FREE, TODAY ONLY.  WHEN GYMKHANA SMILES 

Free, today only THE RETURN OF TRUEPENNY

http://amzn.com/B0082AXTGC

Free today only.

TRUEPENNY.

http://amzn.com/B007181Y0Y

Free, today only. For Kindle and Kindle apps. THE TAKING OF RHINOCEROS 456.

http://amzn.com/B006P10KGM

Free, today only. Saints & Sinners. For Kindle and Kindle apps.

http://amzn.com/B007I7OTF0

Here is my new cover for When Gymkhana Smiles, a horror short story.

Available only at Amazon.com for the Kindle and Kindle apps.

http://amzn.com/B005CWGIQ6.

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK: The Devil’s Grin by A. Wendeberg.

Did new blurbs for almost all of my books and stories. What do you think?

Something mysterious goes on after hours at the San Antonio Daedalus Memorial Zoo. Myths live here. Mother Earth, for one. When the rhinos vanish, Steve the bum finds a talking dog. Maybe. Oddball whimsy combined with a puzzle: THE TAKING OF RHINOCEROS 456.

WHEN GYMKHANA SMILES, run. This young black girl’s survival depends on her dental health; yours on keeping out of her way. As her Southern Gothic horror of a family prowls the coast waiting on her transformation, no one realizes what the old man plans. And Gymkhana never wanted her boyfriend involved. Not sitting tied to that chair. Whether you like your horror stories nasty or merely scary, this one leaves your teeth on edge.

An angel of God who can’t remember his purpose. Two legendary lovers. Three strangers unite, battling one another and the ancient menace one carries unknowingly on her back into the West Texas arroyo. Their bond and covenant takes them from the flying saucers of Marfa to the vampire temptress of San Antonio, and then clear across mythical 1893 Texas to their fiery end. ARROYO–not your grandfather’s sort of western.

THE RETURN OF TRUEPENNY: a cat eats mouse tale. Insane. Daring. Resourceful. MIA since the first story, Truepenny shocks the household by returning home on the back of a kite. PawPaw envisions her caught up in string when he steps forward to save her. Big mistake. Wrong type of kite.

SAINTS & SINNERS: the voyage of a lifetime. The cruise ship Ascendant plies the waters of a pseudo-Caribbean sea. Passengers party like hell, no thoughts of the future. Great food, good friends, sex. But below decks a strange Ticktacktoe game goes on forever and ever. As heaven and hell hang in the balance, sinners play. And saints? They toss, throw, push or shove people overboard. Does anyone win?

TRUEPENNY: where the courage of a mouse earns the friendship of a cat. In a household where mice scoff at traps (but live in fear of the dog) the young mouse Truepenny emerges on a quest to expiate her family’s sins. What sins? And how can such a tiny mouse make it right? First obstacle: the family cat. This one considers eating mice one of the perks of his job. But one other deadly danger awaits.

You can find all my published stories at Amazon.com for the Kindle and Kindle apps. http://amazon.com/author/gretchenrix.

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:  Disturb by J. A. Konrath.  Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. My Gun Has Bullets by Lee Goldberg.

 It’s official. 2012 was the last year of the Scare The Dickens Out of Us ghost story contest/fundraiser. Please don’t submit any entries in 2013 (or later). We will return them unopened.  The official web site http://clarklibraryfriends.com will remain active for the next year. All the winners are listed there.

While we enjoyed judging and running the contest, it’s time to quit. STDOOS had a good four-year run and raised $5,075 for the library, but it never grew enough to make it a totally viable contest. Basically it cost more to run and fund the contest than we ever took in from the entry fees. All that money went to the Friends of the Dr. Eugene Clark Library and was used to help fund the annual summer children’s reading program. The contest was privately funded.

We would like to thank each and every one of you who entered. The quality of your stories was very good,  and the ones that went through to the final judging were excellent. Thanks also to Romance Writers of America and Mystery Writers of America. Both organizations were generous about publicizing our contest and we received many entries from their ranks. However, most of our entries came from the writing contest sites and we want to thank every one of them. And not least, thank you regional writing groups across the United States.

Finally, thanks to our final level judges Sue Smith and Erin Pringle and Sabina Murray (first year).

Photos by Roxanne Rix. STDOOS logo by Molly Humphrey.

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:  Taking The Highway by M.H. Mead.  The Walk by Lee Goldberg.