-->I have the pleasure of a guest post from author Hawk MacKinney, as he muses on the synergistic relationship between authors and the team that works with them...
HM: It’s a team effort/accomplishment to reach the point of
having one’s titles in print…hardcopy & electronic. That’s the easy part,
which is if you love to write, can be fun and work. Then comes marketing, such
as Goddess Fish Promotions. An example of the expanding electronic market(s) and
by no means the only one that reaches beyond the ‘traditional’ marketing box(es).
The key…a dependable team of shared opinions and objectives.
Out on the tabletop for everyone to see/hear, f2f-electronic or
person-to-person makes the team package easy to work with. Constructive
criticism/suggestions from reliable professionals makes writing that much more fun
and the finished manuscript that much better.
A solid support team creates opportunities for writers with
published titles to support and encourage those authors still on the road to
finding agents/publishers & to “…get the
word out!” None of us accomplish this from a single, self-made standpoint. Getting
a title published is a team accomplishment that also extends well into the many
aspects of marketing. Having both
undergrad and graduate faculty experience has served me well in public speaking
and meeting my readers.
Thank you for hosting Hidden Chamber of Death
in the Moccasin Hollow Mystery Series. It is much
appreciated.
in the Moccasin Hollow Mystery Series. It is much
appreciated.**********************
by Hawk MacKinney
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Mystery/Suspense
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Hidden Chamber of Death is a compelling tale of intrigue, murder, deception and suspense that leads retired Navy SEAL/part-time private investigator Craige Ingram in search of the connection between seemingly random murders and a banking conspiracy. Working with the local homicide investigator, who just happens to be a former Navy buddy, Craige Ingram's attempts to protect a lonely widow and solve the case before another person dies are only thwarted by a psychotic killer whose motivation is based on pure depraved pleasure. In this first book of the MOCCASIN HOLLOW MYSTERY SERIES, the instincts and skills Ingram and his buddy acquired as Navy SEALS are tested to their limits.
is a compelling tale of intrigue, murder, deception and suspense that leads retired Navy SEAL/part-time private investigator Craige Ingram in search of the connection between seemingly random murders and a banking conspiracy. Working with the local homicide investigator, who just happens to be a former Navy buddy, Craige Ingram's attempts to protect a lonely widow and solve the case before another person dies are only thwarted by a psychotic killer whose motivation is based on pure depraved pleasure. In this first book of the MOCCASIN HOLLOW MYSTERY SERIES, the instincts and skills Ingram and his buddy acquired as Navy SEALS are tested to their limits.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT
The
battered, green side door with its peeling, leprosy paint framed one small
window with smudged shattered wire-glass. The door cracked just enough for a
pair of bright blue eyes to peek out at him.
A
voice said, “That you, Mister Craige?” The grey head was hardly visible.
“Yes,”
Craige said. “Sallie Mae, that you?” Got no answer, and she didn’t come out.
The
door left ajar; rusty hinges squeaked as Craige pushed against it and stepped
into a vacuous, black void, the air heavy with a peculiar, stale warmth. He was
more than queasy. It had the makings of a perfect ambush layout. Talk about the
perfect setup. If Zeb hadn’t OKed the time and place, he would’ve been out of
there. Except for jumbled, grimy clutter and vague outlines in a trashed
yawning interior, he could make out no details. As his eyes adjusted, Craige
found himself facing two frail figures who’d been standing there the whole
time.
“Sallie
Mae?”
With
a fragile movement Sallie Mae said, “Right here. A’gatha Ruth here’s not too
pleased about Zeb tellin’ you where to find us.”
“Don’t
like this a darn tootin’,” Agatha said. “Nobody’s bizness.” She was testy.
“Plenty robbin ‘n ‘killin’ to be took care of ‘stead of cops pokin’ in folk’s
private matters. Botherin’ folks what druthers be left alone.”
“I
don’t work for the police,” Craige said.
Agatha
continued, “Fiddle-de-dee, who you think you’re foolin’? Tain’t a mite of
difference twixt you and MacGerald ‘cept he calls it what it be—cop.” She had
wizened, bottomless eyes. “Claimin’ we make corn squeezin’s.” Her ire rose.
“Don’t try puttin’ no lyin’ to me. I know what the likes of you is after. Them
bunch of scallywags wants you to help take away Sallie Mae’s croup potions.”
Wiped her mouth with her hand. “That’s what, you’re after Sallie’s makin’s.”
She didn’t care for him one bit.
“We
been run out from lots’a places,” Sallie Mae said. “Lord knows, these old bones
don’t take up much room, and these empty buildings ain’t no use fer nothin’
much.”
Craige
interrupted, “Zeb told me you saw the killing in the bank’s garage.”
“Both
of us seen it,” Agatha said. “What you want to know for anyhow? We ain’t
talkin’ to no cops. Might as well git that out on the table right now. They
throw us in jail, say we the ones what did it till we tell where our still
wuz.”
“You
see who did it?” Craige asked.
“‘Course
we seen the man who done it,” Sallie Mae said. “Didn’t see no face, saw his big
black car, the kind what rich folks drive.” She shook her head. “Lordy mercy,
that poor woman didn’t have no chance.”
Agatha
nodded, “Skeer a body plumb to death. Gives me chill blains jus’ thinkin’ on
it. Like some animal, like he wadn’t mad. Jes took o’nry mean pleasure beating
her.”
Craige
asked, “You know it was a man?”
“Jesus
my all!” Agatha Ruth spit snuff juice into a paper stuffed big peach can. “You
ain’t much good at detecting if you cain’t tell whether a body be man or woman.
Maybe you need readin’ glasses. Gettin’ a mite blurry myself, but I don’t have
to see a body close-up to tell it was a man, and sure didn’t want that one
close-up no how. Tell by the way he hit. He was hefty enough he didn’t have to
put much swing to it. Kept whackin’n’whackin’, blood everywhere. Even after she
mostly quit moving, he kept hittin’n’hittin’, her legs just’a jerkin’.”
Craige
made a mental note to check with Fred if any clothing, gloves, anything showed
DNA different from any of the victims.
“Awful!”
Sallie Mae shivered. “We hunkered down so he wouldn’t see us.” The filtered
light framed Sallie Mae’s dignified, wrinkled face, ancient beyond years with a
proud reserve.
Agatha
said, “Even after the police got there, we never told them what we seen.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
In addition to professional
articles and texts on fetal and adult anatomy, Hawk has authored several novels
that have received national and international recognition. Moccasin Trace, a
historical novel, was nominated for the prestigious Michael Shaara Award for
Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes Book Award. This was
followed by the Craige Ingram Mystery Series. In a change of direction, October
of 2012 saw the release of Hawk’s first science fiction novel, The Bleikovat
Event, in The Cairns of Sainctuarie series. Volume II in The Cairns of
Sainctuarie series, The Missing Planets, was released in 2014 with Volume III
in the works.
Hawk’s latest project
focuses on The Moccasin Hollow Mystery Series. Book 1 in the series, Hidden Chamber of Death, was just released, and Book 2 in the series, Westobou Gold,
will be released in the fall.
, was just released, and Book 2 in the series, Westobou Gold,
will be released in the fall.*****************************
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The tour dates can be found here
