Saturday 19 March 2016

Introducing The Doll Harvest

Driven Press is very happy to reveal the cover for our upcoming release


The Doll Harvest

The Doll Harvest, from Ron Savage, will release in the northern summer, 2016.







Blurb

The twins say I’m perfect and rare. “We had to look very hard to find someone like you.” I am admired.

On the steps of her quiet brownstone, Nettie Harnell smells the sickly sweet scent of chloroform moments before she is abducted.  When she awakens she’s in a dark basement chained to a post with nothing but memories of her mother and Paris to keep her company while she awaits her fate.

There is a shortage of medical donors in Philly, not that Carl and Vern Wachoski consider it a problem--it’s another business opportunity. Taking without permission has turned out to be incredibly lucrative, especially with Carl’s motto being “waste not, want not.” But Carl’s arrogance could cost them everything if they don’t watch out.

Dutch Harnell is no stranger to depression since the tragic and violent death of his wife and son eleven years before. Now it’s time for Dutch to pull himself together to save his one remaining family member, Nettie. With the help of Kapil Talpur, a young graduate student who witnessed the abduction, he finds himself drawn deeper into a world of greed and intrigue, where they can trust no one but themselves.


The Doll Harvest will be available for pre-order soon.

Stay tuned!


Author

Ron Savage worked under the title of Senior Staff psychologist at a state mental health facility in Virginia and also had a private practice. Ron is the author of seven novels and two volumes of short stories. He has published more than 125 stories worldwide, and he is the recipient of the Editor’s Circle Award in Best New Writing and was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Ron is a member of PEN America and has also been a guest fiction editor for Crazyhorse. Some of his publications can be found in Film Comment, the North American Review, Shenandoah, the Baltimore Review and the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.


Find Ron Savage at:


Facebook:

Twitter:
@DoctorRonz

Tuesday 1 March 2016

A Keeper's Truth by Dee Willson


Driven Press is very excited to announce the hardcover release of 
A Keeper's Truth
by Dee Willson on March 1, 2016.


 Book Details: Hardcover Novel

Genre: Literary Romance


Blurb

Every one of us has a soul.
Some are new, some old, and a few, the dangerous, are lost.
But only twelve know why we have a soul at all.
Only twelve remember mankind’s forbidden past.

Tess thinks she’s going crazy when only she sees the naked man in the crowded café, comatose woman in his arms. The nightmares, the visions: something’s not right. But Tess is entitled to moments of insanity. She’s the daughter of mental illness, suicide, and her husband was just killed in a car accident, leaving her an inept single mom at twenty-six.

Then Tess meets Bryce, Carlisle’s illusive bachelor who spins tales from ancient mythology with knowledge beyond his years. His truths intrigue Tess, pull her from the depths, and might just be what she needs to survive.

Compulsively readable, A Keeper’s Truth is an emotionally charged tale of fate, belief, and the power of the human mind. A story that will have you questioning everything you know about the history of mankind, and wondering if somewhere, deep inside, you knew the truth all along.


Praise for A Keeper's Truth . . .

“With a generous wit that readers should savor, Willson presents Tess as a damaged woman desperate to heal. . . as Willson unfurls more of her world, her series’ immense potential proves irresistible.” —Kirkus Reviews

Dee Willson is a born storyteller . . . her worlds are freshly invented, meticulously considered and richly told." —Katherine Luttinger, Agent, Darhansoff & Verrill, New York

Tess is a highly credible and original lead character . . . that combined with a surprising portrait of ancient lore, the novel really comes alive.” D. J. McIntosh, Author of The Witch of Babylon

"Dee Willson’s characters cast shadows sharp enough to make even the most jaded reader uneasy. She juxtaposes comfort with peril and the beautiful with the grotesque until the simplest gestures are disquieting and the only way out is forward." —Rob Brunet, Author of Stinking Rich

"I love finding books that don't go the obvious path... books that keep you guessing." —Jennifer Foxcroft, Author of Sanguine Mountain




Excerpt


My name is Tess. I'm the daughter of a liar. And unhinged.
Tess is the name on the sticker stuck to my shirt above my right boob. I wonder why it says that, no one uses my name anymore. It should read: Oh, I’m sorry. Or the extended version: Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I’m greeted with pouty lips and sad eyes. Instant reminders . . . as if I need to be reminded my husband is dead. Meyer has been gone five months, two days, sixteen hours, and twenty-two minutes. The last two minutes only slightly better than the first.
I’m standing in my daughter’s classroom, waiting for my turn to meet her kindergarten teacher, Ms. Bubbly. Actually, her name is Ms. Rainer, but since she wears no sticker herself, I’ve taken the liberty to provide her with an appropriate title, one with more verve. I hover in the back corner, pretending to be enthralled with drawings of horses stapled to the bulletin board. Well, I think they’re horses, or ponies, or some sort of animal with four legs; they really aren’t all that easy to decipher. I’m grateful for the distraction. I’m a shell, a remnant, a shadow of my former self.
I catch a glimpse of affection, a naturally intimate gesture between lovers. His hand on her waist, her leaning into his shoulder while whispering in his ear. I draw a mouthful of air, the word widow encasing me like a tomb, and scan the crowd again, hoping to see Thomas. He’s the only other single parent I know of. He’s not here.
It must be my turn to speak to Ms. Bubbly. She reaches out and with a strained voice says, “So sorry to learn about your loss.”
Great, just what I wanted to hear. I look at my nametag and tighten my arms into their usual position, holding my insides, inside. I realize my lack of finesse a moment too late, and Ms. Bubbly drops her hand.
“So . . . Abby . . .” I can’t think of anything more to say. My mind is mush.
Ms. Bubbly briefs me on her first weeks with my daughter, nothing I don’t already know. Abby is quiet. Abby’s working on her printing skills, her b’s and d’s are backwards. Abby likes to play with Thomas’s daughter, Sofia, her best friend from junior kindergarten. Ms. Bubbly ends with, “Abby seems to be coping,” and I stare at my shoes, the word coping caught in my throat. “Yes, under the circumstances, Abby is doing well,” Mrs. Bubbly says, her animation dwindling.
I realize she’s striving for sincerity, but I can’t help but wonder which circumstance she’s referring to: Abby being fatherless or my inability to raise her alone.
“Good,” I say, because it’s Tuesday, opposite day according to the blackboard.
Ms. Bubbly’s attention wanders, and I consider revoking her title as I mumble goodbye, head for the door, and tear the name tag from my shirt. Head down, I smack my forehead into something solid, then recoil, instinct requiring an assessment of the battle wound.
It hurts already. Life just won’t toss me a break.
“My apologies, Tess,” says an unfamiliar voice. A rich, masculine voice.
My eyes follow the six feet four inches of triple-threat black—boots, jeans, leather jacket—to land on two-day stubble and a large hand rubbing the contours of a chiseled chin. Apparently life can get worse. I’ve collided with Adonis, the kind that stops your heart from beating just long enough to make you forget all the ones who came before, offering nothing but hollow promises and seasoned moves. Been there, done that, burned the shirt.
It dawns on me he said my name, no condolences.
“Do I know you?” I ask, my gaze rising from his chin to his eyes.
Wow. His gray eyes and dark lashes are . . . mesmerizing.
“I doubt we’ve met. Tess, it’s the name on your sticker,” he says, pointing to the name tag now on the floor. His hair, dark and cropped, is windblown and off kilter.
I grab the closest chair, attempting to overcome the strangest sensation, like I’m a feather, floating.
“You all right?” His European accent has an almost liquid quality, at odds with his rugged appearance. “Allow me.”
Relocating his motorcycle helmet from one hip to the other and balancing it under his forearm, he bends to collect my sticker from the floor. Something shimmers, my vision suddenly malfunctioning, and for a split second he’s draped in a luxurious white fur, a blanket of sorts, reaching for a bright colored scarf at his feet, big and bare. His movements are gentle and deliberate, but fast, as if I am watching in fast-forward. With the conclusion of one blink he’s back to normal, leather clad arm outstretched toward me.
I stand stock-still, holding the chair for support, trying to bring my eyes into focus.
“You okay?” He thrusts the sticker at me a second time, I think.
I survey body parts, grateful gravity has kept me intact.
“I’ve been better.” I squeeze my eyes tight, trying to recall what I’d seen, but it’s gone, as if wiped from memory, leaving just a weird sense of déjà vu. Man, I’ve fallen apart since Meyer’s been gone.
“You have,” he says, and my eyes pop open to stare. He’s smiling, amused. “Too much caffeine maybe.”
Have I met this guy before? He doesn’t look like anyone I know, but there is something about him, something familiar. It’s not a good feeling.
“Right, caffeine,” I say, lying. I gave up caffeine when I was pregnant with Abby and never looked back.
He grins like a hyena. “Your eyes playing tricks?”
My mother, in one of her moods, would’ve wiped that smirk away with a kiss. And he’d have let her, stranger or not. She was intoxicating. But I’m not my mother, and my brief lapse in sanity doesn’t require justification. I’m a twenty-six-year-old widow with no idea how to pull it together, so I ignore his question and settle for diversion.
“Are you a teacher here?”
“Not here,” he says. “I promised my niece I’d stop by to meet hers.” He takes my hand. “Bryce, Bryce Waters,” he says, planting a soft kiss on the back of my fingers.
Stunned, I search his face for the slightest hint of perversion, a reason to club him, but I see nothing but a gentleman in wolf’s clothing. Still, I pull my hand away.
“I’m not the teacher.”
He tilts his head. “You’re Tess.” My name drips from his lips like melted butter and warning bells sound in my head, loud and clear. “You’ll need ice for that bruise.” He points to my head. “Take care of yourself.”
A gritty moan vibrates my teeth when I touch my forehead and discover a bump the size of Mount St. Helens. It throbs, making me take note of the headache creeping in. Somewhere under the surface I’m mortified I plowed into this guy without an apology or concern for his chin. I can’t bring myself to grasp the emotion, so I draw a deep breath and say, “Always do,” as I shuffle past and without another word, walk straight out the door.


Buy Links


Barnes & Noble

Waterstones

Indiebound

Fishpond



The paperback and e-book are releasing on April 1, 2016 and are currently available to pre-order at all the major online sellers:

Driven Press: http://ow.ly/XCGff
Amazon US: http://ow.ly/WNB5f
Amazon CA: http://ow.ly/WNBG8
Amazon UK: http://ow.ly/WNC9m
iTunes: http://ow.ly/WTAE0
B&N: http://ow.ly/WTBju
Kobo: http://ow.ly/WTARu
GooglePlay: http://ow.ly/XCGbu
Indigo: http://ow.ly/WTC8Y


For more information:



Dee Willson



Dee Willson felt the writer’s call at fifteen, when she penned her first novel and received her first rejection letter to go with it. Over twenty years later, with two successful businesses under her belt (both with Canada’s largest book retailer, Indigo Books), Dee Willson rekindled her passion for novels. She joined a hard-core book club, published short stories and interviews, contributed to blogs, and wrote the novel A Keeper’s Truth, followed by GOT (Gift of Travel). Dee is presently working on the second instalment in the Keeper’s series, and Meant 2 B, a crazy ghost story riddled with fate.

Dee and her husband currently reside in Burlington, Ontario. They are building their dream home on the shore of Lake Ontario, where they expect to watch their daughters frolic in the lake, and possibly grow four heads.

Visit her online at www.deewillson.com or on Twitter @denisewillson