Bell Bridge Books

A Sense of Place

By C. Hope Clark

I love a strong sense of place in my stories, as writer or reader, so when given the opportunity for a new mystery series, I leaped onto the chance to place my mysteries on Edisto Beach.

The hardest of hearts and the saddest of souls can find peace on the sand, waves lapping at their toes. How many stories have been written and movies made about the ocean, and how people have used that ebb and flow, soft breezy environment to get away, seek answers, and let go of life’s burdens if even for a few days?

In my Edisto Mystery Series, I take a broken main character running from an interrupted law enforcement career, and help her escape to the beach where she hopes to heal. But of course I do not let that happen, and what was supposed to be a long-term retreat turns into death, injury, mental anguish, and a vicious cycle of life-threatening events. Amidst the waves, gulls, swaying palmettos and salty balmy wind, danger abounds.

She is often her own worst enemy, and since she’s operated in Boston for years, she views the beach from a detective’s eye, so even where island residents don’t see danger, she does. Without that juxtaposition of locations – big city versus beach village – the magic wouldn’t happen nearly as well.

Setting can often assume the role of a character. When a tale can’t be told better anywhere else, setting has morphed into a player. Frankly, that’s my preference in reading material – those stories where even the very ground the character stands on has an impact on the plot.

Imagine Sherlock Holmes in other than England. Or Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum in other than New Jersey. Or Tony Hillerman’s western mysteries without the Navajo west? True, there are many mysteries that could happen in any urban setting, or any rural setting, or any country, for that matter. But doesn’t it enrich the storytelling so much more to know that where the players fight, love, live and die impacts how it all turns out?

BIO

C. Hope Clark inserts strong setting in both her award-winning Carolina Slade Mysteries and Edisto Island Mysteries, all set in rural South Carolina. When she isn’t writing mysteries, she is editor of FundsforWriters.com, an award-winning site to aid professional writers in their careers. She lives on the banks of Lake Murray in central SC when she isn’t walking the coast of Edisto Beach. www.chopeclark.com

Make sure you grab MURDER ON EDISTO only $1.99 through December! Happy Holidays! 

And make sure you also grab the second in the series – Edisto Jinx!

A Note from Wally Avett

I am grateful to Bell Bridge Books and my agent, Jeanie Loiacono, for getting my first two novels —MURDER IN CANEY FORK and LAST BIGFOOT IN DIXIE —  included in Amazon’s Holiday Gift Guide for the month of December.

My goal is to be a good storyteller, so both novels, works of fiction, are solidly based on a number of true incidents.  I’m thankful the partnership of BBB and Amazon can enable me to reach a wider audience for my books.

My wife(52 years and counting) and I will welcome children and grandchildren into our mountain home over the holidays, where we always share good food and good stories.  Merry Christmas to all and a Happy and Blessed New Year!

Seasonal greetings from the Smoky Mountain farm of the Wally Avetts.

Murder in Caney Fork by Wally Avett is on sale during the month of December for only $1.99! Click the cover below to purchase!

“Living in the N E GA/W NC mountains, I can certainly relate to these characters as if they were walking down the street in our small town. They come alive and realistically go about their days as you’d expect in a southern town in America. Wes, a wounded soldier coming home near the end of WWII, tries to settle back into his ‘normal’ environment on his return. Post war direction is needed and he chooses to become an apprentice in his uncle’s law firm. Being part of a southern lawyer’s cases delves him into suspense and mysteries, some surrounding those he loves…family. Justice is dealt with a little differently in the South and if the law doesn’t get the job done, then others will band together and take action deemed necessary. Certainly being thrust into multiple thrilling events opens the protagonists’ eyes into the world he is now surrounded by. Starting over can sometimes be thrilling, and call into focus that which you must deal with one incident at a time!”

Review posted by Rhonda Brigman on goodreads.com

An Attitude of Gratitude

by Sparkle Abbey

We recently had an opportunity to chat with some readers about family traditions. Our biggest take-away from those conversations was, it’s all about attitude. So many talked about how, though they love family traditions, things were going to be different this year. For some, they’d become empty-nesters, for others they’d lost someone dear, and for still others, there were new additions to their families.

We’ve both had our share of life changes this past year and the stories these readers shared reminded us that whether a happy change or a sad one, change requires adjustments. And the main thing you have to adjust is your attitude.

There is joy in remembering times past and in making new memories.

There is joy in carrying on traditions, but perhaps adapting them to include new family members.

There is joy in beginning new traditions—maybe enjoying a quiet dinner, catching a movie, or taking a drive to see the holiday lights.

Or maybe your quiet get-together has become a rollicking feast with new little ones, or new in-laws, or outlaws. There can be joy in that change too.

As 2015 comes to a close and we reflect on all the changes (both good and bad) we’ve experienced this year, we hope to remember the stories that were shared.

And we hope we remember to find the joy.

Sparkle Abbey is the pseudonym of mystery authors Mary Lee Woods and Anita Carter. They write a national bestselling pet themed mystery series set in Laguna Beach. The first book in the series Desperate Housedogs, an Amazon Mystery Series bestseller and Barnes & Noble Nook #1 bestseller, was followed by Get Fluffy, Kitty Kitty Bang Bang, Yip/Tuck, Fifty Shades of Greyhound, and The Girl with the Dachshund Tattoo. Downton Tabby is the latest installment in the series. Up next is Raiders of the Lost Bark. www.SparkleAbbey.com

Downton Tabby is currently a

Kindle Daily Deal at $1.99

www.amazon.com/ B00VVOYB86

From THE DEADLIEST HATE, Book 2 in the Miriam bat Isaac Mystery Series: Miriam arrives in Caesarea

By June Trop

After five days at sea, Miriam arrives in Caesarea to trace an alchemical secret that has surfaced there:

My doldrums were relieved… when I heard above the wash of the sea the mournful screech of a lone gull spiraling overhead. A moment later, emerging through the portside doors onto the afterdeck, I saw a squadron of them wheeling above the deckhouse, dipping low, some settling fore, some aft, others flitting here and there, one already with a strip of blood-streaked meat hanging from its bill. Land at last! The long, slow curve of the shoreline was sliding toward us. Soon I’d see the Sebastos, the famous harbor Herod the Great built and named for his emperor, and be greeted at its gateway by six colossal statues, three starboard, three port, each portraying a member of Augustus’s family atop a column that would tower over the tallest mast.

And soon she’d see Judah. Would he be happy to see her? Uh, not exactly. Find out why in THE DEADLIEST HATE.

The Deadliest Lie by June Trop is on sale for just $1.99 through December! 

Don’t forget to pick up the second book in the series, The Deadliest Hate, below!

COLD CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS

By H.W. “Buzz” Bernard

I’m kind of a sucker for Christmas traditions: cold weather, warm homes with flames dancing in a fireplace, trees drooping with tinsel and lights, carols filling the air.  Thus, there are a couple of scenes early in BLIZZARD, my newest novel, that depict a Thomas Kinkade-like ambience in the suburban Atlanta home of my protagonist, J. C. Riggins.

I designed the bucolic, perhaps nostalgic, backdrops to provide a biting counterpoint to what happens to J. C. later in the book when he’s hurled into the teeth of a historic Southern snowstorm . . . and a few other things.  You know, outlaw bikers, characters who aren’t who they initially seem, and a pack of wolves (escaped from captivity).

But back to the Christmasy introductory settings.  Among other things, they’re developed against frigid conditions that bear “a touch of the Yukon.”  You may wonder if it really ever gets that cold in “Hotlanta” around Christmas.  The answer is yes, it does.  I’ve lived there almost three decades and remember plenty of chilly Christmases.  Often the day will dawn frosty with the mercury later struggling up only into the 40s.  Okay, you’re right.  Not quite arctic conditions.

But there have been such times.  Shortly before I arrived in the city, December 1983 delivered three consecutive days with single-digit lows: 3º on Christmas Eve morning, a flat zero on Christmas morning, and 5º the following a.m.

Just before Christmas 1989, I recall a stretch of four consecutive days when readings failed to top freezing, even during daylight hours.  Christmas Eve day dawned with the mercury sitting (and shivering?) at 4º.

These Christmas excursions into tundra temperatures aren’t common, of course, but I made sure they performed a curtain call in BLIZZARD.

And if you want to talk about really cold Christmases, let me tell you about Christmas Day 1980 in Boston.  It’s one I’ll never forget.  Perhaps it was stuck in the back of my mind as I wrote the holiday scenes for the novel.   At any rate, as darkness fell on Christmas Eve over eastern Massachusetts that year, temperatures were chilly but hardly cold, at least by New England standards.

The reading in Boston at midnight registered 32º.  That was prior to the arrival of screaming northwest winds (yeah, a major league cold front) that likely boosted the airspeed of Santa and his reindeer to around 400 mph.  Anyway, the mercury tumbled to below zero by Christmas morning and remained stuck there all day.  I’m certain that windchills dived into the 30- to 40-below range.  I know for a fact the temperature inside my condo that day never topped 59º.

That was a little too much nostalgia for me.

Hope you enjoy BLIZZARD.

Blizzard by H.W. “Buzz” Bernard is on sale for $1.99 today only! Click the cover below to purchase! 

MUMMIFICATION AT THE TIME OF MIRIAM BAT ISAAC

by June Trop

In The Deadliest Lie, Miriam explains why the Jewish quarter of Alexandria is the finest residential district in the city: “We’re on the coast and farthest from the main necropolis… [so] we can inhale the scent of the sea instead of the stench of the embalming workshops.”

Mummification was the embalming method practiced most notably in Ancient Egypt. Although unintentional mummification occurred as early as prehistoric times in Egypt’s dry climate and sandy soil, deliberate mummification, the process of embalming the dead in an extensive ritualistic practice, began three thousand years before Miriam’s time, reached its peak of refinement by 1000 B.C.E., and continued well into the Roman Period.

The process began with the removal of the lungs, stomach, intestines, and liver. Each organ was then stored in one of four canopic jars that would accompany the body in the coffin. The heart, the organ where the soul was believed to reside, was kept intact.

The brain was usually removed as well. The embalmers would insert a sharp object into the nostrils to break into the cranium and draw out pieces of the brain with an iron hook. Then the skull was filled with plant-based resins to prevent decay.

Next the body was left for about forty days covered with natural salts and the salt-like substance natron. This process dehydrated the body and prevented decomposition. Finally the body was rubbed with unguents and resins and wrapped first in strips of white linen and then in sheets of canvas.

The purpose of mummification among the Egyptians was to preserve the body for the afterlife. Only then would the spirit have a home and be spared from having to wander throughout eternity. Fortunately for Miriam, living at the opposite end of the city, she and her Aunt Hannah could step into the brilliant afternoon light, hear the clack of their sandals against the cobblestones, and enjoy the scent of the sea.

Pick up THE DEADLIEST LIE for just $1.99 through December!

And don’t forget to grab the sequel – THE DEADLIEST HATE! 

Hair There and Everywhere

by Leigh Brill

There’s a dog hair in my wine glass, and I couldn’t be happier.

You might suspect that my joy is inspired by my choice of libation. That’s a reasonable assumption, but in my dog-centric life, it is in fact the floating bit of fur that delights me. I pluck it from my glass and nonchalantly swipe it on my jeans. There, the tiny hair joins countless other reminders of my newest family member.

Piper is my fourth service dog. He follows in the remarkable paw prints of Slugger, Kenda, and Pato. The handsome black Labrador helps me deal with the challenges of congenital cerebral palsy, and he does so with style – a style I call ‘Pi-perfect’. Although our partnership is just beginning, ‘Pi-perfect’ is my favorite word these days. For good reason.

Whether he is retrieving the telephone, steadying my steps, or alerting my husband when I need help, Piper’s enthusiasm is boundless.  As a professionally trained service dog, he knows more than fifty different commands. Everything from hold, to get it, to tug, to bump.  Piper even knows the word refrigerator!  Yes, my smart Lab will go to the fridge, open it, grab my lunch bag, close the fridge, and bring me my food.

I keep my lunch bag securely closed of course, but to be honest, I do find the occasional dog hair on my lunch plate … and I couldn’t be happier.

Pick up A DOG NAMED SLUGGER by Leigh Brill – an Amazon Monthly Deal for just $1.99 throughout December! 

DEEP IN DECEMBER

By Kathleen Eagle

The weather outside hasn’t been frightful up here in the North Country lately, but in the last few days Jack Frost woke up and started sprinkling tiny ice stars on the grass. Right now I’m watching snow sift softly like powdered sugar from an angel’s donut, and tonight we’re promised our first white winter blanket.  Because, baby, it’s cold outside.

It’s no accident that we celebrate our brightest holidays in the winter. It’s a dark time, and we need to brighten up our surroundings with fire and stars and smiling faces. It’s cold, and we need to wrap up and make a circle and share warmth. It’s quiet. It’s the perfect time to share food and gifts, songs and stories.

Romance comes from the heart, which is why so many holiday classics tug at the heartstrings. They’re love stories in the broadest sense. One of my favorites when I was very young was “The Little Match Girl.” The original Hans Christian Andersen story is pretty tragic, but the TV adaptation I remember had a happy ending. I cried every time the little girl stood outside in the cold, and when she was invited to come inside and stay, I sobbed.  Family, friends, finding a soul mate—holiday stories celebrate people coming together, face to face, hand in hand.

What a joy it is to have THE LAST GOOD MAN chosen for Amazon’s holiday store for the month of December. The story was inspired by my beautiful, brave baby sister, who is a breast cancer survivor. This book is a good answer to the question, “Where do your stories come from?” The characters and events are completely fictitious, but the emotional experience is drawn from life. THE SHARING SPOON—my collection of three novellas with three very different settings and common holiday theme—is also specially priced this month. I can just see readers taking time for themselves with one of my stories during this busy season. A comfy corner, a cup of cheer, and a book.  A gift for yourself. Read a good story and then pass it on to someone dear to you.

And speaking of holiday gifts, my daughter brought me something special on Thanksgiving. We mothers treasure the gifts our kids have made themselves, and my grown daughter—Lady Elizabeth’s Dreamwear Catalog from THE LAST GOOD MAN is a nod to her name—still makes many of her gifts for family and friends. And there’s always some special significance, not to mention imagination and skill involved. The coasters she made for me this year are covered with my words—pages scanned from one of my books. She chose THIS TIME FOREVER because she was there when I received the RITA award for that book. What a lovely memory. What a lovely daughter! And what a lovely time of year for heartwarming stories.

The Last Good Man by Kathleen Eagle is on sale the entire month of December for just $1.99! Click the cover below to purchase!

Top 5 Things That Are Guaranteed to Get Me Out of My Jammies

By Susan Sleeman

A bomb. A submachine gun. A plane crash. The roof torn from a car. CSI investigation.

Sounds like a book right. Or movie. Or even something a writer might conjure up in her mind. Wrong. It’s a day in the life of a romantic suspense author. A day in my life. Several days actually.

Not my typical schedule, though. I write fulltime so I’ve become a real homebody, sitting in my comfy chair—some days not even bothering to get dressed. But then, there have been crazy, amazing days when research has pulled me from my chair to participate in things I never imagined myself doing. Here are a few of my favorite events.

1. Detonating a Bomb – Lest you think the FBI is coming after me for this, let me first tell you that I was with the FBI bomb squad at the time. As a participant in the FBI Citizen’s Academy, I joined agents for six weeks to learn about their job and mission. Some things I experienced first hand. What better way to experience the power of bombs than pressing the detonator in an empty field. The flash was blinding. The ground rumbled. And the explosion was deafening. AMAZING! Here’s a short video of one of the explosions. The video doesn’t have nearly the impact of the actual event, but it gives you an idea. As a bonus, you can also hear gunshots from the nearby firing range.

2. And speaking of guns, shooting a submachine gun—Same day, up the hill at the FBI firing range. We shot pistols, submachine guns, and a rifle. I’d only ever fired a weapon once before this
   day and let me tell you, the power behind the semi-automatic was incredible. Here’s the range and the targets we tried to hit, plus our instructors waiting to teach us how to proper procedures.

3. Tour a police CSI Lab – Don’t believe everything the amazing CSI labs that you see on TV have,  with state-of-the-art equipment in these bright, airy rooms. Not so much with real police labs. They are strapped for money and cramped in small spaces, but still, I learned so many things. One was how to process fingerprints, and then how to use a fuming chamber to obtain fingerprints from uneven surfaces and hard-to-dust surfaces such as bottles, knives, guns, etc.

4. Participate in a plane crash – What? A crash. Okay it was a mock disaster drill at the Portland International Airport, but hey, the emergency response workers didn’t treat it as a drill. They screamed onto the tarmac to help victims wearing gory makeup meant to simulate serious injuries. Mock family members arrived at the airport and were taken to special rooms to await the news of their loved ones. It all felt so real and gave me everything I’d need to write such a disaster. I’m just waiting for the right book. And as a bonus, I got a great t-shirt and medal for participating.

5. Using the jaws of life to remove the roof from a car – Okay, this one involved hunky firefighters, nuff said, but there was actual research here, too. The firefighters first demonstrated how to cut off the roof, then I was given the chance to step into turnouts and open up another car with my fellow participants enrolled in the local Police Academy.

So as you can see, being a romantic suspense author can be thrilling, and I try to put that realism and thrill into my books. For example, I have included a bomb in Web of Deceit.

Web of Deceit is the first book in a three book series featuring female FBI agents assigned to an elite Cyber Action Team. When agent Kaitlyn Knight’s brother-in-law, the notorious cybercriminal Vyper, kills her sister then goes on a murderous spree taunting Kait, homicide detective Sam Murdock must find Vyper before he takes another life. As the body count rises, Sam discovers the killing spree is really about striking back at Kait, and he must put everything on the line—including the relationship he’s developed with Kait—to ensure her safety. Vyper is waiting, watching her every move, and he won’t stop until he’s exacted his revenge and reclaims his rights to raise his daughter now in Kait’s custody.

Web of Shadows releases in December and Web of Lies in April. In honor of all three books, I’ve been giving away official FBI insignia items like the ones in the picture. These are official items purchased at the Portland FBI campus store. All my giveaways will be featured on my Facebook page, so stop on over and like the page to keep from missing any of the giveaways.

Web of Deceit by Susan Sleeman is only $1.99 today only! Click the cover above to purchase!

Give cats a little Christmas cheer!

By Corwyn Alvarez

Dear readers, I would like to begin by thanking everyone who has purchased my book, The Dog Walker.  I sincerely appreciate your patronage.  I would also like to thank Bell Bridge for the opportunity to contribute to their blog.  In keeping with my themes which tend to revolve around the needs of homeless animals, I would like to mention that we are fast approaching winter and with this season some homeless animals struggle merely to survive.  I am drawing particular attention here to the needs of feral cats.  Interestingly, I was not a cat lover until several years ago when my friend told me the story of a feral cat in her neighborhood whom she had named Papi kitty or Pop for short.  It seems that her feral cat – that is now around twelve years old – at one time had a wife and two kids.  Over the years his entire family died, either they froze to death or were run over or got sick.  The only one who survived was Pop.

When I heard his story I immediately went into action and began feeding him in the sewer where he lives (when he is done eating I retrieve the empties so it doesn’t clog the sewer).  I have been doing this now for about three years.  When it snows I make sure that I shovel out the sewer opening facing the road so it is clear for him to go in and out.  Needless to say, Pop has won my heart and we have established an understanding with each other and he knows I’m his friend.  I love all cats now as never before, in large part because of Pop.  So if this winter you see any feral cats in your neighborhood I would ask that you please show them some kindness and help them out if you are able.  They are beautiful animals and it breaks my heart to see them roaming the streets, especially when it is cold and the weather is harsh.  Anything that you can do for them, whether as elaborate as having them spayed and neutered, or providing them a warm shelter, or providing them with some dry or wet food would be a great blessing for them.  They depend on our kind actions to survive, no matter how great or how small.  I have attached a photograph of Pop for those of you who might be interested.  A photo of Pop is also posted on my Amazon page.  I wish each and every one of you and everyone at Bell Bridge a safe and joyful holiday season.

The Dog Walker by Corwyn Alvarez is on sale the entire month of December for just $1.99! Click the cover above to purchase!