With: Lisa Belcastro
Congratulations to "Jennfier", the winner in Lisa's giveaway. Thank you to all who participated!
Halloween
often gets a bad rap. With witches, ghosts, goblins, and other assorted horrors
moving around, people often get spooked on October 31. I prefer to think of
Halloween as National Free Candy Day. I’m a chocoholic so I’ve always been more
than happy to consume the extra bars that don’t get given away, and then eat whatever
the children didn’t want . . . or didn’t catch me swiping from their stash.
(Yes, I’m that mom!)
Since
childhood, this man has premeditated a particularly vengeful act for execution
on Halloween night. This year our stalker has come up with his best (or worst)
idea yet. Ryan and his houseguests, Laurel Simmons and her 4-year-old daughter
Gracie, are oblivious to the plans being made just for them. They’ve got their Little Mermaid character costumes ready,
and Gracie is counting the hours until they go trick or treating.
Ryan’s stalker, or
perhaps he’s Laurel’s stalker now, has his own costume ready, and he’ll have
the opportunity to wear it. I didn’t have to scan the newspapers too far or too
hard to find a few twisted events that happened in conjunction with Halloween. I
avoided the grislier activities, but still needed a life-threatening scenario
that could, or would, result in a character’s death.
Detective Slavin
of my local police department was a wealth of information, and extremely
generous with his time. I learned a lot about cell phones, geo-tracking,
tactical response teams, and situations that I want to avoid at all cost. My
heart broke for my characters. It’s not always easy to drag your characters
through hell and back, especially when there’s a child involved. I had to write
these “scary” chapters during the day, and switch to something nicer at night
before bed.
Needless to say, I
prefer my Halloween to be focused on cute little children in costumes,
decorations and jack-o-lanterns, and plenty of candy.
Giveaway:
I love so many kinds of chocolate that I
couldn’t list them all here in the space allowed. If we narrow the choice down
to traditional Halloween candy, then my top three selections would be: milk
chocolate Hershey bars, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and Tootsie Rolls. What is
your favorite Halloween Candy? I’ll be giving one copy of A Dream for Love, and a box of
chocolates to one commenter.
Alex hiked back to the vacant
house. A couple of dozen people could camp in the place. The homeless in Boston
should vacation on the Vineyard in the off-season. So many empty houses waiting
for the needy.
Alex sniggered. His needs were
about to be met.
Two sandwiches and a change of
clothes later, Alex walked past the large mirror in the foyer and paused. The
blue suited him. He smoothed a wrinkle in the collar, and then pulled the badge
out of his pocket. When he clasped the silver pin onto the breast pocket of his
shirt, the uniform was complete. Perfection!
The average person wouldn’t
question a cop, and if a real cop spotted Alex, he’d say he was heading to a
costume party. His luck was definitely on the upswing. No wonder Halloween was
his favorite holiday.
One could do all sorts of fun
things on Halloween, and people chalked them up to the theme of the evening.
His nosy neighbor never knew he’d egged her house. Toilet papering Mrs.
Neiman’s roses bushes had been small justice after enduring her innumerable
corrections of his grammar.
He smiled at the memory of his best
Halloween night ever. During his senior year in high school, he’d been in love
with Lucy Taylor. Lucy refused to go out with him. Lucy loved her black cat.
The cat paid the price for Lucy’s rejection.
In a few hours, Laurel would
discover what happened to women who defied him.
Alex shoved the notecard and a
small roll of duct tape into his back pockets, and then he headed out the door
to his fortune. He strode across the fields, confidence building with each
step. Five years of bad luck, but that was about to change.
Amazon | Nook | Kobo
Giveaway ends 11:59pm EST Nov. 1st. Please supply your email in the post. You may use spaces or full text for security. (ex. jsmith at gmail dot com) If you do not wish to supply your email, or have trouble posting, please email maureen@JustContemporaryRomance.com with a subject title of JCR GIVEAWAY to be entered in the current giveaway.
This book sounds great. My favorite Halloween candy are butterfingers, snickers and those orange suckers with the pumpkin faces on them. Those are hard to find.
ReplyDeletelaurajschoon@gmail.com
Hi Laura,
DeleteI haven't seen those orange pumpkin suckers in years! I can always eat a butterfinger, especially at the movies in those nice bite-size pieces. :-)
Have a great Halloween!
I do love a good stalker. I also love any chocolate that has nuts in it.
ReplyDeletemarypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
I totally agree, Mary, as long as the stalker isn't stalking me! Chocolate with pecans is always a good treat for me, or anything with chocolate and peanut butter. Yum!
DeleteHappy Halloween!!
My favorite Halloween candy is M&Ms....perfect to eathe while reading a good book!
ReplyDeletevandine3atmsn.com
Have you had the mint M&M's, Trude? Those are my favorite flavor of M&M's.
DeleteHappy Halloween!
My favorite Halloween candy is M&Ms....perfect to eathe while reading a good book!
ReplyDeletevandine3atmsn.com
:-)
DeleteOk, you spooked me! :)
ReplyDeleteAs for candy...Reeses Pieces and Kit Kat.
Katy Lee at Cox dot Net
Hi Katy,
DeleteI've recently discovered the peanut butter Kit Kats - YUM!
Happy Halloween! I hope you and the kids have fun today. :-)
Any chocolate is good for me. :) But favorites are PB cups and milkyway. I love any caramel mixed with chocolate.
ReplyDeleteWow, talk about a suspenseful book! I can't wait to read it!!
lattebooks at hotmail dot com
Hi Susan,
DeleteI LOVE Reese's Peanut Butter cups. Yesterday I indulged in the Reese pumpkins - so much peanut butter filling. Delish!
Happy Halloween!
My favorite candy is the Thousand Grand bar , Heath bars, Snickers, Hershey, M&Ms, BabyRuths, Krunch, Kit Kat, Almond Joys, Andy's candy, Mars, Milky Way, Reece's cups, and Peppermint Patties. There's so much more but I'd better stop there. Hehe!
ReplyDeletejennydtipton at gmail dot com
I'm laughing, Jenny! Your candy list reads similar to mine - long and filled with deliciousness!
DeleteHappy National Free Candy Day! ;-)
Wouldn't have it any other way! Glad you had a good laugh!!!! :):):)
Delete:-)
DeleteMy favorite candy is Milky Way and then Mounds, Almond Joy and Butterfinger. Love having a bag of the mini ones beside me while reading a good book and this book sounds wonderful I especially love suspense.
ReplyDeleteHi Stella,
DeleteChocolate and coconut is a wonderful combination. I have a fantastic recipe for homemade mounds bars. Yummy!
Happy Halloween!
I like that National Free Candy Day... some of my favs are peanut M&Ms and 100 grand bars.
ReplyDeleteHi Colleen,
Delete100 grand bars were my favorites from around 9 to 11. I love the crispy/gooey of them.
Happy Halloween!
any kind of chocolate
ReplyDeletebn100candg at hotmail dot com
LOL - pretty much any chocolate for me too, as long as there is no coffee in my chocolate.
DeleteHappy Halloween!
Well, as much as I love chocoholic. for Halloween my fave candy are Smarties (American version).
ReplyDeleteThe story sounds intriguing and I like the cover.
Hi Bea,
DeleteI haven't had Smarties in ages. Think I might have to "borrow" a package from someone's trick or treat bag. ;-)
I'm glad you like the cover. I love it. The beach that the photo was taken it is one of my most favorite places on earth.
Happy Halloween!
Snickers, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Almond Joy
ReplyDeleteHappy Halloween!
jtcgc at yahoo dot com
All fabulous choices! We could have a great time reading and munching.
DeleteHappy Halloween to you!
Snickers, Skittles and M&Ms
ReplyDeleterachaelb2014 (at) gmail (dot) com
Hi Rachael,
ReplyDeleteIs that a Corgi in your picture? I owned Corgis for years. When my last one passed away, I couldn't bring myself to get another one. I think I'm in an extended grieving period. I had Corgis in my first novel, Shenandoah Nights, and both dogs were modeled after two of mine. :-)
Happy Sunday!
Hershey Milk Chocolate Nuggets with Almons
ReplyDeleteRLR888 @ aol.com
Hi Lynn,
DeleteI'm a Hershey Milk chocolate fan, too! Nuggets are great - a lot of chocolate packed into a bite. Unfortunately, I don't usually have one bite - LOL!
Is there any bad candy?? Well maybe Smarties ;) I like candy corn, Twix, peanut butter cups, snickers....
ReplyDelete