DEADLY REVENGE by Rainy Kirkland

Sometimes life just gets in the way of doing things you love to do. For my husband that’s fishing, for me, it’s reading. It’s always been reading for me since I was a little kid and hid in a maple tree to finish the latest Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys.

Since the initial pandemic lockdown, I’ve resumed this restorative hobby and I’m delighted that I have. Long nights pass more easily, and I now consider myself isolation-proof!

I’ve known Rainy Kirkland for many years through our writing. She’s a teacher extraordinaire and has always been very generous with her knowledge and time. So, when I rediscovered her here in Florida, it was like Christmas.

And to find out that she’d written a Florida trilogy was fun too, but I only read book 1 before I ceased to carve out time to read at all. I was busy building and learning a new business and then, well, time just marches on.

Take a look – and then get this book! In the classic format of the wonderful mystery storytellers, Rainy gives you time to breathe – at least in the first chapter or two. Then you’d better hold on tight!

Deadly Revenge by Rainy Kirkland

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Intricately plotted, the twists and turns in this one will keep you reading well past your bedtime! The characters will stick with you long after “The End” but then that’s a trait of any story written by Rainy Kirkland. Looking forward to reading Book 3!



View all my reviews

MARKETING SECRETS 101

This post will be quick as I’m chasing yet another deadline! I hope this finds you well and taking good care of yourself as well as your tribe!! Oh – and have a safe and Happy 4th of July! 

Here we go!

• KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE. What TV shows do they watch? Movies? What music do they enjoy? What do they do on weekends for enjoyment? How do you do this, you ask? Join reader groups online and get to know those readers. Do you write in a specific genre? Just Google that genre and/or sub-genre and you’ll find many places you can visit to learn about YOUR potential readers. Have people emailed you about one of your books or a talk you gave? What was important to them? Make up a character sketch of that “ideal reader” and keep those points in mind when writing your book and your marketing copy!
• REACH YOUR READERS where they hang out. Where do your friends go on Social Media? Google for the stats if you have the demographic information for your reader and find out where they are. This way you can focus on paid advertising or even promotional offers in those places.
• BE A CONSISTANT MEMBER OF THE TRIBE. Join groups before you launch your book. Read, contribute, listen, and learn from the group. Sure, it’s okay to mention your book, writing challenges, etc in some contexts, but those tribes don’t exist for our promotions. They exist to be in relationship with one another, so get known as a useful and healthy member of the tribe and that tribe will be eager to support you when that book comes out! If you are a writer, you’d better be a pretty active reader, too – so relate to reader groups as a reader!
• BE RELIABLE with your blog posts, your newsletters, your Facebook updates, or any other Social Media information. Industry statistics show that Social Media work is only effective when done on a regular schedule and those posts provide value for the reader.
• DO THE THING YOU ENJOY and that enjoyment will shine through. Do you love blogging and hate Facebook? Well, do the blog and then just tell the blog where your Facebook page is – you don’t have to go to FB at all! Do you love Instagram and find that fun and exciting for you? Then do Instagram – which is owned by Facebook by the way. Love those short tweets? Then Twitter is your game. Whatever your love, use it and provide quality content, consistently! You’ll be building fans steadily.
• WRITE THE NEXT BOOK! Writing the next book for your fans is the best thing you can do to build your writing career. Don’t cut corners – put out that same quality that they’ve learned to rely on you for, and plan to do it as often as you can!
• BE FLEXIBLE and willing to try new things. Learn from reader input and learn from writer input. Have a colorful and wacky idea for a reader event on Facebook Live or Google Teams? Go for it! It might be the perfect thing. Have you gotten a terrific offer to advertise in a cool magazine like Redbook or Woman’s World? If you can do it with your budget and you feel strongly about doing it – go ahead!

Keep reading and writing – we’ll see you next week!!

Nancy Q.

MEET LOREN COLDEN: ONE BLACK SHOE

In Alexandria, Virginia ghostly woods (rumored to be haunted) open the story. A winding road leads into a soon-to-be known world of darkness and deceit. The reader is hooked from the first chapter and into the second, the third. At the onset, we meet a prominent character involved in law enforcement and follow his life through marriage, the building of a family, and watch his career advance as his life takes twists and turns, some for the better, some for the worse. Across the states, in California, a couple in love are about to exchange wedding vows. It seems the storyline will progress into a tale of real-life adventures, and it does. Toss in a crazy English mother-in-law who loves to stir the pot and murders popping up elsewhere, the reader travels down roads of twists and turns as well. A mysterious black shoe enters the picture and somehow ties several of the plot’s threads together. The author creatively weaves an engaging style of writing, descriptively elegant and beautiful, even when engaging the reader into graphic crime scenes, acts of abduction, disturbing and dark seduction.

When I read the book I was stunned by the chilling details and horror built into this tale and even though I don’t read this genre, I was unable to put it aside and leave it there. I’ve known this author for some time and knew her latest novel would probably curl my hair but I had no idea. If you enjoy dark psychological thrillers that keep most people up at night, do not miss reading ONE BLACK SHOE. Riveting, fast-paced, and haunting enough to be a Criminal Minds episode! Bravo to Colden and I’m sure there will be more where this came from!

Here’s a sample excerpt from ONE BLACK SHOE:

The crunching of underbrush told the girl the two passed her and separated. Bugs crawled over her. She swatted at them. Something slimy shifted under her hand. Complete silence became her companion for what felt like an eternity. When she couldn’t stand it anymore, she crawled from her hiding place. The moon had traversed across the sky. A drop in temperature came with the early morning. Damp soil and rotting leaves stuck to her torn jeans. Coldness seeped into her skin. The smell of moss was strong. She wiped her hands along her thighs, felt the stickiness of oozing blood, and made her way in the direction she hoped was toward safety.