Everybody has secrets. Some will kill to protect them.

Just when Jaymee Ballard’s life seems to be on track, a massive derecho attacks the Delta Crossroads sowing destruction in its path. Her boyfriend, investigative journalist Nick Samuels, comes up missing, and she fears the worst.

Nick’s abandoned car contains evidence of his involvement uncovering a controversial case mired in political power and greed. While her friend and local detective, Cage Foster, heads up the inquiry into Nick’s kidnapping, Jaymee finds it impossible to sit back and do nothing.

Enlisting the help of her best friend, Dani Evans, Jaymee discovers a trail leading to the dangerous and secretive Dixie Mafia. Facing a fraudulent Confederate artifact scheme, dark local history, and a powerful enemy lurking in the shadows, the two friends find themselves holding the key to not only Nick’s disappearance, but a shameful town secret someone will kill to protect.

“Ashes and Bone is a book that grabs you on the first page, and doesn’t let go of you until the last. Once again, Stacy Green has produced a winner.”
–Bestselling thriller author Rachel Abbott

What the readers are saying:

“Stacy Green finishes out the Delta Crossroads Trilogy with a cast of characters, a host of crimes and enough suspense to keep you guessing till you turn the last pages.”

“Another perfect book in the Delta Crossroads Trilogy!”

“Stacy Green has a talent for transporting the reader into the setting of the story, where you feel like you’re in the deep south in the midst of a mystery where lives hang in the balance.”

Ashes and Bone is available in paperback and all digital formats!

Ashes and Bone for Kindle US          Ashes and Bone for Kindle UK          Ashes and Bone for Nook

Ashes and Bone on iTunes     Ashes and Bone for Kobo     Ashes and Bone in paperback

Everybody has secrets. Some will kill to protect them.

Just when Jaymee Ballard’s life seems to be on track, a massive derecho attacks the Delta Crossroads sowing destruction in its path. Her boyfriend, investigative journalist Nick Samuels, comes up missing, and she fears the worst.

Nick’s abandoned car contains evidence of his involvement uncovering a controversial case mired in political power and greed. While her friend and local detective, Cage Foster, heads up the inquiry into Nick’s kidnapping, Jaymee finds it impossible to sit back and do nothing.

Enlisting the help of her best friend, Dani Evans, Jaymee discovers a trail leading to the dangerous and secretive Dixie Mafia. Facing a fraudulent Confederate artifact scheme, dark local history, and a powerful enemy lurking in the shadows, the two friends find themselves holding the key to not only Nick’s disappearance, but a shameful town secret someone will kill to protect.

Are you excited yet? This is my favorite book in the series, and I can’t wait to share it with you! Just for fun, here are five teaser tidbits from ASHES and BONE!

1) A fire endangers the citizens of Roselea and their historical landmarks.

2) Someone from the trilogy dies.

3) All four main characters (Jaymee, Cage, Dani, and Nick) have points of view in the story.

4) A (fictional) relative of John Wilkes Booth comes to Roselea.

5) A building collapses on more than one of the main characters.

What do you think? Are you excited to read? Feel free to grab the cover graphic to share on social media, and make sure to add ASHES and BONE to your Goodreads Shelf. Don’t forget to ‘LIKE’ my Facebook page to receive updates on the launch party and enter the contest for an early copy of the book!

It’s almost Christmas, and I’ve decided to give readers a special treat! My sampler that includes excerpts of all my books, including an EXCLUSIVE PASSAGE of the final book in the Delta Crossroads Trilogy, Ashes and Bone, is available for free download via my website. I’ll be submitting to vendors soon, but I wanted my followers to have first crack. You can download the PDF below or from the link in the navigation bar. The sampler will always be free, as a gift to my readers!

I hope you have a wonderful and safe holiday season.

Download Stacy Green: A Twisted Minds Sampler for FREE Now!

I never expected to be a success out of the gate–that’s a rarity and usually happens to someone with major house backing. My goal was to put out the best books I could and continue to improve my craft. After hiring a freelance editor who worked with Penguin NAL, I know I’ve done that. And every day I focus on putting out better stories. That said, there are those days when I wish for the big numbers of my more established peers. I do believe the key to building an audience lies in writing more books, and that much of the time and money new authors spend toward marketing is a waste, but that doesn’t stop me from sometimes feeling like I’m still on the outside of the ballroom, hoping to be allowed into the exclusive dance. That said, I believe in my writing 100%, and I have big plans for 2014.

So after a year in this business (and don’t get me wrong, I’m still very much a newbie), what would I tell someone getting ready to publish their first novel?

• If you’re independently publishing, put your money into editing. Do your research and hire a developmental editor – one with experience editing the genre you write. A critique partner is NOT the same as an editor, especially for a newer writer.
• Hire a separate line editor. This is different from developmental editor. This is about sentence structure, grammar, etc. A good line editor is worth the investment because they can prevent a lot of the grammar issues that seem to be a major issue with independently published books.
• If you’re going with a small press, make sure their editing is top notch. Read their books and look for quality of plot and grammar.
• If you’re going with a small press, stop and think about that decision. In this digital world, unless you go with a small press that has some pull with bookstores or marketing, it might not be the best investment of your money. Depending on the press, you won’t have much control over pricing and sales, and that makes a big difference. A huge part of the success of many independently published authors is working their prices and staggering their sales.
• Understand cover art and hire an artist who gets the differences between genres. This was a major mistake with my Delta Crossroads Series. The original covers were beautiful and professional, but they didn’t fit in with the suspense genre. My new cover artist finally told me that my books resemble Lisa Gardners, and asked if my covers looked like hers. When I realized that huge difference, the genre thing finally clicked.
• Don’t spend a bunch of money in marketing. I’ve learned the hard way that there isn’t much point in investing a lot until you’ve got at least three books out and if possible, an entire series. Readers are so inundated with options many don’t want to invest their time and money in an author until they have more books, and an entire series is available to them. I don’t read like that, so it was hard for me to get that mentality. But after taking a step back and listening to established (and successful) indie authors, I had to admit this was absolutely true.
• Write the next book. Invest your time in coming up with great plots and characters.
• Read a lot. It really does make a difference.
• Study what your peers are doing. Look at authors who’ve had successful book launches and see what they are doing on Facebook.
• Be accessible, and be grateful for every reader. Most of us are starting from the ground up, building an audience reader by reader. Embrace that. Get to know your readers and make sure they understand how important they are to you.
• Start a mailing list. Give those readers something special. You may have to play around and figure out what that something special needs to be, but a mailing list is a great way to build loyal readers.
• Keep writing. Don’t get boiled down in numbers. Don’t check them half a dozen times a day. Keep writing.
• Whether you have an agent and are seeking traditional publishing or publishing independently, you are a brand and a business. Don’t make decisions based on emotion. Do what is best for the long term career you’re after.
• This is a business. Most success stories don’t come overnight. WORK HARD. Be a student of craft and of the industry. Realize this is an all hours a day job.
• Stay positive. You are lucky to be following your dream and brave to be embarking down this road. Good luck!

Don’t forget about the Kindle Giveaway to celebrate my one year in publishing! Contest ends December 13th!

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Isn’t it funny how we can be on an emotional ride and not even realize it? How the littlest things can send us way off kilter?

Example: I finished the final book in the Delta Crossroads Series last Friday and sent it to my developmental editor. It’s an accomplishment to be sure: three books (actually four, if you count the draft of the new series I’m working on now) written in a year. A trilogy fans love is almost finished. I had no idea how that one action would spark a saddie moment. It’s time to end the series, but it’s bittersweet. I love those characters, and their voices are still rattling in my head. I’ll most certainly miss them.

And on the heels of that came the news that my mother’s kidney function is down to 15.9%. If something doesn’t change, dialysis is probably coming in the next couple of months. Now, she’s lasted longer without it (almost two years) than the doctors expected, so I can’t complain. I thought I was prepared for the news. Every time she goes to the doctor, I steel myself for it. Monday night I was fine. Tuesday sucked. I wanted to yell and scream and cry, and the worst of it is, I wanted to do those things to her. We are very close, and I don’t know what I will do without her when that time comes. And no matter how hard I try, I’m mad as hell at her for not taking care of her diabetes like she should have. She thinks she did, though, and arguing with her is a waste of precious time. It’s too late to change things now, and so we have to trudge on and hope for the best. That really doesn’t make it any easier.

So this week has been loaded with saddies. Change is all over the place and I DO NOT LIKE IT. And believe me, I know I’ve really got nothing to whine about. Things could be a lot worse. But sometimes you just have to let yourself wallow in the pity pit for a while and then start clawing back up.

I’m working on it. I’ve been editing the first draft of a new series I’m launching in May. I adore the character, and her darkness is something I love exploring. Getting into her head is a weird kind of therapy.

The point of this post is two-fold: first off, if you’re diabetic or pre-diabetic, be proactive and BELIEVE that it will kill you if you don’t make major changes. It is a horrible disease. Take care of yourself now before it’s too late. And secondly, don’t feel bad if you want to wallow around and feel sorry for whatever lousy thing is going on in your life. Sometimes a pity party is just want we need, as long as we don’t drag it out.

Thanks so much to all of you out there reading and chatting up Tin God and Skeleton’s Key. Nothing blows a saddie moment to bits like a wonderful review or Facebook comment.

How do you deal with a bout of the saddies?

So what is Stacy’s Killer Thrillers? I’ve decided to start a street team! I’m starting small and looking for readers who love the books and have the time to help promote. Members of the group will have access to special swag and contests and other goodies. If you’re interested, email me at stacygreenauthor@gmail.com, and I will contact you with the questionnaire. As of now, our “home base” is Facebook so you’ll need to have an account there.

And don’t forget, I’m celebrating one year published, so make sure you enter the contest!

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Now, onto the writing part. This movie is an excellent example of conflict and piling more and more on the character. One problem resolved, quick breather for the character, then another disaster. It’s a roller coaster that is perfectly executed.

Whether you’re interested in screenwriting or not, I recommend this movie for every writer, especially suspense and thriller writers. It is the best example I’ve seen of ratcheting up the stakes while making the viewer care deeply for the main character in a long time. The movie’s setup is quick, giving us just enough interaction with Bullock and Clooney to care, and then all hell breaks loose and last until the last seconds of the movie.

Beyond that, the character growth is very strong. Through fear, desperation, panic, and finally, faith, Bullock keeps fighting. We see her terror while witnessing her strength, and that is a damned hard thing to pull off.

Genre tastes aside, this movie is a must see to better your writing craft.

Have you seen Gravity? Do you plan to? What movies have helped shape your writing?

Skeleton’s Key (Delta Crossroads #2) broke into the top 100 in Mystery Series in less than a week of release! Thank you so much to those of you who attended the launch party on Facebook and who are reading/reviewing the book. I’m thrilled with the positive response!

A very quick teaser for Skeleton’s Key: