“Things Every Southern Woman Should Know How to Make”

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Alice clicked on the headline, mildly curious about what yet another stranger thought should be in her kitchen repertoire. Pictures of China plates mounded with crispy fried chicken, greens, cobbler, and a pile of biscuits a mile high flooded the screen, all set off with a pitcher of sweet tea beaded with condensation. The table was set; an apron draped off to the side next to a box labeled “Gramma’s Recipes” in fine calligraphy. She closed the browser and put away her tablet. She was born a Georgia peach, but she couldn’t make a cobbler to save her life. Did that mean she wasn’t southern? Or maybe just not “Southern.” For Alice, there was no recipe box full of family traditions. Her younger years were filled with rental homes in different states and her father’s voice coaxing her toward a text book rather than a cookbook. Metalworking and fabrication held more interest than learning to flambé or sauté. Did it make her less of a woman that her cooking skills consisted of fresh salads

FRACTURED by Lisa Amowitz

Hi, folks! Today I have for you FRACTURED, Book 1.2 in the VISION SERIES! Here's a little about it:
 
 
Bobby's a hick who sees visions. Jeremy's a smartass who sees dead people. Together, they have a weekend to stop a murderer...if they don't kill each other first. Sparks fly when the worlds of Lisa Amowitz’s BREAKING GLASS and VISION collide.
 
  
 
Nice cover! How about a taste of what's inside? 
 
“Hey. You were the kid that played with that amazing redhead. Not bad, man. Not bad.”

“Um, thanks.”

“Not from around here, are you?”

“No. I mean, I’m not, really.”

The guy smiled and extended a hand. “Sorry. Just a little cranky tonight. I came in this morning on an epic bus ride from Duke just to see my girlfriend and she’s stuck in a study group with a bunch of other assholes. Oh. I’m Jeremy Glass.” He lowered himself on the bench next to me and massaged his leg. “Too much walking today. Damn.”

I tried to keep my eyes from going wide as the guy lifted the cuff of his black jeans. Instead of an actual leg there was only a hydraulic metal pole.

Jeremy Glass looked at me and smiled. “Veronica’s been sticking a little lately. I think I’ll have to bring her back to the shop. What’s your name?”

I glanced from his face to the metal leg. “Bobby. Bobby Pendell,” I choked out. It wasn’t the leg. It was just hard to breathe around him, like he was sucking up my share of the oxygen.

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know how Jeremy Glass had lost that leg, though I was pretty sure he’d be happy to tell me. I thought about bolting back inside the club, but that would be rude.

Instead, Glass said breezily, “You were awesome, dude. Where’d you learn to play guitar and sing like that? Man, all I can do is run.”

I bit back on the obvious response. How could a guy with a fake leg run?

Glass laughed. “Ha! Most people are too polite to ask, but I’m not shy about it. I was a sprinter. Fastest in my school. Until—well, until the accident. But now I’ve got a Teflon blade and I’m the fastest on the team. Technology is awesome, huh?”

I cleared my throat. Something about this guy was making my skin crawl. Maybe it was his fast talking. Or the way his eyes twinkled but looked steely and cunning all at the same time. I felt like he was silently laughing at me. Like his brain worked two and a half times faster than mine did. He eyed me with one eyebrow raised, as if he didn’t actually expect a response. 

“Um, it was nice to meet you. But I really should be getting back inside,” I said, and finally got up to leave.

Glass stared calmly back at me. “Who’s your friend, then?”

A shiver rolled up my spine. I had to get away. Ever since my last brush with Agent Maura Reston on the Scratch Lake dock, I’d had the distinct feeling I was being watched. Maybe I was just being paranoid, but this guy seemed to be probing me for something.

“What friend?”

His gaze shifted over my left shoulder. “That guy.”

The blood froze in my veins. I pivoted and saw a brief white flicker, a disruption, then empty air.

Glass laughed. “Yeah. You’ve got to learn to ignore them. They’re everywhere.”

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

Glass’s smile vanished. “I don’t like it any more than you do. But I can always tell when I meet someone like me.”

“Like you?” I backed away toward the club entrance, cold sweat trickling from my scalp down the back of my neck.

“You can see them, too. Things no one else can.”
He pressed a card into my hand. My mouth went dry. The sidewalk tilted. I pressed my palm to the glass of the club window to steady myself.
I didn’t have to look down to know what it said. 

He’d seen the thing that I’d seen. He was like me.
He was working with Agent Reston and her paranormal goon squad.
 
 
You can pick up FRACTURED in these fine places:
 
 
 Enter to win a $25 Giftcard to Amazon or Barnes and Noble and ebooks of VISION and BREAKING GLASS! 
 
 
About the Author
 
Lisa Amowitz was born in Queens and raised in the wilds of Long Island, New York where she climbed trees, thought small creatures lived under rocks and studied ant hills. And drew. A lot. She is a professor of Graphic Design at her beloved Bronx Community College where she has been tormenting and cajoling students for nearly twenty years. She started writing eleven years ago because she wanted something to illustrate, but somehow, instead ended up writing YA. Probably because her mind is too dark and twisted for small children. Lisa is represented by Shannon Hassan of Marsal-Lyon Literary Agency. shannon@marsallyonliteraryagency.co
 
BREAKING GLASS, released in July, 2013 from Spencer Hill Press, is her first published work. VISION, the first of the Finder series was released September, 2014. FRACTURED, a novella combining the worlds of BREAKING GLASS and VISION releases as an ebook only, June 7, 2015. UNTIL BETH, the first in the Life and Beth trilogy will be released September 2015.
 
Lisa Amowitz is available for guest appearances, Skype visits, school visits, libraries & interviews. Please contact her for scheduling.
 
Website:
Email: mommatoo@optonline.net
Social Media:
 
 
 Check out VISION and BREAKING GLASS by Lisa Amowitz, and keep an eye out for UNTIL BETH, coming in September!

VISION
released
 
 
Paperback: 264 pages
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press (September 9, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1937053997
ISBN-13: 978-1937053994
 
The light is darker than you think… 

High school student Bobby Pendell already has his hands full—he works almost every night to support his disabled-vet father and gifted little brother. Then he meets the beautiful new girl in town, who just happens to be his boss’s daughter. Bobby has rules about that kind of thing. Nothing matters more than keeping his job.

When Bobby starts to get blinding migraines that come with scary, violent hallucinations, his livelihood is on the line. Soon, he must face the stunning possibility that the visions of murder are actually real. With his world going dark, Bobby is set on the trail of the serial killer terrorizing his small town. With everyone else convinced he’s the prime suspect, Bobby realizes that he, or the girl he loves, might be killer's next victim. 
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“Haunting and intense, VISION grabbed a hold of me in the very first scene and never let me go”
—Kate Brian, author of the bestselling PRIVATE, PRIVILEGE and SHADOWLAND series
 
 
VISION won a 2014 the Gold Moonbeam Award for Young Adult Mystery:
 
 


 
 
BREAKING GLASS
 
 
Lisa Amowitz
Young Adult Fiction
Spencer Hill Press, July 2013
ISBN: 978-1937053383
 
On the night seventeen-year-old Jeremy Glass winds up in the hospital with a broken leg and a blood alcohol level well above the legal limit, his secret crush, Susannah, disappears. When he begins receiving messages from her from beyond the grave, he’s not sure whether they’re real or if he’s losing his grip on reality. Clue by clue, he gets closer to unraveling the mystery, and soon realizes he must discover the truth or become the next victim himself.
 
Available at:
 
Praise for BREAKING GLASS
 



BREAKING GLASS won a 2013 Moonbeam Award for Young Adult Mystery:

http://www.independentpublisher.com/article.php?page=1704


Praise for Breaking Glass:
 
 
THE SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL says
Posted on 
12/01/2013
Gr 9 Up—"This novel is an edge-of-your-seat thriller with a supernatural twist. Jeremy Glass is the star runner for his high school track team, has a stellar GPA, and is in love with his best friend Ryan's girlfriend, Susannah. He's also a secret alcoholic. He uses vodka to escape the nightmares that have haunted him since his mother drove the two of them off a cliff. However, for the past year, he's found himself relying on alcohol to dull his desire for Susannah, as well. The night she discovers Ryan cheating on her, Jeremy follows them to the gorge where they are engaged in a heated argument. Hoping to mediate, he leaps from his car directly into the path of an oncoming truck. He awakens in the hospital with a crushed leg and to the news that Susannah is missing. Once he is released, he begins to receive links to videos and cryptic messages indicating that she is dead and becomes determined to find her killer. In a fog of pain killers combined with alcohol, Jeremy risks his life to uncover a past murder that involved his mother, Susannah's mother, and Ryan's wealthy and influential father. Amowitz does an exceptional job of portraying the fragile mental state of a young man who has faced three devastating losses. Readers will wonder if he is truly solving a murder or experiencing a mental meltdown."—Cary Frostick, formerly at Mary Riley Styles Public Library, Falls Church, VA
 
 
USA TODAY says:
“Jeremy's story is gritty and suspenseful, and at times downright spooky, but his intelligence, tenacity and quick, sarcastic sense of humor brightens the darker moments. The novel is also about hope and a young man who prevails in the face of insurmountable challeges. BREAKING GLASS is an impressive debut from Lisa Amowitz.”
Full review from USA TODAY
 
 
JUST JARED JR. says:
 
“This book is a suspenseful mystery and you’ll find yourself trying to figure it out before you actually do. There are tons of twists and turns and you won’t put the book down until you solve it all.”
Full review from Just Jared Jr.
 
 
ForeWord Reviews says:
“Every character has a secret in this intricately plotted YA paranormal mystery that delivers a wild and rewarding ride for teen readers.”
 
 
 “Betrayal, addiction, murder . . . and of course, a ghost . . . Just when you think you know what's happening, BREAKING GLASS punches you in the gut and leaves you breathless!”
 
~Jennifer Murgia, author of the ANGEL STAR series & BETWEEN THESE LINES
*
 
"A dark romance that will keep you up at night with its twists and turns, BREAKING GLASS is a must-read debut. Lisa Amowitz has burst onto the YA scene with this intriguing novel. You'll be hooked from the first page - I certainly was! The characters are drawn with depth and sensitivity, and the plot is heart-pounding. Don't miss this one.”
 
~ Christine Johnson, author of Claire de Lune, Nocturne and The Gathering Dark
 
*
 
“Breaking Glass was a surprise addition to my reading list for July . . . definitely a book that will keep you guessing right until the very end. It wasn’t a matter of if I was going to read the book, but when and how much I would like it.”
 
~ Shelley (Gizmo Reviews)
*
 
“From the first page I was hooked. Lisa Amowitz has a writing style that made me feel sad I had social engagements because all I wanted to do was sit down and read this book from start to end.”
 
~ Emily, On Emily’s Bookshelf
 
UNTIL BETH
 
 
Releasing September 29, 2015
 
Paperback: 260 pages
Publisher: Spencer Hill Press (September 29, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 163392033X
ISBN-13: 978-1633920330
 
 
 
She doesn’t just play, she kills it.

Talented rock guitarist Beth Collins has been barely holding herself together for months, ever since her boyfriend and bandmate became the latest victim in a string of suspicious disappearances. When her brother is injured an accident and she sees something dark billowing around him as he hovers close to death, she’s convinced her sanity is collapsing for good. 

Then she's accepted by a boarding school for the musically gifted. All of her new friends are bursting with talent, but they're also keeping secrets. Can she trust Vincent, who's so sweet that his very touch makes her fears melt away? Or Xavier, who's trying to tell her something but is hiding even more?

And will anyone be safe when her true Talent comes out? 
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Expected publication: September 29th 2015 by Spencer Hill Press
 

 

 
 

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