I share a birthday with J.Q. Rose and yep it's today. So in honor of our special day we've decided to double the fun and double the chance for you to win. We're are running a contest. Okay a double contest. All you have to do is visit both blogs, and you'll have a chance to win two ebooks, that's right two- Double the Trouble and Sunshine Boulevard. Yep, J.Q and I are each giving a way two books. You heard right two and if you enter on each blog, you have two - that's right two- chances to win. How? Keep reading and I'll tell you.
But first a blurb about Sunshine Boulevard
Who or what is killing the seniors on Sunshine Boulevard? Follow Jim and Gloria Hart, snowbirds who annually migrate to Florida for warm sunshine, fun, and games in snow-free winters. However this season, Jim Hart, a volunteer First Responder in his retirement community of Citrus Ridge, is drawn into the investigation of the mysterious deaths. Even in the midst of the unfortunate demise of the residents on Sunshine Boulevard, the Harts try to enjoy the winter with friends. They don't realize that their friends are getting together for their own kinds of affairs with each other. The neighbors are in a dither over the deaths, but perhaps more intrigued by the gossip about the affairs and why the naked lady was found lying in the geranium bed.
And a word from the heroine:
I love the beaches, palm trees, sunny skies, and orange groves of Florida.
Hello. My name is Gloria Hart. My husband, Jim, and I are Florida winter residents known as snowbirds flying away from snowy winters. (I claim to be a sunbird since I travel toward the Florida sunshine.) We spend our winters in a senior resort community with an eighteen hole golf course running through the center. Citrus Ridge is our home away from home and a wonderful place to make friends and enjoy a season of easy, carefree living.
Every winter we kick up our heels at the many dances, parties, card games, dinners, and golf leagues. We get our fair share of sand through our toes at the gorgeous Florida beaches and blisters on our feet when we sight-see the many tourist spots and flea markets.
We had a wonderful winter planned until tragedy struck residents on Sunshine Boulevard. The mystery surrounding the deaths of these dear folks put a stop to all the party and fun that season. We tried to get together with friends, but the fear of another death, even our own, put a pall over the gatherings.
At first, I wanted to go home and get away from the death, the sadness, and the fear, but Jim and I had many friends who live in Citrus Ridge year round who had no place to escape. We decided to stay and help our friends. If we left for the north, we would only worry and wonder about them. Our hearts were in Florida with our Citrus Ridge community.
Speaking of “friends,” we were very hurt when some of the people we knew so well were keeping secrets from us. These secrets shattered the lives of people we love. But these friends didn’t think about anyone but themselves.
With betrayal by “friends” and the horrendous murders, our winter season was a disaster. Why didn’t the authorities stop these tragic deaths? Even with all the modern crime-solving procedures, no one knew who or what was killing the seniors on Sunshine Boulevard.
You may think twice about retiring to Florida after you read Sunshine Boulevard available at Muse It Up Publishing bookstore, http://tinyurl.com/2c53noz and Amazon.com http://tinyurl.com/4czwr6h as well as at many online booksellers.
You can find me on the web at J Q Rose Website
http://www.jqrose.webs.com/
J Q Rose Blog
http://www.jqroseauthor.blogspot.com/
You Tube Book Trailer
http://tinyurl.com/64htcx8
Thanks, Roseanne, for allowing me the opportunity to tell your readers about Sunshine Boulevard.
Now an excerpt:
“Jim, Jim!” Gloria threw her keys on the kitchen counter and then stashed her mat and barbells in the hallway closet.
“Jim!” She called louder. He was not in the Florida room. She gingerly stepped from the kitchen to the carport. She darted into the attached shed housing the laundry room with storage in the front and Jim’s workshop in back. She walked through the workshop and out the door to the neat little back yard and found him watering their garden plot.
“Did you hear about George McDonnell?” Gloria shook her auburn hair, compliments of her favorite brand of hair color #118. Her clear blue eyes filled with tears.
“Yes, I heard.” Jim kinked the hose to stop the water flow and dragged it to the faucet on the back of the house. He slowly turned the tap to cut off the stream of water and dropped the hose to the freshly cut grass.
“How sad that he died alone. Oh, Jim, he wasn’t discovered for so long his body just ro...” She couldn’t say it.
“Gloria, come in the house. I have to tell you something. I don’t want the neighbors listening in on this conversation.” Gloria knew her husband of thirty-five years well enough to realize something wasn’t right.
As they stepped into the bright kitchen, Jim turned to her. Looking straight into her eyes, he said, “Royce called this morning. George’s death was peculiar. I guess, that’s what the Medical Examiner is saying.
Jim was friends with the county M.E., Royce Williams. They worked together on investigations involving the First Responders Unit. Living in a retirement community, the Medical Examiner and medics were frequent visitors. An ambulance at a home was not a significant event at Citrus Ridge. It was part of life and death.
“Royce told us George’s body did not rot. It couldn’t have decomposed that quickly because Miss Lottie checked on him every day when she brought him the mail in the afternoon. She delivered it the day before he died. He was alert and talked about the weather.
“When Lottie called 9-1-1 at one o’clock yesterday, she was so upset she couldn’t even speak. They traced the call to her house. When the police arrived, she only pointed to George’s house.”
Jim stopped a minute. Gloria saw the anguish in his face. “They discovered George sitting in the living room in his recliner. His body was mustard yellow. His clothes were melted to his body. The odor was not a rotting smell, but rather like burning or scorching. In fact the fabric in the chair was charred. Ron was the first responder. He told me when he and the paramedics touched the body, it turned to powder.”
Gloria cried out in disbelief. She covered her face with her hands. “Dear God. What happened, Jim? What could have caused such a thing?”
“Ron arrived at the scene first. You know Ron. Always talking and telling greatstories.” Gloria remembered the usually fun-loving raucous Ron.
“Royce told me there was such a look of horror in Ron’s eyes. He was traumatized by what he saw. Ron told him he moved George’s wrist, and his hand fell making a pile of yellow ashes on the floor.”
“Dear God.” Gloria sat down at the dining room table feeling nauseous. Jim wiped his eyes. “I don’t know how Ron and Lottie will ever forget this nightmare.”
Okay, how do you win. It's really very simple. Send an email to me rodow62 at yahoo dot com with contest as the subject and the code word double in the body of the email along with the code word from J.Q. Rose's blog. You must have both code words in the email. You can find J.Q.'s word at: http://www.jqroseauthor.blogspot.com/
The winners will be announced Monday, May 30th.
Now for a second part to my contest. If you'd like a cameo appearance of your name in my next novel, Connections of the Minds, send me an email (rodow62 at yahoo dot com) with CAMEO as the subject line. I'll also send you a copy of Connection of the Minds when it's released in September.
Strange, realistic dreams and visions disrupt Rebecca Brennan’s life, especially when she actually feels someone’s pain. Determined to find who shares her mind, Rebecca takes a leave of absence from work to search for her mind connection.
