Bell Bridge Books

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!

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!

Tikis and Tinsel in the Tropics

by Jill Marie Landis

Celebrating the holidays on a tropic isle is far from the images you see on traditional greeting cards or conjured up by the song White Christmas. I live in a very small town on the North Shore of Kauai, the inspiration for my Tiki Goddess Mystery series from Bell Bridge Books. Hanalei Town definitely has its own unique truly-tacky- tiki style when it comes to dressing up for the occasion.

In mid-November, one of the first signs that the holidays are on way is when poinsettia leaves begin to turn from green to red — one leaf at a time – until they are in their full glory. Gardens pop with showy reds, pinks, and variegated varieties of poinsettias against a backdrop of palms and ferns. Christmas trees are imported and begin to dry out the minute they’re unpacked from the shipping containers. A better bet is a potted palm or star pine, though hanging ornaments on palm fronds can be tricky.

Hotels, shops, and restaurants decorate with island style for tourists who arrive with families in tow to celebrate on the sand. Christmas trees wear hula skirts. Tikis wear tinsel. Blow-up Santas are strapped down so they don’t fly away on the trade winds. There is something so not right about a huge plastic snowman standing under a coconut palm in eighty degree heat.

Festivals of light are celebrated with boat parades where decorated floating craft range from yachts to kayaks. There’s nothing like the sight of bright colorful Christmas lights reflected on shimmering water. Santa is usually the parade’s grand finale as he floats by in his sleigh pulled by eight leaping dolphins or paddles onto the beach in an outrigger canoe full of presents.

Local and tourists alike get together at beach pot-lucks, luaus, fancy hotel buffets, or smaller gatherings at home after a quick surf session, if the waves are good, or a walk on the beach if the sun is shining. Of course, if it rains while you’re out walking, there’s usually a stunning rainbow when the sun breaks through the clouds.

Like everywhere else in the world, Christmas and the Holidays are a time for giving. Tis’ the season, so this month, Three to Get Lei’d, the third book in my Tiki Goddess Mystery series, will be featured as an Amazon Monthly Deal. A quick trip to the tropics might be just the pick-me-up you need whenever you can sneak a quiet moment for yourself or you might gift a copy to a friend as a little treat to savor.

No matter where you are or how you celebrate the season, I wish you and yours Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year.

As we say here in the islands, Mele Kalikimaka and Hau’oli Makahiki Hou!

Jill Marie Landis is a best-selling, award winning novelist of at least thirty novels (she’s lost count) who lives on an outer island in Hawaii with her hubby and a very spoiled cat. When she’s not writing she’s probably at the beach soaking up the sun or off somewhere dancing the hula. Read about her Tiki Goddess Mystery Series at www.thetikigoddess.com or join Jill Marie on Facebook and Twitter.

Three to Get Lei’d by Jill Marie Landis is on sale the entire month of December for just $1.99! Click the cover below to purchase!

The Pawleys

A brief episode in the British family history of Lady Toria Cash, the feline fatale of Downton Tabby

 by Sparkle Abbey

“Can you believe that alley cat?” Lady Meow Grandcatham lifted her whiskers in distain. “Thinking I’d simply fall under the spell of his gorgeous green eyes.”

I shook my head. “He does seem rather cheeky.” I’m Annakatrina, Lady’s Meow’s lady’s maid, and the alley cat she was referring to was Alexander Kittingham who’d apparently made a play for Lady Meow in a big way.

I carefully folded the lace frill she’d worn to dinner and reached for the brush I used every night on her silky black fur. Though I would never bring it up to Lady Meow, talk below stairs was that Alexander Kittingham was not actually a purebred British shorthair. He was often referred to as “Alley” in a disparaging tone, by Thomas Cat, Lord Grandcatham’s valet. Alexander was quite a handsome fellow and a favorite of the ladies around the dinner bowl.

He was nice looking with dark brown fur and deep green eyes, but I was not impressed. You see I’m madly in love with Mr. Bait. Poor Mr. Bait is currently locked up in the pound, but I had no doubt he would be freed.

“Beyond cheeky, I’d say.” Lady Meow lifted her paw to her neck. “Would you help me get out of this collar?”

I pulled on the diamond collar with my teeth and it snapped off easily. Carefully placing it in the ornate trinket box, I picked up the brush again.

Suddenly, there was a scratch at the door and I moved quickly to open it.  Lady Vi, Meow’s grandmother, stepped into the room. She was a formidable feline and referred to as the Dogwagger Countess because even the dogs at the neighboring estates were afraid of her. I don’t believe she’d ever actually bitten anyone canine or otherwise, but all it took was a hiss and the very slight unsheathing of her claws and it was clear she meant business.

“Grandmother.” Lady Meow purred. “What a surprise.”

“Not an unpleasant one, I hope.” The older feline stepped closer so Lady Meow could bump noses with her.

“I’ll leave you.” I moved quietly on soft paws toward the door.

“No, please stay.” The Dogwagger waved her tail in my direction. “I know Meow trusts you.”

“What is it, Grandmama?” Lady Meow dropped on her haunches. “Is something wrong?”

“What is wrong is my sources tell me someone is publishing a catty tell all tome about the Britain’s aristocats. I am told there’s a whole chapter devoted to the Grandcatham Family.” She leaned on the edge of Lady’s Meow’s bed and smoothed her fur.

Lady Meow began to pace. “Have you told Pappa’?

The Dogwagger shook her head. “No, nor your mother. It will be up to us to sort this out.” She gave a deep sigh and tipped her head to look at me. “We must find out who this low-life is and stop him or her before our good name is dragged through the litter box.” Sharp blue eyes pinned me in place.

“What can I do to help, M ‘lady?”

“My dear, you must be our eyes and ears.” The Dogwagger put her paws together as if it were all settled. “You can go places we must not and you will never be noticed.”

I had the thought that not being noticed was hardly complimentary, but knew she was right.

“You will help us, won’t you, Anna?” Lady Meow crossed the room in a single smooth leap to stand in front of me. Her golden eyes searched my face.

“Of course, I will.” I bowed my head.

And thus began my new career as Annakatrina, Cat Sleuth.

What would Mr. Bait think?

*

Downton Tabby, book seven in The Pampered Pets Mysteries by Sparkle Abbey, is now available for pre-order at Amazon. Visit Sparkle Abbey at sparkleabbey.com.

And don’t forget to grab your other favorite Sparkle Abbey titles, on sale til the 10th! 

TIKI ROAD TRIPS AND FLAMING COCKTAILS

by Jill Marie Landis

According to Wikipedia (and we all know how reliable Wikipedia is!) the tortured artist is both a stock character and a real-life stereotype. Artists who suffer for their work often succumb to self-mutilation, a high rate of suicide, hours of therapy and/or gallons of Ben and Jerry’s.

I wouldn’t exactly describe myself as a tortured artist, but I will go to just about any length in the name of research. When I wrote western historical romances, I rode horses and rounded up cattle. I watered down pigs. I’ve visited so many historical sites and museums that my husband now punches the car accelerator as we approach any building or rock that might be sporting an historical marker.

Since I began writing The Tiki Goddess Mystery Series for Belle Books, I’ve gone overboard doing research. I’ve devoted countless hours to paging through Pintrest, pinning photos with the subject heading “Tiki.”  I’ve shopped eBay for tiki mugs to add to my collection. I’ve spent many a night in the local watering hole here on Kauai writing notes on cocktail napkins and taste testing umbrella drinks. An author’s life is one of sacrifice. Believe me, I’ll go to any length to get things right on the page.

So, in the name of research, I’ve visited Tiki Bars on Kauai and on every other Hawaiian Island. When we’re on the mainland (you know it as the continental US), I refer to my handy dandy “Tiki Road Trip, A Guide to Tiki Culture in North America” by James Teitelbaum. I’ve been in tiki bars in some of the most unlikely, out of the way places in the world and lived to tell about it.

I’ll have to admit my husband and our dinner guests were surprised on evening when I walked into the kitchen armed with a long handled gas lighter and a fire extinquisher. I explained I’d decided to create a recipe to include in TOO HOT FOUR HULA, Book 4, the latest of the Tiki Goddess Mysteries and I needed assistance.

I handed my friend and fellow author, Stella Cameron, a fire extinguisher. As I recall, I said something like, “Stand back Stella, and if I blow myself up, use that thing!”

Stella laughed until I started lining up the ingredients which included chocolate candy kisses and three kinds of liquor, one of which was a bottle of 151 Proof rum, the liquor most mixologists recommended for igniting a flaming cocktail.

That night “The Flaming Manic Monkey” cocktail was born. The drink was inspired by a scene in TOO HOT FOR HULA when Uncle Louie relates a trek to the Amazon in search of the legendary Amethyst Monkey Skull.

Thankfully, Stella didn’t have to use the extinguisher after all because we later noticed that warranty on the thing expired ten years ago!

Do stop by and visit me at www.thetikigoddess.com and sign up for my newsletter and read other fun blogs.

Don’t forget to grab Jill Marie Landis’s newest release

– TOO HOT FOUR HULA –

out today!!

Just click the link above!

And make sure you grab the other fabulous books in the Tiki Goddess Series! Just click the links below!

You Know Who Mark Harmon is, Right?

By C. Hope Clark

          When you think of mysteries, crime, and agents, the routine acronyms come to mind like FBI, CIA, DEA, and ATF. The more arrogant Secret Service guys like to roll out their name and not use initials. Then not all that long ago, we learned about NCIS, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service . . . and Mark Harmon!

But I became aware of another group of federal agents when I signed on with the US Department of Agriculture, and at first blush I wondered what the heck agents with guns and badges were doing around cows and corn, tractors and silos. But when a client offered me a bribe, I learned quickly that crime exists wherever there’s motive and money, even in the country, even within the Ag Department.

The Offices of Inspector General (OIG) quietly exist for all federal agencies, Smithsonian, Transportation, Health and Human Services, etc. But I took particular interest in the Ag Agents since that was my dominion, and I soon learned they could throw cuffs on a culprit as effectively as any FBI agent. So why not open up a new world of crime in a unique mystery series?

Carolina Slade is offered a bribe in Lowcountry Bribe, and she meets Senior Special Agent Wayne Largo with USDA OIG. The culprit? A hog farmer.

Say what? Farmers aren’t like that. Hah! Farmers can be bad guys like anyone else, and this hog producer proved it over and over in the first book of this series. Human blood doesn’t look much different than hog blood, now does it? Our IG agent waded in amongst the muck to help our stumbling yet hardheaded protagonist crack this case.

Then Tidewater Murder drew Slade into the South Carolina Lowcountry amidst tomatoes and shrimp. Drugs and migrant workers caused quite a stir, and we learned that agriculture can get deadly in a hurry.

The term agriculture agent raises visions of cowboy hats, boots, and straw out the corner of someone’s mouth, but as redneck as the role may sound, they are legit. Some of their real cases include:

• Prosecuting Sarah Lee for selling bad meat leading to a Listeriosis outbreak, killing 15 people and sickening over a hundred.
• Breaking up dog fighting rings, to include the Michael Vick case.
• Nabbing a meal and veal exporter who dumped tainted meat on Japan, who then shut down its borders to American meat imports for six months.
• Arresting meat suppliers for dumping uninspected and tainted meat into school cafeterias.
• Busting horse owners and trainers for cruel and illegal practices on horses bred for show.
• Nailing people putting sewing machine needles into food.
• Cuffing a feed supplier for tainting calf feed with formaldehyde.

Theft, conspiracy, fraud, embezzlement, even murder, bribery and smuggling.  It gets bad in many colorful ways the average urban dweller doesn’t fully comprehend.

And now we have Carolina Slade’s newest release Palmetto Poison, where we learn that politics and peanuts can overlap in a bad way. The idea of Palmetto Poison came from the Agriculture OIG’s press release archive, when a produce inspector took bribes under the table to allow substandard products to pass through inspection.

Such action sounds little more than greedy, but can result in serious consequences. Bad peanuts may just sound like a nasty taste, but high levels of mold, fungal, and moisture can make them deadly.

Salmonella can actually wait dormant in that innocent jar of peanut butter until it hits the perfect growth environment, the human stomach. And if inspections get too far out of hand, more serious illnesses rise to the surface, like aflatoxin. Not a common scenario in the protected US of A, thus making it an opportune plot tool in Palmetto Poison, but in third world countries, many die from these cancer-causing peanuts that destroy a liver.

Whenever you have money, subsidies, or profits in the picture, you have crime. While it’s not palatable to think of our food infected with something that could kill us, the potential exists for large-scale tampering. While some mysteries poison the drinking water or substitute flu vaccines with crazy virulent strains of disease, Carolina Slade’s plots scare us where we feel safe, where we don’t expect crime to hit. And the agents in the mix specialize in that arena.

USDA’s OIG might not have a Mark Harmon yet, but I suspect we’ll see one downstream. And if you’ve read any of Slade’s stories, you’ll immediately wonder who could play the luscious Senior Special Agent Wayne Largo. I know I do. And since I married the agent in my bribery investigation, he’s rather intrigued as to who would play him, too!

BIO

Palmetto Poison is C. Hope Clark’s latest in The Carolina Slade Mystery Series. Hope is also editor of FundsforWriters.com, a website recognized by Writer’s Digest for its 101 Best Websites for Writers for the past 13 years. www.fundsforwriters.com / www.chopeclark.com

Check out C. Hope Clark’s newest release – PALMETTO POISON – today from Amazon!

Just Click the Link!!

It’s National Kahlua Day!

To celebrate, we’re giving away one pack of the Kahlua brand coffee!

It’s refreshing, delicious, and it smells fantastic!

To enter, just “like” the Bell Bridge Books Facebook page here!

And while you’re enjoying your Kahlua Coffee, you can cuddle up with the Tiki Goddess Mystery Series by Jill Marie Landis available on Amazon!

Just click the links!

We  LOVE  Mysteries with Animals

by Sparkle Abbey

We love mysteries that feature animals. Dogs, cats, parrots, ducks…okay, we’ve never actually read a mystery featuring a duck but if there’s one out there that you’ve read, please let us know. We figured there might be more people out there like us – well, not exactly like us – but people who also love mysteries featuring animals. That’s how we ended up writing the Pampered Pets mystery series for Bell Bridge Books – we wrote the kind of stories we like to read.

Our pets comfort us, entertain us, lift our spirits and ask nothing in return. Those furry, feathered, or otherwise adorned creatures make our lives fuller just by being a part of it, don’t they? They do their part and it’s important we do ours.

Alert: We’re about to climb on our soapbox.

If you’re planning to adopt a pet, please consider saving a life by adopting a pet from a local animal shelter. There are many wonderful pets who are looking for their forever homes. If you need help locating a shelter in your area try, this handy finder from Adopt-a-Pet. All you have to do is put your zip code in and it brings up a listing of shelters near you.

And if you’re able, consider a tax-free donation to organizations that help take care of abused or neglected animals like your local shelter. These organizations are always in need of funds and some may also take donations of newspapers, blankets, and other items.  Also, most local shelters are vastly under-staffed and appreciate the assistance of helpful volunteers.

Finally, many strays who end up in shelters are lost pets who did not have identification or the result of unwanted litters. Be a responsible pet owner, make sure your pet has proper ID and please, please get your pets spayed and neutered.

Our pets give us a lot of love – it’s the least we can do for them.

Okay, stepping down off the soapbox.

Now, we’ve got a fun contest for you (and your adorable pets).

Just post a funny picture of your pet on the Sparkle Abbey Facebook page and the poster of the picture that gets the most “Likes” will win a mystery t-shirt, a Petco gift certificate and the Sparkle Abbey book of their choice!

Make sure you grab all of Sparkle Abbey’s fantastic PAMPERED PETS MYSTERY SERIES available on Amazon!

Just click the links!

A LIBRARY TROLLOP’S READING RECOMMENDATIONS

by Danielle Childers

Has anyone else been watching Sister Wives on TLC? I’m fascinated, and Janelle is my favorite (because I think she’s the hardest worker with the most common sense)! Now, leaving polygamy aside, because we’re really just talking about entertainment here, there’s something fascinating about a group of women who come together and manage relationships and support relationships and, well, feed so many people while running such large households. This brings me to the reading recommendations.

The 19^th wife by David Ebershoff combines a past tale Brigham Young’s 19^th wife, who tried to revolutionize the world to ban polygamy, and a modern day man who most go back into a polygamist sect to solve his father’s disappearance. A really fantastic and historic read with a modern day mystery. Fascinating and a little academic . . .

Then there’s THE GLASS WIVES by Amy Sue Nathan  about 2 wives in plural marriage who lose their husband and must redefine relationships and keep their kids in mind.  It’s really a fresh twist on women’s fiction, and we all know I love some women’s fiction! I also really love a debut author gone right!  It’s dramatic and touching, and you’ll find yourself quickly invested in the Glass family.  You just have to decide what makes a family.

Now . . . what food do you pair with these books? It’s a little bit of stretch, but reach with me!

The Duggar’s Tater Tot Casserole.  With 20 kids (21?) the Duggars sure know how to feed some kids! I’ve cut the recipe in half (and it still feeds an army).

Duggar’s TTC

2 lb ground turkey browned, salt and pepper to taste, drained

3 lbs tater tots

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can evaporated milk

1 can cream of chicken

In a 9×13 pan, cover the meat with tater tors. Mix soups and milk and pour over the top. 350 degrees for 60 minutes.

My personal suggestion, if you want to get fancy, is to throw some onions in when you brown the turkey and sprinkle cheese on top of the whole thing!