Merry Christmas from Linda L Barton

Christmas is almost here!

The Christmas Spirit has taken control of the Barton household.  The decorations are up and all of those special goodies are made. We will have our children and grandchildren over for dinner and festivities tomorrow for our normal Family Christmas Eve dinner.  We are having ham with all the trimmings, so I know there will be smiles in abundance.

I hope you have a very Merry Christmas with those you love. And for those who are far away and can't be home for Christmas, I pray they stay safe and know they are in our hearts.

I love the Christmas season!

As we prepare for this wonderful time of the year, I can't help but think back on the happy Christmases we had when our children were young.  Seeing the excited looks on there faces Christmas morning when they saw what Santa had left for them beneath the Christmas tree, or the joy on everyones face when we sat to enjoy our Christmas feast.

Now, we have 4 special grandchildren to make new happy memories with each Christmas.  Syrea, Ralph, Arianna, and David are the light of our lives, and we look forward to each new Christmas with them in our lives.

I made a little JibJab video of Pawpa and the 4 grandkiddos wishing everyone a Very Merry Christmas. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it.  You can watch it here.

Give your child the gift of reading for Christmas

I don't know if you're aware, but I have written 2 children's books and 1 YA Fantasy.  Having 5 grandchildren of my own, they have often asked me if they could read my books.  Well, since the oldest is only 8 years old, I knew that was not an option.  So, once I had finished my last thriller, Hellfire's Judgment, I decided to write something a bit lighter to replenish my soul.

Having never written a children's book before I decided to do a simple little story of farm animals since most children love farm animals.  So, I sat down and began outlining the story and making the illustrations.  After several days of banging my head on my desk and redoing the images numerous times, Sheriff Bunny and the Lucky Horseshoe was ready to publish.  In this little story, Sheriff Bunny helps Lightening, the horse find his find his lucky horseshoe.
I cannot begin to express the joy I felt when my grandchildren told me how much they loved the story and wanted to know when I was going to continue the story of the Happy Farm Animals.

Next, I wrote Chick-A-Roo's Great Adventure. Little Chick-A-Roo dreams of being a Pirate and sail the sea in search of buried, so he decides to leave Happy Farm.  However, he soon learns that leaving isn't as easy as he had originally thought.

If you have older children who love stories with Dragons and Magical Creatures then I would suggest my first YA Fantasy, The Dragon's Blood Key. 

Happy Thanksgiving from Linda L Barton

As we gather with loved ones to share our love and memories, I hope you all have a blessed and safe Thanksgiving weekend.

I survived!

Wow, I just got home from our local Wal-Mart Supercenter and all I can say is, "I survived!"  It always amazes me how crazy people get just before Thanksgiving and Christmas. Heck, there was nearly a fist-fight in the spice section because they were almost out of Poultry Seasoning. I had a woman give me a nasty look when I took 2, but they only had the small bottles. Then I nearly fell over when she grabbed 4 and tossed them in her cart. So, if you haven't bought your goodies for Thursday, watch out for those crazies shopping with you. It's dangerous there!

Best Wishes for a safe and Happy Thanksgiving,

Linda

Join me for some fun Thursday evening

I'm so excited to have Brian Moreland joining Lisa Vandiver and me on Deadly Reads Radio tomorrow.  I have been reading his latest release, Darkness Rising, and all I can say is, "WOW!" As most of you know, I'm a bit dark and twisted, so Brian's book is right up my alley. LOL

I hope you'll tune in because I know you won't be disappointed. Also, please feel free to call in and chat with us.  (646) 668-2716.

Hello, I'm Back!

Wow, what a surprise I found today when I checked my blog and saw all the recent activity.  I'm sorry I haven't been good about keeping it updated, but I've been SO busy lately. I know that's no excuse, but they haven't come up with a good cloning method yet. I could really use another me. LOL

For those of you who may not know, I'm not only a Thriller Author, but I'm also the Founder of Deadly Reads, Deadly Reads Author Services, and Deadly Reads Radio.  My partner, Lisa Vandiver and I can't begin to express how proud we are of what we have to offer to our fans.

If you are a writer wanting help to get your manuscript ready for publishing, Deadly Reads Author Services offers reasonable prices for editing, formatting, and cover design.  We even offer bundle prices for those wanting to save even more.

We've recently started doing a weekly show, Thursdays at 10 pm CST on BlogTalkRadio.  Journey into the Night by Deadly Reads Radio has an exciting list of guests from the Publishing and Entertainment Industries already scheduled to be on with us.  We are on live, so feel free to call in and chat with us, and with our guests.  We will be chatting with Best Selling Authors, Book Cover Models, Actors, and Movie Producers in the coming months.  I do hope you join us each Thursday evening for some great conversation.

As for myself, I've been working on two new books.  I've started working on the second installment of Legend of the Dragon's Blood Key, and my first Paranormal Thriller.  Now, that things have calmed down some, I hope to get them finished and off to the editor as soon as possible.  I really hope to have these two books finished by the first part of next year, but we'll see what happens.

I want to thank you for following my little blog, and I promise to do better.

My adventure in writing a YA Fantasy

I awoke the morning of April 12, 2015 with my mind on fire.  Not the kind of fire where you can't think, this was more a laser beam of thought. I sat up in my bed, wondering where the idea for this exciting book had come from.  In the past, it was always my husband, Bob who thought up the great ideas for my books.  He was the one who introduced me to Erebus in the Next Move, You're Dead Trilogy, and Ted in Pure Justice.  I have always been able to take his wonderful ideas, and then turn them into exciting stories.  However, something different happened this time.

I woke up that morning a woman possessed.  I couldn't think of anything other than getting the story of Cassy and Aaron's adventure in the Kingdom of Walandra written on my laptop.  It was the strangest thing to have a book literally write itself as this one did, but in 3 short weeks, The Dragon's Blood Key was written and sent off to the editor.  I mean, how crazy is that?  I have never had a book consume my every waking hour as this one did.  Each character spoke to me in a clear and precise voice, telling me their part of the story.  Each scene played out in my mind with the clarity of watching a movie.  I've never had that happen before, and, to be honest, I still cannot believe that it happened.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it, and I look forward to beginning book 2 soon.

Thank you all for your support and HAPPY READING!

Here is a small excerpt:

Tales of the day when a Champion would come from a far off realm filled the hearts of the people in the Kingdom of Walandra. They had long awaited the one who wore the sacred Breast Plate and Blood Key to come and free them from the rule of the Evil Queen Alona.

For hundreds of years, Queen Alona had enjoyed complete rule over the Kingdom. Yet, she would soon find her rule challenged by the appearance of the Champion Abigail.

While wearing the sacred Breast Plate and Blood Key, which had transported Abigail to the realm of Walandra, she challenged Queen Alona in battle and fought without fear even as the Queen prepared to strike her down. Then at the last possible moment in a flash of blinding light; the Blood Key transported Abigail safely back to her realm. In her rage, Queen Alona had forbidden the name of the Champion spoken aloud again.

In spite of the Queen’s demands, the subjects of the kingdom would regale the tale of the young woman who came to their world, and fought the Evil Queen. They would speak in hushed tones, telling the story of Abigail, as they anxiously awaited her return to complete her destiny and save the kingdom.