GUEST POST: Downsized With Extreme Prejudice By David Hanrahan

Downsized With Extreme Prejudice

By David Hanrahan

Genre: Adult Crime/ Suspense

Bradford Baxton III, is the CEO of Amalgamated Worldwide Enterprises. His ruthless acquisition policies earned him the title, "King of Downsizing."

His corrupt corporate empire begins to crumble when his Chief Financial Officer is brutally murdered. What follows is a deadly downsizing campaign at Amalgamated Worldwide Enterprises, leaving its top officers wondering who is next on the killer’s list.

Bill Coine, a retired Massachusetts State Police Detective Lieutenant, is lured out of retirement to investigate and soon solves the case. Or does he? What follows is an exciting and suspenseful story with clever twists and turns, and a surprise ending.

GUEST POST:

The all-important process that provides the foundation for our writing efforts is the subject of this blog. Creative writing requires much more than just good ideas and a laptop. Unless you are writing news articles or legal briefs, both of which have strict deadlines, your creative writing efforts might get started but never reach the finish line without self-discipline. Time is your enemy, no matter how much time you think you have. Unless you remain dedicated to your self-imposed deadlines you may lose continuity of plot or worse. You may lose interest in the project. Many writers impose a strict requirement that they produce a certain amount of usable words each day. For better or worse, I do not. I try to set aside a minimum of four hours per day for writing my novel. Look at it as your creative writing workday. I have discovered that unless my creative juices are flowing and I can’t stop, more than four hours is fatiguing. Instead of a word limit, I have a good idea when I have written a useful addition to my book. By the way, I do create a loose outline of the story; very loose! I let the characters and plot change as the characters dictate; and they do! Because you do have a life, do not ignore the time you have while travelling. Buses, planes and trains are good places for writing so long as you have your laptop or writing pad with you. Use that time effectively. Let us not ignore writer’s block. When you think you have run out of ideas, believe me you have not. Stop banging your head against the wall and use the time to go back over your earlier drafts for editing and re-writing. Seeing what you have already written usually unlocks the block; at least it does so for me. Finally, get used to the idea that your first draft is actually not likely to be your last.. You must discipline yourself to maintain a critical eye throughout the effort. Do any of your characters need more development? Is your dialogue authentic and interesting? If you stay loyal to the process, you should find yourself finishing what you started; an interesting and very readable novel. My debut novel. “Downsized – With Extreme Prejudice”, was considered to be “A sound mystery fronted by an immensely likable detective primed for a sequel.” – Kirkus Reviews.

About the Author

David G. Hanrahan was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1936. His Irish work ethic began early. When he was fourteen, Hanrahan started his first business venture selling freshly baked soft pretzels in front of the Graham Avenue and Grand Street movie theaters. By the time he finished college, he had wrapped shirts in a laundry, sold a new German beer entry into the New York market, was a mailman for the Christmas rush in the old Brooklyn Postal Zone 11 and did a stint as an elevator operator in the United States Steel Building on Wall Street. Hanrahan is a graduate of the prestigious Brooklyn Technical High school. During his high school years, Hanrahan was managing editor of his high school newspaper, a soloist with the glee club, and sang in the tenor section of the New York All-City Chorus with four performances in Carnegie Hall.

He graduated from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn with a Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Design in 1958. He received the Organization of the Army medal and was designated a Distinguished Military Graduate. While in the Army, Hanrahan graduated from the Airborne School at Fort Benning, Georgia and the Jungle Warfare School in Fort Sherman, Panama Canal Zone. In 1962, while stationed in the Panama Canal Zone, he was honored by the people of a small Panamanian town for helping them achieve their dream of a new school. The inauguration of the "Lieutenant David G. Hanrahan School.- Amistad -Panama -Estados Unidos" was attended by the President of Panama, the American Ambassador to Panama and the senior army staff.  After 5 years in the United States Army, attaining the rank of Captain, he attended Boston University Law School where he received his Juris Doctor Degree in 1966. He served on the Boston University Law Review where he was elected to the position of Note Editor.

Married with two young children while attending law school full time,  Hanrahan worked as a reporter for the Quincy Patriot Ledger. He spent one year as an attorney for the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C. before returning to Boston to begin his career as a Boston trial lawyer. Hanrahan, a distinguished trial attorney, is a member of the Boston and Massachusetts Bar Associations and is a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers.

Music has always been an important part of Hanrahan's life. He is a member of the Barbershop Harmony Society and for the last 15 years has sung lead in a barbershop quartet “Spindrift." Now, writing suspenseful and riveting court room novels occupies an important part of his life.

Links:

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/DHanrahanAuthor

Website: www.davidhanrahan.com

On Amazon: http://amzn.to/2xKwwz9

On B&N: http://bit.ly/2yEqYmx

BOOK BLITZ: Cars, Coffee, and a Badass Ninja Toilet By K.C. Hilton

Cars, Coffee, and a Badass Ninja Toilet
By K.C. Hilton
Genre: Humor, Satire

If you deal with customers day after day who drive you insane, give you reasons to drink alcohol, or make you want to quit your job, this book is definitely for you.

A chaotic and hilarious portrait of a used car lot owner, Julia Karr. Her feisty attitude and fearless approach to managing a business, how it affects her home life and dealings with customers will have you scratching your head about humanity.


Seeing the business world through Julia's jaded eyes may convince you that owning a business isn't what it’s cracked up to be. Her attitude is drenched with sarcasm and dipped in crazy sauce. She blames the car lot.

About the Author

K.C. is a wife, mother and manages the family business. K.C.’s husband refers to her as Hobbit size and claims that she is “nuttier than a fruit cake.” She owns a complete set of pink tools, believes in aliens and secretly wants to become a badass ninja. In her spare time, she can be found daydreaming about leaving work early to eat chocolate and drink wine. Sometimes her dreams come true.

An Excerpt

By the time I finished my first cup of coffee, I noticed a vehicle parked near the office door. The office didn’t open for another fifteen minutes and I wasn’t in a big hurry to start my day. As I poured a second cup of coffee, I watched another vehicle pull onto the lot and park.

“Today is going to be a busy day,” I murmured to Foxy Boxy, which somehow excited her and made her start jumping around like a rabbit. She probably thought I was offering her a treat. I looked at her cute puppy-dog eyes and caved. “I might as well go see what they want.” I sighed, then tossed her a treat.

As I walked toward the office door, I noticed an SUV pull onto the lot and park near the entrance. The first customer simply wanted to make a payment, only taking a few minutes of my time.

The second customer wanted more information about a truck parked near the garage, not ready for sale, yet. It was a repo vehicle.

“I’d like to know how much your husband would sell that truck for?” she asked.

Oh, my goddess, another woman who thought only a man could run a car lot. If she continued with the only-a-man-can-run-a-car-lot attitude, I’d have to teach her a lesson.

“I can give you a price,” I said in a cheerful tone. “One thousand dollars, plus the transfer costs—which includes the sales tax—and it’s all yours,” I said.

By the look on her face, I knew the price was too good for her to pass up. Even with the higher miles, it was a four-wheel drive and the truck retailed for five times that amount. It was a repo and I didn’t mind selling it cheaper. One person’s loss was another’s gain. The truck needed to be cleaned up, and have the exterior driver’s door handle replaced, but the low price more than compensated for that. The handle could be purchased on eBay for about twenty dollars. I wasn’t sure if it needed any mechanical work, but Tiny didn’t indicate any problems when he brought it to the lot. Even if the truck needed some work, it was still worth it, as is.

As she made her way to the truck, I glanced at the SUV parked near the entrance and noticed a young man making his way toward me. The truck lady would be fine for a few minutes without me, so I decided to meet the young man halfway.

“I’d like to test-drive that SUV in the front row,” he said. He gestured toward it as he approached me.

“Okay, I’ll go get the key.” I made my way back toward the office.

Truck Lady was hot on my heels and followed me inside. “Are you going to clean it?” she asked.

“No,” I said. “For that price, you can clean it yourself.” Truck Lady looked hurt. It wouldn’t kill her to take it home and clean it herself or run it through a car wash. “If you want us to detail it, then I’m going to raise the price another hundred bucks. Your choice.” That got her thinking. Almost positive she would want to take it for a ride, I snatched the truck key and slid it into my pocket just in case. I pointed to the guy waiting outside. “Let me give that customer this key, so he can go on a test-drive. I’ll be right back.”

As I made my way toward the young man, a woman got out of the passenger side of their SUV, walked around, and hopped into the driver’s seat. I was concerned someone might whip their vehicle into the drive and asked him if she could move it to a parking spot.

“It’s a little dangerous being parked at the entrance,” I said. I handed him the key and he asked about our financing. I answered his questions and let him know that we had recently replaced the battery.

The woman began moving their vehicle and I assumed she would be waiting here until he returned. Their SUV was the same make and model of the one the young man wanted to test-drive, although it was a different color. I took another look and it didn’t have a plate on the back, but it did have a sticker for another car lot here in town.

“Are you test-driving that vehicle?” I asked, as he started the SUV.

Links:

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kchilton1 

Website: www.kc-hilton.com

Amazon: http://a.co/hRE1R1p 

Hardback B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1127020241?ean=9780692937907

The author is running TWO giveaways!

1. A giveaway for 10 paperback copies 9/1/17-10/15/17 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35532786-cars-coffee-and-a-badass-ninja-toilet?from_search=true

2. Two Signed Paperbacks with SWAG!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: The Amy Binegar-Kimmes-Lyle Book of Failures By Amy Lyle

The Amy Binegar-Kimmes-Lyle Book of Failures

By Amy Lyle

Genre: Funny Memoir

THE AMY BINEGAR-KIMMES-LYLE BOOK OF FAILURES is a humor memoir. If you have ever failed at love, finances, been fired, not fit in, self-diagnosed yourself with disorders and conditions and/or said, "I really need to get my s*** together," this is the book for you.

You may appreciate your own dysfunction a little more as you take a journey through Amy’s debacles including: “I Was Not Talking to You,” where Amy mistakes a handsome man waving at her as a potential suitor but in reality, he was only trying to inform her that her belt was dragging on the freeway and “In the Neighborhood,” where members of a cult moving in concurred with a suspicious decline in the cat population. You will relish the chapters entitled “Calls from Sharon,” where Amy’s best friend rants about her kids not getting a fair shot because public schools are ‘so political,’ as her OB/GYN reported her vagina was ‘too clean’ and how the most eligible bachelor from 1982 married a whore. Enjoy “I’m Going to Kill You,” where Amy compares her lack of sleep from her husband’s snoring to CIA agents extracting secrets from a POW. Feel 20-32% better about your own life after reading “Getting Divorced Sucks,” where 911 was called after Amy had an adverse reaction from taking Xanax.

The book has been featured in Scoop OTP, Georgia Followers, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Points North Atlanta Magazine, Just4Fun Radio and the WXIA-TV morning show, "Atlanta & Company.”

Ten percent of book proceeds are donated to The Place of Forsyth County, a non-profit helping people to become self-sufficient.

About the Author

Amy Lyle is an author, comedienne, actor and screenwriter who works as a playwright for a large nonprofit in Alpharetta, Ga. Obsessed with fellow female comedians, Amy developed a writing style that is self-deprecating, hilarious and slightly neurotic.

Although she describes her book, The Amy Binegar-Kimmes-Lyle Book of Failures, as a “how not to” book, her message of “You are not a failure, you’re just having a little bit of trouble right now” is prompting people to share how the book made them feel (#bookoffailures), including the relief of knowing they are not alone in the world of missteps. Fan posts of people reading the book have been popping up from all over the world, including Lake Como, Italy, Amsterdam and The Great Wall of China.

The funny memoir, dealing with everything from getting fired to trying to blend a family, has been described as relatable and authentic, while sparking conversations about how we all handle failure.

The author has been featured in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Points North magazine and the WXIA-TV morning show, "Atlanta & Company,” in addition to writing a monthly column for My Forsyth magazine.

Amy grew up in Marietta, Ohio, in the heart of Appalachia, a place known for a population that is partial to moonshine and prone to acts of violence. She currently lives in Cumming, Ga., with her second husband, Peter, lots of teenagers and a large dog. Ten percent of book proceeds are donated to The Place of Forsyth County, a non-profit helping people to become self-sufficient.

To learn more, visit www.amylyle.me/.

Twitter: @amylyle
FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/amylyle.me/

On Amazon: http://amzn.to/2vZg1xn

On Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2woXefR

On B&N: http://bit.ly/2w5hyjY

BOOK SPOTLIGHT & REVIEW: The Quieting West By Gordon Gravley

The Quieting West
By Gordon Gravley
Genre: Literary / Western / Historical

Book Description

This is the story of two cowboys, Billy Colter and Thomas Andrew Benton, in the rapidly changing world of the early 1900’s. Despite the forty-year difference in their ages, they become close friends in a brief time. After losing their jobs as ranch hands in Utah, they head to Denver, once old man Thomas’ stomping ground. There, Thomas spends time with Ellen Marie, a “soiled dove” he’s known all her life, while young Billy experiences the newest form of entertainment: nickelodeons.

Thomas soon receives a job offer from an old friend, and the two head to Arizona, expecting more ranch work. What they discover is a renegade group of silent film makers. Billy and Thomas are hired to protect the crew and their equipment from Patents Agents hunting down the illegal use of movie cameras. Before long, the cowboys-now-hired-guns are involved in the movie-making process. When they are lured to a world of great enchantment and seduction—Hollywood!—they find their lives forever changed. And not necessarily for the better.

It is a story of truth, fiction, and the disillusionment between the two. A story woven of humor, romance, and tragedy.

My Review:

My wife thinks I am somewhat of a history buff and I have to agree with her. The Quieting West was a complimentary fit to the type of books I regularly indulge in. An additional surprise I found in Mr. Gravley’s book was the characters’ shift from ranch hands to working in the motion picture industry. I worked in the film world myself as a scenic artist, so this turned into a phenomenal reading experience. Another interesting parallel is the shift from the plains of Colorado to the streets of Los Angeles, which I have also experienced myself! A kinship from start to finish...  Mr. Gravely has a clear grasp of this time period and refined characters. Five Stars.

About the Author

Gordon Gravley has been making up stories all his life. The dystopian Gospel for the Damned was his first novel. Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Gordon moved around – California; Colorado; Alaska; Northern Arizona – before eventually settling in Seattle, Washington. Calling the Northwest his home since 1998, he doesn’t expect to be moving elsewhere anytime soon. There, he’ll continue to make up stories, and live with his wife and son. 

Links:

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Gordon-Gravley-537843332916956/

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/gordongravley 

Website: www.gordongravley.com

On Amazon: http://amzn.to/2eVtfCz 

An excerpt:

He looked at me, turned away, and then looked back. “You look familiar. What pictures have you been in?” he said to me.

I was stumped. I never knew the titles of any of the movies I’d been in. “I can’t rightly recall,” I told him. “I was Morgan Earp in one about that gunfight in Tombstone. Mostly, I rode and fell a lot.”

That was all the résumé I needed. The skinny man led me into the building, down a long corridor, and finally, onto an open lot.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“Billy Colter.”

“That’s a good name,” he replied, nodding his approval. Then he told me to wait while he went to talk to a gentleman who I took to be the director.

A moment later the skinny man returned. “Okay, Billy. Here’s what you’re going to do. You’re going to get on that horse there, and you’re going to ride out to the end of the street there. Then you’ll ride back this way, as fast as you can, and then stop the horse so suddenly that you fall off into that big water trough there. We made it over-sized so that you’ll be able to hit it better. You got all that?”

I had it. It was nothing different than I had done for Grady. I got on that horse with confidence. It was a skittish one, what with all the people and activities going on, but it took my commands just fine, and we went down to the end of the street just like we were told.

I waited a moment, set my sights on that over-sized trough, and then kicked my horse into a full run. All the time I was thinking about what Anna Beth had taught me: Do it the way Charles would do it. And I did. I must’ve soared fifteen feet from the saddle to the water-filled trough, my arms and legs flailing. I turned my body at the last moment and hit the water on my back. I sent a tidal wave of a splash up and outward, soaking anything and anyone within ten feet.

“What the hell are you doing?” the skinny man shouted at me.

I stood, as drenched as a drowned calf. “What you told me to do,” I answered.

“Yes, but not when! The director didn’t say action! We weren’t ready!”

Alan Grady’s yelling had nothing on this fellow’s. He may have been skinny but his lungs were mighty.

“Mendoza!” he shouted. Seemingly out of nowhere appeared a young Mexican boy.

“Yes, sir?” he said, like a soldier awaiting orders.

“Take Billy, dry him off and get him a new set of clothes.”

As I was hurried away I could hear—hell, everyone in Edendale probably heard—the skinny man shouting, “Get more water in this trough and clear away this mud!”

I was taken to an area behind the sets where there were racks and racks of clothes. The boy had me wait while he went through them. “How long have you been in movies?” he asked. His voice was high and feminine without any hint of “Mexican” to it.

“About a year, I suppose,” I replied, “in Prescott.”

“Prescott?”

“Arizona.”

His lack of response showed him unimpressed. He laid a shirt and pants on a rickety table beside me. “Try these.”

I quickly removed my clothes, at which the boy averted his eyes with a short, bashful gasp, and I realized he was she, a girl of not more than twelve or thirteen. It was then I could see in her brownish complexion and bright eyes of get-up-and-go and bullishness that she might be quite a pretty young lady if it weren’t for her boyish haircut and attire. I apologized and dressed as quickly as I had undressed.

“You did a great fall, Billy,” she told me.

“Thanks.”

“But you have to follow direction. If it weren’t for how good your fall was they would’ve fired you on the spot.”

“I suppose I got a little excited.”

She shoved me to hurry back to the set, which was good as everyone was impatiently awaiting my return. “What’s your name, again?” I asked her.

“Annie Mendoza.”

Her smile instilled me with the confidence that I could do that fall even better than before, which I did, and that I had made my first friend in California.