Monday, October 24, 2011

WELCOME COFFIN HOPPERS! ENTER TO WIN BELOW!

I am sooo excited to be part of the Coffin Hop this year!  There are 100 authors participating which means YOU have a chance to win some really cool prizes like a Nook, gift cards, books, t-shirts, and even a chance to have your name in a novel!

Although I'm not a horror writer...YET, I am a mystery/thriller writer.  I write the Sloane Monroe series and currently have two books published: Black Diamond Death and Sinnerman.  Both are .99 as a promotion for this contest (book three in the series, I Have a Secret, will be released Spring 2012). 

My first novel, Black Diamond Death, entered the top #100 in two mystery categories six weeks after its release and has been a bestseller for over six months, and my second, Sinnerman, entered the top #100 sixteen days after its release and is doing well.    



Enough about my books for now...let's get to the contest!  I am giving away two prizes:

Prize #1: One autographed copy of either Black Diamond Death or Sinnerman (your choice)

Prize #2: One $20 gift card to Amazon.com

Here's how to win...

Just for stopping by and "blog hopping" you are eligible for one entry in prize #1.  All you need to do is EMAIL ME with your name. 

To be eligible for prize #2, purchase a copy of Sinnerman (which is priced at .99 for the rest of this month) and EMAIL ME the answer to these two questions:

1. In chapter 29, where does Giovanni take Sloane?

2. In chapter 42, what part of Park City does Decklan Reids live in?

These chapters are short, and it should only take about five minutes to find the answers.  Once you have them, EMAIL ME.  You will be entered to win prize #1 AND #2, AND you will be entered five times for the $20 gift card.

As an added bonus, anyone who signs up to follow my blog will receive two additional entries in the contest.

And don't forget to return back to the BLOG HOP once you're done here and keep on hoppin!  I will announce the winners on my site and contact them by email on November 1st.

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Hallowed Ground - A Short Story

Here's a short story that I wrote about a year ago.  I originally submitted it in a Writer's Digest contest. 



Hallowed Ground
I never would have purchased this house if I‘d known it was built on an Indian burial ground. 
I was new in town and looking to start up my home remodeling business.  The way I saw it, the best way to advertise was to purchase something in town, fix it up and use it as an example of my trade. I met up with a local realtor and she took me to see the “fixer uppers” in the area.  We viewed over a dozen homes, but nothing seemed to resonate.  
It wasn’t until I ventured out on my own that I spotted it; an old, run down wooden house just outside of town on County Road 305.  There was no for sale sign out front, but from the looks of the place, it had long since been abandoned.  A few coats of paint on the outside and some upgrades on the interior, and I could have it looking like new in no time.   I placed a call to the realtor.  “You don’t want that house,” she told me and then went on to say something about it being haunted.  I laughed it off and told her I didn’t believe in that type of thing and asked her to contact the owner for me.  A few days later she called to say the owners had passed away some years back and none of their children ever came forward to claim the place so it was deeded to the state.  And the state was more than willing to sell it to me. 
We settled on a price and I moved in.   The first couple weeks were like any other; I assessed all the work to be done, drew up some plans and bought supplies.   And then the nightmare began.  One night I woke to the sound of a woman crying.   Thinking someone was at the front door I rushed over to it and thrust it open, but I found nothing.  No sign of anyone, and the crying had stopped.  I convinced myself that it must have been a dream, until the next night, when her cries turned from a soft whimper to a long and drawn out shriek like the sound of a train slamming on its brakes. 
From then on it occurred every night, sometimes for hours.  I wondered what would happen if I never went to bed at all.  So the next night I lit a fire, sat down in the chair in my living room and waited.  A few hours passed and nothing.  Aside from the creak of my rocking chair on the plank wood floor, all was silent.  As the hours ticked by my eyelids started to feel heavy, and I was just about to nod off when I noticed the embers in the fire ignite. 
I opened my eyes and there she was, kneeling in the center of the living room floor.  Her arms were crisscrossed in front of her, and as she sobbed she rocked her body back and forth chanting the words mitawa wakanheja.  I called out; trying to get her attention, but it was as if she was unaware of my presence.  I reached my hand out to her, but my fingers passed right through her shoulder and I collapsed on the floor.  I squeezed my eyes shut and when I opened them again, she was gone.   I sat for a moment in silence.  Could I have imagined the whole thing?  Maybe I just needed sleep.  I grabbed the poker and pressed it into the fire.  A heavy gust of wind shot out and hurled me toward the wall.  And there in the fire was the smoldering face of a man in an Indian headdress.  I snatched my keys and ran out of the house. 
That night I stayed at a hotel.  After checking in I went down to the lobby and got on the internet.  I typed in some key words and clicked on a link and there she was.  A photo of the woman I had seen.  Standing beside her was the Chief and their three children.  I learned that my property had once been their home.  In a battle to protect it the tribe was annihilated, and the bodies of the dead were buried on the same location where my house sat today.  And the words she chanted: mitawa wakanheja meant: my children.  It was then I realized the house didn’t belong there.  No one did.  The land needed to be returned to its rightful owner. 
And that’s why tomorrow I’m setting the house on fire.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

This Week Enter to Win a Free Autographed Copy of my Novel!

This week on Free Book Friday, my novel, Sinnerman is featured, and I will be giving away three personally autographed copies.  You can enter to win by clicking HERE.  And good luck to everyone!


Sinnerman Description:

What if you’d been given a second chance to catch your sister’s killer—would you take it? And if you did, would a maximum sentence behind bars be justice enough, or would he have to pay…with his life?

MEET SLOANE

Private Investigator Sloane Monroe has solved every case that’s come across her desk with the exception of one—the brutal murder of her sister Gabrielle.

Three years ago the killer slipped into the shadows, but today he’ll reappear again in the form of a female victim. 

MEET SAM

Park City, Utah was a peaceful place until Sinnerman came to town.
Who is he, and why does he prey on innocent women?




Thursday, October 13, 2011

Author Cheryl Bradshaw Debuts Serial Killer Novel, Sinnerman, on Amazon Kindle

Here's my press release for Sinnerman, Book #2 in the Sloane Monroe Series.


WYOMING—October 13, 2011—Mystery and thriller writer Cheryl Bradshaw has just released a new .99 cent novel, “Sinnerman”, for Kindle and Nook.  The paperback version was also released this month.  “Sinnerman” is the second novel in Bradshaw’s Sloane Monroe series and is set in Park City, Utah.
Description for Sinnerman, Sloane Monroe Series #2:
What if you’d been given a second chance to catch your sister’s killer—would you take it? And if you did, would a maximum sentence behind bars be justice enough, or would he have to pay…with his life?

MEET SLOANE

Private Investigator Sloane Monroe has solved every case that’s come across her desk with the exception of one—the brutal murder of her sister Gabrielle. Three years ago the killer slipped into the shadows, but today he’ll reappear again in the form of a female victim.

MEET SAM

Park City, Utah was a peaceful place until Sinnerman came to town. Who is he, and why does he prey on innocent women?
--Sinnerman entered Amazon Kindle’s top #100 in the mystery hard boiled and police procedural categories within sixteen days of its launch.  Bradshaw’s other novel, “Black Diamond Death”, the first novel in the Sloane Monroe series, has been in the top #100 in the same categories for the past six months. 

“Writing mysteries has always been my dream, and I wanted to give Kindle and Nook readers and my fans an affordable way to read the first couple books in the series,” said Bradshaw. In addition to her novels, Bradshaw also hosts a blog for aspiring mystery writers and has a Facebook group for writers with over 600 members.

For more about Cheryl Bradshaw’s books or to request an interview:
Media Contact:

Website: Cherylbradshaw.com
Blog: cherylbradshawbooks.blogspot.com
Email: misspoirotatymail.com

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Sneak Peek Of I Have A Secret

The first chapter of the third novel in the Sloane Monroe series is out, and I wanted to give readers of my blog the chance to see it first. 



So without further adieu, here is Chapter One of I Have A Secret:

Doug Ward stood on the ship’s deck and gazed across the calm waves of an evening sea.  The cool ocean breeze brushed past his face and clung to it like a halo of mist, but he didn’t seem to notice.  The scotch in his hand was his fifth of the night, or the sixth or seventh—he couldn’t remember.  Most nights he drank until he passed out, and tonight would be no exception.  He’d drink himself into oblivion if it meant never having to hear another one of his classmates sing the karaoke version of M.C. Hammer’s U Can’t Touch This. 

It had been twenty years since someone called him “Douggie”, but tonight he’d heard it shouted out at least fifty times.  Maybe more.  All he wanted was to get away from it, so he left the crowd at the costume party behind to sing their hearts out while he pondered the long list of life’s regrets in solitude.  Rounding out the top five was his decision to take the cruise in the first place.  But there was little he could do about that now.  Just two more days, he thought to himself, and this trip will be all over.

                Doug’s memories of high school had faded through the years until he didn’t remember much of anything.  It all seemed like the blur of someone else’s life, like the experiences he recalled weren’t really his anymore.  He had flashes of memories here and there, but only one that was solid enough to stand the test of time.  And that was the one he’d always tried to forget, but no amount of alcohol would ever drown it out.  Not completely. 

Often times Doug thought about what he’d change if he could go back in time and do it all over again.  He envisioned himself at the fork in the road and what that road would have been like had he chosen to go in the other direction.  Maybe then he wouldn’t have gone through life with all the nightmares that plagued him at night, or the secrets that gnawed at his insides like a thief in the darkness trying to find his way out of the black fog that surrounded him on all sides.

“There you are,” a voice said behind him. 

Doug rotated his body around and faced Trista, his wife.  She looked exquisite in her black satin vampire gown that hugged every curve of her petite frame.  Her cocoa-colored hair fell in loose curls around her shoulders, and her lips were stained the perfect shade of red.  It didn’t matter how many years had come and gone since they’d married, she still remained the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. 

“I’m sorry, honey.  I just needed a moment alone,” he said.  

“Everyone is looking for you,” she said.  “They want to know what happened to the life of the party.”

He shook his head. 

“You know I haven’t been worthy of that title for a very long time.”

She shrugged her shoulders.

“You can’t help how people remember you Mr. Prom King,” she said.  “And I thought you should know your queen is getting lonely in there without you.”

Doug managed to crack a smile.  He hated to disappoint her.  “Just give me a few more minutes, okay?  And then I’ll come in.”

Trista wrapped her arms around him and whispered, “I’ll be waiting,” and then she brushed her lips across his and turned and went back inside. 

Doug winced when she touched him.  Not because her affections were unwanted, but because he knew he’d let her down over the years.  He hadn’t lived up to the man he should have been—not as a husband, a father, any of it.  And yet she stayed while he wasted away.  He knew he didn’t deserve her, and that made him feel even worse. 

So many times Doug tried to pick himself up again, for his wife and their kids.  But no matter how many twelve step programs he went to, it always ended with his head staring down the bottom of a bottle until he’d finished every last drop.  Many nights he woke up in his bed not knowing how he got there, and he’d turn and gaze upon Trista who was snuggled up next to him.  In those moments of serenity he would vow that the next day would be different.  But when the sun rose and brought a new dawn, he was too weak and couldn’t get out the door without at least one drink.      

                Doug turned back and stared out to the sea again, but the night had grown dark, and he couldn’t see much of anything anymore.  He shrugged his shoulders and decided it was time to go back inside.  He hoped he had stayed out long enough for the party to wind down, but he knew better.             

Out of the darkness a shadow emerged.  Doug hunched over to get a better look and faced it.  “I’m coming in now, sweetie,” he said.  The figure didn’t move.  Doug squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again, but the image that stood in front of him was still a blur, and he couldn’t quite make it out. 

                Several seconds went by and neither moved.  He shook his head back and forth at a rapid rate and tried to jolt himself back into reality.  And then it occurred to him that whoever lurked there seemed too tall to be his wife.   

                “Is that you, Candice?” he said.  “Because I’m still not interested.  I love my wife.”
                The figure shook its head but did not speak.

                Candice was known in high school as the girl all the guys slept with, and she never took no for an answer.  Not then, not now.  Doug had resisted her for most of his senior year until one night when she just showed up on his doorstep.  It was like she knew he’d been left all alone.  With his parents gone and Trista out of town, Candice pushed her way into his house.  Doug tried to say no, that he wasn’t interested, but all she did was laugh while she unfastened the belt on her jacket.  When it was undone, she grabbed both sides and spread it all the way apart.  Doug gasped.  She was stark naked.  She let the jacket drop to the floor and took her pointer finger and curled it back toward her, signaling him to come closer.  That was how she always got her man.  She had the best body of any girl at school—one that none of the boys could resist, and she knew it. 

                Since the first day of the cruise Candice had stalked him, showing up at the same excursions he was on with Trista and making obscene gestures whenever Trista wasn’t looking.  Just the sight of her made Doug’s insides feel like they were on a continual roller coaster, and he just wanted to get off.  On the second night, Candice had even cornered him in the hallway and pushed him up against one of the guest rooms.  Doug had more than his fair share of drinks that night, but he’d managed to shove her off him before he stumbled down the hall to his room where Trista was waiting. 

                Doug stared at the figure, sure that it was Candice.  He was frustrated that she just stood there in silence.  What kind of game is she playing now…he thought to himself.  “It is you, Candice, isn’t it?” he said.

                The figure shook its head once more and moved toward him, and for the first time in years, Doug wished he was in control of all of his faculties.  Whoever it was wore a long black robe with a mask on their face like they had just attended a masquerade ball with Marie Antoinette.  It was large and covered their entire face, and he wasn’t certain whether a man or a woman was concealed behind it.  He reached for the mask, but missed, and his hand swept across the open air. 

                “Who are you?” he said.  “And what do you want?”

The masked person reached into their pocket and pulled out something long and shiny.  Doug panicked and tried to lunge to the side, but instead he stumbled backward, and the knife plunged into his chest.  Doug’s drink tipped from his hand and fell overboard into the icy depths of the water below.  Before he had time to react, he felt another sharp pain and then another.  He wanted to fight back, but he was helpless against it.  The third jab cut deep, and as the life drained from his body and the blood spilled out and stained the deck around his feet, he managed to utter one simple word, “Why?”

                The figure delivered one last blow to the center of his heart and then pulled Doug in close and whispered a single word into his ear, the last he’d ever hear: revenge.  He pressed his hands into his chest and slumped over, trying to stand, but he knew it was too late.  Less than a minute later, Doug Ward was dead.  

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Sinnerman - Book Two in the Sloane Monroe Series is OUT!!!

A couple weeks ago Sinnerman, the second novel in my Sloane Monroe series, went live--which is so exciting!  And right now it's on promotion for .99 during the first month of sale for the Kindle and Nook.  The print version will be out in the next week or so; I'm just waiting for the final word from the publisher on that.


To learn more about it, here's the skinny on what it's all about:

What if you’d been given a second chance to catch your sister’s killer—would you take it? And if you did, would a maximum sentence behind bars be justice enough, or would he have to pay…with his life?

MEET SLOANE

Private Investigator Sloane Monroe has solved every case that’s come across her desk with the exception of one—the brutal murder of her sister Gabrielle. Three years ago the killer slipped into the shadows, but today he’ll reappear again in the form of a female victim.

MEET SAM

Park City, Utah was a peaceful place until Sinnerman came to town. Who is he, and why does he prey on innocent women?
And you can read chapter one in its entirety HERE.

Coming in the next week...I will be announcing a contest and will be giving away Amazon.com gift cards to the winners, so check back for that. 

Happy reading!