Ragtown on Kindle Vella

 If you've followed my blog or followed me on social media, you know how long I have worked on Ragtown. It is truly a labor of love and finally, I can share it with everyone. 

RAGTOWN is now available on Kindle Vella! 

And it has definitely received a lot of love! Vella became a reality in mid-July, and Ragtown has remained in the top 20 Favorite Reads the entire time, peaking at NUMBER 1. 

If you aren't familiar with Kindle Vella, it's a new platform offered by Amazon. Please read my post "What Is Kindle Vella?" for more information. 

Ragtown

The Hoover Dam is a model of American engineering and ingenuity.  But, it is also a testament to the fortitude of the common man: overcoming the burdens of the Great Depression, learning to survive and thrive in an unforgiving climate.  It was that story that I was compelled to write. 

RAGTOWN explores the different roles placed on men and women during the Great Depression, not only by society, but themselves, and what each must do to survive in the harsh climate of the Nevada desert. As both Helen and Ezra are vested in the diversion of the Colorado River from the course it has run for thousands of years, their lives parallel this monumental change. 

My inspiration to write comes from the personal histories of actual dam workers who endured this remarkable era in American history.  It is through Helen and Ezra that I tell their story.

I hope you will all check it out on Kindle Vella, where the first THREE episodes are FREE to read. 

And please, don't forget to "thumbs up" at the end of the episodes, and consider RAGTOWN for your weekly FAV. 

CHECK IT OUT NOW ON KINDLE VELLA !

Tangled Lights and Silent Nights

Too soon? I know, it isn't even Halloween yet, and I'm talking jingle bells and eggnog. But I wanted to tell you about an exciting project that I and nineteen other authors have been working on all summer: Tangled Lights and Silent Nights. 

Tangled Lights and Silent Nights is a multi-genre holiday anthology featuring characters from each individual author's books. So my contribution, "A Crazy Christmas", features Cass and Roland Adams from They Call Me Crazy on Christmas Eve, the Christmas before she kills him. It was a fun story to write and one I think my readers will enjoy. It's also mixed in with an amazing collection of other great stories from some of my and your favorite authors, including USA Today bestsellers Claude Bouchard and Gail Cleare. 

This collection truly has something for everyone.

Journey from the 1800's with Nicole Evelina's "A Vanderbilt Christmas", to the crime desks of Kate Birdsall, Claude Bouchard, and Debbie S. TenBrink's characters, to the futuristic fantasy worlds of Michael Meyerhofer and Ciara Ballyntine. 

In a contemporary setting, experience the holiday with Gail Cleare in Vermont, Diane Byington in Florida, and Kelly Stone Gamble in Kansas. 

Stacey Roberts, Victor Catano, Kelley Kaye, and C. Streetlights will make you laugh, while Darren R. Leo, Justin Bog, and Timothy Woodward might make you cry. 

Or you can fall in love with Erica Lucke Dean, Brenda Vicars, LeTeisha Newton, and Reece Taylor. 

Additionally, we have decided to donate all proceeds from the book to LifeAfter-Visions of Hope Project, whose passion is to shatter the stigma and spread awareness to three taboo topics that underscore society today: Suicide, Substance Abuse, and Domestic Violence.  

I hope you'll join us in celebrating the holiday with some of your favorite characters and help LifeAfter continue their mission. 

Tangled Lights and Silent Nights in available for pre-order now for only 99 cents and you can purchase it at all major e-book outlets by clicking on this link: 


Pre-order Tangled Lights and Silent Nights

A $50 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway!

What happens when 14 of the best authors on the planet get together just before the holidays?

We start giving stuff away.

From November 28, 2017 through December 12, 2017, we'll be featuring a Rafflecopter for your chance to win a signed book of your choice, an e-book of your choice, or a $50 Amazon Gift Card!

All you have to do is follow each of the 14 authors on Bookbub. And we made it easy to do.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


ALSO, each of the authors above will be featuring the giveaway on their Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, newsletters, blogs, and wherever else they can think of and you could win there, too!

So follow all of them on Facebook for even more chances to win books, swag, and other great prizes during this pre-holiday giveaway.

Click to follow:

Erica Lucke Dean  

Fern Ronay 

Gail Cleare   

Debbie S. TenBrink

Cindy Dorminy 

Jessica Dall

Stefanie Spangler

Kelley Kaye

Karissa Laurel

Laura Oles

Jeannie Zokan

Kathleen Gerard

Alessandra Harris

Kelly Stone Gamble

Red Adept Publishing

Writing Reviews "Right"

 Last week, I got an email from a reader who had just finished CALL ME DADDY which said:

I just wanted to let you know, I loved this book! I love how you can make something serious so funny and make the characters seem like real people. I know I should post a review for it, but I'm not very good at writing them and don't know what to say, so I thought I'd email you instead...

What this reader doesn't realize is that she just wrote an awesome review, one that any writer would be proud to receive, and yet sent it to me instead of posting it where other readers could see it.

I get it. When you go on Amazon and look at reviews, many are two paragraph, complex analyses of the book and most readers, while they appreciate the in-depth review, feel they can't write something like that, and therefore, shouldn't. But reviews are very important for authors, and the truth is, while those long reviews are very helpful and great to see, the shorter ones, the ones that are from the heart and written in everyday language, are just as important.

I'll be honest. Rarely do I write long reviews for books unless I see that an author has only a few listed (because, again, I DO realize how important reviews are for authors). Does that make mine less valuable to someone who might be considering the book? I don't think so, and just for fun, I thought I'd give you the "short and dirty" on a few of the books I've recently read.

BETTER IN THE MORNING by Fern Ronay: I loved this sweet, romantic comedy. It made me miss my grandparents, and I'll never look at a penny on the ground the same way again.

Cheryl Douglas' PERFECT STORM: This is the first book in a series of standalone hot novels.  I love how this author has such memorable characters in every book. And unlike others series I have read,  the sex scenes are never the same and never boring!

DESPERATELY SEEKING SIXTY-NINE by J.D. Frettier and R.E. Hargrave: This is a short, sexy book that also made me laugh. The best thing, however, about this book is the interesting way the author depicts life-after-death. I'd like to think we all have our own heaven, and I've been thinking about it ever since I read the book.

Justin Bog's WAKE ME UP: This book made me cry. It was disturbing to me because it was so real, and hit too close to home. It's a true artist who can use their words to evoke that kind of emotion.

What do you think? I didn't really tell you anything about the books in any of the examples above, but I told you what struck me, personally, about each one. But I did say enough to hopefully spark an interest and make others want to read more.

Back to my original example. Would I be proud to have a review for Call Me Daddy that said:  I loved this book! I love how you can make something serious so funny and make the characters seem like real people.

ABSOLUTELY!

So please, as an author, I'm asking you to review every book you read. Honest reviews. From the heart. They don't have to be long, or detailed, or even written using proper grammar. Because all reviews are important, and they keep us all writing.

And check out the four books I mentioned above. Click on the book title to go straight to their Amazon page, where you can read all about them!

Dark Designs

Magic calls out to other magic, and the Grant sisters are about to find out they’ve drawn the darkest kind to their doorstep. Twins Ivy and Violet Grant are opposites. Ivy, a hot-tempered redhead, couldn’t wait to get off the farm and see the world. Violet, a quiet brunette, was content to stay home and help their grandmother with the family business. The one thing they have in common is their magic. Charlie Logan’s sinister obsession with Ivy Grant has ruled his life. When he discovers a book of dark magic during a burglary, he decides to return to Oak Hill and use his newfound power to gain control over Ivy. Ivy and Violet, with help from their grandmother, need to practice their magic to overcome the evil seeping into their lives. A battle is coming, and Ivy’s life is not the only one at stake. Buy it now: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07123MWW7

Excerpt

Slowly, Ivy became aware of another presence in the barn. Her eyes roamed away from the kitten cradled in her arms to the boots standing just beyond the stall door, next to her discarded sandals. Eyes wide, she sprang to her bare feet as fast as she could without trampling the kittens. Charlie Logan was blocking the way out of the stall. The sunlight that slipped in through the gaps in the barn’s wooden planks cast his face in mottled stripes. She knew him because Grandpa Jack had always let his granddaughters roam the farm freely, and Charlie had spoken to her many times. Never alone, though. She stood awkwardly, her eyes darting around the dimly lit solitude of the barn. “Nice kittens you got there.” He nodded cheerfully toward the kittens then smiled. His hand twitched as if he might reach out and touch her. “Yeah,” she said quietly, looking back and forth between Charlie and the kittens. “None of them are sick or anything. Sometimes there are sick ones…” Ivy rambled nervously until her eyes settled on Charlie’s face, and then she stilled, wishing she could disappear. Charlie moved in closer, trapping her in the corner of the stall. “They’ll all be good mousers, I bet.” His tone was friendly, but Ivy’s guts tensed up. She desperately wanted to be away from the stall that had, without warning, become too dark and far too secluded. If she shouted, someone would likely hear her and come, but Charlie had always seemed nice enough. Maybe he did just want to talk about kittens, and she didn’t want him to get in trouble for not being busy at work. When she made a move toward the door, his tall frame shifted. She jerked back, away from his body, pushing herself tighter into the corner of the stall. He was close enough that his scent of stale cigarette smoke and sweat forced its way into her nostrils and stomach. When he exhaled, his breath smelled of strong coffee. In slow motion, Charlie reached out and touched her hair just over her ear. Heart in her throat, she froze. Charlie Logan had not come to discuss anything good. He smiled at her affectionately as he stroked her hair. Stefanie Spangler has always loved books and reading, and one day, she decided to write a book of her own. Stefanie lives in central Illinois with her husband and daughters. When she's not reading or writing, she’s usually editing someone else’s book. But she also enjoys gardening, knitting, and forcing others to read her favorite books. https://twitter.com/StefanieAuthor https://www.facebook.com/StefanieAuthor/ www.stefaniespangler.com https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16792649.Stefanie_Spangler

Thank You, Nancy #CallMeDaddy

I couldn't have been more than five years old when I first watched Nancy Sinatra don her mini skirt and go-go boots, then pony on stage with her entourage of female dancers. At the time, I may not have fully understood the content of the song "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'," but what I did understand, in some five-year-old acumen, was that it was possible for a woman to be strong and confident and in control of her own life. And it was all about the boots.

This was in the 1960s, when women were again living on a historical cusp of progress. College admissions for women were on the rise, although women still weren't able to attend Ivy League schools like Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Dartmouth, or Columbia. "The pill" was available as a means of contraception, but in some states, it would only be prescribed if the woman was married and intended to use birth control solely for family planning. Women couldn't serve on juries or open credit card accounts without their husbands as cosigners, and although more women entered the workforce, they received only fifty-nine cents on the dollar to their male counterparts. Women were again fighting for social equality, and the boots that Nancy vowed to “walk all over you” with became an iconic symbol of empowerment and independence. Women could do anything—and still be feminine and beautiful.

Those women in their boots, those beginning to nick the glass ceiling, gave one chubby five-year-old the confidence to take dance classes, the courage to try out for the boys’ basketball team, and the confidence to dream about a future of unlimited choices.

Over the years, I've worn many boots: work boots, hiking boots, SCUBA boots, even one brief encounter with a pair of thigh-high leather heeled boots. I still can't dance, my pony looks more like a mule, and I can’t shoot a hoop with an Uzi, but I've never stopped dreaming and I've never stopped trying. Although I’ve found many, many women in my fifty years to look up to and admire, who further reinforced the idea of women's empowerment and independence, it was Nancy Sinatra who taught me at a very young age to put on my boots. And start walkin'.

In my novel Call Me Daddy, Vera Shatner takes her idolization of Nancy Sinatra to a different level. When she slips on her boots, she becomes Nancy, and in her mind, being Nancy makes her “normal”—powerful. Independent. Add to that a man who feeds her fantasy, and Vera feels complete, at least until the illusion is shattered. But for Vera, the boots are key to her liberty, even if the freedom she seeks is from her own prison of mental illness.

RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 6

ORDER NOW ON AMAZON.COM

THEY CALL ME CRAZY #ebook #99cent #sale

THEY CALL ME CRAZY

by Kelly Stone Gamble

99cents October 4-7

Synopsis: 

Cass Adams is crazy, and everyone in Deacon, Kansas, knows it. But when her good-for-nothing husband, Roland, goes missing, no one suspects that Cass buried him in their unfinished koi pond. Too bad he doesn’t stay there for long. Cass gets arrested on the banks of the Spring River for dumping his corpse after heavy rain partially unearths it. The police chief wants a quick verdict—he’s running for sheriff and has no time for crazy talk. But like Roland’s corpse, secrets start to surface, and they bring more to light than anybody expected. 

Everyone in Cass’s life thinks they know her—her psychic grandmother, her promiscuous ex-best friend, her worm-farming brother-in-law, and maybe even her local ghost. But after years of separate silences, no one knows the whole truth. 

Except Roland. And he’s not talking.

AMAZON  *  BARNES AND NOBLE 

 KOBO BOOKS * GOOGLE PLAY

About the Author:

Kelly Stone Gamble was born and raised in a small Midwestern town but as an adult, became a city girl. As a member of the faculty at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, she now moves between her homes in Henderson, Nevada and Idabel, Oklahoma allowing her to enjoy the best of both worlds. 

AUTHOR WEBSITE - FACEBOOK  - TWITTER - 

GOODREADS - AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE - BOOKBUB 

What readers & reviewers are saying about They Call Me Crazy

"Fried Green Tomatoes meets Dolores Claiborne. This character-rich southern gothic-esque tale will keep you guessing up to the very end." - New York Times Bestselling Author Kate Moretti

"Great storytelling, great plot, great characters. A definite must read!" Kelly Smith Reviews

"In just a few pages, you're sucked into a crazy, and sometimes hilarious, mystery into the death of Roland..." The Gal in the Blue Mask

"... an entertaining read that pulled me in and kept me reading till my eyes wouldn't stay open any longer." Big Al's Books & Pals

"This was a fun, fast-paced book that I read in a day." A Book Geek

""... an outright enjoyable read for me as I was glued to my Kindle, waiting to see whose secret would be revealed next." Crystal's Many Reviewers

Read an excerpt HERE

***NEW RELEASE***

OCTOBER 6, 2016

E-BOOK AVAILABLE ON AMAZON