Showing posts with label mystery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mystery. Show all posts

12.29.2012

Twas the Nights of the New Year and the Great Holiday Indie Author Meet and Greet Post!

Robert Stanek: Hi, readers and authors. Welcome to ‘Twas the Nights of the New Year’ and the Great Holiday Indie Author Meet and Greet Post!

The holidays are a wonderful time of year. A time to reconnect with family and friends. A time to rekindle hope and love. A time to cherish what matters most. But the holidays also can be a busy time. A time when it’s hard to slow down and catch a breath.

This holiday, I decided to do something different. To breathe. To catch a breath. On Facebook, I invited authors to introduce themselves and/or share by posting about their works as part of a holiday get-together. The result follows. Read on to learn about many authors and many books, from new voices awaiting discovery to the well-established, all giving a holiday shout out as part of the meet and greet.
 
 

Robert Stanek: I’ll get things going by introducing myself. I'm Robert Stanek. I founded Go Indie (http://goindie.reagentpress.com/) in 2007 and that effort grew into the Go Indie and Free Today groups on Facebook as well as the Read Indies blog (http://readindies.blogspot.com/). When I began writing stories in the 4th grade, I had no idea that 35 years later I'd be celebrating the upcoming publication of my 150th book or that millions would have read those books.

My official #150 is the upcoming book from Microsoft Press that I just finished. That little book, weighing in at 1580 pages and 654,000 words, is called Windows Server 2012 Inside Out.

It's been an interesting, if not always fun, ride through these last many years, and you can read my thoughts on writing @ http://www.imaginedlands.com/writing.htm. Thank you for your contributions and participation in Go Indie (http://www.facebook.com/groups/goindie/).
 
Warren Martin: Hello Everyone, I’m a little older buy new to the writing scene. I had served 21 years in the Army and then ten plus in business and business ownership. I jokingly tell people I don’t know what I want to do when I grow up since it always seems like I’m doing something. A few years ago I started writing, learning as I go while at the same time working on school going after a PhD – so staying busy.

I self-published my first book earlier this year, “Forgotten Soldiers” and yesterday was surprised with a package notifying me that my book was a finalist for Historical Fiction in the Star And Flags Book awards, so an early Christmas present. I plan to keep writing as a hobby I love to do and also transition into teaching – unless of course Hollywood calls, but even if that happened, I’d probably still want to write and teach.

My Blog and Websites:
http://warrenmartinbooks.blogspot.com/
http://www.warrenmartinbooks.com/

Kim Mutch Emerson: Kim Mutch Emerson of www.MasterKoda.com and www.MasterkodaSelectPublishing.com Love to assist others in creating success. Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday. My book Digitus 233 just released and I'm overwhelmed right now. LOL

Wendy Jones: I'm Wendy Jones and I come from an academic background so have published in academic textbooks and journals. I have just finished my first novel and I am currently editing it. It is a murder mystery set in Dundee, Scotland where I live. It will be the first in a series about the CID in Dundee headed up by DI Shona McLeod so the series will be called The DI Shona McLeod Mysteries.

Marilyn Holdsworth: I'm an author of two books. My third, Making Wishes will be published in January. Womens literature.

Debbie Brown: Debbie Brown! I run the English Historical Fiction Authors (multiauthor's blog) and the FB group by the same name. I write sweet Victorian suspense/romance books, one of which is published and free today on Kindle and Audible.

Marquita Herald: Marquita (Marty) Herald - I'm an award winning blogger, and I have published 4 books on the art of living life by design. I live in Maui, Hawaii. I jumped from a successful career in sales and marketing into coaching new entrepeneurs, and eventually realized I could help many more people through my blog and my books. Nice to meet you all!

Scott Nicholson: Scott, organic gardener and libertarian taoist. ;-)

M.j. Kane: Hi! I'm M.J., stay-at-home-mom turned Amazon Bestseller of Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction, and Interracial Romance. My debut novel, A Heart Not Easily Broken, Book one of The Butterfly Memoirs was published in September 2012. Book two, Jaded, will be published March 2013. See what happens when your home all day with an over-active imagination! You find a way to make it work! Happy Holidays!!

Alan Tucker: Greetings and Happy Holidays! I began publishing YA Fantasy/Adventure books in 2010 and just released my fourth book in November, a new SciFi/Adventure, called Knot in Time. My writing and marketing skills are still very much a work in progress and I hope to meet many more wonderful Indies here! http://www.facebook.com/TuckerAuthor

Kelly Preston: Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to everyone. I am Kelly Preston, co-author of Real Dogs Don't Whisper (www.realdogsdontwhisper.com); my partner in crime is Mr MaGoo. He would stop to introduce himself, I took away his iPaw as he has been "naughty" LOL Our book is about giving those with special needs, a chance, a second chance.
About miracles that occur when your heart opens up and allows these angels from God to enter into your life. This book has been based on my life, the life lessons I have discovered along the way with four special need dogs and my late brother with Downs Syndrome.

S.w. Frank: Greetings, i am the author of the multicultural romance, drama series Alfonzo. An infusion of urban literature is often found in my stories to give spice and earthiness to the read. http://1swfrank.wix.com/authorswfrank

Jill James: Hello, I've been indie for just over a year. I have 3 novellas, bundled, and made them trade paper too. I have 1 full-length novel, paranormal romantic suspense, in eBook and print. Happy Holidays everyone!!

Lisa Bilbrey: Hello, I'm Lisa, an author, editor, Public relations manager, and co-owner of a small publishing house with big dreams! I have 5 books out so far.

Author Qwantu Amaru: I'm Author Qwantu Amaru, author of One Blood, a bestselling award-winning novel about a supernatural curse tormenting a group of people unaware of their hidden connections.

Brian Bigelow: Hello, I'm Brian Bigelow. An author living in Colorado and I presently write horror. I hope everyone has a great holiday, warm wishes to you all.

Zoe Brooks: Hello, I'm Zoe Brooks. I've been an indie author since March last year. I've got three novels out on amazon - Girl in the Glass, Love of Shadows and Mother of Wolves. I have a blogsite about magic realism (http://magic-realism-books.blogspot.com) and produce an online newspaper featuring the best on the web (http://www.womens-fiction.net)

Andrew McAllister: I am the Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Computer Science at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. I'm a father of three, and I write both fiction and non-fiction. My current project is a non-fiction title - relationship self-help, based partly on my relationship advice blog To Love, Honor, and Dismay.

Karen Docter: I've been in the writing biz for over twenty years, mostly aiming my sights on traditional publishing. A series of health issues sidelined me for several years but when I came out the other side, I found a whole new world of Indie publishing and the surety that life was too short to keep beating my head against a wall. I went Indie with my first romantic comedy in February of this year, followed by a novella. In addition to writing romantic comedy, I'm launching a romantic suspense series beginning next year. blog 5 days a week, three of those days highlighting other authors' books. To find out more about me, www.karendocter.com.

Diana J Febry: Hi, I'm a very new writer. My first two novels were published in 2012 and third is due to be published in January. All with Wingsepress. I'm learning as I go along. The first novel was a detective crime, the second - I honestly haven't a clue (one neighbour tries to blackmail another and it goes very wrong) and the third is probably women's lit. Looking forward to making new friends here.

Adrienne Thompson: I am a divorced mother of three, grandmother of one, former RN, current full-time writer. In the last 2 years I've self-published 5 books, all of which have appeared on Amazon best-sellers lists. I love music and pop culture and Marilyn Monroe http://adriennethompsonwrites.webs.com

Janice Horton: I'm an indie being interviewed on Dizzy C's Book Blog Festive Fun Feature. Take a look. All Shares and Tweets appreciated! xx http://dizzycslittlebookblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/festive-fun-day-21-janice-horton.html

M.j. Kane: A HEART NOT EASILY BROKEN, BOOK ONE of the BUTTERFLY MEMOIRS and AMAZON BESTSELLER!!! Read the BOOK REVIEWS, check out the FREE SAMPLE CHAPTERS, then BUY it for KINDLE, NOOK, iBOOK, or SMASHWORDS for $3.99, or find it in PAPERBACK….all from just ONE CLICK!!!


A Heart Not Easily Broken (The Butterfly Memoirs) by M. J. Kane

www.kindleboards.com

Zoe Brooks: Set in an unspecified time and land this Cinderella story for adults there is no fairy godmother and no handsome prince, just a girl of spirit and her strange companion. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007IROBEE

Girl in the Glass (The Healer's Shadow)
www.amazon.com

Deborah Hutto Bateman: Self-Publishing Simplified: How to Publish a Book on Kindle
By: Deborah H. Bateman

Go to: http://tinyurl.com/9plzayh

If you don't have a Kindle you can download Kindle for PC free on Amazon then read your Kindle ebooks right on your computer. Go to: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_pc_mkt_lnd?docId=1000426311

Merry Christmas to you and yours,

Deborah

Kelly Preston: "Anyone who has ever loved a pet will want to read this one, but more than that it's a story that reminds us of second chances and unconditional love. On a scale of one to five this book deserves at least a ten because it's just that good! I would love to read more from this author! Highly recommended." 50% off with promo code: JW67FYL5 http://goo.gl/xuW8H

Real Dogs Don't Whisper: Life lessons from a larger than life dog - and his owner!
www.amazon.com

Joseph Rinaldo: Did Mormons, directed by Brigham Young, slaughter 150 Arkansans in Utah Territory in 1857? Arkansans who were doing nothing more than trying to reach California to start a new life. A slaughter of men, women, and children, the theft of all their wagons, clothing, gold, supplies, animals - a slaughter that made Brigham Young even richer? Or was it really Paiute Indians, as the Mormons claimed, even though historians have declared that Paiutes were a peaceful people AND they owned no guns - all the dead were murdered by gunshots! Read A MORMON MASSACRE and decide for yourself who is covering up one of the worst mass murders in American history! A MORMON MASSACRE on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/A-MORMON-MASSACRE-ebook/dp/B008R26S18.

A MORMON MASSACRE
www.amazon.com

Author Missy Lyons: 365 Days of America (Annotated) (365 Days of Happiness)


365 Days of Romance: Inspirational Quotes for Every Day of the Year (Annotated)


Jill James: He is Mr. By-The-Book. She has an attitude problem. Together, they just might catch a killer virus before it becomes an Extinction Level Event. Dangerous Shift http://tinyurl.com/dangerousshift-amz in eBook and print.

Dangerous Shift
www.amazon.com


Tammie Clarke Gibbs: His Uncle was an eccentric.

And determined to prove she existed.
He was determined to prove to the world that his family wasn’t crazy…
That HE wasn’t crazy.
It was working…
Until he made one mistake…
That would change his life forever…
And force him to question his own sanity.
Something was missing from her life…
Doing a friend a favor…
And pretending to be someone else for a day seemed like a good idea at the time.
Then she finds a warning note…
From hundreds of years BEFORE she was born.
And then if that wasn’t bad enough…

She met HIM…
TWICE!

For centuries a force has kept them apart…
But, will Love be enough to finally keep them together…
Or will history repeat?


Island of Secrets: A Time Travel, Gothic Romance
www.amazon.com

Patrice Fitzgerald: Merry Holidays! RUNNING is free Christmas Eve and Christmas Day... you can grab it via Amazon Kindle in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Japan... have I forgotten anywhere? Oh, and India! An election season full of suspense, action, romance, laughs, and a little sex. Two women running for President of the United States. Enjoy, and pass it on! http://amzn.to/RUNNINGnovel

RUNNING
www.amazon.com

 
Karl Jones: This is possibly going to be my last major promotion effort for the year so here it is.
Give the gift that keeps on giving this Christmas, literature.

Buying a copy of Shattered will not only entertain your friends and family, it will give me a merry Christmas, so please, be kind and give everyone a wonderful present.

Murdered teens, incompetent police, vigilante parents. Stuck in the middle is Donna Harp, the young constable determined to bring an end to the murders tearing her village apart, even if it costs her her job.

Amazon US - http://ow.ly/g4mP7
Amazon UK - http://ow.ly/g4mSO
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/116947

Shattered (Donna Harp Series)
www.amazon.com

 
K.t. Dixon: Load up that Kindle you bought for a friend or loved one with the best deal on Amazon. Today all of my Kindle books are on sale for just 99 cents. http://www.amazon.com/K.T.-Dixon/e/B00818GN9K/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1356355423&sr=1-2-ent

Amazon.com: K.T. Dixon: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle
www.amazon.com

Susette Williams: #BestSeller MAID FOR MURDER: Deadly Business
Genre: humorous inspirational mystery


Bailey inherits her grandfather’s business, Maid For You, but cleaning up dead body parts wasn’t part of the job description. Bailey hopes to wipe out crime with the help of Nate, her computer hacker assistant, despite protests of their involvement in the case from Detective Max Wellington.
 When Bailey catches the culprits arranging to dispose of another body, she's out to help the two of them dig their own grave and if she’s lucky, Detective Max Wellington will keep them from arranging her funeral.
 Maid for Murder is a trilogy that begins with Deadly Business. The story continues throughout the trilogy as Bailey uncovers deception, corruption and a few secrets that may forever change her life. As the threads of deceit unravel, the murders begin to break out like a case of Bubonic Plague.
 Bailey is a Christian, struggling to keep on the path she knows is right, fighting the temptation of the hunky Detective Max Wellington who would like nothing more than to take her into protective custody, for more than just interfering in police business.

Amazon.com: B00A1U6WI8
www.amazon.com

 
Staci Stallings: Best Selling Christian Romance.... COWBOY "Stallings has a way of making you fall in love with the characters." http://ow.ly/gnKT1 Get your copy! Tell a friend!

Cowboy (The Harmony Series)
www.amazon.com

 
Lee Mellott: Double Chin - How To Get Rid Of A Double Chin
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007TBK9Y0/

 
Lisa Bilbrey: Did you get at the new Kindle Fire for Christmas? Maybe a new Nook or iPad? Even a Kobo e-reader? Looking for some great reads to add on to them? Well, look no further! Renaissance Romance Publishing is having an after Christmas Sale on all of our books on Smashwords. Use the coupon code listed on our blog that goes with each book and enjoy! http://renaissanceromancepublishing.blogspot.com/2012/12/after-christmas-sale.html

Morgann Roddy: I don't do well at my own promotion, so I teamed up with twenty-some odd other authors, instead. Help me get the word out about ALL of these wonderful stories, priced (some starting today) at only $0.99! You see, I helped to run a Forty Books For A Buck Each promotion about a week ago, and it was wildly successful. There are new authors on the list this time, along with previous participants, and EVERY BOOK will be (or already is, in the case of mine and a few others') priced at only $0.99. http://mo8832.wix.com/undiscloseddesires#!home/mainPage PLEASE check it out and spread the word for me, as you know I will do the same for you. THANK YOU, and I hope your holiday is warm, bright, and full of love.

Undisclosed Desire - A Novel Website by M. Peters | Wix.com
mo8832.wix.com

The home of my first novel and of exciting news, excerpts and other tidbits about my next writing adventures!

James C. Wallace II: Check out Magician of Oz (which was reviewed by The Baum Bugle and declared to be "in the true Baum tradition"), Shadow Demon of Oz, Family of Oz and The Ozian Adventure of Pickleless & Blu; each only $0.99 each! http://www.amazon.com/James-C.-Wallace-II/e/B009ONML4M/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1#/ref=la_B009ONML4M_rf_p_n_feature_browse-b_1?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_82%3AB009ONML4M%2Cp_n_feature_browse-bin%3A618073011&bbn=283155&ie=UTF8&qid=1356390960&rnid=618072011

Amazon.com: James C. Wallace II: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle
www.amazon.com

 
Birgit Kluger: “Black Sacrament” first part of the fantasy Serial “Creatures of Fire”: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008QKTX4A

Black Sacrament (Part 1, Creatures of Fire Serial)
www.amazon.com

Shelley Hitz: My book is "Healing for the Broken Hearted" http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ANSSW6S

Thanks for your support! I really appreciate it! ~Shelley~

Healing For The Broken Hearted: Discover Lasting Freedom in Christ
www.amazon.com

K.t. Dixon: I want to wish a Merry Christmas to all of my friends out there in the FB world. If you have a Kindle or a Kindle app on your phone, you can go to my Author's page on Amazon and download any of my books today (12-25) free of charge. http://www.amazon.com/K.T.-Dixon/e/B00818GN9K/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1356437427&sr=1-2-ent

Andrew McAllister: In honor of the season, I'd like to give away a free e-book copy of Unauthorized Access. Here's the deal - If you have an e-reader or tablet (maybe even a new one you received for Christmas - yay!), leave a comment saying what kind of device you have. Tomorrow I'll put all the respondent's names into a hat, pick one out, and send off the appropriate file format to the winner. Happy Boxing Day everyone!

Margarita Felices: GOT ONE OF THESE STORIES ON YOUR KINDLE? EACH ONE IS DIFFERENT AND SURE TO KEEP YOU ENTERTAINED.

JUDGEMENT OF SOULS 3: Kiss at Dawn.
Judgement of Souls
www.amazon.com

JUDGEMENT OF SOULS is a Gothic horror novel.

DeEtte Beckstead Anderton: No more rights, no traditions, new rules. Will the Overseer win the showdown on the mountain? Find out in Victory. Now just 99 cents through Dec. 28th. http://tinyurl.com/c3tel2c

Victory
www.amazon.com

Victory, a town where the people love their country and their neighbors, but what comes may change everything.

Janelle Taylor: My book is NECESSARY EVIL. Very interested in hearing what especially horror/thriller/mystery authors think about it. http://amzn.com/B009MQP6UM

NECESSARY EVIL
www.amazon.com

‎1990 - Atlanta, Georgia Is there a serial killer on the prowl?

Janelle Taylor Author: Thanks, Robert, for your help to Indie authors.

Robert Stanek: Thank you, Janelle.  Glad you went indie! And thank you everyone for your participation. Happy Holidays!

12.20.2012

9.18.2012

Summer of Indie Hangs With C.J. Urban


If you're looking for a mystery or thriller with a romantic twist, be sure to check out Diary of a Dead Girl, by author C.J. Urban. The first book in the Julie Townsend Series, Diary of a Dead Girl, follows the suspenseful sequence of events that occur when the heroine, Julie, seeks a change of pace in a new town after her parents' death.

 
 
Diary of a Dead Girl

Diary of a Dead GirlJulie Townsend’s world is turned upside down after her parents’ tragic death. Now sole guardian of her younger brother at only twenty-three, and desperate for a change, she takes an offer too good to refuse—a house to live in for free in a small town.

Things take a dangerous turn when she discovers a diary full of secrets concerning her cousin’s murder. When Julie begins to investigate, she realizes she’s in too deep—and may soon be the next victim.




 
Summer of Indie asked author C.J. Urban to tell us more about herself so that readers could get to know her better. We asked her about her personal life, as well what inspired her to become an author:

Image of C.J. Urban"I've lived in Orange County my whole life, and I love it. Knowing both the beach and Big Bear are a hop, skip, and a jump away is pretty amazing. I've always loved writing, and I plan to continue until I can no longer type. I have an adorable miniature Pomeranian named Mocha. She keeps me company on those nights (or early mornings) that I'm up typing away trying not to lose sudden bursts of inspiration. I'm also a huge coffee-lover and find it's one of the best ways to bring people together. I graduated with a bachelor of arts in psychology from Cal State Fullerton and loved earning the degree. My goal is to be a full-time writer, and I'm working my hardest to make that dream a reality."

 
 
You can find author C.J. Urban online at:



Website (Author Blog is also hosted here): www.cjurban.com

 

9.09.2012

Summer of Indie Talks With M. J. Williams


Today Summer of Indie got the scoop on a new mystery series, written by M. J. Williams The first book, On The Road To Death's Door, follows the events that transpire after a young couple inherits an RV, only to have a dead body fall off the top of it.

 
 
 
On The Road To Death's Door

On the Road to Death's DoorEmily and Stan Remington’s maiden voyage in their newly inherited, second-hand RV goes awry when a body falls off the top of their vehicle. The retired small town police officer and her husband, a retired history professor, find themselves at the center of a murder investigation involving a politician, a corporate executive, and a hippie priest. Emily butts heads with the local sheriff as their search takes them from a backwoods cabin in Wisconsin’s scenic Door County to the Bishop’s Chancery in Madison to an abandoned island in the infamous Death’s Door Straits. 
 
 
 
 

Image of M J WilliamsOn The Road To Death's Door is set in Wisconsin, and is written by two authors who live there. M. J. Williams is the pen name of sisters-in-law Peggy Williams and Mary Joy Johnson. Mary Joy is a retired college professor and professional quilter. Peggy is an elementary school teacher and freelance writer. On the Road to Death's Door is the first in what they hope to be a successful mystery series featuring Emily and Stan Remington and their RV adventures.

 

You can find M. J. Williams online at:

Twitter: @MadCityWriter




 

8.02.2012

Summer of Indie Hangs With Bonnie Rozanski


Today's Summer of Indie guest author is mystery/thriller writer Bonnie Rozanski. We interviewed Bonnie Rozanski about her book Come Out Tonight  and we received an excerpt from the book to share with readers which we placed at the end of this feature.






Come Out Tonight



Come Out TonightYou may have read newspaper reports of zombiish behavior in people who have taken the sleeping drug called Ambien. These people get up in the middle of the night to walk, eat, and drive cars in their sleep. The next day they sometimes find themselves in jail and have no memory of what they had done. And have you heard, as well, of the patients who wake up after years in a vegetative state - ten minutes after they’ve been given Ambien? COME OUT TONIGHT is a gripping psychological thriller inspired by these reports.

Henry Jackman, a pharmacist’s assistant working in a run-down drugstore in New York City, wakes up one morning to find his girl friend unconscious on his living room rug. Someone has attacked her. He calls an ambulance, and manages to get her to the hospital alive but comatose. There she progresses from coma to vegetative state, never quite becoming conscious... until the day Henry gives her Somnolux, a new-generation sleep aid.

Henry, an insomniac, has himself been taking Somnolux. He has been experiencing blackouts, something he doesn’t quite admit to, not even to himself. There is evidence he’s been doing some strange things in his sleep: women’s underwear turns up in his drawers; sexy women in his bed. Could Henry have attacked his girlfriend himself without any knowledge of the fact?

Enter Donna Sirken, a no-nonsense, over-worked homicide detective who for seventeen years has clawed her way up the NYPD ranks to her current position as Detective Second Grade. “I’d have sworn until this very moment that criminals are not evil,” Donna tells us. “Sure, they’re violent, lazy, banal, or just plain bad. They want something for nothing, or their father beat them into a lifelong resentment against the world ….They grew up poor, abused, or just plain angry. Something set them on the road to crime, but Evil? C’mon.”

A study of who we truly are, COME OUT TONIGHT is more than a whodunit. Profound, keenly observed and caustically funny, it will leave you thinking long after it is done.


After finding out more about Come Out Tonight, Summer of Indie interviewed Bonnie Roanski to find out more about her, and about being an author.

Q : Can you tell us how you got started writing?


A: I wrote when I was a child: poetry and short stories, and continued sporadically until my mid-twenties when I finished my first novel (it shall remain nameless). Then I decided that I needed some life experience before I could produce anything worthwhile. So, I worked in business for quite a few years, raised my son, getting a few degrees along the way. Finally, when I finished my last degree, a MS in Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence), I decided that what I really wanted to do was not go back into computers but to write. (The first thing I wrote, unsurprisingly, was a play about a robot who comes to life.)

Q: Can you tell us more about what inspired your book?
A: COME OUT TONIGHT was inspired by recent bizarre reports of zombiish behavior in people who have taken the sleep drug Ambien. These people get up in the middle of the night to walk, eat and drive cars in their sleep without having any memory the next day of what they have done. Several months later came even stranger reports of patients who awakened after years in a vegetative state – ten minutes after they had been given Ambien. Taken together, these reports seemed to say that Ambien could somehow unlock the secret to the conscious self! How could I not write about this? (Though I changed the name of the drug, naturally.)
By the way, here’s a link to a NYTimes article on those patients:


Q: Can you tell us more about your book?
A: It’s probably easiest if I give you a short summary –
Henry Jackman, a pharmacist’s assistant working in a run-down drugstore in New York City, wakes up one morning to find his girl friend unconscious on his living room rug. Someone has attacked her. He calls an ambulance, and manages to get her to the hospital alive but comatose. There she progresses from coma to vegetative state, never quite becoming conscious... until the day Henry gives her Somnolux, a new-generation sleep aid.

Henry, an insomniac, has himself been taking Somnolux. He has been experiencing blackouts, something he doesn’t quite admit to, not even to himself. There is evidence he’s been doing some strange things in his sleep: women’s underwear turns up in his drawers; sexy women in his bed. Could Henry have attacked his girlfriend himself without any knowledge of the fact?

Enter Donna Sirken, a no-nonsense, over-worked homicide detective who for seventeen years has clawed her way up the NYPD ranks to her current position as Detective Second Grade. “I’d have sworn until this very moment that criminals are not evil,” Donna tells us. “Sure, they’re violent, lazy, banal, or just plain bad. They want something for nothing, or their father beat them into a lifelong resentment against the world…. They grew up poor, abused, or just plain angry. Something set them on the road to crime, but Evil? C’mon.”

A study of who we truly are, COME OUT TONIGHT is more than a whodunit. Profound, keenly observed, deftly written, and caustically funny, it will leave you thinking long after it is done.
Q: In your book, who is your favorite character?
A: As much as I like Henry, the main character, I think I have to say my favorite is Donna Sirken, the homicide detective. She kind of sums herself up in this short monologue early on:
Well, what you see is what you get with me. I ama bossy white woman who won’t back down. And it took me a lot of years to get to this point. I joined the force as a beat cop when I was 20. I’m 37, so you do the math. I may have started out an innocent young recruit, full of self-righteousness and enthusiasm, making the world safe for humanity. But seventeen long years of scratching my way up the pole, fighting off the old boys’network, as well as, for that matter, some of the old boys themselves, has sanded down the self-righteousness, jaded most of the enthusiasm, leaving, you guessed it: a bossy white woman who won’t back down.
Donna’s no angel, but she’s real. I wrote her whole half of the book in about a month, because she practically dictated it to me.

Q: What's your favorite book of all time?
A: Of all time? Nah, I can’t tell you that.

Q: Who are some of your favorite authors?
A: I’ve always been very eclectic in my literary tastes. I remember when I was growing up, loving Pearl S. Buck, A.J. Cronin, James Hilton, and Sinclair Lewis. More contemporary loves are Phillip Roth, Michael Chabon, Anne Patchett and Mordechai Richler.
And I’ve always loved anything medical or scientific. This probably is going to surprise you, but probably the author who influenced me the most is Michael Crighton. Up till then I had rarely seen science so effectively and cleverly incorporated into literature. It inspired me to do research on the brain, genetics, the Y chromosome, computer networks, and to try to communicate my fascination with the world of ideas – but in a fictional setting.

Q: Do you have any advice for new writers?
A: Go with your passion. Sure, some writers will cash in on YA paranormal romance or try Dan Brown thriller imitations. They may do sell. And, well, if that’s your passion, then do it. But if writing what you love is what you want to do, whether that means coming-of-age thrillers or dystopian science fiction; even if the agents or publishers tell you that you must write within the category or to a specific market. The best of writing comes from within. If you love what you write, the reader will love it, too.

Q: What's next for you?
A: I’m currently writing novel about a old physics professor sending her conscious self thirty years back through time to her younger self. I’ve done a lot of research on time travel, but most of it doesn’t look very promising, so I gave up on sending her body back – just her consciousness. It’s fiction, of course, so I can kind of bend the facts.

Q: Anything else you'd like to tell us?
Image of Bonnie RozanskiA: I have two traditionally published books: BANANA KISS and BORDERLINE, both by a small but fine literary press in Ontario, Canada, where I used to live. BORDERLINE was shortlisted for Foreword’s YA Book of the Year Award in 2008 and received a silver medal at the Independent Publishers’ Book Awards in the same year. And I have four ebooks besides COME OUT TONIGHT, all of which have some kind of scientific conundrum at their core as well as a wicked sense of humor. One of them, SIX CLICKS AWAY, was a drama winner of the Red Adept 2010 Indie Awards.
Bonnie Rozanski is an author and prize-winning playwright currently living in New Jersey. Born in Queens, New York,
she has lived in Hong Kong, Canada and all over the US. With degrees in Psychology and Artificial Intelligence, always
fascinated by the human mind, Bonnie writes on matters touching on consciousness and the human condition.




Except from Come Out Tonight


HENRY JACKMAN



So, here’s the story.  I get up like usual, shower, shave, and I’m right in the midst of putting this wad of gel in my hair when I hear something spooky in the living room: a little like the mewing of a cat, except I don’t have a cat.  I crack open the bathroom door, and there it is again, only now it sounds more like a whine.  I shuffle out into the hallway, this wad of gel still stuck on my right index finger, listening.  The TV?  The wind?  I stick my head in the living room, and there, under the open window, I see something stretched out on the floor, something that looks like a person.  I run in, and there she is, dead still, making the mewing noise I heard before.



“Sherry!”  I shout, grabbing her in my arms.  ‘What’s the matter?” 



But she doesn’t answer.  She’s squealing softly like a stuck pig. As scared as I am, I know I’m supposed to check her vitals, so I put two fingers to her wrist and right away pick up a good, strong beat.  Her chest is rising up and down.  So far, so good.  Her eyes are shut, but I peel her eyelids back.   Two big black circles stare back at me, one of them bigger than the other one, probably not a good sign, but then again, what do I know?  Her hair’s matted with clotted blood, but there’s no open wound that I can see.  Looking around, I see this heavy wooden African statue Mboso brought back from Ghana lying a few feet away from her on the floor.  It looks like it’s got the sheen of the same sticky stuff that’s coating Sherry’s hair.




The room looks like it’s seen one hell of a struggle.  The floor lamp is knocked to the floor; the glass on the photo of Sherry and me and the polar bears at the Bronx Zoo is smashed to smithereens, cabinet doors are open and spilling out paperbacks, magazines, batteries.  From what I can see, nothing’s taken, but who gives a damn, really, all I’m worrying about is Sherry, and is she going to be all right.   I shake her a little to bring her to, but she’s out cold.  Not dead, I think. Not dead, thank you, God.  I’m thinking the doctors’ll put her right.  I call 911 and give them the address.



Nine minutes later the paramedics call from the outside intercom, and I buzz them in. They don’t bother with the elevator, just run up the three floors with the stretcher and into the open door of the apartment.  Sherry’s still just lying there, splayed out on the floor, her eyes closed.  They check her airway, breathing, pulse, immobilize her head and spine, ask me a few questions, then load her onto this long board and strap her in.  She’s stable for the most part, they say, but there could be internal bleeding.  Best thing is get her to the hospital where they can do the necessary tests and figure the extent of the damage.  Don’t worry, they tell me; she’ll probably wake up in the hospital.  Do I want to get dressed and accompany the patient to the hospital?  “Yeah, of course,” I say.  Then I promptly lose my cool and throw up on my rug.   Leaving the mess where it is, I wipe my mouth on my pajama top, run to the bedroom and pull on some clothes.  I manage to catch up with the medics on the staircase down, and join them in the back of the vehicle, cell phone in my pocket and plastic bag in my hand, in case I lose it again. 




I still can’t get my head around how it happened.  I didn’t even know she was there.  Maybe she came in after I was asleep, I don’t know.  Sherry had her own key.  And she’s done that before, by the way, coming in in the middle of the night after I went to sleep.  I can’t tell you how many times I found her in bed with me in the morning, when she wasn’t there when I went to sleep.  A couple of times she insisted that I was up when she came in, and she couldn’t believe I didn’t remember it.  But I think what she took for me being awake was really me picking my head up and saying, “hi” from my sleep, because I sure never remembered her coming in.   Then again, why we just didn’t live together is another story.   I asked her plenty of times, but Sherry never wanted to give her apartment up; she said she needed her freedom, and besides, I was just too hard to live with.   As I said, that’s another story.



So we’re sitting in the back, the siren wailing but the ambulance taking its own sweet time in getting to St. Vincent’s, when one of the medics asks me what I think happened.  I tell her about the open window and the statue on the floor.



“Anything missing?” she asks.



“Don’t think so,” I say.



“Did you call the police about the break-in?”



“No.  I just called 911...” A big lump rises in my throat as I look over at Sherry lying there totally still, with an IV in her arm. “All I care about is her...”



“Just the same, it’ll have to be reported,” she says.




I guess I must look like I’m about to throw up again, because she leans over to put her hand on my shoulder.  “You okay?”



“Yeah, sure.”  Then I launch into this long, disjointed speech about how Sherry’s the best thing to ever happen to me, and why did this have to happen to her, such a decent person...always supportive, always complimentary even though all I am, you know, is Pharmacist’s technician at a rundown Duane Reade drug store on 108th and Broadway, while she’s this rising star at the big-name Vandenberg Institute.   I break down, wiping my eyes on a bunch of tissues the medic hands me.  I ramble on about how Sherry must have come in the middle of the night, even though I don’t have any idea how and when she came in....that the night before I had taken a Somnolux and how I must have slept so soundly I never heard a thing... Poor Sherry!  She must have been scared as hell and yelling bloody murder, screaming and fighting and calling my name!  How could I have slept through the whole freaking thing?



By now we’re gliding into the circle in front of Emergency.  The motor cuts out, and I hear the driver coming around the back.  Suddenly, double doors swing open to the glare of the sun.  I hear someone pulling out the stretcher; and the contraption with the wheels popping out from under it.  By then I can see the medics wheeling her away.  I slam the doors and run after them.   I try to follow as they carry Sherry on through the ambulance entrance, but I’m stopped by this heavy-set woman in a white coat and badge, who tells me in no uncertain terms that only staff is allowed beyond that point.  She waves me through the door to the waiting room.   I sit down and, after awhile, pick up my cell to call the store.



*    *    *



 It wasn’t till hours later that they let me see her.  I sat in the waiting room until someone came out and asked me who I was waiting for. 



“Someone will be out soon to ask you some questions,” she said.  Soon was another hour when another white-coated lady came out and got her vital statistics. I kept asking how Sherry was, but all the lady said was she wasn’t the person to ask, that she was just there to take information.  Then she went back in, and no one came out for another hour or two.  Finally, someone called my name.  I looked up.  There was a young man in a white coat, waving to me from the doorway.  



“Is she all right?” I asked, running over.



“They’re still doing tests,” he said, “but you can go in and see her now.  She’s in Room 410 East wing.”



“But...?” I said.



“She’s stable,” he answered, before disappearing into another doorway.



I took the elevator up and found Room 410 at the end of the corridor.  I peeked in.   IV lines and catheters snaked in and out of several parts of Sherry’s anatomy.  Her head was bandaged, except for a small hole in her head where a tube came out and  curved around, coming to an end in a half-full drainage bag.  She had a small clamp on her finger, measuring her blood oxygen.   A machine at the foot of the bed was showing EEG, EKG, and several other squiggly lines, none flat-lining, thank God.  Sherry, lying on her back, seemed to be staring up at the ceiling.  I tiptoed in till I was hovering over her at the bed rail.  It was very creepy.  Her eyes were closed.  She looked either dead or at peace, I couldn’t tell which.



“Sherry,” I whispered.



No response.



“Sherry,” I tried again, a little louder.



“I doubt that she can hear you,” came a voice from the door.  A young doctor walked in.  “Dr. Mehta,” he said, putting out his hand.



“Is she gonna be all right?” I asked, putting out my own.



“Well, she’s got a fractured skull, and a small amount of bleeding in the brain.  We’ve stabilized it, though, and put in a ventricular drain.  We’re waiting for the rest of the tests.   Are you the boy friend?” 



“Yeah.  Henry Jackman.  Is she in a coma?”



“Yes.  For the moment.”  Dr. Mehta walked over to the bed, picking up Sherry’s limp hand, turning it over, setting it back down beside her.



“When will she wake up?”  I asked.

“How long do you suppose she’d been lying there?” the doctor asked, instead.

“I don’t know.  I was sleeping.”

“You didn’t hear anything?” he asked, stroking the soles of her feet.

“No.”  I watched Sherry’s chest rise and fall.  “Four, five hours, maybe.  She was breathing when I found her.”

“That’s a good sign, of course.  She probably didn’t sustain much hypoxia.”

Hypoxia, I was thinking.  Oh, no.

“Damage to the brain from too little oxygen,” the doctor explained, straightening up.

“I know the term, Doctor.  I’m a pharmacist.”  I didn’t bother adding the technician part.

“Really.  Well, then you’ll understand the problem.  We’re giving her Cyclosporin A to counter swelling of the brain.  The blow on the head has already led to defuse traumatic swelling.”

“But when will she wake up?” I asked again.

He gave me this sigh before going on for ten minutes on statistics and probability; how her Glasgow coma scale was 5, and that, of patients in the range of 5-7, 53% die or remain in a vegetative state; 34% will have moderate disability and/or good recovery.   If she didn’t open her eyes within a month, prognosis was poor.

“Poor?” I said, grabbing the bed rail.

“On the other hand, two-thirds who are unconscious for two weeks or less should make a moderate to good recovery.  How old is she?”

“Thirty-three,” I said.  “It’s in her chart.”

He glanced down at the chart hanging on the bedside.  “Well, her age is one thing in her favor,” he said, letting it drop back down.  Then he shook my hand again and left.

I stood there gazing at Sherry for another half an hour.  It was hard to see her so lifeless when in my mind she was still the way she had always been: smart and funny and wise.  

Like the time we were walking through the Museum of Natural History.  We had started in dinosaurs, of course, but ended up in insects, staring through a glass case at a colony of leaf-cutter ants.

“They’re all sisters, you know,” Sherry said, watching a conga line of ants marching up a stem, each waving a piece of leaf.  “Identical twins, really.”

“What a dull life,” I said.  “Cutting leaves, carrying leaves, day in day out.  Ugh.” 

“That’s what they do.  They don’t think about it.  They just do it.”

We watched for another ten minutes.  The colony was fascinating: little robots marching back and forth, tending a crop of bacteria that fed on the leaves, a farm so organized and smooth-working you’d think someone was in charge.  A million little cogs, each mindlessly doing its job, adding up miraculously to....a single thing. 

“You’d almost think it had a soul,” I marveled.

“They call it a hive mind,” Sherry said.  “A group mind with a single consciousness occupying many bodies.”

“But how can that be?” I asked, laughing at the strangeness of it.  “How could there be one mind with so many bodies?”

“Who says there has to be one mind per body?” Sherry said, laughing, too.

That was the Sherry I wanted, not the one lying in bed, her hair in a knot, mouth open and drooling, eyes to the ceiling.  I prayed to God that the old Sherry was not gone forever.