Thanks for Great Books Blog Hop/Fall Release Event

Hello! If you're in the US, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. If you're outside the US and don't celebrate the holiday, I still hope you had a wonderful weekend.

The theme for this new WG2E Street Team blog hop is "Giving Thanks for Great Books"...hmmm...I don't have one specific book that I'm thankful for, it's more like all books in general. See, I grew up painfully shy and reading was my escape to far-off places and sometimes even other worlds. Books stimulated my imagination and I met all kinds of 'friends' that I didn't have living out in the country.

 

Some of the books on my keeper shelf back then: The Black Stallion Series, by Walter Farley; Dragon's Blood, by Jane Yolen; Where The Red Fern Grows (though you couldn't pay me to read it now knowing I'd bawl at the end), Outsiders, and as I got a bit older, I became addicted to Jack Higgins' books for awhile (I loved the intrigue).

 

Then I discovered ROMANCE and had tunnel vision for years. It's only just recently that I started to branch out again into other genres with Indie books by my online writing friends. Here are two I normally wouldn't have read but ended up LOVING. Aren't those covers gorgeous??

 

In addition to being thankful for all the wonderful books out there, I'm extra grateful for my mom's encouragement of reading, and two wonderful reading teachers while I was growing up. Mrs. Hutchins (who is no longer with us), and Mrs. Sherman. THANK YOU!

My individual prize** for the blog hop is:
(see below for entry rules)

 2 Wine Bottle Stoppers

I've had a few releases this fall, including the re-releases of 3 Romancing Wisconsin holiday stories (see books on left side of blog), the short paranormal ghost story Beneath Still Waters (Part One) in the TALES FROM THE MIST anthology, and most recently, Rising Above (Still Waters Part Two).

RISING ABOVE

(Still Waters Part Two)

Imagine you’ve lived before, but don’t remember or believe it’s even possible. Therein lies the danger. For in not believing and learning from your pasts, the power shifts to the one who would see you dead. Again.

Ryan James never gave much thought to ghosts or the idea of reincarnation—until the appearance of the beautiful Ali Whitman triggers terrifying visions that feel like real life. As he pieces together their past lives, he discovers they aren’t the only players. Worse, if he can’t convince Ali to believe before their past adversary makes the next move, he’ll lose her all over again.

EXCERPT:

   When the second chime of the doorbell went unanswered, Ryan cursed under his breath and stepped off the porch to return to his vehicle. He’d wait. Not only did he want to explain his absence from class, but he needed to know if she knew of her mother’s link to the Still Waters legend. If she didn’t, something inside him insisted it was imperative she be made aware now.

   His step faltered as the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stood on end. He spun around to see if Ali had appeared, but saw no figure silhouetted in the window by the closed door, or in the others on that side of the house.

   The feeling of being watched persisted, and he lifted a hand to rub at the disturbing sensation while glancing over his shoulder. The only place that made sense was the main house. Backing toward her parents’ place, he did one more visual sweep of the guesthouse in the gathering dusk. Just past the corner of the brick structure, he caught a glimpse of the pond.

   Without conscious thought, he reversed direction. Her fear of the water made it highly unlikely she was there, but it didn’t stop him from moving forward with an unexplainable urgency.

   The uneven circle of water came into sight. Cat-o-nine tails bent to the will of the wind, and the pond’s surface rippled with each gust. Ice ringed the edge, but it was being eaten away by the constant movements of the disturbed water.

   His heart rate picked up speed when thoughts of last night’s discoveries whirled through his mind. Snippets of countless dreams he’d recorded over the years coalesced into a common theme he’d never before recognized until this moment.

   Water and death forever intertwined.

   Like James and Alianna.

   And Elizabeth.

   He halted. He’d quit creative writing in a sleep-deprived, paranoid panic, and then spent the rest of the day second-guessing his decision. Common sense told him the Still Waters ghost was nothing more than a well-preserved legend. Any similarities to happenings and tragedies over the past century and more were purely coincidence.

   And yet…how did one overlook the repetition in the newspaper clippings of the drownings in the Rocky Mountain National Park? Including the original legend, the death count totaled eight. James and Alianna—the ill-fated hero and heroine of the story, and two of the men who’d persecuted Alianna. In the nineteen twenties a couple teenaged kids, William and Anna, had drowned Romeo and Juliet-style, and most recently, two more deaths, three years apart. Only this time, they were connected by both location, and by way of a common friend in one Professor Elizabeth Fielding.

   Friend…or foe?

   Another gust of wind sent a blast of cold air under the hem of his jacket and snuck under his shirt. The freeze seemed to clear his mind, and he saw the full scope of his thoughts. He glared toward the water, hugging his coat tighter while he acknowledged the sheer insanity of thinking the professor was an evil witch reincarnated.

   Annoyance and determination carried him forward, onto the small, rectangle shaped dock. Right now, he’d prove to himself the whole damn f***ing thing was nothing more than his overactive, paranoid imagination.

Staring down at the dark water, he took a deep breath, and spoke.

   “Alianna.”

   Something moved beneath the surface.

   His heart thumped hard in his chest. Through the wind ripples, it was hard to tell if it was a fish, or weeds—or something else. He glanced around self-consciously, squatted down and squinted into the murky depths.

   Weeds.

   He breathed again and repeated, “Alianna.”

   The wind continued to blow.

   “Alianna.”

   Reeds rustled on either side of him. Ice cracked between the swaying stalks, but as the seconds passed, that was the extent of anything out of the ordinary. His shoulders relaxed as he smiled in self-conscious relief. See? Nothing but a myth. Thank God he’d come to his senses before talking to Ali. Too bad he hadn’t done this before dropping his class.

   All of a sudden the air stilled, as if the world had drawn a breath and held it. As the water calmed, a face rose up from the gloom below. Ryan fell back with a startled curse. In the next moment, horrified recognition registered.

   “Ali.”

   The force of his forward lunge threw off his balance. The smooth, weathered wood offered no purchase as momentum carried him over the edge. He thought he heard his name on the wind a split second before plunging into the pond.

~*~

To continue reading...

Rising Above

(Still Waters Part Two)

Amazon, BN, Apple

ARe, Kobo, SW

TALES FROM THE MIST

Beneath Still Waters, by Stacey Joy Netzel

(Part One)

Amazon, Amazon UK, BN, ARe

Kobo, SW, Goodreads

(Note: While not absolutely essential, it is recommended to read Part One first in order to get the overall scope of the story.)

To enter for my individual prize, leave a comment and your email address below telling me a book you're thankful for.

(**Prize shipped in USA and Canada only. If winner is international other than Canada, they will receive their pick of two ebooks from my backlist.)

To enter the for the overall Blog Hop GRAND PRIZES, go to the

Beach Book Blast blog

1 $25.00 Olive Garden gift card for dinner out with someone special

1 $10 Olive Garden gift card for drinks with someone special (or dessert? *grin*)

And don't forget to check out the other authors in the hop:

Fabio Bueno @ http://www.fabiobueno.com

Debra Burroughs @ http://www.DebraBurroughsBooks.com

L.C. Giroux @ http://www.lcgiroux.com/thoughts

Stacy Green @ http://stacygreenauthor.com/

Janice Lane Palko @ http://www.thewritinglane.blogspot.com

PJ Sharon @ http://www.pjsharonyawriter.blogspot.com

Lily Silver @ http://romancinghistorylove.blogspot.com/

Tamara Ward @ http://www.authortamaraward.blogspot.com/

Thanks so much for hopping by and best of luck with all the prizes!

Stacey Joy Netzel