Eli Constant, Breakwater Harbor Books' newest author acquisition, has been receiving rave reviews on Amazon.com for her debut Sci-Fi novel, Dead Trees! For a glimpse at what readers have been saying about this fantastic Dystopian Sci-Fi novel read on below!

"Have you ever picked up your book before bed and thought oh I'll just read 3 chapters? Well this is what I did and ended up with some very tired mornings because I simply could not put this book down!! I can't wait to see the next book in this series and any other book from this author."
 - Tina Moss 

"What a breath of fresh air. I am a big fan of this type of SciFi. But, the author has brought it to a new level. Such detail, without overloading facts and insignificant issues. It was difficult to take my eyes off of it. The train of thought was smooth and the flow of the story was at a very comfortable pace. This author has a true calling and a great deal of talent." - Alexander Constantopoulos

"My husband and I both read this book. We are polar opposites but neither of us could put it down. I emotionally connectd with the characters and I found myself on the edge of suspense."
- R. A. Newton

"I'm à huge fan of sci-fi and the occasional zombie stories. Though this didn't have zombies per se, there was the same feel to it. With very few inconsistencies, it was a story that can keep you interested in finding out what happens next. Whenever you think things are becoming "normal," it gets the adrenalne rushing all over again. It was nice to have a strong female lead in the story! I can easily see this being made into a movie. Very entertaining and I was sorry to have it end."
- Donna Davis

"I just finished my second read of this book. The suspense kept me turning pages, even when I knew what was coming. I would strongly recommend this to any teen or adult looking for a thrill ride."
- DANEWTO

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DEAD TREES - PITCH

A scientist mommy battling beasties better be handy with a scalpel.

Elise Swanson is trying to give her daughters a decent childhood. This should be a simple task, but the invading undergrounders – subterranean humanoids that have existed since the dawn of mankind – make outdoor playtime a tad tricky.

After fleeing Georgia and surviving six months of bumbling self-sufficiency, Elise and her daughters meet Jason. He's tough and nature-savvy. Pit stop fights with beasties define the survival-road that the four companions navigate. The bloody pavement finally ends in Washington State at a government safe zone where the trekkers hope to build a stationary life.

A little rest and rehab would be nice, but Elise is quickly led down a path of research and deception where humanity's future isn't a priority. She becomes leader of a secret plan and long nights in the lab keep her busy. She strives to destroy the undergrounders and the life of an underhuman crossbreed hangs in the balance.

Haphazardly conceived and manufactured, the H2H (Humanoid-to-Human) chromosome-targeting nanotech has a small probability of success, but Elise has to believe it will work. Hour by hour, she becomes less confident and more emotionally compromised by the rapidly growing, stunning underhuman. Her maternal nature leads to a late-night escapade resulting in a platinum-haired, third daughter and a million uncertainties.

Fleeing her home, Elise had two loved ones to shelter. That number has risen. When the not-so-safe zone is invaded by beasties, she will save her family... no matter the consequences.

DEAD TREES is a 111k word, mature-reader Dystopian novel that weaves horror, levity, and science. Underneath the layers of storyline, a simple core exists – the limitless distance a mother will go to protect her children, both physically and mentally. 

To unearth this well written Dystopian Sci-Fi read, follow the link below to Amazon.com!

Dead Trees, Amazon.com

About you. I live outside Fredericksburg, VA. Our lake community is flanked by historic battlefields and farms – making the area very peaceful and family-friendly. I have two daughters, one fifteen years and the other seventeen months. My husband contracts for the government and is the most hardworking person I’ve ever met- leaving our home at four AM every day to travel the 1.5 hours to work. On the bright side, he comes home to us by three PM every day – leaving us ample family time before bed. Few things are more important to me than family. Having said that, writing books are a birthing process and the characters I write become like family.

 

Name: Eli Constant. My full name is actually Elizabeth Constantopoulos, but try putting that on a book cover. It either has to be a small font or broken into two lines. Not pretty formatting-wise. I find I really love my ‘pen name.’

Website: www.eliconstant.com

Other contacts/social media sites:  [email protected] , Twitter: Author_EliC

Link to Amazon page and or any other places Dead Trees can be purchsed:

Amazon (kindle) http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Trees-The-Underground-ebook/dp/B00APYKD7G/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1360254200&sr=8-2&keywords=dead+trees%2C+eli

Barnes&Noble (nook) http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dead-trees-elizabeth-constantopoulos/1114013956?ean=2940016116440

 

Where did you grow up? I was born in Florida. My father was in the military so we moved rather frequently. I spent the majority of my formative years in Washington State and South Carolina.

What school did you go to? Out of high school, I headed to Columbia College – a small women’s establishment in Columbia, SC. I quite enjoyed it there, but eventually, found the all-girl environment a bit limiting. Summer after Sophomore year, I completed a research fellowship at Texas A&M – Corpus Christi, TX. I fell in love with, not only the beach-y feel of the college, but also the well-funded science program. Senior year, I moved to Virginia outside DC to be near my family. After marrying my husband, I attended George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. I began my college career focusing on pre-medical. With each transfer, I found myself changing majors – struggling to figure out who I was and what I was meant to contribute to the world. Eventually, I settled on Biology. It was logical as I had the most credits in the sciences. I honestly don’t think I’ll ever be ‘finished’ with schooling.

When did you start writing? Years and years ago, when I was quite young. My grandmother has all my scribbling somewhere. I actually attended an art school and majored in creative writing the year before high school. Being a military family though, I was unable to go to the school long. This was probably a good thing as I had a creative writing teacher that lived for red ink on paper. I sometimes wonder if I would have written a book sooner if not for the discouragement of that teacher. In high school, I won the top award for a creative short story at a regional competition day. I don’t remember what the story was about exactly, but do remember it involved alien space-ducks, a little boy, and a lost yellow umbrella. 

What made you start writing? I’m not sure… maybe I was just born with the ‘itch.’

Is it something that you have always wanted to do? Yes, but I don’t think I admitted it to myself until about a year ago. I worked my hodgepodge of jobs post-college, staying the longest at a pathology lab in Sterling, VA. I took a short sabbatical from pathology and then back to it – I think after that break from the sciences, I began to realize that maybe I was walking the wrong path. Having my daughter and having the ability to stay home while she is young, has afforded me the opportunity to really dive into writing. Now I find, I can’t seem to stop.

What is your favourite genre to read, and do you have any favourite books or authors you would like to recommend? I’ve always been an avid Science Fiction fan, but I also have a great love for classics and historical fictions. I’ll never turn down and Orson Scott Card read – his work is fantastic, especially the Ender’s Game series and Alvin Maker series. Although Magic Street ranks up there too. I also quite love author Libba Bray. She has a trilogy that feels very Victorian, but beautifully weaves in the supernatural (the first book is A Great and Terrible Beauty).

What about to write? So far, I’m finding I like to write in varied genres. Dead Trees is a dark thriller with SciFi elements. Tears of Chios is an urban fantasy with mystery elements. DRAG.N. is a political semi-satire. I honestly think genre definitions are objective and sometimes unnecessary. More often than not, a book will be multi-genre and that’s what makes it so successful, layered, and dynamic.

Do you write full time? I mother fulltime right now; I write secondary to that.
 
_

Your latest book is Dead Trees, tell us all about the story/plot.  What’s it about?

Here’s the pitch for Dead Trees:

A scientist mommy battling beasties better be handy with a scalpel.

Elise Swanson is trying to give her daughters a decent childhood. This should be a simple task, but the invading undergrounders – subterranean humanoids that have existed since the dawn of mankind – make outdoor playtime a tad tricky.

After fleeing Georgia and surviving six months of bumbling self-sufficiency, Elise and her daughters meet Jason. He's tough and nature-savvy. Pit stop fights with beasties define the survival-road that the four companions navigate. The bloody pavement finally ends in Washington State at a government safe zone where the trekkers hope to build a stationary life.

A little rest and rehab would be nice, but Elise is quickly led down a path of research and deception where humanity's future isn't a priority. She becomes leader of a secret plan and long nights in the lab keep her busy. She strives to destroy the undergrounders and the life of an underhuman crossbreed hangs in the balance.

Haphazardly conceived and manufactured, the H2H (Humanoid-to-Human) chromosome-targeting nanotech has a small probability of success, but Elise has to believe it will work. Hour by hour, she becomes less confident and more emotionally compromised by the rapidly growing, stunning underhuman. Her maternal nature leads to a late-night escapade resulting in a platinum-haired, third daughter and a million uncertainties.

Fleeing her home, Elise had two loved ones to shelter. That number has risen. When the not-so-safe zone is invaded by beasties, she will save her family... no matter the consequences.

DEAD TREES is a 111k word, mature-reader Dystopian that weaves horror, levity, and science. Underneath the layers of storyline, a simple core exists – the limitless distance a mother will go to protect her children, both physically and mentally

_

What gave you the idea for Dead Trees? It all started driving home from visiting my parents. My dad had about half a dozen large, white sealable paint buckets in his basement – each were filled with a dry foods product. Next thing I knew, I had my recorder out and I was dictating the first chapter to what would become Dead Trees.

 

Who is your favourite character? That’s a bit of a tossup. I quite like Elise – finding she is, in my opinion, a very real character with very understandable worries and challenges. Then again, I’m also quite in love with Sheila-2 / Meg. The challenges she will face in the world are impossible to predict or quantify.  

 

You recently self-published. What made you decide to go down this route instead of the traditional way?  I find self-publishing gives me a certain sense of control.

 

What are your hopes for Dead Trees? I hope Dead Trees will continue to be well-received and my number of readers will slowly increase. As a debut, I’m quite happy with it. I must confess though, self-editing was a very difficult task. Even after publishing, it took me a month to work out all the kinks. Now though, I am confident that when someone purchases Dead Trees, the will be getting a put-together product. Having said that, I’m sure there’s a misplaced comma or two  - they are tricky little buggers after all. 

 

Tell us about DRAG.N DRAG.N. It’s a novella. It’s a brief, (~20k word) imaginative look at the future of America – paying special attention to a stylized viewpoint of National Healthcare. It’s been quite fun to write and was spawned during a writing contest hosted by the Kernel Magazine of London.  After DRAG.N., I’ll be hard at work preparing Tears of Chios for a late Summer release.

 

What’s the best piece of advice that you have been given in regards to your writing? Go with your gut. Just like with childrearing, a book is best ‘raised’ by its parent.

_

Additional Questions:

Q1. At the end when the beasties are screeching, does that mean they are near the camp? Ah, spoiler-alert! Guess it doesn’t ruin too much though. Yes, at the end of the book, wild-beasties have been attracted to the camp by the military helicopters. That’s all I’m saying though.

Q2. When is the sequel out? Dark Wombs: The Underground, Book Two has been planned out to the last detail. I’m hoping to tackle it after Tears of Chios is out. I wouldn’t expect it until end of this year or beginning of 2014 though.

Q3. Bone-popping sound of Undergrounder joints: I supposed I was a bit sick of the overly-used norm for sounds in regards to monsters/humanoids/alien antagonists. I felt like it was always hissing- reptilian like. I do take some inspiration from reptiles in the jerking of the heads back and forth. Anyway, it dawned on me that as the undergrounders adapted and became 'more humane-esque' that the legs (originally inverted) were moving forward and that would bring with it some bone-on-bone contact and deterioration of cartilage. So I envisioned these changing joints rubbing together- thus, the sound. Hope that makes sense.

Ivan Amberlake's THE BEHOLDER has a fresh cover! Check it out, and after you do, head on over to Amazon.com for your own copy of this thrilling URBAN FANTASY! 99 cents for a limited time!

Worlds of Light and Darkness are about to clash. And Jason will be in the thick of it.

In Asunción, Minsk and Sydney, people die under mysterious circumstances. Each branded with an arcane sign, they are pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. When more people are missing, with similar signs appearing in and around their homes, Jason, an average New Yorker, realizes the victims are a riddle addressed to him. He is the final piece.

Emily appears, a beauty with startling amber eyes, and tells Jason that powers dormant within him are about to wake. In the world of Light- and Darksighted, he is the only person who can prevent Darkness from enslaving the world. 

Setting out on a journey with Emily, Jason discovers many improbable things like Sight (the ability to see Energy Threads), Soulfusion, the Hall of Refuge, but the greatest surprise arrives the moment he sees Emily and finds Real Love.

Follow the link below for your 99 cents Kindle copy or $6.65 Paperback copy of The Beholder!

The Beholder

Breakwater Harbor Books' author Mike Lee is currently ranked #1 in Amazon Kindle for Sci-Fi, #2 in Amazon for overall books, #3 in Amazon for Sci-Fi/Fantasy, #22 for overall Kindle Books and #30 in overall Author rankings. This is a breathtaking feat and one that BHB is greatly proud of. I you have not yet read Lee's works, especially his recent release of StarFire, then now is the time!

An action-packed Science Fiction novel,

Captain Vince Lombard, G-Marine company commander, is tasked with tracking down a stray ship.
The Alliance Military Ship StarFire has gone silent, and previous attempts to locate her have resulted in the loss of more ships. After two previous wars with xenospecies humanity bumped into while expanding into space, no one knows what might be the cause of StarFire's missing in action status. And  internal politics between Fleet command and the Galactic Marine Corps might mean  that, unless something is done, humanity may get the news it's at war with yet  another new race about the time they show up to attack one of the human systems  in the sector.

A prequel to the book "Fey," this story is a novelization of the story Vince related to Blondie in the previous book, which many readers  requested.

What others are saying about StarFire

"Mike Lee has written yet another solid fast-reading book that grabs your attention and keeps it engaged until the satisfying conclusion. I will be reading this one again and can't wait for the next Mike Lee book."

—  Amazon review by 'Far Left Texas'

"Starfire is a truly superb book, one of the few of the hundreds I've read this year that stands out by itself. Beautifully crafted, very good cadence, great reflection by the main hero, who does not always occupy center stage. Lots of mystery left to ponder, this author does not insult the intelligence of the reader but compliments it - and that is rare. The characters are well developed according to their roles and aren't just mirrors for the main character. The plot is plausible and not drowned in technology while being quite comfortable with it."

— Dennis Campbell

Purchase StarFire for Kindle or in Paperback now at Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/StarFire-Vince-Lombard-ebook/dp/B00A4Q9F60/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_1

After ranking in the "Top 100 Most Popular Amazon Kindle Authors" in Sci-Fi, from December 2012 through March 2013, Mike Lee is selling his chart topping Military Sci-Fi book, StarFire, for just 99 cents for a limited time on Amazon.com!

An action-packed Science Fiction novel,

Captain Vince Lombard, G-Marine company commander, is tasked with tracking down a stray ship. The Alliance Military Ship StarFire has gone silent, and previous attempts to locate her have resulted in the loss of more ships. After two previous wars with xenospecies humanity bumped into while expanding into space, no one knows what might be the cause of StarFire's missing in action status. And  internal politics between Fleet command and the Galactic Marine Corps might mean  that, unless something is done, humanity may get the news it's at war with yet  another new race about the time they show up to attack one of the human systems  in the sector.

A prequel to the book "Fey," this story is a novelization  of the story Vince related to Blondie in the previous book, which many readers requested.

What others are saying about StarFire

"Mike Lee has written yet another solid fast-reading book that grabs your attention and keeps it engaged until the satisfying conclusion. I will be reading this one again and can't wait for the next Mike Lee book."

—  Amazon review by 'Far Left Texas'

"Starfire is a truly superb book, one of the few of the hundreds I've read this year that stands out by itself. Beautifully crafted, very good cadence, great reflection by the main hero, who does not always occupy center stage. Lots of mystery left to ponder, this author does not insult the intelligence of the reader but compliments it - and that is rare. The characters are well developed according to their roles and aren't just mirrors for the main character. The plot is plausible and not drowned in technology while being quite comfortable with it."

— Dennis Campbell

Purchase StarFire for Kindle or in Paperback now at Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/StarFire-Vince-Lombard-Mike-Lee/dp/0615784801/ref=sr_1_4_title_1_pap?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1365621420&sr=1-4&keywords=starfire

Breakwater Harbor Books is excited to welcome Dystopian Sci-fi author Eli Constant into our fold! Constant is an exceptional author, with two published books currently available on Amazon.com and more soon to come!

For a delve into what Constant brings to BHB, take a look at her two published books, Dead Trees and DRAG.N, below. I promise you, you're going to be glad you did!

A scientist mommy battling beasties better be handy with a scalpel.

Elise Swanson is trying to give her daughters a decent childhood. This should be a simple task, but the invading undergrounders – subterranean humanoids that have existed since the dawn of mankind – make outdoor playtime a tad tricky.

After fleeing Georgia and surviving six months of bumbling self-sufficiency, Elise and her daughters meet Jason. He's tough and nature-savvy. Pit stop fights with beasties define the survival-road that the four companions navigate. The bloody pavement finally ends in Washington State at a government safe zone where the trekkers hope to build a stationary life.

A little rest and rehab would be nice, but Elise is quickly led down a path of research and deception where humanity's future isn't a priority. She becomes leader of a secret plan and long nights in the lab keep her busy. She strives to destroy the undergrounders and the life of an underhuman crossbreed hangs in the balance.

Haphazardly conceived and manufactured, the H2H (Humanoid-to-Human) chromosome-targeting nanotech has a small probability of success, but Elise has to believe it will work. Hour by hour, she becomes less confident and more emotionally compromised by the rapidly growing, stunning underhuman. Her maternal nature leads to a late-night escapade resulting in a platinum-haired, third daughter and a million uncertainties.

Fleeing her home, Elise had two loved ones to shelter. That number has risen. When the not-so-safe zone is invaded by beasties, she will save her family... no matter the consequences.

DEAD TREES is a 111k word, mature-reader Dystopian that weaves horror, levity, and science. Underneath the layers of storyline, a simple core exists – the limitless distance a mother will go to protect her children, both physically and mentally.

Reader Comments:

"I must congratulate you on what looks to be a well crafted story. Well written, too. You have obviously put a lot of thought and effort into your writing and it shows." -John P.

"What a nice change from zombies, vampires, trolls, aliens and giant earthworms. Quadruped humanoids who eat their dead are certainly monstrous enough to qualify for the role of abomination bent on killing off humankind. Your protagonist, Elise, using the first person POV makes the narrative introspective and immediate- a sympathetic character worth cheering on from one impossible situtation to the next. The dialogue is to the point, even raw at times, but always true to character. Thank you so much for the intriguing read." -Ken E.L.
 
To unearth this well written dystopian Sci-Fi read, follow the link below to Amazon.com!

http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Trees-The-Underground-ebook/dp/B00APYKD7G/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1366910196&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=eli+sonstant

DRAG.N your attention will bind (but within these pages, no dragons you'll find).

The DRAG.N units were invented to support the marriage of the Universal Health Initiative (UHI) and Green Nation. Their purpose: mass airborne vaccinations to ensure health for all U.S. citizens. The illogically expensive vaccines serve another purpose though.
Laced with chemical agents, mescaline and fluoxetine, the vaccines have created a docile, drugged, and receptive American populace.
The anti-UHI activists are determined to takedown the DRAG.N and the corrupt healthcare system. Their planning has been meticulous, spanning nearly a year. Benton and Rachel Greer take the first steps towards raising the proverbial sword and slaying the DRAG.Ns. Will they succeed?
DRAG.N takes an imaginative look at the future of an America where human fundamental rights and freedom are an option rather than a guarantee. This novelette chronicles three days in the lives of researchers, activists, a deceptive Presidential Cabinet, and a First Lady with secrets of her own.

DRAG.N is a brief dystopian novelette, political semi-satire. Birthed during a whirlwind weekend competition, DRAG.N tells a year-long-story with a satisfying conclusion in the span of a few days. The two main themes are universally familiar: Truth will out and America should mean freedom. Without exception.
 
Reader Comment:

"This dystopian view of the world is harrowing and brilliant and impossible to put down. Smartly written and thought-provoking, it provides insight into how easily ethics can be compromised for personal gain making this seemingly far-fetched idea actually conceivable. The plot unfolds at a pace that keeps you hooked (though it does leave you wanting more). A must-read for anyone who likes smart, timely fiction with an Orwellian tint." - DasFrau, Amazon 

To get a breath of this infectious dystopian Sci-Fi read, follow the link below to Amazon.com!

http://www.amazon.com/DRAG-N-ebook/dp/B00C0YRR6Y/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1366911029&sr=1-2

Below is the recent interview by author Mary Fan of Breakwater Harbor Books' author Ivan Amberlake. To visit Mary Fan's website follow this link.
http://zigzagtl.blogspot.com/2013/04/author-interview-ivan-amberlake.html
__________________________________________________



 

The Beholder
tells the story of an ordinary New Yorker, Jason, who learns about his critical role in a supernatural battle between good and evil. What inspired this story? How did you develop the idea of the Sighted?


Before I started writing The Beholder, I only had an image of a man standing on top of a skyscraper, with a thunderstorm raging around him. This image was so powerful that it inspired me to start writing chapter after chapter, something that I’d never done before. The scene that I had in mind was initially a prologue, but I decided to move it closer to the end of the book.

Frankly speaking, The Beholder wasn’t supposed to be a fantasy book at first, but it just happened to transform into one as I was greatly influenced by Sergei Lukyanenko’s "Watch" Series. I wished to create something like this, yet new, and the Lightsighted and Darksighted were born.

Why did you choose New York as your setting?

From the beginning I knew the story would be set in a city with lots of skyscrapers, so my choice was between Moscow and New York—cities I’ve never been to, yet would love to visit sometime in the future. I picked New York because of its grandeur and glamor, but it doesn’t mean that part of the series won’t happen in Moscow or any other city of the world. One of The Beholder chapters is set in Minsk, Belarus, and I intend to let my characters travel to other cities and countries in the books to come.

What is your favorite scene in The Beholder? Could you please describe it?

Frankly speaking, I can’t choose just one, probably because The Beholder is not a one-genre book, but has elements of fantasy, sci-fi and romance in it, so if my favorite fantasy scene would be the one I’ve described above, my favourite romantic scene is the one in Chapter 23 where Jason and Emily are strolling around the estate garden and come up to two trees with a hammock tied to them. This is where and when Jason and Emily say they love each other, and also the point at which the story takes a darker turn.


Do you consider yourself as having a particular writing style?

When writing I always try to visualize what is going on and then describe the scene. I get inside my characters’ minds and try to show what they feel. I stick to the principle of “Less is more” by using the right amount of narrative, dialogue and descriptions.

Can you tell us a bit about your writing process? How much did The Beholder change from first draft to publication?

With The Beholder, I just sat down and started hammering the keys without thinking much about what I was writing. Frankly speaking, I often think that the book wrote itself, because when rereading the first draft I sometimes wondered how I could write this scene or that. Of course, after my first draft was ready I started editing heavily. It was great luck for me to come across a writers’ community Authonomy.com, where I met lots of great people who helped me understand the principles of modern writing. The book would never be the way it is now if not for them. So when The Beholder was finished, it was completely different from the first draft.

Among the characters in The Beholder, do you have a favorite?

Oh, they are all my favorites, each of them in his or her own fashion. If we take Jason Walker, the main character, his transformed self closer the end of the book is what I’ve wanted my own self to be. As for Emily Ethan, who Jason falls in love with, she was greatly inspired by my wife, so she’s definitely one of my favorites as well. I can’t help liking even my evil characters because they are part of the story that helps me show a world I have within to my readers. Without these characters the story would be incomplete.

Can you tell us a bit about Breakwater Harbor Books, who is listed as The Beholder’s publisher?

Well, BHB is not exactly a publisher, but rather a group of self-published authors who promote each other in different ways: on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Authonomy, and on the last pages of our books where more releases of BHB authors are recommended. Scott J. Toney and Cara Goldthorpe are the founders of this group. Both helped me immensely with The Beholder, and I’m grateful to them and other members for their support.

What’s your favorite part of writing? Dialogue? Descriptions? Plotting?

I think it’s the descriptions. Plotting usually gives me a splitting headache, and while writing dialogue I always question myself: “Do people talk like that in real life?”, so I think the best part of writing for me is describing the scenes, especially the ones with lots of action and tension. That’s where I’m in my element.

Are you working on anything new?

As crazy as my real life is at the moment, it’s really hard to find the time to write, though I should say I’m writing Book 2 of The "Beholder" Series, which is called Path of The Heretic, and I also hope to finish my YA Paranormal/Horror Novel (Novella) called Diary of the Gone which tells about a boy haunted by the dead. The boy can only stop the dead from following him by writing in an old diary he accidentally finds, yet at some point the diary disappears and his life turns into a nightmare.

The  Beholder is available  at: Amazon US (Kindle e-book), Amazon  US (paperback), Amazon  UK (Kindle e-book), Amazon  UK (paperback)

Breakwater Harbor Books is excited to announce the release of Melissa Simonson's newest Crime Thriller, Hazard Pay! Simonson is best known for her hit Thriller/Horror novel, Doubles, and this is her third release. For a taste of this addicting new author, read the pitch and exerpt below!

Allison and her brother Miles have been on their own as long as they remember, but they’re not doing badly— they’ve got two million in an overseas account. The downside is that how they make their living is illegal.

The second drawback is Reid.

A lie seals her death warrant when Reid decides it’s high time for house-cleaning. She escapes with the aid of an unlikely partner, but Miles isn’t as lucky.

Bobby—Allison’s savior—tells her to run. It’s what Miles would have wanted. He’s right. But she can’t leave and allow her brother’s murderers to carry on with their business.

Murderous vengeance isn’t healthy, Bobby says. It’ll lead her to a very dark place. Maybe she’d pay his advice more mind if he weren’t enforcement for a drug kingpin.

She doesn’t know when she’ll feel whole again or if it’ll ever happen, but there’s one thing she wants before worrying about the healing process: blood.

EXCERPT FROM THE
BOOK

ONE

The same tired song kept playing on the radio, but I didn't want to change the station and mess up my brother's presets.  He was touchy about his things.  I didn’t blame him.  I was too.

“I know what you're thinking, and forget it.  I like this song.”

“I did too, before they played it a thousand and five times every hour.”

I felt Miles roll his eyes, though I couldn't see him. 

“How much longer?”  I knotted my arms over my seatbelt.  “It's been goddamned forever.”

“It's been twenty minutes.  Relax.”

I scowled.  He knew I hated being told to relax, but it didn’t stop him saying it. “You should tell these assholes to be on time for once.  This is bullshit.”

“They make the rules.  They can be three hours late. Nothing we can do about it.”

I puffed out a sigh, jiggling my knee.  “Nobody believes in punctuality anymore.  When I say I'm gonna be somewhere at eight, I'm there at eight.”

Miles switched off the ignition.  “Shut up.”

“I'm just saying.”

“Pardon me for laboring under the delusion that you didn't believe in anything.”

I had to grow up way too fast.  We both did.  There was nothing for me to believe in except rules dictated by common courtesy.  Like punctuality.

I’d have told him as much, but a car rounded the corner into the parking lot we’d been stationed in for the last twenty minutes.  The headlights flooded our Chevy’s interior, and through my own slitted eyes I saw Miles flinch as well.

The car pulled up beside ours and killed the lights.

Miles didn't move, and when I turned to face him, he gave me one of those, 'well what are you waiting for?' expressions.  He looked pathetic with that black eye, and I wondered when it’d fade.  He'd gotten it nearly a week ago.

“What?”

“I thought you dealing with him this time.  Bryan's an asshole.  He likes you better since he's a perv.”

I heaved a melodramatic sigh, grabbed the plastic container by my feet, and wrenched the door open.  “You're a real crybaby sometimes,” I told my brother, before slamming it shut.

Miles was right.  Bryan was an asshole.  And it pissed me off he drove a car worth a hundred K when we were in a run-down Chevy.  We could have bought a decent car since we had enough money but Miles quashed the idea as soon as I'd uttered it.  He thought nice cars were pretentious, screamed LOOK AT ME, and he didn't want to draw attention to ourselves.  He was probably right.

I shifted the container on my hip and stopped at Bryan's door.  He rolled the window down and peered out at me.

A smile split his face.  “I haven't seen you in a while.”

“Yeah, well, I've been busy.”

“Doing what?” 

I rustled the container's contents.  “What the fuck do you think I've been doing?  It doesn't make itself.”

“We got a scale in the backseat.”  The man in the passenger’s seat elbowed Bryan.  “Check the weight.”

 “You wouldn’t lie, right?” He asked me with a steely smile, a quiet menace slithering through his voice.  Bryan looked jolly, like an overgrown teddy bear, but I knew better.  I’d seen him plunge a screwdriver into someone’s eye a week ago, the same day he’d given my brother that beautiful shiner.

“I don’t have any reason to.  It’s just business.  Never lied to you before.” 

He chuckled and turned to the man beside him. “Get the lady the case.” 

Bryan dug in his breast pocket and unearthed a piece of paper as Felix came around with a suitcase.

“We dumped our phones.  You can reach me at this number now. Might be a good idea to ditch yours too.  Avoid whatever fallout might happen.”

“Fallout of what?” I asked as Felix thrust the suitcase at me. 

“Cops been cracking down harder than normal.  Can’t ever be too careful.”  His engine roared to life and his car rolled forward a few inches.  He smiled again. It looked pretty phony in my professional opinion.  “Tell your brother I said hi.”

***

I dropped bags of groceries onto our kitchen table.  The microwave clock ticked over to ten p.m.  About time for the weirdos to come out and play.  Scottsdale was chock-full of freaks.

I shrugged out of my jacket and slung it over a chair.  “We need to get out of this.  I’m sick of Bryan.”

Miles took his sweet time unpacking cartons of yogurt.  He didn’t meet my eyes, standing there separating my flavors (strawberry and chocolate) from his (key lime pie and lemon meringue). “We will soon.  Whatever he meant by ‘fallout’ can’t be anything good.”

No kidding.  ‘Fallout’ meant getting caught.  Getting caught would land us in jail, and I doubted I’d survive a prison sentence.  I had a hard time knowing when to shut up, and I didn’t think I’d be able to handle being separated from Miles. 

He unscrewed the cap off a jug of milk and drank from the carton.  A trickle slid down the dimple in his chin.  There was a reason we bought two different jugs each trip to the grocery store.  My brother was a pig.  Most people thought we were twins, but I was glad we weren’t.  If he was a pig outside the womb, I didn’t want to know what he was like inside one. 

Miles wiped the residue off with the back of his hand.  “We’ll figure something out.  I’ll try to talk to Reid.  Find out what’s happened.  Bryan’s not exactly brilliant.”

I chewed my lip.  “Let’s move to Aruba.  You can fish all day.”

“You knew there’d be some consequences.  There’s repercussions with everything, especially in this business.  We’ll get out when we can.  And you don’t eat fish.”

More complications.  It wasn’t something I’d planned on since we’d been doing well as of late, so all I could do was shrug half-heartedly.  He was probably right.  He usually was.   I turned my back and upended another grocery bag.  

“I want you to visit Mom with me tomorrow.  It’s almost her birthday.” 

I chucked a container of cottage cheese into our refrigerator so hard it burst open, the plastic film splitting down the middle and vomiting curdled milk.

“You go.  I’m staying home.”

He sighed and sank into a seat.  “When are you going to let it go?  She’s different.  I can tell.”  The kitchen lights bore down on his chestnut hair, auburn strands morphing into crimson. 

I pushed my sleeves to my elbows and retrieved a sponge from the sink. “She’s always been a good actress.”

“That’s not fair.  Drugs screw people up.  You know that, seeing what we see every day.”

“I was never stupid enough to use in the first place.  Neither were you, and we had plenty of opportunities.  I don’t want anything to do with her.”

He let me win.  Miles knew when to accept defeat.  Plus I screamed louder than him, and my raised voice gave him eye twitches.

“One day she won’t be around.  And you’ll wish you’d gone to see her.”

“When that day happens,” I told him, aiming a vicious swipe at a sludgy trail of cottage cheese, “I’ll give you my cut.” 

I heard the smile in his voice, even with my head stuck in the fridge.  “An extra three hundred thousand’s nothing to sneeze at.  Deal.”   

***

When I slumped into the kitchen at seven a.m., Miles was mysteriously absent.  He normally didn’t make it out of his bedroom until noon when I turned the thermostat to HELL to smoke him out from underneath those Star Wars bedcovers.  He’d never make it to night classes otherwise.   

He left a note on the kitchen table, but only half of his cramped scrawl was decipherable.  Something about visiting Mom. Maybe he still thought of her as ‘Mom’ but the tamest thing I’d called her was Vicki.

He’d propped a photograph against salt and pepper shakers.  A yellowed one depicting our family when we were solid, unblemished.  Before Vicki started using, when she looked happy, and when my father was alive.  Miles and I were chubby toddlers in near matching attire, born sixteen months apart.  He was older, which I supposed was the reason he thought he was Head Bitch in Charge.

We had the same hair, a wavy chestnut.  Exactly the shade of Vicki’s, but life in jail had likely turned it gray.  Not that I cared.  She ruined her chances with me the day she got so twacked out she decided to stab our father forty-seven times with a steak knife.

Miles remembered the incident better than I did.  He was five, and had been the one to dial 9-1-1.   I was four, and did nothing but stand there whimpering at the ocean of blood on our kitchen floor while our mother stood at the sink, humming Pop Goes the Weasel as she rinsed the knife off.

Understanding his unconditional love for that woman was something I doubted I’d ever be able to do, though I figured males—normal ones anyway—always had a soft spot for their mothers.  I only had a soft spot for Miles and iced peppermint lattes.

I turned the snapshot face-down and plunked the salt shaker over it.  Miles would have gotten mad if I’d torn it to shreds, the way I’d done with all the other old pictures.

“Fuck you,” I said, and turned to brew some coffee.

The counters were piled with thick wads of cash Miles unpacked the previous night.  I hated math, anything to do with numbers, so he’d nominated himself treasurer of our little family operation.

My cell phone buzzed, connected to its charger beside the money.  I turned it sideways to view the caller I.D.  Bryan.

He didn’t wait for my ‘hello’.

“Your product was light yesterday,” he told me over some horrific techno song in the background. “I don’t like being lied to.”

I cradled the phone between my shoulder and ear.  “It wasn’t when I weighed it.  Maybe some of your co-workers have been dipping into the stock when you’re not looking.  Terrance looks pretty shady.”

“It went straight from your hands to mine.  Either your scale’s broken or you’re a liar.”

I dumped a scoop of coffee grounds into a filter.  “Look, if it’s light—and it’s not, because I checked—then it was an honest mistake.  We’ll make up for it next time.”

“Mistakes are still mistakes, and I think you know pretty well Reid doesn’t give out many second chances.”

“I think he’d make allowances since it’s not likely you’ll find much better.  Everyone else’s shit sucks.  And they’re tweakers.”

“I’ll be in touch.  Reid’ll decide what to do about this.”

I pressed the power button, and the coffee maker puffed to life.  “When am I gonna meet him, anyway?  Miles has.”

“He won’t deal with women.  They’re too emotional.”

“I think I should sinceI keep hearing his name thrown around.  When can you make that happen?”  It was hard to keep the pent-up frustration from my voice.  I knew we couldn’t meet everyone involved; it was for our own protection, but it didn’t stop me from being annoyed I’d been kept in the dark on certain aspects.

His laugh was a soft, secretive one I was long used to hearing. “Probably sooner than you want to, honey.”

“I’m not your ‘honey,” I spat, but Bryan had already disconnected.

***

Miles wasn’t back by the time I needed to hit the road, so I left without him.  He took the train when he visited Vicki, so the piece of crap Chevy was still in our assigned space, baking under Arizona heat. 

“I hate you,” I told it, before climbing inside.

Miles and I based our operation in a storage facility owned by a guy he’d met at some bar.  We rented the north block of units to keep the smell at a minimum, and Jimmy falsified records so they reflected renters of different names. 

The storage facility sat in an industrial center, next door to a factory that belched foul vapors morning, noon, and night.  The odor was disgusting but helpful when it came to masking the acrid steam Miles and I made while cooking.

Jimmy lounged in a swivel chair when I swung into his office.  He didn’t lift his gaze from the television mounted on the wall.  “It’s pay day.”

I rolled my eyes, slapping a few belted wads of hundreds on the counter next to his phone.  “Don’t I know it.  You remind us every day how long it is till pay day.”

The constant reminders were one of his more annoying habits, but we paid him to look the other way and go about business like nothing illegal took place right under his nose.  In the event he got incarcerated, we’d agreed to shell out a flat one hundred thousand as hazard pay so he wouldn’t decide to spill his guts to a pushy cop about who he worked for.  But even if he did, all Jimmy had were our first names.  Miles and I were the only people he dealt with.

Jimmy looked around when a commercial interrupted the Mexican soap opera.  He didn’t speak Spanish so why he watched them remained a mystery, though I suspected it was because the women wore next to nothing. 

“Where’s Miles?”

“Why do you care?  All that matters is you get your money.  And you got it.”

“Miles is a little more nice.”  He thumbed through wads of cash with lazy fingers. 

“Miles is better at being fake.”

He waved an airy hand.  “Tell him I said hi, then.”

“Tell him yourself next time you see him.” I pushed the swinging door open and headed for the northern block of units. 

I held my breath upon entering because the smell made manure pleasant, and groped in my purse for a surgical mask.  When I’d locked the door behind myself, I checked on the latest batch drying in baking sheets.

Smashing it to bits was probably my favorite part of the cooking nightmare.  Thick, long shards were one of the things our meth was known for.  That and its ice-white color.  One of our foster brothers had been a cook, and he’d taught Miles the ropes.

Foster care was good for something.  We wouldn’t have six hundred thousand dollars in the linings of our mattresses, beneath floorboards, and hidden our apartment walls without Foster Brother Eddy.  When I aged out of the system I came to live with Miles, and our operation snowballed from there. 

Eddy worked with us in the beginning until a meth lab exploded and gave him third degree chemical burns.  He died in the hospital.  Miles made us wear stupid hazmat suits from then on. 

I tapped the mallet over the smooth surface, and the impact sent rippling cracks through the dried meth.  When the bulk had been broken up, I slipped on a pair of latex gloves to examine it.

Miles insisted on gloves, too.  Apparently you’d still fail a drug test if you handled meth with bare hands, since skin absorbed the chemicals.  I always said the probability of our being subjected to a test was low because we weren’t involved in selling, rendering it unlikely we’d get caught in the middle of a deal.  And then there was the fact that Miles and I hid under covers of being college students scraping by on our respective FAFSA grants and an inheritance from our grandmother.  

I was dumping shards from the baking sheet when my ass started buzzing.  I ripped the gloves from my hands, pulled out my phone, and answered. 

“Take your mask off,” Miles said.  “I can barely hear you.”

I peeled it off and balled it in my fist.  “Where are you? When are you getting back?”

“Don’t you want to know how Mom’s doing?”

“That’s a stupid question.”

He sighed.  “I should be at the train station in a few hours.  I’ll call you when I’m pulling in.  I’m gonna need you to pick me up.”

I threw the slanted metal scraper down on the workstation. “When the hell did I become Mary Fucking Poppins?  I gotta clean the apartment since you’re a slob, break up this batch, pay off Jimmy the Idiot, and come pick you up?  Call a taxi.”

“You’re a pain in the ass.”

“Takes one to know one,” I told him, though he’d hung up on me. 

Why does everyone hang up on me? I fumed, snapping the mask back on. 

***

The apartment was empty by the time I made it home.  I dropped my purse on the counter and blew out a sigh.  The job of stashing money and cleaning up had fallen to me, as per usual. 

My call to Miles’s cell went unanswered, and I figured he was still irritated about our earlier conversation.  For someone who claimed to be a burgeoning mixed martial artist, my brother acted more womanly than me.

I sprayed Windex over the counters and wiped the tile in lazy spirals, wondering whether I should be worried.  Did trains get into accidents often?  I’d never been a passenger on one since I’d eat my own face before visiting Vicki. 

The clock struck eight p.m. by the time I started to freak.  How likely was it something bad happened?  Hadn’t I already reached my lifetime tragedies quota? 

“You’re being an ass, you know,” I told his voicemail on the fifth unanswered call.  “If you’re trying to teach me a lesson, fine, you win.  I’ll come get you.  Call me back, for Christ’s sake.”

The line disconnected me after a few more choice swears, so I slammed my phone on the kitchen table.  Immediately after I did, it buzzed with an incoming call.

“Where the hell are you?” I yelled.  “And don’t give me some line about no cell service.”

The voice on the other end laughed, and it sounded nothing like Miles.

“Who the fuck is this?”  I demanded.  “Put my brother on.”

“My name is Reid.  I’ve heard a lot about you.  Your brother’s sitting right here.”

For more of this addicting Crime Thriller follow the link below to Amazon.com!

http://www.amazon.com/Hazard-Pay-ebook/dp/B00CFT5EWS/ref=sr_1_4_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1366464200&sr=1-4&keywords=melissa+simonson

Do you know, it never ceases to amaze me how much comments left on my books can mean. Since Hearts of Avon's release in February I've received lots of excellent feedback. It's quickly becoming the most read of any of my books, 6,800 copies and climbing, and I thought it might be fun to share some of the comments that have been left on Amazon.com recently by my readers.

"I enjoyed this book so much. It showed us how important prayer is in a true love relationship and how even the worst of storms, between a couple in love, can bring a new rainbow when they pray together for the good of everyone in their lives. I love the way this author writes as it reminds me of the way Nicholas Sparks writes. The ending left me wanting to know more about the outcome of each life. A book worth reading. Easy to read and clean." - Sharon M. Ellis

"As someone who went through hurricane Irene on the outer banks this is a good description of events here. A very good read." - Melanie Toler

"A boy and girl running from and confronting a relentless stalker in the midst of a hurricane is a thrilling story. Beginning with the girl leaving her abusive boyfriend after he's though he's been able to control her for three years, the path to catastrophe is set. Ben is a nice boy, and Caroline finds relief and happiness in their new playful friendship, while John continues to watch and grow more and more attached to Caroline and desperate for her every day. He thinks of nothing else, and barely seems to notice when he sets his own house ablaze. This is scarily true to real life stalkers, any reader who has been stalked now begins to get very afraid for the heroes. It's exactly what I love in a story like this." - Kestrellian

"Although not a chick-lit fan, I really enjoyed "Hearts of Avon". Ben falls in love with a beautiful and intelligent Caroline who does her best to escape her ex-boyfriend, but there are so many other obstacles in the way of Ben and Caroline's love that it's difficult to say if their feelings for each other will be stronger than whatever tries to separate them. "Hearts of Avon" is abundant in twists and turns, and you never know what will happen in the next chapter. I'll gladly reread the story of Ben and Caroline sometime soon, because it's an extremely enjoyable book." - J.W.

These are just a few of the reviews that I've had the pleasure of enjoying recently for Hearts of Avon. The book's pitch is below, along with a link to Hearts of Avon in both Paperback and Kindle version in case you'd like to take a read!

In Avon, a beach town along the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Ben is falling fast for the beautiful and intelligent Caroline, even as they both deal with her stalker ex-boyfriend who has followed her south on vacation.

As Ben learns the depths of the other man's madness his and Caroline's relationship runs into another wall, level 3 Hurricane Irene moving quickly toward the Outer Banks. When the storm arrives, all of their lives will be drastically changed.

How will they learn to cope with the consequences? When they are tested with a disaster on the brink of their comprehension, how will they pick up the pieces of their lives?

http://www.amazon.com/Hearts-of-Avon-ebook/dp/B00B90KGOK/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

If you have read one or more of my books and not yet written a review, I would be incredibly honored if you would go to Amazon.com and review and star rate it/them so that others might read what you write and decide to delve in and enjoy.

Have a wonderful day!

- Scott J. Toney