Book Review: Two Houses (Verona College Book 1)

Rich Boy, Poor Girl

By GG Collins           Copyright 2024

Given this story has unfolded during each generation, even before the writing of Romeo and Juliet, Two Houses has taken this time in everyone’s life and made it all the more poignant and introspective. Told from the viewpoint of each character, in the capable hands of M.G. Cobbett, makes it an intimate read from start to finish.

Todd Steadman II and younger brother Jessie live in the neighborhood of Hawthorn Hill. Their father is chief constable in Beswick Stanton. It is the first day of school at Verona College and we immediately learn that Todd has broken off with his girlfriend Tamara Lewis, also “affectionately” known as Tampon Lewis.

Recognized for his bullying, Todd directs his attentions on Carmel Edwards. Boys used to pull girl’s pigtails when they were interested in dating her, but Todd chooses the fine art of bullying to pave the way to a date. He may not always get what he wants. His father has big plans for him including who he will marry. And he goes to absurd lengths to insure it happens; even controlling the boys’ cell SIM cards.

“I have warned their single mother that she is to keep her trash away from you or face the consequences. Last warning. I won’t have it.” – Todd Steadman, Sr.

The “trash” are Carmel and Penny.

For Jessie, the artistic one, he must live with the knowledge he is his father’s least favourite son and maybe isn’t loved by him at all.

Carmel and her sister Penny live – as we have come to call in the US – on the wrong side of the tracks. Their mother is raising them alone and Carmel has taken it upon herself to help out her mother with meals and housekeeping duties and works part-time at a petrol station. The sisters’ relationship of support and love is beautiful reading.

As the story unfolds, the boys’ mother Norika Fujimoto, who lives in Japan tries to intervene, but will she be successful? Read these soulful pages to find out if anyone gets their happy ending. You won’t want to stop turning pages.

Available at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0CG4PR6W3 and in the UK https://tinyurl.com/bdfkj3fb

Cozy Mystery on Greenhills Chats Podcast

Cozy Mystery “Dead Editor File” Review.

Watch book review of Dead Editor File in the UK via Greenhills Chats podcast. My thanks to Michelle Cobbett for reading and reviewing book one in the Taylor Browning Cozy Mysteries (available at Amazon https://tinyurl.com/yhhwn9p6 .)

“You have given me my new addiction – Cosy crime. Dead Editor File sealed my fate!” — Michelle Cobbett

For more from Michelle go to her review site: https://www.cobbettsbooks.co.uk/

Review of Short Story Dark Fantasy

Chrysalis by Susan K. Hamilton

by GG Collins    Copyright 12-17-2023

Have you ever met Death? Michelle “Misha” Blackstone meets death in this dark haunting story about a reporter who is on her way to martyrdom. But death doesn’t appear as the Grim Reaper holding the scythe but as a woman with chestnut hair and tats. They sit in a lovely park while Misha waits for her death; or maybe she is already dead.

“It wouldn’t be pleasant, and I shuddered, remembering the photos Doc Fadden had shown me of the test subjects.”

As they sit among the Gray, “That place that hangs between life and death … ”  In Death’s hands are scrolls, each a map of Misha’s life … and death. One scroll drops and Death tells her that she won’t die today from a torture-induced heart attack. Which scroll will chart the remainder of Misha’s life?

“Tell me something, Misha. Do you want to die today? Or do you want to fulfill this mission of yours, even knowing what it means for you?”

Photo by Taylor Flowe on Unsplash

Hamilton does it again with this not so distant future dark fantasy. Misha’s demise is up to her. Hamilton’s words will haunt you.

Available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. https://tinyurl.com/bdh3jvb4

Birth of the Atomic Bomb

I Am Become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds – Bhagavad Gita

By GG Collins Copyright 2023

“The beginning of the atomic age began with a pinprick of light so bright it lit up the desert with the power of several midday suns … ” – Atomic Medium

https://tinyurl.com/5n74s59r

When I began writing Atomic Medium I thought the world had forgotten this era. But thanks to a movie called Oppenheimer a new generation is learning about the men and women who developed the bomb. Not with computers and smart phones but with a little thing called a slide rule and human calculators.

By Jack W. Aeby, July 16, 1945, Civilian worker at Los Alamos laboratory, working under the aegis of the Manhattan Project. – This image comes from the Google-hosted LIFE Photo Archive where it is available under the filename 96ad5a9a5c94664e.This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See the copyright section in the template documentation for more information., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=140895

I was lucky to have access to photos from the Atomic City of Los Alamos including pictures of the houses where the scientists lived and the mess hall where they ate. I poured over maps of the compound and read books describing the times. Many of my sources are listed below and a full list can be obtained in the bibliography at the end of Atomic Medium.

My characters, reporter Rachel Blackstone and her friend Chloe Valdez, went back in time to 1945 New Mexico. It was here they experienced the first treacherous step into a future of unimaginable weapons.

“They dropped to the ground and held each other. They trembled with terror. Rachel wondered if their hair would burn off or if they were on the verge of incineration.” – Atomic Medium

“Calling it a weapon of mass destruction sounded like an understatement; a news bite, trivial. This was obliteration; one second you were there and the next you were vapor being inhaled by hell’s meteor.” – Atomic Medium

By Trinity_crater.jpg: Federal government of the United Statesderivative work: Bomazi (talk) – Trinity_crater.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12817993

We talk about nuclear weapons today like they have always been here. Each year scientists move the Doomsday Clock a bit closer to midnight. In January 2023 it was moved to 90 seconds before midnight. That’s how close we are to apocalypse.

* * *

Atomic Medium will be priced at .99 cents on July 30, 2023. https://tinyurl.com/5n74s59r

For additional blog posts on this subject: Atomic Bomb Test Successful but Deadly https://tinyurl.com/mu6mdz3v and The Building That Changed the World https://tinyurl.com/22bpr67t

For more reading: Bibliography of Atomic Medium

109 East Palace by Jennet Conant, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2005.

The Manhattan Project, edited by Cynthia C. Kelly, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc., 2007.

The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 1986 by Rhodes & Rhodes.

A Few Good Women by Evelyn M. Monahan & Rosemary Neidel-Greenlee, Alfred A Knopf, 2010.

The Streets of Santa Fe by Josh Gonze, 2012.

A Spy’s Guide to Santa Fe and Albuquerque by E. B. Held, University of New Mexico Press, 2011.

Manhattan Project Suitcase, Manhattan Days Script, Los Alamos Historical Society, http://www.losalamoshistory.org

Los Alamos National Laboratory/Science Photo Library at www.sciencephoto.com/media

Atomic Heritage Foundation, Profiles at www.atomicheritage.org/bios

Los Alamos National Laboratory, LANL History in Images at www.lanl.gov

Manhattan Project Heritage Preservation Association, Inc., The Otowi Bridge at http://www.mphpa.org

“Manhattan Project spies who met in Santa Fe changed the balance of the world” by Tom Sharpe, The Santa Fe New Mexican, September 27, 2000.

“The Difficulties of Nuclear Containment” by Sam Roberts, The New York Times, September 29, 2014.

Your Writing Muse

With a Little Help From Our Friends

Do you have that person? You know the friend you trust implicitly; the one you share bits of your writing with. I have that person: MJ Trantham. She has appeared in these pages several times over the years. You can find her contributions in these pages: https://tinyurl.com/9j5m2kar

MJ is my crystal expert – as a practitioner, she should write her own book about the magic of crystals. She suggested I give my character Rachel Blackstone (the Rachel Blackstone Paranormal Mysteries) stones for protection in her excursions into the supernatural. Wow! It was so successful; I’ve introduced them in the Taylor Browning Cozy Mystery series too.

Photo by Sarah Brown on Unsplash

Crystals added a new dimension to my storytelling.

For years, MJ lived in the Centennial State. Regularly, I would receive stories from her about the Ute tribes in Colorado. They were so fascinating; I thought I should include more in my books about the Natives in New Mexico. They are after all intricately involved in the history of the state. What followed was more about the Hopi, Navajo and Pueblo Indians of the Land of Enchantment.

I asked her if she would read a sample chapter here and there. I’m careful not to send her portions that reveal villains and key elements of the book so she can enjoy it in its entirety later.

She was game, but expressed hesitation. She didn’t think she was an expert on writing despite the fact she is an excellent writer. What she is with certainty, however, is a good reader and she has an instinct for storytelling. Her feedback has become invaluable to me.

Photo by Yuri Efremov on Unsplash

Who do you trust enough to share your WIP?

MJ became that person to whom I give a sample here and there of my work in progress. In no time, MJ became my muse. Thank you MJ.

Book Tour Begins Today

Thank You Itsy Bitsy Book Bits

Editor Kill Fee is officially on the road. The third in the Taylor Browning Cozy Mystery series took off today. You can find all the scoop here: https://itsybitsybookbits.com/2023/05/editor-kill-fee-the-taylor-browning-cozy-mysteries-book-3-by-gg-collins/

Watch the Book Trailer!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8dlLO5rquI

Read the Review:

Here is a new review excerpt written by @tarajohnson513 and published on Book Bub. For the entire review check out: https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/2330489227?utm_content=follow_alert&utm_source=social_email

“This was a great book with an interesting storyline that pulled me and from the first few pages I was hooked. I loved how the author immediately lends an air of mystery, suspense, and intrigue with the setting of Devils Road and Anita being drawn into the woods by a mysterious force. It gave me goosebumps and I could not wait to read what happened next. The characters are well rounded, lovable, and relatable. Taylor is one smart cookie who is ambitious and determined to get to the bottom of a mystery. I loved how she was relentless in getting to bottom of Anita’s disappearance and unravel the truth behind what was going on. A great book with mystery, drama, suspense, intrigue, and twists and turns that will keep you reading until the end.”

— Tara Johnson, Book Bub Member

Get your copy today https://a.co/d/epzN97r but stay away from the Mayan Death Pepper and Devil’s Road!

New Mexico’s Triangle

Who Knows What Lurks in the Pecos Triangle

by GG Collins (Copyright 2023)

In New Mexico near Pecos is a notorious road called county road 63A. It is known by another name to locals, El Camino del Diablo or the Devil’s Road. It begins easy, but if followed it becomes an axle-breaking journey to the end where there is an abandoned fire tower. But it’s not just damage to vehicles to worry about. There have been several disappearances from this location.

The Devil’s Road begins easy but if you continue to drive it becomes rutted, rock strewn and a bone-jarring experience.

Photo by Eddie Jones on Unsplash

There are Clusters of Missing Persons Throughout the World.

A cluster is comprised of 3 to 80 people. In the Santa Fe area there is a cluster of 15 people going back decades. In the Pecos Wilderness near 63A several people have disappeared. They have remained officially missing as no evidence of their death has been found.

Emma Tresp was on her way to the Pecos Benedictine Monastery on August 31, 1998. She had been there before so knew the way. At 71, she was a world traveler accustomed to finding her way in strange cities. When she didn’t arrive as planned at the monastery, a search was launched. Her white Honda Civic was found abandoned on 63A only two miles from the end of the road where the fire tower was located. Her belongings, including cell phone and purse were left in her car. Footprints were found a few feet from her car where they ended. She has not been found.

Why do people vanish off the face of the Earth in the Pecos Triangle? Is it serial killers, aliens, animals or portals leading to other dimensions?

Photo by Niilo Isotalo on Unsplash

On September 6, 2009 Mel Nadel went hunting with two friends. Nadel owned a gym and at 61 was fit and knew the area. His friends went off together to do some hunting, while Nadel remained at camp to build a blind. When his companions returned, Nadel was not there. While he was appropriately dressed for the weather and the wilderness — and armed — he was gone. Canines were able to follow his scent about 100 yards and then stopped. There was no evidence of animal attack. It was as if he’d simply vanished.

Common Points to These Disappearances:

• The point of separation. Either someone is alone or separates from their companions.

• Frequently the disappearance takes place near granite or a rock field.

• There may be water nearby or a weather event.

• Dogs can’t track 95% of the cases.

Other Theories:

Some Native American tribes have a history of avoiding the area due to the belief that a demon known as El Viveron my haunt these woods. Strange lights and UFO reports have existed since Europeans settled the Pecos region. Reports of colossal snakes and shadow people persist. Many theories exist from serial killers to portals leading to other dimensions.

Check out Editor Kill Fee: A Taylor Browning Cozy Mystery at: https://amzn.to/3LBOpFw

Fodder for Fiction:

In my latest book, Editor Kill Fee, I used these incidents as a back drop to the story of the disappearance of the Wine and Crime Book Club president Anita Juarez. Anita takes a wrong turn and finds herself on 63A. Not to worry, it is still a cozy mystery and Taylor Browning has plenty of time with her cats — and maybe one is psychic? She and coworker Jim Wells find themselves lost in the Pecos Triangle as Det. Victor Sanchez fights jurisdiction issues trying to find them.

Taylor Browning becomes lost in the Pecos Wilderness.

Photo by Jackson David on Unsplash

For more information about the Pecos Triangle and the Devil’s Road, read these sources.

Allan Pacheco https://www.santafeghostandhistorytours.com/NEW-MEXICO-MISSING.html

Brent Swancer https://mysteriousuniverse.org/read/author/brent-swancer

Davis Paulides 411 Missing Book Series https://www.hancockhouse.com/collections/missing-411-series He also has several movies out. Try Amazon Prime for viewing.

World Building for the Fiction Writer

Authors: Creators

of Worlds

by GG Collins Copyright 2023

If you write fiction, you must build a believable world for your reader to inhabit for the length of their stay. Make it authentic, personal and full of local color, wherever that might be.

Sometimes writers don’t realize it, but they’ve been building worlds all along. Mostly thought of as a skill for authors of sci-fi, fantasy and paranormal stories; we all do it. Every time you describe a room or what your heroine is wearing, you’re creating a reality in your reader’s head, subject to their interpretation.

Try this, next time you’re at a writing or reading group, read a paragraph that describes a room. Then, ask the participants where the sofa is? You’ll find that almost everyone has a different layout of the room and where all the furniture is located.

When writing my Rachel Blackstone Paranormal Mysteries I frequently have to construct other times and places. In Lemurian Medium, Rachel astral-traveled back to the doomed continent of Lemuria. I read the works of James Churchward and Frank Joseph to get the history. But when it came to clothing, I researched early Roman times.

With Atomic Medium, it was the 1940s Manhattan Project. I was lucky with it because I found photos of the Atomic City houses and buildings in the Science Photo Library at the Atomic Heritage Foundation in Los Alamos, New Mexico. These insights into time and place are invaluable to the writer needing background on historical events.

As I tackled Anasazi Medium, I researched the Fourth World of the Hopi. Both Frank Waters, who probably wrote the book (Book of the Hopi) on this American Southwest tribe, and Harold Courlanders book The Fourth World of the Hopis were a great help in establishing what might happen to my protagonist when she traveled to the Land of the Dead. I used the story of the young man from Oraibi that the Hopi have verbally gifted to each generation. It’s a beautiful account of a boy who risked death to see beyond the veils. Rachel experiences much the same journey as she visits that realm. There, Másaw, the Guardian of the Underworld, speaks with her regarding the end of the Fourth World.

Writing anything historical, for instance, Jacqueline Winspear’s wonderful Maisie Dobbs series, requires not just research, but immersing yourself in that moment in time. Your scenes need to look, maybe even smell and taste, authentic so your reader can’t put it down.

Next time you’re up to your ears in stacks of research and earmarked books, remember how much more interesting and fun your story will be to read because you took the time to hammer together a world beyond our own.

New Book: Editor Kill Fee

Mystery Editor Taylor Browning is Back in a New Cozy

What does a book club, a chile smuggling operation and a missing restaurateur have to do with murder? More than you might think. Taylor Browning is back with her cats and this time the “cantankerous” cat Oscar and new brother Cheddar get in on the action.

Preorder now at: https://amzn.to/3Z4qwJZ

Book Review: Ogre Lake Nothing to Fear by Helen G. Huntley

Get Ready to Enter a Magical Place

By GG Collins (Copyright 2023)

Set during the period before the Great Depression, two brothers return from their father’s funeral only to launch into an argument that is a turning point for both. While Jeremiah tries to calm his brother’s tirade, Isaiah is seething with rage because his father left him nothing. He refers to himself as the spare who will never be as good as his brother in his dead father’s eyes.

In his torment he casts a spell on his brother transforming him into an ogre who will forever be condemned to haunting the nearby lake. That is the only place he can be in human form. If he leaves the lake, he again becomes a monster. In emotional agony, Isaiah throws his father’s portrait into the open fireplace. Soon the fire has spread to the house and Isaiah is consumed by the flames.

Carina Raison, who is a forward-thinking woman of her time – perhaps even part of the suffragette movement? – decides she needs some alone time and drives to Ogre Lake to set up camp. Because of the rumor surrounding the area, she feels certain it will be a quiet experience. After all, she doesn’t believe in ogres. But soon she runs across a man who appears to live in a cave near the lake. In a lovely scene she gives the man soap and cuts his hair and beard. From then on, Carina is a regular at Ogre Lake as she helps him unravel his past so he can have a future. Their romance blossoms from her kindness.

“Jeremiah watched as Isaiah walked through the flames as if they were nothing, parting them with a movement of his hands.”

Cawdron Darois originally came from New Orleans where he had been a detective on the police force. He moved to Connecticut to become a private investigator, leaving the craziness of the Crescent City behind. He was content to find lost pets and take photos of philandering spouses. He could sense the presence of ghosts and Louisiana was full of them. Unfortunately, Connecticut has spirits too and one came with his apartment. Except for the ghost, he lives quietly with his cat Fred. Soon he is drawn into a series of deaths originally thought to be accidents.

Enjoy Huntley’s lyrical prose as you transit the tumultuous times before the Crash. Her characters are vividly written. Huntley’s theatrical experience shines through when she describes the rooms (sets) of the mansions she creates. This transports the reader into a beautiful world not yet cognizant of the approaching global economic collapse. Carina’s love for the ogre helps unravel the murder mystery with the help of a detective, a nun and a ghost.

Note: Adult Content