Meet IAN Member Jodi Langston

Jodi a lover of nature and all things creative and has been writing poetry and prose since she first picked up a pencil. She also loves to draw. She can be found roaming around the city taking photos of prairie wildflowers and wildlife and posts them on her blog site.

She writes action filled romantic suspense and mystery and enjoy reading the same. Currently she is writing scripts based on her novels and hopes to have them made into movies in the future.

Her books are Always and Nature of the Beast.

Jodi Langston at The Independent Author Network

Meet New Member Jamie DeBree

A full-time webmistress for local government by day, Jamie DeBree writes steamy, action-packed romantic suspense late into the night. Her goal is to create the perfect blend of sensual attraction, emotional tension and fast-paced adventure, similar to the television crime dramas she’s hopelessly addicted to. Her favorite way to write a novel is to serialize the draft on one of her blogs. There’s always a free serial story in progress at her main blog, The Variety Pages.

In October 2010, she opened Brazen Snake Books, her personal publishing company. She also writes as Trinity Marlow (erotica) and Alex Westhaven (thriller/suspense), and is currently working on serial drafts in each of those genres.

Born in Billings Montana, she resides there with her husband and two over-sized lap dogs. She reads in a wide variety of genres including romance, erotica, action/adventure, thriller, horror and literary.

Her books are Tempest and coming early in 2011 Desert Heat.

Visit Jamie DeBree at The Independent Author Network

Meet New IAN Member J.M. Kelley

JM. Kelley, a lifelong resident of Pennsylvania, is a writer of love stories, a painter, a painfully bad knitter, and a photographer – if the pursuit is artistic, chances are she’s dabbled in it.

After a lengthy break that included adventures in accounting and coffee distribution, she returned to her passion for writing with that old adage write what you know whispering from the deep recesses of her mind. She realized that she knows how to read a book on a moving skateboard, that if you’re riding shotgun in a pick-up truck, ‘mud’ can be used as a verb, Amish traffic jams can wreak havoc on your morning commute, and Hog Maw is not to be experienced by the faint of heart.

While this list of knowledge seemed random and borderline nonsensical, it led her to one rock-solid conclusion: life in the Keystone State is a rich and endless source of inspiration. And so, she sat down in front of her laptop and began to piece together a story about life in small-town Pennsylvania – something she knows a thing or two about. The result of this epiphany is Drew in Blue, a contemporary love story set in the fictional Appalachian town of River’s View, Pennsylvania, and filled with quirky characters that pay homage to the real life characters she’s had the pleasure of knowing all her life.

J.M. Kelley is quite the joiner. She's a member of the Romance Writers of America (PRO), The International Women's Writing Guild, Pennwriters, and the South Carolina Writers Workshop.

Her short story, Killing Me Softly, earned a first place finish in the In Other Words Competition at the 2010 Pennwriters Conference, and her non-fiction piece, Anniversary, was recognized with a Carrie McCray Memorial Literary Award at the 2010 South Carolina Writers Workshop Conference.


J.M. Kelley at The Independent Author Network

Meet new IAN Memeber Liz Borino

Liz Borino is the debut author of Expectations, released by Lazy Day Publishing 12/1. Throughout her education, including a Bachelor’s Degree from Hofstra University, she’s kept her stories to herself, but this only child is all grown up and wants to share them with the world. Her roots are in Bethlehem, Pa, but she loves to experience new cultures. As fun as that is Liz likes nothing better than curling up at home with a good book or her work in progress...


For more info visit Liz Borino at The Independent Author Network.com

Linda S Prather - The Independent Author Network

Born in Kentucky in 1955. I currently live in Lexington, Kentucky with my fiancé, Coby W. Fuson. I have two wonderful sons, Charles and Steven.

I have always loved reading and writing. And although perhaps not a great literary work, I loved and was inspired by Old Yeller. The characters in that book were real to me. When I started writing, it was my greatest desire to write characters that readers could love and hate, laugh and cry with.

Knowledge was another love. I wanted to learn about everything. I studied metaphysics; delving into touch healing, dream analysis, meditation, and hypnosis. I received my associate's degree in metaphysics in 1992 and continued from there to become a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist. I spent several years studying the effects of hypnosis on cancer and pain. I taught meditation, dream analysis and self-hypnosis through Eastern Kentucky University's Special Programs for four years. The power of the mind has always fascinated me. I've recently become a paranormal investigator, and love old houses that go bump in the night....


Check out Linda S Prather at The Independent Author Network.com

Meet Salvatore Grasso - The Independent Author Network

Salvatore Grasso, The Author, is a long time resident of Delaware County and has been writing fiction for several years. He is currently marketing his work to commercial literary agents with the goal of promptly publishing the first three of his works. He continues to write Thrillers that embrace the criminal mind with twisted plots sparked by real life characters inhabiting a vivid literary atmosphere. The Author’s goal is to complete fifteen manuscripts and publish all of them. He is currently completing more than one manuscript each year....


Read his full Member page Salvatore Grasso - The Independent Author Network

Meet IAN Member Greg Messel

Greg Messel has spent much of his life in the Pacific Northwest living in Portland, Oregon and in the Seattle area since 2008. He has been married to his wife, Carol, for 40 years. Greg and Carol were high school sweethearts just like the couple in “Expiation.” He has lived in Washington, Oregon, California, Utah and Wyoming. Greg grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and graduated from high school there and also attended a year of junior college. Greg went to Brigham Young University with Carol and then began a newspaper career in rough and tumble Wyoming town of Rock Springs. Greg and Carol have three married children and nine grandchildren.

Greg has always loved writing. He worked as the news editor and sports editors of the Daily Rocket-Miner newspaper. He won a Wyoming Press Association award for his column. He also submitted and had published articles in various sports magazines. He left the newspaper business in 1981 and began a 27 year career with Pacific Power. Greg retired in 2008 and moved to Seattle.

It was there that he returned to his first love of writing. He has written two unpublished memoirs and published his first novel with Trafford in September 2009. His first novel was called “Sunbreaks.” The second novel “Expiation” was published in the spring of 2010 with Trafford. A third novel is in the works.

Currently, Greg and Carol live on the Puget Sound in Edmonds, Washington, just north of downtown Seattle. They have three adult children who are all married and have nine grandchildren. He also enjoys running, he has been in several races and half marathons. IAN Member Page

Meet IAN Member L. Carroll

Before pursuing what seemed to be a shelved dream of becoming an author, L. Carroll worked in corporate management and training, first in the field of retail home décor, and then for a small book chain. It took being surrounded by books day in and day out for her to finally realize that her passion for writing had been squelched long enough, and so the world of Lor Mandela was born.

With four young adult children and one pre-teen of her own, she's had a wealth of inspiration for her characters; her writing is strongly influenced by her own parent/child experiences. Currently, she resides in Eagle Mountain, Utah with her husband, Chuck, and their five children. IAN Member Page

Lor Mandela Destruction From Twins

A selfish twin enchantress unwittingly sentences the world of Lor Mandela to its untimely death. Only one can save it—the appointed Child of Balance, Audril Borloc—But how can a small child solve a prophetic riddle that baffles even the wisest adults? And who will save Lor Mandela when, shortly after her fourth birthday, Audril disappears without a trace?

Audril Borloc must be found. When a group of spies travel to Earth looking for the little girl with black hair and bright blue eyes—traits that on Lor Mandela are exclusive to the ruling Borloc family—they find sixteen-year-old Maggie Baker. While the age difference between the girls is obvious, Maggie has the Borloc traits—evidence enough for the desperate spies.

Following an earthquake that no one feels but her, Maggie’s mundane existence is launched into a thrill ride of twists and turns as she begins bouncing back and forth between her hometown of Glenhill, Iowa and the strange and diverse lands of Lor Mandela. Amid battling a ferocious two-headed beast, being abducted by a lawless band of Shadow Dwellers, and falling head-over-heels for the captivating son of an evil warlord, Maggie soon discovers that her blasé reality could be the real fantasy, and that the world of Lor Mandela may just be hers alone to save.

Available at Amazon.com

Book Review: Dead of Knight by William R. Potter

Dead of Knight: A Jack Staal Mystery

William R. Potter

RealTime Publishing (2009)

ISBN 9781849610261

Reviewed by Charline Ratcliff for RebeccasReads (11/10)

I was recently asked if I would be interested in reviewing “Dead of Knight” by author William R. Potter. This book falls into the murder/mystery category and while it’s not my usual reading genre I agreed to review it. I’m glad I did because it was a great book.

The story location for “Dead of Knight” is Canada which, for me, was a really nice change. The book’s premise is this: A delusional young man believing himself to be a “soldier of justice” starts what he feels is a righteous crusade of cleansing. His victims are handpicked and meticulously stalked in order to learn their daily habits until he finally slaughters them on their birthday. I, for one, will pass on that birthday surprise thank you very much… Because of this killer’s gruesome practices the media has nicknamed him “Birthday Boy.” This nickname doesn’t sit too well with him - he wants to be taken seriously but…what’s a serial killer to do? And of course no tale featuring a heinous villain would be truly complete without an equally good counterpart trying to bring the evildoer to justice. Meet Detective Jack Staal who is assigned to this gruesome case. Jack is understandably horrified at the trail of bodies “Birthday Boy” leaves in his wake and he is determined to put an end to his reign of terror. Consequently Jack Staal will stop at almost nothing in order to apprehend this psychopath.

I’m happy to say I found “Dead of Knight” to be a fantastic read. Potter possesses great writing skills; he is appropriately descriptive and the story flows smoothly. “Dead of Knight” was suspenseful and I would agree with the back jacket’s statement that “Dead of Knight” is a cat and mouse thriller sure to delight fans…” I also appreciated that “Dead of Knight” wasn’t too easy to figure out and I admired the various plot twists that the author skillfully threw in here and there.

In summary I give “Dead of Knight” a five-star Amazon rating. It’s a riveting read but it is definitely aimed for mature readers..

William R. Potter's page at The Independent Author Network

The 19th Element Virtual Book Tour November & December ‘10

John L. Betcher is a University of Minnesota Law School graduate and has practiced law for more than twenty-five years in the Mississippi River community of Red Wing, Minnesota. He possesses substantial first-hand knowledge of the Prairie River Nuclear Plant’s real world counterpart, as well as Red Wing’s airport and the flight rules around the nuke plant.

In addition to The 19th Element, he has published a second book in the “Beck” series entitled, The Missing Element, A James Becker Mystery. The second book is available everywhere.

The author has also been a long-time supporter and coach of youth volleyball in and around Red Wing and has authored three feature articles for Coaching Volleyball, the journal of the American Volleyball Coaches Association. His most recent article was the cover story for the April/May, 2009 Issue.

His book on volleyball coaching philosophies entitled The Little Black Book of Volleyball Coaching is available at www.johnbetcher.com and at amazon.com.

About The 19th Element

The 19th ElementAl Qaeda plans to attack Minnesota’s Prairie River Nuclear Power Plant as a means to return the down-trodden terrorist organization to international prominence.

In addition to their own devoted forces, the terrorists enlist some homegrown anarchists, and a Three Mile Island survivor with a pathological vendetta against the nuclear establishment, to assist in the assault.

James “Beck” Becker is a former elite U.S. government intelligence operative who has retired to his childhood hometown of Red Wing, Minnesota – just six miles down the Mississippi from the Prairie River nuclear facility.

Possessing wisdom born of experience, Beck suspects the terrorists’ intentions as soon as the body of a university professor turns up on the Mississippi shore – the clear victim of foul play.

He recognizes connections between seemingly unrelated incidents – the murdered agronomy professor, a missing lab assistant, an international cell call, a stolen fertilizer truck – but can’t piece it together in enough detail to convince government authorities that a larger threat exists. Only his American Indian friend, “Bull,” will help Beck defuse the threat.

So it’s Beck and Bull versus international terror.

May the better men win.

December Tour Stops

Monday, December 6

Book reviewed at Pick of the Literate

Tuesday, December 7Guest blogging at As the Pages Turn

Wednesday, December 8
Guest blogging at The Story Behind the Book

Thursday, December 9
Guest blogging at Paperback Writer
Interviewed at Pick of the Literate

Friday, December 10
Book reviewed at Marta’s Meanderings
Interviewed at The Writer’s Life

Monday, December 13
Book reviewed at Rainy Day Reviews

Tuesday, December 14
Interviewed at The Hot Author Report

Wednesday, December 15Book reviewed at Book Journey

Thursday, December 16
Interviewed at Review From Here

Friday, December 17
Book reviewed at Books R Us

Visit John L. Betcher at The Independent Author Network.com