This winter, The Dead of Sled Run hit store shelves, continuing the Piper Blackwell Series with a new murder to solve and gracing websites with giveaways, interviews, and excerpts to this latest release--as well as some insight into the author of the novel's work.
Shots Mag hosted the author for a post titled, "Fire Talks" where Jean Rabe explained how she learned some of the things that made The Dead of Sled Run cut so close to the bone of reality.
“I forgot Larry’s last name sometime in the past thirty years, but I never forgot what he taught me about fire. Larry was the top arson investigator for Kentucky ‘back in the day’ when I ran the Western Kentucky News Bureau for Scripps Howard.” Rabe said. “He taught me that sometimes you can look at a building fire while it rages and tell if it was deliberately set. It’s in how the fire burns, how it travels. ‘Fire talks,’ he told me.”
That wisdom spilled out onto the page of The Dead of Sled Run, pieces of humans bleeding into fictional characters, as they’re sometimes wont to do. A fact she elaborated on in an interview on Stephen D. Sullivan’s blog.
“Are there characters in the Piper Blackwell series that have been inspired by people you know in real life?” Posed the question on Stephen’s site.
“Several. There are pieces of me in Piper Blackwell and Oren Rosenberg.” Rabe answered, “Detective Basil Meredith has ingredients from Bill Gilsdorf and Michael A. Black, retired lawmen who I consult for various aspects of an investigation. DA Scales is based on Robert Scales, an awesome DA in real life, who runs fun Pathfinder roleplaying sessions on the side. Zeke the Geek … ah, he is several of my gaming friends rolled into one teenaged body.”
Rabe is no stranger to fiction, though the contemporary mystery genre is relatively new to her–only the better part of a decade or so. Rather, Jean Rabe's roots are deeply twined within the realms of role playing table top games and high fantasy adventures. Rabe worked with Andre Norton, continuing on some of the illustrious author's posthumous works and created the award-winning Love-Haight series with Donald J. Bingle, alongside her own intrepid novels and anthologies. On Faith Hunter’s website, Jean pondered about what's to come: “...maybe I ought to write another urban fantasy. I’ve been toying with the notion of Benjamin Franklin as a wizard. Have to write some more Piper Blackwell first,” Jean finished, assuring her mystery fans that more Piper Blackwell is yet to come.

We here at Psst... wanted to know how she refills the well, especially when it comes to a series. "I usually take a couple of days off and play boardgames and roleplaying games and read a couple of books at the top of my to-be-read pile. Oh, and toss a lot of tennis balls for my cadre of dogs. Then I’m energized to dig into my next book. I have too many plots and outlines bouncing around in my computer… I have to write." 

The first three books of her series remain on sale for $.99 (e-books and select sites only) until January 15th. The rafflecopter for her blog tour giveaway will remain open until January 17th.
Rabe is available for book clubs, signings, and appearances upon request. Find the blog tour schedule here.

We would like to wish Misty Massey a happy book birthday as she continues on her Mad Kestrel series and gives the world high seas adventures. The first book of the series, Mad Kestrel, garnered high praise and impressive editorial reviews and we're sure that Kestrel's Dance will follow in it's predecessor's footsteps.
After all, it's hard not to fall in love with a pirate that can whistle up the wind.
Wishing you all the love!
Mud and Echo

June 27
Breezy Jones

June 28
Echo's Tales 

June 29
Writing Cave Corner

Adventures in Self-Publishing

Faith Hunter

June 30
I Smell Sheep

Monarch's Books N More 

July 1
Taming Chaos
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Jean Rabe

Kestrel, the King's Privateer, is preparing to wait out the annual storm season when she receives an unexpected royal order to capture and deliver a rare creature for the king’s menagerie. Before she can weigh anchor, news reaches Kestrel of a long-ago friend in desperate need of help—in the opposite direction of her assigned voyage. In addition, her ship may be haunted by something big, loud, and terrifying.

Before Kestrel can plot a course, she crosses paths with an enigmatic dancer who offers an enticing bargain: sail her home to the Continent, an ocean away, and she'll reveal the mysteries of magic Kestrel has longed all her life to know.

The temptation of answers endangers her crew and might ruin her privateer status. Worse, taking on this passenger could thrust her into the clutches of the ever-watchful Danisoban mages who lie in wait for her to make the perfect mistake.

Every decision is fraught with danger. Each wrong turn may mean her death or the death of her crew. And Captain Kestrel can walk away from none of them.

Kestrel, the pirate who can whistle up the wind, returns in book two of the Mad Kestrel Series. Captain Kes will defy the king, gamble with her friends' lives, and run the risk of capture by evil mages to get her hands on the magical knowledge so long denied to her.

ASIN:‎ B09YC8JSP5
Publisher:‎ Lore Seekers Press (June 24, 2022)
Publication date: ‎June 24, 2022
Language: English
Print length:‎ 319 pages
Check it out on Amazon: http://mybook.to/KestrelsDance
Check out Book One: http://mybook.to/MadKestrel

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Love the Mad Kestrel series and want to stay up to date on Misty Massey's next release? Follow Misty on Amazon here: author.to/MistyMassey or check out her website: https://www.mistymassey.com/

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Review from Booklist for The Mad Kestrel Series:
Massey debuts with a colorful romp through strange lands and stranger seas. In a world in which magic is a monopoly of the Danisobans, and all children showing signs of power are taken from their parents and raised by that order, young Kestrel had hidden her talent and eventually escaped to sea, where magic is cancelled by water. Now risen to the post of quartermaster of a pirate ship, she loves her life. But to keep it, she must never let anyone know that she can magically control the wind. When her captain is entrapped and arrested, the young quartermaster must gather and command the crew for a rescue. That takes all the strength and wit Kestrel can command—and guarded use of her magic. This Errol Flynn–ish swashbuckler features loads of action and larger-than-life characters, plausibly grounded in the realities of life at sea. A real page-turner, and a successor is in the works.
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​Misty Massey is the author of Mad Kestrel, a rollicking adventure of magic on the high seas, Kestrel’s Voyages, a collection of short stories featuring those rambunctious pirates, and the upcoming Kestrel’s Dance. She is a co-editor of The Weird Wild West and Lawless Lands: Tales of the Weird Frontier, and was a founding member of Magical Words. Her short fiction has appeared in many anthologies and she’s working on a series of Shadow Council novellas for Falstaff Press featuring the famous gunslinger Doc Holliday. When she’s not writing, Misty studies and performs Middle Eastern dance and will, on occasion, surprise everyone with a batch of home-baked snickerdoodles. She’s a sucker for good sushi, African coffee, SC Gamecock football, and the darkest rum she can find. You can keep up with what Misty’s doing at mistymassey.com, Facebook and Twitter.​