Pamela S Thibodeaux ~ "Inspirational with an Edge!"

Thursday, July 7, 2016

#ThursdayThoughts Guest post by Gail Kittleson

Good Morning Friends,

It is my pleasure to introduce you this new-to-me author....

Gail Kittleson taught college expository writing and ESL. She now writes women’s fiction and facilitates writing workshops and women’s retreats. She and her husband enjoy family in northern Iowa, and the Arizona Ponderosa forest in winter.

WhiteFire Publishing released Gail’s memoir, Catching Up With Daylight, in 2013, and her debut women’s historical fiction, In This Together (Wild Rose Press/Vintage Imprint) released in 2015. She also contributed to the Little Cab Press 2015 Christmas Anthology,

The first novel of her World War II series released recently (In Times Like These), and Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas will release the sequel in February, 2017. You can count on Gail’s heroines to make do with what life hands them, and to overcome great odds.

Find out more about Gail by visiting her Website, Facebook Page, Amazon Author Page and following her on Twitter!

Now let's see what's on Gail's mind....

My tea bag this morning says, “Aspire to inspire before you expire.”

Not bad advice, eh?

How do people become inspirational to others? Start! What we overcome makes us stronger, more aware of others’ struggles, and gives us perspective.

But if we’re in the midst of anguish, we certainly don’t want to hear this old line. What doesn’t kill you makes you strong . . . you’ll emerge from this period wiser, believe me . . .

Yada, yada, yada. At the time, we just want to get through this pain! Who cares about inspiring others?

But when the worst has passed, the inspiring comes naturally—we don’t even know when it’s occurring.

“Start by doing what’s necessary, then do what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” Saint Francis of Assisi

Perhaps the same might be said of doing the inspirational. Paying attention to inner and outer guidance, we work hard at our passions—necessary labor. We start with the possible, and as we toil away, the meaning of possible expands. Our vision enlarges, new ideas flow, and voila! We’re inspiring others.

I’ve found this with my writing. The first step, starting, challenged me. All kinds of arguments formed from voices I’ve listened to my whole life. But I had to move beyond what they said in order to follow my vocation’s rhythm. WRITE, WRITE, WRITE . . . for years, unsure of the outcome.

And now, readers tell me my work inspires them. This must be how it works, but doing the necessary and possible initiated the process. I’d love to hear how it’s worked for you.

*********

You are so right, Gail....there is always a purpose to our pain.

Gail's latest book, In Times like These can be found at Amazon.

Thanks for joining us! I hope you enjoyed today's thoughts and that you'll come back weekly for more Thursday Thoughts, Tuesday Treasures and Saturday Spotlights.

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

PamT

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

#TuesdayTreasures #NewRelease by Marissa Garner

Good Morning from Bandera, TX!

A couple of weeks ago I shared how important and thrilling a new release is to an author. As both reader and author, I know when my favorite author(s) have a book coming (or due) out, I'm as anxious as an expectant mother.

With that in mind, here's another new release to treasure...TARGETED (FBI Heat #2) by Marissa Garner....

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES…

FBI Special Agent Marissa Panuska faces the most explosive case of her career when she impersonates a female terrorist to infiltrate an al-Qaeda cell. Her dark hair, olive complexion, and Arabic fluency make her the perfect imposter, but each passing hour raises the risk of discovery. Can she stop the dirty-bomb plot—alone—when the Feds don't even know the target? And should she trust the mysterious man who bursts into her life when her cover is blown?

SO CLOSE TO REALITY…

Former Navy SEAL Ameen Ali has a very personal reason for hating the terrorists and vowing to stop them. But when a beautiful woman joins the sleeper cell spreading death-to-America propaganda at his mosque, he doesn't want to believe she shares their evil goals. Can he convince her to join forces before it's too late?

Excerpt:

Marissa slipped around the corner of the nearest building and held her breath. She inched backwards. When her foot came down on the paw of a dog sleeping against the wall, the mutt yelped and sprang to its feet. It growled and then barked ferociously.

“Hush. No bark. Quiet,” she scolded in Spanish to no avail.

She scooted back to the corner and peered down the road. As she had anticipated, the men were searching for her in the direction of the border crossing. But hearing the barking, they stopped, turned, and raced back in her direction. Marissa spun around, ran several steps, and stopped with a gasp.

The short alley was a dead end. And she couldn’t return to the road because Samir and Omar would see her.

Trapped.

With the dog biting at her heels, she tried to pry open the door of the building on the right side of the alley. The door refused to budge. Rushing across to the other building, she slammed both hands into the door. It shuddered open a crack. She rammed her shoulder into the wood and the door gave way. Ignoring the pain shooting through her arm, she swung inside the abandoned building, pushed the dog back outside with her foot, and shoved the door shut.

Minimal moonlight filtered in through the dirty, broken windows. She strained to see as she felt along the grimy walls until she found a doorway. Repeating the pattern, she worked her way back through six rooms. Where’s another exit? There can’t be only one.

The dog’s blood-curdling yelp stopped her in her tracks. Oh, God. Samir’s knife.

When the two terrorists shouted and barged into the building, Marissa slipped into another room and flattened herself against the wall beside the door. Her eyes desperately sought a way out. No more doors. Only two windows, four feet above the floor, shattered in the center. Could she dive through one without ripping herself open? Was there time?

Not bothering with stealth, the men cursed as they separated and searched, room by room. Closer and closer. When Omar stepped through the doorway, Marissa slammed the door into his face, her bulky clothes hampering her efforts.

She dashed toward the windows, but Omar recovered before she reached them. Grabbing her abaya from behind, he yelled to Samir. Viciously, he kicked the backs of her legs, buckling her knees.

She collapsed to the floor.

Samir charged through the doorway, brandishing the knife in front of him.

As she scrambled up onto her hands and knees, Omar yanked off the veil. He clutched handfuls of her long hair, exposing the back of her neck and dragging her forward. She cursed and clawed at her attackers, but both stayed just out of reach.

Samir grunted as he raised the massive knife high over her neck.

“Benja! Miláčku,” Marissa screamed.

Marissa Garner is a wife, writer, chocoholic, and animal lover, not necessarily in that order. As a little girl, she cut pictures of people out of her mother’s magazines and turned them into characters in her simple stories. Now she writes edgy romantic thrillers, steamy contemporary romance, and sexy paranormal romantic suspense. Her stories will titillate your mind as well as your libido. She lives in sunny Southern California with her husband, but enjoys traveling from Athens to Anchorage to Acapulco and many locations in between.

You can find and follow Marissa at the following locations...

Newsletter: http://bit.ly/1NTfT19

Website: www.marissagarner.com

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/M_Garner_Author

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/marissa_garner

Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/garner1819/

If you love romantic suspense, grab a copy of Targeted at any one of the following places....

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1P0zz2Y

B&N: http://bit.ly/1NY3NVj

iTunes: http://apple.co/1qZwLim

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1WVzy8P