Hey, lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host by W.F. Ranew and his new book, “Blood Mug”! For other stops on his Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in this post.
Be sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $15 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back daily to interact with W.F. and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks for stopping by! Wishing you lots of luck in this fabulous giveaway!
Blood Mug
by W.F. Ranew
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GENRE: Mystery
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BLURB:
PI Red Farlow has a meeting with Wickham Art Center board chair in Atlanta, but when he arrives, he finds the chairman slumped over his potter's wheel with a medieval battle dagger protruding from his back.
During the investigation, other victims are discovered in the pottery studio, each meeting the same gruesome end as the chairman. Is the dagger a dramatic flourish of a twisted mind, or a more profound message?
Clues soon reveal a real estate scheme—wealthy Venezuelan investors plan to plow Wickham under and build condos on the site.
Red gets his hands muddy as he throws himself into finding the answers.
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EXCERPT ONE:
Death preceded me.
That notion drifted into my mind like a ghost when I encountered the unknown, especially in the dark. Perhaps it was my spook, a lurking memory of all the bodies I’d seen.
Or maybe the heat of the August night—barely cooler than the day—had fried my brain like bacon grease crackling in a hot skillet.
Something conjured this foreboding as I walked toward the clay studio of the Wickham Art Center.
I went over to meet Kevin Densmore, businessman and Wickham board chair, to discuss a recent murder at the center. After two weeks, the police had turned up little in leads or suspects. Wickham’s leaders became worried about staff and student safety and the venerable institution’s reputation.
Densmore wanted to hire me, or so I’d been told by a friend on the center’s board. I’m Red Farlow, a private detective.
Down an alley through the darkness, the mansion’s back door light glowed. There, signs indicated the way to the pottery studio. I walked into a dimly lit chamber and looked back to the wheel room. I later learned potters had created mugs, bowls, and jugs on a wheel for thousands of years.
The whole place was a mess, with everything covered in a patina of gray clay. The dust layers reminded me of exploring a dry riverbed in my youth. The clay crumbled under my bare feet, leaving an imprint on the ground and a thin crusty layer on my skin.
I breathed the clay’s essence and looked around the room.
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GUEST POST:
Everyone loves a hero! Tell us all about this genuine character and the inspiration behind their development.
I always enjoy talking and writing about Red Farlow, the title character of four mystery novels from Tirgearr Publishing.
Red truly lives the role of hero to so many of my characters. The villains always revile him, and several had tried to kill our hero.
Red is easily likable, sometimes grouchy, nurses an espresso addiction, and always dedicates himself to do the right thing. That usually means catching bad guys—and gals. As a private detective, he always succeeds after a few failures as a law enforcement agent.
Some mystery surrounds Red’s prohibition on drinking alcohol. The back story emerges in current works in progress.
Three years ago, Red married his college sweetheart forty years after they broke up and went their separate ways. Her name is Leigh Wallace, a psychotherapist in Savannah.
So, where does Red Farlow come from? Red, the man, was born before or around 1950 in a small south Georgia town whose name hasn’t been revealed. He excelled at sports and his English studies in high school and earned a scholarship to play defensive linebacker for the Georgia Bulldogs football team.
In college, he met Leigh, fell in love, and suffered the pain of her initial rejection.
Red spent two years in the Army and afterward joined the Georgia Bureau of Investigation as an agent. Many years and after solving highly publicized murders, he retired. He bummed around a couple of years before deciding he loved nothing more than helping people victimized by crime.
He started his own PI practice and went to work investigating wayward spouses, insurance scams, bank fraud, and embezzlement. Along the way, he delved into solving murders.
The character Red grew from my experience as a young reporter. A real GBI agent—yes, his name was Red—called me to complain about my story on a young girl’s murder by an eleven-year-in-old boy. He gave me what-for because I left out critical information, such as the crime's truly heinous nature.
I learned a lot from the agent’s call. Years later, the name Red and the concept of a GBI agent’s career took shape. Red Farlow came to life in my head and keyboard.
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AUTHOR BIO:
W.F. Ranew is the author of the Red Farlow Mysteries series of ebooks from Tirgearr Publishing. He’s launching Blood Mug (#4) on Feb. 24, 20210. Other Red Farlow stories are Rich and Gone (#1), Blue Magnolia (#2), and Eat Beach (#3).
Ranew is a former newspaper reporter, editor and communication executive. He started his journalism career covering sports, police, and city council meetings at his hometown newspaper, The Quitman Free Press. He also worked as a reporter and editor for The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, The Florida Times-Union and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In corporate communications, he has written speeches for President Jimmy Carter and leaders of public companies, including Bank of America, CitiGroup, Equifax, NCR, The Coca-Cola Company, and ING.
Early in his career, he worked as part-time radio dispatcher for a small-town police department.
Ranew has self-published two previous novels: Schoolhouse Man and Candyman’s Sorrow.
He lives in Atlanta and St. Simons Island, Ga.
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CONNECT WITH W.F.:
Website:
Blog:
Email:
WFRanew@gmail.com
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/wfranew
Twitter:
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankranew
Tirgearr Publishing Author Page:
http://tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/Ranew_WF/index.htm
BookBub Author Page:
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/w-f-ranew-ce1e87a3-bfe8-4df3-95de-168ccdb1d6c3
BookBub Book Page:
https://www.bookbub.com/books/blood-mug-red-farlow-mysteries-4-by-w-f-ranew
Goodreads Author Page:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15222195.W_F_Ranew
Goodreads Book Page:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56927969-blood-mug
Amazon Author Page:
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BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle eBook:
Barnes and Noble NOOK eBook:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/blood-mug-wf-ranew/1138737495
Kobo eBook:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/blood-mug
Smashwords eBook:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1067377
Tirgearr Publishing eBook:
http://tirgearrpublishing.com/authors/Ranew_WF/blood-mug.htm
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
W.F. will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway**This post contains
affiliate links and if clicked and a purchase is made, I may receive a small
commission to help support this blog.
This does not cost you anything, it just helps pay for all those awesome
giveaways on here**
W.F. ~ Good morning! Welcome back! It is so great to have you here again! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ally, and appreciate your hosting this tour stop.
ReplyDeleteAnd Happy St. Patrick’s Day.
ReplyDeleteSounds like an interesting read
ReplyDeleteThis story sounds very interesting.
ReplyDelete