Subscribe to email updates

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Welcome to Summer Splash Blog Hop; Signed Copy of Blow Up the Roses is my Offering

Thanks for checking in during the Summer Splash Bog Hop that Cheryl Bradshaw at Indie Writers Unite! started July 26.

I'm offering a signed, paperback copy of Blow Up the Roses to two persons (random draw) who leave a comment with their email address so I can contact them later for snail mail delivery of this novel. Curiosity Quills, publisher of this novel, is running a special so you kindle readers can grab it as an ebook for 99 cents until Sunday.

But, wait. You may not want to be a winner or get the book.

Blow Up the Roses is a very dark suspense/thriller. More than one reader said they wanted to stop reading it, but couldn't. We've got some serious serial killing going on here. Mr. Brown, who rents his side of the duplex from Mrs. Keene, is a very nasty and troubled person.

Some of the back story: I was managing editor of the mid-sized Kansas daily, The Olathe Daily News. from 1978 to 1988. During that time, we lived in half of a duplex on a cul d'sac. An horrific murder occurred in Olathe. Home was entered through one of those unlocked sliding doors from a walk-out basement. A teenage girl was left dead, bludgeoned, her younger brother alive, but with head wound, and elder teenage sister missing. Her body was found a few days later.

The town was terrified and it took the cops way too long to solve this case. It was a tough reporting job for us because we learned that the autopsy of the elder teen showed she was pregnant. To report or not? We reasoned, and I stand by it, that at that time the killer was on the loose and the more people knew all the facts, the more they might come forward with information to find the killer.

The family was not pleased. For me, it became difficult because that family moved out of their death-ridden house and moved into another duplex on my cul d'sac. So I had to drive by where they now lived on my way to work.

Blow Up the Roses is not a fictional retelling of those events. It's a complete new creation, but those events certainly were in my psyche when Mr. Brown made his appearance through my keyboard.

Here's a video trailer I had more fun producing than I should have.

If you live in the Kansas City area, let me know and you'll go in another drawing, winner to be invited to the house for one of my cocktails or, shudder, a non-alcoholic beverage. 

Here's the link to the other authors participating in the Summer Splash Blog Hop.

And, finally, here's where you can find all of my fiction. Well, except for my Philip McGuire mystery Tortured Truths that Curiosity Quills will publish in the fall and its sequel, Heart Chants, in winterMore about those later. If interested, go back to the top of the page and enter your email address for further updates.

37 comments:

  1. Sounds like an interesting book to me. redislandnovel@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh wow, that sounds like a good read. Being able to draw on the experience from that murder case should make for a *really* engaging read!

    To avoid spambots - smilesXalumniYcmuYedu
    X - @, Y - .

    ReplyDelete
  3. OMG.. awesome.. Would love this thriller!!

    vals_hemi at yahoo dot com

    Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hopping through to have a look at all the other authors' sites in the hop :-) Variety is the spice of life and this Splash Hop is very spicy! Great stuff!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Now I have to read it! I love all that creepy stuff. It almost makes me want to get in the car and head down to Kansas City for a chance at that cocktail!
    endersbe.mary@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. I want a copy of Blow Up the Roses! nth_carson@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. Be careful, folks, this is what you're getting into:

    Mr. Brown closed the door on the whimpers and walked up the stairs to take a shower. He stood under the stream of water and leaned his head against the wall of the shower stall. "Mommy loves me. Mommy loveth me. Mommy loveth me," he whispered to himself as his heart slowed. Those pictures should really be something, he thought to himself. As good as these stills would be, though, he knew there was no way they would show the wriggling. That's what he loved, how they wriggled trying to get away from him.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hopping through the Summer Splash! DarkMoonDreamer@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. Well, I once got some funny flack from writing in a review that I was a lover of serial killers...and that's what I'm sticking with! So, I'm pretty sure I'd really like your book!
    :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love thrillers!! I'm one of those people who tend to read right before bed I get myself all freaked out whenever I read a thriller... My lab loves it though because when I get scared I let her share my bed hehe
    savannahm1987@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. Loved the endorsement, what a fun way to present a trailer. Thank you for participating in the fun.
    dz59001[at]gmail[dot]com

    ReplyDelete
  12. Stopping by on the summer splash blog hop! Your books sounds like it will be VERY thrilling to read. Can't wait to check it out.
    barbistull@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. So I'm more of a cozy mystery person, but now you just got me all curious I will have to read it and hope I don't have any nightmares! :D kidisitor@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  14. I would love to read this book... I think, haha! Even though I've been warned, I just can't help myself... I'm only human. :)

    craigcrystal (at) ymail (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thanks for the HOP havimg loads of fun Joe hawkshaw joehawkshaw@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  16. I love dark suspense/thrillers! I would love to read your book! Thank you so much for participating in the hop and for your generous giveaway! kbinmich@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  17. The darker the better! I find these kind of stories fascinating and I have my fingers crossed!
    mizztuts AT bellsouth DOT net

    ReplyDelete
  18. I should get this one for my husband. He enjoys thrillers!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Great Hop. Thanks for the chance to win.. grandmatinaof2 at gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hello Randy! If I'm so fortunate as to win one of the draws here, I would probably gift my sister with your book as she is a serial killer story addict! I mean really! I continue to read fluffy romances which are relaxing and help me sleep better at night after being bombarded with all the negativity that is out there in our world (especially from serial killers). :-) jdh2690@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Janice! You are a winner. I've sent you an email and just let me know where you want me to mail the book. If you prefer I mail directly to your sister, happy to do so. You can contact me randyattwood@hotmail.com
      Hope your sister enjoys, if that's the right word, LOL.

      Delete
  21. Another fellow hopper dropping in to say Hello!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Wow, the book sounds like a great read! I am so into suspense and thrillers as well as other genres! Thank you for participating in the Blog Hop!

    Cumquat342003@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  23. A reminder for those ereader folks, my publisher CQ has Blow Up the Roses on sale through the end of July for 99 cents! http://www.amazon.com/Blow-Up-the-Roses-ebook/dp/B00A7LJL3O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353275739&sr=8-1&keywords=Blow+Up+the+Roses

    ReplyDelete
  24. What an intriguing book! Thanks for the great giveaway!
    bhometchko(at)hotmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  25. I'm very interested in your book. Thanks!
    katieamanda1(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  26. Your book sounds great. Thanks for the contest.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Hi! Your book look great! Im intrigued. Cant wait to check it out! Thank you for participating in this awesome hop! Im having a blast! Thank you the fantastic giveaways too! :)
    shadowluvs2read(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  28. Thanks for the great giveaway!

    thompsonem3 at aol dot com

    ReplyDelete
  29. Thanks all for stopping by and making the Blog Hop so successful. The winners of Blow Up the Roses paperback were Janice Hougland and Kimberly Mayberry. Enjoy and be scared!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Your book sounds intriguing! I hope I win!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Aloha Randy! Thanks for hopping along with us! May your life and work be filled with love, light and inspiration!

    ReplyDelete