The Insecure Writer's Support Group, Rattlesnake, and Conduction

It’s time for another edition of The Insecure Writer’s Support Group, founded by Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh.

The question for today: Book reviews are for the readers. When you leave a book review, do you review for the Reader or the Author? Is it about what you liked and enjoyed about your reading experience, or do you critique the author?

I confess, I don’t do a lot of book reviews. For the past ten+ years, that’s been in part because most of my reading involves Dancing Lemur Press titles and submissions. (Little unethical to leave a review for a book published through my company.) The past two years have involved reading my own new titles, too. Ultimately, I don’t have time to read much outside of those areas. I have been reading a lot of cookbooks, so I do need to get on the stick and review some of those.

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Now, here’s C. Lee McKenzie and her new book:

Rattlesnake wasn't my first tittle. I think I had three others before I settled on that venomous sounding one. Each previous title had ghosts included—No Such Thing As Ghosts, Ghost Dreams, and one other that must have been so bad I can't remember it. I think the word, Gulch, was involved. Fortunately, I dispatched all of these, and once I settled on Rattlesnake, I was happy. It had the flavor of the desert, a hint of the old west, and it was also ominous.

What the book called Rattlesnake is about:

The desert town of Rattlesnake isn't a destination. It's a last resort. Seventeen-year-old Jonah Guthrie's aunt sold their home in New England and fled to this place to escape the humiliation of his dad's indictment for embezzlement and subsequent disappearance.

While their late uncle left them a house and a silver mine, the house is a shambles and the mine is defunct. They're almost out of money, so they have no choice but to stay in Rattlesnake. And then Jonah discovers they've inherited something else. Her name is Catherine, and she's been dead for over a hundred year. Now, she needs his help.

Excerpt:

For a moment, the sun balanced on the tip of the tallest peak, then slipped behind the mountains, turning them black against the sky. They were out of options all except for going back to Old Cemetery Road and dealing with the property. From somewhere far out in the desert came the loneliest sound Jonah had ever heard. That high-pitched yowl caught him at the center of his stomach. Suddenly, he felt eyes on him from every direction, and the shadows grew teeth.

Buy Rattlesnake at Amazon / Smashwords / Kobo / B&N

Find Lee at Website / Substack / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram / YouTube / LinkedIn

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And Tara Tyler has a new book!

CONDUCTION by Tara Tyler
Sci Fi Detective Thriller or Techno Thriller
Book 4 in Pop Travel series
Preview of MAGNETRON, Book 5 included

In 2085, cutting edge technology is the most valuable currency, and the black tech market offers high pay-offs for diamond-level code. Jared Nertz is an easy-going ex-juicer gone legit working for Pop Travel Technologies, and just when he finishes his long-awaited Conduction project--the process of storing data in the brain--someone immediately steals it and kills his mentor, framing him for the murder. Now it's up to his lawyer/wife Miki and their resourceful friends, Geri and Cooper to prove Jared's innocence by recovering the stolen tech before the criminal killer sells it. But that's only the beginning, as they discover a darker threat when they dig deeper into the case.

Find Tara at her blog

And Conduction on Amazon



Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!