All posts by kingsmuirpress

Kingsmuir Press-Boston, Dundee, Auckland We are a small publisher of fine fiction and non fiction books. We specialize in Romance, Science Fiction, Biographies, and Food and Home Improvement

Book Excerpt-Blood, Sweat and Fears

Chilly winter nights are the perfect time to curl up with a good book.  Kingsmuir Press has many wonderful books, to delight just about any reader on your Christmas list.  We have everything from charming romances to action filled science fiction books.  Today we are featuring an excerpt from Jean Marie Stanberry’s latest work, “Blood, Sweat and Fears”.

“Blood, Sweat and Fears” is an adventure of sorts.  It follows the life of a young figure skater Jenna Bruce. Jenna seems to be set up for failure by her own parents when she is shipped off to Paris to skate in an ice show, all the while masquerading  as an adult when really she is a minor, just 15 years old.

When Alexander, a Russian co-worker with his own agenda begins sexually harassing her, no one in the company takes it seriously.  Jenna is forced to work side by side with a man she eventually begins to fear, in the meantime all the while he has infiltrated the rest of the cast with lies and everyone there is soon convinced they are lovers.

No one can anticipate how quickly Alexander’s passion will deteriorate into obsession and his desperation will escalate into a grim web of deception and violence.

Chapter Seventeen-Blood, Sweat and Fears Continue reading Book Excerpt-Blood, Sweat and Fears

Enough Already!

As a writer I am also an avid reader and since the very beginning of the incidents in Ferguson, I have read just about every article published on the subject.  I am beginning to be sickened by the amount of people who are putting their two cents worth in, just for the sake of doing so, without any firsthand knowledge of Ferguson, police work or any working knowledge of the subject in general.  Many have labeled Michael Brown a thug and Darren Wilson a racist killer.  Neither of these labels will help anyone to understand the situation in question, but I guess if labeling people in that way makes you feel better about yourself, then you just do what you need to do. Continue reading Enough Already!

Why Hate Isn’t The Answer

Being from originally from St. Louis, I have been watching the events in Ferguson carefully.  I worried from the very beginning that no matter what the grand jury verdict was, violence would erupt in the streets of Ferguson.  Why did I feel that way?  Because the protesters in Ferguson didn’t want the truth, they wanted justice for an imagined wrong, and no matter how much evidence was presented that might  justify the shooting, they would never believe that Michael Brown deserved any part of it. Continue reading Why Hate Isn’t The Answer

Coming soon!

Okay romance fans get ready for a wild ride!  The unique humor of Constance Kirk is coming to Kingsmuir Press.  If you haven’t experienced her raw wit and unique voice in the literary world you are in for a treat.  Her newest novel Appeal is due to hit bookstores and e-readers sometime in January.  More details coming soon a bit closer to the release date!

You’re Lucky, and don’t you forget it!

Sometimes I dread Monday mornings, it means I have a whole week of deadlines, editing, rejections etc. ahead of me.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my job, but sometimes I envy my slightly diva friends who married well and have never had to work a day in their life.  Their kids are grown now and they complain of boredom, condemned to spend the rest of their life in Plastic surgeons offices and beauty salons, all in an effort to keep up their looks so that their husbands won’t be tempted to run off with a younger, prettier woman.

Seems like a lot of work right?  Well they think their life is pretty hard, but what is the cost of all that beauty?  I think sometimes we forget that everything we indulge in here in the US has a slightly tawdry background in a country where it’s people are hurting for money and will do just about anything to ensure that their family survives.  I ran across this article on the internet this morning and found it fascinating.  I have never had hair extensions before, but know many who have.  Next time you head the to salon for extensions think about the poor woman who had nothing else to give for her family. https://www.yahoo.com/beauty/the-real-story-behind-where-your-hair-extensions-come-101266901210.html

Fall Is Here!

The leaves are turning, the nights now have a bit of a chill in the air.  Everywhere you look you can find goodies made with pumpkin, lattes, scones, pies, ice cream.  The list goes on and on.  There are a lot of reasons that fall is my favorite season, but fires in the fireplace are my favorite thing of all.  I stack floor pillows on the hearth and grab my Kindle and read all evening long. Continue reading Fall Is Here!

Book Tour Highlights

IMG_0665
Jean mingled with friends and fans at Webster University .
IMG_0674
Jean with husband Gary at the St. Louis County Library’s Star Catchers Gala.
IMG_0677
Gary Stanberry with author Craig Johnson.
15135465238_4049538ba9_z
Jean and husband Gary mingling at the St. Louis County Library’s Star Catchers Gala.
0917141847
Jean and husband Gary taking in a late season Cardinals baseball game against Milwaukee.

A book tour is a high point for any successful author and Kingsmuir Press author Jean Marie Stanberry just returned from a very successful book tour in her home town St. Louis, Missouri.  St. Louis has suffered in the press recently with tales of racial tension and protests in the township of Ferguson but when one of their own is back home in the spotlight St. Louis has a way of welcoming them with open arms. Continue reading Book Tour Highlights

Fast Update for a door, by Jean the Queen

What can you do when you have ugly hollow core doors and don’t have the budget to replace them all?  Get creative!  My husband and I plan on eventually replacing all our hollow core doors, but unforeseen hits to our budget mean not right away.  Most of the doors we will sand down and re stain a darker color to help disguise their ugliness, but I had another idea for our pantry. Continue reading Fast Update for a door, by Jean the Queen

New Event!

Just confirmed this morning!  For all our fans of Jean Marie Stanberry living in the Midwest, we have another date for you to keep in mind.  On Saturday September 20th Jean will be at the St. Louis County Library Foundation’s Star Catchers Gala, an annual fund raiser for the Library foundation which will feature a western theme this year, which will no doubt,  make Jean feel right at home.  Local celebrity Art Holiday will serve as the MC and the featured guest of the evening will be Craig Johnson, author of the “Longmire” series of books on which the hit TV series was based. Continue reading New Event!

DIY Adventures-Refacing a fireplace

Anyone who knows me, knows that when my husband and I have a project, we will at the very least, attempt to do it ourselves.  After a bit of trial and error we do know our limits.  For instance, we try to avoid large concrete projects and my husband Gary is not allowed to paint.  Other than that, we will try just about anything at least once.

Our latest project involved refacing our fireplace.  We built the fireplace when we moved into the house almost ten years ago.  It is a gas fireplace and it was meant to augment our aging heating system and conserve space over the home’s previous heat source, a large and unwieldy wood stove which was not only dirty, but because of allergies, I had bronchitis most of that winter. Continue reading DIY Adventures-Refacing a fireplace