Teaser Tuesday - Who in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, the weekly Meme, hosted by The Purple Booker, that wants you to add books to your TBR! You can also just share what you are currently reading. We make it very easy to play along, it is as easy as 1, 2, 3!
1: Grab your current read
2: Open to a random page
3: Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.

It has been quite a long time since I last participated in Teaser Tuesday. So long, that it took me a while to find who was hosting now as I used to connect with MizB's blog, Should Be Reading. lol Anyway, I'm back and thought I'd join back in on the fun and add a little extra to my teaser, submitting an excerpt from the book I'm currently reading as well as an excerpt from one of the books I've written. This is, after all, my author website, so I do have to occasionally put in a shameless plug! ;)

First teaser from Who in the World is Carmen Sandiego? by Rebecca Tinker:

From up here, I could see the entire island. Students were making their way across the quad. Some were practicing their criminal skills and training together; others were playing games and gossiping.

I should be through with this book and have a review up later this week as part of my ongoing TBR Pile Reviews. So be sure to stop back by and read what I thought about this book!

For the second teaser, I'm heading back to my very first book to be published! It's part of a mystery series for ages 10 and up, following the adventures of two high school friends, Leyla and Lucien, as they stumble into various mysteries!  I'll provide the link to Goodreads for anyone wanting to add this to their TBR pile, but you can also find more info about this book and others on my website in the tabs above!

Spanish Intrigue (The L & L Mysteries #1) by Wendy Lohr:

Forcing his mind back to the present, Lucien remembered why he was at the lake and pulled the napkin out of his pocket. As he squirted the lemon juice on the napkin and watched in amazement, numbers and Roman numerals began to appear. Opening the sketchbook to a clean page, it took him several minutes to carefully copy what was on the napkin.


Let me know what you think of these teasers and add your Teaser Tuesday links in the comments below. I'll be sure to visit your site in return!

Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday: Spanish Intrigue

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

 

•Grab your current read
•Open to a random page
•Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
•BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
•Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This weeks' teaser comes from my first novel in The L & L Mysteries series, Spanish Intrigue:

He stared at her in disbelief, not saying anything for a moment, and Leyla was starting to regret having said anything to him.  Then he started chuckling, completely catching her off guard.  Narrowing her eyes, she whispered angrily, "What's so funny?"
His violet eyes sparkled as he replied mischievously, "If I didn't know better, I would think you were jealous right now, Leyla." (p. 83)

This is one of many humorous interactions between Leyla and her really good friend and mystery-solving partner, Lucien.  I truly enjoyed writing this scene (which is actually much longer but this is supposed to only be a teaser), as this kind of sets the tone for future books of the type of friendship that develops between these two characters.

This mystery series is written for ages 10+, mainly for middle grade.  If you know of any kids who love to read, have them check out my publishers website: Cressen Books LLC.  They'll find all four books in the series as well as links for purchase and the first chapter for each book.

Have a teaser for me?

Leave a link below and have a wonderful week!

 

Quickie Update

This post may be a little short as I'm trying to keep an eye on my Muse while he tackles tumbling a really large tree.  I needed to escape the heat and humidity for a few minutes and thought, hey, I need to write something on my blog.  Yeah, I talk to myself alot...it's when I get answers back that I start to worry. ;)

Anywho, I am in the thick of editing both Starward and Dangerous Moves at the moment.  I'm also in the process of updating Cressen Books website because guess what?.....Okay, I'll tell you....all books published by Cressen Books are now available on the Nook!!  WOOT!  So, now our books can be found on both Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook...I'll leave links to each at the end of this post.

So, this means that the publishing business' website needs updating (again).  Yeah, that's a never ending chore.  Just ask any webmaster or anyone who has their own website or even blog for that matter.  Always something to tweak!

Oh, and before I forget, Starward's cover design is coming along nicely.  I may even have a cover reveal for you in the near future.  I hope you like it because I'm totally loving it!  It fits so well with the story.  But then again, my Muse and I wrote the story and are creating the cover together, so it better darn well fit! lol

I guess that's it for now.  The tree hasn't fallen yet and I don't hear anyone yelling "TIMBRE" out there, so all is good!  I hope everyone is having a wonderful and safe Memorial Weekend and I'll try to be back in the loop soon with more updates!

Oh, and here's those links:

Amazon Kindle: $6.99
B&N Nook: $6.99

For those of you who aren't aware, this is my Muse's (aka, the hubby's) novel.  It's really really good, so check it out and spread the word to others who might be interested!

Amazon Kindle: $5.99
B & N Nook: $5.99

Amazon Kindle: $5.99
B & N Nook: $5.99

Amazon Kindle: $5.99
B & N Nook: $5.99

Exciting times!

Wow, so I am slowly recovering from a very crazy week!  I've already posted an update on the word count for Starward and will confess that no more progress has been made since I was busy handling other things since that last post.

First off, Saturday, April 28, was the Martinsburg Chocolate Festival and Book Faire.  I had a booth set up in one of the local businesses, Dayja Vu, and had a blast talking with all the people that were coming through to meet various authors and sample different chocolates!  And I sold a few books and gave away a bunch of postcards that featured the covers of my books and their synopsis to a lot of people.  It truly was a wonderful experience and I hope that Martinsburg will host something like this again next year!

I spent most of Sunday recovering from all the chaos.  Now it's Monday and back to work for me.  Already this morning I prepared 5 signed copies of Spanish Intrigue and some swag to go out to the lucky winners from the Goodreads Giveaway I was hosting.  I'm very excited for them and hope that they enjoy the book!  And as soon as I finish this post, I'll be working on updating Cressen Books LLC's website with some information for aspiring authors as well as post some synopses for a couple of books that are in the works at the moment.

On a personal note, I will be getting ready for my trip to Kentucky next week.  I'm going to see a really close friend of mine and her two boys.  I'm very excited about the trip and can't wait to see them and some other friends!  Of course, while I'm there, I will attempt to keep writing on Starward as I don't want to lose my focus on that story, but we'll see how it goes.

So, lots going on and so many things left to do before I hit the road this coming Sunday!  I hope everyone has a great week and I'll try to post again soon!

Busy, Crazy Times

Sorry it's been a while since my last post.  Things have been pretty crazy around here.  That and a three-day weekend with my Muse, which was wonderful!  And no, we didn't escape for some romantic getaway (we have that right here at home).  We stayed home for the most part and worked on clearing out a lot of dead trees and brush in a small section of our 15-acres of woods.  And the section we're working on is looking fantastic!

Anyway, I did that and I finished the first part of the book "Starward" in the new Galactic Dynasty series I'm co-authoring with my Muse.  Now I'm ready to tackle the second part, which will introduce a new and unique character to the mix.  I'm extremely excited about it but don't want to give anything away right now!  Let's just say that it's going to be really challenging to write from such a "absolute logic" perspective.

Over the last few days I've been reading a lot too.  I have a profile on Goodreads...a totally awesome site that I would recommend to any book-loving fiend.  You can click the link above and friend me or follow me if you're interested. :)  I've given my honest opinion on a few books I've read and will try to remember to link those to this blog in the future.  Right now I'm reading Supernaturally by Kiersten White and Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick.

Now, for the next couple of weeks, more craziness will ensue.  So, I may be a little sporadic in posting to this blog.  My Muse and I will be traveling to PA in a couple of weeks to attend Celebrate the Book.  We'll have a booth set up displaying and selling the first two books in The L & L Mysteries: Spanish Intrigue and The Art of Deceit.  If you happen to be in Carlisle, PA on October 22, come by and see me!

So, it's time for me to hop off of here and begin work on "Starward" and creating display posters and such.  Until next time.....

The Art of Deceit

So, a little more about who I am.  I'm the author for a new mystery series called The L & L Mysteries.  The first book in the series, "Spanish Intrigue", was released in April 2011.  After many months of edits and re-writes, book 2 in the series, "The Art of Deceit", is now available.


Well, what is The L & L Mysteries you ask?  It's a series about a 16-year-old girl named Leyla Richards and a 17-year-old boy named Lucien Vintera (hence the L & L part) who find themselves involved in various mysteries.  This series began as just something fun to write while I was attending college classes at the University of Baltimore.  Three years later, I found that I had five books in draft for this series and decided to start putting the finishing touches on them.

It has been a fun series to write so far.  I write from both Leyla's and Lucien's perspectives, so getting into the head of each of these characters can be quite intriguing and definitely challenging.  These books are intended for readers age 10 and up, mainly for the 10-14 crowd.

Anyway, as this post is titled after the 2nd book in the series, I again wanted to mention it's release and how excited I am to hold the finished book in my happy little hands!  Both books are available for purchase at my publishing company's website: www.cressenbooks.com.  They can also be purchased for the Kindle via Amazon's website.

That's all for now.  My Muse and I are in the process of building a fancy little firepit on our back deck.  I'd better get back at it so I can soon enjoy toasting marshmallows over the open flames!