A Giveaway, and cool stuff!

Greetings, fellow castaways. My apologies for missing last week's post; life got in the way, as life is wont to do. Most of the time, I get in my weekly howdies, but last Saturday....

Anyway, I have some cool stuff to give away, some announcements as well.

FIRST, THE GIVEAWAY!

 

 

 

I have one Adult-Large Tee Shirt (designed by graphic artist Shannon Kenyon)to give to one lucky winner. If ya wanna win, ya gotta do this: Read carefully, and follow my exact instructions, or you can't be entered in the contest.

 

Leave a comment on my blog. Not on Facebook. Not on Twitter. Right here. Down at the bottom of this page, where it says, "comment." I promise, you will not get spammed through Blogger or by my page. Your comment will not appear right away. This is so I can moderate  each one.

 

In that comment, leave me your name and an email address where you can be contacted. If you don't let me know how to get hold of you, you can't win.

 

A winner will be chosen at random from the comments left on this blog on Saturday the 29th of March, 2014. I will contact that person and make arrangements for getting their prize sent.

 

One other person will win a second prize: One pdf copy of their choice from among my published books

 

Up to four other people will win a four-inch round "Jenna Lives" sticker, handy for personalizing anything you want. (I tried uploading a jpeg, but Blogger doesn't like the file for some reason)

Which leads to my next announcement:

Soon, you'll be able to order NADIA Project merchandise! I'm doing a test run with stickers, and if there's enough interest in shirts, we'll be getting more. But an investment like that needs to be justified. Let me know if you're interested, okay?

Which leads to my next announcement (I'm just full of good news this week!):

My publisher, MuseItUp Publishing, has confirmed that Critical Mass, the third installment of my award-winning series of thrillers The NADIA Project, will be coming to paperback soon! I don't have an official release date yet, but as soon as I now, I will be passing it on to all of you.

To celebrate the announcement,  I'm including here a free excerpt from Critical Mass:

At Gate 47 on the A concourse, he waited another ten minutes. A wheelchair approached him bearing a bundle of loose clothing in a wide-brimmed, veiled hat. The woman, face obscured by the veil, croaked, “Jonathan, it’s been so long. Give your grandma a hug.”

A chill slithered up Jon’s spine. He scanned the area. No one in the crowd around them noticed, or paid any attention whatsoever. As he bent down, her voice changed. It was Jenna, but she sounded strained, tight. She whispered into his ear, “Get me the hell out of here, and if you aren’t straight with me, I’ll make you suffer before I kill you.”

He whispered back, “Gee Grandma, you have such a way with words.” Grabbing the handles of the wheelchair, he pushed it toward the main parking area. On the way out, he mumbled, “Long time no see. I suppose I should ask how you’ve been, but I honestly couldn’t care less.”

“Thanks for your concern,” she said. Her voice was so weak Jon had to lean down just to hear. “We’ll take your car. I assume you’re still FBI?”

As he pushed her along, he scanned the crowd. No one paid any undue attention to them or changed direction as they passed. We’re not being followed. What’s wrong with this picture? “Actually, no. I transferred to Air Force OSI after our little party at Twin Oaks. It gives me even more super powers. So what have you been up to, Jenna? Conquer any countries lately? Maybe torture a puppy or two?”

“God, Jon, you are such an ass. Now I suppose you’re going to try to arrest me again?”

“That depends on you. Let’s just talk and see what happens from there.”

At his car, Jon unlocked the doors and waited on the driver’s side for Jenna to get out of the chair and climb in. She just sat in the chair in her disguise until he lost patience and came back around. He flipped the hat from her head. “Okay, you can dump the old lady act—” He took in her disheveled hair, the bruises and stitches on her head, her pale skin, and a hot wave of shock washed over him, mixed with shame. He tried to think of something appropriate to say, but all that come out was a gasp, followed by, “You look like hell.”

“Way to compliment a lady, Agent Daniels.” Her face twisted in a grimace. Her trembling hands clutched at the chair’s armrests. “I need a little help getting up.”

Jon opened the passenger door and helped her in, and then got in and started the engine. “Do you need a hospital?”

“No.” She grunted, settling into the seat. “But if you could line me up with some painkillers and a place to lay low for a couple of days, I’ll be a happier girl.”

“Would you at least tell me what happened to you?”

“Bad day at work. Just get me out of here, will you? No hospitals. Can’t be seen in public.” Her voice was getting weaker; she was slurring her words. Sweat beaded on her forehead. Jon swerved out into traffic, and she moaned with the sudden movement. “You’ve a doctor workin’ with you. Take me there.”

“Okay, but I’ll have to blindfold you.”

“Don’ worry,” she slurred, “I’ll prolly be unconjus in few minuz. Zis seat lay back?”

Jon stole a glance at her as he swung onto an entrance ramp. Her face looked like school paste and her jaw hung open. She was breathing, for now, but the last time he saw someone that pale, they didn’t live much longer. Dammit, girl, don’t you die on me. He put his magnetic rotator light on the car’s roof and goosed the accelerator. As soon as he hit a clear stretch on the interstate, he called Donna Hermsen. “Boss Lady? We have a problem.”

“What is it now? Are you followed?”

He double-checked his mirrors. “Doesn’t seem to be an issue. Donna, I’ve got Jenna Paine—”

“And who’s got who tied up this time?”

“Ha, ha. No, seriously. She’s hurt, bad. I think she just passed out.”

“What did you do to her?”

“I didn’t do anything, she came in like this.”

Donna’s voice was tight with tension. “Make sure it’s not a trick.”

“Oh, it’s no trick. She looks like hell.”

“Well, what’s wrong? Have you checked her out?”

“Hang on.” He pulled over. “Okay, what do I do?”

“Weren’t you a boy scout?”

“It’s been a long time, Donna. You’re a doctor—”

“A physiologist, not an MD. Hang on, Beth is here.”

Jon clipped his Bluetooth to his ear as he ran around the front of the car and opened the passenger door.

Beth’s voice sounded in his earpiece. “Okay, what’s she look like?”

He felt her head. “Fishbelly white, her face is clammy. She’s got fresh stitches on the side of her head and bruises all over the place.”

“Check her pupils—make sure they dilate evenly.”

Jenna didn’t even twitch when he thumbed her eyelids up. “They look the same size. They react to light.”

“There has to be something else going on. Is she bleeding anywhere else?”

“Hell, I don’t know, she’s dressed up in a huge grandma sweater—” He saw the stain on his car seat and cursed. “Beth, she’s bleeding. Hang on—” He lifted the sweater and saw the dressing on her torso. “She’s got a huge bandage on her waist, and it’s soaked through with blood.”

“Fresh, or clotted?”

“It’s soaking with fresh blood.”

“Dark or bright red?”

“It’s bright red.”

“How much is flowing?”

“It’s just seeping right now.”

“It’s an active bleed, but it’s not an artery. Okay, don’t peel it away, but tell me what color is the skin around the edges of the dressing?”

“There’s some bruising, but not too bad.”

“Is the area hard and swollen?”

When he reached out to feel her side, Jenna grabbed his wrist. She looked straight into his eyes. “Wha’ th’hell you doin’?”

“I’m seeing if you’ll survive a four-hour drive.”

“If I don’, I prolly d’serve it. Le’s go.”

Beth said, “Okay, she’s conscious. Listen—put more padding on top of that dressing. Do you have any way to secure it, to put pressure on it? Don’t take it off for anything. Donna, Hushi, and I are going to take off right now. We’ll meet you at the Virginia state line, at the welcome center on the southbound side. Meantime, I want you to push liquids, as much as she can keep down. OJ and clear soda, half-and-half. That’ll keep her blood sugar up, and give us a little more time. Now haul out, and we’ll meet you.”

Jon hung up and took off his shirt. He packed it on top of the blood-soaked dressing and secured it with his belt before pulling Jenna’s sweater back down over it. Then he jumped back in and pulled out onto the expressway.


Thanks for your time and attention this week. Enter my giveaway, and good luck!