive, and of what we can be if we come together.

James Crofter was ripped from his family at age 11. 
Within a year the prince was a pauper in a foreign land. 
Is nature stronger than nurture? And even if it is, can James find the happiness he so richly desires? 

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Genre - Historical Fiction, Romance

Rating – PG

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@MargaretWestlie's #Excerpt from ANNA'S SECRET #Mystery #HistFic #GoodReads

Angus paused at the top of the rise that overlooked Anna’s house. Its setting was framed by the distant blue of the Northumberland Strait. The whitewashed house, trimmed in red, nestled in the hollow, flanked by the two barns and the workshop, also whitewashed. A long row of tall fir trees grew close behind, protecting the little farmhouse and its outbuildings from the vicious winter winds that could sweep across Prince Edward Island burying small houses, such as this, in drifts up to the eaves, and freezing a person to his very marrow. Angus shivered and hastened down the track.

I helped Ian build the big barn, and my father and my grandfather helped his father build this house, he thought. Anna planted those chestnut trees by the front door the day they were married. They’ve grown tall since then, but they’ve never produced nuts. A strange thing. He rounded the corner of the house and knocked on the door.

“Are you home, Ian?” He pushed the door open with the toe of his shoe.

“I am.” Ian’s voice sounded tired and far away.

Angus stepped into the sunlit kitchen, the bloody axe forgotten in his hands. His friend looked ill, weary-faced and worn, his eyes were red-rimmed and blood shot. His thick grey beard was still streaked with black and the hair on his head was grey too, except for the cowlick of black springing up from the front above his right eyebrow. He seemed rumpled and unkempt, and a little wild. He hunched his broad shoulders as if to ward off a blow.

“Where’s Donald?” asked Angus.

“Finishing the chores.” Ian was standing by the unlit stove, his hands busy shaving kindling off a stick of wood with the kitchen knife. “Have you found her, then?” He stared hard at the axe in Angus’ hands.

“We found her. Neil found her. They’re bringing her soon.” Angus followed Ian’s gaze, for the first time realizing that he still held the weapon. He almost dropped it in his haste to conceal it behind his back. “I’m sorry, I forgot to set this down.” His ruddy cheeks turned a darker shade of red.

“She’s dead, is she?” Ian stopped making kindling and stood waiting for the answer.

“She’s been murdered.”

Ian stood silently taking in the words. “It was bound to happen,” he said at last.

“Now why would you say that?”

Ian looked back at his friend, his blue eyes filled with tears. He blinked hard. “I knew about her from the very first time, and every time after that.”

“You didn’t…?”

“I suppose that’s what they’ll all be saying when the word gets around.” He sighed. “No, it wasn’t I, though I have more reason than anyone. Is that the weapon?”

“It would seem so.” Angus drew the axe out from behind his back.

“Whose is it?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen it before. I suppose we’ll have to notify the constable. This thing’s too big for us. Though what good he’ll be, I don’t know.”

Ian stood in silence for some seconds, then said, “I was just making Donald and me a bite of breakfast. Will you have some?” He turned toward the stove.

“I wouldn’t trouble you at a time like this. I should be making you breakfast.”

Ian shrugged. “We must go on, and to do that we must eat.” He began preparing the meal.

Anna Gillis, the midwife and neighbour in Mattie’s Story, has been found killed. The close-knit community is deeply shaken by this eruption of violence, and neighbours come together to help one another and to discover the perpetrator. But the answer lies Anna’s secret, long guarded by Old Annie, the last of the original Selkirk Settlers, and the protagonist of An Irregular Marriage. Join the community! Read Anna’s Secret and other novels by Margaret A. Westlie.

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Genre – Fiction, mystery, historical

Rating – G

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Website http://www.margaretwestlie.com

LOCK READY #Excerpt by @JimRada #AmReading #Historical #Fiction

This excerpt introduces a romantic rival for David to Lock Ready. However, Ruth has her own secrets just as David does.

Ruth bent down to pick up her baskets. She was still having trouble holding both of them as overbalanced as they were. David picked up the baskets and held them.

“Well, thank you for your kindness, but that man is right. If you want to stay around Cumberland, you probably don’t want to be seen with me,” she said.

“Why are you so certain about that? You don’t seem like a desperado to me. Maybe it’s you who shouldn’t be seen with me.”

David could guarantee that if the truth about him ever came out. If she knew he was a former Confederate soldier, she would probably run away screaming for help from a Union soldier. Then Ruth said something that surprised him.

“I support the South.”

She stared at David waiting for a reaction from him.

David paused, probably for too long, but her comment had surprised him. Finally, he said, “Is that all?”

Her eyebrows lifted. “It’s enough in a town occupied by the Union Army. I’m watched all of the time because people know where my sympathies lie. The only reason the army or townspeople haven’t run me off is because I’m a woman and my family has lived in Cumberland since soon after it was founded.”

“Is your entire family in support of the South?”

Ruth shook her head and her blond curls bounced around. “Just me. They’re ashamed of me, but not enough to turn me out.”

David knew that feeling and worse because his father had been willing to turn his back on David when he decided he could no longer fight in this war.  David had been proud to serve Virginia at first. He had seen it as a way to prove himself to his father and perhaps find his place in the world.

But battle hadn’t been like David had imagined it would be. Even winning at Manassas hadn’t been without its costs. Men had died on both sides of the battle and they always would. David’s best friend, Ben Kyle, had been ripped apart by an artillery shell that nearly landed on top of him. All David had found of his friend afterwards had been Ben’s right arm, shoulder, and head. The rest of him had been unidentifiable.

Then David had been asked to spy on the North along with two other miserable representatives of Southern life. One had been killed trying to sabotage the canal and David had killed the other when he had tried to rape Elizabeth Fitzgerald. That was the final straw that had led to him abandoning the army.

His father hadn’t understood that. How could he? His father had never fought a battle. He had only grown up on the exploits of his father and grandfather, two men who had served with honor unlike David.

“I married a soldier who was killed at Gettysburg last summer. I had a brother who was killed there, too. Sometimes, I feel like my parents think I killed my brother. They don’t seem to remember that the same battle that cost them a son cost me my husband,” she said with a bit too much anger in her voice.

David was struck by a sense of guilt. He had given up everything to stay with the Fitzgeralds. His country and his family. True, he didn’t have much of a choice at first because he had been wounded at the time, but that had been two years ago. Since then, he had had plenty of opportunities to return. He hadn’t, though; because he had believed that the Fitzgeralds needed his help and that he might have a future with Alice.

He wasn’t with the Fitzgeralds now, though. He could return to Virginia if he wanted to, but the truth was he didn’t want to. He had abandoned his duty while men with Ruth Abercrombie’s husband and brother had fought and died to do theirs.

“I’m sorry,” David replied.

Ruth took a deep breath and gave David a small smile. “I am, too. We had only been married a few years. My family doesn’t like my decision to support the South, but they already lost one child and they don’t want to lose another one. So they tolerate their Southern daughter,” Ruth explained.

“You can’t be too horrible then if they still love you,” David suggested.

“Well, they’re the only ones who do love me.”

David didn’t know how to respond to that so he said, “Can I carry these baskets for you to wherever you’re going?”

Ruth stared at him for a few moments. “You don’t have to prove that you’re a gentleman to me.”

“I’m not trying to prove anything. I’m just trying to be of assistance.”

“Well then, thank you, as you can see I need the help.”

The Civil War split the United States and now it has split the Fitzgerald Family. Although George Fitzgerald has returned from the war, his sister Elizabeth Fitzgerald has chosen to remain in Washington to volunteer as a nurse. The ex-Confederate spy, David Windover, has given up on his dream of being with Alice Fitzgerald and is trying to move on with his life in Cumberland, Md. Alice and her sons continue to haul coal along the 184.5-mile-long C&O Canal. 

It is dangerous work, though, during war time because the canal runs along the Potomac River and between the North and South. Having had to endured death and loss already, Alice wonders whether remaining on the canal is worth the cost. She wants her family reunited and safe, but she can’t reconcile her feelings between David and her dead husband. 

Her adopted son, Tony, has his own questions that he is trying to answer. He wants to know who he is and if his birth mother ever loved him. As he tries to find out more about his birth mother and father, he stumbles onto a plan by Confederate sympathizers to sabotage the canal and burn dozens of canal boats. He enlists David’s help to try and disrupt the plot before it endangers his new family, but first they will have find out who is behind the plot.

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Genre – Historical Fiction

Rating – PG-13

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Connect with James Rada Jr. on Facebook & Twitter

Website jamesrada.com

@DeborahHawk3 Interviews Ellen Scott, Housekeeper at Burnham Abbey #Romance #Historical

Our guest post for today comes from author Deborah Hawkins, author of Dance for A Dead Princess, who is interviewing Ellen Scott, housekeeper at Burnham Abbey and close friend of Nicholas Carey, the Eighteenth Duke of Burnham.

Deborah: “Thank you for stepping out of the pages of Dance For A Dead Princess to talk to us.   What is it like to be a modern-day housekeeper at an English stately home that dates back to Henry VIII’s time?”

Ellen:  “Well, obviously I love my job.  I oversee the household staff and ensure  the kitchen is running properly.  Above all, I’m responsible for the happiness of our resident chef.  Nicholas insists on having a top-rated chef at all times, and he takes it very hard when one of them leaves.   Since Downtown Abbey became popular,  people I meet are a lot more interested in what I do than they used to be.  They think I am like Mrs. Hughes, but our staff at the Abbey is much, much smaller than the staff at Downtown.”

Deborah: “Does the new attention make you uncomfortable?”

Ellen: “Not at all. The attention isn’t new really.  My job has always kept me in the spotlight because of my connection to Nicholas.   He is the second richest man in England.  The press hounds are  always pursing me for gossip about the women in his life.  Of course, I tell them nothing.”

Deborah: “How did you come to be the housekeeper at Burnham Abbey?”

Ellen: “I grew up on the estate. My father was a tenant on one of the Burnham Trust farms. I went to university to be a teacher, and I taught for a while at the school in the village after I got married. My husband Pete also grew up on one of the estate farms.  He oversees all the Trust’s agricultural holdings now.

“I agreed to be Nicholas’ housekeeper after Nicholas inherited the title and wanted to live at the Abbey and take care of the land in the traditional way of the old dukes.  He was going through a bad patch in his marriage to Deborah just then, and I couldn’t say no. The job stuck, and I’ve been doing it ever since.”

Deborah: “Is it true Nicholas became close to Princess Diana because of his wife?”

Ellen: “Yes.  Deborah and Diana were great friends at West Heath when they were girls.   Nicholas loved Deborah beyond anything I’ve ever seen, and he turned to Diana for advice when his marriage was in trouble.  And she, likewise, sought his advice over the whole Charles-Camilla thing.”

Deborah: “Did you ever meet the Princess of Wales?”

Ellen:  “Oh, yes.  Many times.  She was a lovely, lovely warm woman.  I still cry at times when I think about her being gone.  I’m always half-expecting to hear her car in the drive and her voice calling out for Nicholas.  He always took her part in everything.  There were so many men in her life who should have loved her, but who didn’t. More fool them.   She was just the most beautiful, thoughtful woman in the world. And she loved her boys.”

Deborah: “What did you think of Taylor Collins when you met her?”

Ellen: “She didn’t look like a lawyer.  She was this tiny little thing with dark curly hair and deep violet eyes.  But there was something about her that set her apart from the other women Nicholas brings around.  She had this fierce, determined attitude that made her seem a little off-putting at first.  But I saw the way Nicholas looked at her, and I was so afraid he was going to get his heart broken again.  Losing Deborah was a blow he refused to get over, and now I thought he was headed for another heartache. Taylor Collins was the only woman in the world who hadn’t any interest in being the Duchess of Burnham.”

Deborah: “Did you know Nicholas was looking for the video tape that Diana made, naming her killer?”

Ellen: “Oh, yes.  He was discouraged for so many years because he had no information about what happened to it.  I begged him to let it go because looking for it put his life in danger.  But he wouldn’t listen.  After Deborah died, I think he had a death wish.  That is, until he met, Taylor.”

Deborah:   “I understand you knew Nicholas’ ward Lucy very well?”

Ellen:   “I don’t think any of us knew Lucy well.  Sixteen-year-olds are unpredictable, and Lucy was particularly hard to understand.  I just know she broke Nicholas’ heart too many times to count.  He blamed himself for her, and I didn’t think that was right.  Drug addiction tears a family apart.”

Deborah: “I understand Taylor Collins found a manuscript in the Abbey library that Thomas Carey, the first duke wrote, about the love of his life, Elizabeth Howell.  Have you read it?”

Ellen:  “I have.  Nicholas always insisted the family was founded on the murder of Thomas’ first wife to clear the way for him to marry Elizabeth, the heiress.  Taylor, who had read the manuscript, said that wasn’t true; and I wanted to know how the Careys came to be one of England’s most powerful and wealthy families.”

Deborah: “And did you find out?”

Ellen: “Indeed, I did.  Thomas’ contemporaneous portrait of Henry VIII is fascinating.  You feel as if you’re standing right there in front of him with Thomas.  But I haven’t time  to tell you that story now.  We’re serving tea in the Long Gallery in a half hour to a group of American tourists. Tourists are a substantial part of the Abbey’s income, and they spend a lot of money with the villagers in Burnham during their summer visits,  so Nicholas insists we make them feel fully welcome to show our gratitude.   But I would love to have you join us for tea.”

Deborah: “Thank you.  I would be delighted.”

In January 1997, Princess Diana received a phone call telling her she would be assassinated. She recorded the information on a secret video tape, naming her killer and gave it to a trusted friend in America for safekeeping. It has never been found.

Diana’s close friend, Nicholas Carey, the 18th Duke of Burnham and second richest man in England, has vowed to find the tape and expose her killer. After years of searching, he discovers Diana gave the tape to British socialite Mari Cuniff, who died in New York under mysterious circumstances. He believes Wall Street attorney Taylor Collins, the executor of Mari’s estate, has possession of it. He lures Taylor to England by promising to sell his ancestral home in Kent, Burnham Abbey, to one of her clients, a boarding school for American girls. Nicholas has dated actresses and models since the death of his wife, ten years earlier, and has no interest in falling in love again. But he is immediately and unexpectedly overwhelmed with feelings for Taylor at their first meeting.

Taylor, unaware that Diana’s tape is in her long-time friend and client’s estate and nursing her hurt over her broken engagement to a fellow attorney in her firm, brands Nicholas supremely spoiled and selfish. She is in a hurry to finish the sale of the Abbey and return to New York. But while working in the Abbey’s library, Taylor uncovers the diary of Thomas Carey, a knight at the court of Henry VIII and the first Duke of Burnham.

As she reads Thomas’ agonizing struggle to save the love of his life and the mother of his child from being forced to become Henry’s mistress, she begins to see Nicholas in a new light as he battles to save his sixteen-year-old ward Lucy, who is desperately unhappy and addicted to cocaine. But just as Taylor’s feelings for Nicholas become clear and at the moment she realizes she is in possession of Diana’s voice from the grave, she learns that Nicholas may be Lucy’s father and responsible for his wife’s death at the Abbey at the time of Lucy’s birth. When Nicholas is arrested for Lucy’s murder and taken to Wandsworth Prison, Taylor sets out to learn the truth about Nicholas, his late wife, and the death of the Princess of Wales.

Dance for A Dead Princess is a the story of two great loves that created and preserved a family that has lasted for five hundred years.

Finalist in Romance Category for Forward Reviews 2013 Book of the Year Award

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Genre – Contemporary Romance,Mystery

Rating – G

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Connect with Deborah Hawkins on Facebook 

Website http://deborahlhawkins.com/

#Excerpt from The Copper Witch by @JessicaDall #AmReading #Historical #GoodReads

She couldn’t help glancing again, looking away when he glared. “How old are you, Antony?”

He paused momentarily. “Does that matter?”

“I was just curious,” she said. “You’re much younger than the painters we used to have come here.”

“I’m not as well-seasoned as them, I would think,” he said. “And I imagine I’m quite a bit cheaper.”

“Oh.” She fought away a smile. “So I shouldn’t be surprised when my nose comprises the better part of my face, then?”

“I think I’m skilled enough to keep that from happening,” Antony answered, continuing under his breath, “Anyway, if I were going to make a feature too large it would much more likely be your eyes.”

Her eyes slid over to him again.

He met them for a second before looking away sharply. “Stay still.”

“You just started painting, then?” She looked down and away again.

“I’ve been painting my entire life,” he said, seeming relieved. “Just finished my apprenticeship a year or so ago.”

“So you’re what then?” Adela did the math in her head. “Twenty? Twenty-One?”

“Something like that.”

She smiled. “You don’t know which one?”

“Relax your face.”

She took a breath, forced off the smile. “Is it a secret?”

Exasperation leeched into his voice. “Is what?”

“Your age.”

He released a breath. “I just don’t see how it’s relevant.”

“I asked,” she said. “That doesn’t make it relevant enough?”

“I don’t believe that’s the way it works, Miss Tilden.”

She shifted. “Can I please move. I’m going to freeze in this position if I have to keep it up much longer.”

Antony set down his brush, holding his hands up, motioning his surrender. “We can take a break.”

Adela rolled her shoulders, standing quickly to stretch her legs. She turned. “Can I see now?”

He looked up from straightening his paints.

“I’d like to see how you’re painting me,” she continued at his silence.

Antony hesitated. “I prefer people not to see what I’m painting until I’m done.”

She moved closer. “I’m paying for it. I’d think you’d want to know if I’m unsatisfied in any way.”

He opened his mouth, cleared his throat before starting. “Your grandmother’s paying for it, Miss Tilden. Maybe I should show her.” Adela pouted. “Please?”

He looked at her for another moment. Finally, sighing, he backed up for her to take a look.

Adela moved quickly, her soft slippers barely making a sound on the stone floor. And the painting slid into view. Unlike the other china-doll portraits in the manor—with every inch of the women in them softened, pale—the picture in front of her looked as though he had taken her reflection and pressed it onto the canvas. She studied herself, fascinated for a moment before collecting herself. She pulled herself straight. “You’re using a lot of red in my hair.”

His eyes lifted to her scalp. “Well, there is a lot of red in your hair, Miss Tilden.”

She twirled a strand absentmindedly around her finger, didn’t dispute it.

“Satisfied?” he finally asked.

“You are quite talented,” she said, looked from the painting to him. “I don’t think you have my lips quite right, though.”

Adela Tilden has always been more ambitious than her station in life might allow. A minor nobleman’s daughter on a failing barony, Adela’s prospects seem dire outside of marrying well-off. When Adela catches the eye of the crown prince, Edward, however, well-off doesn’t seem to be a problem. Thrown into a world of politics and intrigue, Adela might have found all the excitement she ever wanted—if she can manage to leave her past behind.

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Genre – Alternate Historical Fiction

Rating – PG-13

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Connect with Jessica Dall on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://jessicadall.com/

Holderby's Landing by J. D. Ferguson #Excerpt #Historical #Fiction

“Interesting, ain’t it?” hisses in his ear. His heart leaps into his throat. If not for the fact that his throat closed upon itself, he would certainly have screamed. Whirling around, he comes face-to-face with the girl of his dream, or rather her living model, the common room serving girl. His breath is coming in snatches and he stammers as he tries to explain. Nothing comes out of him except inane yammering. She is so close he can smell the natural womanly perfume of her hair.

“It’s okay, you know”, she whispers. “No need to explain or be embarrassed. I done it myself before. Missus has a man from time to time.” She smiles and holds on to Justin’s nightshirt as she squints past him and into the room. “Ooh, but not like this one.” She half suppresses a giggle.

Justin tries to squeeze past her, only to have her hold on to the front of his shirt, and turn him, so he now is backing away. “My, my, you are the nervous one, ain’t ya? Never been with a woman, I’m guessin’. That’s fine though. You mighty good lookin’ to get away for so long without some woman hookin’ ya.” With her other hand she reaches up to her throat and pulls a drawstring holding her night dress together. It falls open in a sharp V between her breasts. He raises his finger to his lips in a shushing manner and moves further away from the door, pulling the girl along with him. He backs up until he is across the room and encounters a table with his rear end. The nightdress continues a slow slide from his companion’s shoulders to expose one pink-nippled breast. Smiling the girl uses her free hand to tweak her nipple causing it to dimple and expand. Justin is enthralled. Despite being caught spying, and now within earshot of the couple in the next room, he is beside himself with desire. Everything he has been through tonight has done nothing if not enflame him sexually. He makes a sudden decision to have this girl, no matter the consequences. Have her now, and right here.

With a look of feminine understanding, red lips part and brown eyes assume a wily, lascivious glint. She maneuvers around him to the table, deftly raises her nightdress above her hips and positions a firm bottom on the table edge. Impatiently she whispers, “Well then? It ain’t goin’ to do the job without a bit of help.” When Justin just stares at her exposed charms, she grasps the drawstring of his underpants, tugs them loose and allows them to fall to the floor. Now fully erect and exposed, she admires the swollen penis pointed directly between her legs. “Good Lord, boy. The women that passed you by surely didn’t know what they missed,” she whispers with a giggle.

When Justin Thorne, coddled student and heir apparent to Sylvan Springs Plantation, is forced to find his heritage, his manhood, and his destiny, in the space of one brief spring, all hell breaks loose on the banks of the Ohio River. His Virginia of 1836 is a time of transition and enormous growth. Northern industrial might and southern aristocracy, abolitionist movements and slave cultures, collide in turmoil and lay bare the raw needs and desires of those intrepid spirits confronting the frontiers of the antebellum South. Coming of age is an expected result of time and circumstance. It happens to all who live so long, but to each within the dictates of their own lives. The process is on-going and ever dynamic. Every person is a precious product resulting from the effects of nature and nurture. 

One's ancestry, culture, and environment collude in myriad ways to make us; all as different as each life's story, and as singular as snowflakes. This theme is played out over-and-over throughout the world and throughout history, in millions of places like Holderby's Landing; as similar and as different as each human is to the other. Holderby's Landing is a single glimpse in time at the coming of age of a land, a community, and a few determined souls thrown together in love, strife and chance. What they make of the time, the opportunities and themselves is the story told and the living breath of this book.

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Genre – Historical Fiction

Rating – PG-13

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Website www.jdferguson.net

Alex Mueck on What Motivates Him to Write #amwriting #amreading #humor

What scares you the most?

Being boring.

What makes you happiest?

Helping others and making them laugh.

What’s your weakest character trait?

He is flawed in thinking life is one big joke.  When he takes his mission too far, there are ramifications, things back-fire and tragedy strikes.

Why do you write?

I know this sounds cliché, but I love it.

Have you always enjoyed writing?

Yes, I used to write stories, and then quit, but was encouraged by a friend to try again, and three books later, I am working on number four and five.

What motivates you to write?

I need to have something to do, and when I write it consumes me.  I rarely need any motivation to get lost in creating a story.

What writing are you most proud of?

Not sure, I have one particular piece, perhaps the more touching scenes that come in the second half, but feel there are too many spoilers in them, so I provided a few samples that is indicative of the humor style employed in this book.

What books did you love growing up?

Depends on the age.  When I was young Loved stuff from Ronald Dahl, Greek mythology stories,  to that three investigator series with Jupiter Jones, and even Encyclopedia Brown.  So I suppose the latter books led Agatha Christie and other mystery writers.  Later I branched out to several genres.

Who is your favorite author?

I honestly do not have one.  I like so many authors it is like picking the most beautiful girl.

What book genre of books do you adore?

Mysteries, thrillers, fantasy, horror, humorous fiction, biographies and historical accounts.

"“A historical fiction comedy that packs
as much heart as humor.”
—Michael Dadich, award-winning author of The Silver Sphere

When a Harvard history professor receives a thesis paper titled Jesse James and the Secret Legend of Captain Coytus, from Ulysses Hercules Baxter—an underwhelming student—he assumes the paper must be a prank. He has never read such maniacal balderdash in his life. But after he calls a meeting with the student, Professor Gladstone is dismayed when Baxter declares the work is his own. As he takes a very unwilling Professor Gladstone back in time via his thesis, Baxter’s grade hangs in the balance as he attempts to prove his theory.

It is 1864 as philanderer and crusader Captain Coytus embarks on a mission to avenge his father’s death and infiltrates the Confederate Bushwacker posse looking for the man responsible, Jesse Woodson James. Accompanied by the woman of his dreams, Coytus soon finds himself temporarily appointed to be the sheriff of Booneville and commissions his less-than-loyal deputy to help him carry out his plan.

But when tragedy strikes, the Captain is forced to change his immature ways and redefine his lofty mission—more or less."

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Genre - Humor, Historical Fiction

Rating – R

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