Hi, everybody, and welcome back. In this week's sample from Trophies, my paramilitary contemporary mystery, we pick up right where we left off last week, with Robbie, our intrepid hero, being chased by a large and nasty vehicle. Note in advance that there's some mild language below.
#
At the last moment I swerved for the first tree trunk. The headlights swung to follow. The deep ripples in the bark were etched as a sepia photograph in stark shades of grey. I didn’t bother with graceful leaps but threw myself at the old oak. My right hand and left foot found holds while my right foot scrambled for purchase. The engine was deafeningly near. Not high enough — my lower legs still faced decimation-by-radiator-grille — so I let go my precarious handhold and clawed for a higher one.

Behind me, the engine roared. Heat flashed across the backs of my legs. The sharp mechanical stench of motor oil and hot metal washed over me. I was out of time. And my legs remained in the line of fire. Panic punched through my brain. I gripped the bark with my right fingers and jerked both legs up, wrapping my knees around the tree trunk.

The monster, brakes locking, slid sideways across the wet grass into the tree trunk. The passenger’s side window exploded, spraying me with sharp little cubes of safety glass. My fingers slipped from the rippled bark. The whole tree shuddered and shook me off like a dog shakes off water. I fell onto the monster’s hood, giving my left shoulder another opportunity to scream at me. The vehicle — a Suburban, I could see from this angle — still moved forward and sideways. Our combined momentum slid me helplessly through the broken glass and along the slick hot metal until my head met the windshield on a most intimate basis.

My skull exploded on contact and one more ache added its soprano to the rousing chorus. I scrabbled for some sort of purchase, but the Suburban was moving in reverse now, so I ricocheted off the windshield like a bloody pinball and started sliding back across the scorching hood. On my back — I was going to land flat on my back in the lawn, in the middle of that broken glass, in front of a homicidal driver in a four-wheel-drive T-rex.
#
He's not winning. And the day's not over yet.

If you've ever wanted to learn how to format ebooks, I'm now giving away my illustrated guide, Format Your eBook the Free and Easy Way. You can download it by clicking here, then scrolling down to the cover and download links, all the way down in the left-hand column.

The Sweet List is below, with links leading to more excerpts from some very talented writers. Thanks for stopping by!

Gunnar

1. Kay Springsteen, Regency  
2. Jenna Jaxon~Historical Romance  
3. Carrie-Anne Brownian ~ Halloween-themed historical fiction (1970s)  
4. Rachel Rossano - romantic fantasy  
5. Indigo Chase--Sci fi, Paranormal  
6. Patricia Kiyono - Historical Romance (Regency)  
7. Susan Aylworth, contemporary  
8. Leah Sanders - sweet historical romance  
9. Kelly Martin-- YA/Christian  
10. J. Gunnar Grey, mystery~adventure  
11. Juli D. Revezzo--Paranormal fiction  
12. Chynna Laird ~ Contemporary YA  
13. J.L. Salter, romantic suspense and romantic comedy  
14. Vivian Roycroft, Regency  
15. Lindsay Downs-Historical  
16. Laurel-Rain Snow - Contemporary Fiction  
17. Ute Carbone-women's fiction  
18. Elaine Cantrell, contemporary  
19. S.G. Rogers - YA fantasy adventure  
20. Ruth Rainwater-Historical fiction  
21. Marsha Ward~Westerns with Heart & Grit  
22. Rachel Van Dyken - historical romance  
23. Benjamin Wallace - Humor 

Need professional ebook formatting? Ever consider doing it yourself? Here's a free download for Kindle or Nook that includes step-by-step instructions. With two shareware programs and a little bit of study, you can format your own ebooks to international EPUB 3.0 standards, which is easily converted by Calibre into MOBI for Kindle as well as other e-reader formats. There's also a chapter on formatting a Microsoft Word file for Smashwords' Premium Catalog (although it doesn't cover the new requirement for a mega-super-massive ebook cover).

And should you have questions, you can always ask them here at my blog.

Do you doubt your technical savvy? Does the thought of dancing with your ebook's HTML make something inside you curl up into a fetal position? No worries. Click here and read about Dingbat Publishing's low-cost ebook formatting packages.

Either way, your ebook can look as professional as those offered by a big publishing house. So check it out — it's free.

Hi, everybody, and welcome back. This sample from my contemporary mystery, Trophies, picks up right where last week left off.
#
For the second time that day, I chased a fugitive.

I caught a glimpse of a racing figure through the trees as he cut across the corner lot to the next street. Something big and square and dark hulked against the curb. I cursed again and accelerated, although it was obvious even to me I hadn’t a prayer of catching him. And I was right. He’d parked his getaway vehicle — an SUV? it looked huge — with the driver’s door closest and unlocked, and its tires screeched long before I got there. I saw his tail lights vanish around the corner as I stopped atop his parking spot.

All I could do was swear and it wasn’t particularly satisfying, although my reaction to the attack was. The amount of stress I’d suffered that day and the number of people who’d assaulted me in one manner or another were like nothing I’d experienced since the war and the diagnosis. I’d moved from the calm order of everyday life to terra incognita indeed, and how it would affect me was anybody’s guess. The Army shrink said I wouldn’t know until I was there. Now here I was, in the middle of it, and responding well. It just went to show that cold-blooded old bugger hadn’t known as much as he’d thought.

I crossed the lawn toward the house and was already starting to shake when an engine roared behind me.

One glance showed that huge vehicle racing back up the street. Headlights shone full power. Instinctively I knew the curb, that boundary of the permissible, would not stop it. It wasn’t an SUV, it was too big even for that, and the headlights were too far apart for a Jeep. A hunting vehicle made for rough terrain, and now it was four-wheel-drive homicidal.

If I ran across the lawn before, now I flew, even though its eight cylinders versus my two legs wasn’t even funny. Another adrenaline surge brought the welcome cold clarity of combat. It scoured my mind of all turmoil, even of fear, leaving me fired and ready for the fight.

At first I made for the front door — surely the house would stop it — then I wondered if Caren had heard anything and was coming to investigate. The house might stop it, but that steel T-rex could cause a lot of damage on its way in and I didn’t want it anywhere near her. Besides, I really liked that expensive blue Persian carpet in the entryway.

That left the oaks as my only cover, and I shifted right. They were easy trees to climb, full of hand- and footholds, massive lower boughs hanging low enough for a good running jump to suffice. I’d have to do it one-handed; my left arm dangled uselessly as I ran, the shoulder screaming for me to slow down.

The beast revved over the curb. Bright blue lights flooded the night, casting my shadow before me like a trail to follow. I didn’t glance back, just ran faster. I only had seconds before I’d feel the heat of that engine.
#
Below's the Sweet List. Thanks for stopping by!

Cheers,

Gunnar

1. Kay Springsteen/Regency  
2. Rachel Rossano - romantic fantasy  
3. Patricia Kiyono - Historical Romance (Regency)  
4. Jenna Jaxon, historical romance  
5. Susan Aylworth, contemporary  
6. Carrie-Anne Brownian ~ Halloween-themed historical fiction (1930s)  
7. Indigo Chase--Sci fi, Paranormal  
8. Kelly Martin-- YA/Christian  
9. J. Gunnar Grey, mystery~adventure  
10. Juli D. Revezzo--Paranormal fiction  
11. Leah Sanders - sweet historical romance  
12. Laurel-Rain Snow - Contemporary Fiction  
13. Lindsay Downs-Historical  
14. Tmonique Stephens~ Paranormal Romance  
15. Chynna ~ Contemporary YA  
16. Beth Trissel Historical-Paranormal Romance  
17. S.G. Rogers - YA fantasy adventure!  
18. Elaine Cantrell, contemporary  

Hi, everyone, and welcome back. Here's a PG-rated (for mild language) excerpt from one of my earliest novels, Trophies. Our intrepid hero, Robbie Ellandun, was sitting outdoors in sprinkling rain, minding his own business and trying to sort out his life, when he heard an intruder behind him:
#
If I was stupid enough to sit out in the rain, then I shouldn’t complain if my friendly neighborhood murderer came to call.

My adrenaline skipped second gear and shot into third. Thankfully, this time my training kicked in, too. I sat still and waited, counting the raindrops as they splashed into the pool at my feet. For a moment I almost expected the surface of the pond to ripple, like in Jurassic Park when the T-rex thundered near.

Then as casually as I could, I dropped my hands to my knees and rose from the bench, pretending everything was normal, I’d had my brown study and was ready to go indoors. Whatever lizard came at me, I could deal with it better on my feet than my backside.

But I didn’t make it all the way up. Something silky and strong and very very black suddenly wrapped over my head and shoulders, squeezing my arms against my sides. The soft stuff crowded my nose, stole my sight, even stopped my breathing for a panicky explosive moment. It was as if the blackness enveloping me was a living extension of the night, trapping my arms and attacking while I was helpless.

Then behind me, a voice cursed. It broke the spell. Helpless I may be against something primeval; humans I could handle.

A pillowcase, I finally realized; someone had jammed a black pillowcase over my head and there was only one reason for said someone to do so. I dropped fast to a crouch, twisting left and keeping my feet beneath me, just in time. Something solid whooshed past my head and connected with my left shoulder. The shoulder detonated as if dynamite had gone off inside it and the attached arm numbed. I yelled.

But I kept turning. My right hand, moving without any conscious contribution from me, shot out and closed on cloth. The voice I’d heard cried out without words. Whatever I grabbed jerked backward. The handful of cloth slipped from my grip. I let it go, grabbed the top of the pillowcase — black satin, hell — and yanked. The hemline caught on my chin and jammed there.

He gasped. He was alone or he wouldn’t be so worried, and that meant he was vulnerable, his position threatened. He’d strike again. My adrenaline treated me to another dose. I still crouched, which put my head at a most convenient height for a roundhouse blow. It was encircled by my only currently-functioning arm, and the top of my scalp let me know in no uncertain terms I was yanking more hair than satin. The vulnerability was mutual.

I didn’t panic again. I still felt confident, even eager for mayhem. Bare seconds had passed since he’d extricated himself from my momentary grasp. That blow hadn’t been from a fist but from something harder, perhaps a small sandbag or rubber cosh. Ribs weren’t as hard as a skull but they were more resilient, and if a second blow from that weapon was coming it was better taken on the torso. I uncoiled from my crouch, shifting my grip on the pillowcase. My feet slipped in the wet mulch and I scrambled for balance. Of course: white service dress, slick-soled office shoes. “Damn!”

He gasped again. Before I regained my feet, before the pillowcase was fully off, footsteps raced away.

Finally I got the damned thing off. My night vision was still good, although my eyes watered at the pain pounding down my left shoulder. I didn’t have to glance about; the trail crossing the wet grass was obvious.

At this point, I would be proud to say I returned to the house and retrieved the Walther. I must admit, it never crossed my mind. This was the crowning moment of a lousy day and I wanted blood. For the second time that day, I chased a fugitive.
#
Meaning his lousy day isn't over yet. Ever have one of those…?

The Sweet List is below. Happy clicking. Cheers,

Gunnar

1. Susan Aylworth, contemporary  
2. Kay Springsteen - Christmas surprise...  
3. Indigo Chase, science fiction & dystopian  
4. Jenna Jaxon~Historical Romance  
5. Carrie-Anne Brownian ~ Halloween-themed historical fiction (1930s)  
6. Christina Cole - Historical Romance  
7. Ute Carbone-Romantic Comedy  
8. J. Gunnar Grey, mystery~adventure  
9. Rachel Rossano - romantic fantasy  
10. Patricia Kiyono - Historical Romance (Regency)  
11. Tmonique Stephens~ Paranormal Romance  
12. Marsha Ward~Westerns with Heart & Grit  
13. Juli D. Revezzo--paranormal fantasy/horror  
14. Laurel-Rain Snow - Contemporary Fiction  
15. Lindsay Downs-Historical  
16. Sherry Gloag - contemporary romance  
17. Beth Trissel Historical-Paranormal Romance  
18. S.G. Rogers - mythic fantasy  
19. Benjamin Wallace - Comic Fiction  
20. Elaine Cantrell-contemporary romance