Author Spotlight & New Release, Don't Miss K.V. Fischer!

 

I'm pleased to bring you K.V. Fischer's latest release 
Search Beyond Lies

This novel was inspired by the real-life search for a graduate student who was a special operations army veteran and went missing on Mount Meeker. What I witnessed was the impact two dedicated, persistent, loyal friends (one of whom is my son) could make that would bring strangers together in a dangerous search and rescue mission.

It was a story that just had to be written, and as a novelist, I had the opportunity to create an action-packed suspense thriller with a happy ending. It was also a story that spawned a new series for me — the Search & Recovery International Series.

Please visit my website, www.KVFischer.com to find out more about the crisis, the bond of friendship and how lives changed forever, not just for me, but for all those who helped in the search.

Blurb:

A missing scientist, a top-secret project, a ticking clock and no clues. Or are there?

When grad student James Frankel’s best friend and mentor goes missing, James wonders if his disappearance is related to his friend’s top-secret project. A selfie summiting a Colorado mountain makes everyone believe he’s lost there. But is he?

As a former Army Ranger, Charlie Sommers garnered the reputation of having the highest search and rescue success rate, but she’s plagued by the one she left behind. Now she’s on the verge of an exciting new beginning as a part of Search & Recovery International where her secrets are safe. There’s only one problem: the new assignment will take her back to Colorado and the loss that still haunts her. Can she open herself to the possibility of another failure?

Desperate to find his friend, James knows only Charlie can help him. But how can he trust a woman who’s keeping secrets?

The clock is ticking down. With their lives⎯and their hearts⎯at risk, Charlie and James join forces in an attempt to save the scientist and the world from catastrophe while finding the truth beyond lies in this action-packed thriller.

If you like high stakes, heart pounding action with a spark of romance, you won’t want to miss Search Beyond Lies, Book One in the Search & Recovery International Series.

Excerpt:

No!

James Frankel flung the covers aside and bolted to his feet, desperate to escape the fear that flooded his senses.

It’s only a dream. A nightmare. Nothing more. Brett is safe. He’ll be there.

Though he knew better than to drink caffeine in the middle of the night, he went into the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee. There was no chance he’d get back to sleep, not when the dream was still so fresh. While he went through the motions, he tried hard to remember the disturbing details of his nightmare. He didn’t normally have nightmares. Why now? Surely the stress of the coming day hadn’t triggered it. Thanks to Brett, he was prepared for his defense. And the dream itself had nothing to do with facing a group of experts determined to poke holes in his dissertation.

James stared at the dripping pot, trying to make sense of what had frightened him. For there was no doubt about it. He had been frightened. Terrified. Only unattached fragments came to mind. 

The sense of danger.

Brett’s fear.

Brett’s voice echoing in the dark. “Lies.” 

What about the lies? Think, James! 

Brett’s whispered “Don’t believe the lies” reverberated in his mind.

What does it mean? Why so ominous? As the last drop landed in the pot, James shook his head, then poured himself a cup of coffee, mechanically adding the cream. Think!

More fragments. 

Iron bars. A prison. The details were too vague to identify. James closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly.

It was only a nightmare. Brett will be there.

* * *

Vultures circled. 

Not again. 

Charlie Sommer studied the birds of prey as dread pooled in her stomach. This was why she was leaving. No matter what anyone said, no matter how many successful rescues she had, she couldn’t handle another summer like the last one. And even though her brain told her the vultures might be searching for an animal, her heart couldn’t ignore the other possibilities.

She stepped up her pace. Although the sun poked through the limbs of the high alpine trees as she headed toward the summit of Mount Beacon, the weather could change in a heartbeat in the mountains. Please let this Fourth of July have a happy ending. Please let it be a new beginning. Please, please, no more failures.

Charlie trekked toward the area where the vultures circled. The clean fragrance of rain carried down the mountain—a hint of something foreboding looming on the horizon. She pulled out her watch. Ten o’clock in the morning. It would take another hour to reach the area. Would she have time to beat the rain? 

Side-stepping the scattered evidence of last week’s storm, she pushed on. She was there because a hiker reported that vultures were spotted in her assigned quadrant. This would be her last time doing this, her last day as an Alpine Ranger in Elk Horn National Park, her last climb up the trail that held the most painful memories of her life. It was time for a change. She had been warned to hold off on life-changing decisions for one year. That year was up. She trudged on.

Find Search Beyond Lies at Amazon

Author Bio:

K.V. Fischer’s diverse experiences as an attorney, certified civil mediator, registered dietitian, teacher, speaker, and published author with more than 20 years’ experience in the corporate, government, and private sectors have fueled her desire to assist people live fuller, richer lives. Although she is extensively published in nonfiction, with one book and more than 100 articles (the majority of which were ghost-written), her passion has always been writing suspense thrillers. Search Beyond Lies is the first in the Search & Recovery International Series and her second suspense thriller.

With 2 grown children, one a neurosurgeon and the other a radiation health physicist, she is fortunate to have go-to experts for some of her research. She lives in Colorado with her husband and their dog Brady; practices law in Colorado and Florida; and travels nationwide speaking and teaching. 

Find K.V. Fischer:

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Author Spotlight Featuring J.J. DiBenedetto and His New Release ~ Finders Keepers

Today I spotlight J.J. DiBenedetto, Author of Finders Keepers.

Hi, L.A., thanks for having me today. I’m probably dating myself, but when I started writing FINDERS KEEPERS, the first thing I thought of was the movie “Romancing the Stone.”  I already had my heroine, a young archaeology student, who’s just arrived at the University of Oxford, but I didn’t know what would happen to her, until I made the connection to the movie.

The tone and feel of the movie was my guideline all through the book – fun, a fast ride, plenty of humor, and a man that the heroine doesn’t know if she should trust at her side throughout the story.  I’ll leave it to you to decide whether I pulled it off or not…

Excerpt:

Jane walked right past a black Mercedes on her way to the elevator, barely paying it any notice.  Was it the same car that had been behind her all this way?  Maybe, maybe not.  It wasn’t such a big coincidence anyway; the driver was probably just taking a quick holiday in Paris.  If he owned a Mercedes, surely a couple of days in Paris were no big deal for him.  She put it completely out of her mind as she rode up the elevator, through a short hallway and then outside into the miserable English Channel weather.

She looked out at the waves, which seemed quite choppy.  The ferry was rocking a little even now, tied securely to the pier.  How rough would it be crossing the Channel?  Jane’s boating experience was limited to a two hour fishing trip from City Island when she was ten years old, and canoeing during summer camp from third through sixth grade.  She’d never been out on the water in bad conditions, and overhearing one of the ferry’s crew refer to the churning, turbulent water as being “smooth as glass today, innit?” did nothing to calm her nerves.

There was a map of the ferry, and Jane noted several places to eat and drink.  If she didn’t have to get behind the wheel as soon as she was off the boat in France, she would have had a glass of wine…or five.  But even without that worry, she wasn’t at all confident that she could keep wine – or anything else – down, if the ferry was bobbing up and down like crazy.

As the departure time approached, the deck became progressively more crowded despite the biting wind and spraying sea.  Jane stared out into the Channel, losing herself in the rolling waves.  She didn’t hear the footsteps approaching her; it wasn’t until the man approaching her was well within her personal space that she felt his presence looming behind her.

She turned, startled, and looked up.  He had to be at least six feet tall, maybe six-one or six-two, Jane guessed, clean-shaven, with dark hair cut quite short.  And a strong chin – a very strong chin.  “’ello, Miss.  Enjoying the lovely weather?”  She heard the slightest hint of a lilt to his voice.  Irish?  She was just starting to feel confident in her ability to differentiate the many varieties of English accent with some measure of accuracy, but she wasn’t willing to risk annoying a complete stranger.  Especially a potentially friendly one…with such a strong chin.

Buy:

Amazon (Kindle & paperback) | All other retailers

Blurb:

It should have been a simple job.  All archaeology student Jane Barnaby had to do was pick up a box her professor needed and deliver it to him at his dig site, along with his new car.  Yes, his office was in Oxfordshire, and his dig site was in Spain, a trip of 1,400 miles across three countries and two bodies of water.  Still, it should have been simple.

And it was, until Jane discovered she picked up the wrong box by mistake.  Not the one with boring pottery samples, but instead the one with priceless ancient Egyptian artifacts.  The one that a team of international art thieves is after.

Now she’s chasing – and being chased by – the thieves.  And she’s picked up a pair of passengers who claim they can help her outwit them, get her professor’s pottery back and return the artifacts to their rightful owner.  If only she could figure out which one of them is working with the thieves and which one she can trust in this high-stakes game of finders keepers.

Bio:

J.J. DiBenedetto is the author of the Dream Series.  He lives in Arlington, Virginia with his lovely wife and Danny, a white cat who’s trained them both.  He’s originally from Yonkers, New York.  He loves the New York Giants, fondue, photography, travel, the opera and he’s a huge science-fiction and fantasy geek.

Find J.J.:

My Website | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon Author Page | Goodreads

Take Five and Meet Author Kim McMahill

I'm so pleased to bring you Kim McMahill, who writes  stories of adventure, survival and love. The kind I love to read and write. And I'm going to guest on her blog in August.  Be sure to stay tuned and I'll give you the date as soon as I know.

Welcome back to An Indie Adventure, Kim.  Tell us, what inspired you to write your book, A Dose of Danger?

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve begun paying more attention to what I eat and my overall health. The more I read about nutrition and fitness the more confused I become, especially when it comes to supplements. There are a myriad of products out there that make all sorts of claims, but what’s true? I’m sure the answer is very complex because there are a lot of variables that influence a product's effectiveness, which makes the subject an excellent topic for fiction. Add that to my mild paranoia that forces are always working behind the scenes to influence our choices and manipulate markets, and I had plenty to work with.

How do you use setting to further your story?

To up the suspense and tension I always use a combination of remote locations and/or the unyielding forces of Mother Nature to diminish the hero and heroine’s chances of survival, so the setting is crucial. In A Dose of Danger, not only does much of the story unfold at a remote ranch in Wyoming with spotty cell phone coverage, the story takes place during a particularly bad winter. If being hunted by a professional assassin isn’t enough, add marginal communications, no help for miles, and unforgiving weather, and the characters will be pushed to their physical and emotional limits.

How do you construct your characters?

I create character profiles for each of the main characters. Usually I already have a pretty good idea in my mind what these characters are like when I start jotting down physical attributes and character traits. Occasionally, I have gone as far as writing a backstory to help me really nail down what makes the character tick and why she makes the decisions she does.

How is your main character completely different than you?

The most obvious is that she is a brilliant researcher. After my first semester of college physics I changed my major.  And, physically, we have nothing in common.

Tell us something about yourself we might not expect!

It takes very little to make me cry, which is probably why I read and write what I do.  When I hear that a movie or book is a “feel good” story, I avoid it since that’s generally code for “it will make you cry.”

Give us a brief summary of A Dose of Danger:

When researcher Grace Talbot and her team discover a possible solution for weight loss they become targets of a group dedicated to controlling the multi-billion dollar a year diet-product industry. Her unsanctioned testing methods bring tragedy to the family ranch, and the attention of the local sheriff’s deputy. With her colleagues either dead, missing, or on the run she soon realizes she must trust the deputy with her life, but can she trust him with her heart?

To Buy:

Amazon

Bio:

Kim McMahill grew up in Wyoming, which is where she developed her sense of adventure and love of the outdoors. She started out writing non-fiction, but her passion for exotic world travel, outrageous adventures, stories of survival, and happily-ever-after endings soon drew her into a world of romantic suspense. Along with writing adventure novels, Kim has also published over eighty travel and geographic articles and contributed to a travel anthology and cookbook. When not writing, Kim enjoys gardening, traveling, and spending time with family.

Find Kim:

Website | Blog | Twitter | Goodreads Author Page

Amazon Author Page