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Time To Lose The NEW ADULT Training Wheels

Posted on June 30, 2014 by Kathy Clark, a.k.a. Bob Kat

I got started in writing due to Janet Dailey. She was my hero and, to a large degree, my mentor.

But this isn’t about her but rather what she did to romance and what part of history applies to New Adult! Read on…

I can only dream of having the longevity and talent needed to drive my 3 million romance and women’s fiction book sales to even remotely come close to her 100 million plus in sales. I don’t think she is given enough credit for all she did to completely change the publishing industry. Janet was known for adhering to the conventions of romance fiction — one man, one woman, happy ending. But her books broke the mold because they featured independent women who weren’t simpering virgins waiting for their rich prince to sweep them off their feet, plus they were set in America rather than in the old-world Europe of traditional romances. Janet was the first American writer published by the Toronto-based Harlequin publishing empire and her new bold changes became the foundation of the industry to this day.

Why do I bring this up? All genres go through an evolution not unlike the romance genre did starting in the 1980s. Romance was still always the major plot, but suddenly the characters had real lives with a back story and careers. The romance (i.e. the man) wasn’t all that defined them.

My husband and I just attended the #TexasWriter’sLeague annual Editors and Agent’s Conference where we paid super close attention to the speakers, discussions and meetings that surrounded the New Adult genre. I noticed that there is still a lot of confusion about exactly what the NA market is and what the audience wants. The one thing that is clear is that it is evolving, just as romance did, into something more substantial than just bad boy meets good girl, which has been the norm up to now.

After the Saturday sessions ended and before we got back to working on book #2 in the SCANDALS New Adult Series, KILLER DATE, we set out to see where the evolution in the genre is today. Surprisingly, we found numerous blogs, surveys and discussions about new adult literature and how it is finally moving from books focused on New Adult angst to solid stories where the protagonists are in their new adult sweet spot, age 19 to 25 who have more than just boy troubles. Why deal with just that one element of the complications of transition that most new adults are going through?

Now we’re talking…don’t just saddle the poor new adult characters with relationship baggage. Let them actually deal with college, family, jobs, roommates, housing and finances. Let them struggle, but ultimately survive and succeed in the story. How “new adults”, born between 1989 and 1996, will propel a story set in 2014 forward is what makes a story great and if told and written well, will deliver a best seller.

Of considerable note I came across the blogging of Lauren Sarner at the #Huffington Post and her 2013 blog on new adult books. I loved it and it summarized very well all the blogs and reviews and face-to-face discussions I’ve had for long time. She wrote that “New Adult is a new genre whose target audience is people like me–young twenty-something’s, overwhelmingly of the female variety. A New Adult book is basically a Young Adult book with sex and cursing thrown in. A typical plot line features two brooding, damaged souls with damaged pasts (typical examples include characters whose entire families have tragically died, characters who have grown up in abusive homes, characters suffering from manic depression or panic attacks) who meet, sparks fly, and drama ensues. The books are often titled something like “Damaged” or “Broken” or “Smashed with a Sledgehammer”

She notes she may have made that last one up, but she was sure it exists somewhere.

Lauren continued. “New Adult is a label that is condescending to readers and authors alike. It implies that the books act as training wheels between Young Adult and Adult. For the New Adult books that are particularly childish, the label implies that they are a step above Young Adult–which is insulting to the Young Adult books that are far superior. For the New Adult books that are particularly sophisticated, the label implies that they are not worthy of being considered “adult.” It’s a lose-lose situation for everyone.”

She closed with a challenge for me, as a writer of three series currently…a YA Time Travel Mystery, New Adult Suspense and Romantic Suspense, and it should be for all writers of the NA genre. Lauren explained, “Books are supposed to expand your world; expose you to people, places, emotions, and ideas you might not otherwise experience. Suggesting that you need training wheels for such a thing is like suggesting that a child needs training wheels to walk. You’ve just got to do it. Good fiction is supposed to hold the mirror up to reality, regardless of the genre–and reality does not have training wheels.”

So my challenge is not how to write a NA novel that is actually an entertaining book where the characters can be brooding or damaged, but there is more going on in their lives than wondering the if boy is going to call. That was my goal when I created the New Adult SCANDALS series. Book #1, DUES DATES, has the usual female and male relationship issue, but her life didn’t start and end with him. They both have baggage, but there’s a real world going on around them that they also have to deal with that adds complications, drama and humor. A new adult’s life is not just about male/female relationships, but about their relationships with everyone around them.

Now my challenge is crafting the blurb and discussions about DUE DATES to attract the New Adult reader with the typical relationship of brooding, damaged souls, but then capture them with the complications of being a new adult in a complicated world.

That’s why the title of the blog is …and yes it is a total rip off of the intellectual capital of Lauren #Sarner at the #Huffington Post. It’s time for the NA genre to move to the next level that deals with young people that are not just defined by romantic relationships, but have dreams and problems and friends and lots of other things impacting their lives.

So I’m proud to be ahead of the curve with of our two training wheel-free NA novels.

Our current New Adult series, SCANDALS, book #1 DUE DATES was released a few months ago. Find DUE DATES at http://www.amazon.com/DUE-DATES-SCANDALS-Kathy-Clark-ebook/dp/B00GQC1S3O/

An inheritance brought her more than she ever could have imagined…

Killeen Ames has it all…beauty, brains, a college softball scholarship and a rich and handsome boyfriend who has helped to stretch her college funds and fill her social calendar. He is the only boy she ever allowed past second base and now he’s her baby daddy. However, being a father was not in his short-range plans. He graduates, then he splits, leaving Killeen to decide what she wants to do about the pregnancy…and to worry about how she’s going to keep her scholarship. With no marketable skills, no job, no home and medical bills for her and the baby on the horizon, she knows she must move forward. A knock at the door of her boyfriend’s apartment changes the game forever when an attorney gives her the news of an inheritance from an unknown dead relative and another due date looming.

After traveling to Austin, Killeen walks into the meeting and is surprised to find out that the relative was actually her birth father, and he had been a popular music star who recently died of an overdose. Even more shocking are the four strangers who share the same absentee dad. He has left them a highly successful private investigation agency, Scandals. The catch is…they have to make the commitment to work there.

Their introduction to the P.I. business almost gets them killed when a bomb goes off in the warehouse that sends Killeen to the hospital. She has kept the secret of her pregnancy from everyone, including Christopher, the totally irresistible manager of Scandals. Their hot night of wild sex in the office was a one-time thing…right? She chalks up her attraction to him as just raging hormones. They have no chance of a future together. He’s gorgeous, intelligent and successful. He would never want anyone with so much baggage.

Christopher has a secret of his own. He’s been investigation the possibility that, despite popular opinion, their father’s death hadn’t been an accidental overdose. He thinks it was murder.

Even though the five siblings still haven’t accepted the fact that they have a father who made no attempt to be a part of their lives, they join together to discover the truth about his death. The search throws Killeen and Christopher together and their passion grows hotter. As her feelings for him slowly become more serious, she knows she must tell him about the baby.

After a fun day in the sun, an event happens that outs Killeen’s secret. Christopher, as expected, doesn’t take the news well. But they must continue to work together to track down a killer, especially since the killer has now focused on them.

Someone doesn’t want them to stay and take over the business. In fact, someone wants them all dead and now the decision on whether or not to be a part of the agency seems very unimportant compared to the job of trying to stop from being killed.

They set up a trap that goes terribly wrong. Suddenly, Killeen must make a big decision. Who should she save? Her baby? Christopher? Her new brothers and sisters? Their lives are in her hands.

Due Dates is the first book in the Scandals New Adult series of romantic suspense. Each book of the series will focus on one of the offspring of Roger Elliott, a famous musician who left them with a legacy they weren’t expecting. Killer Date, the second book in this series will be released in Summer, 2014 and will tell Reno’s story.

Life’s What Happens is a 1969-1970 story told in flashback, where the super bowl of angst plays out and life in college when failing a course could land you in a war on the other side of the planet, brooding, sparks and romance flew in between classes, relationships, graduation, career planning and finding draft loopholes that would soon be shut. Find Life’s What Happens on all the usual book seller sites including Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/LIFES-WHAT-HAPPENS-Kathy-Clark-ebook/dp/B00A14STPS/

The Ideal Locale For A YA Time Travel Mystery Novel

Posted on February 19, 2014 by Kathy Clark, a.k.a. Bob Kat

The award winning YA Time Travel Mystery Series CUL8R will release book #4 on 2/25/14 . . . .and we were over the top today to hear back from the ‪#‎Stanley Hotel that they are “excited that the CUL8R Young Adult Mystery Series has chosen the Stanley Hotel as a destination for RIP‬“, book #4 in the CUL8R [see you later] time travel mystery series.

There are so many elements of the press release still to cobble together in a cohesive story unto itself that will pull in the Forbes Magazine founder’s article about Thomas Edison’s invention to speak with people who have passed, the paranormal TV reality series Ghost Hunters and the core mystery in RIP of how a four year girl went missing from the lobby of a major hotel in broad daylight.

In lots of ways writing a full length novel is many times easier than a press release of what the book is about and how the series and this book came to be. Here’s the short summary of RIP releasing 2/25/2014.

You don’t have to believe in ghosts…until you meet one.

The #‎Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado has a well-deserved reputation for being one of the most haunted places in the U.S. So, when Kelly, Scott, Austin and Zoey travel back to 1911 to try to save a young child who went missing from the busy lobby, they aren’t surprised when ghost children run up and down the halls.

There’s romance in the Rockies as they take jobs with the hotel so they can keep an eye on 4 year old Emma and her family. Kelly struggles with her attraction to Austin while Zoey tries to get over her broken heart. Along the way, they meet some colorful historical characters and experience life among the rich and famous just after the turn of the twentieth century. After three other successful time travel adventures, they assume it’s just a matter of being in the right place at the right time. That almost proves to be a fatal mistake.

But can they save Emma? Or will they join her as permanent guests in the ghostly halls of The Stanley Hotel?

Watch for the release on February 25, 2014.

Here’s the First Three Books In The CUL8R YA Mystery Series

The CUL8R Series Website is at http://www.cul8rseries.com/

Here’s how to connect to Kathy Clark, a.k.a. Bob Kat.

Connect for release, specials and mews

WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Clark_(American_author)

AUTHOR SITE: http://www.nightwriter93.com

BLOG: https://kathyclarkauthor.wordpress.com/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/kelly.welch.cul8r

TWITTER: @93nightwriter

PINTEREST: http://www.pinterest.com/BobKat1993/

Free ARC for an Honest Review – Book #4 in the CUL8R YA Mystery Series

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Kathy Clark, a.k.a. Bob Kat

My 31st book overall and book #4 in the YA Mystery series, CUL8R, See You Later for the text challenged, will be releasing between February 15th to the 20th..

As has been my policy on my last eight novels, I am offering a FREE ARC, Advance Reader Copy, in exchange for an honest review. It is my hope reviews would be completed and uploaded by the end of February but that is not a requirement.

I am targeting to have the ARC available to send out by the 15th of February.

If you are interested please send me an email at nightwriter1993@gmail.com and I will add your name to the list.

What is book #4? It follows the on going mystery series of the first three books that had the four teens from Fort Myers Beach, Florida traveling back in time to help out someone who had contacted them. They had previously traveled back to 1966, 1980 and 1927 to solve a mystery that saved the life of a person they had gotten to know through one of Thomas Edison’s last inventions, his Telephone To The Dead.

Their first trip was their safest as they stopped the murder of teenager from their school in 1966 who had become the victim of a person in authority. Their next trip was to 1980 and their heroics prevented a mass murder of an entire family. Their last trip, to 1927, stopped the murder of a young man who ran away to the circus, but for Zoey, the former mean girl of Fort Myers Beach High School, her first serious love affair was doomed as she fell in love with a man from the wrong century.

In RIP [Rest In Peace], they tapped into a mother’s story of her four year old daughter who, in 1911, went missing in broad daylight from the hotel lobby of the grand Georgian-style Stanley Hotel located in the small summer resort town of Estes Park, Colorado.

The first two books of the series in 2013 received top honors in the Best Indie Book and Readers’ Favorite awards. If you want a free ebook and are willing to write an honest review than write to me, Kathy Clark, aka Bob Kat at nightwriter1993@gmail.com.

The three prior books are as follows:

WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Clark_(American_author)

AUTHOR SITE: http://www.nightwriter93.com

BLOG: https://kathyclarkauthor.wordpress.com/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/kelly.welch.cul8r

TWITTER: @93nightwriter

PINTEREST: http://www.pinterest.com/BobKat1993/

Kathy Clark’s Writing Resolutions and Plans for 2014

Posted on January 15, 2014 by Kathy Clark, a.k.a. Bob Kat

The year is 14 days gone and I’m just getting around to telling everyone about my plans for 2014. Here we go…

First, thanks for stopping in.

Second, thank you all for your support of me and my books. I’ve had four of my 2013 releases reach the top 10 on Amazon in the past 12 months. Each one is better written and accepted, more advance reader copies are sent out [see how to get yours below] and sales have improved. Again, thank you.

This year I have four books planned.

The Young Adult Mystery Series CUL8R [See you later] will release of book #4, RIP in February. Fresh from their return from the 1927 circus that saw Zoey fall in love with a guy for the right reasons but from the wrong era, the four time travelers find themselves even further back in time to 1911 and on the outside of the life of the rich and famous lifestyle at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park Colorado. And yes this is the same Stanley Hotel that Jack Nicholson helped to make famous in the Shinning and that’s all I’m going to say. I can assure all my readers that this is a twisted tale that will keep you in the dark. How do I know? I’ve crawled through the basemen of the Stanley in the dark with the Ghost Hunters, Jason and Grant. Trust me, that is not a place you want to be in the dark at but the research first hand was vital to this story.

In March, 2014 the second book in the Scandals New Adult Romantic Suspense series, Tramp Stamp, has Reno front and center and with lives on the line his passion for the client could be the end of him. The B-plot in this book is amazing and taken out of the fall 2013 headlines and I apologize now to all college football fans.

Later in the year you will find book #3 in the Denver After Dark series titled Graveyard Shift release. The third brother in the family, Chris, is a Denver, Colorado paramedic. His job has its own issues to deal with and he finds the morality of the job is not as black and white as it is for his brothers, the cop and the fireman, the heroes in books one and two.

Finally, if all goes well, 2014 will see the release of book #3 in the Scandals New Adult Romantic Suspense Series with Worst Blind Date Ever. In this third book Tulsa will get her own story and while the title sounds humorous the story is at the core of societal issues and early discussions with Tulsa tells me that you will see Tulsa’s passionate side! It’s in there somewhere I think.

We’ll see some of you in Round Rock at the end of January for the Inside Track To Indie Publishing Workshop. That will be January 25th and there are a smalls number of available seats. Then in San Antonio in July at the National RWA Conference we can connect up and we’ll be around in other places. As always we will be seeking willing readers to read and provide an honest review in support of the book release of these four 2014 books. Just send me you email address and we’ll make sure you are on the list to participate.

Wishing you a safe, prosperous and healthy 2014…I now have a Wikipedia page and the usual social media sites.

WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Clark_(American_author)

AUTHOR SITE: http://www.nightwriter93.com

BLOG: https://kathyclarkauthor.wordpress.com/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/kelly.welch.cul8r

TWITTER: @93nightwriter

PINTEREST: http://www.pinterest.com/BobKat1993/

GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/150098.Kathy_Clark

If you haven’t caught all my books released in 2013 here they are. Throughout the year they will be on sale ahead of the release of the next book in the series and of course you can have the latest release just send me your email address.

Friends, Debt and Tattoos; New Adults, the Educated Homeless

Posted on December 11, 2013 by Kathy Clark, a.k.a. Bob Kat

There’s been a lot of discussion over the reality, need and description of the new adult genre. This age group, at least in the Euro-western culture is between about 18 years and 25 years old usually and is characterized by several items most notably has been termed “an age of transition”. A time to transition by moving out of their parent’s house, to their first serious relationship, or transition to their first meaningful job in their chosen career, and of course transitioning from high school to college and so on.

In the UK for example earlier this year, psychologists have even discovered additional reasons why this is a uniquely different group of people when compared with those in their late teens or age 30 and over. But I believe there is yet another set of circumstances that make the 18 to 25 or maybe even 35 year olds different than those younger or older. In fact different than how anyone born before 1960 were when they were in the 18 years to 35 year old range.

In a word, ECONOMICS. TIME Inc. has supplied the lion’s share of the next set of facts. Facts that cause the 18 to 25 year old age group to be different culturally and therefore represent a unique genre to be addressed in literature, music and entertainment.

My blog, like all blogs, has a global reach so this is being written from an American perspective. In the U.S. the “kids” coming of age in the last 5 to 8 years have overall not been typical of the generations before them.

For years, retailers, marketers and businesses of all shapes and sizes have gone out of their way to try to win over that “all-important” 18-to-34-year-old demographic. Now that this age group is broke and facing huge student loans and a lackluster job market, though, the realization is setting in that perhaps it’s not such a good idea to focus on a bunch of consumers with little disposable income and increasingly frugal habits.

The perfect customer is one who is young (and has the potential to keep being a customer for decades), hip (so others will follow in his footsteps and also become customers) and always supplied with plenty of money to blow on the latest products and services. Thanks to the Great Recession and its fallout, however, it’s unlikely that someone who is young and hip also has all that much cash to throw around.

Here’s a handful of facts about this age group:

Only 54% of Americans ages 18 to 24 have jobs, the lowest rate since the government started tracking such data in 1948.
Young Americans are increasingly likely to live with their parents because they cannot afford to get out on their own, and outstanding student-loan debt is near $1 trillion for the first time ever.
The combination of soaring student-loan debt, rising costs of higher education and an employment market that’s short on jobs — and especially short on well-paid jobs for young workers — is forming the next massive “debt bomb,” according to a recent Washington Post story.

It’s no mystery why so many young Americans are now living with their parents: What with unemployment rates high, and the jobs that are widely available to young workers tending to be those with meager salaries (and few or no benefits), more of today’s young adults are too poor and ill-prepared to leave home and head off on their own.

These factors have trickled down to the young adult generation as well. If you were born before 1955 for example one of the rights of passage was to get your driver’s license. The number of teen drivers has dramatically decreased over the past couple of decades. Consider this:

In 1983, 69% of all 17-year-olds had driver’s licenses.
By 2008, only half of 17-year-olds had licenses.

How can these kinds of changes where first upward mobility was impacted and now horizontal mobility is being impacted not impact their leisure time entertainment?

Pew Research provided even more background for this blog. The 18 to 29 year old age group is unique in other ways as well and these differences drive their “new adult” genre needs:

75% have created a profile on a social networking site.
20% have posted a video of themselves online.
Almost 40% have a tattoo (and for most who do, one is not enough: about half of those with tattoos have two to five and 18% have six or more).
Almost 25% have a piercing in some place other than an earlobe — about six times the share of older adults who’ve done this. But 70% say their tattoos are hidden beneath clothing.
About 90% either say that they currently have enough money or that they will eventually meet their long-term financial goals. But at the moment, fully 37% of 18- to 29-year-olds are unemployed or out of the workforce, the highest share among this age group in more than three decades.

Research shows that young people who graduate from college in a bad economy typically suffer long-term consequences — with effects on their careers and earnings that linger as long as 15 years.

When my husband and I sat down to develop our new adult series, SCANDALS, we factored as much of this background into the story lines of the books as possible. The voice of the new adults is different, decisive and entertaining and any author who writes these characters as just another adult age group is missing real opportunities as well as a very large market that will remain unique for decades. Book #1, BABY DADDY, was released a couple of weeks ago. Here’s the blurb for the new adult book, BABY DADDY, a SCANDALS Romantic Suspense, book #1.

An inheritance brought her more than she ever could have imagined…

Christopher has a secret of his own. He’s been investigation the possibility that, despite popular opinion, their father’s death hadn’t been an accidental overdose. He thinks it was murder.

They set up a trap that goes terribly wrong. Suddenly, Killeen must make a big decision. Who should she save? Her baby? Christopher? Her new brothers and sisters? Their lives are in her hands.

Baby Daddy is the first book in the Scandals New Adult series of romantic suspense. Each book of the series will focus on one of the offspring of Roger Elliott, a famous musician who left them with a legacy they weren’t expecting. This book is about Killeen Ames who must deal with an unexpected pregnancy, an absentee baby daddy, an irresistible attraction to a hot new guy and four new half-brothers and sisters. Tramp Stamp, the second book in this series will be released in Spring, 2014 and will tell Reno’s story.

It is currently available on a number of book retailers:

SMASHWORDS – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/379398

iTunes / Apple – https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id757465403

Barnes & Noble – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/baby-daddy-kathy-clark-aka-bob-kat/1117448913?ean=2940149013364&itm=1&usri=2940149013364

Kobo http://store.kobobooks.com/Search/Query?fcmedia=Book&query=9780988343672

All Romance – https://www.omnilit.com/product-babydaddy-1360180-149.html

Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/BABY-DADDY-SCANDALS-Kathy-Clark-ebook/dp/B00GQC1S3O /

PAPER BACK – http://www.amazon.com/Baby-Daddy-Scandals-Volume-1/dp/1493512978

This blog only touches the surface of the impact of the economy on growing up in America. Bottom line “kids” 18 to 25 or even 30 are a unique demographic and authors and screenwriters are ahead of the curve in many cases but some publishers and studios have yet to invest.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention, BABY DADDY, like many of the new adult genre books, is written in first person. While it changes the way the book has to be written the ability to place the reader deep inside the story is amazing. It’s one thing to describe how someone is attacked by a killer it’s totally another to describe how the character felt about being attacked.

Young Adult Mystery Series 2013 Awards and 88% FIVE Star Review Rate

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Kathy Clark, a.k.a. Bob Kat

As we near the end of 2013 I wanted to take a minute and take stock of the Young Adult Mystery Series CUL8R [See You Later]. Three books have been released thus far with the fourth book in the series releasing in late January, 2014.

First. Thank you readers for your purchases, glowing reviews and continued loyalty.

The CUL8R Time Travel Mystery Series is a different type of time travel where the protagonists aim to change the past and save the future. Four high school friends are able to do two things no one else on the planet can do . . . talk with dead people and time travel to the past. The question would be early on would readers embrace this series and the answer is yes. Great reviews, sales and contest winning results happened in 2013.

In book #1, OMG Kelly has a major adjustment to move from the only life she has ever known in Texas to live with her aunt in Ft. Myers Beach, Florida. She quickly makes friends with her quirky next door neighbor, Scott and his best friend, Austin. In her aunt’s garage, they find a long-lost invention of Thomas Edison called “The Telephone to the Dead”. Edison had abandoned the project and given it to Kelly’s great-great-grandfather.

Scott tinkers with it until they can hear sounds coming from it. But instead of broadcasting music . . . it picks up conversations from the dead. As they slowly turn the dial they hear hundreds of sad, lonely voices of souls that have passed but apparently never moved on, pleading for help.

A teenager’s voice separates from the rest and begs for their help to clear her reputation. They are shocked to find out that she had gone to their own high school . . . 47 years ago. They research the girl’s story and discover that her name was Wendy and she had been a popular cheerleader who had apparently committed suicide.

The teens are touched by Wendy’s cries and pleas, but they have no way to go back in time to help her. That is, until Scott reveals an invention of his own . . . a time travel app. Kelly and Austin are very skeptical. Even Scott isn’t sure it will work, so they try it out on his sister’s pet turtle. Amazingly, the turtle disappears. But did it travel to the past or just wander off?

Finally, they decide to humor Scott and go along with his claims of time travel. They meet on the beach after everyone else has gone home. They stand in the formation Scott insists will create the perfect vortex for time travel. At the last moment, a fourth person runs forward and is pulled into their adventure back to 1966.

They figure out a way to get close to Wendy without her asking too many questions that they can’t answer. But as they discover the secret to her death, they find it’s not as clear-cut as it would seem. A romance gone wrong, an over-attentive teacher and a young girl’s dreams for the future are all twisted into a mystery that causes the teens to take greater risks than they could have imagined. It all becomes very real when their own lives are in danger and they realize they may never make it back to the present.

OMG – Winner of the Best Indie Book of 2013 for Young Adults and Finalist in the 2013 Beverly Hills Book Awards.

And the reviews have been solid.

In book #1, BRB, Kelly, Scott, Austin and Zoey gather in Scott’s lab, listening to the old radio that Thomas Edison had invented and called “The Telephone to the Dead”. As they slowly turn the dial they hear hundreds of sad, lonely voices of souls that have passed but apparently never moved on, pleading for help. When they first discovered the radio in Kelly’s aunt’s garage, they had been touched by the cries and pleas coming from its speakers, but they had no way to go back in time to help them. That is, until Scott reveals an invention of his own . . . a time travel app. They’ve tested it only once, but that first trip had been successful . . . if you ignore the fact that Zoey and Kelly had almost gotten killed by a serial killer. Even though they returned with a few scrapes and bruises, they are eager to go on a new adventure and help solve another mystery.

A very young girl’s voice comes through, saying that her whole family has been murdered on an island just off the east coast of Florida.

The teens look the island up on Google Maps and see that it is completely deserted which contradicts the story they’re getting from the Spirit Radio. But it’s a beautiful island called Crystal Key with a stretch of beach that, unlike Ft. Myers Beach, is not crowded with tourists and kids. The teens decide to pop in, spend a nice day on the beach, check out the island to see if there is any truth to the girl’s story, then pop right back. It sounds like a great plan.

From the very beginning, things go wrong when Scott miscalculates their landing and they end up splashing into the Atlantic Ocean. After swimming for their lives, they collapse on the beach that is, indeed, beautiful. But it isn’t deserted. They find the little girl, her family and a half dozen more people living in a sprawling Florida-style home owned by a menacing man named Manuel. He gives them no opportunity to escape and insists that they stay in the house. What they discover during their visit is enough to almost get them all killed.

As they struggle to survive, Kelly tries to ignore her attraction to Austin, who clearly isn’t interested in a romance. Besides, just days before she went on her very first date . . . with Scott. How could she have such strong feelings for two boys? And then there is Zoey who is hot for Austin, but flirting shamelessly with Scott. Then people start dying and all they can think about is saving the families and themselves. Are they destined to be a madman’s latest victims? Their time travel adventure to a tropical paradise may turn out to be their last.

It’s difficult to investigate a crime that hasn’t happened yet.

BRB won top honors in the Readers’ Favorite awards.

and the reviews have been amazing!

Finally, in BION, Book #3, they surprise Kelly on her birthday and soon they are back in Scott’s lab, listening to the old radio that Thomas Edison had invented and called “The Telephone to the Dead”. As they slowly turn the dial Kelly, Scott, Austin and Zoey hear hundreds of sad, lonely voices of souls that have passed but apparently never moved on, pleading for help. When they first discovered the radio in Kelly’s aunt’s garage, they had been touched by the cries and pleas coming from its speakers, but they had no way to go back in time to help them. That is, until Scott reveals an invention of his own . . . a time travel app. They’ve already tested it twice, with both trips being very successful, but not without danger. Even though they returned with a few scrapes and bruises, and even a gunshot wound, they are eager to go on a new adventure and help solve a mystery.

A young woman’s voice comes through and asks them to find her twin brother, Jesse, who had run away to the circus in 1927, then disappeared and was never heard from again. Going back and living with a circus sounds like fun. Plus an old book written by his sister provides a glimpse into the past . . . as well as a photo of Jesse, a photo that grabs their attention and sets the girls’ hearts racing.

They land in a cornfield in Wichita Falls, Texas as the circus is setting up. It doesn’t take them long to discover that circus life is not all glamour and fun; it’s a lot of hard work. As usual, they jump in and quickly find jobs, places to sleep and new friends. But most importantly, they find Jesse. Now all they have to do is keep him alive.
For Zoey and Jesse, it’s love at first sight. It’s a first romance for both of them and their love blossoms as they travel from city to city. Zoey knows she’s too young to settle down and that Jesse is from a different time and culture, but her feelings for him are strong. Her and her friends’ time travel mission has taken on a new dimension. Should they be successful and save his life, will Zoey be able to let him go? Is it possible for him to come to 2013 with her? Is it possible for her to stay in 1927 with him? Ultimately, can she give up everything she has in the present for true love in the past?
Jesse’s talent working with the big cats catches the attention of the Martin Maxwell, the owner of the circus. Maxwell promotes him to the center ring as a replacement for their current lion tamer who is planning on moving up to the Ringling and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Unfortunately, not everyone shares Zoey’s love for Jesse and wants him to disappear forever. Kelly, Scott, Austin and Zoey must figure out who wants Jesse dead and stop him or her before Jesse’s fate is sealed.

And following in the tracks of the first two CUL8R series books, BION has also been accumulating excellent reviews.

In 2014 book #4, RIP will release. This is another ground breaking time travel set at the Stanley Hotel in 1911. An amazing splash of history added to a ghost story within a ghost story and set in the ghostliest places on earth, the Stanley Hotel in Colorado.

Get ready for RIP by catching up with Kelly, Scott, Austin and Zoey over the holidays.

Below are some of the key links readers may want to access:

Kathy Clark, a..k.a. Bob Kat author website – http://www.nightwriter93.com

CUL8R Time Travel Mystery Series website – http://www.cul8rseries.com

Links for buying OMG –

Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/CUL8R-Time-Travel-Mystery-Romance-ebook/dp/B00AF2Q30E/

Barnes & Noble / Nook http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/omg-bob-kat/1116882528?ean=2940148660859&itm=1&usri=2940148660859

Smashwords – http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/376121

ALL ROMANCE – https://www.omnilit.com/product-omgohmygodacul8rtimetravelmysteryromance-1343363-141.html

FOR PAPER BACK

CREATE SPACE – http://www.amazon.com/OMG-CUL8R-Volume-Bob-Kat/dp/1481127675/

Links for buying BRB –

Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Right-CUL8R-Travel-Mystery-Romance-ebook/dp/B00C8SK9JO/

Barnes & Noble / Nook – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/be-right-back-a-cul8r-time-travel-mystery-romance-bob-kat/1117184934?ean=2940148661863&itm=1&usri=2940148661863

iBook / Apple – https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id704718471

Smashwords – http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/364378

Kobo – http://store.kobobooks.com/Search/Query?fcmedia=Book&query=9780988343634

ALL ROMANCE – https://www.omnilit.com/product-brbberightbackacul8rtimetravelmysteryromance-1333597-141.html

FOR PAPER BACK

CREATE SPACE – http://www.amazon.com/BRB-CUL8R-Bob-Kat/dp/1484063120/

Links for buying BION –

Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Believe-CUL8R-Travel-Mystery-Romance-ebook/dp/B00E5141ZK/

Smashwords – http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/370116

Kobo – http://store.kobobooks.com/Search/Query?fcmedia=Book&query=1230000195116

ALL ROMANCE – https://www.omnilit.com/product-bionbelieveitornotacul8rtimetravelmysteryromance-1343365-141.html

FOR PAPER BACK

CREATE SPACE – http://www.amazon.com/BION-Believe-It-Or-Not/dp/1491241012/

Greater Austin, Texas Area Inside Track To Indie Publishing and Book Camp

Posted on December 5, 2013 by Kathy Clark, a.k.a. Bob Kat

Greetings fellow writers and authors in the Greater Austin, Texas area,

GET YOUR BOOK PUBLISHED IN 2014!!!

Is getting your book e-published your #1 New Year’s Resolution? Have you given up because you’ve received a pile of rejection letters? Do you have a completed manuscript (or two) or even previously published books just lying around gathering dust? Do you know the pros and cons of traditional vs. indie publishing? Then join us on January 25, 2014 at the LaQuinta in Round Rock for a one-day workshop (Course #1) on The Inside Track to Indie Publishing.

Since early 2012 my husband and I have been e-publishing original novels as well as the 21 traditionally published novels for which I had regained the rights. Because of my 20 years of experience in traditional publishing combined with 2 years of indie publishing, the workshop attendees will have the advantage of our experience in both worlds.

And we’re willing to share all the tricks of the trade and a lot of shortcuts!

Long story short, we currently have 38 books listed on Amazon. Our 7 newest books are also available as paperbacks (Print On Demand) and as e-books on Google, iBooks/itunes. Barnes & Noble and many others. This has led to thousands more sold and top rankings. We’ve also won several prestigious awards during 2013 in three major book award contests.

We are offering an introductory course that will tell you what you need to know to move forward with publishing your own manuscript. We have broken the course into two sessions.

The first session that is 6 hours long explains, educates and demonstrates what indie publishing is all about, what must be done and how to do it. The second session, also 6 hours long, is a hands-on, step-by-step live computer session that will result in your book being published on Amazon (if you have completed all the required preparation). In addition, with the second session, we are offering phone and email support to assure your success.

Course #1, will cover the following topics:

• The indie publishing business vs. traditional. [What is it, does it meet your needs for time and income, what’s involved and how it compares to traditional publishing, and how it relates to agents, editors, publishers and bookstores.]

• What’s between the covers? [What do you have to do to your manuscript and how do you make it blend in and still keep your story unique]

• You can tell a book by its cover. [You’re now the publisher, so how do you create a captivating cover even if you’re not creative or artistic]

• How to indie publish on Amazon [Publishing and the marketing decisions involved in the process and step-by-step requirements]

• Beyond Amazon. [How to turn you book into a paperbacks and post to the dozen-plus other book distributors / channels; from McDonalds to Google]

Course #2, Indie Boot Camp, will be a smaller class size so that everyone will have an opportunity to actually get their books uploaded and published during the workshop. This is a hands-on workshop requiring your book, blurb, author profile and cover[s] to be ready to go. By the end of the day, your book should be available on Amazon as an e-book and a paperback. We will be offering as part of the workshop package limited email and phone support to assure you hit the time deadlines. Course #2 will be priced at between $50 and $70, depending on the number of participants.

We are planning on holding the Course #1 workshop Saturday January 25th with the timing of the second workshop to be scheduled according to interest. The price for Course #1 is $45. Snacks and drinks will be provided. Lunch will be the responsibility of the attendee.

Space is limited, so make your reservations early at kathywernly@gmail.com or call Kathy at 720-841-2525. This is a chance to start 2014 off great and fulfill one of your New Year’s resolution!

Kindest regards,

Kathy Wernly, a.k.a Bob Kat, (a.k.a Kathy Clark)

http://www.nightwriter93.com

Add Your Voice to the Reviews for the New Adult Suspense series Scandals

Posted on November 26, 2013 by Kathy Clark, a.k.a. Bob Kat

The NEW ADULT genre has been added to with the release of BABY DADDY, book #1 in Kathy Clark’s NEW ADULT romantic suspense series, SCANDALS.

BABY DADDY is the first book in the series and is told from Killeen Ames’ point of view. Killeen has it all…beauty, brains, a college scholarship and a rich and handsome boyfriend…until she finds out she is pregnant. The boyfriend disappears and the scholarship is in jeopardy. When an attorney arrives at her door with an offer she can’t refuse, she has nothing to lose.

She travels to Austin and is surprised to find that her birth father was a popular music star who is now dead. He has left her a generous inheritance that includes a highly successful P.I. agency, Scandals…and four half-brothers and sisters.

The catch is, they must work together at the agency. Are they willing to leave their old jobs, schools and lives for a father’s dream…a father they never knew? Killeen’s decision is further complicated when she and Christopher, the totally irresistible manager of Scandals, share a hot night of passion. She knows they have no future. He is not her baby daddy and would never want to be.

New evidence indicates that their father had been murdered, and they must focus on finding the killer…who also wants them dead. When Killeen is faced with the decision to save her baby, her lover or her new brothers and sisters…who will she choose?

You get a sense of Killeen’s starting point on her journey with the opening of the book.

He left me with two broken DVD cases, a pair of worn-out Nikes and a plus sign on my pee stick.

I was sitting on the floor, leaning against the couch with my legs stretched forward under the coffee table. Sunlight filtered through the crack where the drapes didn’t quite meet, which told me it was morning… the morning after the worst night of my life.

A banner saying “Congratulations Graduate” strung between the light fixture and the curtain rod. A dozen maroon and gold balloons that had been bouncing on the ceiling last night now lay sadly on the floor, no longer buoyant. I knew exactly how they felt…deflated and totally used. Their short, happy lives were over. Just like mine.

Bottles, beer cans, red Solo cups and other trash covered every surface imaginable. Somebody was going to have to clean all this shit up. That somebody was not going to be me.

Fuck Brandon! I thought we were going to be together forever. Well, apparently, he had a different definition of forever than I did. Last night was supposed to have been really special. His graduation party and our pregnancy. I’m just glad I was smart enough not to announce it at the party. No, I waited until everyone had left to tell him. I wasn’t sure what his reaction would be, but I hadn’t thought he would have a meltdown.

I knew it would be a surprise. It had been for me. A baby was the absolute last thing I needed in my life right now. Brandon was the only guy I’d ever gone past second base with in my life. Imagine that! I was an eighteen-year-old virgin two years ago when we met. That’s like finding a unicorn in a used car lot.

Find BABY DADDY on line at several retailers…

Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/BABY-DADDY-SCANDALS-Kathy-Clark-ebook/dp/B00GQC1S3O/

Barnes & Noble – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/baby-daddy-kathy-clark-aka-bob-kat/1117448913?ean=2940149013364&itm=1&usri=2940149013364

Kobo – http://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/Search/Query?query=9780988343672&fcmedia=Book

All Romance – https://www.omnilit.com/product-babydaddy-1360180-149.html

And while you’re at it please add your voice to the reviews, currently at 4.7 stars.

Good Romantic Suspense Novel with Likable Heroine

Great fun, irresistible story…

“He never could resist a girl with a tramp stamp.”

Good Suspense Novel with Erotic Flair

Great Romantic Suspense!

Nail Biting

Scandalously Good

Scandalously Sexy

Well written, like I was really there

Entertaining read

Masterfully written

Solid

This is good!

Intense, suspenseful and passionate, the perfect combination!

Hello readers of suspense, romantic suspense and New Adult fiction fans…

Posted on November 12, 2013 by Kathy Clark, a.k.a. Bob Kat

The “New Adult“ genre name in fiction really covers the age from 19 to 26. Blogs, book blurbs and redefining what it means to grow up has been taking over the books and the news about the books over the past year or two..

Kathy Clark’s 30th book, BABY DADDY fits the New Adult genre checklist perfectly.

Here’s the blurb followed by the comparison of the book to the new adult genre checklist that readers, bloggers and editors often apply.

THE BLURB

An inheritance brought her more than she ever could have imagined.

Killeen Ames had it all…beauty, brains, a college scholarship, a rich and handsome boyfriend. Then she found out she was pregnant and the boyfriend disappeared and the scholarship is in jeopardy. A stranger arrives at her door with the news that a father she had never known had died and she was his heir.

But not his only heir. She and four half-siblings meet for the first time and learn the shocking details of a popular music star who had been their father and Scandals, the private investigation agency he has left them.

Killeen’s decision is further complicated when she meets the totally irresistible manager of Scandals. Her attraction to him is immediate and volatile, but she knows they have no future. She has a secret she can’t share.

Someone doesn’t want them to stay and take over the business. In fact, someone wants them all dead. Their lives depend on whether or not they can figure out who he is and how to stop him before he succeeds.

In spite of the fact that the five protagonists range from age 19 to 26, their lives are turned up side down with a knock on their door and meeting a few weeks later about a man they didn’t even know existed

All the essential New Adult story elements are there:

* College life – Some are, one was and one hasn’t been

* Moving out of your parents’ house and living alone for the first time – One did, three had and one moved out on a regualr basis

* First jobs – One serious and four never seriously

* Deciding who you want to be, career-wise, and in general. Identity issues. Existential issues. – One’s hit their career ceiling, one’s on a path to no where and the others are in transition yet they are all tied together by their mother”s past.

* First serious relationships, finding love – The opening line of the book foreshadows one character’s future but does not force a conclusion. “He left me with two broken DVD cases, a pair of worn-out Nikes and a plus sign on my pee stick.”

* Sex – It’s less important that it be a “first time” as it is in YA. But the character should still be figuring stuff out. Since our readers can watch R rated movies, we can also be a little more explicit here without as much controversy. – No comment.

* Experimentation – Sex, drugs, alcohol. Of course, not all new adults engage in experimentation, but the phrase, “I experimented with “x” in college,” is a phrase for a reason. – No comment

* A struggle to “find yourself” – While struggling to stay alive and figure out what’s true from their past they work toward figuring out who they are

* Change – Moving out, going to college, finding a job…it’s a lot of transition. – Everyone has the same opportunity but is starting from a very different starting point in their life. Yet their lines are intertwined.

* Money challenges – Sometimes having too many options can be overwhelming.

BABY DADDY is coming of age with people you want to know better.

Change The Past, Save The Future

Posted on October 31, 2013 by Kathy Clark, a.k.a. Bob Kat

A bit of a diary update…came out of the blue last night and today!

It was really a great feeling today to package my YA series and send it off to an LA film / TV production company. I thought I’d post it here in case there are other YA film and TV interests who would like to discuss further. You just don’t know. I still think about the spec script I wrote for a Shirley MacLaine picture.

First I sent them the YA Time Travel series overview The Young Adult Series CUL8R [See you later] targets audiences from age 12 to 20. However, we have found that sales of eBooks and paperbacks have attracted readers of all ages. The CUL8R time travel mystery series is about a girl, a geek, a mean girl and a jock who walk into a time warp. Turns out they can do two things no one else on the planet can do. Talk with dead people and travel back in time. The four teens live in Fort Myers Beach, Florida. Their success in traveling back in time to change the past to give a person a future is because they are able to outwit, outwork and outlast the antagonist. The sub-genre of time travel has been commercially successful in hundreds of books, film and television in the past fifty years alone. The authors have upped the rationale for undertaking a specific case in the past by having the teens rely on one of Thomas Edison’s last inventions. His Telephone to the Dead, rumored to have been actually developed and was even publicized by Edison just prior to his death, adds a paranormal twist as they speak with a key person they are traveling back in time to help.

There are several key facts that need presented regarding the quality of the story itself. • OMG won first place in the Best Indie Book of 2013 for Young Adults and was a finalist in the Beverly Hills Book Awards for 2013. • BRB, won top prize in the Readers’ Favorite book awards for Young Adults in 2013. • The three books have been only on Amazon to this point, and have averaged 4.9 stars in reviews. In OMG they travel to 1966, in BRB to 1980 ad BION to 1927. RIP, releasing in January, 2014, they travel back to 1911.

And of course, anyone would like to know more about the creative force behind the project. Kathy Clark, a.k.a. Bob Kat Bio & Key Links

BIO Kathy Clark’s 23 women’s fiction (romance) novels have sold over 3 million copies in more than 10 languages and have been on the New York Times’ bestsellers’ list and won her numerous awards. In September 2012 she broke away from the romance genre and launched a new suspense series, Denver After Dark that is centered on three brothers, one a cop, one a firefighter and one a paramedic. The first book, After Midnight was named as the Best Indie Suspense of 2013 and won a prestigious Readers’ Favorite Suspense Award in 2013. Book #2 in this series, Cries in the Night was released in October, 2013. Graveyard Shift, Book #3, will be released in September, 2014. Also in 2012 Kathy teamed up with her husband Bob Wernly to write a Young Adult Time Travel Mystery/Romance series called CUL8R (See You Later) under the pen name of Bob Kat. Book #1 OMG (Oh My God), when they go back to 1966 to save a girl’s life, was released in October, 2012 and was named as the Best Indie Young Adult Suspense of 2013 and was a Beverly Hills Book Awards finalist. Book #2 BRB (Be Right Back), when they travel back to 1980, recently won a Readers’ Favorite Young Adult Award in 2013. Book #3 BION (Believe It Or Not), when they go back to 1927 and join a circus to save a boy, was released in July, 2013. All three books in this series have received rave reviews and 4 and 5 star ratings. Book #4 RIP (Rest in Peace), a ghost story set at the famous Stanley Hotel will be released in January, 2014. Also, under the Bob Kat pen name, Kathy and Bob wrote a fictionalized version of his fraternity days at Kent State University in 1970 that mixes the drama of senior year with the first military draft lottery, the Vietnam war and the Kent State shootings. This novel was named as a finalist in the Best Indie Mainstream Book of 2013 Awards. Kathy and Bob are also working on a New Adult series called Scandals with the first book Baby Daddy scheduled for release in November, 2013. Kathy is currently a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Romance Writers of America and Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, and was on the board of directors of national RWA and Colorado Romance Writers for several years. Her books and screenplays have won numerous awards, including top honors from Romantic Times, Colorado Romance Writer of the Year, two RITAs and several film festival screenwriting competitions.

KEY LINKS

AUTHOR SITE: http://www.nightwriter93.com

BLOG: https://kathyclarkauthor.wordpress.com/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/kelly.welch.cul8r

TWITTER: @93nightwriter

PINTEREST: http://www.pinterest.com/BobKat1993/

AMAZON BOOK LINKS

OMG http://www.amazon.com/CUL8R-Time-Travel-Mystery-Romance-ebook/dp/B00AF2Q30E/

BRB http://www.amazon.com/Right-CUL8R-Travel-Mystery-Romance-ebook/dp/B00C8SK9JO/

BION http://www.amazon.com/Believe-Travel-Mystery-Romance-ebook/dp/B00E5141ZK/

Then the book overviews were included

The first book is OMG [Oh My God] For Kelly, it’s a major adjustment to move from the only life she has ever known in Texas to live with her aunt in Ft. Myers Beach, Florida. She quickly makes friends with her quirky next door neighbor, Scott and his best friend, Austin. In her aunt’s garage, they find a long-lost invention of Thomas Edison called “The Telephone to the Dead”. Edison had abandoned the project and given it to Kelly’s great-great-grandfather. Scott tinkers with it until they can hear sounds coming from it. But instead of broadcasting music . . . it picks up conversations from the dead. As they slowly turn the dial they hear hundreds of sad, lonely voices of souls that have passed but apparently never moved on, pleading for help. A teenager’s voice separates from the rest and begs for their help to clear her reputation. They are shocked to find out that she had gone to their own high school . . . 47 years ago. They research the girl’s story and discover that her name was Wendy and she had been a popular cheerleader who had apparently committed suicide. The teens are touched by Wendy’s cries and pleas, but they have no way to go back in time to help her. That is, until Scott reveals an invention of his own . . . a time travel app. Kelly and Austin are very skeptical. Even Scott isn’t sure it will work, so they try it out on his sister’s pet turtle. Amazingly, the turtle disappears. But did it travel to the past or just wander off? Finally, they decide to humor Scott and go along with his claims of time travel. They meet on the beach after everyone else has gone home. They stand in the formation Scott insists will create the perfect vortex for time travel. At the last moment, a fourth person runs forward and is pulled into their adventure back to 1966. They figure out a way to get close to Wendy without her asking too many questions that they can’t answer. But as they discover the secret to her death, they find it’s not as clear-cut as it would seem. A romance gone wrong, an over-attentive teacher and a young girl’s dreams for the future are all twisted into a mystery that causes the teens to take greater risks than they could have imagined. It all becomes very real when their own lives are in danger and they realize they may never make it back to the present.

The second book is BRB [Be Right Back]

Kelly, Scott, Austin and Zoey gather in Scott’s lab, listening to the old radio that Thomas Edison had invented and called “The Telephone to the Dead”. As they slowly turn the dial they hear hundreds of sad, lonely voices of souls that have passed but apparently never moved on, pleading for help. When they first discovered the radio in Kelly’s aunt’s garage, they had been touched by the cries and pleas coming from its speakers, but they had no way to go back in time to help them. That is, until Scott reveals an invention of his own . . . a time travel app. They’ve tested it only once, but that first trip had been successful . . . if you ignore the fact that Zoey and Kelly had almost gotten killed by a serial killer. Even though they returned with a few scrapes and bruises, they are eager to go on a new adventure and help solve another mystery. A very young girl’s voice comes through, saying that her whole family has been murdered on an island just off the east coast of Florida. The teens look the island up on Google Maps and see that it is completely deserted which contradicts the story they’re getting from the Spirit Radio. But it’s a beautiful island called Crystal Key with a stretch of beach that, unlike Ft. Myers Beach, is not crowded with tourists and kids. The teens decide to pop in, spend a nice day on the beach, check out the island to see if there is any truth to the girl’s story, then pop right back. It sounds like a great plan. From the very beginning, things go wrong when Scott miscalculates their landing and they end up splashing into the Atlantic Ocean. After swimming for their lives, they collapse on the beach that is, indeed, beautiful. But it isn’t deserted. They find the little girl, her family and a half dozen more people living in a sprawling Florida-style home owned by a menacing man named Manuel. He gives them no opportunity to escape and insists that they stay in the house. What they discover during their visit is enough to almost get them all killed. As they struggle to survive, Kelly tries to ignore her attraction to Austin, who clearly isn’t interested in a romance. Besides, just days before she went on her very first date . . . with Scott. How could she have such strong feelings for two boys? And then there is Zoey who is hot for Austin, but flirting shamelessly with Scott. Then people start dying and all they can think about is saving the families and themselves. Are they destined to be a madman’s latest victims? Their time travel adventure to a tropical paradise may turn out to be their last. It’s difficult to investigate a crime that hasn’t happened yet.

The third book is BION [Believe It Or Not]

But they surprise her on her birthday and soon they are back in Scott’s lab, listening to the old radio that Thomas Edison had invented and called “The Telephone to the Dead”. As they slowly turn the dial Kelly, Scott, Austin and Zoey hear hundreds of sad, lonely voices of souls that have passed but apparently never moved on, pleading for help. When they first discovered the radio in Kelly’s aunt’s garage, they had been touched by the cries and pleas coming from its speakers, but they had no way to go back in time to help them. That is, until Scott reveals an invention of his own . . . a time travel app. They’ve already tested it twice, with both trips being very successful, but not without danger. Even though they returned with a few scrapes and bruises, and even a gunshot wound, they are eager to go on a new adventure and help solve a mystery. A young woman’s voice comes through and asks them to find her twin brother, Jesse, who had run away to the circus in 1927, then disappeared and was never heard from again. Going back and living with a circus sounds like fun. Plus an old book written by his sister provides a glimpse into the past . . . as well as a photo of Jesse, a photo that grabs their attention and sets the girls’ hearts racing. They land in a cornfield in Wichita Falls, Texas as the circus is setting up. It doesn’t take them long to discover that circus life is not all glamour and fun; it’s a lot of hard work. As usual, they jump in and quickly find jobs, places to sleep and new friends. But most importantly, they find Jesse. Now all they have to do is keep him alive. For Zoey and Jesse, it’s love at first sight. It’s a first romance for both of them and their love blossoms as they travel from city to city. Zoey knows she’s too young to settle down and that Jesse is from a different time and culture, but her feelings for him are strong. Her and her friends’ time travel mission has taken on a new dimension. Should they be successful and save his life, will Zoey be able to let him go? Is it possible for him to come to 2013 with her? Is it possible for her to stay in 1927 with him? Ultimately, can she give up everything she has in the present for true love in the past? Jesse’s talent working with the big cats catches the attention of the Martin Maxwell, the owner of the circus. Maxwell promotes him to the center ring as a replacement for their current lion tamer who is planning on moving up to the Ringling and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Unfortunately, not everyone shares Zoey’s love for Jesse and wants him to disappear forever. Kelly, Scott, Austin and Zoey must figure out who wants Jesse dead and stop him or her before Jesse’s fate is sealed.

Oh there was the usual discussion on the first three books and the next book about talent needs and costs, sets, locations and the like along with the script needs, the run time being 90 minutes and PG or PG-13 ratings… It’s just exciting to look at maybe moving on with such a great project. Whether it is a MOW or a feature it would be really awesome to see these on any size screen!

Interested? Write info@nightwriter93.com