The Darlington Substitution along with two new stories; Murder On The Teesside Princess (where my version of Sherlock Holmes is involved an an Agatha Christie type mystery) and The Devil's Advocate (a jury room drama). In addition to this The Riverside Thriller, which has been published previously, is included as a bonus short story.
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Ila, a Mumbai-based teenager, is going nuts with Veena, her controlling, single mother who prevents her from stalking her pop idol, Ali Zafar. Veena wants her daughter to date real guys in the lead-up to finding a husband. But Ila decides that the only way to get her mom off her back is by finding her a boyfriend instead. With the help of her best friend Deepali, her crush Dev and her mother’s best friend Maleeka, they will come up with a plan to make it happen by setting up a profile in dating apps.
Reenita Malhotra Hora is a founder, executive-level content, operations & marketing leader, and prolific writer. With multiple years of experience in media, entertainment, communications, tech/innovation and wellness industries in the USA and Asia, she grows organizations, ranging from early stage startups through mid-size businesses, through storytelling, creative marketing and business strategy.
Reenita has written seven books - five non fiction and two fiction. She is the writer, anchor and executive producer of Shadow Realm and True Fiction Project podcasts and founder of the Chapter by episode fiction app. She has contributed to The Hindu, South China Morning Post, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, CNN, Asian Investor, Times of India, National Geographic Kids, Cartoon Network Asia, Disney, and more.
Website: http://www.reenita.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReenitaMalhotraHora
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reenita_storyteller/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/reenymal
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3WlLUdB
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62589043-operation-mom
Operation Mom - an opportunity to whack the funny bone
In general, I think life would be more fun if we took it down a notch. I am a huge proponent of stand up comedy and improv because I think it helps us let go of our Type A existence, be spontaneous and have a laugh or two. That goes for the performers as well as the audience members. So many of us take ourselves way too seriously and really need a whack of our funny bone from time to time.
I grew up reading very serious novels, most of them Classic British literature. It wasn't until I moved to the United States many years later that I discovered the American sense of humor – so basic, so subtle and so able to lighten your mood on any given day. It made me think about how I had so material right here in my home.
In Indian life, be it in or outside of India, there is an element of predictability and safety that underscores practically every decision — it’s a classic example as to why Indian parents want their kids to go into ‘safe’ professions like medicine and engineering. There is plenty of comedy in that itself - you just need to dig for it. And when it comes to predictability, you don't typically find an Indian situation in which the daughter is setting up her mom – usually it happens the other way around. You don't find stories which expose you to a variety of cray cray ethnic situations strewn around Mumbai – all ripe for comedic interpretation. That's what I wanted to do with Operation Mom — in many ways it is an LOL window into my life and circumstances. As a Mumbaikar I feel like I have many affinities – to the Punjabi way of life, to the Parsi community, to places like Swati Snacks and Worli Seaface...all these are part of my ordinary world that I wanted to share with folks everywhere. I wanted to highlight the contextual comedy that is such a huge part of my people and in these places. And the fun with writing fiction is that through it, you can make the ordinary, extraordinary.
My relationship with my own mom has been fairly laid back. She definitely played her role of 'Classic Punjabi Mother' during my younger years but as any Punjabi will tell you, the moment you enter into the institution of marriage, the Punjabi mother becomes completely hands-off. My book actually has nothing to do with my own mother but her ridiculous Punju traits definitely carry through all the humorous set-pieces. For anyone familiar with the quirks of this particular community, the anecdotes will resonate.
When I was a kid, she was highly skeptical of anything concerning me - where I went, who I met and why I pursued the things I wanted to do. Her old-school Punjabi mindset had her believe that if I was too ‘interesting’ or ‘determined’, then it would naturally become an impediment to ‘marrying me off’. So when I successfully stalked George Michael, my teen pop idol, it truly stressed her out.
Who is George Michael, you ask? Well, back in the eighties, he was the lead singer of Wham! Okay that completely gives away my age :) I was one of many teenage girls in the eighties who was completely obsessed with him. Determined to meet him in person, I went through lengths to stalk him one summer holiday in England. It took practically all summer for me to track him down, and mind you this was long before the age of internet or social media, so I really take great pride in my grass roots research skills! I made my way to his father's restaurant in Edgware, and then followed his cat to his house in Bushey Meads where I had a long chat with his mother, who finally pointed me to the office of his manager in Central London, where I eventually met him. I was fifteen then, obsessive to put it mildly...or perhaps I should say, ‘determined.' But this event propelled me to teen stardom...as pathetic as that sounds! And the story has kept listeners marveling and laughing with each re-telling these last thirty-five years. So I chose to copy-paste the George Michael story from my life and into my novel, almost verbatim.
What’s wrong with the Comedy of Obsessiveness? Like I said, life would be so much more fun if we took ourselves a little less seriously.
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“What are you lovely ladies up to this time of night, in a place like this?”
Betina and I both jumped at the voice, we spun around and I pulled out my stun gun. When I bought it, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to use it, but standing there in the dark I did it without a second thought. I would do whatever necessary to protect Betina and myself. As the buzz lit up the shadow so did the smell of rotten milk and fish, Betina was defending us as well. The man shook, groaned, and hit the ground hard.
We both stared, unmoving for a full minute. The man didn’t move either. We leaned close. “That’s no human,” Betina said.
“I can’t even think right now,” I said. “Can you tone down your magical stench?” When I could concentrate again, I had to agree, this was no human. “A Vampire?”
“Maybe he’s just pale because you shocked the crap out of him,” Betina suggested.
“Take a closer look, if he was human, I might have killed him.”
“You take a closer look!” Betina whispered harshly.
I held the stun gun ready and leaned closer to the body. “He’s not breathing.”
“Dead not breathing, or Vampire not breathing?” She asked.
“How am I supposed to know?” I whispered a little too harshly, this was not part of the plan. In fact, this was exactly why I didn’t want to carry weapons. If I start killing humans I’m going to end up in my father’s basement behind bars.
“Feel for a pulse, Vampires have a pulse, don’t they?”
I knew enough about Vampire anatomy to know that was true, they didn’t have to breathe but their blood pumped through their body, full of oxygen from the blood they drank from humans. “Okay, take the stun gun. If he moves, shock him again.” I handed Betina the stun gun and she moved to stand on the other side of the body. She held the stun gun close to his stomach, ready. He was dressed in black slacks and t-shirt, boots and a leather jacket, goth enough to be a Vampire. The clothes looked a little out of date, but not enough to be overly obvious, Vampires didn’t tend to dress with the times, but more in a timeless fashion. I was starting to feel hopeful, shocking a Vampire into unconsciousness wasn’t a crime. “Okay, here I go…” I reached down and pressed two fingers to the side of his throat and waited. “Yes!” I said, a little too loud apparently because Betina got spooked and shocked the poor Vampire again. The smell of rotten milk and fish was again assaulting my nose and burning my eyes.
“Uh-oh, well if he wasn’t dead before, he might be now.” She dropped the stun gun and stepped back.
I stepped away too, mostly from the smell Betina was emitting. I wasn’t afraid of the stunned Vampire at this point. “He’s a Vampire, the shock won’t kill him, but I don’t know how long he’ll be out, we can’t leave him here where the sun could get to him.” If I were in any way responsible for a Vampire’s untimely death, that would mean serious trouble with Cassius Vamprose, the leader of the U.S. Vampires and a very scary being.
“And what do you suggest we do, drag him to the car and shove him in the trunk?” Betina said. I looked at her and shrugged, I didn’t have a better idea. She sighed, “I’ll grab his legs, I don’t want to be anywhere near that mouth when he wakes up.” I grabbed under his armpits and Betina lifted his legs then we shuffled back to where we had parked Annabel’s car. “You know, he’s kind of cute.”
“In an almost dead I want to rip out your throat and suck you dry kind of way?” I said sarcastically.
“Exactly!”
We dropped his body in the trunk and I slammed the lid. I stepped back slowly, half expecting it to burst open and the Vampire to come out in a rage.
“What if hottie Vampire wakes up in there?” Betina asked.
“Well… hopefully we aren’t in the car when he does. He can just bust out and walk away, that would be great.” I didn’t add what I was really thinking, which was hopefully he’d leave without figuring out who we were or trying to get any kind of revenge for the harsh treatment. I didn’t need the Vampire community thinking I was prejudice or afraid of them, though I was.
“What if he’s friends with Drake or Zin and they bring him to the house one day and he’s like oh my god you tazed me and locked me in a trunk.”
I looked at Betina like she had lost it, because in what world would something like that happen. “Let’s go back to watch the docks.”
“It could happen,” she mumbled.
Guest Review by Laura
Every story has to start somewhere, and for Fawn
Malero, that somewhere is a supernatural bar called 'Brews For Beasts,' in Seattle.
A desperate, dripping wet, naked woman stumbles into
the bar asking for Fawn and telling her that she has a case that she needs
solved. See, Fawn is a PI of the supernatural variety, solving cases for the
witches, vampires, shifters and every other supe in the Seattle area.
Using her inner knowledge of the community (she is a
supe herself, coming from a family of magicians) and her cunning know-how, Fawn
provides aid to anyone that needs it, no matter what kind of creature they may
be.
This time, the woman, Eldoris, is an octopus shifter,
who lives in the ocean. Eldoris arrives just in time to tell Fawn that the sea
supernaturals are facing a huge crisis. A stone that used to belong to Poseidon
has been stolen, and no one is sure where it went. Without the stone, the
oceans themselves, plus everything that lives inside of them, are in danger.
Fawn's mission is to find who has taken the stone, and
return it to it's rightful owners-- an undertaking that becomes far more
complicated when she discovers that the stone might belong to any one of five
different groups of supes. With help from her strong group of friends,
including a teenage troll, a surly ghost, two vampires and her werewolf
boyfriend, Logan, Fawn navigates the rough and tumultuous waters of
supernatural politics.
This was a fun mystery with an adorable romance and a
great universe of characters. I think this book had the broadest range of
paranormal characters that I've ever seen being used in a book together, and
seeing how they were all written was a really cool experience. This was
definitely a five star book for me!
Book Title: A Shape on the Air
Series: Dr DuLac series #1 (The Dragon Tree #2; The Rune Stone #3)
Author: Julia Ibbotson
Publication Date: January 2022 (previously published by Lume Books July 2017)
Publisher: Self-published on Amazon KDP
Page Length: 220
Genre: historical romance (timeslip mystery)
A haunting Anglo-Saxon time-slip of mystery and romance
How can Dr Viv DuLac, medievalist and academic, unlock the secrets of the past? Traumatised by betrayal, she slips into 499 AD and into the body of Lady Vivianne, who is also battling treachery. Viv must uncover the mystery of the key that she unwittingly brings back with her to the present day, as echoes of the past resonate through time. But little does Viv realise just how much both their lives across the centuries will become so intertwined. And in the end, how can they help each other across the ages without changing the course of history?
For fans of Barbara Erskine, Pamela Hartshorne, Susanna Kearsley, Christina Courtenay.
Praise for A Shape on the Air:
“In the best Barbara Erskine tradition …I would highly recommend this novel” - Historical Novel Society
“Amazing …a really great book …I just couldn’t put it down” - Hazel Morgan
“Well-rounded characters and a wealth of historical research make this a real page-turner” - Amazon review
“Enthralling” - Amazon review
“Julia does an incredible job of setting up the idea of time-shift so that it’s believable and makes sense” - Amazon review
“Viv/Lady Vivianne … lovely identifiable heroine in both time periods … I love her strength and vulnerability. And Rory/Roland is simply gorgeous!” - Melissa Morgan
“gripping … a very real sense of threat and danger, an enthralling mystery … a wholly convincing romance, across both timelines” - Anne Williams
This novel is available on #KindleUnlimited
Universal Link: http://myBook.to/ASOTA
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09J43ZKZP
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09J43ZKZP
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09J43ZKZP
Julia Ibbotson is fascinated by the medieval world and the concept of resonances across time. She sees her author brand as a historical fiction writer of romantic mysteries that are character-driven, well-paced, evocative of time and place, well-researched and uplifting page-turners. Her current series focuses on early medieval dual-time/time-slip mysteries.
Julia read English at Keele University, England, specialising in medieval language/ literature/ history, and has a PhD in socio-linguistics. After a turbulent time in Ghana, West Africa, she became a school teacher, then a university academic and researcher.
Her break as an author came soon after she joined the RNA’s New Writers’ Scheme in 2015, with a three-book deal from Lume Books for a trilogy (Drumbeats) set in Ghana in the 1960s. She has also indie-published three other books, including A Shape on the Air, an Anglo-Saxon timeslip mystery, and its two sequels The Dragon Tree and The Rune Stone. Her latest, Daughter of Mercia, is the first of a new series of Anglo-Saxon dual time mystery/romances where echoes of the past resonate across the centuries.
Her books will appeal to fans of Barbara Erskine, Pamela Hartshorne, Susanna Kearsley, and Christina Courtenay. Her readers say: ‘compelling character-driven novels’, ‘a skilled story-teller’, ‘evocative and well-paced storylines’, ‘incredible writing style’, ‘intricately written’, ‘absorbing and captivating’, and ‘an absolute gem of a trilogy’.
Website: https://juliaibbotsonauthor.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JuliaIbbotson
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JuliaIbbotsonauthor
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-julia-ibbotson-62a5401a/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/julia.ibbotson
Pinterest: http://pinterest.co.uk/julia1
Amazon Author Page: http://Author.to/JuliaIbbotsonauthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/juliaibbotson
Tour Schedule page: https://thecoffeepotbookclub.blogspot.com/2022/09/blog-tour-shape-on-air-by-julia-ibbotson.html
Title: Mosquito District
Author: Leona Bentley
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: 11/08/2022
Heat Level: 3 - Some Sex
Pairing: Male/Male
Length: 68900
Genre: Paranormal, LGBTQIA+, paranormal, vampires, librarian, businessmen, jealousy
Lee, a librarian bored with his daily routine, knows better than to play nice with the mosquitos who rule his district. After mouthing off to one of these vampire flunkies, he loses the carefully crafted order of his life. Next thing he knows, there is Ira, a millennia-old vampire new to Lee’s side of the world with questions for which Lee has few answers.
From the moment Ira steps into Lee’s library, the delicate balance of Lee’s life is threatened. Following the rules and keeping his head down gives him a measure of safety that helping Ira challenges, but he can’t deny his unwelcome attraction to the ancient mosquito.
What game does Ira play? Lee’s curiosity, coupled with Ira’s irresisti-ble charms, promises an escape from routine Lee isn’t sure he is strong enough to deny.
He might be able to help Ira uncover the answers he seeks—if they can learn to trust.
Mosquito District
Leona Bentley © 2022
All Rights Reserved
I felt like a fly with nowhere to land, buzzing in ceaseless circles with no bright light to syphon me to a sudden end. The entire district was a cesspit where the dregs of the city huddled in vermin-ridden homes, cursing each salvaged day. Our ruling masters would bleed us dry eventually. When they moved on, the vermin and insects vying for what we’ve hollowed out would end up the victors.
Like survived best with like, after all, and we had a serious mosquito problem.
I clenched my free hand into a fist beneath my desk, pointedly refusing to acknowledge the mosquito looming impatiently across from me. As a night-shift librarian I was somewhat used to his type, but that didn’t endear them to me. Always so self-important, they all believed in their right to muck up our mandated schedule whenever it suited their fancy. Longevity was likely the culprit there.
Frigging vampires.
Ross quit—I jotted down, knuckles white around my pen. I tried to look busy, hoping to create the appearance that he was a minor inconvenience at best—I’m leaving his keys for Joan in the broken cupboard. I took my time dotting my i’s and crossing my t’s, delaying as best I could. Finally, I gave in to the inevitable and looked up again.
Yep. There and still seething.
“Is there something else?” I asked with faux politeness. An itty-bitty part of me really enjoyed the way his jaw twitched.
“Get me the documents.”
“No,” I repeated flatly. I’d told him the same thing when he first made his demand. He could likely hear my fear pumping through my veins, but hopefully he’d take that for anger. The last two years of practice, dealing with these insects had greatly improved my facial control. Plus, I honestly felt no sympathy for his impatience. “Like I said, we close in fifteen minutes. There isn’t time to get your list pulled. Leave it with me. If you come back tomorrow night, we should have everything set aside for you.”
And that would only be possible after our day staff put in several hours digging through the basement archives. Seriously, not even one of the books he requested sat amongst our regular stock.
My third repetition of the facts didn’t work much of a charm—imagine my shock—the vampire across my desk might be aggressively set on getting his way, but he’d find me just as stubborn. I wasn’t about to break the rules and stick my neck out for any reason, no matter how snarly and intimidating said reason presented itself.
The beast flashed his teeth at me, dark lips curling to show the elongated incisors framing his pointed front teeth. “Confident you won’t have time?” he demanded again.
Nice. Considering the smooth, crisp look of the suit practically molded to his dark skin, I doubted he had much experience with humans getting in his way. That was too bad. Tonight could be a first for him, and hopefully it wouldn’t be my last, but when did my mouth ever show any concern for my safety?
“Not if your boss is to have his way,” I answered anyway. “You really want to tell me to break curfew and stick around? This isn’t a restaurant or bar, you know.” Both of which granted select employees passes stating they were permitted outside during the hours between 4:00 and 6:00 a.m. “Get us some passes and maybe we’ll talk.”
Gooseflesh prickled up my arms at his answering snarl. I steeled my expression, focusing on the bridge of his nose—safe—and refusing to let the thudding of my heart show in my face or voice. He could likely tell anyway, what with those extra senses, but I’d be damned before I showed him my fear.
“I can point out the time you showed up here,” I added. His continued refusal to take my point wasn’t going to get him anywhere. “We have surveillance, and you walking corpses do show up on film, no matter what popular media says.”
The bastard snarled again before jerking his head sideways in a silent, sneering insult. Fine. I found him insulting, too. My hand curled over the pen, using it now as more of a stress ball than anything that hard and thin should ever be. I waited him out. One of us would have to give ground, and it wasn’t going to be me.
“Have the books pulled,” the mosquito finally snarled. “Hope, too, that my boss doesn’t take offense at the added wait.”
I shrugged, hiding behind more false bravado. “Come before closing next time,” I suggested. “If your boss wants them so badly then I doubt he meant for you to put off coming for them until this late.”
There, I’d hit a nerve.
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On the completion of his traineeship at the council, which
included BTEC qualifications studied on day release at both Cleveland Technical
College and Teesside Polytechnic, Mel relinquished his unused right to
countersign passport applications and photographs and left local government
for a period of employment in the private sector. This included stays at WS
Atkins, WA Fairhurst and, perhaps his spiritual home, the now defunct Bullen
Consultants Limited. During this period, interrupted by a bachelor’s degree in
civil and structural engineering at the University of Sheffield, Mel undertook
a lot of modelling work. Three-dimensional ground modelling work to be precise,
Mel's use of isopachyte analysis being now the thing of legend.
A natural engineer, Mel expanded his capability into that of
hydraulic engineering soon forming quite a reputation in the fields of both
storm water drainage and sewerage design, his skills in this area being such
that he soon earned the honorary title of the Shitman. It's no exaggeration to
state that Mel has forgotten more about storm water attenuation than most
people will ever know.
Feeling more inclined to a digital era the modelling shitman left
the world of roundabout entry deflection and balancing ponds to embark on a
career in information technology. Following a master's degree in information
processing at the University of York, he gained employment in the IT department
of a large financial services organisation. It wasn't his fault. None of it.
Honest.
With respect to the written word, Mel's efficient writing style is
perhaps the requirement of both engineering and computer science to communicate
in a concise manner. The comedy in his literary output being more of a function
of a Teesside upbringing. Mel's first foray into the world of creative writing
came in the form of slogans for leading tee shirt retailer Shot Dead in The
Head. Mel's work included the popular” What Part of Theoretical Physics Do You
Not Understand?” and “If You Can Read This You Are Too Close”.
Upping the word count considerably into that of fictional crime
writing, Mel's first printed work Holmes Volume 1 and the imaginatively titled Holmes Volume 2. The reviews for this reimagining of Sherlock Holmes a
dry-witted, working-class northerner plying his trade in current day
Middlesbrough have been amazing. If you would like a copy of these classics
including their cult cover art, act quickly, they will soon disappear to be
republished as The Accidental Detective series in November 2022.
This will include a new volume of stories including The Darlington Substitution.
and two new feature length stories.
And it doesn’t end there. Mel has now turned his writing skills to
music and Project Melv!s. The debut single from this initiative, Provisionally Yours, was released in September 2021 and was followed up with The Perfect EP at the end of 2021. Work on an album of original music is
currently underway. It’s shaping up to be something quite special.
If you would like an email providing updates on Mel’s various endeavours
please
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Social Media Links –
https://www.twitter.com/melsmallwriter
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