mystery series

Happy Birthday, Rona Shively!

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Today is a special day! Not only is it the birthday of my favorite character in the world, it is the day I decided to bite the proverbial bullet and publish the first chapter of the eleventh book in the series on Kindle Vella, The Harder They Fall! I struggled with the idea for a while, but then realized that there was no better way to get myself in gear than to just jump right in and start sharing. I realize that for those who’ve never read Rona, there will be some big spoilers in book 11, but I’m hoping it won’t deter them from going back to read the earlier books. Consider them a prequel to a new era for Rona. She’s 55 today, so why not throw caution to the wind?

It will be good to have her back! I’ll have the link for you soon. It’s being processed as we speak, so in the meantime, if you haven’t caught up on books one through ten, now would be a great time. All are available in the HGBM Shop, on Amazon, and on Audible! http://www.highergroundbooksandmedia.com/shop

P.S. – Wishing a very happy birthday to my aunts Betty & Bonnie today! Hope they have a wonderful day! Ladies like these inspire me to keep writing empowering stories like the Rona Shively Stories. Love you ladies!

New Contest: Tell Me Your Story and you might win a Kindle…

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Well, it’s that time again. I haven’t had a contest on my blog for a while and so I figured that it would be great to do something this holiday season!

Here’s the scoop. To enter this contest, all you have to do is follow this blog (Benston Blogs) and then send me your story about the most ridiculous Christmas gift you ever received. The winning story will receive a brand new Kindle E-Reader as well as Keeping the Faith and This Side Up for Kindle. And, I’ll include your story in an upcoming Rona Shively book. Easy! Follow, share, win!

Deadline to enter is December 10th. Winner will be announced on December 15th right here on Benston Blogs!

As I’ve said, proceeds from all sales of the Rona Shively Stories goes to help my women’s empowerment ministry, Higher Ground Ministries. With that in mind, please consider purchasing all five Rona stories for just $50. This price includes shipping. Just e-mail me to order! If you don’t want to order all five, my newest Rona Shively story, Now You See Me just came out on October 31st so, it’s a great time to order the latest story if you’ve read the rest. You can get your copy of this book or of any of the Rona Shively Stories for just $10 (includes shipping)!

Good luck to those who enter and thank you for following Rona!

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Are you ready for Rona’s next adventure?

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Here’s a preview of the latest Rona Shively novel, Now You See Me:

The realization hadn’t quite hit me all the way, but the minute the words were out of my mouth, a wave of panic shot through me. What kind of mother would I be? I had no idea what I was thinking. What made me think I had any business bringing a child into the world? I didn’t even know how to take care of myself. When it came to loving people, I was a first-class loser. Case in point, I had a guy here that wanted to marry me and I was trying to push him away because I felt like he loved me too much. Isn’t that the point? That someone would love you too much?

As I stood there, stunned by the realization that I had absolutely no confidence in my ability to be someone’s mother, Trey put his arms around me and pulled me to him. He completely abandoned his own pity party to pull me out of mine.

There’s alot going on with Rona. In case you missed the last installment, well, I’m not going to tell you. You’ll have to read the book. 😉 I’m hoping to have book 5 in the Rona Shively series out soon. Due to a series of unfortunate events, the writing of this book was delayed. But do not fear, it’s on the way…as are the many changes that will undoubtedly carry Rona into a whole new set of challenges.

But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead,and Christ will shine on you.”

~Ephesians 5:13-14~

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What if it’s really not you?

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I’ve been thinking about identity theft lately. Partly because this is the main offense being perpetrated in my latest Rona Shively novel and partly because someone I know recently claimed that their identity was being tampered with. In their case, they were lying to cover up some unsavory behavior. In Rona’s case, however; it’s a bit more entertaining.

Without giving too much away, Rona Shively will soon find herself in the middle of a twisted case of identity theft. Someone wants to make her look bad and they are not above taking advantage of unsuspecting elderly women to do it. When a new client comes to Rona, pointing fingers and asking questions about why she is trying to swindle old ladies out of their savings, Rona has no choice but to dig in and set about finding well, herself.

You’ll never guess in a million years who is behind all of this. Rona faces some difficult losses and ends up in an all out war with her worst adversary to date.

In 2011, be on the lookout for Rona in Now You See Me: The Rona Shively Stories.

This Side Up is now available! Just e-mail to order your copy today! Be sure to write “This Side Up” in the subject line of your e-mail!

Until next time…

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From the latest Rona Shively Story…

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Here’s a preview of my new Rona Shively story:

I waddled into the restaurant, mentally ordering my pancakes, eggs, and sausage as I scanned the dining room for someone who fit my client’s description of herself. She had said that she was tall and thin with dark brown hair. She said that she would be wearing a red leather jacket. I spotted her almost immediately. Her hair was short, in a stylish bob. She was almost too conservative-looking to be meeting with the likes of me. I walked up to the table and made one of those “Ahem” noises to get her attention. When she looked up, the expression on her face went from calm to catty in something like seconds.
“So, you’re Rona Shively,” she said, her tone extremely unfriendly.
“So, I am,” I said, “What’s the problem? Are you Susan Fleming?”
“That’s right, and I’ve got a bone to pick with you,” she said getting to her feet. She jabbed a finger in my face as she continued her tirade. “Where do you get off trying to take money from helpless, old ladies?”
Now, I’m not generally speechless. This is especially true when some hag is pointing her gaudily painted fingernails in my face as this woman had done. A few months ago, she would have been on the receiving end of a nasty ass-whooping for this kind of behavior. Today, however; I was feeling generous. Whether it was the nature of the accusation or the instability of my hormones that made me stop and think before taking a swing is not important. What’s important here is that I simply stepped back and calmly asked, “What are you talking about?”
“You know very well what I’m talking about,” she said loudly. People were starting to watch our exchange and with my reputation, I really didn’t need this kind of publicity. “I’m talking about Esmerelda Haynes, my grandmother, the woman you convinced to sign over $5,000 of her retirement money for a phony insurance policy.”
Okay, now she was just being ridiculous. “Esmerelda Haynes?” I asked. My patience was wearing thin and since she was making it very difficult for me to order those pancakes I’d been fantasizing about, I was starting to feel a little less charitable and seriously considering punching her in the mouth to shut her up.
“Esmerelda Haynes,” she said. “You just spoke with her last week, didn’t you?”
I took a moment and then shook my head. “Uh, no,” I said, “I’ve never spoken with any Esmerelda. Not last week or even over the course of my entire existence. I do not sell insurance, nor have I ever convinced anyone to give me $5,000.”
She gave me a look that said she absolutely didn’t believe me. This woman did not know me and I wasn’t sure who had told her that I was the one who swindled her poor old granny, but at this point, I just wanted to sit down.

You can order your copies of The Rona Shively Stories by contacting me here. Get all four for just $40!

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Keeping the Faith…available September 25th!

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I’m so happy to announce here on Benston Blogs that my third Rona Shively book, Keeping the Faith will be released by Stonegarden.net Publishing on September 25th! This is the first novel-length Rona Shively story and I can hardly wait for the release date! Rona is going through some changes and you won’t believe what she’s up against or for that matter, whom she’s up against in this one.

Stop by my Rona Shively website for more about this book!

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Updates, Great News, Contests, & Mayhem: Read at your own risk…

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I say, “Read at your own risk,” because I am aware that sometimes my gibberish can become quite unpalatable. No matter. I’m just getting a little slap-happy from being home so much. It’s this love-hate relationship I have with winter. I do love the way the snow looks when it falls, but I hate to drive in this weather. I love the cold, but I hate having to be bundled up so much in all of the sweaters and jackets. I love having snow days, but I really hate not being able to go out and do stuff.

Thankfully, the time off has given me lots of time to pester people about things like entering the What Would Rona Do? contest which ends on January 31st. Hint, hint. I’ve also been contacting libraries to schedule Tea & Mystery events! I’ve also been talking with people on Facebook that I haven’t talked to for years. Snow days give you lots of time to catch up on the things you haven’t done in a while. They also give you lots of time to think about all of the things you should be doing. For instance, I haven’t written a word on my fourth Rona book in at least two days. I opened the file and stared at it for a while, but nothing happened. The story is in my head, hiding behind one of my posts. Not a real post, a blog post. Lest you think there is way to much space in my head. Please, no snide comments about that remark. 🙂

In other news, perhaps most importantly, I’m feeling elated as I have just discussed my third and fourth Rona books with a publisher who has agreed to sign me. Tentatively, Keeping the Faith is now slated to be released in September of 2009 by Stonegarden.net Publishing. The owner is a great guy and I’m so happy that I am now going to be a part of the Stonegarden family! Sorry it has taken so long to get KTF out, but such is the plight of the aspiring author. I’ll be posting more snippets from KTF on my website, so take time to stop by there.

As you probably already figured out from my last paragraph and from previous posts where I’ve said as much, I am already working on the fourth book in the series. I’ll have more information about that one for you in a couple of months. I don’t want to give too much away just yet. For now, I’m thrilled that my series has found a new home and I look forward to getting Rona out to more and more people this year! Since I’m feeling generous, I think I’ll give something away!

***NEW CONTEST ALERT***

How about this? Not only am I giving something away for Rona’s Birthday on 2/4 in the What Would Rona Do? contest; on 2/14 I’ll be giving away a special Heartbreaker Prize Package for Valentine’s Day and the only way to enter this contest is by commenting on the blog.

Each person who comments on the blog today through Valentine’s Day will be entered into the prize drawing! I’ve posted a picture of the last Prize Package I gave away so that you have an idea of what kinds of things you might win!

There’s actually no mayhem, as the post title implied, but I can probably come up with some mishief if it’s really that important to you. Mainly, I wanted to share my great news and invite you to win some cool stuff! Have a great day and I’ll anxiously await your comments!

Until next time…

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The light in the middle of the tunnel…

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Just the other day, I finished writing the third Rona Shively book, Keeping the Faith. It will be my first full-length novel and I am very excited about this. The process was just as other authors have described; very emotionally charged and much like giving birth. Unfortunately, at 2 a.m., I had no one available with whom I could share my overwhelming enthusiasm. My husband and daughter had long been asleep and I didn’t dare wake them. It was a little anti-climactic in a sense, but the important thing is; it’s finished!

As I set about the task of editing this monster, I will also be working on a couple of new projects. By the end of this year, I hope to have finished a story that I have been working on in a hit-or-miss fashion over the last ten to fifteen years. It is a combination Sci-Fi/Historical Fiction piece that I am eager to get back into writing. I think you’ll enjoy it! I’m also going to begin writing the next installment in the Rona Shively series, but I’m going to keep details about that one under wraps for now.

In addition, there are a number of contests and other projects I am going to be working on throughout the end of the year. My big goal, however, is to get this Rona Shively story into a new publisher’s hands. I’m absolutely thrilled at the prospects here, but I know that the bulk of my work still lies ahead. So, armed with about twenty of my library’s finest style manuals, publishing guides and writing books, I’m setting about the task of getting my newest book into your hands.

Keep watching for more status reports…you know how I love to update everyone…

Until next time…

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Daydreaming…

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My sister, my husband and I were brainstorming yesterday about who could play the part of Rona Shively if I were to be able to make this mystery series into a movie. This lead to discussion about who would play Norm and some of the other characters. It was fun to daydream, but we really had a hard time trying to figure out just the right people for the job. What we came up with was this:

For In the Wash:

Rona Shively-Neve Campbell

Norm-Greg Kinnear

Charlie-Jason Bateman









Delvecchio-Sylvester Stallone



For Under Lock and Key:

Trey-John Cena

Jane-Natalie Portman? Still thinking about this one…

Ted McCafferty-Lee Evans

Sally Jacoby-Bridget Fonda

For the newest book, Keeping the Faith (not yet published)

Garrett Shaw-Colin Farrell

Although we haven’t really been working towards making a movie, it’s fun to dream! Got any ideas on who would make a good Rona Shively Story character? E-mail them to me here and I’ll post them on the blog.

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