Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger Featured Authors
January 28, 2021 by A Slice of Orange in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Featured Author of the Month, Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger tagged as 1950s Crime novels, Author Interviews, Chatting with Authors, Janet Elizabeth Lynn, The Skylar Drake Murder Mystery Series, Will Zeilinger
January Featured Authors
Janet Elizabeth Lynn was born in Queens and raised in Long Island, New York. She is the author of murder mysteries, cozy mysteries and with her husband Will Zeilinger, 1950s hard-boiled detective mysteries.
Will Zeilinger has lived and traveled the world and has been writing for over ten years. His novels range from mystery to romantic comedy and those 1950s hard-boiled detective mysteries with his wife Janet.
Partners in Crime
Together Janet and Will write the Skylar Drake Mystery Series. These hard-boiled tales are based in old Hollywood of 1955. They have a free E-book How it Began: The Skylar Drake Mysteries available from Smashwords.
Their world travels have sparked several ideas for murder and crime stories. In 2021, they will team up will a penname E.J. Williams for a new mystery series. The first novel in the International Crime Files, Stone Pub will be published in May.
Chatting With Authors
In addition to writing novels, Janet and Will have a YouTube Channel, Chatting with Authors featuring informal Zoom interviews with authors of various genres. Below is a sample of one of their chats, but we encourage readers to check out all their videos.
This creative couple lives in Southern California . . . and yes, they are still married, and they even blog together at The Married Authors.
Janet and Will’s Interview with Author Marianne H. Donley
Interview with author, Marianne H. Donley, who writes fiction from short stories to comedy, to romances, and quirky murder mysteries. She makes her home in Tennessee with her husband and son.
Disabled Author Still Finding Himself by Justin Murphy
January 27, 2021 by A Slice of Orange in category Guest Posts tagged as biographies, Guest posts, Justin Murphy, Non-fiction
I have a mild case of Cerebral Palsy, and I help care for an Autistic brother. Yet, I have spent years concealing my disability for fear it might hamper my writing career. I’ve written and self-published many works, including articles and columns for content sites. My best-known release, so far, is Gene L. Coon: The Unsung Hero of Star Trek.
My work spans quite a few genres: Southern Crime Fiction, Non-Fiction Entertainment, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, and Autism related fiction. The former two are the ones I’ve had the most success with. Alongside the Coon title, I penned the book Jack Kirby: The Unsung Hero of Marvel and a couple books about serial killer Joseph James DeAngelo.
My attempts at Sci-Fi/Fantasy have not been as successful, so I built on my achievements by writing more Non-Fiction Entertainment books about sci-fi creators. I have inked one on Steven Spielberg, culled from earlier articles I wrote about him. I, also, wrote books on such figures as Alfred Hitchcock, Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling, and filmmaker Stanley Kubrick. In addition, I did a couple short books on the Star Wars saga. With Disney and Marvel’s success at the box office, the Jack Kirby book might be the farthest I go in that genre for now.
Over the last decade, I was told to write more about my struggles with Cerebral Palsy and my brother’s Autism. Yet there’s a Catch 22, as with any endeavor. Despite improving my craft through writing from life experiences, this is also a business designed to make money. I also have heard: Well, this doesn’t sell, or You need to write something more marketable.
For a time, I got flack for writing serial killer stories and Autistic characters placed in science fiction or crime tales, instead of drawing from something more authentic.
Though still writing stories on the above figures, I wrote a manuscript based on an event that happened to me when I was ten years old, due to Cerebral Palsy. Another about our ordeals with my brother’s Autism, anger with discovery and acceptance of what went on, and how we learned to love him.
But my writing still didn’t feel complete, so I wrote a supernatural horror story about an Autistic child and her family being stalked. Despite many autobiographies and memoirs being successful, these more authentic stories of mine used fictional names, and either combined or deleted certain incidents that didn’t fit the main narrative. Plus, many authors have written from their life and had a great deal of success placing them in fictional contexts.
Remembering my small success with Southern Crime Fiction, I’ve spent this year (2020) weaving these Cerebral Palsy and Autism elements into a few detective stories, based on a short story I wrote and submitted for a Boucheron Crime Writers contest with Florida as a setting. Also, I worked on a couple disability themed heist caper tales set in the 1940s and 1950s.
None of these more recent stories, pertaining to Cerebral Palsy, Autism, or disability, have been published, yet. I am still deciding on when and how to release them, along with other ideas I still want to pursue.
Recently, I heard a quote from another writer who said, “Write from your life, not about your life.” More and more, I’m wondering if that’s at least partially true.
About Justin Murphy
Born November 26, 1985 in Dothan, Alabama.
Whether it be Fiction or Non-Fiction, Justin Murphy has always tried to explore many themes in his work. One is probing into the darkness of pure evil with The Original Night Stalker: Portrait of A Killer, a fictional story based on a real-life murderer Joseph James DeAngelo. He also enjoys exploring obscure figures often forgotten in entertainment. Such as with his most recent success, Gene L. Coon: The Unsung Hero of Star Trek. It profiles the ex-Marine, pharmacist, and journalist who did the actual heavy lifting on The Original Series.
Social Media Links
Spotlight on GENE L. COON: The Unsung Hero of Star Trek
GENE L. COON
The Unsung Hero of Star Trek
Wendell Eugene: A Night to Remember by Neetu
January 26, 2021 by Neetu Malik in category Poet's Day by Neetu Malik tagged as jazz, music, Neetu, New Orleans, poetry, trombone, Wendell Eugene
Wendell Eugene: A Night to Remember
Rain drops drizzled
from the night sky,
café lights twinkled
in dream-lit New Orleans
you strode gracefully–
ninety and one years of life
trailing grandly behind
your trombone
dazzling on the stage,
you raised a toast to
the joy of living
among fans and friends
I watched you tune
your gleaming instrument,
lifting it to your lips
with the ease
of one who knows
an old Fidus Achates–
as one who has carried
ecstasy and heartache
through time’s mist
and glory
my eyes
transfixed upon
shimmering brass
as you played
wondrously
you turned to the applause,
our eyes met, you smiled
awed by your presence,
charmed by the smile
of a music man
who brought jazz to life
every night
for me, it was a first time,
and perhaps the last
at that fine restaurant.
©Neetu Malik
In honor and memory of Wendell Eugene (1923-2017), the longest-performing jazz musician/trombonist of New Orleans.
Some of Neetu’s Books
Book Blitz: Love is a Filing Cabinet by Jeanne Kern
January 25, 2021 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Rabt Book Tours tagged as #Comedy, #Contemporary, #JeanneKern, #LoveisaFilingCabinet, #RABTBookTours, #Romance, @RABTBookTours
Date Published: January 2021
Publisher: Wild Rose Press
About the Book
You can organize anything but family–and love.
Ambitious organizer Minn Evans resents being the only sane and stable person in her family. She wants a normal life with schedules and balanced meals and maybe a man who won’t fall for her sister.
Ford Hayes, a whiz at creativity and a dud at organization, becomes Art Director for a privately-owned TV station. But his office is a mess, his planning skills are a train wreck, and he can’t find his socks.
Minn needs a job; Ford needs an organizer. But Minn’s vagabond parents and man-stupifying sister aren’t the only roadblocks on their journey to love.
Excerpt
The building that might hold her future towered over her, glowing with promise. She put her hand on the brass plate, mentally crossed her fingers, and pushed. Uh-oh. She sprinted for the closing elevator door and risked a glance at her watch. Time for a stop in a bathroom, time to practice the carefully prepared answers to standard questions, time to chew a breath mint.
Her heel caught in the gap between floor and elevator cabin, catapulting her into a passenger. Arms that had been full of files now held only her. His files were on the floor, and her breast was in his hand. Heat prickled up her neck and into her cheeks. “I…uh…it was…oh, my…”
He stared at his hand—no, at her breast!
“Hey!”
Minn lurched back and groaned, reaching for her broken heel. Her stomach fedexed bile to her chest. This couldn’t be worse.
A thoaty “Oh, crap!” drew her attention to a patchwork of paper and now-empty file folders across the floor.
“I-I’m so very sorry. I’m not usually so clumsy.” They both bent, heads collided, her feet slipped on the loose paper. Down she went.
Okay. It could be worse.
About the Author
Jeanne Kern is a retired high school teacher who found her HEA when she met her husband on the internet. Together they love traveling and animal encounters: petting whales in Baja California, feeding rhino in Indonesia, walking with lions in Zimbabwe. Rich runs an award-winning volleyball website and Jeanne enjoys acting on stage and in indie horror films.
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Friday Nightmares Book Tour and Giveaway
January 24, 2021 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Rabt Book Tours tagged as #booktour, #excerpt, #RABTBookTours, #urbanfantsy, #youngadult, @CoreyEdward2, Friday Nightmares
Date Published: January 19, 2021
Publisher: FyreSyde Publishing
For generations, the wizards of Candle Paranormal Investigations have helped the people of Boston with everything from garden-variety poltergeists to Eldritch abominations. Sixteen-year-old Henry Candle, however, has no interest in taking over the family business and would much rather spend time hanging out in cafes with his human friends. But when his father is brutally murdered while working on a case, Candle Paranormal Investigations magically falls into Henry’s possession — and so does a warning: “BEWARE, HENRY. HE’LL COME FOR YOU, TOO.”
Henry does some digging and discovers that two other wizards have been killed in the past month, both of their bodies found with the same symbol scrawled into their chest as his father. He decides to reopen the case so he can discover who (or what) is murdering Boston’s wizards before he’s next. Aided by his pug familiar, a witch and a group of human friends, Henry must stop a supernatural serial killer and find an evil spell book that could end the world.
Author Share Link
Corey Edward is a lifelong lover of books, learning, and coffee. Although he is easily spooked, he lives for a good scary story, so perhaps it is fitting that he finally decided to start writing them. He lives in Ohio, where he works as a ninth grade English teacher.
He received his BA in Integrated Language Arts from Youngstown State University and went on to later receive his MA in English.
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Short Excerpt
The first thing most outsiders noticed upon coming to New England was the sheer enormity of the trees. And it’s true: they’re huge. Bigger than monsters in childrens’ nightmares and just as inescapable. Sometimes — on cloudy October nights like this one — it felt almost like they were watching you, warning you to stay away. Sometimes, it was worth listening.
Featured Books
SHOULD HAVE PLAYED POKER
Truth and integrity aren’t always what we’ve been taught to believe, and one could die making that discovery.
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COME MIDNIGHT
A routine flight turns into a suspenseful race through the remote jungles of Honduras
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#PLEASE SAY YES (#HermosafortheHolidays Book 1)
So, you think social media has taken over YOUR life?
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TOVA’S DRAGON
A warrior maid & a hot dragonshifter set out to save the kingdom; together they can prevail, but at what cost?
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