I have two… yes, two… big things going on right now. You can pick one, or both!

Lies and Omissions is only 99 cents right now. That’s 67% off the regular price of $2.99. It is a domestic suspense with a side of romance. It is a fun story set in the 1980s. Linda Keller thought that she had outrun her old life and built a better one. But life had other plans for her. You can check out the excerpt on here from Wednesday.

Unknown Caller released TODAY. It is the 6th book in the Dixon-Prince series and starts with Jack Dixon, but then we are introduced to Jack and Amy’s son, Colt Dixon, as well as Caroline Green, the daughter of Nancy Green. Nancy and her two daughters are in trouble and she gets ahold of the one person that can help her. Her high school boyfriend, Jack Dixon.

Both are also available on Kindle Unlimited to read for FREE if you are a KU subscriber.

I could really use the reviews for both books, either on Amazon or Goodreads. Reviews really help drive sales, especially for independent authors. Only a small percentage of readers leave reviews, but they are instrumental in helping to sell books. It would mean a lot to me if you could give one or both books a read, and then leave a review.

Lies and Omissions was my 6th book, released April 10th of 2021. I will be running it’s FIRST promotion… just 99 cents, from 6/23/21 until 6/29/21. That’s 67% off the regular price for the Kindle book! And of course, it’s still FREE to read on Kindle Unlimited. Here is a link.

Gina told Cassandra she needed to run to the grocer.  The girls were napping upstairs, so Cassie decided to help out by doing some cleaning in the living room.  Fifteen or twenty minutes after Gina left, Cassie heard the back door open. She didn’t think anything of it.  It was probably just Gina coming back for something she forgot. Read More

As always, comments, reviews, shares and likes are incredibly helpful. If you like this excerpt, or the book, tell your friends. If you don’t, I’d love to hear why. Thank you for reading. And don’t forget, if you subscribe to my blog, you get a FREE ebook, Escape.

Unknown Caller, the 6th book in the Dixon-Prince series will release on Friday, 25 June 2021. You can pre-order it now on Amazon for only $2.99. It will load to your Kindle app or device early Friday morning… you can read it over the weekend and drop a review on it before the Independence Day. Both the pre-order and review would help me immensely. Thank you.

Greg wrapped everything up for his next assignment.  He was heading back to Afghanistan for six months.  He sat down to write his letter… just as he’d done every time he went into a theater of operations.  As always, he took his time.  He fully expected that in a few months, his friend would hand the letter back to him, and he’d do what he always did and toss it in the fireplace, but if it was to be his last impression, he wanted it to be a good one. Read More

If you like this sample, check out the full book. There is another excerpt available through Amazon. Pre-order you copy today… be the first on your block! Only $2.99. Unknown Caller on Amazon.

If you have a document that you want to read on your Kindle device or Kindle app, there is a way to get it there. Depending on how you do it, you might still even have access to cool extras like being able to make notes. If only takes a few minutes, and isn’t difficult, but there are a few steps.

Format types for your Kindle device or app

You have a few choices here. Kindles can read a wide variety of file types, including azw, pdf and mobi extensions.

I have had mixed results with azw files. There are a number of them, and apparently a particular device might not like something too far out of range. However, this is the native file type for Kindle, and what Amazon uses for ebooks you download from the Kindle store.

Perhaps the most common file type people side-load onto their Kindle is the ubiquitous pdf, or portable data format file. These work fine, but I have found that I don’t have access to one of my favorite features, making notes. It also isn’t possible to rotate the screen and have everything work as it does with a Kindle book.

For those that venture into the wilds of ebooks, wandering away from the Kindle environment, mobifiles are well known. Many e-reader devices aside from Kindle read mobi files natively. This file type lets the user take advantage of note-taking capabilities, as well as screen rotation and varying the type size.

That makes the mobi file extension both flexible and easy to deploy.

Convert it

Luckily, there are converters available to convert just about any file type to a mobi (or any of the other popular file types). They are also free to use. I don’t have a dog in the fight, I used a search engine to come up with this one…

Ebook Converter

Select the type of file to convert from and to, then select your file. After that, convert it. When the conversion is done… it should be quick… then download it back to your computer.

Send it to your device

This is the hardest part… You need to know where to send your file to get it on your Kindle device or app. It isn’t hard, but you need to follow a few steps.

First, jump into your Amazon account, then account > content and devices > Preferences.

Look for your “Send to Device” settings. There should be an email address that ends in “@kindle.com”. From here it is as easy as emailing your file to that address.

If you are doing it a lot, you can get an extension or other tool from Amazon to make it a little quicker… Check here.

Check your device

It should be hanging out inn your library. And, if you have the settings in your account set to archive, it will be available on all of the devices you use to access your Kindle books.

If you have a graphic file in the front of your document, it will show up as the cover image for it on your Kindle.

Why should I do this?

Reasons are quite varied. I utilize my Kindle to proof my books… usually a couple of times. Before sending them to my beta readers, I will do a read through on Kindle, since I find I catch a few typos that I skip over reading on the computer screen. I also find that some beta readers prefer to read on their devices as well.

One of the things I do as I read is make notes on the Kindle. They are easy to access, and allow me to make notes on the fly. Specific passages that might have a mistake or may need modification are easy to find. Between the Kindle notes and the search function in Word, I can find anything I need to adjust quickly and easily.

This also makes my reading materials more portable between laptop, tablet and phone. I review a lot of documents, either research, work or learning how to more effectively write and market my books. Reading them within my Kindle app is more efficient for me.

If you like this…

Then there are several more places you can check me out… Here on Vocal I have a collection of fiction short stories and essays. Among my favorite fiction short stories are First Date-Again, Widow’s Walk and Lucinda’s Choice.

You can grab a FREE ebook (in mobi format, too) for subscribing to my blog. And if you like reading my excerpts here, let me know… I might be able to use you as a beta reader.

Finally, my published novels are available on Amazon. Here is my Amazon Author page. I’d love for you to check it out.

Eric Paulson was sitting behind Mali as the history teacher droned on about imperialism.  He was talking about the European powers trying to colonize as much of the world as they could during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.  She was following along in her history book, but Eric kept kicking her chair.  A couple of times she had turned and asked him to stop, but he kept at it for the entire class. Read More

If you enjoyed this, check out the book, Grafton, now available on Amazon. You can also check out my Amazon Author page for more of my novels. If you like my shorter works, subscribe here, and you’ll get a FREE ebook novel, Escape. You can also read some of my short pieces on Vocal.media.

My latest book has just dropped. It is called Grafton, and is a series of novellas revolving around the Grafton family from the Dixon-Prince series. This is part of Melody’s backstory, how she came to be an FBI agent.

She wasn’t normally a big consumer of newspapers, but as she made her way through the market, she dropped a fresh copy of the afternoon paper into her basket.  She made her way to the front of the store with the few items she needed, and quickly paid the cashier.  Luckily, the rain had stopped, and it was a short walk home. 

After unloading the small supply of groceries, she flopped onto the couch to rest and then start studying.  She hated biology with a passion… but it was a core class she had to get through. 

But before that, she picked up the newspaper. 

Crescent City Killer Strikes Again

[red more]That was a headline that grabbed her attention.  She hadn’t even noticed it just below the fold when she had picked the paper up.  Above the fold was a story about the problems at the Franklin National Bank, and how if it failed it would ripple across the economy. 

As she looked through the story that had caught her attention, she noted that a young woman, blonde, early to mid-twenties, had been murdered near Lee Circle.  She had been wearing a rose-colored skirt and ivory blouse and a jacket matching the skirt had been found nearby, but police were searching for a clue as to the woman’s identity.  The murder shared similarities to three other murders that had happened a couple of years prior. 

Melody leapt off the couch and ran into Karie’s room.  She flung open her closet and started digging through her outfits.  Karie had an outfit just like what had been described… and it was eight o’clock and there still hadn’t been word from her.  The skirt and jacket were nowhere to be found.

She ran back to the living room and looked for the article again.  They had a tip line, which she quickly dialed.

“My roommate hasn’t been here since yesterday, and she matches the description of the victim I saw in the paper,” she said to the person manning the phone bank. 

…

“Blonde, twenty-one, blue eyes.  Medium weight, tall… probably five-nine.  The jacket has brass buttons.”

…

“No, sometimes she isn’t at home overnight, but she didn’t take her notebook and she had a class today.”

…

“A little over twenty-four hours…  Yesterday about six.  She left with her boyfriend for dinner.”

…

“No… not really.  John something.  They had only gone out a couple of times.”

…

“Sure,” she finished, giving the detective her address. 

She collapsed back on the couch, worry washing over her like a wave.  She picked the paper back up and carefully read the description.  There had been no mention of the buttons in describing the jacket.  She wondered if it had been held back, the detective she had talked with was very interested in that detail. 

Thirty minutes later she tossed the biology notes back on the table as she was startled by a knock at the door. 

“Who is it?” she said through the door.

“Police, ma’am.  Is this Melody Jenkins?”

“Yes, just a moment.”  She unlocked the door, leaving the chain hooked.  When she glanced out, two men in suits were staring back, one holding his badge up.  “Hang on.”  She closed the door and undid the chain.  “Please, come in.”

“Thank you,” the shorter one said.  “I’m Detective Marlow, and this is Detective Phillips.  We wanted to follow up with you on your missing roommate.”

“It’s the buttons, isn’t it?” Melody asked, holding the eyes of Detective Marlow. 

“What makes you say that, Miss Jenkins?”

“Because it wasn’t in the paper.  As soon as I read it, I looked through the closet for that jacket.  It wasn’t there.  I had tried to find one just like it… hers was a little big for me… and I couldn’t.  But the way the shiny brass buttons looked… I remembered them.”

“Do you have any photographs of your roommate… Miss Karen Adams?”

“No, but she might have some pictures in her room.  Give me a moment and I can look.  And she goes by Karie.”  Melody walked out of the living room and walked into Karie’s rooms.  She quickly went through her bedside table and found a picture of her that was a few years old.  It was her with her family on vacation. 

When she came back to the living room, the two detectives were seated on the couch.  She handed Marlow the picture.  “There might be more… I think this one is about three years old.  I’m pretty sure that is her family… they were on vacation.”

“Can we keep this, Miss Jenkins?” Phillips asked. 

“If it were mine, I would gladly let you keep it.  I hope all of this is a big mix-up, and Karie walks through the door and rolls her eyes at me having been worried.”

“We understand… if she wasn’t the victim, she could certainly have the photograph back.  We would have no need of it.”

“Then, please… take it.”

“One other thing, Miss Jenkins, could you come with us to look at the victim to see if it is your friend?” Phillips asked. 

“I guess,” Melody replied, nervously. 

***

She rode with the two detectives to the Coroner’s Office, downtown.  Marlow held the door for her as he let her out of the car, and they led her through the corridors of the basement of the main police station, to the morgue. 

They walked into an antiseptic room, the overhead fluorescent lights buzzing and occasionally flickering.  Melody’s goosebumps weren’t just because the room was chilly.  Facing the wall of doors, knowing that each of them may have a dead body behind it… Melody shivered.  Marlow reached forward, unlatching one of the doors and sliding out the drawer with a body covered in a sheet.  He peeled the sheet back, revealing her face. 

Melody stepped back.  “Yes… I’m fairly certain that is her.”

Marlow started to slide the body back in.

“Wait, may I take a closer look?”

Melody leaned over and looked at Karie’s body.  She looked at her face… her eyelids.  “Can I pull the sheet down further?”

“I suppose,” Marlow said, hesitantly. 

Melody pulled the sheet down to Karie’s chest, then picked up the side and looked at her hand.  She covered her hand again and went to look at her toes.  She rushed back up and pulled the sheet down a little more. 

“Miss Jenkins?” Phillips said.

“I’m sorry… something isn’t right.”  She pulled the sheet back over the young woman’s body.  “It’s her, Karen Adams, but he did something to her, I think.  Can we talk… somewhere else?”

“Certainly,” Marlow said, leading her from the room again.  “How about my office?” 

As they rode the elevator up to the Detective’s Bullpen, Phillips offered her coffee, which she refused.  When they entered Marlow’s office, he held the chair as he beckoned her to sit down. 

“So, what seems to be the issue, Miss Jenkins?  You said something was wrong.” 

“I’m sorry, Detective Marlow.  Karie and I had gotten our nails done last Saturday.  We were doubling with a guy she knew and his friend, and anyway… we got our nails done.”  Melody held out her hand, showing the detectives her fingernails.  “They were the same color… Karie’s and mine.”

The two men looked at her expectantly.  Both leaned in.  “And?” Marlow said. 

“Hers are a different color.  And they are flawless.”  Melody held her hand up again.  “See these little chips?  And the edges are worn.  Hers weren’t like that.  And her toenails were painted to match… which they weren’t when she left yesterday.”

“You think that means something… the color of her toenails?” Phillips said, raising an eyebrow.

“It is something.  Either she went and got a manicure and pedicure after she was picked up for the date and before she was murdered, or someone gave her one after.  And did you see her make-up?  It was flawless.  Like it was fresh.  Her lipstick didn’t even look like it was blotted.”

“You think the killer put on make-up and did her nails after killing her?”  Marlow asked.

“I saw in the paper that there had been other victims a few years ago.  Is there anything in the file about something similar?” Melody asked. 

“We’ll look into it, Miss Jenkins.  Thank you for coming in to identify her.  I’ll have Detective Phillips drive you home.  If you could also give him the next of kin information for Miss Adams, we would appreciate it.”

Marlow and Phillips both rose.  Melody knew the interview was over and rose as well.  She followed Phillips through the labyrinthine corridors and back out to his car so that he could escort her home. [/read]

If you enjoyed this, check out the full story in Grafton. If you enjoy my writing, you can find all of my current novels here on my Amazon Author page, and some of my other works on Vocal.media.