Author Spotlight - Brendan Carroll

Brendan Carroll is an indie author who has managed to attract quite a following on some of the Kindle related boards, for his series The Red Cross of Gold. He has just released the nineteenth in the series, The Red Cross of Gold XIX: How Men Do It, and like the entire series (at least currently), it is priced at $2.99. I have to admit that I am a bit behind on the series, myself, but I'm making a note to bump them up my TBR list.

Book Description
The Chevalier Ramsay must return to the Abyss to conduct a bit of damage control in the Seventh Gate in spite of the danger of running into old acquaintances. His old enemies, routed from New Babylon, begin searching for him and the Mighty Djinni with a new plan for bringing chaos to the world of men. Omar must try to run his New World Order from behind the scenes with a new attitude and a new outlook on life. Back at the Isle of Ramsay, Montague is left trying to fend off unknown forces trying to steal some of the Red Cross of Gold’s powerful relics. Mark’s unruly son, Luke Andrew, joins his father’s Order in spite of the obstacles he might face and must prove himself worthy of an apprenticeship. Things do not improve when the new King of the Faeries decides that he needs to get to know the royal family a bit better.

If you haven't been following the series, you'll want to start at the beginning, with The Knight of Death.

Book Description
An apparent kidnapping and rape become the first steps in a mystical journey for the Chevalier du Morte when a routine mission precipitates a spiritual fall from grace. As the tables turn on the abductors, the immortal Knight sinks in a corrupt quagmire of sin while fighting to recover his lost purpose and identity. In the process, he almost destroys the Ancient Order of the Red Cross of Gold when his beloved Brothers turn against him and hunt him down, determined to take him home, in one piece or two.

The immortal Knights of the Council of Twelve comprise the ruling body of the clandestine Order of the Red Cross of Gold, Poor Knights of Solomon's Temple. Some of them have been around since the Crusades in the Holy Lands, secretly directing, aiding and abetting world events that they believe will eventually culminate in the ultimate confrontation of Good and Evil at Armageddon. As Knights of Christ, they live, fight and die safely as God's executioners in the service of the Master of the Universe.

As Assassin and Alchemist for the Order, Mark Ramsay's dark occupations keep him buried in an old mansion in the Scottish lowlands most of the time, but occasionally, when someone needs killing, he is called out to perform his duties as Assassin. He holds the mysterious, divine mystery of the Key of Death and not only has the responsibility of ridding the world of certain criminal elements and undesirable influences; he is the only means of release for his immortal Brothers whenever they are accidentally injured beyond recovery. Ramsay has the ultimate job security. His services are indispensable to the Order and even though his Brothers normally shun his presence and even fear him, they cannot afford to lose him at the risk of suffering forever, eternally locked in physical bodies from whence there is no escape should the unthinkable happen. Without the Knight of Death's services, the Order would not only lose its financial backing, it would fall into ruin and decay.

Sir Ramsay considers himself a simple man and wants nothing more than to live out his years in the relative seclusion offered by the beautifully rolling meadows in Lothian, Scotland. But things are not so simple for the Chevalier du Morte. He has deep-seated emotional and mental problems stemming from personal tragedies suffered during the Crusades. His life as a virtual hermit is about to change drastically when he briefly loses all memory of his life before a certain moment in time when he awakens in the midst of a brutal beating in a serene pecan grove in Central Texas. His past is erased completely and for a few glorious, but tumultuous days, he lives life as a normal man outside the influence of the Order of the Poor Knights of Solomon's Temple, finding love in the middle of a nightmare. His life will never be the same once he begins to reckon time as 'Before Meredith' and 'After Meredith'.

Here is the complete Red Cross of Gold series list, all on Kindle for $2.99 each:
I: The Knight of Death
II: The King of Terrors
III: The Head of the Crow (Assassin Chronicles)
IV: The Hesperian Dragon (Assassin Chronicles)
V: the Quinta Essentia (Assassin Chronicles)
VI: The Dragonslayer (Assassin Chronicles)
VII:. The Wisdom of Solomon (Assassin Chronicles)
VIII: The Silver Caduceus
IX: The Queen of the Abyss (Assassin Chronicles)
X: Genesis 6:5
XI:. Ars Arabia: The Assassin Chronicles
XII: The Son of the Moon
XIII: The Children of the Temple
XIV: The Skull of Sidon (Assassin Chronicles)
XV: My Hope is in God (Assassin Chronicles)
XVI: Omar, the Prophet (Assassin Chronicles)
XVII: Full Circle (Assassin Chronicles)
XVIII: The Company of Women (Assassin Chronicles)
XIX: How Men Do It (Assassin Chronicles)

Mr. Carroll also has one other volume out that is not part of this series, Tempo Rubato: Stolen Time ($3.99)

Book Description
Imagine the virtually unlimited resources of a private company rivaling Microsoft Corporation. Now add to that Albert Einstein's genius coupled with all the technology available in 1995. Now imagine the possibilities...

Maria Elisse Mannheim is a professor of Musicology at a university in Vienna, specializing in the study of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his works, particularly his original manuscripts of which numerous forgeries abound. Derek Boswell is a New York City detective investigating the murder of a student under very unusual circumstances. The only clue he has to go on is a letter found in the victim's possession that could have been written by the murderer. Unfortunately, the letter is signed W.A. Mozart.

Boswell contacts Miss Mannheim in an attempt to track down any known forgers that might also be worthy of investigation for possible charges in the student's death. As an authority on Mozart, she feels compelled to leave her job and travel to the United States for a first hand look at this particular forger.

Elisse's investigation takes her to West Texas, where the victim formerly worked for a mysterious corporation before her death. The further Elisse digs into the company's business, the more apparent it becomes that not everything is quite as it seems and she suddenly finds her own life in peril.

32 Free Short Stories at All Romance

The AllRomance eBookStore has just posted 32 free paranormal short stories in their Just One Bite Short Story Contest. I looked at a couple and the themes generally are vampires and werewolves, but it appears that ghosts and fae make an appearance, as well. This is round one, so you can read every single one of the stories online and vote for the one that you like the best - 16 votes in all. The first round ends on 10/7, so the number of stories available may drop in half then, so read or grab these while they are available. If you want to save them to read later, you can cut and paste them into a Word or Open Office Writer document, rather than trying to save the entire HMTL page, which can be difficult to read on an ereader device. Once you have them all in the document, save it as a DOC file and email it to your Kindle account (use the free address to avoid charges) and read them offline. If you are using Open Office and Calibre, you can also save the document in ODT format and convert it on your desktop in Calibre.

Click HERE for the contest page. You'll need to have an account (free) and be logged in to see the list and links.

Free Audiobook - Love is a Verb

ChristianAudio's free audiobook this month is the unabridged Love is a Verb: Stories of What Happens When Love Comes Alive ($9.99 Kindle) by Gary Chapman, narrated by Pam Ward, Grover Gardner & Lloyd James.

Book Description
Dr. Gary Chapman has spent his life helping people communicate love more effectively and in turn build more satisfying and lasting relationships. His book The Five Love Languages is a regular on the New York Times Best Sellers list--even after being in print for fifteen years--and has made the term "love language" a part of everyday speech.

Love Is a Verb takes his teaching to the next level. Rather than a typical marriage self-help book filled with lengthy explanations of principles and techniques, it is a compilation of true stories displaying love in action. These stories--written by everyday people--go straight to the hearts of readers, who often say that illustrations are the most effective parts of a book. Gary Chapman adds a "Love Lesson" to each story, showing readers how they can apply the same principles to their own relationships.

Get your free audio download HERE. They have updated the checkout process; a coupon code is no longer required. Lower down on the order page, you'll also find discounted ($4.98) downloads for more from Gary Chapman: The Five Love Languages (Unabridged), Desperate Marriages (Unabridged), The Family You've Always Wanted (Unabridged) and Anger: Handling a Powerful Emotion in a Healthy Way (Unabridged).

After you finishing your order, you will be asked which format you prefer to download - select MP3 if you want to be able to play the book on your Kindle.

Get 5% Bonus on Amazon Gift Cards This Month

As most of you know, I really like using Amazon Gift Cards for my Kindle purchases. Of course, they end up getting used for some other purchases as well, since Gold Box or Lightning Deals and Subscribe & Save must use a gift balance first, before they will charge a credit card. I also generally use their gift cards for a few out of town Christmas presents for younger relatives (who would prefer to pick their own gifts, pretty much any year). This month, Amazon has a great deal for those of use who use both the Amazon.com Rewards Visa® Card and buy Amazon Gift Cards: Get a 5% bonus in gift cards, for all gift card purchases above $50, up to a maximum of a $100 bonus. This deal is valid all month and the gift balance will automatically get applied to your account in November. The gift cards you buy now, you can either apply to your own account or save to send out during the holidays. Just choose an appropriate card design, if you choose physical cards or to print them out; for those you'll use yourself, I usually suggest an emailed gift card, as you'll get it fastest. Starting this month, though, Amazon is also giving your Free One-Day Shipping on the physical gift cards, if you need to send one out in a hurry.

Here is the fine print:

• Visit amazon.com/giftcards
• Buy at least $50 in Amazon.com Gift Cards on or before October 31st, 2010
• Use your Amazon.com Rewards Visa Card to pay (verify during checkout)
• In addition to your rewards points, receive a Gift Card bonus of up to $100
• Amazon will apply the Gift Card bonus directly to Your Amazon Account by Thanksgiving

There are no special codes to remember, it's all automatic, so long as you use an Amazon.com Visa credit card.

Free Book (PDF) - The Painted Darkness

In case you missed The Painted Darkness ($2.99 Kindle), a novella by Brian James Freeman, when it was free direct from the publisher over the summer, you can pick it up as a free download from Wowio this month. In addition, the Wowio Edition contains some extras not found in the hardcover (no idea if they are in the Kindle version):

• A Wowio exclusive: a reading of the book’s first chapter by Pod of Horror host Mark Justice.
• An interview with Ray Bradbury: “We Have Too Many Inventions!”
• $5.00 discount coupon valid on an order for the trade hardcover edition of The Painted Darkness for a limited time only (presumably direct, not via Amazon).

Book Description
When Henry was a child, something terrible happened in the woods behind his home, something so shocking he could only express his grief by drawing pictures of what he had witnessed. Eventually Henry's mind blocked out the bad memories, but he continued to draw, often at night by the light of the moon.

Twenty years later, Henry makes his living by painting his disturbing works of art. He loves his wife and his son and life couldn't be better... except there's something not quite right about the old stone farmhouse his family now calls home. There's something strange living in the cramped cellar, in the maze of pipes that feed the ancient steam boiler.

A winter storm is brewing and soon Henry will learn the true nature of the monster waiting for him down in the darkness. He will battle this demon and, in the process, he may discover what really happened when he was a child and why, in times of trouble, he thinks: I paint against the darkness.

But will Henry learn the truth in time to avoid the terrible fate awaiting him... or will the thing in the cellar get him and his family first?

Written as both a meditation on the art of creation and as an examination of the secret fears we all share, The Painted Darkness is a terrifying look at the true cost we pay when we run from our grief—and what happens when we're finally forced to confront the monsters we know all too well.

Click HERE for the free download. It'll be a Secured PDF, but loads in Adobe Reader 9 (ADE isn't required).