Catharina Shields © 2016
All Rights Reserved
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FINALLY! The second installment to The Girl in the Leather Jacket is almost here.

It will be officially released on MARCH 1, 2016, but you can pre-order it at 50% off for $1.99 at any of the retailers to your left on the sidebar.

Of course, pre-order means that the book won't be available until MARCH 1st, but at least you'll get it for half off if you purchase it now.

So don't delay! Take advantage of the 50%!

Thank you for supporting Indie Authors!

 

Amazon * Smashwords * B&N * Kobo * iBooks

 Synopsis

Lola and her new group head for Bel Air to liberate Andy's mother, but a redheaded Vamp swoops in and snatches him out of her Ghia. A fight ensues and they struggle to free him from the redheaded vamp's talons.

Now she understands that they're far from ready to confront dangers of that scale because if they can't even best a regular vampire, how were they going to face the powerful Ridleys?

Forced to postpone the rescue mission, Lola concentrates on training her rag-tag group of witchy-dudes and to get them to get it together, because she's discovered that the formidable Ridleys aren't the only enemies they have and who want them destroyed.

Watch the official book trailer for ILLUMINATUS 

 

Catharina Shields © 2016
All Rights Reserved
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I'm putting the finishing touches on this second book to The Girl in the Leather Jacket series, and it's going swimmingly. The Girl in the Leather Jacket 2 (TGLJ-2), entitled, Iluminatus, will focus on Lola Fox's new coven and how they gain and use their powers.

The opening scene has the group heading for Bel Air to liberate Andy's mother, but a redheaded Vamp (Lola later refers to her as RedRude) swoops in and snatches Andy out of her Ghia and they struggle to free Andy out of the redheaded vamp's talons.

Lola understands that they're not yet ready to confront dangers of that scale. If they can't even best a regular vampire, how were they going to face the powerful Ridleys? So she postpones the rescue mission in order to help train her rag-tag group of witchy-dudes, initiates Andy into their Coven, and then goes and does a little investigation into who's behind wanting them destroyed.

As I've mentioned above, the story is basically writing itself and it will be ready for preorder in a couple of days! When it is, I'll make a link. Preorders are 50% off of the regular price ($3.99), so be sure to preorder your copy before March 1st! Illuminatus is due out March 1, 2016!

Revised book cover for Illuminatus and its release date

I've revised the book cover for "Illuminatus" as you can see in the banner above. You can have a good look at it by clicking the third dot at the bottom of the banner.

I've also designed the book covers for the last two books to The Girl in the Leather Jacket series. When I was redesigning the book cover for Illuminatus, I felt creative all of a sudden and decided to design the book covers for the last two books, as well. Since I know what the books are going to be about (duh - I'm the author), I was able to visualize how I wanted my book covers to look and - voila!

As you can see on the release dates posted on the book cover images in the banner, I finally decided to announce concrete release dates for each book, too. I figured, you've been patient enough, waiting for the next installment after the first book, so it's the least I can do.

I would like to have the last book published by February July 2015 at the latest. But with holidays and all that, well, I can't give a definitive month when it will be finished. Good thing all books can stand alone even though it is a series. Anyway, I figured it was high time I posted something on this blog so, here it is!

If you haven't already, why not follow me via e-mail? Why, you ask? Well, for one (and it's a biggie) I would deeply appreciate it. Two . . . you'll automatically get updates in your Inbox when I post something new. As you can see, I don't post that much so your Inbox won't overflow with e-mails from me, but you will get a head's up when the upcoming books are about to be released.
Sounds good? Well, sign up!

First Four Chapters to Illuminatus ready for my editors

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I was planning on writing a chapter a day on the second book to The Girl in the Leather Jacket series, but it's been kind of slow going which translates into: that ambitious endeavor is pretty much scrapped. However, I am writing on it, focused on getting it done although life does tend to get in the way.

The good news is, I've finished the first four chapters to Illuminatus and I'll be sending them to my editors today. I don't know how long it will take before I get them back with their suggestions and/or corrections because my editors have lives, too, and they're doing this just to help me out, but I'll hopefully have another four to send to them by that time since the fifth chapter is pretty much done.

As a heads up . . . the story is coming around well. This second book to the four-book series will focus on Lola's newly minted coven, Illuminatus, and of course there'll be some growing pains before it can finally come into its own. Lola is also discovering what it's like to fall in love and discovering that she's developed feelings for not one but two guys who are both vying for her. There's also a traitor in their midst prompting the sudden need to initiate a new member to complete the six members, and Andy is the chosen one. This, of course, isn't going to go over well with the member that's being retired! 

Focused on writing the 2nd Book to The Girl in the Leather Jacket series

Catharina Shields © 2013
All Rights Reserved
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It's been a long time in coming, but I'm finally focused on writing - and finishing - the second book to The Girl in the Leather Jacket young adult series entitled, "Illuminatus".

What I like about writing on this series is the fact that I'm writing it in the first person, from Lola Fox's p.o.v. I usually write from a third-person perspective, so this is refreshing and new to me. I was pleasantly surprised to discover what a joy it is to write a novel from this perspective. I never thought it would be this much fun.

I only decided to write the TGLJ series in the first person perspective since it's about Lola Fox and how she sees and experiences her world. It just seemed to be the smarter thing to do; to write the story from her p.o.v.

It's been doing very well, and I've been asked to please hurry with the second segment. So that's what I'm going to do now that I've finished with my contemporary romance for 18-plussers, "For Elise ~ A Romance About the Deepest and Truest Love".

If you're interested, you can find a description of Illuminatus on my official author's website. It's on the Home page near the bottom. So if you're interested, follow the link and find out what's in store for our courageous vampire/human heroine in the second book of the series.

Writing on TGLJ 2, "Illuminatus"

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I know it's been a long time since I've posted anything on this blog. I've been busy finishing up an older story of mine that's for 18-plussers and I've been posting updates on my Catharina Shields' Romantica Blog.

I've also had to take care of one of my pricey exotic goldfish, Feisty, who was under threat of going belly-up! She is supposed to be able to have protein rich fish food (for that bumpy growth on their head they're famous for called the "wen"), but for some reason, it created a growth on her side instead (see image where I circled the strange growth) I was so afraid I'd lose her. She, and the rest of her tankmates, btw, are all on medicated food (Medi-Gold and Metro-meds) for 14 days. I just started them on it last Saturday, so I can stop feeding it to them on Friday, August 17th.
Despite the above, I have found time to write on the second book of "The Girl in the Leather Jacket" entitled, "Illuminatus", which is Latin for enlightened.
I've also worked hard at redesigning the book cover for it (helps with inspiration!) and you can see what I've come up with above.
This book continues where the first book ends - in Lola Fox's Karmann Ghia as they head for Bel-Air to rescue Andy's mom.
This book is about the power struggles and growing pains within the newly formed Illuminatus Coven that Lola finds herself the reluctant leader of while having to arbitrate between the members as she also struggles with feeling torn between her attraction to Zach Ridley and her growing love for Andy. 

Paperback version of The Girl in the Leather Jacket now available

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          And I have to say...it looks mighty nice! Although I made this picture with my Droid phone and the quality of the image isn't all that perfect, this is how they look.
          I am very satisfied with how the printer produced my books. The crisp white pages make the black lettering inside sharp and clear. I am going to do a giveaway in collaboration with Nikki Lipstick soon, and people can win a paperback copy of the book with a matching bookmarker. When I've created those, I'll post a photo of it here, too.
          For information on how to get your own copy if you prefer a hard copy instead of an e-book, click on the "The Girl in the Leather Jacket" tab above and it will take you to TGLJ's dedicated page. Scroll down and you'll find links where you can get a copy. Remember! This book is for a 14+ audience.
          Of Vinegar and Honey: I just got through writing, editing, and formatting Chapter 10 to the Rory and Madelaine saga (Of Vinegar and Honey), and I've uploaded it. It's now available at Smashwords and Amazon for download. Over 12,000 words for only $0.99 cents ain't bad.
          Sad news about my Ranchu: One of my pretty Ranchu goldfish died yesterday. She was a tough one, though. She fought for over two weeks, but she finally gave up the fight even though I did everything I could to help her. I am pretty sad about it.
          I have this powerful antibiotics for my goldies, the only kind of medicinal goldfish food available called Medi-Gold (for diseases like hole in the head {HITH}) and Metro-Meds (general medicated food) by the GoldfidshConnection. They're the creators of this highly specialized goldfish food that can bring back just about any goldfish from death's door - even those suffering the beginning of "pine-coning".
          Anyway, I believe every goldfish owner should get this food and keep it in stock. It's not really that expensive ($16 for 12 oz that lasts forever) and it has a shelf life of about 6 months! It really is a bargain for what it does and it's saved many of my costly exotics (one was $130) time and time again. It's a "must-have" for all goldfish keepers no matter how much your fish costs! Even my giant Oscar fish, Scarr, loves it!
           

Need to redesign a book cover for an upcoming book

          I'm currently writing the second book to The Girl in the Leather Jacket (TGLJ) series entitled, Illuminatus. The thing is, I'd already designed its book cover, but I've suddenly decided I don't like the way it looks. Too dark and too much "sepia". I want a more crisp cover like the first one so they'll look good shown next to each other. And I need to add in the six members of her new group, too, which wasn't in the first one. I guess that's what I'm going to have to do, then.
          I've also opened another blog that's attached to this one, and it's for my more spicier romantica books. You can see the tab above that will take you to it. I don't know why I did that. It's a lot of work keeping one blog updated, but double work keeping them both going. I guess I wanted to make sure they're separate just to keep things real for me. The good thing about being an Indie Author/Publisher is, I can pretty much do as I like so at the moment I'm thinking about publishing all my books (except TGLJ) for readers both 14+ and 18+. My work, except for TGLJ, lend themselves well for this.
          I'm currently finishing Part 10 to my Of Vinegar and Honey series. Then there will be two more parts to write and I can combine all parts, break it down into chapters, and paperback publish the whole thing. I'm amazed it's been such a hit on free sites where it originated and where I've honed my skill at writing full, plot-driven stories correctly. It's an excellent way to get peer reviews and whether or not a story has "legs". Anyway, it's one of my romantica books since there are explicit scenes written in it, but there aren't a lot of them.
          I have so many stories, so many books already in my private library (they all need editing and rewrites, though, since they're all drafts) that I can be busy writing forevah. Anyway, I intend to post them on free sites to see how they take.
          I've had the "pleasure" of giving my Chow-Chow, Powee, and my Pug, Harley, a bath today. It wasn't something I'd planned (since it takes me away from writing and giving a Chow a bath is a tedious chore), but it was necessary. I'm glad I have done it, though. Both Powee and Harley look really good now. At least that's something.
           

Paperback version of The Girl in the Leather Jacket

has been processed and it's on its way!

          I've just received an e-mail, tonight, that the orders I've placed for the paperback version of The Girl in the Leather Jacket and Equilibrium II: Rebirth, have been printed and shipped. Wow. That's really fast! Not that I'm complainin'. I really do like Createspace! Excellent P.O.D. and distributor, I have to say. The quality of the books are always incredibly good. Three cheers for Amazon that they offer this to us struggling authors so we can offer them to our readers, too. It's always nice to have options.

          

          As I'm writing this, my obese Pug, Harley, is snoring behind my desk chair. He follows me everywhere and he just sits in the tiniest nooks and crannies just to be close to me.

         Here's a picture of him together with our cream Chow-Chow, Powee Puff. I just call her Puffers, and I call Harley everything but Harley.

        And despite this rather peaceful picture, those two can not get along and they never have! I've had to pull them apart more times than I'd care to remember. Anyway, when I write about Lycans, I picture Powee. You might be able to understand why when you see her. And she's just as vicious toward poor Harlequins (Harley) as any real Lycan! It's because we got Veeg-Veeg (Harley) when he was already three years old. His former family couldn't deal with his constant shedding so they offered him to us for free! Veeg-Veegersens (Harley) was an alpha male all his three years, but Powee had become the Alpha in our home so there were two years worth of dog fighting that - luckily - never translated into anything serious. Whew!

          I also have a cat named Cali-Bastet. I found her one evening when Dionne and I went to Ralphs Grocery store to pick up some items. She was a tiny thing, full of fleas, worms, and starving. This is a photo of her when we just got her.

          She was meowing so sadly among some bushes and I just couldn't leave her. This was back in July last year. Today, she's a spoiled BRAT. I put those Soft Paw acrylics for cats (pink glitter) on her front paw nails so she won't scratch up our furniture (or my hands), and she's been spayed about a month ago when she was going into constant heat! I never knew a queen (female cat) could go in heat consistently until she's mated. Well, NO KITTENS so it was off to the vet the moment her first cycle was over and now she's always hungry and gaining weight! But she's no less active and sometimes I have to put her in her kennel just to catch my breath. When I download the latest photos of her, I'll resize them and post them here so you can see how much she's grown!

          And then there's Elvis, or as I call him, Elvie. He's Dionne's black pug who is about 2 1/2 years young now. He's a real handful! But he's also so adorable and so un-pug-like since he listens and he comes to you when you call him. How many pugs do you know do that? This is a picture of him on Dionne's bed.

          And last but never least, there's Bamberellas. Another rescue animal that's found its way into our hearts and into our home. She's Dionne's Chihuahua that Nick, her boyfriend, rescued from a dumpster when some kids tossed her into it.
           The poor thing had a broken (but mended) rib, and her tail had been broken as well as her front left paw. But she's the darling of the family now and the sweetest dog you'll ever have the pleasure of meeting. She loves wearing clothes, too! I don't have many photos of her, but I'll ask Dionne to send me some. But at least you can see her here in the kitchen having dinner in her pink polka-dot bowls wearing her red T. That pink thing to your left is her bed where she sleeps in when Dionne's at work and I'm Bambi-sitting her.

Yep. Finally updated my Blog's look

          I just needed to know how I wanted to my blog to look. In between writing, editing, formatting, and publishing my latest books (The Girl in the Leather Jacket & Equilibrium II: Rebirth - in paperback) I needed to know how to set up my blog since it's connected to my official website. I've finally settled on the above. I hope you like it.

         I've discovered formatting to e-publish my books is far easier than formatting them for paperback publishing. Everything, and I mean everything is different. Different rules make for a much more complicated process, but once I got the hang of it, it went pretty smoothly.

          I'm currently waiting for Createspace to finish processing Equilibrium II: Rebirth so I can order copies of it at the same time as The Girl in the Leather Jacket. It saves on shipping! Oh, and since I design all my book covers from scratch and prefer not use the templates offered at Createspace, I know I only make it more difficult on myself, but I hope my readers will agree the result is worth it. I need paperback copies of The Girl in the Leather Jacket because they'll be used as a giveaway (together with matching bookmarkers) in collaboration with Nikki Lipstick's new spring fashion line.

          I'm still working on the finishing touches to For Life for Fine Stories, and although some of you have written me and believe you know where this story is going, I hope I can surprise you. I realize I promised to have it up last weekend, but writers are notoriously unpredictable, aren't we. :-) Making no promises, I hope to have it up this weekend.

Deadlines are useful, but they're also frustrating!

They're useful because they present a goalpost to work toward. They're frustrating when you can't meet those goalposts.


But the rewards are nice. It's always a good feeling being able to look at the end product after you've worked so hard to bring it to life, and after many, many hours doing rewrites, edits, and rereads, it gives me a wonderful sense of accomplishment when I'm finally finished.


After many postponements to my latest Young Adult Urban Fantasy series, The Girl in the Leather Jacket, I see the light at the end of the tunnel. As the ticker to your left shows, it will be released this coming Friday, March 9th, on at least three sites: Amazon, Smashwords, and my latest one, Bibliocracy.com. When the finished manuscript is submitted to all three sites (Smashwords distributes to other sites such as Barns&Noble, iBooks, etc) I will make the links above live.


For my For Life fans: Once I'm finished with this first book of the new four-book series, I'll finish the touch ups on Ch.8 to "For Life" and submit it. The goal is to have it on Fine Stories this weekend. Hopefully, I can meet that goal, but you can be assured I'll work hard to meet that goalpost.


For those interested, I've made a book trailer for The Girl in the Leather Jacket, and I'm posting it here. I hope this works because this is the first time I'm doing this.

Anyway, you can go to my YouTube Channel and see all the videos of my book trailers, if you're interested.
This dang thing took me two days to make - which is a record, as in, record slow. I usually make a book trailer in about four hours so you can imagine my frustration when this one took so long! But I wanted to get it right, and considering the type of music (not really my type of music - my daughter chose it) I had to create images that coincided with the beat.


Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy it.

Chapter 7 to For Life, New YA series, Equilibrium

Chapter 7 to "For Life" has been submitted for publishing at Fine Stories. Please allow some time before it appears although Fine Stories is pretty quick with publishing stories, unlike other sites I know.

I know this took longer than I promised (approximately one day overdue, but still), but I hope it's worth the wait.

In this chapter, more and more is being revealed that intrigues both main characters, Wolfgang and Danielle, while slowly locking them to one another in curiosity and attraction, silently guided by his patient hand. A series of missing persons events are escalating around Queens, finally catching Danielle's attention, and she begins to wonder just how much she can trust this new employee of her father's business.

I've also been busy working on my new YA urban fantasy and paranormal romance due out by the end of this month. You can see the countdown ticker to your left.

It's about a girl named Lola Fox who lives in San Marino, Southern California, and who just turned sixteen. On her sweet sixteenth, she learns she's not what she had always thought she was, and as a young girl, she finds she's slowly coming into her own with all the pitfalls and mistakes that entails.

To date, I've planned a four book series, but it might be more, depending how I feel.

Also, I'm working on my upcoming Featured Author guest spot for Equilibrium at Lauries Thoughts & Reviews for January 28, 2012. I plan to offer a digital copy in any format. So if you're interested, please click on the name hyperlinked of the site here above and join her blog to win! I wish you good luck!

I guess it's TTFN, because I really need to get back to work! I hope you'll enjoy the latest chapter of For Life, and I hope you'll send me feedback or leave a comment and tell me what you think. 

New chapters

Two new chapters for "For Life" have been submitted to FineStories. Updated: Ch. 06 has been submitted at 10:25 p.m. PST and it should be up by tomorrow at the latest.

If you'd like to know how I see Danielle, here is a picture of her. I hope it won't ruin it for you, but this is how I see Danielle Davenport and Wolfgang Jaeger.

In these two chapters, the heat is rising between the two and Danielle is beginning to believe something really is different about their new mechanic.

She's also aware it appears as if she, outside her little brother, Davey, is the only one who notices Wolfgang's penchant for staring.

She gets swamped with work at the Davenport's Auto & Stop 'n' Shop when the female folk of East Elmhurst, Queens are suddenly getting all their auto and shopping needs at Danielle's father's place. In the meantime, Wolfgang decides to ramp it up a notch...

I hope you'll like Ch. 04 and 05. Please let me know?

Thanks for reading my fantasies and ttfn! 

New Story for a New Online Account & Other Misc. Stuff

It's pretty early for me at the moment, 10:45 a.m. PST in SoCal since I didn't get to sleep until 5:16 this morning, so if I there are some grammatical or spelling errors in this post, I'm sure you'll forgive. :-)
I've just opened a new account with a brand-new online stories site called, "Fine Stories" and am writing under Catharina's FS. I've just published a brand-new paranormal romance/urban fantasy story there entitled, "For Life".


Here is the synopsis:
A young woman's life is turned upside down when a strange and mysterious stranger drives up to her father's gas station in East Elmhurst, Queens, and he decides to apply for the position as mechanic. He's as unusual as his very German name, Wolfgang Jaeger, and she feels there's something about him that no one else seems to notice. Slowly but surely she discovers the frightening truth when she realizes Jaeger in English means "hunter" and she's become the hunted. 


I intend to simultaneously publish another paranormal romance/urban fantasy in the next coming days, entitled "Charming Pixie". I'm putting the finishing touches on the first few chapters as we speak.
I've also contacted a wonderful artist in Moscow who had created a beautiful piece of artwork that's perfect for the eventual book cover for my "Charming Pixie" e-book once it's finished. Thank you again, Tanya, for the honor of using your art.
All my none-erotic fiction will be published at Catharina's FS for your reading entertainment. All I ask is that you let me know, either by commenting here or by sending me feedback from the site, how you feel about the stories.
Oh, and Equilibrium: Slayer's Heart will be reviewed,


Blogger Review dates for Equilibrium: Slayer's Heart:


Laurie's Thoughts and Reviews: January 28, 2012
Author Interviews with Y. Correa: February 19, 2012
Bitten By Paranormal Romance: To be determined
There will be book giveaways at all three, so I hope you all will take the time to follow these wonderful bloggers {simply click on the names above} so you'll have a chance to win a paperback copy with matching bookmarker of Equilibrium: Slayer's Heart.
Anyway, that's it for now. If you like, you can sign up as a member of my official site {the button is lower on the left sidebar here}.
It's fast and free, and you get 60% off of all my published e-books when they're published!
At any rate, I hope to hear from you soon!

How Ebook Buyers Discover Books

An interesting piece by Mark Coker of Smashwords.

<snippet>

"As of this writing, 206 people answered the survey. Click the image to enlarge it.

Key findings, plus my observations:

1. The most-selected answer was "Recommendations from fellow readers on online message forums, blogs and message boards," with 29% of respondents choosing this. By contrast, only 4% selected, "Personal friend/family member recommends it to me." I think this is fascinating, because it implies readers might trust the collective wisdom of strangers and online acquaintances more than they trust the recommendations of immediate friends and family. At the risk of placing too many eggs in this basket, remember 71% selected something else.

2. The second most common answer was, "I look first for my favorite authors," coming in at 18%. This makes sense. As I mention when I present my Seven Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success talk, the author is the brand and if the author can earn the trust and loyalty of readers, readers will return to that brand for their next read. Readers in this group may also be more risk-averse. One respondent commented, "I'm at a point in life where I mostly stick with authors I already know and like. Why waste time and money on something I may not like?"

Read more at the link:
How Ebook Buyers Discover Books

Equilibrium II: Rebirth Release and Equilibrium: Slayer's Heart to be featured

The second book to the Equilibrium urban fantasy / paranormal romance series has gone live on both Smashwords and Amazon. I'm blogging this at 1:22 a.m. so it's kind of short but hopefully sweet.


Also, I've received confirmation from Laurie's Thoughts and Reviews (see button at the bottom left sidebar) that Equilibrium: Slayer's Heart will be featured on her blog on January 28, 2012! This is exciting news because, face it, I need the exposure. There will also be a giveaway of a digital copy of the e-book.


I know this is hastily written, but this post will be edited once I get my head on straight since it's already so late as it is, but I just wanted to blog this info while it's still fresh and before I forget!

Book trailers Equilibrium: Slayer's Heart, Rebirth, and Of Vinegar and Honey

I've finally gotten around to cutting book trailers for my books. It's been a long time coming, I know, but here they are! (right sidebar, lower half)

I'm also, simultaneously, working on putting the finishing touches to the second book of the Equilibrium series entitled, "Equilibrium II: Rebirth". It's release date has been postponed as you can see on the counter to your left.

It's new release date is December 17, 2011.

Thanks for visiting!

Working on different projects at the same time while battling a cold!

I'm going to try my best to keep up with this blog, in between writing, of course. At the moment, I'm struggling with a very nasty cold and it makes writing a little difficult.

Anyway, I've already proofed, edited, and rewritten several parts to Of Vinegar and Honey, and have e-published them.

I'm working on Part 7, and I hope to have it done and published in the next few days. There are a total of twelve parts to this story so I still have a way to go, but when they're all e-published as separate parts, I intend to publish it in paperback book form, too.

Normally, these parts wouldn't take me so long, but as the title of this post says, I'm working on different projects at the same time while battling a particularly persistent cold.

I've opened and restarted Equilibrium II: Rebirth, too, since I've been receiving some inquiries when it will be available. I'm so sorry for lagging, but life got in the way of things and I had to postpone writing a little. Not very professional of me, I know, but at least I'm back to it.

Thank you for stopping by, and I hope I can continue to look forward to your support.

Busy! Busy! Busy!

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Congratulations to the five winners

of the Bitten by Paranormal Romance book giveaway! Your books and matching bookmarkers have been mailed out to you on Friday, 7/1/2011! So keep an eye on your mailboxes!

I hope you'll enjoy reading Through Time Indefinite! If so, please tell a friend.

I hope, after you've read the book, you'll feel inclined to post a review either at my Goodreads, my Amazon, and/or my Smashwords sites.

Love! Love! Love!

Cat