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From Edward M. Krauss, author of HERE ON MOON and SOLOMON THE ACCOUNTANT, his latest novel: A STORY OF BAD.

Investigating the murder of the owner of a sportswear factory in Queens, New York, Detective Terry Stans determines that the victim knew his assailant. The dead man’s workers and bereaved family are all suspects. June Replyn, a reporter covering the business side of the fashion world, is assigned to write how a small company survives the death of its inspirational leader. During interviews at the factory June is slipped a note from someone claiming to know the identify of the murderer.   

The reporter meets the detective. Stans is stuck. The case is going nowhere, and he believes the fashion writer has a better view inside the company. Terry encourages June to share information with him, hoping fresh eyes will see something he hasn’t. But she doesn’t tell him about the note.

 In the midst of his investigating and her reporting they start dating. Their relationship raises questions about confidentiality, loyalty to one’s employer, professional ethics. Both of their bosses caution them about the dangers to their careers raised by this situation. And there they are, in bed.

A weary traveler checks into the beautifully appointed hotel. He admires the classic construction. He is flattered by the courteous attention he receives. In just a few minutes, he is ensconced in his luxuriously furnished room. This scene happens hundreds of times daily as visitors check into one of the many historic hotels in the southeast.

What happens later that night is what sets some hotels apart from their contemporaries. He awakens with the distinct feeling that he is not alone. There is a presence in the room. He senses it means him no harm. In fact, the presence of this benevolent spirit reassures him that there is life after death..

He snuggles back into the soft mattress and drifts back into a peaceful sleep. After all, he did chose to stay at a host with a ghost.

Join me as we tour some of the most interesting historic hotels in the southeast. They range from the opulent to the economical. Some are in big cities; some in tiny towns. But they all have one thing in common. They have a guest that never leaves.

Treasure River records the desires, the greed, the fantasies, the contentment and the fear found in the hearts of those who traveled her and of those who conquered her. It records how they used her and took advantage of her to create for themselves, and their families to come, great wealth. Recorded as well are stories of those who just eked out a living along her ways and byways. It divulges Red River’s secrets, her turmoil, anguish and strife hidden beneath her turbulent waters of those who went headstrong against her will, and lost!

Click to read an excerpt.

A small rural area of Nebraska carries a dark secret of years gone by. This community's citizens of yesteryear were once so prejudiced against Blacks that they hung an innocent man for murder just because of the color of his skin. Rusty, the local police chief, is reminded of this terrible injustice when he tries to piece together how the executed man’s grandson is involved with a thief who has committed several local burglaries. While looking for answers, Rusty finds himself involved in homicide and trying to locate the identity of the mysterious farm girl.

Click to read an excerpt.

The mayor of Mt. Pride, Colorado, appears to be beloved by all. Or is he? It is only natural that this man of wealth and prestige has enemies. Enemies who Have No Mercy when it comes to taking him down. When Mayor Richard Alan Eckhard is missing, is it because of foul play, or did he disappear on his own? Where is he? Is he dead or alive? It is top priority for Mt. Pride’s top detectives, Joe Warner and Eddy Konklin, to find the answers to these questions. Once again, Mt. Pride’s finest have their work cut out for them as they investigate this Missing Person’s case. Do not blink! The bizarre conclusion just might surprise you.

Click to read an excerpt.

An exceptional coming of age novel by a first time writer. A boy growing up in a small town experiencing life from grades one through twelve. The book also details his experiences with an adventuresome sibling, who generally steals the stage. A must read for both young and old, that will surely bring a smile to your lips and fond memories to mind. You will easily relate to the situations, and the characters will be like old friends revisited. A scrape with death as a young boy brings a life's importance into focus for the author. The stories are SO good, you won't want them to end. "Dear Alfie" is a fast, easy and enjoyable read.

When the pharmaceutical firm where Mark works becomes a target for attack by eco-terrorists, his dog is the only witness to a murder. In order to learn the truth, Dani must overcome her reluctance to use her gifts. Can she help Mark prevent the terrorists from destroying the drug company and its workers?

The Yankees are destroying everything in their wake as they advance through the South.  Blake Winberry, a Confederate captain is on his way home from Virginia when he finds out his fiancée has left him for a profiteering draft-dodger.  Judith Rogers, a brave, beautiful refugee, is attacked by renegades on a lonely road, but Blake saves her from unspeakable horrors.

 Hoping to find the love and comfort they crave, Judith and Blake marry.  But how long can their bliss last?  Will Judith make Blake forget the fickle woman he still loves… will she succeed, only to lose him in the next bloody battle?

No account of this time is more poignant and more revealing of real life of those who kept the home fires burning.

Click to read an excerpt.

Have you ever dreamed of buying a piece of property at a fraction of its worth. Amassing wealth with a minimum investment. Impossible? No. Hundreds of investors do exactly that annually in any state in the U.S.A. The secret is buying at a tax sale. Often, you can buy property for a song, but this isn’t the only way to make money. Thousands of others reap a financial return at an interest rate that is impossible in the stock market. Although, you can acquire property this way at prices that would make Jesse James envious, there are pitfalls for the unwary. This book will enable you to make knowledgeable choices about which properties you should select to achieve your goals.

Read more about Tax Sale Tactics

Willa Randall would rather face anything than marry the brutal  neighbor her father has given her to, Even Sherman's ravanging troops. So she runs away and joins the Confederate Cavelry disguised as a boy.

She did't expect to find her dream man while disguised as a boy. But will he see the lovely woman through her perfect disguise  or just his young aide, "Will.".

Lydia's second Civil War novel took 2nd place in the 2002 Golden Rose Contest?  Perfect Disguise was also a finalist in the 2003 First Coast Writers Festival Novel Contest

Vickie's daughter is dead. Just one more dead druggie among the hundreds that die each year in Jacksonville, Florida's drug infested slums. The police aren't concerned about her drug-related death.

VICKIE needs to know. Was it an accidental overdose, or murder? To find the answer, she must leave her safe life behind and plunge into the terrors of the drug culture. Will the search lead her to love? Or will she end up on a morgue slab, just one more casualty in the war against drugs?

HANK His mistakes caused the death of those he loved most. Drug addiction is his sworn enemy. His chosen life has no place in it for love until he meets Vickie.

JOE His money and power haven't been able to save his marriage or his son's love. He seeks Vickie's love but what are his secrets?

Click to read an excerpt.

Florida! The land of sunshine and wide-open beaches. But eventhe Sunshine State has its dark secrets. Places where centuries old spirits remain tied to earth. Beneath the façade of fun and make believe lurks the real Florida. Settled by often cruel conquistadors, Florida was Europe’s first stronghold in the New World. The blood of Spanish, French, English and Native American had stained its verdant woodlands and sandy beaches long before it became part of the United States.Even then, greedy land barons and simple settlers battled the heat, hurricanes, insects and snakes to create the paradise we know as modern Florida. Is it any wonder that unexplainable tales and strange phenomena still remain just below the surface? Join me as we go about Finding Florida’s Phantoms.

Click to read an excerpt.

A powerful and touching book of one person’s quest for emotional survival. Beginning in a hopeless environment of a sharecropper’s grasp, the author takes you on a true-to-life event you will never forget.

After a painful divorce, Casey returns to the haven of her childhood, her great grandmother Weesie’s tiny log cabin. Nestled deep in the Appalachian Mountains of North Georgia, the cabin rekindles memories of her happiest years as a young child enjoying Granny Weesie’s tales of treasure. Casey seeks a peaceful refuge she will share only with her cat, Smokey. However, much more than early memories await Casey in Bluejay, Georgia.

By chance, or was it design, Weesie’s childhood diary turns up in the cabin. The scrawled pages transport Casey back into the late nineteenth century. Far from finding the peaceful time she expects there, she uncovers a web of adultery, murder and intrigue that threatens to entangle Casey’s twenty first century life.

That life threatens to become more complex when her new neighbor turns out to be a handsome victim of his own marital disaster. Lee Schmidt has vowed never to let another woman mangle his life. He has come to Bluejay to pursue his life’s ambition.

Velma Lou seldom does anything altruistic. Hiring her Cousin Casey as a reporter for her newspaper, The Bluejay Bugle, is no exception. She expects more than her money’s worth from her destitute relative. Like the voracious vine, Velma Lou has learned the hard way to use her beauty to trap and ensnare.

As Casey is drawn deeper into Weesie’s life and times, her "real" life becomes more complicated by her growing attraction to Lee. Some strange occurrences happen in the cabin mirrored by tales of ghostly sightings in her family history. As she travels back to 1879 via Louisa’s diary, she meets an intriguing cast of characters. Donald Stuart, Lillith’s faithful lover, David, his evil hearted twin brother, Ma and Da Garrett, Louisa’s parents and her own direct ancestors, Louisa’s brothers and the inhabitants of early Bluejay.

When Casey becomes involved with a battered wife as she followers the case for the paper, she incurs the ire of an abusive husband, Zeke. Zeke believes he has every right to chastise his own wife and child. Casey begins to take hie irate threats seriously when her car is sabotaged. Even Casey has to believe the number of life threatening happenings is no coincidence.

As Casey researches an article about Confederate ancestors in the area, the old stories Granny Weesie told her of the lost Confederate Treasury resurface. Validated in the past, as she returns to Louisa’s childhood, by the story Donald Stuart tells just before he, too is found dead, Casey begins to take the old tales seriously. Even Velma Lou begins to show interest in the old diary. But that’s not the only thing that catches Velma Lou’s interest. Lee is just what she considers fair game, an attractive man with a promising future.

Click to read an excerpt.

The story of a young woman's ascent from the trailer parks of central Florida to become one of Hollywood's hottest celebrities.

Not since Robin Hood has any fugitive spawned this many myths and legends. Man Hunt looks at the man behind the myth.Who is the real Eric Rudolph? What are the influences that produced him? How was he able to elude the FBI's best agents for so long?

Author Kathleen Walls lived just 20 miles from where Eric Rudolph was captured. She has camped and hiked frequently in the Nantahala Forest where Eric Rudolph hid during the past five years. She has shopped and dined in Murphy, Andrews and Nantahala where he lived. She has also lived in his birth city of Merritt Island Florida during the same time period as the fugitive and his family. She has visited Fort Benning, Homestead, and almost all of the places significant in Eric Rudolph's life.

Click to read an excerpt.

An anthology of five plays written for a new generation of theatergoers.

Cooking By The Book

The exciting free cookbook, Cooking by the Book .You can download from here. It has great recipes as well as a little about the authors that contributed to it. It even includes excerpts from their books.

Musing: Authors Do It Write

A collection of writings from twelve contributing authors of the CB Writers Group. Authors are often asked: What makes you write? Did you always know you wanted to write? Where do you get your story ideas? How do you come up with your characters? – on and on and on. To many people, authors aren't of the same breed as the normal species of the human race. However, we are very much human. We go about our daily lives nurturing to our family's needs, going to our jobs and dealing with the stresses that life throws our way. We twelve authors have come together in this book to shed some light on the "author species of the human race". Each writer has his or her own "writer's muse" - or `voice'; although as you will see, each muse is unique for each author. We hope that you enjoy reading our articles, our biographies and excerpts from our books.

By Any Other Name

By Kathleen Walls

Loretta learns that one harmless white lie can lead down strange paths. Little by little, her heedless statement draws her into a dead woman's identity. Will her deception bring her true love or death? She struggles with her growing attraction to Greg, the rugged attorney, who accepts her as his dead friend's daughter. As she is drawn deeper into the web of deceit, it becomes increasingly clear that someone wants to kill her. The motive, her share of a vast English estate. Is it Richard, her supposed half brother who has the best motive, or Polly, his doting aunt, with her knowledge of herbs and poison? Could it be Nat, the seductive outsider, who offers friendship? Perhaps it's Morgan, Nat's handsome twin, who romances Loretta. Is it her person or her fortune he desires? Perhaps even sickly Arabella, the twins mother,could be driven to murder to help her children. Worst of all could it be Greg, who has captured her unwilling heart? Does he return her love or is there someone else he wants? In the entire family, only little Drew and his two beloved dogs appear trustworthy. But even he has his secrets.

Karen Mueller Bryson, Ph.D.

from the Collected Stories of the

USF McNair Scholars Program Graduates

Certain Expectations is an enthnodrama based upon interviews with graduates of the McNair Scholars Program at the University of South Florida in Tampa. The McNair Scholars Program is a federally funded program that assists high achieving undergraduate students from low-income, first generation backgrounds and students from traditionally underrepresented groups to motivate and encourage them to attend graduate and professional school. The media tends to focus on the academic failure of "poor" and "minority" students rather than focusing on those students who succeed despite the obstacles they face. Certain Expectations is a vehicle to celebrate the success stories of those students who have succeeded.

I hope that Certain Expectations will inspire others to defy expectations and succeed despite the obstacles they face. I also hope depicting students from low-income backgrounds and underrepresented groups in a positive way will promote greater understanding and awareness and help in decreasing intolerance and discrimination