Shades
Shades
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Description
Creepy not gory, an edge of your seat page turner...
Amazon Reviews
Don’t Stop Protesting, Don’t Stop Fighting #TimesUp #metoo #EnoughisEnough #NeverAgain #GunControl
We thought we’d won. We thought we’d raised the issue of domestic violence. We thought change was on the horizon. We were wrong. We stopped fighting too soon. Domestic violence continues to kill — and not just the victims. On Feb. 22, 2018 a police officer died aiding a neighbor. The shooter had a long history of domestic violence, an active protective order against him, and three open warrants, including for assault. A man barred from owning firearms shot two officers in Westerville OH with a gun purchased by a friend,...
read moreI write fantasy novels for grownups
Do you like fantasy novels with realistic, complex characters, fantastic worlds with Elves, Dwarves, Men, Fairy Queens or High Priestesses, where battles of the mind and the heart are fought as well as battles against uncanny enemies? Epic, heroic, historic Arthurian fantasies. Tolkienesque or G. R. R. Martin (with healthy relationships and without the incest and rape. Why does G. R. R. not have any positive relationships between his characters?) In other words, not YA. I prefer to be realistic about all aspects of relationships in the books...
read moreShould you get New Cover Art?
Should you or shouldn’t you purchase a new cover? That is the question. A good cover isn’t cheap. Here’s how to determine the answer: Does it portray your genre? Is it working? Is it bringing readers to your book? Do your reviews reflect that? A hard-edged thriller cover should be a stark as the content. A fantasy cover should let the reader know whether it’s epic/mythic (landscapes, castles, swords), urban (edgy, usually dark, street views), heroic/tolkienesque/arthurian (pastoral, swords, magicians), historical, or a...
read moreBeing Right or Being Kind
When did manners become a bad word? When did behaving well turn into a bad thing? When did political correctness become a pejorative? Has the general negative attitude of this country permeated to all levels? When did it become more right to be cruel than to be kind? There has been a ‘debate’, and I use that word very loosely, about a certain situation on Facebook that degenerated into name calling, unkindness, and worse. Bullying. The person involved was ganged up on by a large number of people. Even worse, since it was...
read moreRomance
Romance novels tell us not how men are, but how we wish them to be. A few years back (I’m not telling how many *laughing*) I found myself in the position of watching my (previous) marriage at the beginning of the inevitable downward slide toward divorce. It was a tough time. Worse, because I was trying to follow my dream of writing. That was what tipped over the apple cart. What saved me was reading, of course. More particularly, reading a series of specific books – Nora Roberts Chesapeake Bay series. Knowing N.R.’s history...
read moreThe Coming Storm series
This book isn't in your Library! Please check the ISBN/ASIN number you provided.My new advertising banner for the Coming Storm series. What do you think?
read moreA Home for the Holidays
NEW! A Home for the Holidays – Part of the Millersburg Quartet A free short story.
read moreNew books available on all platforms
I’ve recently released a set of books to multiple platforms, and I can’t wait to share them with you. So, from today, available on Smashwords, Nook, iBooks and Kobo – The Millersburg Quartet, Shades and The Offering Museum. You can also get all of them on Amazon, as usual. Millersburg Quartet Book 1 Amazon – Kobo – B&N – Smashwords – Itunes Millersburg Quartet Book 2 Amazon – Kobo – B&N – Smashwords – Itunes Millersburg Quartet Book 3 Amazon – Kobo...
read more#MeToo – Abuse, Domestic Violence, Rape ‘fantasies’ & Trigger Warnings
Synchronicity is a strange animal. The Michael Weinstein exploded about a month after this was posted. Prior to that a question had come up on Facebook – in books where a primary part of the plotline is abuse, domestic or sexual violence is it necessary to start with the gory details? On another thread a rather harsh discussion took place regarding rape in an ‘erotic’ novel. The quotation marks around erotic are deliberate – and pertinent to a recent change on Smashwords as recounted on their blog. Because of the...
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Valerie Douglas is a prolific writer and genre-crosser, much to the delight of her fans. She reads and writes classic fantasy, romance, suspense, and as 
