Ryder Islington

What is one of the nicest things a critic or fan has said about your work?

One reader said that she was a little scared to go to sleep after finishing the book. And another said it was “creepy good.”

What makes your writing different from your peers? What kind of reading experience can you give your audience?

Every person on earth has their own story, goals, problems, history. My characters do too. There is a sub-plot for every character, and I love to know for myself, and to demonstrate for the reader, why each character makes the choices she or he makes. I love the psychology of what makes people act they way they do, what makes them tick. Sometimes I find it yucky—try understanding why a child molester does what he does—but I also find it meaningful. Generally, people are not all good, or all bad. I try to find the bad in my heroines and the good in my villains. Again, try finding some good in a child molester. I bring that up because it is part of the plot for book three. It’s already haunting me!

How do you create your “world?”

For me, this is so much fun! Once I have determined a geographic location, I create my own town. Let’s face it, who would want to do all the research required to depict a real city, when we can make up our own?  First I make a few notes on what I know I need. For Ultimate Justice, A Trey Fontaine Mystery, I knew I wanted a small town in Louisiana, near a river, with a sheriff’s department and courthouse—things I need for my story.  Then I make a map, placing necessary buildings, homes, etc., where they make the most sense. Trey Fontaine’s mother is a real estate agent, so she was able to get that big ranch style home outside of town. Russell Coleman is a black man in the South with limited education but middle-class income as a result of being on the job for close to forty years, so he has a nice house, but not in a neighbourhood full of nice houses. I loved developing the park, and the Cajun neighbourhood.

What made you decide to write in your genre?

Abject failure in several other genres put me on this road. I had written women’s fiction, romance, Western, and historical. Both plots and characters were boring. Then one day I found myself due to go to a critique group without a single page to submit. After daydreaming for a short while, I came up with what if that worked for me. I did a quick two pages and headed off to group. The response was amazing. “Why have you been writing all those other stories? THIS is what you’re supposed to write,” my group told me. And it happens to be something I know very well, having been educated and employed in the field of law enforcement. The more I wrote, the more fun I had and I knew this was it. I have other ideas that create the same feeling in me, but first I need to get this out of my system!

Who or what has been your best teacher when it comes to writing?

Published writers were definitely vital to my success. I joined a critique group that included several published authors and they taught me so much more than books ever could. And then there was Zetta Brown and Leslie Brown, my editors. I learned as much from these to women as I did from all the books I ever read on the subject.

And then there is Christine Fairchild. This woman is so kind, generous, and patient. She writes, teaches classes and runs a blog at www.editordevil.blogspot.com I have taken several of her classes and can’t even describe how much she taught me, and helped me. I try to keep track of what she’s teaching and when so I can post it on my blog. I want every writer to hear of her. She’s that good.

Do you preview your work to reader groups or fans?

This is something I want to do. So far, I’ve only introduced characters and setting on my blog. With permission from my editor, I’d like to put a couple of chapters from book two up on my blog, when the script is ready.

Where can we find you on the Internet?

I blog at www.ryderislington.wordpress.com and I love to hear from readers so I make my email public. It’s ryderislington@yahoo.com

For the full interview with Ryder, stay tuned for the return of our free newsletter The Modern Reader! It was gone for a while but now it’s back! Quarterly issues will come out April 30, August 31, and December 31.

Meanwhile, follow Ryder on her tour of the ‘Net and learn more about her and Ultimate Justice!

Ryder’s Blog Tour Schedule – January 2012:

Monday 16^th     Peg Herring -   Review: Ultimate Justice, A Trey Fontaine Mystery     

Tuesday 17^th    Nancy Hinchliff -  Article: Psychological Drama

Wednesday 18^th   Savvy Authors at www.savvyauthors.com -  Article: Giving Your Characters Character

Wednesday 18^th   Alex C. Telander -   Article: The Other Character: Setting

Wednesday 18^th  Nancy Lauzon - Review:  Ultimate Justice, A Trey Fontaine Mystery

Thursday 19^th    Marilyn Meredith -  Article: What Inspired Ultimate Justice

Friday 20^th    Christine Hughes - Article: Creating a New Genre

Friday 20th  AuthorIsland – Article: Writing Mystery and Crime

Saturday 21^st  Kathleen Kaska - Article: What is Voice?

Sunday 22^nd   Komal Mansoor - Article: Think Big for Success

Monday 23^rd  Bigi  -    Article: Revisions

Tuesday 24^th  Liv Raincourt - Interview

Wednesday 25^th  Pandora (Dora) Poikilos -  Article: What Writing is to Me

Thursday 26^th   Lori Cronwell -  Article: Publishers and Agents and Editors, Oh My! The Horror

Friday 27^th  Nicole Morgan  –  Article: Developing the Story Behind the Book

Saturday 28^th   Pat Brown -   Article: Creating Diverse Characters

Sunday 29   Kat Duncan  –  Article: Including Violent Crime in Your Writing

Monday 30  Kayelle Allen - Article: Curling Up With a Good Book

Tuesday 31  Mona Karel –   Article:  Creation of a Mystery Writer

In Exile: The History and Lore Surrounding New Orleans Gay Culture and Its Oldest Gay Bar

By Frank Perez and Jeffrey Palmquist

ISBN   9781905091997 (print)/ 9781905091447 (ebook)

Print: $11.99 /£8.99 

eBook: $4.99

Release Date: February 10, 2012 – EARLY ORDERS ACCEPTED

Genre(s):     Non-fiction, History, GLBT, travel

In Exile: The History and Lore Surrounding New Orleans Gay Culture and Its Oldest Gay Bar is the first comprehensive treatment of the history of gay New Orleans.  Drawn primarily on the recollections of dozens of gay men and women, Frank Perez and Jeffrey Palmquist weave a fascinating narrative of how gay New Orleans evolved throughout the twentieth century.

In addition to showing the incredible and previously unrecognized contributions gay people have made to New Orleans culture, In Exile also illuminates the darkness in which ordinary gay people lived secret double-lives for decades and chronicles the social forces which ultimately enabled gay New Orleanians to live openly and honestly.

Written with graceful insight and thoughtful perception, In Exile is not only a captivating history book, it is also a beautiful meditation on the intersection of place and identity.

Visit the website and read an excerpt!

About the Authors

Frank Perez  grew up in Louisiana and now lives in the French Quarter where he is a barfly at The Café: Lafitte in Exile.

Jeffrey Palmquist  grew up in South Dakota and now lives in the French Quarter where he is a bartender at The Café: Lafitte in Exile.

Ghostly Images

By Peter Townsend

Genre(s):  mystery, suspense, historical, supernatural/paranormal, Gothic suspense

Whitby, North Yorkshire – 1894

Two apprentice photographers, David Taylor and John Evans, find themselves unemployed and desperate for work when their employer dies.

They fall into the clutches of Hood, a notorious charlatan, who is eager to exploit them as “spirit photographers” with the aid of the infamous Tate Camera now owned by David. This notorious camera is said to have the ability not only to photograph spirits, but can predict how and when the person photographed will die.

Reluctantly, David and John become immersed into the dubious, murky trade of spirit photography. Although David stubbornly refuses to believe in the supernatural, he becomes unnerved when ghostly images start to appear on the untouched photographs. Ominous shadows show up on the portraits of young women who soon fall victim of a man the people are calling “The Whitby Ripper.”

Lucy Shaw, an ambitious reporter from The Whitby Herald, wants to expose both Hood and spirit photography as a fraud. She is a modern career woman eager to cover more exciting news than the flower shows her editor assigns. Her search for the truth attracts the attention of David, and possibly that of a murderer.

David is charming, handsome, a real lady-killer in every way. A relative newcomer to Whitby, he is reluctant to talk about his past. He also has a direct link with the recent murder victims.

Is there any truth to the rumours about the Tate Camera? Will it predict who will die in the near future? Can it expose a killer?

Meanwhile…the Whitby Ripper waits for his next victim.

Visit the Ghostly Images page to read an excerpt!

The Dead Detective Agency by Peg Herring

Pillar’s Fall by Ben Larken
(who is in the running for his THIRD win in this category!)

and A Blonde Bengali Wife by Anne Hamilton

Winners will be announced in March 2012 during EPIC’s annual convention EPICon.

ULTIMATE JUSTICE

A Trey Fontaine Mystery

Ryder Islington

Published by LL-Publications

$14.99 (US) / £9.99 (UK/EU) / $3.99 (ebook)

ISBN 9781905091782 (print) / 9781905091799 (ebook)

© Ryder Islington

304 pages

Release Date: June 24, 2011

Genre(s): Police Procedural, Psychological Thriller

“Islington is a great storyteller. Weaving the protagonist’s hunt for justice through the bayous of Louisiana culture was captivating.”

Bridget Gibson, Editor

The Times-Tribune – Grant City, Missouri

 Special Agent Trey Fontaine has his hands full as he tries to juggle three different sets of cases in his hometown. While healing from a bullet wound, and on limited duty, he is charged with helping find out what’s happening to young women who are disappearing without a trace. But that’s just the beginning. Someone is beating and raping women in town, women who are related to his godfather, Detective Russell Coleman. And then the bodies of men start showing up, eviscerated. Are the crimes related? Or are has the town become a haven for all sorts of criminals?

Wile, Rocky, and Drew, three children from a violent home, take matters into their own hands and soon the small town of Raven Bayou, Louisiana is brimming with dead bodies. But the only victims are those whose background proves them to be deserving of such justice.

Can Special Agent Trey Fontaine stop the violence? Or will he only figure out the truth after someone he loves is dead?

About the Author

A graduate of the University of California and former officer for a large sheriff’s department, Ryder Islington is now retired and doing what she loves: reading, writing, and gardening. She lives in Louisiana with her family, including a very large English Chocolate Lab, a very small Chinese pug, and a houseful of demanding cats. She can be contacted at

RyderIslington@yahoo.com or visit her blog at http://ryderislington.wordpress.com

 Ultimate Justice will be available in print and ebook formats and will be found online at Amazon, Barnes and Noble (including Kindle and NOOK versions ), OmniLit.com as well as many other print and ebook retailers.

Visit the Ultimate Justice page at LL- Publications: www.ll-publications.com/ultimatejustice.html

Murder at McMurdo – a Novella

By A. J. Walker

Published by LL-Publications

$1.99

ISBN   9781905091744 (ebook)

© A. J. Walker

Release Date: June 20, 2011

Genre(s):     Mystery/Suspense, amateur sleuth

Mark Collins came to McMurdo Antarctic Research Station to study ice cores, cut down on drinking, and patch up his marriage to his wife Rachel. He’s failed on all counts. His equipment arrives broken, and he’s having an affair with Svetlana, a coworker who drinks as much as he does. When Mark and Svetlana witness a murder and the wrong man gets blamed, they must either solve the crime themselves, or reveal their affair to the entire camp in order to prove the suspect’s innocence. The only clue is an Alcoholics Anonymous token. Mark must infiltrate the station’s AA group, where he faces not only danger, but hard truths about himself.

About the Author

A Medievalist and archaeologist by education, an archaeologist and writer by profession, A. J. Walker writes fiction and his influences include Lovecraft, Bukowski, Burroughs (both), all the Beats, 80s horror films, 50s B-movies, history, and the world at large. When he is not writing, he likes to explore the natural world and has a love of long-distance hiking and caving.  He has yet to come across any monsters while exploring the underworld, however.

 Murder at McMurdo will be available in several ebook formats (including Kindle and NOOK) and available at www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, www.omnilit.com as well as many other ebook retailers.

Visit the Murder at McMurdo page at LL- Publications:

http://www.ll-publications.com/mcmurdo.html

 The Dead Detective Agency – Peg Herring

Pillar’s Fall – Ben Larken

The Hollows – Ben Larken

The Great Right Hope – Mark Jackman

A Blonde Bengali Wife – Anne Hamilton

More titles will follow as soon as we can get them up. Watch this space!

Book Talk, Creativity and Family Matters

The call in time is 12 Noon PDT, 2pm CDT, and 3pm EDT.

The call-in number is: (347) 215-7740.

Please share this number with friends, family and fans who might want to listen or call-in.

Come chat with Peg today at AuthorIsland’s Cyber Launch Party!

The party lasts all day/night from 10am EST – drop in at any time.

Plus, read the review from New York Journal of Books!

Young secretary Tori Van Camp wakes one morning on a luxurious ocean liner where she is offered whatever a person might desire: food, clothes, recreation, and the companionship of congenial people. But Tori has no memory of booking a cruise. What she does have is a vivid recollection of being shot point blank in the chest.

With the help of the stunningly handsome Mike and the unnervingly serene Nancy, Tori soon learns the purpose of her voyage. Still, she is haunted by the image of the gun, the crack of the shot, and the malevolent face of the shooter. Who wanted her dead, and why?

Determined to find out, Tori enlists the help of Seamus, an eccentric but shrewd detective. Together they embark on an investigation unlike anything Tori ever thought possible. Death is all around, the future is uncertain, and if Tori does not act quickly, two people she cares about are prime candidates for murder.

About the Author

Peg Herring lives in beautiful northern Michigan with her husband of many decades. She writes historical, vintage, and contemporary mysteries that feature strong women with great stories. Her mystery series set in Tudor England focuses on Elizabeth Tudor, who enlists the help of Simon Maldon, a crippled apothecary, when there are crimes to be solved. The first in the series, Her Highness’ First Murder, released from Five Star Press in January of 2010. Also in 2010, Herring released her first e-book with Red Rose Publishing, a Vietnam-era mystery called Go Home and Die.

[Colonial Willimasburg, VA – March 12, 2011]  The Hollows by Ben Larken was announced the winner of the 2011 EPIC eBook Award™ for Best Horror.

Winners were announced at EPICon’s annual awards banquet at the Williamsburg Woodlands Hotel and Suites. EPICon is the annual conference hosted by EPIC – the Electronically Published Internet Coalition™.

The Hollows marks Larken’s second win at EPICon. He won the 2009 EPPIE for Pit-Stop in the same category.

Reviewer Geoff Nelder says, “Having decided that Ben Larken’s Pit-Stop was my favourite noir thriller of 2009, I was delighted to be reading The Hollows. Although not a sequel as such, the main character of Pit-Stop, Scott Alders is the older brother of protagonist David Alders, who is also a lawman. Maybe it is more than a coincidence that a pit is also a hollow…If you are an aficionado of noir fiction The Hollows will immerse you in a nether world, terrifying yet scintillating at the same time(s). This Ben Larken noir mystery thriller is strongly recommended.”

Formerly known as the EPPIES, EPIC’s eBook Awards™ is the longest standing and most inclusive e-book awards in existence. Since the year 2000, this peer-judged competition has been awarded by the members of EPIC to titles that represent the best in ePublishing.

EPIC was established in 1998 to provide a strong voice for electronic publishing and their annual international awards competition is open to members and non-members alike.

The Hollows is published by LL- Publications and is the first of a series. It is available in both print and various ebook formats and can be found at many fine retailers including Amazon.com, Amazon UK, Barnes & Noble, OmniLit.com, and direct from the publisher at www.ll-publications.com