A.J. Maguire

Tag: Novel

  • Official Release – Tapped

    I’m starting off the New Year with a bang!

    ScornedOr … well … a mistaken “bang” on the 1st because in my NyQuil induced haze I accidentally “leaked” the novel online but we’re moving past that now. This is my first self-published novel and I’m equal parts terrified and pleased by it.

    Tapped is a space-traveling adventure that follows the Barlow family as they unwittingly begin an underground railroad for refugees in Consulate space. It’s a story about what makes a family. It’s a story about the consequences of standing up for your convictions and a brothers-in-arms story all wrapped up together.

    The original concept for this novel was that I wanted a mother-son story. We have a lot of mother-daughter, father-son novels out there but I haven’t seen as many dealing with the relationship between a mother and her son. And since I happen to be the mother of one incredible little boy it was important to me that the Greeks not get the final word here.

    (No, really. The Greeks had the whole Oedipus thing that was really gross and weird. Just … yuck.)

    In any case, I’m throwing confetti and will enjoy some wine and a comfortable evening celebrating my first self-published release. It has been an adventure learning how to format and prepare a book for publication and, to be honest, kind of fun.

    Tapped Blurb:

    Jorry thought winning a galactic war would be enough to buy a peaceful life. She was wrong. Running from the government she fought so hard for, she carves a simple life out for herself and her family. When her family is dragged into a black market deal Jorry finds herself directly in the sights of those she’s been hiding from and must decide how far she’s willing to go to protect the people she loves.

  • Self-Publishing Journal Entry #4 (I think?) — AKA, “DANGIT, HYDRA!”

    Dear Diary,

    I spent New Years Eve sick on my couch. I did not have the joy of watching the infamous “potato drop” in my home town. I could not smell the glorious turkey breast as it was cooking in my crockpot (Thank you to my Grandmother and to my Aunt Debbie for passing along that recipe, it was good even though I couldn’t taste everything.) And in my NyQuil induced haze I decided it would be a perfect moment to get some final tweaks done to Tapped before my January 13th deadline …

    The Big Orange Beast warned me not to do this. He meowed and jumped onto the back of my chair andIMG_0238 bopped my head a few times and I, still in a medicated stupor, did not pay him any mind. I imagine he would be snickering at me but he’s too annoyed that the child has a friend over and is currently hiding under my desk.

    I know because he keeps chewing on my toes.

    After many a night pondering and working and trying things out I opted to use CreateSpace to help launch Tapped into the world. It was very easy to use.

    Too easy to use.

    I went through the Proof Copy, understanding that this was the phase my publishers would have called the “Galley Proof” but not understanding that once I approved said copy it would be IMMEDIATELY published to the CreateSpace store and … several hours later … to Amazon.

    I was 99% certain I had given a publication date of January 13th earlier in the process but it seems I missed something. I’m blaming the NyQuil on that one.

    After much scrambling and panicking and trying to figure out how to take down the novels suddenly out for sale I finally decided to roll with it.

    So this is me mimicking Marvel after the Avenger’s trailer was released … “Dangit, Hydra!”

    Tapped is on Amazon. You can find it in two different paperback sizes, the 6×9 (which is cheaper and Scornedlarger) or the 5.2×8 (which is two bucks more and smaller because I wanted something purse-size because I am totally the book-in-the-purse type … when I carry a purse.)

    And, of course, you can find it for Kindle.

    I recognize that this has the potential to hurt sales. Everything I’ve read about publishing and such says that the week before the book goes up (which should have been next week) I’m supposed to be running about cheerfully telling people about the upcoming release and building all the happy-vibes so that people will buy it and stuff.

    “Dangit, Hydra!”

    Now I’m on to Battle Plan Bravo.

    Why no, I did not have a plan B in place for this. But I’m like MacGyver and can figure a way through almost anything if I have a paperclip and a gum wrapper. (I really don’t care if I just dated myself either. MacGyver was totally my hero growing up and I maintain that he’s swoon-able.)

    Excuse me while I go make Battle Plan Bravo for next week. In the meantime, my very first ever self-published novel is up for sale. I’m sure I made every mistake known to the publishing world in it and apologize in advance.

  • Residual Haunting is now Live

    Cover Art by Chris Howard
    Cover Art by Chris Howard

    Welcome to October!

    As promised, Residual Haunting — my first ghost/semi-horror/paranormal story — has found its way onto Wattpad and its own Story Blog. (Take a moment to admire Chris Howard’s amazing artwork on the cover! I absolutely love it!)

    Now then …

    Why am I posting a draft of this novel online for free?

    It seems like a silly thing for an author, who wants to make money on telling stories, to post their work before any real editing can come of it (thus subjecting any Readers who dare to take the trip to a rough ride of possible typos and awkward wording) and to do so for free.

    Well, there are a couple of reasons.

    First, Residual Haunting is a grand experiment for me. It’s an exercise in whether or not I can write something completely on the computer (normally I hand write everything first) and I know I’m going to learn quite a bit in the process. (Honestly, I already have but we’ll get to that later.)

    If by some chance my experience with Residual Haunting can somehow aid a fellow writer then I would like to share it. Thus, we find the serialization process begun. I’ll go through a focused dissection of the experience when we’ve reached the end.

    Second, I love the history of serializations in general. I got to play Beth in “Little Women” when I was in high school so the concept of serializing stories gives me fond memories. (If you remember, Jo had her stories serialized in the paper.)

    And Third, it’s fun.

    No, really. It’s fun. I had a blast with Persona last year and promised myself that I would do it again once I found a suitable book (one not on contract and focused on learning something about the craft) and Residual Haunting fits that bill.

    So! If you like the paranormal and are adventurous enough to embark on this journey with me then welcome to the experiment! Follow the links above to find the story in your preferred format (Wattpad or Blog) and let’s get started!

  • Attack of the Secondary Character – Round Robin Discussion

    The beast roared again.

    It knew Relo was there.  It had known the moment he’d walked into the cave, its heightened sense of taste and smell had alerted the beast to this trespass.  But Relo had anticipated this.  In thirty-four years as a Tapped Acolyte he’d hunted every species Nellis had to offer.  He knew each weakness, each strength, and when Nellissian people were threatened, he had no qualms about exploiting such knowledge.  This, after all, was not a matter of fair play but a matter of survival.

    Me: Relo … huh … that’s an interesting name. Sounds kinda like “reload” which makes sense given the whole science fiction element, right?

    Cat: meow?

    Me: (Because I really am crazy enough to discuss these things with my pets) I know, I know. Relo … what? Relo Bomani? Sounds exotic and … you know … they’re on an alien planet and all … OK. So … the hero’s name is Relo Bomani.

    …. approximately 700 words later ….

    “I see I missed the action,” Seach said.  Most of his face was still in shadow but Relo knew the man was frowning.

    “It was a surprisingly fast battle.” Relo looked down at his thigh and tried to determine how bad the wound was.

    Seach walked to him, fixing the light on his wounded leg. “But not uneventful. Sit still.”

    “Actually, I think I cut myself on its tail when I tried to get out of the way.” Relo took the phosphorous light from Seach and angled it so his friend could work.

    Seach snorted his amusement as he crouched beside him, slipping the pack off his shoulder as he did so. “Serves you right for coming out here alone. I swear, sometimes I think you are trying to die.”

    Me: … huh … I like this Seach fellow.

    Cat: (just purrs cause by now he’s laying on my feet)

    … 3000 words later …

    Me: Ugh. I hate this book. I do not like the way it’s going. Relo is too … just too … strong. Not enough vulnerability in him. And he’s not funny.

    Cat: (lots of meowing cause he’s crazy enough to think I can understand him)

    Me: I know! Seach is so much more interesting. He makes me laugh. And he’s not afraid to fail. I totally love him.

    Cat: (stops meowing because I’m scratching under his chin and he’s in kitty heaven)

    Me: But you know, I’m not liking much of this plot either. Let’s change everything. We’ll make Seach the hero. Keep Jorry as the female lead. Relo can be the secondary.

    Cat: (suddenly bops me on the hand because he’s had enough attention for one day but he’s too lazy to move out of hands reach)

    … About a year later … 

    “You know Jorry won’t drink that,” said a familiar voice.

    Seach relaxed and glanced at Lieutenant Cavil as they continued through the D-Fac. Her black hair was shaved close and he could see little spirals of dark curls pressed up against her scalp. She grinned at him, her teeth bright white against the backdrop of her ebony skin. Cavil was beautiful in that hard way that military officers could be. It was like all the training and battle she had seen managed to sharpen her appeal and for half a second he forgot the danger they were in.

    “Lieutenant Cavil,” he said with a smile. In his peripheral view he saw Jo look up from her computer. “It’s been a while. Decided you were ready to tell me your first name?”

    “It’s been two years and eight months,” Cavil said and laughed. “I thought you would have lost interest by now.”

    “Lost interest in a beauty like you?” Seach clucked his tongue and winked at her. “Never.”

    … So … Have I ever had a secondary character steal a book from me?

    Yes. Very much so. I revamped all of Tapped to accommodate a new hero in Seach and I have never regretted it. He’s funny and vulnerable and he really made the story for me. He even counterbalances Jorry as the lead female character precisely because of those traits.

    Hop over to some of my fellow authors to see if they’ve ever dealt with a scene-stealing secondary character before!

    Marci Baun  http://www.marcibaun.com/
    Anne Stenhouse http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com
    Fiona McGier http://www.fionamcgier.com
    A.J. Maguire https://ajmaguire.wordpress.com/ (YOU ARE HERE)
    Beverley Bateman http://beverleybateman.blogspot.ca/
    Diane Bator http://dbator.blogspot.ca/
    Margaret Fieland http://margaretfieland.com/my_blog
    Victoria Chatham www.victoriachatham.webs.com
    Connie Vines http://connievines.blogspot.com/
    Geeta Kakade http://geetakakade.blogspot.com/
    Rhobin Courtright http://rhobinleecourtright.com

  • Dead Magic Release!

    Witch-Born fans can rejoice today! (That’s right, I said “rejoice” because we really don’t use that word often enough these days.) The sequel and (likely) final chapter of the steampunk-magic-imbued saga has been released through Double Dragon Publishing. 

    Yes, yes, I know … “But you just had your first science fiction (Deviation) released last week!”

    Quiet, mongrels! You’re not rejoicing like I told you to! 

    (I might be a little spirited today. The strap on my favorite purse broke and I am torn between grieving it and celebrating the new release. I apologize for any and all shenanigans.)

    But no, seriously, Dead Magic is officially released. See its understated and quietly brilliant purchase link at the side of this post … Or if you don’t like sidebars you can follow this link to its brand new Amazon page. 

    Marvel at the steampunky cover art (created by the ever-so talented Deron Douglas)

    deadmagic-510

    Why yes, that does appear to be a naked man in the background. See the tattoos? Witch-Born fans should automatically recognize them!

    Bask, my lovelies, in the blurby thingy that must be placed on all books … 

    Return to the Steam Punk world of Magnellum for the second book in the “Witch-Born” series.

    Magic is gone and Valeda Quinlan knows it, she just can’t prove it. Determined to learn the truth, Valeda finds herself at the mercy of Elsie Delgora, the last known Witch to have ever seen Magic. Scrambling for survival amidst the noble Houses of Magnellum, Valeda agrees to help Elsie in return for Magic’s location. But the help Elsie needs is more than Valeda bargained for. Sent on a mission to find Lord Winslow Agoston, Valeda is confronted by powers far beyond any Witch-Born and forced to take on an even larger role in the fate of Magnellum.

    In all seriousness this book was a joy to write. I had fun with Valeda and Winslow and I sincerely hope everyone else will too. 

  • Terraforming Mars

    Deviation, my newly released science fiction, lands smack dab on Mars.

    In spite of the massive amounts of research I had a lot of fun on Mars. Actually, scratch that.

    Because of the massive amounts of research I had to do, I had a lot of fun on Mars. Astronomy fascinates me. I think stars are cool and pictures of nebula are awesome and … yeah, I’m a nerd. So it’s only natural that my first science fiction novel actually features another planet.

    Mars is the planet we tend to like the most when it comes to the idea of relocating the human race. (Or at least branching out. Earth still needs our tender loving care.)

    planet-mars1There are many reasons for this but in the interest of this post I’m just going to direct you to HowStuffWorks.com because they already have an awesome article on the hows and the why’s of it. (Yay! Kevin Bonsor!)

    Now, I understand that I cheated a bit when it came to terraforming Mars in my book, but that all boils down to story. I wasn’t writing a guidebook to terraforming a planet, I was writing a story about redemption and grief and relationships.

    That said, I still wanted to make it believable.

    I also wanted to give the information without overwhelming readers with technical jargon. So I made a timeline with news articles. Readers will notice that there’s a snippet of a news article at the beginning of every chapter. That’s where I provided information both on what happened to the female race and how humanity reached Mars.

    First we bombed the core … cause Earth’s weird half-molten center is what gives us the tectonic plates, which is what gives us the magnetic field and atmosphere that keeps us … you know … alive and stuff. There’s probably a lot of things wrong with the theory of bombing the Martian core but the very concept made my creative brain go into hyper-drive, so I used it.

    Then, because things weren’t growing fast enough for us, we built a mirror-like greenhouse thing around Mars. (No, really, check out the HowStuffWorks.com article. It’s totally plausible.) Mars is further away from the sun so we needed to catch all that heat and redirect it to the planet’s surface.

    And then … and this is my favorite part … we “seed bombed” the planet’s surface.

    Yes, that’s right. Seed bombs. They are exactly what they sound like; bombs with seeds and fertilizer and all the good stuff plants need to get started.

    Add a little water, a little time, and a lot of luck and viola! Terraforming!

    Now then … scientists across the globe are likely to slaughter me for turning Mars purple and genetically altering animals to live on the planet. Those are all story elements. I rely heavily on the fact that I am not a scientist, I am a novelist. In those instances I would hope that people remember they are reading a work of fiction and focus instead on the characters rather than the mechanics.

    Deviation-510Honestly, I think we’ll live on Mars one day. It won’t be tomorrow, but some day.

  • Deviation Release!

    If I had spaceship shaped confetti I would totally be throwing it everywhere right now!

    My first ever science fiction, Deviation, has been released by Double Dragon Publishing. For right now I only have the publisher’s purchase link but as soon as it becomes available on Amazon and Barnes&Noble I’ll be certain to shove those links up everywhere.

    Look at the pretty, shiny cover!

    Look at all the pretty colors!

    See the pretty shiny blurby thingy! (OK, so this is the longer version. You can see the shorter version everywhere else.)

    On the brink of a religious war between Makeem and Novo Femina, Celeocia Prosser’s struggle for gender equality leads her to Reesa Zimms; the one woman in all of history who can identify the first Mavirus victim. Believing the information surrounding this patient zero to be pivotal in the fight against the Makeem, Celeocia sets her sights on Reesa Zimms, also known as Caresse Zimmerman.

    There’s just one problem; Reesa Zimms is a science fiction novelist who lived and died hundreds of years in the past.

    Utilizing wormhole travel and antimatter discs, Celeocia sends her son Hedric and the crew of the Lothogy careening through time. When Hedric finds Reesa, the novelist is accompanied by her best friend Kate, who just happens to look like his recently murdered wife.

    Stunned and reeling, Hedric abducts both women, bringing Reesa and Kate on a not­so­gentle ride into the future.

    Time travel might be easier for Reesa to accept because Hedric Prosser, the High Priestess, and the very ship they’re traveling on, all belong in Reesa’s novels. Confused and pretty sure she’s going insane; Reesa tries to prepare her friend Kate for the very male­dominated society they’ve been dumped into. When she finds herself abandoned by Hedric, Reesa must rely on Matthew Borden, the villain of her books, to rescue Kate and fight their way home.

    Hear my squeal of delight to finally see this work out in the open!

    No, seriously, Deviation and I have a rather long history. I started writing it in 2008 through Lazette Gifford’s Two Year Novel Course — which I highly recommend for anyone who has been toying with the idea of writing a novel but feels they don’t have the time.

    I actually took the class, which started the first week of January so when I say I started writing it in 2008 I really mean I started writing it in 2008. Which means I’ve been working on/editing/shopping this book around to various publishers for six years now.

    Six!

    I could blame this on the fact that I was in school for three of those years, but the truth is that I was just nervous. This is my first science fiction ever and I wanted to at least try to get it right.

    So … I did a lot of research. Granted, I deliberately ignored some of said research because … you know … FICTION … and I needed things to work with the story. But still, I did a LOT of research.

    Mars in particular was fun but I’ll make a whole post dedicated to Mars and all the things I broke while trying to make the planet habitable.

    Not today, though.

    Today I’m throwing confetti and marveling at the artistic talents of my publisher and enjoying general revelry.

  • Favorite Scenes — Dead Magic Edition

    I promised I’d post my favorite scene from the upcoming novel Dead Magic so … here we go.

    Once again, I’m not one of those people who likes spoilers  … Unless I get invested in a character, then I have to know if they survive the book/story. No, really, I flip to the end of books and hunt for names just to make sure they’re still there. I won’t read the whole thing, I’ll just check if they still have dialog and then go back to reading like normal.

    I know, I’m terrible.

    Anyway, I won’t give any spoilers but I will post my favorite scene. I’ll give the barest amount of setup for this one — this scene happens early(ish) in the book and I cut it off before anything major can be revealed. Fans of Witch-Born will recognize the two characters (Dorian and Elsie). These two do play a major part in Dead Magic but as I’ve said before the book itself is more focused on Winslow Agoston and Valeda Quinlan.

    Why do I love this scene in particular?

    I think because it’s honest. Dead Magic takes place eight years after the ending of Witch-Born. Things have changed. Relationships have strained and while the love between Elsie and Dorian is still every bit as strong as in Witch-Born, all is not perfect.

    Please note that this is an unedited version of the scene. 

    Dead Magic: 

    “Why would you promise that woman something you know you can’t give her?” Dorian half chased Elsie around the western perimeter of the ark, thoroughly annoyed that he’d been forced to hunt her down again.

    “Who says I can’t give her what she wants?” Elsie kept a brisk pace, lithely avoiding the overgrowth of jungle around them. Her black hair was pinned up in a tight bun, making the exotic, angular curves of her face more prominent. If he hadn’t been suppressing the desire to strangle her Dorian might have given her a compliment.

    “The Council says you can’t.” He had to catch himself on a fallen bit of tree when she abruptly stopped. The moist ground slid away from his left foot and he quickly found a better standing spot.

    The ark was built precariously close to the edge of the ridge-line, its entire circumference taking up a four mile wide, three and a quarter mile long declivity in the mountain range. The egg-shaped monolith of iron and steel was far enough from any towns that it looked like a shadowed lump of hillside at a distance. Up close, however, it was big and bulky and looked quite impenetrable. Which, he thought with a frown, was the point.

    Elsie turned to an iron ladder built into the side of the wall and prepared to climb. Dorian grabbed her elbow to stop her. There would be people wherever she was heading and they needed to do this conversation in private.

    “You promised, Elsie.”

    “No,” she said. “As I recall it, you are the one who promised silence, not me. I stood there like an idiot, trying to remind myself why I didn’t kill them all where they stood.”

    “Elsie. Think of the hysteria that would happen if word got out.” Dorian moved closer to her, glancing at her gloved hand and preparing himself for the battle he’d just stepped into. “If Valeda Quinlan publishes the fact that Magic is dead, the Untalented will panic. There will be riots and mayhem and a lot of innocent lives will be lost.”

    “Even the Witch-Born will panic, Dorian. Talented or not, all of Magnellum’s fate rests on the Warding Pillars. Panic is exactly how the people should be reacting.” Elsie scowled at him but didn’t move, still poised to climb the ladder. “The Wild is coming, Dorian. It’s coming and there’s very little we can do about it.”

    “The Wild has been ‘coming’ for eight years now, Elsie!” Exasperated, he let go of her and shoved his fingers through his hair. “By Fates! I’ve been listening to you for eight long years. I’ve watched you build this … this …” He waved at the side of the ark in frustration, “this insanity using resources you shouldn’t have. Don’t try to deny it, either. Delgora was rich when you ascended to House Witch, but it wasn’t this rich. You’ve been spending more money than we’ve got, insistent that world is about to end, and for what?”

    Elsie blinked up at him, her caramel eyes glimmering with an emotion he couldn’t recognize.

    “The Warding Pillars haven’t failed, Elsie. There’s peace in Magnellum right now. You cannot overturn society on a whim.”

  • Favorite Scenes — Deviation Edition

    Someone asked me what my favorite part of Sedition was the other day and I sort of stood there, struggling for an answer. I finally said that Trenna was my favorite part of the book, but she shook her head and asked for a specific scene and then proceeded to tell me hers.

    Which, let’s be honest, flattered me beyond all hope because Sedition has been out for several years now and she’s still gushing to me about it. (And berating me for not having Usurper in her hot little hands yet. I promise, it’ll be out next year.) It was a nice little ego-stroke and I’m trying hard not to let it get to my head.

    At the risk of spoiling the beginning of the novel I’m going to go ahead and say what my favorite scene of Sedition is. Well, it’s not much of a spoiler because it is so early in the book and it doesn’t give much away. My favorite scene is when Trenna gets knighted and tells Nelek he’s going to regret it.

    But I have loads of favorite scenes in all of my books. It’s why I keep writing, these scenes just keep cropping up. (I think that’s normal, actually. If I didn’t have a ton of favorite scenes then I wouldn’t be able to write the books.)

    Since Deviation and Dead Magic will be coming out this month I’ve decided to post snippets of my favorite scenes from both. We’ll start with Deviation today. I’m not going to give any setup for the scene because that might spoil the book, and I’m not going to explain why I love this scene so much because honestly … I’m not sure myself.

    Deviation:

    Reesa swallowed hard and forced herself to look him in the face.

    He had read the book.

    His blunt jaw was held tight, his lips pressed so hard that the edges went white with strain, and there was the tell-tale tick at the corner of his left eye.  God help her, she knew him well enough to know that her life was in danger.  Flawed characters made the best characters, so she’d made Hedric a mess of reckless behavior.  He was an unstable, quixotic, volatile, walking bringer of death.  Mesa had been his saving grace, a counterbalance, and now she was gone.

    For long minutes he just stood there, probably hoping she would fall over dead with the way he was looking at her.  Misery and torment contorted the long, jackal-like features she’d made him famous for.  She needed to do something, explain herself, apologize, anything to ease him before he struck her.

    When he finally spoke, hoarse and low, she felt fear like a rod of lightening in her spine. “You did this,” he said.

    Because she didn’t know what to say, Reesa lifted her chin and fought for a brave glare.

    “How could you?” he asked.  When she still didn’t respond he closed the gap between them, slamming a fist into the wall behind her with enough force to make it dent. “How could you?” he shouted again.

    “It was a book! Fiction!”

    Hedric gripped her tank-top and lifted until she lost footing, levering her body against the wall and bringing his face inches from her own. “Does this feel like fiction to you?”

    ***

    And … I’ll stop you right there, because I’m cheeky like that. When the book comes out you’ll get to see where in the story that scene is.

     

     

  • Book Review – Incantation by Annamaria Bazzi

    The beginning of this book was a little rough. I had a hard time understanding what was going on, which might have been done on purpose since the character didn’t know what was going on either. As a reader this was a trifle frustrating since I prefer to know just a little bit more than the character on the page. After having finished the book, however, I understood a bit better and can appreciate the way the beginning was crafted.

    I’m not one for giving spoilers so I’m having to refrain quite a bit on what I say here. The magic system was glossed over a bit, but given that the main character had no idea how to use magic it doesn’t detract from the story. After I got the hang of what was going on I really enjoyed the characters and the story being told. There was a moment near the end where I got very uncomfortable due to the general nastiness of the antagonist in the book, but the author managed to yank the story away from the precipice just in time. (Though that rescue did come via magic and the author risked Deus Ex Machina in that regard, but given that the whole story was based on wizards and magic it did make some sense.)

    But my favorite part was the end. I was more than satisfied with the way the story concluded and with that in mind would have to give this book four out of five stars. (Or whatever symbol floats your boat. On Goodreads and Amazon I’ll be using stars so I might as well carry that over here.)

    Book Blurb:

    Magic is an illusion. It doesn’t really exist. Or does it?

    A horrible car accident destroys Dolores Reynard’s life. But instead of waking up in a hospital bed, she awakens in a teenager’s body. Soon, she discovers she is at the heart of the murderous mystery surrounding the death of Mona, the young girl whose body she occupies. Caught between an evil greater than she ever imagined and a wizard who heals her tattered heart, she is forced to play a dangerous game of intrigue in the hopes of finding a way to return to her previous life.

    Will magic be her ally, or will it lead to her demise once and for all.

    Book Links:

    Amazon / smashwords / B&N

    ~ABOUT THE AUTHOR~

    Although born in the United States, Annamaria Bazzi spent a great deal of her childhood in Sicily, Italy, in a town called Sciacca. Italian was the language spoken at home. Therefore, she had no problems when she found herself growing up in a strange country. Upon returning to the states, she promised herself she would speak without an accent. She attended Wayne State University in Detroit Michigan, where she obtained her Bachelor of Science in Computers with a minor in Spanish.

    Annamaria spent twenty years programming systems for large corporations, creating innovative solution, and addressing customer problems. During those years, she raised four daughters and one husband. Annamaria lives in Richmond Virginia with her small family where she now dedicates a good part of her day writing.

    You can visit Annamaria at:

    blog http://annamariabazzi.com

    website http://www.annamariasbooks.com

    facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Author.annamariabazzi

    email annamariascorner@yahoo.com

    twitter https://twitter.com/AMBazzi

    goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6890526.Annamaria_Bazzi

    Check in on Kendíka’s facebook page https://www.facebook.com/kendika.burkeshire