Kim's Musings

Yahoo! School's out and I've been lazy. A week ago Monday was my last day, and I've not left my chair much. I did cook supper one night and washed dishes one night, but I've mostly gotten some much needed rest. Problem is I'm not sure what to do with myself. I've not had a moment to myself in ten weeks. Whoever said that the summer semester was hectic may have been understating the fact. I often find myself thinking I should be doing some homework, or something school related. Anyway, I'm happy to report, I got my report card and for the summer semester and I got all A's again. Yeehaw! I did do some work I've had to put off unitl today. I upgraded three websites that I'm responsible for and researched more backgrounds, templates, and themes for future use. I'm pretty proud of myself for accomplishing so much. My website alone took most of the day. There's so much I want to do while I'm off these few weeks, but I've got to get my b...

Congratulations to Jean! Winner of my latest contest, WINS a copy of our newest anthology release, ONE TOUCH BEYOND.

An Excerpt From: RESTLESS SPIRIT Copyright © ELIZABETH DELISI, 2008 All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc. This spirit might be Laura’s only means of reaching Brian. Could she afford to turn her back on such an opportunity? Shaking her head, she decided she had to give it a try. After all, how much worse could things get? She’d already lost Clint and Brian. She returned to the table, resumed her seat and placed her fingers on the planchette. Cautiously, she spelled out—Help you with what? She would see what the spirit wanted and decide if she were willing to help it or not. Maybe a trade could be arranged—she helped this Rafe and he in turn connected her with Brian. Connect me with Joshua. Joshua? Laura didn’t know anyone named Joshua. Joshua who? Joshua Williamson. My little brother. Died last week. Tears stung the corners of Laura’s eyes. This poor spirit, this Rafe, had lost a sibling, just like she’d lost a son. Life just didn’t seem fair, when the young ones had t...

An Excerpt From: 'NEATH HALLOWED HALLS AND IVIED WALLS Copyright © MAUREEN MCMAHON, 2008 All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc. "Stacey, do you have any idea how Professor Donalson died?" I sat down on a wicker chair nearby. "He...well... Didn't they tell you?" "No. My mother called and said someone from Harvard contacted the house. She sounded upset but she wouldn't go into detail-said she didn't want to run up the phone bill." I smiled to myself. Peter's mother never changed, even though she probably had enough money at her disposal to buy the phone company outright. "There's a police investigation into his death," I said, "but it appears it was suicide. He was found in his car in the garage with a hose from the exhaust...you get the picture." I shuddered. I could tell Peter was shocked too. Such an act seemed totally unexpected and out of character for the jolly, fun-loving history professor w...

An Excerpt From: GET OUT OR DIE Copyright © KIM COX, 2008 All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc. Lana walked Dan out, glass from figurines, picture frames and a mirror splintering beneath their feet. "Look. I know you don't want to leave but please, take Ellie somewhere else just for tonight. I'll call you tomorrow and let you know what's going on. I hope by then I can reason with him." "It really is Uncle Adam, isn't it?" Dan asked. "Yes, it is." "This means that my father did...my father is..." "There's still no real proof." "Why else would-" "I don't know. Give me twenty-four hours to find out. I want to sleep here tonight, try to calm Adam down and see if he'll talk to me. Hopefully by tomorrow, regardless of what happened between him and Sean, he'll realize you're not his father." Dan's sullen face appeared doubtful. "Do whatever you have to do."...

Hotcha1 is the winner of the anthology ENCHANTED HOLIDAYS. I need you to send me your full name and mailing information. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

Enchanted Holidays Enchanted Holidays is filled with a wonderful collection of stories set around various holidays. Six talented authors each offer their own version of a holiday romance and all are worth reading. According to an ancient prophesy Alexis Hart is fated to marry the Egyptian god Seth and be murdered so that he may take over the world in the Curse of Osiris by Elaine Hoppe. Zane Ryan has no intention of allowing that to happen; he has come to protect her and he will sacrifice anything to save her. How can a simple man defeat an evil god and why must it be this man that comes to save her; the man who broke her heart four years ago? This tale reminds me of some of the mythology tales I had to study in school, except I found this on more entertaining. Ms. Hoppe has a sense of humor but you must read this story to find the irony! In Fate's Little Trick by Sheryl Hames Torres, Gemma McKenzie Fuller doesn’t like Christmas, everything bad that has ever happened to her has occ...

ENCHANTED HOLIDAYS by Kim Cox, Elizabeth Delisi, Chris Grover, Elaine Hopper, Maureen McMahon and Sheryl Hames Torres RT Rating: 3 stars Category: PARANORMAL ROMANCE Publisher: Cerridwen Published: December 2007 Type: Paranormal (Anthology) This collection of tales from six authors who know how to please sets the tone for several romantic holidays. The blend of ghosts, mediums, prophecy and tragedy -- most of which take place during the Christmas season -- is a pleasant read. Summary: Kim Cox's "Haunted Hearts" pits private eye Lana against spirits as she strives to solve the decades-old murder of her aunt. In "Mistletoe Medium," Elizabeth Delisi brings together psychic Lottie and the deliciously hunky Sheriff Harkin. Chris Grover's "Valentine's Inn" uses a ghost to convince Rianna to keep her inheritance. Alexis must defeat a demon-god in Elaine Hopper's "Curse of Osiris." Maureen McMahon's "Ghosts of Auld Lang Syne...

ONE TOUCH BEYOND - Second Excerpt An Excerpt From: ENIGMA Copyright © SHERYL HAMES TORRES, 2008 All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc. Opening his eyes, he turned on the water to rinse blood from the porcelain before lifting his gaze to the mirror to inspect the damage. What he saw there, however, frosted the blood in his veins. She was there, the silver lady who’d enfolded Amy. Now she floated in the mirror, smiling icily at him, her eyes flashing white fire as she stared at the blood dripping onto his chest. “I believe I told you to go away.” Her voice was like a blizzard, whirling, icy and absorbing the oxygen from the air. It mixed with the storm outside to create a vortex of panic inside him. His throat felt paralyzed. A chill rose up his spine and threatened to overtake his shivering body. It wasn’t fear exactly. More deep sadness, hopelessness, as if she were sucking all joy from him. “I assume you imagine yourself in love with her?” Her voice dripped with mock ...

First except from the anthology: ONE TOUCH BEYOND An Excerpt From: BELIEVING IN DREAMS Copyright © CHRIS GROVER, 2008 All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc. Since Mom's death, I've felt a desperate urge to know more about her and the people who gave her life. This year will be my first Christmas without her and I've been holding on to the thought that by spending the holiday here in St-Stephan, the loss won't seem quite so bad. Whether it will or not remains to be seen. The real reason I'm here is because I want to find my roots. On my birth certificate, there's a line drawn through the box where the father's name should be and it's always made me feel like I appeared out of nowhere, like my mother bought me in a store. I never told Mom how I felt because after the one time I asked who my father was, just the way her expression changed from happy to sad told me the circumstances of my birth was a subject she didn't want to discuss. I...

Sixth sample chapter from Enchanted Holidays - Valentine's Day - HAUNTED HEARTS by Kim Cox Chapter One "How do you like it?" Lucy Ann Malloy, standing at the top of the stairs, turned to the right, then to the left as she modeled the blue and green pastel dress. "I found it in the attic with some of my old things." She lingered in the doorway on the main floor. "Well?" Lana Malloy glanced up from editing the ad for her new PI business. "Nice," she said and returned to her work. Lucy moved to Lana's side and gazed over her shoulder. "What are you working on?" "The ad for the newspaper and magazines. I've got to figure out how to attract some business, or I'll never make it through the first month." A chill filled the air surrounding Lana and she shivered, pulling her sweater tightly around her. "I have an idea and it's actually a pretty good one. I know who your first client can be." Without even g...

Fifth sample chapter from Enchanted Holidays - Valentine's Day - VALENTINE'S INN by Chris Grover Chapter One To Rianna Gordon's annoyance, the rain that started earlier in the morning had now turned to sleet. Pulling up the hood of her winter jacket, she shoved the copy of the developer's offer into the back pocket of her jeans and limped around the perimeter of the lakefront property, trying her desperate best to imagine what it would look like a year from now. After the inn her great-great-grandfather had built on the shores of Lake Ontario over a hundred years ago had been replaced with the condos and other facilities she'd seen on the developer's plans. Provided, of course, she went along with those plans and agreed to sell Wilton Homes the property. She sighed sadly, her gaze lingering on the familiar, large, gray fieldstone building with its high slanted roof of cedar shingles, the old-fashioned six-pane windows and solid wood doors. The summer she graduat...

I'm a guest author at www.ashleyladd.blogspot.com Thursday, January 31st. Please join us! Our (4 other authors and myself) anthology, One Touch Beyond (see cover) will be released at www.cerridwenpress.com February 21st. Kim Cox

Fourth sample chapter from Enchanted Holidays - New Years - Ghosts of Auld Lang Syne by Maureen McMahon Chapter One What house more stately hath there been Or can be, than is Man? to whose creation All things are in decay? --- George Herbert "Man" I hadn't expected the house to be so imposing. When Holly Purcell, my friend since childhood, asked me to accompany her to the remote New Hampshire property her grandmother had willed her, I'd expected a quaint little holiday cottage. What loomed before us, as my little blue car slid up the icy drive between twin rows of gnarled, naked willows, was something much more impressive—and much more sinister. Gripped by unkempt tangles of dormant vines and shrubbery and oblivious to the encroaching forest, the house thrust a multi-peaked roof, complete with stately turret, into a gray, wintry sky. Its windows observed our approach with dull disinterest. I couldn't help but shudder. "God! You didn't tell me it was so ol...

Third sample chapter from Enchanted Holidays - New Years - Curse of Osiris by Elaine Hopper Chapter One The turn of the new millennium ~ the real new millennium "If you want to live, you'll come with me now." Zane Ryan's penetrating golden gaze intensified on Alexis Hart as he thrust his hand out to her. Alexis Hart had tried every trick, every remedy she could find to erase the infidel standing in front of her from her heart. As easily as he'd breezed into her life, like a desert sandstorm, he'd stormed out. And for what? Money! Ha! The American rat didn't deserve her love. Furious with her weak heart, she spat on the floor. She never believed him when he said she was too young to marry, to take to his homeland, the birthplace of her biological parents. In her adoptive family's clan, she was already an old maid four years ago. She was an anachronism now. Oh, she could have, should have married. Her adoptive father had fielded many offers for her hand...