Sunday, November 25, 2007

Short story: Sweet Dreams

©2005 Cheryl Kaye Tardif

I always hated camping—the strange lurking noises in the woods, the bloodsucking mosquitoes that voraciously drilled for blood…the thin canvas of a tent that could be so easily slashed by a bear. Then there were the shadows, pervasive and malignant, hovering in every corner. Of course, peeing in the woods wasn’t my idea of a good time either.

When Justin, my husband, decided we were going on a camping trip with three other couples, I groaned and whined like an errant child. But I knew that I couldn’t escape fate. So reluctantly I packed up our tents, sleeping bags and Coleman coolers stoked with more beer than food. Then we headed for the mountains and Lac de RĂ«verie.

Justin told me that meant Lake of Dreaming.

During the monotonous drive our newest friends, Margie and Burton, were ensnared in a deadly lip-lock. After ten minutes I avoided glancing over my shoulder and decided that they just weren’t interested in the antique store we passed. Or the three elk grazing in the ditch. And Margie and Burton certainly didn’t give a hoot about the dead skunk lying in the middle of the road.

For a fraction of a second I thought about interrupting their spit-swapping contest.

Instead, I slept.

It was pitch black when we arrived at Lac de RĂ«verie...

Read the rest of the story HERE.
_________________
Cheryl Kaye Tardif,
bestselling author of Whale Song, The River and Divine Intervention
http://www.cherylktardif.com

Thursday, November 22, 2007

'Create a Corpse' contest is still on!

Ever want to 'strangle' your husband, or 'clobber' your high school bully?

Well, now you can! Here is a surefire way to get away with murder!

Enter my "Create a Corpse" contest and submit the name of someone you want me to 'kill off', and I'll gladly oblige the winner--no questions asked and no payment necessary.

_________________
Cheryl Kaye Tardif,
bestselling author of Whale Song, The River and Divine Intervention http://www.cherylktardif.com/

Truth is Stranger...


This is a very condensed version of a tale of intrigue that really happened over 125 years ago. It's facinating all the twists and turns that one man's determination to see justice done, took him on:


In 1865, Idaho, three killers dangled from the gallows because the friend of a murdered man saw it - the gruesome axe slaying - happen in a dream. Hill Beachy, saw his friend, Lloyd Magruder, struck with an ax and the killer put his foot on Magruder’s body to wrench the axe out. He saw the killer’s face.

Magruder was a merchant who had just made a fortune selling his wares to the gold miners at Alder Gulch. He headed home in the company of some young miners and four men he had employed. Unbeknownst to him, those men were escaped convicts.

Six nights later, near the Bitter Root Mountains, Chris Lowry snuck up behind Magruder standing guard over his grazing herd and did him in with an axe. The miners were similarly dispatched. Bodies wrapped in blankets, the herd and other evidence were sent over the edge of a canyon. A hundred miles from anyone, the bandits made off with the gold and seven horses. It began to snow. They thought it was the perfect crime.

Leaving their horses at a nearby ranch, the gang checked in the Luna Hotel. Hill Beachy was at the desk and he recognized the killer from his dream. Patiently searching for proof he discovered the horses and Marauder’s saddle. Many adventures later he caught up with the guilty men to San Francisco where they were waiting to have the stolen gold dust minted into coins. Back in Lewiston, he tricked one of them into confessing by vigilante theatrics. The bodies were recovered and revealed that Magruder had been killed by an axe just like Hill Beachy saw in his dream, even to the bloody footprint on his thigh as the axe was pulled from his body.

Monday, November 19, 2007

More from the 'What would you do?' Files

Doesn't it make you want to scream, "Don't Do it!" Every time a hapless protagonist walks down that dark alley? Well try this one on for size.
And remember, love comes in many forms. Sometimes passionate, sometimes sweet - and sometimes it hurts.
In fact sometimes it can cut - like a knife.


Excerpt from Shadow of Innocence

Newport, Rhode Island Christie’s Wharf July 29, 1968 9:07 p.m.

Janet wondered if she had made another mistake, in a long line of stupid mistakes that seemed to be the story of her life. She’d gotten tired of driving her beat-up old VW around the waterfront bar area, looking for that elusive, and probably nonexistent, parking place.

So she’d said, “The hell with it,” and parked in the deserted boatyard lot halfway between the restaurant on Christie’s Wharf and the welcoming lights of the bar where she was supposed to meet Marcy and Paul and the rest of the group.
Even though it was the end of July, Janet shivered as a fog-cool wind blew in off the harbor. The dank salt wind carried the smell of low tide, old used-up fishing boats and rock-strung seaweed. Black-green seaweed. Just like the seaweed that had been covering up the beautiful, bone-white body of—Oh, God! The memory was sharp and jagged like broken glass in her stomach.
How could she have let… or gone along with…?
God, she thought, now shivering for real. I know she was a horrible bitch to me most of the time. But every once in a while, she would almost act like she liked me.
Oh, how Janet had lived for those brief, sweet moments when Blair’s cruel-cat persona would drop away, and she’d smile and put a beautiful perfumed arm around her chunky shoulders and laugh, “Oh Janet, my little pudge-bunny. I do love you so. You just crack me up.”
Then she’d kiss Janet on the cheek and giggle, “Incense and peppermints.”
And Janet’s heart would almost break with love as she whispered back, “Incense and peppermints, Blair.”

Janet stopped and leaned her forehead against the fog-slimy bricks of the alley wall that separated the boatyard parking lot from the street.
“Oh, Blair,” she murmured, the name catching in her throat, “I’m so sorry. I should have warned you. I could see it coming. I thought you knew. You always seemed to know everything and how to handle everyone. I should have said something. Oh, please believe me Blair. I never wanted… I, I just loved you.”
Almost blinded by hot, bitter tears, she stumbled down the alley toward the street. She moaned softly, “Blair, I’m sorry, so sorry. I just loved you. I’ll always love you.”
She looked up at the dim, crescent moon that poked in and out from behind wisps of fog.
“Can you hear me, Blair? Oh, Blair,” she moaned to the dank, sea-bottom wind that followed her down the alleyway. “I wish I could be with you!”
The half-prayer, half-curse froze on her lips as a hollow sounding voice answered out of the fog.

“I think that can be arranged.”



Ric

Ric Wasley - Author

· Shadow of Innocence - Kunati - April 2007
· Acid Test - 2004

And please check out my McCarthy Family Mysteries free sample chapters on Amazon and Google!
Boomer article series:

Ric Wasley has spent almost forty years wandering through corporate board rooms and honky-tonk bars. He now divides his time between writing mystery novels and observing the really ‘juicy parts’ of the human condition.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Win Whale Song, The River and Divine Intervention - TODAY ONLY!

November 15th only, enter to win a Cheryl Kaye Tardif triple pack, with copies of Whale Song, The River and Divine Intervention, plus signed bookplates and bookmarks.

Prize package valued at approx. $70.00 CDN.

For contest rules, go to the Love of Reading.com Online Book Fair.

Friday, November 09, 2007

Suspense author Cheryl Kaye Tardif proudly sponsors the Love of Reading.com Book Fair

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The second annual fair celebrates and connects online book community with three days of non-stop events.

The second annual Love of Reading Online Book Fair will be held November 14-16 at:

http://www.loveofreading.com/ from the hours of 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST.

Drop by and check it out!

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif is the bestselling author of Whale Song, The River and Divine Intervention

http://www.cherylktardif.com

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Mystery Inspiration


When I see headlines like this I start to wonder....

“Cow falls off cliff and crashes onto van on highway; motorists unhurt”

Lucky motorists. The article goes on to say that the happy couple in the minivan, were on a trip, celebrating their first wedding anniversary when a six hundred pound cow fell from the sky onto their vehicle. They were inches from death as the bovine fell from an overhead cliff two hundred feet above.

Now when I read something like that, I have to wonder … did the cow fall … or was he pushed? Is a cow viable as a murder weapon? The ‘old school’ of mystery writing praises ingenuity in the method of death. Definitely all trace of fingerprints would be wiped out and well as all the other evidence probably.

How strong would you have to be to push a cow over a cliff? It would be doable other wise there would never have evolved the questionable entertainment of cow tipping. Is that what happened? Two teenagers were too close to the edge and old Bessie dropped off? Was there a lookout with a cellphone watching for the van, rate of travel and cow trajectory carefully calculated on a Blackberry? Do Blackberries calculate? So much research to do… Was it a milk cow?

Oh yes … inspiration for writing whodunits are everywhere and this one seems pretty promising. The only thing is, after it’s all over, would the reader be echoing the words of the mini driver, shaking their collective heads: "I don't believe this. I don't believe this."


Thursday, November 01, 2007

Movie Review: Partition - some criminal acts arise from racism and lead to tragedy

1057partition---thumb.jpg 5/5 stars – MUST SEE

Release date: February 2007

A Romeo and Juliet plot set in India and Pakistan, with incredible visual effects and a love story that will move you to tears, Partition is a tapestry of music, imagery, emotion and conflict. In the 1940’s, the partition of India and Pakistan (pitting Muslims against Sikhs) cause a rift that leads to war and brutal massacres. Both sides are fueled by rage and hatred, yet amidst them, an innocent and sweet love blossoms, as do the nearby mustard fields. Director Vic Sarin has a flawless eye for detail and realism.

Partition is made even that much more spectacular by the stunning portrayal of Naseem, a young Muslim girl played by Canadian actress Kristin Kreuk (Smallville). Naseem is separated from her family during one of the massacres and is discovered in the woods by an older Sikh man. Terrified and fearing for her life, she must trust an enemy of her people.

Gian, the disillusioned Sikh who wants nothing more than to forget the war and its atrocities and live a simple life of peace, is played by Jimi Mistry (East is East). When he finds Naseem, his whole life changes. Torn by nightmares and the death of an army friend, he brings Naseem home and hides her. When she is discovered, Gian fights for her, pitting him against his family and friends. Gian and Naseem sacrifice everything for a forbidden love that slowly blooms, healing their pasts and their losses.

Their life together is perfect, yet Naseem still yearns to find her family. However, when she does, it brings the story together in a tragic conflict that leaves the viewer praying that good will conquer all, that love will prevail. Together, Kreuk and Mistry’s performances are amazing, their chemistry mesmerizing. They have truly become their characters, immersed themselves in their lives.

The addition of another Canadian actress, Neve Campbell in the role of Margaret, a British “Memsahib”, adds an element of sophistication to the film. Campbell is enchanting in her role as crusader and friend, her emotions tamped down one moment, then brimming to the surface in another.

Partition is a Leo award-winning movie of racial tension, tragedy and survival. It is also a beautifully rendered story that crosses boundaries and brings together two unlikely characters, proving that love knows no bounds, no race, no religion. This is a fascinating movie, a definite must-see! And it will stay with you long after the credits have rolled.

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Note from Cheryl:

The inspiring film Partition is a movie that will wrench at your emotions from beginning to end, and leave you thinking about it for days later. Here is another example of how racism causes huge rifts and tragedy, yet can be overcome by love. Love knows no boundaries. CKT

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Cheryl Kaye Tardif is an Amazon bestselling author. Her recent release, Whale Song, has received rave reviews from Booklist, Midwest Book Reviews, Fresh Fiction and more, along with reviews from authors like New York Times bestselling author Luanne Rice. All of Cheryl’s novels have captured the interest of major film companies, and Whale Song is now in the hands of Hollywood producers and directors, as well as some highly acclaimed actors and singer-songwriters, including Kristin Kreuk.

http://www.cherylktardif.com/