Caroline Giammanco’s book “Witch Way to Go” is a collection of short stories that will keep you wondering during the read and pondering afterward. It amazes me that, no matter how many of her stories I read, I’m almost always surprised by the ending. Her writing style draws me in from the beginning and keeps me entertained to the end. She is a prolific writer with an incredible talent for presenting surprise endings.
Caroline has this to say about her inspiration for her book: Witch Way to Go: Twisted Paths Into the Night, Book 4 of the Into the Night series.
“I grew up as a fan of The Twilight Zone, Night Gallery, and Kolchak: The Night Stalker, and my family always enjoyed discussing the “what ifs” of the universe. I have fun writing these science fiction and paranormal short stories, and I want them to be as much fun for my readers as they are for me.”
Caroline Giammanco Author
Screenshot
Caroline Giammanco is an author and high school English teacher. She grew up in Douglas County, Missouri and moved to Arizona to attend the University of Arizona where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with an English minor. She lives on her farm in southern Missouri and is married to the love of her life, Keith Giammanco. She has two sons, two stepdaughters, and three adorable grandchildren.
Caroline’s first works dealt with the non-fiction/true crime world of the Missouri Department of Corrections. Her most recent works have been a series of science fiction and paranormal short story collections known as the Into the Night series. She also writes westerns and draws on the places she lived in the West when writing those.
Discover more about Caroline Giammanco at her Amazon author website:
For information on where to buy her featured book, click on the link below.
Blanche weaves a tapestry of Victorian homes, small-town culture and sleuthing women in her intriguing murder mystery, “Moonlight Can Be Murder.” Blanche has a writing style that drew me in from the first page. I didn’t get my housework done, but I did complete the book in a day…and half the night. I couldn’t put it down.
Blanche has this to say about her book:
The Ned McNeil moonlight books begin with Nettie Elizabeth McNeil returning to her hometown of Ednalee, looking forward to a reunion with her only living relative, her Uncle Javin. The reunion fails to happen and Ned, as her friends call her, discovers that she is involved in a web of lies and mysteries that have their origin in a murder that happened decades ago. Moonlight Can Be Murder indeed.
In this first book in the series, Ned falls heir to her uncle’s old, two-storied house which is a treasured part of her hometown’s history. Ned discovers that the house and her innocent-appearing hometown hold a few secrets of their own which Ned is determined to reveal.
Who is Blanche Day Manos?
In my previous life, I was a kindergarten teacher, part-time writer of feature stories for a newspaper, and writer of stories and poems for children’s and Christian magazines. Now, I live in Arkansas near my family. In between writing books, I enjoy painting and playing the piano.
What Inspired Blanche to write this book?
When working for my hometown newspaper, I often wrote stories about the old houses in town. Each house had a story to tell. When I see old houses, I always wonder about the family or families who lived in them and I think, “What if…”
I enjoy writing clean mysteries that have middle-aged women protagonists who have a tendency to become involved in strange and mysterious happenings in their hometowns.
Moonlight Can Be Murder is the first book in the Ned McNeil cozy mystery series, with three more to follow.
Where can we discover more about author Blanche Day Manos?
Investigate my cozy mysteries at Amazon and Pen-L Publishing
Karen’s latest book “Kissing Kin” was released on March 13, 2024. This paranormal romance is a recipe consisting of intrigue, suspense, mystery and adventure beaten to a romantic froth with a supernatural spoon.
What inspires writers like Karen? She describes her inspiration for Kissing Kin as follows:
“It’s funny what twists of fate trigger our imaginations. In my case, it was a gift of loquats, something I did not recognize and had never eaten. Loquats are yellow, pear-shaped fruit that (I soon learned) taste like an apricot-cherry medley with a citrus tang.
Several springs ago, a neighbor had two loquat trees that overproduced, and she shared her bounty with the neighborhood. (Sadly, the following winter froze out the trees.) But how I enjoyed that spring and those loquats! So much so, that I wove the loquats (and the neighbor’s dog Teddy) into Kissing Kin.”
What is Kissing Kin about? Here is a book blurb, followed by an excerpt:
Maeve Jackson is starting over after a broken engagement—and mustering out of the Army. No job and no prospects, she spins out on black ice and totals her car.
When struggling vintner Luke Kaylor stops to help, they discover they’re distantly related. On a shoestring budget to convert his vineyard into a winery, he makes her a deal: prune grapevines in exchange for room and board.
But forgotten diaries and a haunted cabin kickstart a five-generation mystery with ancestors that have bones to pick. As carnal urges propel them into each other’s arms, they wonder: Is their attraction physical…or metaphysical?
EXCERPT:
The sky was a rich twilight blue–deepening yet crystal clear, as if clarifying the situation.
“Didn’t realize the time.”
The vineyards reflected the rusty-red tones of the late winter sunset.
Dusk. I held back a sigh as I glimpsed the winery and cozy cabin. Heartrending in its homey beauty, the scene tugged at my earliest recollections.
The child of vagabond parents, I was often on the road at dusk, just as the lights began coming on in the houses we passed. Growing up without a permanent address, I fantasized about living in one of those comfortable homes instead of viewing them through the car window.
“Gets dark early in the mountains.” He caught my gaze, did a double take, then stared. “Is something wrong?”
“Your hair…” “Is something on it?” I swiped at my head.
“No.” He chuckled. “The sunset captures your hair’s highlights–gives it a reddish glow.”
“Oh.” Pleasantly surprised, I gave a nervous laugh as the heat crept to my cheeks. “Thanks.”
He reached out his hand and hesitated. “May I?”
“Sure.” I quivered as his hand swept my hair behind my ear. As arousing as a caress, the gesture sent a shockwave through my body.
Then his hand molded itself just above my neck, gently supporting my head as he leaned toward me.
Without warning, I ached to feel his mouth on mine.
He leaned closer.
His warm breath tickling, I met him in a rush of hormones and adrenalin. Then lifting my lips, I closed my eyes, reveling in the give and take of his kiss.
Only Teddy’s insistent bark woke me from the daze.
Karen’s Author Bio:
Karen is a best-selling author, motivational keynote speaker, IT technical editor, wife, and all-around pilgrim of life. She writes multicultural, offbeat love stories steeped in the supernatural. Born to rolling-stone parents who moved annually, Bartell found her earliest playmates as fictional friends in books. Paperbacks became her portable pals. Ghost stories kept her up at night—reading feverishly. The paranormal was her passion. Novels offered an imaginative escape. An only child, she began writing her first novel at the age of nine, learning the joy of creating her own happy-endings. Professor emeritus of the University of Texas at Austin, Karen resides in the Texas Piney Woods with her husband Peter and her mews—three rescued cats and a rescued *Cat*ahoula Leopard dog.
Karen Hulene Bartel is the author of the Trans-Pecos, Sacred Emblem, Sacred Journey, and Sacred Messenger series, as well as Kissing Kin, Fox Tale, Wild Rose Pass, The Keys: Voice of the Turtle and more.
Linda L. Rigsbee 