Find My Daughter | Book Trailer

 

 

Title: Find My Daughter: Detective Scott Series Book 13

Author: Jennifer Chase

Publisher: Bookouture

Publication Date: February 17, 2025

Pages: 384

Genre: Crime Thriller

She hears footsteps approaching, then the clunk of a heavy lock. Her body is numb in the cold but she stands, determined to fight. A blinding light overpowers her, and the world goes black…

When Detective Katie Scott finds a woman dying in the car garage, blood pooling around her, she reaches her just in time to hear her utter the words: find my daughter.

Katie doesn’t waste a second gathering her team and pulling the case file for the missing child, Anna Braxton, a teen with sparkling blue-eyes and an even brighter future. Staring at the blank investigation board, Katie won’t rest until she fulfills Anna’s mother’s dying wish.

Searching the Braxton’s impeccable family home, Katie finds Anna’s journal, filled with teenage secrets. Buried among the pages, she thinks she finds a lead—a strange man reached out to Anna, just days before she went missing…

But the case takes a terrifying turn when Anna’s best friend also vanishes. Hours later, a girl’s body is found in the embers of a house fire, her yellow satin dress devastatingly beautiful amongst the ashes. Is it Anna, her best friend, or another girl?

One thing is certain: a monster has the closeknit community of Pine Valley in a chokehold, and Katie must get one step ahead of the killer before any more precious young lives are taken. But at what cost?

Find My Daughter is available at Amazon.

About the Author

Jennifer Chase is a multi award-winning and USA Today Best Selling crime fiction author, as well as a consulting criminologist. Jennifer holds a bachelor degree in police forensics and a master’s degree in criminology & criminal justice. These academic pursuits developed out of her curiosity about the criminal mind as well as from her own experience with a violent psychopath, providing Jennifer with deep personal investment in every story she tells. In addition, she holds certifications in serial crime and criminal profiling.  

Website & Social Media:

Website ➜ https://authorjenniferchase.com/ 

X ➜ https://x.com/jchasenovelist 

Facebook ➜ https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJenniferChase 

Instagram ➜ https://www.instagram.com/jenchaseauthor/ 

Goodreads ➜ www.goodreads.com/author/show/2780337.Jennifer_Chase

 

📙 A Bookish Word or Two with Christopher Kaufman, Author of Tales of the Ocean City #abookishword

 

 

On A Bookish Word or Two, we have a guest post by Christopher Kaufman, author of TALES OF THE OCEAN CITY.  

Christopher Kaufman is an author, composer, presenter, illustrative artist and performer. He started imaginative fantasy books with illustrative art at the age of nine. During high school years he found music and attended The New Orleans Center for The Creative Arts and went on to major in music composition in college. He finished his schooling – earning his DMA in music composition at Cornell University where he studied with Pulitzer Prize Winning composers who prize his abilities as a composer.

Christopher is the type of person who needs imaginative fantasy scenarios to get to sleep. Therefore, he emerged from Cornell, not only with his degrees in music, but with the full event structure for his classic epic fantasy series Tales Of The Ocean City in his mind.

He began writing the story down in the early 2000’s, but it did not really come to life until he developed his home music ‘laboratory’ and started creating the music and text at the same time. Thus books one and two of TOC came about simultaneously as both graphically illustrated pages and effulgent audio albums filled with cinematic epic symphonic music.

They exist now as physical books and audio albums (that go together) and the new Video Book version.  He performs live tours with the music pouring through speakers, live narration and the colorful pages streaming on screen – a true immersive multi-media experience.

He also maintains his career as a composer for the concert stage with a full body of work, from solo works thru orchestral. He specializes as well in ‘environmental works’ which feature soundscapes crafted from hundreds of natural sounds, live musicians (from soloists, chamber groups and to full orchestra), videos filled with both natural and artistic images and readings from the works of John Muir and others.

Kaufman’s books feature full-page graphic illustration and go-with audio albums filled with epic cinematic music, narration and sound design.  All available, with generous discount packages, at kaufmantales.com (epubs and the new Video  Book version available there!).

His author page is talesoftheoceancity.com.

His you-tube channel is SOUNDARTUS.

Visit him at Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/talesoftheoceancity.

Christopher believes in the transformative power of imagination.

“Live with imagination!”

The Inspiration Behind Tales of the Ocean City

By Christopher Kaufman

First, I would like to share that I am a creative artist of long standing. I have my ongoing classical epic fantasy series, Tales Of The Ocean City, music works for the classical concert stage and film, and ‘environmental works’ featuring live performance and soundscapes crafted from hundreds of natural sounds. I also have family audience-based theatrical works which, like Tales Of The Ocean City, are simultaneously books with colorful illustration where each

page is a work of art, effulgent audio albums filled with cinematic/symphonic music, performance films and concert performance pieces. My readings performances of TOC feature live narration as the graphically illustrated pages stream on screen and the music pours through speakers.

I began writing fantasy stories with colorful illustrations when I was nine years old. Later, as a young student at The New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, I discovered music; there I played oboe and piano, sang bass solos in Handel’s Messiah and began composing. I continued my schooling in music all the way through a Doctorate in Music Composition (Cornell University) and followed that with leading a performing arts group titled CHIRON Performing Arts - through which I’ve presented the work of hundreds of artists of all disciplines. Later, I founded a series titled The Phantastic Theater - new music for people of all ages all at once, where I find creative ways to present new music and art and for which I’ve created and produced my theatrical pieces mentioned above.

All through the years of music school my stories never left me.  

I am the type of person that needs to dive into imaginative fantasy scenarios every night to get

to sleep.  So, I finished my schooling phase with my music degrees and the vast event structure for Tales Of The Ocean City - through book eight, which I am completing now!

I started writing down these stories in the early 2000’s, but it was only when I initiated my home music ‘lab’ and began creating the text, music and narration at the same time that I found my voice as a storyteller. After two Audio Albums (TOC books 1-2), and then adding the element of the graphically illustrated pages filled with art and color, the style for these works was established.

Tales Of The Ocean City tells the tale of a young civilization turning the corner into the future. The city as a whole must do this by facing a terrible enemy from the deepest past, The Vorm - with whom they co-evolved in ages past on their ancestral isle. The main characters are young Harl’ut and his lifelong companion, Vispushin - who is a perianth (a kind of telepathic pegasus).  They are very close, like family. They speak to each other mind-to-mind.  Harl’ut too must face the past.  At the end of book two he undergoes an initiation adventure where he descends into the volcanic mountain, Pla’than’taa - from the belly of which The Ocean City was delved. There, he interacts with personifications of past god-like figures and battles a terrific monster. He then leads a cadre of young warriors into the Vorm Hive on a vital mission.

My work as a composer has informed my storytelling.  In musical harmony you have chords with great tension that resolve (cadence) into more consonant ones.  In TOC there are situations of conflict that resolve, such as the visceral battle scene of book one that ends with a heightened and inspiring resolution. Music has given me a strong sense of pacing. I know when to write short, direct sentences to move the action (of which there are tons) at a terrific pace, and when to take time and paint a glorious picture.

I believe in the transforming power of imagination. This is a theme that runs throughout all of my creative projects. I hope that the experience of my stories helps people see, hear and live with imagination more fully - this is the cure for all that ails us. 

I would like to acknowledge the writers that have informed my work and imaginative life and to whom I am eternally grateful; Tolkien, Lovecraft, McCaffrey, Dunsany, Lewis and my favorite,  Lloyd Alexander - who spoke about writing for adults for many years and enjoying it, yet, when he started writing for young people, the emotions became deeper and more powerful, not less so.

This may be why my Tales Of The Ocean City appeals, not only to YA audiences, but to Adult Fantasy Lovers as well.

Thanks for tagging along! Live with Imagination! 

See you in the places Beyond The Fields We Know, to paraphrase Dunsany.

Christopher Kaufman

My works are available at kaufmantales.com.

🎤Interview with Kate Damon, Author of Jury Duty is Murder #AuthorInterview

When Kate Damon is not writing, she and her husband enjoy RVing, spending time with family and friends, raising Monarch butterflies, and playing a wicked game of bridge.

Writing as Margaret Brownley, she has published more than 40 novels and is a New York Times bestselling author. Known for her memorable characters and humor, she is a two-time Romance Writers of America Rita finalist.

Not counting the book she wrote in sixth grade, and the puzzle of the missing socks, this is her first mystery.

Website ➜http://margaret-brownley.com/

Twitter ➜https://www.x.com/katejuryduty

Facebook ➜https://www.facebook.com/MargaretBrownleyAuthor/ and https://www.facebook.com/p/Kate-Damon-61565155275435/

Instagram ➜https://www.instagram.com/katedamonbooks

BookBub➜https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kate-damon

Goodreads ➜ https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4072660.Kate_Damon and https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/163681.Margaret_Brownley

 

Can you tell us what your book, Jury Duty is Murder, is about? 

It is a cozy mystery that follows the aftermath of a high-profile trial where jurors, who convicted a famous athlete for murder, find themselves in danger when members of their group start dying under suspicious circumstances. As the story unfolds, four of the surviving jurors must overcome their differences and work together to solve the mystery surrounding their peers' deaths. The novel explores themes of friendship,

betrayal, and resilience in the face of danger while maintaining a light-hearted tone amidst serious themes.

Can you tell us a little about your main and supporting characters?

Mindy (CeeCee)

Mindy, known by her nickname CeeCee, is an exotic dancer whose life has been significantly impacted by the trial. As a result of her involvement, she lost both her job and her boyfriend, leaving her in a precarious position both financially and emotionally.

Helen (Schoolmarm)

Helen is a 72-year-old woman facing challenges related to aging. Her family is attempting to place her in an assisted living facility, which adds to her feelings of isolation and frustration.

Harold (Shoe)

Harold, nicknamed Shoe due to his habit of staring at his feet, experiences a series of unfortunate events upon returning home from the trial. His house is destroyed when a news reporter crashes into it on his first day back. Additionally, he faces financial difficulties as his hardware store teeters on the brink of bankruptcy and his marriage struggles under the strain.

Alex (Reporter)

Alex is an actor whose career has hit rock bottom. His personal life is equally troubled; he lives in a garage owned by an eccentric landlady. The combination of professional failure and romantic woes contributes to his sense of despair.

Your book is set in Palm Valley, California. Can you tell us why you chose this location in particular?

Palm Valley is a fictious town set in Ventura County, which just so happens to be where I live. 

How long did it take you to write your book?

I had the idea years ago, but I’m actually a western romance writer (writing under my own name, Margaret Brownley), so no one was interested in letting me switch genres. The book might not have gotten written had it not been for a dark period in my life. My husband passed away at the same time Covid hit. I was very much alone because the lockdowns prevented me from seeing family or friends. The experience shifted my focus away from romance. Feeling at loose ends, I went through my files and found the notes I’d written years earlier. I was able to get it published by using a pen name.

What has been the most pivotal point of your writing life?

The most pivotal point in my writing life was when I decided to pursue my dream of becoming a writer despite failing eighth-grade English and being advised by my teacher not to even think of becoming a writer. It took a while to get to that point, but once the decision was made, I enrolled in creative writing classes, wrote magazine articles, and eventually published more than forty-six novels.

What kind of advice would you give up and coming authors?

My advice is to join a writing group, preferably in your genre. I belonged to two. I honestly don’t think I would have gotten published had it not been for my writing groups.  One was a local group which offered monthly meetings, critiques and. most importantly, support.

The other was a national group which offered writing contests, conferences, and even chances to meet with agents and editors. 

Jury Duty is Murder is available at Amazon.