#ThursdayThoughts: Random Ramblings with Linda Nightingale

Hello and Welcome to the last Thursday Thoughts of March 2016!

Lent is over, Easter is behind us already, and this year is just moving right along.

Feb. 23rd's Tuesday Treasure guest, Linda Nightingale returns today to share some thoughts with us....

 

With only a brief respite working on Miami Beach for a very kind elderly millionaire, my career was in legal—a legal assistant. My job ranged from commercial real estate (working on the closing of Lenox Square in Atlanta) to residential real estate and real estate agent in South Carolina.  The last seven years, I worked at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston until I retired to write full-time.  One year, I contracted for a former boss assisting with a Federal Court case on MRSA. That was interesting and challenging!

As to my dream career, I am now writing copy for an ad agency as a Content Strategist, and I love my “job”.  I found a hoodie online that I wanted to buy that said something like Content Strategist, “miracle worker”… but the winter in Houston did not exist this year.  Hoodies not needed.

The real reason I write is because I have to.  The characters chatter in my head until I sit down at the keyboard…then they go silent, and I stare at a blank screen. My WIP is a ghost story that I’m writing with the intention of submitting it to my publisher.  Her Captain in Gray is about a woman who buys a pre-Civil War house in the South Carolina Low Country and finds herself with a roommate—the ghost of a Confederate captain.  My other 6 novels run the gamut from dark fantasy to romantic suspense and are all available on Amazon.

Thank you, Pam, for allowing me to ramble a bit on your lovely blog.  The cover is for my soon to be released Gylded Wings from The Wild Rose Press and was created by the incredible cover artist Debbie Taylor. 

About Linda....
Born in South Carolina, Linda Nightingale has lived in England, Canada, Miami, Atlanta and Houston.  She’s seen a lot of this country from the windshield of a truck pulling a horse trailer, having bred, trained and showed Andalusian horses for thirteen years.

Linda has won several writing awards, including the Georgia Romance Writers Magnolia Award.   As well as an author, she is a legal assistant and a mother of two incredible sons, one in England; the other a graphic artist in Houston.  She is a member of the Houston Symphony League and enjoys events with her car club.  Two of her favorite things are her snazzy black convertible and her parlor grand piano.

She is the author of three novels published by Double Dragon Publishing, a Canadian publisher. Gemini Rising, winner of the Preditors’ and Editors 2013 Poll in Mainstream, is a controversial dark fantasy, getting good reviews.  Sinners’ Opera and Cardinal Desires are paranormal romances starring sexy vampires.  The following is a snippet of a review for Sinners’ Opera:  “Morgan and Isabeau are characters that could be placed in the same category as some of the most famous couples in romance history - Romeo and his Juliet, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy - and their romance plays out like one of Beethoven's famous love letters.”

Visit her web site at http://www.lindanightingale.com(site designed by Simon Nightingale) for a continuing vampire story.  Catch her on Twitter at @LNightingale.  She is on Facebook, or visit her blog http://lindanightingale.wordpress.com/

Under the pen name Bianca Swan, she writes erotic romance.  The Wild Rose Press published two novellas. Double Dragon Publishing released one Bianca novel.

Linda's latest novel, Gambler's Choice is available now from Amazon in paperback and for Kindle.

Hope you enjoyed this week's Thursday Thoughts and that your return each week for Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight!

Until next time...take care and God Bless!
PamT

#TuesdayTreasure: Guest Post by LoRee Peery and #Giveaway!

Good Morning Friends,

I pray your Easter weekend was blessed and happy. 

Today I'm pleased to share a very special Tuesday Treasure with you from my friend and fellow PBG author, LoRee Peery.

Christian romance author LoRee Peery strives to remember the Lord’s redeeming grace each day when she surveys her sense of place in Him and where He has placed her. She clings to I John 5:4 and prays her blended family and dozen grandchildren see that faith. HerFrivolities Series and other publications are available at Pelican Book Group.

Find out more about LoRee by visiting her website, Amazon author page, GoodReads page, Facebook, and Twitter

Treasured Memories of Dad

Recent Memories of my father have been tied up with what happened to end his earthly life, I took this opportunity to remember him as a person. He studied Latin, graduated at 16, attended trade school, and was in the Army during WWII. Dad could have gone and done anything he wanted to in life, but he returned home to farm.

A lover of the land, he took pride in his work. County-wide, people knew Dad for the size and symmetry of the eight-ton haystacks he put up, without using a cage frame. He figured profit and loss numbers in his head, and counted grazing cattle faster than imaginable, separating calves, cows, and those about to drop. Resourceful, he’d fix things with baling wire, spit, and curses. He rigged up scrap lumber or branches for levers, and sometimes a prayer.

He was a hard worker and a hard drinker. On the flip side, he was a gentle pussy cat with babies. He sang “Bye-o-baby-bunting, Daddy’s gone a’hunting,” while bouncing the babies on his knee. One precious photograph shows him napping with my oldest daughter, the only grandchild to know him. She’s wearing pink sleeper pajamas and the two of them wear matching rosy cheeks.

Dad used quaint expressions, such as “hollered like a stuck pig.” “Dead as a door nail” and that’s a cock ‘n bull story if I ever heard one.” For some unknown reason he called a sink “zink.” One of Dad’s favorite phrases was, “Smell that money” referring to a feedlot, or the barnyard smell.

He caught trout with his hands along the overhanging banks of Verdigre Creek, along a narrow channel where the banks hung over the water. He waited, bent over with hands just above the water surface. It worked best if the fish swam upstream. At sight of a fish, he lowered his hands into the water, lifted, and thrust the trout onto the bank.

Exhibiting little sense of style, he thought nothing of wearing a striped shirt with plaid trousers. He stood five-foot-eight, but his wiry strength made up for what height he lacked. His deep-set eyes of hazel and lop-sided grin remain fixed in my mind.

Dad experienced severe back pain. He fell countless times on the farm and survived. While trying to force a cow up a loading chute from behind, the cow decided to go backward and landed right on top of him. Another time he was riding atop a load of bales stacked on a wagon. The bale loader was behind the tractor and suspended over the rack of bales. The tractor hit a badger hole, bales flew, and Dad’s chest banged against the loader hooks, then he flew to the ground.

He had a fine baritone voice and played the harmonica. He sketched artistic shapes and characters instead of doodling. He left behind impressive drawings, created while he was in the Army, of soldiers, cartoon characters, and an unknown woman.

Personal, deep conversation was not part of my life growing up, maybe because the people I knew used their energy working hard to survive. I see love in the calligraphy he used filling in the lines of my childhood King James Bible. He may not have said it, but I know he loved me. I heard it in his voice when he mentioned me to others.

Definitely some beautiful memories to treasure, LoRee!

LoRee's latest book, Touches of Time is a fictional account of her father's murder and can be found at Amazon.

A decades-old unsolved homicide.

A grieving single mother-to-be.

A cold-case investigator.

Sarah Bishop goes through her deceased mother’s belongings and becomes immersed in the details of her grandfather’s unsolved homicide. Determined to find who was responsible, for the sake of her unborn baby, Sarah vows to seek out the answers her mother had failed to find.

Cold Case Investigator Ford Melcher is intrigued by Sarah’s dogged drive to solve the old mystery. His current case has reached a frustrating dead end, but he comes to believe it is somehow linked to Sarah’s quest. His desire to protect her from further hurt is put to the test, especially when he has secrets he’d rather not disclose.

Answers could remain elusive as to who struck Sarah’s grandfather and left him in a ditch. Will the search for those answers open doors for her to discover the life God planned? Can she accept that plan if it includes a man who wasn’t forthright with information?

LoRee is giving away an paperback copy of Touches of Time to one lucky person who visits today so be sure and leave a comment!

Hope you enjoyed today's treasure. We're finished with our Eggcerpt Exchange blog hop so be sure and check back for Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlights!

Until next time...

Take care and God Bless.

PamT

#SaturdaySpotlight is on @kmdaughters and Fill the Stadium!

Good Morning!

I pray your weekend and Easter celebrations are going well. 

Our guests today are not new to us. KM Daughters shared some thoughts with us in Feb and treasures in Jan and in both visits, we talked about their latest release, a WF novel, Fill the Stadium.

Well today you're getting a glimpse into the story!

So without much further ado...here are Pat and Kathie AKA: KM Daughters!

K.M. Daughters is the penname for team writers and sisters, Pat Casiello and Kathie Clare nee Lynch. The author name is dedicated to the memory of their parents, Katherine and Michael, the "K" and "M" in K.M. Daughters. Inspired by their father who wrote children's books for them when they were small and their mother's love of romance novels, K.M. Daughters was "born" in 2005 at a Romance Writers of America national conference when the sisters plotted their first manuscript. 

K.M. Daughters has published twelve award-winning novels garnering rave reviews. RT Book Reviews magazine awarded a 4-star, "Compelling, Page Turner..." rating to BEYOND THE CODE OF CONDUCT, CAPTURING KARMA and ALL'S FAIR IN LOVE AND LAW. 

RT Book Reviews awarded ROSE OF THE ADRIATIC 4 1/2 stars! "Fantastic...", and the final installment in the Sullivan Boys Romantic Suspense Series: IN THE ST. NICK OF TIME, rated 4 1/2 stars by RT Book Reviews - "FANTASTIC, A KEEPER". 

THE SNOWS, an Amazon Kindle Select book is the author's first women's fiction novel with inspirational elements.

Nikki Lambert’s husband purposely stalls his truck in the path of the midnight freight on the same day her eldest son, Jack, is diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder. Injured NFL quarterback, Ramsey Delaney is benched from his starting position leaving him ample time for more hands-on involvement in The Good Sports Club, a community center he established where Nikki’s sons, Jack and Rocky are enrolled. Jack’s deteriorating motor skills concern Ram’s employees who bar Jack from attending the club without Ram’s knowledge. Nikki wants nothing but normalcy for Jack and she heatedly confronts Ram for depriving her son of a beloved activity. Ram immediately reinstates Jack forging the fateful bond between Nikki and her boys’ number-one sports hero. Ram is instantly attracted to Nikki. He wants to win her heart more than he’s ever wanted to win a game. But after her husband’s terrible abandonment will Nikki trust Ram’s motives and open her heart to love again?

Excerpt: 

John, I should have…Done what? Foreseen that John would ride off in the night after the Tylenol P.M. dose he had suggested finally worked on her? Understood that John couldn’t face a life without his son and begged him not to drive his truck onto the tracks and turn off the engine? This was no accident. He left her to raise their two little boys and to face Jack’s illness alone. The man that she thought she knew had turned his back on her with stunning, cruel finality. She had no idea that her husband was capable of something so monstrous.

FILL THE STADIUM, mainstream women's fiction, is K.M. Daughters' newest release and is available on Amazon in Paperback and for Kindle, Barnes and Noble and at All Romance Ebooks!

I've read Fill the Stadium and you can find my review at Amazon.

That wraps up another edition of Saturday Spotlight! Hope to see you again next week for Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and of course, Saturday Spotlight.

Until later, take care and God Bless!

PamT

#ThursdayThoughts: #EggcerptExchange with Janie Frantz

Good "Holy Thursday" Morning!

Today is the day of our Lord's Last Supper and I can cheerfully say our last Eggcerpt Exchange!

I hope you've enjoyed finding out about so many authors, books and characters in this year's blog exchange.

Today our guest is a new-to-me author, Janie Frantz with her book, The Bowdancer, so let's get right on into it....

Jan-nell, a young healer and keeper of village lore, despairs of ever finding the child who will be the next bowdancer or a man worthy enough to love. When a village wedding is interrupted by four strangers, Jan-nell treats the injuries of one of them. 

The leader of these men, Bastin, is an arrogant, intelligent rogue who also is searching for an equal. His presence questions the bowdancer's life choice and stirs more than her mind.

Eggcerpt:

The arrow flamed in a yellow arc across the night sky, like a trailing star portending some great event. And in truth it did this night, the night of the Great Moon of Full Summer. This night the bowdancer’s arrow signaled a solemn rite and a village celebration—the union of Merin, the tall horserider, and Co-rell, the blonde chosen-daughter of Wise Woman Dan-da-nell.

They were often seen among the white mares in the meadow. Merin’s long hair flowed behind him as he raced to grab a handful of yellow-white horse mane nearly the same color as his own. He would swing himself upon a sleek back of one of the mares and come racing to scoop Co-rell high onto the horse with him, cradling her in his arms like a happy squealing child.

Jan-nell, the bowdancer, knocked the last burning signal arrow against her bowstring. She smiled as her mind composed the quatrains of an idyll to the horserider and his bride: white against white like playful doves, spirit folk.

When she released the arrow to call in the stragglers from the outlying farms, she shook her head and altered her imagery. No, not spirit folk, just sleek horses riding the meadows enjoying the fullness of coupling and sweet grass. But this young stallion and his mare would grace the village children’s tales and lessons. Jan-nell would see to that. Co-rell and Merin were the stuff of legends. She would gladly give the young ones a dream. They need not know that Merin could not speak a sentence without coloring the shade of a retiring sun and much preferred the silent movements of horses to men.

Jan-nell had spent too many early mornings drilling Merin in the wedding words he was to speak to Co-rell. There were only five short speeches, but they were impossible for him to remember, much less speak them to a woman. Finally, on this wedding morn, he had been able to say the words to Jan-nell without much stumbling. She did not know if he could repeat them at moon-rise to Co-rell.

Jan-nell frowned as she ducked into her solitary thatched hut some little distance from the village edge. She wondered why she remained with such simple wits. From a shelf above the stone fireplace she had laid with her own hands, she brought down a pot of scented oil and set it on the hearth to warm. Taking a small piece of cloth, she wiped the smoke from her large bow. 

The Bowdancer can be purchased at Muse it Up Publishing, Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Janie Franz comes from a long line of Southern liars and storytellers. She told  other people’s stories as a freelance journalist for many years. With Texas wedding DJ, Bill Cox, she co-wrote The Ultimate Wedding Ceremony Book and The Ultimate Wedding Reception Book, and then self-published a writing manual, Freelance Writing: It’s a Business, Stupid!  

She also published an online music publication, was an agent/publicist for a groove/funk band, a radio announcer, and a yoga/relaxation instructor.

Currently, she is writing her tweveth novel and a self-help book, Starting Over: Becoming a Woman of Power.

https://authorjaniefranz.wordpress.com

https://janiefranz.wordpress.com

https://thebowdancersaga.wordpress.com

Questions for Janie Franz

1. Level of schooling: I have a BA in Anthropology.

2. Birthplace: I was born in a tiny town in Tennessee that if you drove through it with someone and reached down to pick up your purse, you’d miss it.

3. Currently residing in: I currently live in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I couldn’t get away from mountains. They are different from those near my birth but mountains just the same.

4. Favorite place to visit: I’m torn between two cities in the Deep South. Savannah GA and New Orleans LA. They both hold such charm and hospitality.

5. Favorite food: A beef, bean, and rice burrito with green sauce with lots of sour cream and a margarita. I’m a product of my new environment.

Well that is a switch, we normally get those answers from a character but I'm glad Janie did something totally different for her post! And, such interesting information too.

I hope you enjoyed this Eggcerpt Exchange. I know it's going to be a busy weekend for many, but if you get a chance be sure and drop by for Saturday Spotlight then check next week for Tuesday Treasures and Thursday Thoughts!

Until next time...take care and God Bless.

PamT

#TuesdayTreasure: #EggcerptExchange with Diana Rubino @DianaLRubino

Good Morning,

This is the time in Christianity known as "Holy Week" where the devout really focus on the last days of Christ. Palm Sunday when Jesus rode into Jerusalem amid praise and worship only to have folks turn on Him a few short days later and be crucified.

The good news, however, is He rose again!

As we enter into this last week of Lent, you'll see a couple more Eggcerpt Exchange posts, then I'll go back to my regular blogging schedule.

Today's guest is not new to us. Diana Rubino has visited with us on numerous occasions through the last couple of years... Holiday Romance and Recipes, Springfling Romance and Rocking Summer Romance as well as a couple other spots.

Today she is sharing an Eggcerpt Exchange post with us from her book, From Here to Fourteenth Street. So without much further ado....let's get into this Eggcerpt Exchange!

It's 1894 on New York's Lower East Side. Irish cop Tom McGlory and Italian immigrant Vita Caputo fall in love despite their different upbringings. Vita goes from sweatshop laborer to respected bank clerk to reformer, helping elect a mayor to beat the Tammany machine. While Tom works undercover to help Ted Roosevelt purge police corruption, Vita's father arranges a marriage between her and a man she despises. As Vita and Tom work together against time and prejudice to clear her brother and father of a murder they didn't commit, they know their love can survive poverty, hatred, and corruption. Vita is based on my great grandmother, who left third grade to become a self-made businesswoman and politician, wife and mother.

 Eggcerpt:

As Vita gathered her soap and towel, Madame Branchard tapped on her door. "You have a gentleman caller, Vita. A policeman."

"Tom?" His name lingered on her lips as she repeated it. She dropped her things and crossed the room.

"No, hon, not him. Another policeman. Theodore something, I think he said."

No. There can't be anything wrong. "Thanks," she whispered, nudging Madame Branchard aside. She descended the steps, gripping the banister to support her wobbly legs. Stay calm! she warned herself. But of course it was no use; staying calm just wasn't her nature.

“Theodore something” stood before the closed parlor door. He’s a policeman? She looked him up and down with curious intent. Tall and hefty, a bold pink shirt peeking out of a buttoned waistcoat and fitted jacket, he looked way out of place against the dainty patterned wallpaper.

He removed his hat. "Miss Caputo." He strained to keep his voice soft as he held out a piece of paper. “I’m police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt.”

"Yes?" Her voice shook.

"I have a summons for you, Miss Caputo." He held it out to her. But she stood rooted to that spot.

He stepped closer and she took it from him, unfolding it with icy fingers. Why would she be served with a summons? Was someone arresting her now for something she didn't do?

A shot of anger tore through her at this system, at everything she wanted to change. It eclipsed her fear, making her blood boil. She flipped it open and saw the word "Summons" in fancy script at the top. Her eyes widened with each sentence as she read. “I can’t believe what I’m seeing.”

I hereby order Miss Vita Caputo to enter into holy matrimony with Mr. Thomas McGlory immediately following service of this summons.

Signed and witnessed, it looked very official. She looked up at Theodore. He flashed her a toothy smile.

"He's pazzo, he's just nuts!" She read it again and again, laughing, her eyes filled with tears of relief and happiness.

“Deeee-lightful, isn’t it, Miss Caputo?” The door opened and he stepped aside. There stood Tom in the doorway. Teddy Roosevelt cuffed him on the chin and vanished.

"I would have arrested you, but I was afraid you would resist." He gave her a playful grin.

She leapt forward and embraced him with every bit of strength she had left, crushing the paper between them.

"You are just crazy!" was all she could think to say. Still dizzy from the shock, the fright, and the anger that blanketed it all, she juggled a new jumble of titillating emotions.

"You're the one who should be crazy, crazy enough to marry me, that is."

All her doubts vanished at that instant. “Oh, yes, together we are stronger than any force that would dare keep us apart.” 

In a guarded tone she asked, "You don't mean tonight, do you?" Jadwiga's one-word suggestion flashed through her mind. “Elope.” She wondered if the two of them had planned a slick coup. Was a priest in the parlor waiting to officiate?

He laughed, a halo around his head from the lamp’s glow. "Any night you want. Tonight, tomorrow, next week, just don't make me wait too long."

"How long were you sitting in there?"

"A few hours. I figured you were with your family. Your landlady was nice enough to let me wait. I told her I wanted to surprise you, and I think she figured out what it was. So she didn't interfere. Teddy there, who considerately left us alone, is our commish, and the jokester on the force. He'd have to be, to have gone along with this!"

They went into the parlor and she closed the door, quivering in naughty delight. As she sat on the sofa, he dropped to one knee. He slid his hand into his pocket and brought out a sparkling ring, took her hand and slipped it onto the third finger of her left hand. “Vita, will you marry me?”

“Oh, Tom…” She held it at arm's length, turning her hand this way and that. It glittered in the lamp’s glow.

She would have eloped with him at this minute if he’d asked. If a priest stood in this room, they would have been married by now. She threw her arms around his neck, dizzy with happiness, dizzily in love. “Of course I’ll marry you! Tonight, tomorrow, whenever you want! Oh, how I love you!” 

He sat beside her and she pulled the pins from her bun. Her hair tumbled to her waist, and he stroked it lovingly as she nestled against his chest. Their lips met and parted. Her mind raced . . . we need to set a date!

- Purchase links

The Wild Rose Press

Amazon Kindle

Amazon Paperback

Now let's hear from Vita Caputo McGlory, the heroine of FROM HERE TO FOURTEENTH STREET

Job – I started out as a sweatshop worker sewing ‘shirtwastes’ (blouses), and now I’m a committeewoman, with a view to being New York City’s first female mayor.

Level of schooling – I left school at 16 to go to work in a lampshade factory.

Birthplace – Sassano, Italy, near Naples.

Currently residing in...Greenwich Village, in a brownstone on East 14^th Street.

Favorite Pet – They’re all favorites, two mongrel pups, Charlie and Shirley, two cats Romeo and Juliet, and assorted goldfish whose names we can’t keep up with!

Favorite place to visit – Coney Island, to sit on the beach, frolic in the ocean, eat those delicious hot dogs and fried dough, and stroll the boardwalk!

Significant other – My husband Tom McGlory, who stuck with me as we overcame astronomical odds to stay together.

Most important goal – To see my three children become successful, respectable citizens. Doing all right so far—my daughter Assunta (Susan) owns a clothing store, my son Virgilio (Billy) writes Broadway musicals and my youngest Teresa (Tessie) wants to be a baby doctor.

Worst fear or nightmare – That the stock market will crash again or some other disaster will plunge us back into poverty.

Favorite food – My homemade lasagna with my grandmother’s sauce recipe (it’s a secret)

Wealthy, poor, or somewhere in between? – We’re finally members of the solid middle class.

Secret desire or fantasy – To sing in one of my son’s musicals.

What would you do if you won the lottery? – Buy my own airplane and give the rest to charity.

Here's a little more about Diana in her own words....

My passion for history and travel has taken me to every locale of my stories, set in Medieval and Renaissance England, Egypt, the Mediterranean, colonial Virginia, New England, and New York. My urban fantasy romance, FAKIN’ IT, won a Top Pick award from Romantic Times. 

I’m a member of Romance Writers of America, the Richard III Society and the Aaron Burr Association. I live on Cape Cod with my husband Chris. In my spare time, I bicycle, golf, play my piano and devour books of any genre. 

Visit me at www.dianarubino.com, www.DianaRubinoAuthor.blogspot.com, https://www.facebook.com/DianaRubinoAuthor, and on Twitter @DianaLRubino.

Well friends, I hope you enjoyed today's Tuesday Treasure / Eggcerpt Exchange. 

As I mentioned, we have one more coming your way on Thursday Thoughts then beginning with Saturday Spotlight, we'll be back to our regular blogging schedule. Also, if you want to discover ALL of the books that have been featured on this year's Eggcerpt Exchange, you can check them out on my Pinterest Board. 

Until next time...take care and God Bless!

#SaturdaySpotlight: #EggcerptExchange with Nathan D. Maki

Good Morning Friends and Welcome to another edition of Saturday Spotlight and another Eggcerpt Exchange!

Today's guest is another newbie to me so I hope you enjoy meeting him....

As a kid, Nathan D. Maki delighted in leaping through the door of historical fiction and into the adventure of the ancient world. In his teens, his love for reading birthed a desire to write and bring history alive for others. Nathan has always been fascinated with the monumental power and enduring achievements of the Roman Empire and its asymmetrical clash with Early Christianity. As a Christian, he is inspired by stories of triumphant faith in the face of persecution, and he hopes these stories will inspire others as well.

Find out more about Nathan by visiting his website.

Now let's get to our Eggcerpt Exchange with Nathan's book, A War Within, The Healer...  

How far would you go to free your mother from slavery?

Suzanna ben Ya’ir is a slave to the king of Hatra, the indomitable fortress city. She dreams of escaping the harem and finding her way back to Rome to find her son, but she is held prisoner by the king’s soldiers, towering walls, and untold miles of murderous desert. To escape she must earn coins as a healer among the common folk of the city and join forces with a Hatran guard who secretly loves her. But when the Roman legions arrive to besiege the city her hope of escape seems more unattainable than ever.

Theudas ben Ya’ir is a fierce warrior and a member of the Roman Emperor’s guard, but he also harbors a deadly secret – he is a Christian. Theudas longs to find his mother and rescue her from slavery, but the Emperor, his legions, and Plautianus – the ruthless leader of the Praetorians – are besieging the city where she is held captive. Now Theudas must break the Roman siege and infiltrate the hostile city, find his mother and help her escape. But doing so will mean committing treason against the Emperor. Will his quest cost Theudas his new-found faith and the life of the woman he loves?

With Suzanna’s life hanging in the balance, can she and Theudas defy the odds and reunite? And if so, can they hope to survive?

Eggcerpt:

Suzanna wept with shame. She wept for the hope of escape that she knew to be false even as she clung to it. The paltry few coins she managed to save would never be enough to convince a merchant to risk the wrath of the king by smuggling her out of this city and across the wasteland surrounding it. The course of her life stretched out before her, as clear and brutal as the sandy, sun-baked road that led west toward the life she would never see again. She would go from the harem to the scullery as her beauty continued to fade, and finally, long after all color had been bleached from her life, to the grave.

She tried to reach for her faith, fumbled for it with groping fingers. She could brush it, could feel the residual warmth of the fire that once burned in her, but she couldn’t grasp it, couldn’t stir it to life again. Jehovah had forsaken her and so she knelt in a pile of rotting garbage against a filthy stone wall and wept.

Her pain seemed inexhaustible but her tears were not and finally her shuddering shoulders slowed and her sobs subsided. She was leaning against the wall now, her cheek against cold stone. In that moment, Suzanna felt a strange sense of clarity. She had two choices. She could lay here and die, or get up and go on. It was the hardest decision she had ever faced.

In the end, a dying man made the decision for her.

Tonight is the night Binyamin will pass from this world and I must be there to ease that passing. I must be there. I must get up. I must make at least this one last effort.

The heat of the day was fully gone now and she was stiff with cold. She struggled to her feet and stared up at the crooked slice of starry sky above. What time was it? Time had had no meaning while she wept. It could have been minutes or hours. But it was still darkest night. She still had time. She brushed at her the skirt of her tunic in a futile effort to wipe away the muck, then swept a sleeve across her eyes and beneath her nose. Stepping free of the alley she looked around, took her bearings, and started off at a pained shuffle.

Movement worked the cold stiffness from her limbs and she began walking faster as if trying to shake off and leave behind the depression and hopelessness that had threatened to crush her. She had a purpose this night, reason enough to live.

For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. 

The proverb came, unbidden, to her mind. And along with it came a thought, a feeling, a whisper on the wind. Theudas yet lives. She couldn’t tell where the assurance came from, had no way to prove it as true, and yet she suddenly knew it. Knew it like her own name. She quickened her steps still more.

Where there is life, there is hope.

Wow...sounds intriguing! Now let's find out a little more about Suzanna....

Birthdate and Birthplace?

Suzanna was born a slave in Rome in AD 161. She was descended from Jewish slaves captured in the Judeo-Roman war a hundred years before.

Level of schooling, or self-taught?

As a child, she learned healing from her master, a Greek physician, and after being sold upon his death she further developed her natural talent through hands-on experience, nursing her master’s wife and other slaves in the household.

Significant other?

She married a fellow Jewish slave, Luke, and they had a son, Theudas. After Theudas fought their master’s son and Luke defended him, both father and son were sold to be gladiators.

Currently residing in...

Luke died in the Coliseum, and Suzanna was transported to Parthia and sold into the harem of the king of Hatra, the Parthian desert fortress.

Job and most important goal?

There, with the help of a sympathetic guard, she slips away at night to nurse the poor, hording the few coins she receives in payment in hopes of one day buying passage back to Rome with a caravan.

Secret desire or fantasy and worst fear or nightmare?

Her secret dream is to be reunited with her son, while her greatest fear is that she will die alone and forgotten.

 A War Within, The Healer can be purchased at Amazon.

Hope you enjoyed today's spotlight/exchange! Remember, all of the previous eggcerpt exchange books are on my Pinterest board. Next week should be our last featuring Eggcerpt Exchanges. After which we'll get back to our regularly scheduled Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlights.

Until next time, take care and God Bless!

PamT

#ThursdayThoughts: #EggcerptExchange with Kathleen Rowland @RowlandKathleen

Hello and Welcome to another edition of Thursday Thoughts featuring an Eggcerpt Exchange. This week's guest, Kathleen Rowland is new-to-me and therefore new to this blog so without further ado....

Here's Kathleen!

Book Buyers Best finalist Kathleen Rowland is devoted to giving her readers fast-paced, high-stakes suspense with a sizzling love story sure to melt their hearts.  Kathleen used to write computer programs but now writes novels.   She grew up in Iowa where she caught lightning bugs, ran barefoot, and raced her sailboat on Lake Okoboji.  Now she wears flip-flops and sails with her husband, Gerry, on Newport Harbor but wishes there were lightning bugs in California.

Kathleen exists happily with her witty CPA husband, Gerry, in their 70’s poolside retreat in Southern California where she adores time spent with visiting grandchildren, dogs, one bunny, and noisy neighbors.  While proud of their five children who’ve flown the coop, she appreciates the luxury of time to write while listening to demanding character voices in her head.

Find out more about Kathleen by visiting her Website and/or Blog and connecting with her on Facebook and Twitter!

Now about Kathleen's book, Deadly Alliance....

Finbar Donahue, former Army Ranger, walked on the wild side in Iraq, but now he lives in the shadows. After his evasive partner, Les, was shot in a random drive-by, Finn discovers cash is siphoned monthly. He fights to keep his investment company afloat. When the late partner’s girlfriend, Amy Kintyre, applies for his bookkeeping job, Finn suspects she knows about his company drain and hires her.

Amy needs a nine-to-five with free evenings and weekends to get her fashion design business back on track. She unearths Les’ s secret bank account and alerts Finn. Freezing of the money laundering account sets off havoc within an Irish gang. Amy witnesses a gang fight between a brutal ISIS fundraising organization and the Irish. Desperate to escape a stalker’s crosshairs, she seeks refuge with Finn. As danger heats up, sparks fly hotter.

Eggcerpt: 

Amy entered the bathroom and faced a door opposite, the entrance to the Harp Hotel on the Lake. No wonder this bathroom was elegant. Waffle towels and an assortment of fragrance mists, lotions, and a milk-glass, soap pump sat on a green-marble counter next to a vintage-looking faucet. If she weren’t in a hurry, she’d spray herself with the cologne in the shamrock container.

There were two large stalls, and she peeked under the shiny white doors to make sure she wouldn’t intrude upon someone. After making sure it was empty, she headed in and hung her little handbag on a hook. About to use the toilet, she heard muffled voices. Wasn’t she alone?

Glancing upward, she spotted a vent. The voices came from a room in the hotel. Did she hear strong words?  She stepped onto the toilet seat and stood on tiptoes, straining to raise herself even higher. As she peered through the vent, she realized she was looking over a balcony and onto a large conference room. This bathroom, on the second level of the parking structure, was level with the hotel’s mezzanine.

About twenty feet below, the marble floor gleamed up at her, but the scene was far from friendly business. A half-dozen men wore turbans and black, body armor with the Takbir insignia embroidered on them. The symbol, hard to ignore this year, was white Arabic writing on their rolling-sand motif flag and displayed with every hostage crisis. Flowing robes extended half-way below their shins.

The robed men surrounded four men seated with their hands on a round table. These men were held captive, she was certain. The two facing her wearing Claddagh rings on their third fingers had visited Les. The rings married them, molded them into a brotherhood. Whether they wore suits or the Levis they’d worn on their visit, they bound together by a code of violence and silence.  For years the Waterfront Roached remained an impenetrable and unstoppable force. Until now.

The Irish Mafioso appearance was as easy to recognize as the Takbir terrorists. In her hometown of Long Beach, the Waterfront Roaches went about their business in match-match suits. The Irish Kings of Cocaine ruled the warehouse district. After scrutinizing the backs of the other two suits, one wore a fedora identical to the Irish mobster at the coffee shop. Next she zeroed in on the other man with slicked back, silver hair who’d visited Les at their condo.  Was  an Islamic gang taking over the Irish mob’s territory?

Fearing they’d see her, she cringed, but the thugs were far below. Concentrating, she tried to make out what was happening down there. She looked through the vent.  A sword gleamed upward.

Now let's find out a little more about Kathleen's hero.

Do you have a nickname? Finn. My full name is Finbar Michael Donahue.

What actually is your job? I own my own investment company, but who’s the chickenshit stealing money from me?

What is your level of education? I have a B.A. in finance, former Army Ranger. That was when I targeted the enemy.

Take note readers: Deadly Alliance has been reviewed as EROTICA and can be purchased at Amazon.

Hope you enjoyed today's Eggcerpt Exchange. Remember all of the books are on my Pinterest board so if you want to follow this blog hop, check it out. Be sure and come back Saturday for our Spotlight with Tanya Hanson and check back weekly for more Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlights!

Until next time, take care and God Bless!
PamT