Sweet Success: Terry Odell, Darby Karchut, and DeAnna Knippling

Terry Odell's romantic suspense novel, Where Danger Hides (second in the Blackthorne, Inc., series) (ISBN: 978-1-4328-2512-6, hardcover, 371 pages) will be published by Five Star Gale/Cengage on May 18, 2011.  The author's website is at www.terryodell.com.  You can buy the book from Barnes & Noble or Amazon.  

Hiding behind the public façade of a private investigation firm–Blackthorne, Incorporated–are a band of elite covert operatives.  Dalton (just Dalton—nobody dares call him Ambrose), is one of Blackthorne's best.  A charming Texan, he prides himself on blending in, and there's no one he can't scam. But his obsession with putting a Colombian drug lord out of the picture threatens to endanger his life and the lives of his team. When Dalton nearly blows a simple undercover assignment at a fundraising gala, it convinces his boss to tether him to a dog-and-pony-show case at a halfway house. Instead, Dalton finds death, drugs, and danger.

Street-smart Miri Chambers wants nothing more than to help everyone at the Galloway House shelter lead new and productive lives, but residents are disappearing without a trace. An unexpected meeting with Dalton at a gala turns into an assignment for him, but Miri doesn't think he’s taking the job seriously. Trust doesn't come easy to Miri. When the situation escalates into a combat zone, can she trust Dalton with her life … and her heart?

Terry Odell was born in Los Angeles, and now makes her home in Colorado. An avid reader (her parents tell everyone they had to move from their first home because she finished the local library), she always wanted to "fix" stories so the characters did what she wanted. Once she began writing, she found this wasn't always possible, as evidenced when the mystery she intended to write rapidly became a romance.  Her other writing credits include Finding Sarah, Hidden Fire, What's in a Name?, When Danger Calls, and Nowhere to Hide.

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Darby Karchut's debut YA urban fantasy novel, Griffin Rising (ISBN 978-1-60619-210-8, trade paperback, 175 pages) will be published June 28, 2011 by Twilight Times Books.  You can buy the book in bookstores and online at Borders, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon; you can also read the book as an ebook (out now) from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Even a hero-figure needs a father-figure. Once in awhile.

For centuries, rumors have abounded of a lowly caste of supernatural beings known as the Terrae Angeli. Armed with the power to control Earth, Fire, Wind and Water, these warriors secretly serve as guardians for mortals in danger.

But for one young angel-in-training, Griffin, life is hell as a cruel master makes his apprenticeship a nightmare. On the verge of failing, a new mentor, Basil, enters his life and changes it forever.

Taking on the identity of father and son, Griffin and Basil forge a special bond where honesty and trust go hand in hand to secure Griffin’s destiny as a Terrae Angeli. Griffin’s belief in himself and the love of a mortal girl are the perfect combination in overcoming the

darkest days of his life. But will it be enough for him to face the monster still haunting him?

Set in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Griffin Rising has been called Ranger’s Apprentice meets Touched by An Angel and has already garnered rave reviews from YA book bloggers.

Darby Karchut is a writer, a teacher, and a compulsive dawn greeter. She lives in Colorado with her husband and owns more running shoes than high heels. Griffin Rising is her first novel. She is currently working on the second book in the series, Griffin’s Fire. Visit Darby Karchut at: www.darbykarchut.com.

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DeAnna Knippling's short SF story, "Paid," was published at Crossed Genres magazine (crossedgenres.com).  Beauregard is a time-travelling detective in a multiverse where he's his own worst enemy.  Literally.

DeAnna has also started a small press, Wonderland Press (www.wonderlandpress.com) to epublish her and her pseudonyms' work.  Please see the website for weekly weekend ebook coupons and links to her Kids' Pulp stories, unadulteratedly awesome (and un-adult) short stories for 9-12 year olds with titles like "Attack of the 50-Foot Sushi Monster" and "Zombie Girl Invasion," writing as De Kenyon.  DeAnna's (and De's) stories can be found on Smashwords, Amazon.com, Barnes & Nobles, and other ebook retailers near you.