Kangaroo Dreaming by Sally J. Smith & Jean Steffens (VBT, guest post, excerpt, and GIVEAWAY) GFT

What a fun guest post I have to share from authors Sally J. Smith and Jean Steffens who answer...

Why do we write our genre?

Sally J. Smith and Jean Steffens are currently writing mysteries—both cozies and general. The mystery market is hot right now and has been for a while. If and when that swings back around to historicals or straight romance or something else, we'll probably try our hand at another genre.

While we both love the creative process, in the end this is our business, and we try not to indulge our egos with it.

Mysteries and suspense are the markets we both read and enjoy, and we're lucky enough to have a methodical plotter in Jean. That's a good thing for what we're presently writing because mysteries are as much about the plot—the mystery—as they are about the characters and setting.

Since we don't write hard-boiled mysteries or procedurals, we can get away with inserting our own (slightly off-center) element of humor with our off-beat characters and misunderstood situations and relationships. Even if it's ultimately all about the murder and the protagonist, if you can't laugh about it, why bother?

Also, in our brand of mystery, we tend to put most of the violence off scene—the really hard core stuff anyway. Sure Digby gets banged up, and sure a body or two drops—but the discovery is after the fact. Most of our readers are women, and us girls don't always like to see the bullet meet the flesh or whatever the modus operandi turns out to be.

All these factors: the quirky characters, the humorous situations, the murder itself, the European location, the fast-paced plot, and our ethical, fun-loving hero, Digby Sloan Aussie private eye, who men would like to be and women would like to be with, combine for Kangaroo Dreaming, A Digby Sloan Mystery—more fun than a barrel full of koalas, mate.

 




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Kangaroo Dreaming

by Sally J. Smith & Jean Steffens

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GENRE:    Mystery

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BLURB:

Digby Sloan, Aussie private eye, loves his mum, and is loyal as a Queensland Heeler. Now he’s in London handcuffed to a kangaroo.

Kangaroo Dreaming, a valuable aboriginal totem, must make it safely to a London museum for exhibition, and Digby is the one in charge. But within hours of his arrival, the roo is stolen and the curator is murdered.

His bosses blame Digby for the theft and insist he stay to help London Metropolitan recover Kangaroo Dreaming. That’s all well and good, except the lead cop keeps getting in Digby’s way. The case puts everyone in peril, including Digby Sloan, who might not make it back alive to the Land Down Under to find out if he even still has a job.

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EXCERPT

I rode him as hard as I could straight across the clearing and headed dead-on for the pond in the center of it.

Falstaff’s heavy breath smoked the air. His body beneath me was soaked in sweat. The white of his wild eyes shone in the night. He carried me straight toward the water.

“Now!” I yelled in pure reaction, shifted my weight, and leaned.

Falstaff’s direction changed with such a jolt it wasn’t hard for me to do what I had to do.

The momentum launched me off his back. I was an unguided missile. My arms and legs flailed everywhere.

I slammed against the dark water, but it may as well have been a concrete slab. The wind blew from my lungs. Every inch of me cried out in pain.

The frigid pond waters closed over my head. I sank like a stone.

I headed for the slimy bottom. No. Up. Go up. I fought for the surface, pushed, kicked, and clawed. But there was no strength in my arms or my legs. No breath in my body. My tortured lungs were in agony. My brain was fuzzy. My body numb. I couldn’t see.

Sweet Mary, Mother of God.

I was drowning.

Amazon 

The book is on sale for $0.99

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Sally J. Smith and Jean Steffens, are partners in crime—crime writing, that is. They live in the Valley of the Sun in Arizona, awesome for eight months out of the year, an inferno the other four. They write bloody murder, flirty romance, and wicked humor all in one package.

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Jean Steffens

Sally J. Smith

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