Meet Our Authors
Lauren Carr
Author/Publisher
Lauren Carr fell in love with mysteries when her mother read Perry Mason to her at bedtime. The first installment in the Joshua Thornton mysteries, A Small Case of Murder was a finalist for the Independent Publisher Book Award.
Lauren is also the author of the Mac Faraday Mysteries, which takes place in Deep Creek Lake, Maryland. It’s Murder, My Son, Old Loves Die Hard, and Shades of Murder, have all been getting rave reviews from readers and reviewers. Blast from the Past is the fourth installment in the Mac Faraday Mystery series and has been receiving rave reviews since its release January 10. For the first two weeks of its release, Blast from the Past was listed in the top-100 on Amazon among mystery/thrillers/police procedurals
The next installment in the Mac Faraday series will be released in October of this year.
Released September 2012, Dead on Ice introduces a new series entitled Lovers in Crime, which features prosecutor Joshua Thornton with homicide detective Cameron Gates. The second installment in the Lovers in Crime series will be out in 2013.
The owner of Acorn Book Services, Lauren is also a publishing manager, consultant, editor, cover and layout designer, and marketing agent for independent authors. This year, several books, over a variety of genre, written by independent authors will be released through the management of Acorn Book Services, which is currently accepting submissions. Visit Acorn Book Services website for more information.
Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She also passes on what she has learned in her years of writing and publishing by conducting workshops and teaching in community education classes.
She lives with her husband, son, and three dogs on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.
Visit Lauren’s websites and blog at:
E-Mail: writerlaurencarr@comcast.net
Website: http://acornbookservices.com/
Blog: Literary Wealth: http://literarywealth.wordpress.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lauren.carr.984991
Gnarly’s Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/GnarlyofMacFaradayMysteries
Lovers in Crime Facebook Page:
http://www.facebook.com/LoversInCrimeMysteries?ref=ts&fref=ts
Acorn Book Services Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/AcornBookServices?ref=hl
Twitter: @TheMysteryLadie
"Inheritance always comes at a price. It's Murder, My Son tells the story of Mac Faraday is faced with a major inheritance he never knew about. A retired cop, he takes his inheritance as a cue to look for the truth and finds more than enough suspicious events to put the retired cop on edge. An exciting mystery with plenty of intriguing and enigmatic characters, It's Murder, My Son is not a read that should be missed for mystery fans." Reviewer: Margaret Lane
Midwest Book Reviews
Lauren's books are available everywhere. Visit her website, mysterylady.net, for more information about her mysteries.
Time to Go Home
A Non-War Novel about Vietnam
Release Date: November 1
My name is Peter Dewey. John Rowe and I met at the Viet Nam Memorial late one night in November 1982. John came to visit The Memorial before it was dedicated, before the politicians showed up, while it was still clean. We seemed to hit off, both of us Viet Nam vets and both of us natural-born story-tellers.
That’s how Time to Go Home, a fictionalize memoir by Thomas L. Trumble,. begins. At first glance, Time to Go Home is a collection of war stories, one after the other, many told by ghosts who had served and died, but whose souls have yet to return home.
But then Trumble takes the reader deeper into an exploration of its narrator, John Rowe. Amid the story telling, John begins to ask where God was in all of this. Why did the politicians let it happen? Why is death so haphazard; a mortar round out of the sunrise and the soldier on the motor bike becomes a hole in the ground?
Since the opening of Speak the Word Only, a play based on his book, Trumble has observed that many who have seen the play, and now read the book, have commented on how his story has prompted war veterans to talk more about their experiences. “I’ve have people who have seen the play come to me and tell me that their fathers or brothers have served in World War II, or Korea, or Vietnam, or even as recent as Iraq, but they have never talked about it.”
A story of duty, honor, and being comrades, Time to Go Home tells not only war stories. It is also a collection of going-to-war and coming-home-from-war stories, as well. “Because war is not an event,” author Thomas L. Trumble explains. “It is a continuum that begins at home and then ends at home. The soldier does return to join either the quick or the dead. But John never did come home, not really. He just sort of settled in. That’s the hardest story to tell, when you’re an old man standing in a graveyard far from home, just talking with ghosts.
Are you a book reviewer? If you would like a review copy of Time to Go Home to write a book review, click on the book cover to visit NetGalley to place a request.
Cindy McDonald
Author of the Unbridled Series
Dangerous Deception: Release Date: November 1
Vic Deveaux’s glory days as a winning jockey have ended, but he refuses to accept that pile of horse hockey!
When the West family asks Vic to take an easier position at their horse farm Westwood, he becomes enraged and teams up with two greedy stable hands in a scheme to kidnap the West’s younger son Shane.
When Vic discovers that his new-found friends have murder on their minds, things turn ugly.
Suddenly, Vic finds himself between the rock and the hard place. He has betrayed his good friend, Eric West, but will he participate in his son’s murder as well?
Dangerous Deception is the third and latest installment in author Cindy McDonald’s Unbridled Series, which chronicles the lives and turmoils of the West family, who successfully run Thoroughbred horse training business.
For twenty-six years, Cindy McDonald’s life whirled around a song and a dance. She was a professional dancer/choreographer for most of her adult life and never gave much thought to a writing career until 2005. Inexplicitly, she felt drawn to my computer to write about things she had experienced (greatly exaggerated upon of course) with my husband’s Thoroughbreds and the happenings at the racetrack.
One may ask why she didn’t choose to write about her experiences with dance. When asked, cindy offers a sly smile and explains that life at the racetrack was more…racy. “The drama is outrageous—not that dancers don’t know how to create drama,” Cindy says, “believe me, they do but race trackers just seem to get more down and dirty with it which makes great story telling—great fiction.”
Vic Deveaux’s glory days as a winning jockey have ended, but he refuses to accept that pile of horse hockey!
In May of 2011, Cindy took the big leap and exchanged her dancin’ shoes for a lap top. She retired from dance. “It was a scary proposition,” she confesses. “I was terrified, but I had the full support of my husband, Saint Bill. It has been a huge change for me. I went from dancing hard five hours a night to sitting in front of a computer.” Does she miss her dance? “Sometimes I do,” Cindy admits, “I miss my students. I miss choreographing musicals, but I love my books and I love sharing them with my readers.”
To read excerpts from future books, view book trailers, and keep up with everything that is Unbridled, please visit Cindy’s website at: www.cindymcwriter.com
Are you a book reviewer? If you would like a copy of Dangerous Deception for a book review, click on the book cover to visit NetGalley to request a review copy.
This December, Cindy is going on a month long virtual book tour. There will be giveaways and prizes. So be sure to visit Cindy's website for her schedule and learn more about her and her books.
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Is Here to Heat Up Your Summer Nights!
Cindy McDonald’s first book in the Unbridled Series, Deadly.com, has been receiving favorable reviews. Midwest Book Reviews called the narrative “gripping”. Other reviewers have called the first installment of the Unbridled series fast-paced and thrilling.
Now, things are really burning up! Cindy McDonald is back with the second installment in the Unbridled Series, Hot Coco and it has been receiving rave reviews:
I must say that "Hot Coco" was a very entertaining read. As stated in the interview, these books were originally designed to be a television series and that's just how I envisioned everything when I read it. I loved the setting of the horse farms and dipping into the life of Thoroughbred racing. The characters were very likable (although some of them I absolutely hated at first but then they grew on me). Coco seriously is the most klutzy person I have ever read about, lol. How that girl managed to walk sometimes without falling over amazed me:) Mike's interactions with his family (especially the constant jabs from his younger brother, Shane, and vice versa) were very entertaining. The one character that just completely broke my heart was Margie. She is a 33 year old woman who still lives at home with her controlling father and is unfortunately lacking in the looks department. And there is a secret about her that I won't disclose but when I realized what it was I just felt so bad for her. It was wonderful to see her blossom throughout the story and I was a little scared when I saw her turning in a not so nice direction -- but everything turns out for the good:) All in all I enjoyed this novel very much. It is an easy read and keeps you interested throughout the duration of the story.
Reviewer: Kimberly Lewis
What’s more are her Thoroughbreds: one flips while being saddled, one sits down like a dog in the starting gate, and then there’s the one that’s an escape artist. It’s enough to drive a normally calm and collected Mike West to the very edge.
Mike’s not the only one having problems with women. His father Eric has taken on more than he can chew, and he’s about to get spit out by two women: One that he’s in love with and one that thinks he’s in love with her.
Set amidst the rolling green hills of the beautiful Pennsylvania landscape, author Cindy McDonald’s book series, entitled The UnBridled Series, which is centered on the lives and loves of the West family. Thoroughbred racing, the background in which Cindy has set her book series, is something with which she is intimately acquainted. For the past twenty years, Cindy has helped her husband, raise, train, and race thoroughbreds at their forty-five acre farm known as Fly-By-Night Stables. During those years, Cindy has paid close attention to the characters that hang-out at the back-side of the track. She found the situations and life style intriguing.
If you are a reviewer and would like a galley of Hot Coco to review for your site, click on the book cover above.
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Solving the Mystery of Love and Murder
Release Date: September 1
If you are a book reviewer and would like a review copy of Dead on Ice, click on the book cover to visit NetGalley to post your request.
Dead on Ice is the first installment of Lauren Carr’s new series (Lovers in Crime). It features Hancock County Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Thornton and his new love, Pennsylvania State Police homicide detective Cameron Gates.
In this Lovers in Crime Mystery, spunky Pennsylvania State Homicide Detective Cameron Gates is tasked with solving the murder of Cherry Pickens, a legendary star of pornographic films, when her body turns up in an abandoned freezer. The case has a personal connection to Cameron’s lover, Joshua Thornton, because the freezer was found in his cousin’s basement. It doesn’t take long for their investigation to reveal that the risqué star’s roots were buried in their rural Ohio Valley community, something that Cherry had kept off her show business bio. She should have kept her hometown off her road map, too—because when this starlet came running home from the mob, it proved to be a fatal homecoming.
In her new series, Lauren Car teams up her first literary detective with a new and exciting partner. Homicide Detective Cameron Gates has a spunky personality that’s a perfect complement to Joshua Thornton’s logical and responsible nature.
“Readers of my first series kept asking when I would bring back Joshua Thornton,” Carr explained. “However, they are going to find that single father Joshua Thornton is not in the same place since we left him in A Reunion to Die For. His children are grown. He’s more independent, and he’s ready for some romance and adventure. That’s where Cameron Gates comes in.”
With that, Joshua Thornton and Cameron Gates strike out to explore the mysteries of both murder and love!
Reviewers Love the Lovers in Crime:
I love reading mystery, suspenseful books! When I read the synopsis for Dead on Ice, I knew immediately that I wanted to read this book! Dead on Ice includes romance, mystery, suspense, and murder! Dead on Ice kept me guessing until the very end. Dead on Ice is certainly a page turner. I read this book in less than two days!
Reviewer: Stephanie Fratta, Beauty Brite
This novel has more twists and turns than I've seen in a while, but it all adds up to an interesting and unexpected reveal. Many more people are involved in the original disappearance than first expected, and it seems everyone has their own secrets. Trying to unravel the truth from the twisted lies that have remained hidden for so long leads the investigators on quite an interesting chase.
Review: Edie Dykeman, Mystery Editor, Belleonline Reviews
This is the first in the Lovers in Crime series and the first book by Carr that I've read. I wish I would have read the first two Joshua Thornton books and will go back and do so. I enjoyed the book and the characters were likeable. I am familiar with the setting where PA, WV & OH meet and thought it was realistically portrayed. I'd best describe this as a light mystery--not cozy, but definitely hard-boiled. Maybe a future book could have some Fiesta or Hall China in it!
Five Star Review on Amazon
Lauren Carr could give Agatha Christie a run for her money! This hypnotic page-turner is a whirlwind of romance, murder, and espionage. Lots of creativity went into the unforeseen twists, and culminated in a climactic ending that tied the multi-faceted story into a nice little package. I also appreciated the special attention paid to the animal characters, which were every bit as developed as their human counterparts. This was an absolutely delightful read that is sure to be a hit with mystery readers. I look forward to reading her other books, as I am now a fan!
Reviewer: Charlene Mabie-Gamble, Literary R&R
The author writes in a comfortable conversational manner which puts readers at ease and drawing them into the story. To say it is difficult to put one of these mysteries aside is an understatement. It is far easier to keep turning the pages to find out what happens next.
And, there is always something. The twists, turns, and surprises are all part of the fun in this present book and in the rest of the series.
Here’s hoping we get to occasionally see Mac and Joshua together again, although their separate mysteries are also well worth the read.
Reviewer: Edie Dykeman, BelleOnline Book Reviews
Shades of Murder is a fascinating, intricately woven mystery that has a number of engaging characters looking into two cases that would seem to have nothing in common. But of course they do, and the link is cleverly revealed as the Pittsburgh and Maryland investigations come together. This is a most entertaining entry in this series, made all the more so by the wonderful inclusion of Gnarly and Irving, Mac's dog and Gates's black and white cat, who meet during the course of the story.
Reviewer: The Betz Review
In Shades of Murder, Mac Faraday is once again the heir to an unbelievable fortune. This time the benefactor is a stolen art collector. But this isn’t just any stolen work-of-art—it’s a masterpiece with a murder attached to it.
Ilysa Ramsay was in the midst of taking the art world by storm with her artistic genius. Hours after unveiling her latest canvas, which she has declared to be her masterpiece—she is found dead in her studio on the shores of Deep Creek Lake in Maryland; and her painting is nowhere to be found.
A decade later, the long lost Ilysa Ramsay masterpiece has found its way into Mac Faraday’s hands and he can’t resist the urge to delve into the case.
A world away, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; former JAG lawyer Joshua Thornton is tasked with granting a condemned serial killer’s last wish—solve a murder wrongly attributed to him. He finds an unexpected ally in Cameron Gates, a spunky detective who has reason to believe the young woman known to the media only as Jane Doe, Victim Number Four, was the victim of a copycat. Together, Joshua and Cameron set out to light a flame under the cold case only to find that someone behind the scenes wants the case to remain cold, and is willing to kill to keep it that way.
Little do these detectives know that the paths of their respective cases are on a collision course as they follow the clues to bring them together in a showdown with killer who’s got a talent for murder!
Learn more about Lauren Carr, Acorn Book Service's founder and owner below!
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Jelly Bean Soup and Grilled Candy Sandwiches is Acorn Book Services first children's book."Michael T" Myers is a graduate of Hagerstown Community College and Shepherd University. He is a Magician, Minister, Motivational Speaker, Emcee, Hypnotherapist, Teacher, Poet, WV Auctioneer #1704 and now a Children's Author. Michael T. lives in Falling Waters, WV with his beautiful wife, J.J. who is a Nutritionist that always encourages him to eat each meal smarter. With childhood obesity in the news, Michael T. thought this would be a fun project to help children learn a better way to eat and live healthier. Enjoy!
Click on Book Cover to Purchase on Amazon.com.You can contact Michael T. at www.michaelts.com, P.O. Box 2955 Martinsburg, WV 25402 or 304-279-2858. SMILE BIG; It's Free and worth the results!
Illustrator Joe Santora:
Joe Santoro is a graduate of State University of NY at Genesco. He is an enthusiastic Elementary School Art Teacher where his students get excited about learning new creative skills. On the weekends Joe and his hard-working wife, Jane own and operate the "Wonderment Puppet Theater" on 412 W. King Street in Martinsburg, WV. Puppet Shows and Birthday Parties are their specialties. Joe and Jane live in Berkeley Springs, WV.
You can contact Joe at www.wondermentpuppets.com or 304-260-9382. Be CREATIVE; Draw what you like and Color. It's Fun!
Every now and then a manuscript comes across an editor’s desk that makes one sit up and take notice. It is a rare privilege to be pulled into a story by the sheer power of its narrative. A gift even more exceptional is when the reader feels the earth beneath their feet and smells the wind through the pines. Such is the case when reading The Legend of Tyoga Weathersby.
Peppered with historical facts from the founding of Jamestown to the massacre at Wolstenholmstown in 1622, this fast-paced read takes the time to bring the Appalachian Mountains of the late 1600’s alive in exquisite detail. From the description of the Weathersby’s rescue of the powerful Powhatan chief, Opencanecanough, to the ferocious battle on the escarpment between Tyoga and the commander of the wolves, this captivating tale keeps the adventure reader turning the page, and the lovers of romance wanting more.
Set at the turn of the 17th Century in the frontier of Appalachia, The Legend of Tyoga Weathersby follows the adventures of a young settler and the Native American tribe that has adopted him as their own, as he is transformed by deed and circumstance to legendary stature. Mystically awakened to the promise of “knowing” as generations of Weathersbys before, the rhythms of the natural world unfold in mysterious ways as he is embraced by primal forces that seem beyond his control. Tyoga is tested by the might and savage fury of the leader of a marauding pack of wolves, and in saving the life of his companion Tes Qua Ta Wa (the One Who Opens the Door) his life is transformed and the legend is born.
As the lines between man and myth, spirit dog and mortal soul begin to blur, Tyoga Weathersby is embroiled in the intrigue of intertribal politics, captured by the cry of the wild to fulfill destiny’s call, and ripped apart by his love for the beautiful Cherokee maiden, Sunlei, whom he must set free to keep alive.
“But beyond the obvious allure of an engaging story, The Legend of Tyoga Weathersby challenges the reader to explore those aspects of their own lives that define who, and what, they are,” said Lauren Carr, author and CEO of Acorn Book Services. Author H. L. Grandin adds, “I have always been intrigued by one’s perception of self. To what degree do we allow others to define our own personhood? How much of who we are is an acceptance of the views of others? At what point do we reject the opinions of others and embrace self determination?”
The Legend of Tyoga Weathersby is so much more than a captivating story. It is a “must read” for everyone who has ever questioned the whim of fate, and the power of destiny.
About the Author
H.L. Grandin grew up in the 
shadow of history near Mt Vernon, Virginia. As a boy he spent many hours exploring the hills, valleys and waterways throughout Virginia, which nurtured a deep appreciation for nature and its forces. Those adventures became the inspiration for The Legend of Tyoga Weathersby. For the last 25 years, H.L. has lived on a small farm in western Maryland where he and his wife raised three daughters and a passel of animals.
Visit tyogaweathersby.com to learn more about H.L. Grandin and his books.
Review copies of The Legend of Tyoga Weathersby are available for reviewers. If you are a book reviewer and you would like a review galley of The Legend of Tyoga Weathersby, click on the book cover to visit NetGalley to post a request.
Malcolm Ater
Award Winning Author
Tyler's Mountain Magic was named by the West Virginia Writers, Inc. as the best book length story for 2011! it was also selected the winner of the 2012 Pinnacle Book Achievement Award in Sports.
Malcolm Ater has been the special education reading teacher at Harpers Ferry Junior High and Harpers Ferry Middle School for twenty-three years. He is most proud of the fact that between 2005 and 2009, his students had the highest combined special education reading achievement test scores of any middle school in West Virginia during that four-year period.
He was also the assistant wrestling coach under the guidance of head coach Jimmie Ray Lawson for five years at Harpers Ferry Junior High and the head coach from 1997 to 2001. He was the fastest coach in West Virginia secondary school history to win 100 career games or matches. His four-year record as a head coach was 110 wins and 14 losses.
Over the years, he has frequently contributed human interest stories to Goldenseal, the official state magazine of West Virginia. Malcolm has also written three educational sixteen-page comic books, two for The American Cancer Society, Taking a Chance…With No Chance to Win, and So You Want to Stop? You Can! His other educational comic was for the Centers for Disease Control and endorsed by the U.S. Surgeon General, What You Know About AIDS Can Save Your Life. All three comics reached distribution levels of well over a million copies each.
Malcolm earned his B.S. in Education from Old Dominion University where he was a varsity baseball pitcher. He earned his master’s degree in Special Education from West Virginia University.
Tyler's Mountain Magic is based on the true story about a boy from Harpers Ferry with cystic fibrosis and the most magical sports ride in West Virginia public school history.
When Tyler Moore, a teenage boy with cystic fibrosis, goes out for the Harpers Ferry Junior High wrestling team in 1997, it makes everyone wonder why. Not only is it a demanding sport, the little school has never had a winning season in anything. But Tyler knows that time is not on his side and dreams of achieving something that has never been done before, to be remembered.
For three years he convinces his teammates who live on Blue Ridge Mountain that if they all stick together, they can have their lives marked forever by what they do. What happens during their last year is still talked about today, both the good and the bad. As Tyler strives to fulfill what everyone says is an impossible dream, the boys learn about friendship and courage and hanging on to what is truly important.
Today there are no signs in Harpers Ferry honoring John Brown and his infamous raid that ignited the Civil War. But there is a single sign honoring a teenage boy who not only gave his small town a dream, he also ended a war in the county that had been going on forever. Unfortunately, everything comes with a price.
What other writers have to say about Tyler's Mountain Magic:
"Malcolm Ater has written a lovely story about a young boy with cystic fibrosis, whose courage and inspiration make everyone around him--and everyone who reads Tyler's Mountain Magic--appreciate the gift of life more. Tyler is brave as he learns to wrestle and noble as he deals with his disease."
--Frank Deford, author of Alex: The Life Of A Child, and 15 other books. He has been selected six times as the U.S. National Sportswriter of the Year and is a member of the National Sportswriters Hall of Fame. He is also President Emeritus of the National Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Also Available from this award winning author
Malcolm Ater--
His newest release!
Available Now!
Click on book cover to view on Amazon!
The Hermitage House Miracle starts with a deep hook. “I’ve given you the last six years of my life, and for what? To always be running from one town to another? Never having a life of my own just so you could live?”
As Jamie lay alone in bed, not knowing his mother had just been killed while driving drunk, he was filled with disturbing thoughts. His mother’s last words to him before going out did not make sense. He was even more confused when she had added, in a drunken slur, “If I had a lick of sense I’d have let old Ernie do what he wanted!”
Why had his mother said she had given him the last six years of her life when he was twelve years old? Why did she always seem to resent him? Who was Ernie? And why couldn’t he remember anything about his life before his first day of school in the first grade?
The only thought that comforted him was the newspaper story dated only a few days earlier on May 24, 1992. The article reported that a new wave of computer games would soon replace the old pinball machines and “boggle the mind” with realistic video techniques that could only be dreamed about a few years earlier. The article had aroused a curious excitement in him, and he didn’t know why.
After being sent to live at the Hermitage House for Children, Jamie begins to have a series of strange and troubling dreams. Each dream is about a little blond-haired boy who has a little sister and a mother and a father. But the mother is not his mother who was killed in the car accident and he had never known his father. Yet his dreams are always about the same family, especially the little boy and his dog. And the father programs computers and makes games, even promising to build the boy a video game so lifelike the boy will think he’s actually inside it…
Visit Malcolm Ater's website to learn more about him and his books.
Are you a book reviewer and would like a review copy of either Tyler's Mountain Magic or The Miracle of Hermitage House to review for your site. Review copies are available. For a print copy of either book, contact Acorn Book Services.
Click on the widget below to request a review copy of The Hermitage House Miracle from NetGalley;
Want to Meet Other Great Authors?
Visit Lauren Carr's Blogsite: Literary Wealth, where you can find a wealth of great new authors.
