Melissa Stevens is the winner of the Freaky Friday Author Promo from last week. She is an Urban Fantasy/Romance writer who is a native Arizona (one of my favorite states :)). Loving to read from an early age, she fell in with love with the series Box Car Children,and her taste for the concept of book series was instilled. She loves a mix of genres including westerns, romance, sci-fi, fantasy, and horror. She is married with three children and prefers rural life and small towns to the crowded rush of the city.
Her works are: Change, Fight, Escape, and her most recent, Hunt.
When asked about her most recent release, she offered the Hunt Synopsis: Nickie returns to town eager to get back to her life and routine but soon discovers that there are many more changes headed her way. After an old school friend is murdered, a threatening message is written on the news article about her death and left for Nicki. She begins to wonder if maybe her friend had been killed as a warning to her, but why?
Together, Nickie and Devon set out to figure out who is behind the murder and what it has to do with Nickie, but can they do it before she gets hurt again?
She even allowed me to post a little excerpt from the story.
The picture on the news bulletin was a surprise. Without reading a word, the face staring back at me caught my attention. I knew her, or I once had. Annette Bigler, Annie to her friends, had been in my class all the way through school. We hadn't been best friends, but we'd been friendly. Since then, I'd seen her around town, enough to say hi now and then but I hadn't spent any time with her since the summer we'd graduated, almost ten years earlier. She'd gone away to school, and though she'd returned, we'd never really rekindled our relationship. I scanned the headlines, trying to figure out why her picture was there.
"BODY OF LOCAL GIRL FOUND ON CAMPUS"
The headline shocked me. Today would to be my first day back to work after more than a week and I knew nothing about a body having been found on campus. Since I was the Dean of Student's secretary, I should probably know something. I read further and found that she'd been discovered beaten and stabbed. She hadn't been killed there, but her body had been dumped after she was already dead. The police had few leads.
Glancing at the clock, I picked up my Personal Communication Device, also known as a PCD, and dialed my brother. I hoped that as a police officer, he would be able to tell me more. I also knew anything he did tell me would be accurate, not rumors or twisted to be more sensational like often happened with the news.
"Hey, Sis. It's awful early isn't it?" Raine answered, his voice sounded tired.
"Sorry," I hoped I hadn't woken him. "I just found out about Annie. Can you tell me anything other than what was in the news?"
"Not much," I heard him take a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I know you knew her." His voice was full of sympathy.
"We were friends in high school but we hadn't seen much of each other since."
"A student found her body on Central Campus yesterday afternoon. That area’s pretty deserted on the weekend. You know what it’s like. We don't know exactly how long she was there before she was discovered, but not more than a few hours. We figure who ever dumped her, wanted her to be found, but probably not until this morning."
I knew what he meant, the campus was long and narrow, a block wide but three long, each block was identified by location, there was North, Central and South campus.
"Any ideas who could have done it?" I wanted to know as much as he could tell me.
Noise rustled over the line and I assumed he was shaking his head.
"No. She was severely beaten and stabbed several times, but we haven't found the primary scene and we don't have any leads yet." He sounded unhappy about it and I didn't blame him.
Violent crimes weren't common in the area. I mean, yeah, there were domestic disputes, and the occasional bar fight, but something like murder? The last murder I remembered in the valley was more than five years earlier. This was going to shake the entire community.
"I know there are things the department holds back, keeps from the public, things that will help you find and identify whoever is responsible, but is there anything else you can tell me?"
"Not that-" He stopped mid-sentence and changed what he was saying. "Wait. You know she's one of you, right?"
"One of me?" I was confused.
"You know, like you and Devon."
"Oh." I suddenly realized what he was trying to say, without actually saying, that is. Annie was Kitsune. She was a shape-shifter like I am. "No, I didn't know. There are still so many that I haven't yet met."
"I don't know if it's going to be a factor, but I have to keep it in mind, even if I can't tell the rest of the force." His voice was full of reluctance and doubt. I knew that having to hide something about the victim from the rest of the investigators was hard for him, but I didn't see how it could be helped, at least not now.
"I understand." My mind was already churning with possibilities. "I'll keep my ears open and let you know if I hear anything that might help."
"I'd appreciate it."
"You sound tired." I changed the subject.
"I am. I ended up pulling a double, investigating this. I just got home and I'm on my way to bed."
Sounds intriguing, right? I thought so! If you want to find her books, they are at:
http://melissastevens.us/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5062799.Melissa_Stevens
https://twitter.com/MelissaTStevens
https://www.facebook.com/melissastevensauthor
They can also be found on Amazon or wherever ebooks/paperbacks are sold!
Robin's Nest will be her newest due out August 2013 so stay tuned for that one!
Thanks, Melissa for being my featured author this week and Congratulations!
Her works are: Change, Fight, Escape, and her most recent, Hunt.
When asked about her most recent release, she offered the Hunt Synopsis: Nickie returns to town eager to get back to her life and routine but soon discovers that there are many more changes headed her way. After an old school friend is murdered, a threatening message is written on the news article about her death and left for Nicki. She begins to wonder if maybe her friend had been killed as a warning to her, but why?
Together, Nickie and Devon set out to figure out who is behind the murder and what it has to do with Nickie, but can they do it before she gets hurt again?
She even allowed me to post a little excerpt from the story.
The picture on the news bulletin was a surprise. Without reading a word, the face staring back at me caught my attention. I knew her, or I once had. Annette Bigler, Annie to her friends, had been in my class all the way through school. We hadn't been best friends, but we'd been friendly. Since then, I'd seen her around town, enough to say hi now and then but I hadn't spent any time with her since the summer we'd graduated, almost ten years earlier. She'd gone away to school, and though she'd returned, we'd never really rekindled our relationship. I scanned the headlines, trying to figure out why her picture was there.
"BODY OF LOCAL GIRL FOUND ON CAMPUS"
The headline shocked me. Today would to be my first day back to work after more than a week and I knew nothing about a body having been found on campus. Since I was the Dean of Student's secretary, I should probably know something. I read further and found that she'd been discovered beaten and stabbed. She hadn't been killed there, but her body had been dumped after she was already dead. The police had few leads.
Glancing at the clock, I picked up my Personal Communication Device, also known as a PCD, and dialed my brother. I hoped that as a police officer, he would be able to tell me more. I also knew anything he did tell me would be accurate, not rumors or twisted to be more sensational like often happened with the news.
"Hey, Sis. It's awful early isn't it?" Raine answered, his voice sounded tired.
"Sorry," I hoped I hadn't woken him. "I just found out about Annie. Can you tell me anything other than what was in the news?"
"Not much," I heard him take a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I know you knew her." His voice was full of sympathy.
"We were friends in high school but we hadn't seen much of each other since."
"A student found her body on Central Campus yesterday afternoon. That area’s pretty deserted on the weekend. You know what it’s like. We don't know exactly how long she was there before she was discovered, but not more than a few hours. We figure who ever dumped her, wanted her to be found, but probably not until this morning."
I knew what he meant, the campus was long and narrow, a block wide but three long, each block was identified by location, there was North, Central and South campus.
"Any ideas who could have done it?" I wanted to know as much as he could tell me.
Noise rustled over the line and I assumed he was shaking his head.
"No. She was severely beaten and stabbed several times, but we haven't found the primary scene and we don't have any leads yet." He sounded unhappy about it and I didn't blame him.
Violent crimes weren't common in the area. I mean, yeah, there were domestic disputes, and the occasional bar fight, but something like murder? The last murder I remembered in the valley was more than five years earlier. This was going to shake the entire community.
"I know there are things the department holds back, keeps from the public, things that will help you find and identify whoever is responsible, but is there anything else you can tell me?"
"Not that-" He stopped mid-sentence and changed what he was saying. "Wait. You know she's one of you, right?"
"One of me?" I was confused.
"You know, like you and Devon."
"Oh." I suddenly realized what he was trying to say, without actually saying, that is. Annie was Kitsune. She was a shape-shifter like I am. "No, I didn't know. There are still so many that I haven't yet met."
"I don't know if it's going to be a factor, but I have to keep it in mind, even if I can't tell the rest of the force." His voice was full of reluctance and doubt. I knew that having to hide something about the victim from the rest of the investigators was hard for him, but I didn't see how it could be helped, at least not now.
"I understand." My mind was already churning with possibilities. "I'll keep my ears open and let you know if I hear anything that might help."
"I'd appreciate it."
"You sound tired." I changed the subject.
"I am. I ended up pulling a double, investigating this. I just got home and I'm on my way to bed."
Sounds intriguing, right? I thought so! If you want to find her books, they are at:
http://melissastevens.us/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5062799.Melissa_Stevens
https://twitter.com/MelissaTStevens
https://www.facebook.com/melissastevensauthor
They can also be found on Amazon or wherever ebooks/paperbacks are sold!
Robin's Nest will be her newest due out August 2013 so stay tuned for that one!
Thanks, Melissa for being my featured author this week and Congratulations!
Due for release August 2013!
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