Sea and Rocks

This was a downtown section of Carroll City, an east coast metropolis with a population of five hundred thousand.  She reflected that what others thought about her didn’t matter now, and she hugged herself.  She was a genuine goddess!  Too bad she couldn’t yet flaunt that to the world.

She sat on a couch facing the windows and stretched, relaxing in the too-warm room, enjoying her triumph, wriggling her scarlet-tipped toes.  She would have all that and more after she and Kurt were married.

She got up, walked over to a golden oak credenza, and slid open a door.  She took out a once-exquisite porcelain doll, now dressed in dirty knife-slashed rags.  Its gold chain bracelet with a plain gold medallion seemed incongruous but somehow suited to the ruined doll, which resembled Eden Wilder, Kurt’s wife.  The face of the doll was scratched and gouged.

Staring at her hated rival’s image for a long minute, she spat full in the porcelain face.  Holding the doll in one hand, she encircled its slender throat with the other.  She squeezed and murmured the ancient incantation Die, bitch, die!

Still standing, she pulled on black silk ballerina slippers.  Then dancing in circles, she switched on the stereo,  The sound of ritual Haitian voodoo drums filled the room with their pounding rhythn.  A growing frenzy filled Maggi as she danced to the hypnotc and sexual sound of the drums.  Panting and full of the necessary hatred boiling inside her, she flung the doll with all her might against the fieldstone wall and heard the porcelain shatter.  She danced in a straight line over to where the dolll lay broken and kicked it brutally, her toes striking the fieldstone.

When she had visited Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Simone Duclair, her mentor and friend, had taken her to hear the music.  She gave her recordings to bring back, so that she would not forget.

Tensed against the pain flashihng through her toes, she thought of how Dido had pressed her to make love.  His hunger for her never seem to lessen.  He had been angry, sullen, unlike his usual suave self.  How much longer would she have to lead him on while she learned what he knew about voodoo?  And what happened once she knew?  She shrugged.  Life was hard, and only thhose who could adjust to change would survive.

Limping to the couch, she sat down, massaging her hurting toes, then laughed abruptly, winded.  Killing, even in fantasy, was hard work.  And this had to go far beyond fantasy.

“It didn’t have to  be, Eden,” she said softly.  “You had your chance to let him go.”

Welcome to Dying on the Edge.  It’s now available on Amazon where you type in the title instead of my name.  I had forgotten authors maintain their own list of books, so it doesn’t yet come up under my name.  Price is relatively the same when ordered from Amazon or Wheatmark, because Wheatmark ships free.  Amazon is http://www.amazon.com.  Wheatmark is http://www.wheatmark,com/bookstore.

I will put on the second excerpt Saturday, giving you time to read and digest, and I’ll put on one or two excerpts after July Fourth.  As I said, Edge is written in blood – mine!  No, I have not lived all of it under any circumstances, but I have known enough of its heartbreak.

First Excerpt from Dying on the Edge originally appeared on Francine Craft on June 30, 2010.

Cascading water Over Mossy Rocks

Far and away you’ll learn more about Dying on the Edge from the back cover than from any thumbnail sketch I could give you.  What you read here really is what you get.

Maggi Frencxh is a beautiful film star whose lust for power and obsessive drive for another woman’s husband can only bring disaster!

She Was Looking for a Way Back Into His Heart!

Film star Maggi French is on top of her game, and she wants billionaire real estate mogul Kurt Wildder for herself, even though he’s married and has a child.  He owns Wilder Film Studios, and Maggi’s drive for power demands she have him as her husband.  She’ll go to any lengths to get him, including voodoo.  Maggi lives on the edge of an emotional precipice.  Will her hunger for Kurt provide the thrust that pushes her over?

Was He Looking for a Deadly way Out?

Kurt Wilder has romanced many women and his wife knows all about them.  Once he thought he’d divorce his wife and marry Maggi.  Now he’s drifting and she’s clinging.  Has he figued out a way to be free of  her forever?

I feel it’s written in blood – mine!  Text and subtext lives.  Love and hate.  Truth and lies. Faithfulness and betrayal.  They’re all here: the people you know and those you don’t want to know.

Excerpts begin tomorrow and as soon as we can, front and back book covers go up.

I hope to see you here tomorrow and take very good care of yourself!

What Dying on the Edge is About originally appeared on Francine Craft on June 29, 2010.

Clouds at Sunrise

This week I begin, as promised, to tell you about my new romantic voodo mystery, Dying on the Edge.  It is available at Wheatmark Bookstore, http://www.wheatmark.com/bookstore for $18.95,  free shipping and handling.  It’s taking a bit longer than usual to go on Amazon and Kindle, but will be on,  I would guess, within the next two weeks.  It is taking longer than I had anticipated.

Today, I had planned to have photos of  front and back covers on this site, but the person handling it has hit a slight snag.  Photos will be up within a day or so.  Today, I’ll just give you a bit of information and tomorrow I’ll give you the copy from the back cover that is a true description of the book’s storyline.

Dying on the Edge is set in an imaginary city on the east coast between NewYork and Boston.  It is  April 1992  and I chose a detectives team to work this story because they were very much a part of the 90′s police scene.  The story begins with a prologue depicting a woman reminiscing about her time in Haiti seeking voodoo spells to kill a rival whose husband she intends to have. It is multicultural and so, multiracial.  Several socioeconomic levels are depicted, and I think you’ll like the variety.

I have a slogan with this story and it’s more or less true:  Dying on the Edge is Written in Blood — Mine!  It is a story of universal truths and treachery, of warmth and tenderness, of betrayal and lusts beyond reason.

Wednesday the excerpts begin, along with, I hope, the book photos and you can judge for yourself.  Later, there will be a trailer posted on this site.

I look forward to seeing you here.  Take  very good care.

Some Updates on Dying on the Edge originally appeared on Francine Craft on June 28, 2010.

Humpback Whales Breaching

My new romantic voodoo mystery, Dying On The Edge, will be released in early July.  I believe you’ll enjoy this tale of mischief, murder, voodoo, a film star who “had to have” another woman’s husband and so, set out to take him.  Next week, I’ll begin to give you particulars in the form of excerpts and storyline.  Tell me what you think.  I enjoy interaction.  We grow by listening, then weighing pros and cons.

In the meantime, I shouldn’t have to, but I beg you to get on top of your marketing.  It’s your book.  Stand by it!

Beginning Next Week, Keep Your Eyes On This Blog Space originally appeared on Francine Craft on June 23, 2010.

Getting back to you — and I’ve never really been away — I’d like to  beg you to get on with studying marketing even as you work on your masterpiece.  You  cannot succeed without knowing your market.  Please do yourself a favor and check in to http://www.wheatmark.com.  Order their excellent brochure on marketing and use it

I hope you and www.Google.com have become fast friends, but that you’re also checking for errors.

Happy reading and Happy Father’s Day!

New Things Coming and More Advice originally appeared on Francine Craft on June 14, 2010.