Isabel Roman's Blog

Polly Becks has been making her living writing for more than twenty years, as well as working as an editor, curriculum developer, and teaching secondary-school Spanish. She has more than 350 books to her credit, mostly educational materials, as well as professionally published fiction in both the adult and YA market in a variety of genres, plus more than 30 Children’s books. She is excited about exploring the digital literature frontier and is honored to be the launch series for GMLTJoseph, LLC. - See more at her website.
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A percentage of the sales of this book will be donated to Children's International, a not-for-profit organization very close to the author's family's  heart. Past books in the series have benefited The American Red Cross, The American Cancer Society, Tuesday's Children [a 9/11 charity], and The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.
A mystery is introduced in No Ordinary Day, the first book in the Extraordinary Days series that is carried through all eight volumes and solved in the last book, Sunday's Child: Born on the Sabbath Day, due out in January of 2017.
The twin disasters destroyed a large part of the east side of the town that bordered the Hudson River and Lake Obergrande.
In the aftermath, a new dam was built, and that damaged part of the town “drowned,” covered by the new, larger lake.
During that terrible flood, five kindergarten girls were trapped in their drowning school, huddled together as the water rose higher, rescued just in the nick of time. The nightmare bonded them, and three others like them, to each other for life.
These are their stories.
International attorney and human rights advocate Elisa Santiago believes she has life under control—an impressive career, a solid group of friends in Obergrande, and a handsome law partner for hot “car action” when she needs release. Little does she know that her entire world is about to burn down when she discovers that nothing she believes she knows about herself and her past is true.  Can the gorgeous former CIA operative, acting as her guide and guard as she returns to Colombia, the land of her birth, looking for answers, set her world on fire in a good way?
THURSDAY’S CHILD: Far to Go is the fifth book in the eight-book series The Extraordinary Days by breakthrough novelist Polly Becks. The first book, No Ordinary Day, tells the tale of an epic tragedy that changes life forever in a small town in the wild, mystic Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, and the mystery surrounding that tragedy.  
Excerpt: Present day, Sunday, September 8th, 2:11 PMLe Mille Neuf, 1009 Rue de Bleury, penthouse, Montreal
The young man at the front desk in the luxury apartment building looked up in surprise at the quartet of women making their way across the lobby, carrying what looked like a variety of flowers, sweets, and boxes, chatting happily amongst themselves as every male head in the lobby turned in their direction.
An older man in the uniform of a professional driver or chauffeur was following them, his arms piled high with packages, puffing slightly.
The women, who were carrying on an intense four-way conversation between them, did not notice the attention they were garnering like magnets. They ranged in height from just over five feet to just under six, with a variety of body types, hair and skin colors ranging from alabaster to ebony, and clothing styles, all of which had some sort of bright artistry to them.
They stopped in front of the desk.
The tallest of the group, a fair-skinned beauty with gray eyes and shoulder-length brown hair atop a tall, willowy figure, smiled down at him.
“Penthouse deux, s’il vous plait,” she said politely in a perfect French accent.
The young man slid his swivel chair quickly under the desk to shield his lap from view.
“Qui appelle?” he asked in a French-Canadian accent. “Er—whom shall I say is calling?” He picked up the phone.
“The—uhm—Fivesome,” Briony Windsor, known as Sarah to her friends, said.
The young man waited for an answer, requested permission for entry and, receiving it, directed the four women to the penthouse elevator, only to discover they had started across the back lobby while he was hanging up.
They already knew where they were going.
“Has anyone heard from Sloane’s father recently?” Dr. Corinne Byrnes, a veterinarian and the second-tallest member of the group asked the others as they entered the elevator and pushed the button for the top floor.
“I spoke to him last night,” said Reverend Grace Fuller, the Associate Pastor of the Obergrande Community Church back in New York State. “He says she seems to be doing better, as long as she rests. Apparently he hasn’t been entirely successful at keeping her in bed.”
“Shocker,” mused Elisa Santiago, esq., a practicing attorney and civil rights advocate who divided her time between law on the international stage and a quiet practice back in Obergrande, the pretty Adirondack hometown of the four young women and the friend they had come to visit. At five-foot-three, she was petite, like Grace, and extraordinarily well put-together, every detail of her wardrobe perfect, just as every detail of her business and personal life seemed to be.
“Well, between us we have plenty of things to keep her amused in bed,” said Briony. “Although that’s like selling ice to penguins; Sloane has made of art of being kept amused in bed most of her life.”
“Truth,” mused Corinne as the elevator doors opened, providing a stunning view of downtown Montreal and its exquisite spires.
The four women hurried down the sunlit hallway of windows to the door where the number 2 was elegantly displayed.
Elisa pushed the doorbell.
A tall, strapping, dark-haired man with a finely-featured, neatly-bearded face opened the door a moment later.
All four women blinked in surprise.
“Dr. Marlowe?” Elisa’s voice broke the silence.
The man’s dark blue eyes blinked as well.
“Come in, ladies,” he said quickly.
The women looked at each other, then followed him into the penthouse.
“What’s he doing here?” Grace whispered to Briony. “Sloane told me they couldn’t stand each other.” Briony shrugged.
“Perhaps they’re working on the Quadricentennial?” Elisa suggested as they passed through the elegant central foyer into the open living area, a high-ceilinged room ringed with floor-to-ceiling windows.
She turned to Corinne, the only one not to have met Nathan Marlowe. “He’s a world-class history professor here at McGill and in New York at NYU, a specialist in the Adirondack Park area and particularly in Obergrande. Sloane’s mother hired him to do the authentication and other research for the town’s four-hundredth anniversary next May.”
“Well, if her mother likes him, I can see why Sloane can’t stand him,” said Corinne. “Those two can’t agree on whether the sun is up or not.”
Dr. Marlowe was standing at the far left edge of the open sitting area, next to the door that led to Sloane’s bedroom suite.
The women and their driver, still lugging their packages, followed him.
A glorious spicy smell filled the air near the kitchen.
On their way past a recessed alcove in which a towering animal cage stood, Corinne paused and clicked softly at the sweet, melon-sized animal inside it.
“Hiya, Pfeffernusse,” she said. “You’re lookin’ good, gurrl.”
Ed Hillenbrandt, the driver, waited until she was following the other girls again, then paused in front of the cage himself.
“I still say you would make a nice hat,” he whispered.
Pfeffernusse just stared at him with her big black chinchilla eyes. Then she flicked her large ears and spun around, her white belly disappearing from view as she turned her gray-blue back to him.
“You’re not by any means the first female to give me the cold shoulder, ma’am,” Ed said as he went to join the women. 
Polly is awarding one randomly chosen winner via Rafflecopter one 3-foot long stem rose in a glass vase from TheUltimateRose.com or similar florist; US only!
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As a scientist and author specializing in technology innovation, H. Peter Alesso has over twenty years research experience at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). As Engineering Group Leader at LLNL he led a team of scientists and engineers in innovative applications across a wide range of supercomputers, workstations, and networks. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a B.S. and served in the U.S. Navy on nuclear submarines before completing an M.S. and an advanced Engineering Degree at M.I.T. He has published several software titles and numerous scientific journal and conference articles, and he is the author/co-author of seven books.

You can visit his Web site at: http://www.hpeteralesso.com/Default.aspxGoodreads
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YouTube trailer for Henry Gallant Saga: SciFi Book Trailer: Midshipman Henry Gallant
Blurb:
In the 22th Century, the people of the Solar System have banded together against an alien invasion. Unfortunately, they’re losing—badly.
As the only Natural remaining in the genetically engineered officer corps of the United Planet’s fleet, Henry Gallant has unique mental abilities that have proven essential to the defense against the Titan invaders. Nevertheless his fellow officers lack faith in him, and worse, he has angered prominent men by speaking truth to power.
Despite this, Admiral Collingsworth has given him command of the Warrior, the most advanced stealth warship in the UP arsenal, and ordered him to the alien’s main base to spy, intrigue, and disrupt their war capacity.
Gallant’s mission leads to risky battles and painful choices, but no choice is more personal, or intimate, than the choice to face one’s own death. And for Henry Gallant—a flawed young man in a hopeless situation against overwhelming odds—a dreadful decision looms before him.
He has only one saving grace—he is unafraid.Midshipman Henry Gallant in Space on Amazon and Barnes and Noble
Lieutenant Henry Gallant on Amazon and Barnes and Noble
Excerpt:Lieutenant Henry Gallant walked along the cobblestone streets of New Annapolis—head down, mind racing . . .
My orders say take command of the Warrior immediately . . . but no promotion . . . Why not?
He pondered the possibilities, but he already knew the answer. Though he had steely gray eyes, a square jaw, and was taller than nearly everyone around him, what distinguished him most was not visible to the naked eye—he was a Natural—born without genetic engineering.
By the time he reached the space elevator, the welcoming breeze of the clear brisk morning had brightened his mood and he fell into line behind the shipyard personnel without complaint.
Looking up, he marveled; that cable goes into the clouds like an Indian rope trick. 
When at last it was his turn, the guard scanned his comm pin against the access manifest.
The portal light blinked red.
“Pardon, sir. Access denied,” said the grim faced sentry.
“Call the officer of the guard,” demanded Gallant.
The officer of the guard appeared, but was no more inclined to pass Gallant through. He touched the interface panel and made several more entries, but the portal continued to blink red.
“There’s a hold on your access, sir.”
Gallant asked, “A hold?”
“Yes, sir. Your clearance and authorization are in order, but SIA has placed a hold on your travel movements. They want you to report to SIA headquarters, ASAP.”
“I need to go to the shipyard and attend to important business before going to the Solar Intelligence Agency,” clarified Gallant, but even as he said it, he knew it wouldn’t help.
“Sorry, sir. Orders.”
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Just a short excerpt from Undercurrent. I want all 4 Beachy books finished before I publish them but it looks like my summer 2015 target date is likely!

Excerpt:

Newspaper founder, bookstore owner, artist, musician, and man-about-town Eric Turowski writes lots of mixed-genre books when he’s not too busy playing laser tag with Tiger the Cat and his fiancée Mimi deep in the Central Valley of California.

You can learn more about Eric at www.ericturowski.com.
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Blurb:
Thirteen words in a want-ad turn Tess Cooper’s world upside down after she signs on as a paranormal research assistant to the mysterious Davin Egypt. He reveals a world of grave robbing, clockworks artifacts in blue amber, antique revolvers that fire strange ammo, and powerful forces beyond human comprehension.
As ancient occult energies threaten to destroy her city, Tess must use her journalistic instincts to stay one step ahead of the public works director, Drew Dawson, whose agenda seems bent on destruction rather than maintenance. And possibly murder, but will anyone believe her?
Yeah, right. When garbage trucks fly.
If Tess teams up with the hunky police lieutenant, Kirk Gunther, and the pale, oddball Mr. Egypt, they might be able to save the city in time. That is, if Egypt even wants to. And if Tess overcomes her phobias long enough to do battle in Granddad’s 1983 Subaru Brat.
Things are about to get icky.

Excerpt:
Egypt sat behind the desk, leaving me to stand. He switched on the light. “Nearly all of my work is done at night. I trust that won’t be a problem.”
I generally had no plans at night. But that wasn’t my primary concern. “What exactly is the job?” His brows squeezed together in mild confusion. “I thought I made that clear. I am an occult researcher, you will be my research assistant.”
“So, what, we look things up in books, cite them for papers?”
Egypt leaned back in his chair. “Hardly. Do you know what the word occult means, Miss Cooper?”
I couldn’t recall actually introducing myself to him. But I must have, right? “It means ‘hidden,’ or ‘covered.’ From the Latin. Same root word as occlude. Synonyms would be, oh, arcane or esoteric.”
“And do you believe we could research the hidden, the arcane, by browsing published media?”
Well, put it that way. “I suppose not.”
“Not, indeed.”
“So, what, you go out hunting for ghosts and that?”
His mouth made a little moue. Not, indeed. “We will seek out events caused by apparently hidden means, examine them, study them, and place them into context with other apparent occult phenomenon.”
I suddenly recalled Lieutenant Gunther’s reaction.
“You’re looking into the grave robberies for the police.” I carefully worded it so it wasn’t a question, the way Egypt did. The moue spread out into almost a smile. “It seems that even if we are not on the same page, we’re in the same chapter. At midnight, we need to examine the graves at the City Cemetery.”
Frankly, I had developed an aversion to City Cemetery. All I needed was to fall in another loose grave, which seemed far more likely in the dark. “At midnight? Why not right now? It’s forty-six degrees and sunny. We’re supposed to get six inches of snow tonight.”
Egypt leaned forward, clasping his hands on the antique desk. “That forecast is incorrect. And as for midnight, it is a most important hour in occult research, as you will learn.”

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OK, changing things in a story that's already written is hard! But it makes it so much better and I love what I've changed. It's just slow going. Still aiming for a summer 2015 release in e-book and print.

Excerpt from Undercurrent coming in a couple weeks! Want to get it edited first.

Morgan K Wyatt believes in happy endings. When things don’t end well, she holds to the familiar Indian saying: If things don’t work out, then it’s not the end because everything works out in the end. She considers herself living proof after escaping an abusive marriage; she found and married her soul mate. While not every day is sunshine and roses, she writes about the possibility of flowers and chance meetings between strangers.
Her reputation as a plant rescuer has people dropping sick and dying plants at her house, and then speeding off in the night. The magic ingredient that brings the plants back to life is love and Miracl-gro. Morgan would love to hear from you. If you have a name for a character, cute dog pics, or gardening info, even better.
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1. At any given time, do you work on only one story at a time and maybe plot out the next one or are there many ideas racing around your head?I am the original ADD writer. I have four books in process from a paranormal to a cozy mystery.

2. Is there a genre you haven't written in but would like to? Or wish you could write in?
I am considering non-fiction simply because of all the blogging I do. I have five separate blogs on everything from saving money to dating after forty-eight.

3. Do you add an element of romantic suspense in your stories?I always have to have several threads going into a story since lives are so complicated.

4. Say you have unlimited funds: What kind of writing office/cottage would you create for yourself? I love the outdoors especially the woods. I’d have a tree inside, skylights and a stream going the room.
5. If you could turn your novel into a TV show, which novel or series would you do? Where would it be set? Network TV (ABC, NBC, CBS), Cable (AMC, BBC, Lifetime) or Premium Cable (HBO, Showtime, Starz)?
I can see HBO doing Love or Deception. I’d need a big budget for all the different locations, car chases, and explosions.

6. Finally, tell us about your latest release!Love or Deception is the brainchild of both my husband and me. I wanted an intelligent, strong heroine who could take care of herself as opposed to all the screaming, falling down heroines of past movies and books.
Amy, the heroine, worked hard to get where she’s at, a scientist at a top secret chemical warfare company. Unfortunately, her dedicated climb never left her time for relationships until she meets Mark at a pharmaceutical conference. After a whirlwind corporation, the two enjoy a beachside wedding.
Then Mark disappears along with forty-eight hours of her life. It’s up to her to find the man who vowed to love her for the rest of her life.
Love or Deception introduces Simpson who is the main character that ties the series together.
Where to Buy: Amazon    Amazon UK   Amazon AU  Amazon CA  Barnes and NobleiTunes  
Excerpt: “I love you,” Mark whispered into her hair as he slipped one long, muscular leg over hers.
Amy snuggled closer to him, nuzzling his neck. Ah, she loved this time, right after a rousing lovemaking session when they were both sated and drowsy, drunk on the idea that in a world of mismatched couples, somehow they found each other. Mark’s slight snore alerted her he’d dropped off to sleep. She should get up. There was so much to do before work. Instead, she stayed, breathing in the peace of the moment. 
Hard to believe she was a bride. Not that she had anything against marriage. She just hadn’t foreseen it happening to her. How could it? All she did was work at Theron under major security scrutiny. The only people she saw were other employees, with the majority being women. The confidentiality clause she’d signed forbade fraternization between employees. The company must have a reason for being so paranoid. Right now, she didn’t care. All she wanted was her husband to awaken.
“Honey, do you remember our wedding?” Using her index and middle fingers, she made slow circles across his wide shoulders and around his muscular arm. The barbed wire tattoos encircling his biceps always surprised her, not that they didn’t look good on his tanned skin. They did. No, it was that she never imagined herself as a woman with a big gorgeous husband who could easily be a male stripper or a porn star with his looks. Nope, she never expected to marry. Even if a part of her held out hope, she never expected anyone without a heavier eyeglass prescription than hers.
Mark held up one arm, stretched, and twisted it enough to make his bicep pop. He noticed her eyes following the play of his muscles. His deliberate wink made her giggle a little. Geesh, just another sign she was way out of her depth. Truth told she never dated much, period. School, then work consumed her every waking moment.
He rolled to his side, facing her, and yawned before answering. “I do remember our wedding since I was there. Plus it was only two weeks ago.”
“Yes.” All that was true, but it wasn’t what she wanted to hear. By mentioning the subject, he might tell her how wonderful it was or even describe it in detail. Did she expect him to gush about the meaningfulness of their vows? No way, she’d admit that she had issues bringing their wedding into focus. All she could see was a couple and minister on the beach with the sun setting in the background. With the shadows falling on them, it was hard to tell if the couple was even white, let alone if it was actually them. The sun was setting in the west, which worked since they married in Tahiti. Still, it had the same feeling of looking at a magazine ad for honeymoons.
The woman had on a short dress, and the groom was barefoot. That she could tell. They did have a whirlwind romance. Was it possible she was drunk when she married Mark? Was that why she couldn’t remember anything very well? Her hope was, by mentioning the wedding, he might also confess how wildly in love he was with her. It might ease her fears about the two of them being an odd couple.
Her Aunt Remy raised her with a healthy self-esteem. Being worthy of her handsome husband wasn’t an issue. It was more a case of like going with like. She’d heard enough comments when a couple showed with one partner being more attractive. When the woman was more beautiful, people assumed the man was rich and powerful. Charitable women might think he was charming and good in bed. Unfortunately, it never worked that way with the women. People seemed genuinely baffled and usually predicted a future break-up. Rather unfair if you asked her. Couldn’t the woman have some great trait? Maybe she was smart, interesting, and a decent conversationalist, even reasonably good looking with a slender build and short blonde hair. Her nose crinkled once she realized she’d just described herself.
The curve between his shoulder and neck beckoned her to nuzzle. The simple action reassured that they were actually married and together. Everything happened so fast. A slow roll of her body had Amy looking up at her husband who pinned her to the mattress. “I think I know what my own Dr. Death needs.” He wiggled his eyebrows and leered at her.
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Heavy into editing for Undercurrent. Next up is Sink or Swim for serious editing to match what I've done in Undercurrent.

Excited for this series and will post an excerpt soon! I love Mason, he's so romantic but also very determined and dedicated to his work. And Laurel is also dedicated and focused.

I have a feeling Sink or Swim will require:
80s TV show watching
Serious fleshing out of secondary charactersA medium-sized reworking of the main plotChocolate

I'm a native New Englander. I grew up in the sleepy shoreline community of Madison, CT. After graduating from high school in the late 80's, I headed out West and spent a wonderful six years living in, exploring, and getting lost in the deserts of Arizona. After earning my B.S. from Arizona State University, I headed back East trying to find my path in life.
I found myself trying out MANY different careers. I learned the art of audio engineering and worked at a major recording studio in Manhattan for a while. I learned the nuances of fine wine from a wonderful South African man and sold libations in his high-end store. I sold power transmission equipment as a manufacturer's rep in the Northeast. Next I ventured into the publishing world when I signed on with Yankee Magazine working in their Community Partners Program. It was here at Yankee's headquarters in Dublin, NH that I fell in love with the art of writing and beauty of the Great North Woods of New Hampshire. I met tremendous people and embarked on my own quest to write an engaging mystery novel set in New England. However, I couldn't ignore the internal pull I felt to work with young people. I went back to school and earn a Masters of Education degree and embarked on a career as a special education teacher working primarily with autistic children. This has been my main profession for the past 14 years as I continued to write and work towards mastering the craft of writing. I love the creative process of writing and editing.
In short, I'm a life long learner who continues to absorb all I can about the world around me. Website TwitterGoodreads
Blurb: Family roots, teachings, and tradition permeate Darby Weeks’s existence despite a two decades old decision to walk away from a life of privilege. They have given him the courage to survive under impossible conditions, but the most challenging of them all comes from an unexpected place: his return home. As heinous crimes peppered with riddles begin to plague the North Country, Darby's reappearance back home sparks an old rivalry between two families, releasing an evil to wreck vengeance upon everything around them. Darby's proposal of a truce between them not only fails to appease the rival family’s thirst for retribution; it fuels it. And the town of Bretton Woods lies between the two when old passions ignite and set forth new determinations to win an old struggle.

Reunited with an old flame and guided by a pompous blowhard, Darby sets out on a journey to learn the truth about his family’s past and their ancient blood feud with a ruthless industrialist. Darby’s quest leads him all over New England, from the rare books library at Dartmouth College to Author’s Ridge - the final resting place of the literary greats Thoreau, Hawthorne, and Emerson. Darby discovers family he’s never known and an insidious danger lurking in the arms of a rekindled love.
Where to Buy: Amazon

Excerpt: The talus deposits at the base of the cliffs should have forewarned me of the dangers lying just ahead, but instinctively I continued to hurtle headlong, straight into the past. The glacier-carved notch was the unofficial southern doorway into the North Country, a stalwart obstacle regulating access to invading flatlanders. I gazed at the scree and wondered if I had made the right decision to return. My thoughts wandered like the snaking road ahead of me while one of my favorite quotes from Katherine Anne Porter weighed heavily on my consciousness. Although I knew where to physically find Bretton Woods, ‘the past is never where you think you left it.’             My driver recounted the history of Franconia Notch as we traversed the mountain pass. A pre-dawn rain had scoured the shear walls, leaving them glistening and flowing with tears disguised as falling cataracts. They wept for me, matching the pain that gnawed inside of me. Unsure what the future held, I knew the answers would be waiting for me in the Great North Woods.             “Are you from the North Country?” the driver asked.            “I was born up here…against my will, but I haven’t been back in a long time.”            “Well nothing really changes up here so it will probably feel like you never left.”            That’s what I’m afraid of.            “I’ve spent my whole life living up here in God’s country and I never could think of living anywhere else,” the driver added. “You said you’re originally from Bretton Woods, did yah?”            “My family was from there.”            “Funny, I know just about every brood in Carroll County, but I never heard of the Weeks clan. Is that your father’s surname?”            “No, it was my mother’s maiden name. She thought it would make things easier for me as a child if I wasn’t associated with my father or his family and the expectations that went along with it.”            “Did it help yah?”             “Barely,” I said, chuckling to myself, “but I escaped as soon as I was old enough to join the Navy.”            “If you don’t mind me asking, what was your father’s last name?” the driver pressed on.            I thought about lying or maybe using a more common Québécois surname like Gagnon or Tremblay, but I wanted the driver’s pestering questions to end so I told him the truth. “Stickney,” I announced while continuing to look out the window.             The car swerved, nearly sideswiping the guardrail and coming dangerously close to propelling us into Echo Lake. The driver regained his composure and command of the limo. He looked at me through the rearview mirror with eyes as wide as the divide between a rich man and a beggar. He couldn’t believe I was the one and I couldn’t believe I had finally told the truth for the first time in my life.             And so it begins. This is my confession.

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Ann W. Jarvie has a B.A. in journalism and more than twenty-five years’ experience as an award-winning writer in advertising and public relations agencies, both in South Carolina and Chicago. She now lives near Phoenix, Arizona, where she spends part of her time as a freelance copywriter and the rest writing fiction.

The Soul Retrieval was inspired by Jarvie’s maternal grandmother’s fascinating life on Indian reservations, where she lived with her physician husband until his mysterious and untimely death.
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Inspired by a true story, The Soul Retrieval is a suspenseful tale of love, loss and healing
which follows traumatized southern beauty Henrietta Clayborn as she moves between her
home in a small South Carolina town and the New Mexico Native American reservation whose spontaneous healings keep drawing her physician husband back. Tortured by her awful secrets, Henrietta struggles to thrive in either locale, but it is her unlikely friendship with Joe Loco––an eccentric Native American mystic with an Elvis fetish and a gift for healing––that shows her the way to be whole again.

Set in the late 1950s, The Soul Retrieval is richly woven with spiritual insights but also deadly secrets, forbidden healings, a murder mystery, stunning scenery and an unforgettable cast of characters.

A story of transcendent and inspiring power that is both entertaining and enlightening, readers will be cheering for the uptight woman from South Carolina to push through her fears of the forbidden as she searches for truth and healing, faces great obstacles on the frontier of self and
ultimately becomes more than she ever thought possible.

After finishing the second nocturne, he looked up at her. “You know that I’ve been researching the high incidence of spontaneous healings here, right?” Jeff was both a lead physician and medical researcher at the Medichero Indian Hospital. He reached for a pack of cigarettes from the pocket of his short-sleeved white shirt.

“Uh-huh,” Henrietta said. She barely heard what he said. How am I going to get into it? How am I going to tell him? She had asked herself these questions at least a million times. She picked up a pen and notebook from the coffee table, trying to keep her hands busy.

Jeff smoked in silence a moment before continuing. “There’s more to it than even I  imagined.”

“More to what?” she asked. She absently doodled on the page without looking up. How am I
going to tell him?

Jeff blew smoke. “The spontaneous healings that I’m so interested in ... the medicine men here seem to be doing something real to affect the recoveries.”

Now he had her attention. “They are?” She looked at him. “Like what?”

Instead of answering, Jeff got up and turned toward the bay windows that cradled the piano in a small alcove off the living room of the doctor’s cottage. His silhouette against the bright morning light was a man-shaped eclipse, his muscled edges luminous and blurred by the smoldering tobacco. It gave him an unworldly appearance, and Henrietta was reminded about how often she felt like an outsider here, and even back home.

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Author R.J. Merle stepped out of the realm of Top-Secret documents (shh, don’t tell…) to write sci-fi and paranormal fiction.
  R.J. survived and escaped both the entertainment field and the government-contracting environment, craves the Walking Dead, and entertains what-if tidbits about “supposed” technological and biological advances.

No stranger to the goings on in the city of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, R.J. Merle blends a down-home flavor with a former in-the-know—hypothetically, of course—technical background to craft the twists and intrigue of Secret City Adventures.  

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1. At any given time do you work on only one story at a time and maybe plot out the next one or are there many ideas racing around your head? YES! (Most definitely in all caps with an explanation point, then times three.) At any given time, while I am plotting one book, I first draft a second, while polishing a third. Always there are ideas racing, so I jot them down so that I can maintain focus on current projects.

2. Is there a genre you haven't written in but would like to? Or wish you could write in? While Savage Winds and the Children of the Elements is YA Science Fiction Adventure with horror elements, my next series is YA Horror focused and is about psychically gifted teens on a ghost busting TV show and their haunting adventures. The first book in the is scheduled for release this spring.
3. Do you add an element of romantic suspense in your stories? The Children of the Elements Series features suspense and action of the science fiction/paranormal/horror kind.
4. Say you have unlimited funds: What kind of writing office/cottage would you create for yourself? Honestly, after years of being under the impression that I had to have big chunks of time set aside to write, I’ve trained myself to write anywhere at any time, even on a Canadian floating fishing lodge and in the Australian mountains. Anytime I can claim 15 minutes, I write.

5. If you could turn your novel into a TV show, which novel or series would you do? Where would it be set? Network TV (ABC, NBC, CBS), Cable (AMC, BBC, Lifetime) or Premium Cable (HBO, Showtime, Starz)? The Word-o-gram for the Children of the Elements Series would include descriptions such as Psychic Powers, Telekinesis, Apocalypse, Electro-Magnetic Pulse, Zombies, and Mutants; therefore, AMC, since AMC most awesomely hosts the Walking Dead.
6. Finally, tell us about your latest release!
A dangerous conspiracy unfolds...
In Author R.J. Merle’s whirlwind start of the Children of the Elements series, a clumsy teenage techno-geek struggles to protect kidnapped children from a covert government organization responsible for creating their abilities to control the five elements.
A mighty wind…Eighteen-year-old Stedford Thackett’s conspiracy theorist brother ensnares him in a real life children-as-weapons plot, while a determined scientist grooms happy-go-lucky five-year-old Darcie Lynn Carpenter to use the wind as a deadly weapon.
Out of control...Despite the firm hand of Scientist Nora Hicks, Stedford struggles to rescue the kids and escape, even as Darcie Lynn fights to gain control of the surging power of the savage winds.   Where to Buy: Please Note Savage Winds is FREE! AmazonBarnes and NobleSmashwords  Excerpt:If only Stedford could spend his Saturday afternoon working on projects. Nowhere near as lucrative or fun, keeping track of Cantrell was a honking full-time job.
Up ahead, a left-to-right movement shifted among the towering tree trunks.

He choked out a loud whisper, “Cantrell?”  
A coyote howled. Behind him. Too close.  
A rush jolted through Stedford’s veins. He shoved the phone into his back jeans pocket and dashed into the brush.  
Branches slashed and snapped.
Briars grabbed, snagged, and snatched free.
The pounding smash of his high-tops bulled through the scrub. Grayness reduced the reach of his eyesight. As dusk fell toward nightfall, he wouldn’t be able to see squat.
Zero night vision.  
Zilch.
After pulling up to a halt, like a tree among many, he stood stark still.
What had he been thinking coming out here like this?
  That maybe he might keep Cantrell from getting into trouble, all the while protecting his own chances to contract for a special project. Nothing wrong with looking out for both their futures.
If Uncle Merv’s contacts worked out, the brothers would be set money-wise for life.  
Not a bad deal for a geeky eighteen-year-old.  
Except Stedford would soon be wandering the dark.  
He retrieved his phone and gauged the average power usage. Three and a quarter hours of battery life. Tops. Way before midnight, his flashlight app would die with the phone, and he would flounder in total darkness.  
Ominous shivers goosed his chill bumps. A stick snapped atop the hill.
About the Children of the Elements Series:
When nature refuses to be controlled, can mankind endure? Brainwaves altered by a covert government project based out of the Secret City of Oak Ridge, the Children of the Elements are brought together and tested as weapons of mass destruction. Their struggle to free themselves and survive in the hostile East Tennessee Mountains creates massive chaos and threatens to bring about an apocalypse.
Five full novels, one huge story.Savage Winds (Book 1) Dire Rumblings (Book 2) Raging Inferno (Book 3)
Unrelenting Tide (Book 4)
Merciless Void (Book 5)  
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