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3rd Annual Brain to Books Blog Hop

Welcome to the 3rd Annual Brain to Books Blog Hop

http://amazon.com/author/annswann

Below is an excerpt from the first book in my bestselling Stutter Creek trilogy:

STUTTER CREEK

http://amazon.com/author/annswann

from 5 Prince Publishing

Beth went in search of an old flame, but she found a serial killer instead.

Mandy was on her way to work the evening shift at the Waterhouse Bar & Grill when she spied a small boy standing beside the road, alone. She immediately decided to pull over and check on him.

This is what happened next:

            The setting sun made the trees appear as black-paper cutouts in a landscape collage.

            After checking her mirrors to make sure no one was behind her, Mandy pressed the button to lower the passenger-side window. It was almost all the way down when a man yanked open the door and exploded into her world like a tornado into a trailer park.  Her hand flew to the gearshift, but she couldn’t engage it.  Even as her flight instinct kicked in, part of her mind was telling her this was almost certainly the same strange guy who had requested her section at the restaurant the night before.  His eyes had seemed to follow her all around the crowded dining room, and his oily stench had made him stand out like a spot of mold on white linen. 

            Mandy drew in breath to scream, her hand scrambling across the console for her phone or the gearshift, whichever came first, but he was too fast.  With lightning speed, he dove across the seat and slapped a rectangle of duct tape across her mouth.

            He buried his free hand knuckle deep in the thick blonde braid at the base of her skull even as his other hand slid down to her windpipe and began to squeeze.

            Mandy’s fight instinct kicked in then, and she whipped her head back and forth in an effort to dislodge his hands. His stench, and the oily filth of his unkempt hair, was sickening. She clawed at his eyes, ripped at his skin, but it was no use.  The psycho laughed and simply leaned his head back out of her reach.

            That’s when Mandy began to claw at her own face, attempting to scratch the silver tape off her mouth. It didn’t matter. There was no one around to hear her scream even if she could have gotten it off.

            Mandy wasn’t a quitter.  She did her best to get her feet out from under the steering column to try and kick him off. But he was pressing down on her with his entire weight. 

            She was trapped. 

            Calmly, the psycho took one hand off her throat, doubled up his fist, and hit her so hard the back of her skull struck the driver’s side window with an audible whap!

            Then he went back to her throat. Mandy’s grip on reality began to loosen.  Tiny strobes flashed inside her skull.

            He squeezed even harder, the tips of his fingers disappearing into her flesh.

To continue the hop, click the link below

 https://urbanhype101.wordpress.com/ 
or 
http://b2bcycon.com/blog-hop/ 

Ann's Afterthoughts

Beginning a new series of writing and marketing tips. I hope you will tune in. I will be asking for guest authors to share their expertise. Comment if you'd like to be included.

I'll start:

Rule #1 WRITE

So in that vein I give you Rule #2

 And yes, I stole both quotes from Stephen King because if you're going to steal, make sure it's from someone who knows what they are about.

Multiple Author Book Signings

Come on out to Brew St. and find your new favorite author!

We'll be signing and selling so bring your copy or pick one up while you're there.

What Writers Do

I like this quote. I liked the book, Running With Scissors. He has many more books which are on my TBR list (Herman) and I can't wait to get to them. The author's one liners, like this, are amazingly insightful. If nothing else, they show that yes, this is what writers do, they mine the depths of their own psyches in order to tell stories. Thank goodness for that. Isn't it great to live vicariously every now and then?

Romance Week Sale

Romance is in the air - in addition to the Valentine's Day Giveaway Below, you can now pick up a copy of ALL FOR LOVE for only 99¢ all week! http://tinyurl.com/cf6m3vg 5 Prince Books http://www.5princebooks.com

For the Love of Books Valentine's Day Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fill Your Kindle for Christmas Only 99¢ Each!

These five Kindle books/novellas are on sale for ONLY 99 CENTS EACH from now through Christmas. Happy shopping! http://amazon.com/author/annswann

Another Writing Tip

Another writing tip from someone wiser. But I'd finish the quote with one more line

 ... I'll bolt the door and then I'll write.

Easy to Write

Why is it easier to write when I know I have only a few minutes? Is it a form of procrastination? The Freudian flip-side, perhaps?  If I have a whole day to devote to my characters--or they to me, as the case may be--then I find a hundred little things that must be done immediately, in succession, or better yet in tandem, so that no one thing is ever completed . . . but if I have only a few minutes before I have to be out the door, the words flow like water.

So I've developed a faucet solution to a Freudian problem. It's actually very simple: I sit myself down at the computer (knowing I can only stay a moment or three), then I turn on the tap and let the letters flow. After a bit, the faucet goes off and I jump up and sweep the floor, take a walk, shampoo my hair, or a even just load the washing machine. That's when the ideas break over me in waves . . . and then I rush back to the computer and try to capture them in print. Somedays, it's as exhausting as treading water in a storm. But the words do flow. Maybe they aren't the perfect, good china words I long for, but as someone much wiser than I once said,