Author Archives: Jeanie

About Jeanie

I am President of Loiacono Literary Agency, LLC. I have been a literary agency for thirteen years and have over sixty clients and have sold over 200 books to date.

PLAGUE by Buzz Bernard is #37 on the Kindle list; #6 on the Amazon suspense list!

PLAGUE by Buzz Bernard is #37 on the Kindle list; #6 on the Amazon suspense list!

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Having been an Amazon Daily Deal yesterday, PLAGUE by Buzz Bernard has flown up to #37 on the Kindle list; #6 on the Amazon suspense list!

In only a matter of days, 9/11 and the destruction of the Twin Towers will be rivaled by a lone-wolf terrorist attack on America. Atlanta is targeted as Ground Zero for the most horrifying plague in modern times.

Deep in the secret recesses of a Cold War lab, the Russians created tons of deadly bio-weapons. Now, decades later, a protégé of that Russian research is about to release weaponized Ebola into the heart of the South’s most iconic city: Atlanta, where the symbols of American “decadence” range from a happily diverse population to the Coca-Cola museum and CNN building.

A preliminary test of the horrifying virus demonstrates the unspeakable suffering of its victims-and alerts the Centers for Disease Control that a terrible pandemic is in the making. CDC Virologist Dr. Dwight Butler begins a frantic effort to track down the source before it’s too late.

For new BioDawn CEO Richard Wainwright, it quickly becomes clear that the “accidental” plane crash that killed the pharmaceutical company’s entire executive hierarchy may have some connection to the evolving threat. Suddenly Richard is being stalked by a hit woman. He and Butler join forces to find the lone terrorist at the center of a plan that could unleash a modern Black Plague on the western world.

H.W. “Buzz” Bernard is an Air Force veteran and retired Weather Channel meteorologist. His 2010 hurricane thriller, Eyewall, became a number one bestseller in ebook. Visit him at www.buzzbernard.com.

One step closer to publication for Leta Serafim!

Leta in Greece

 

Leta Serafim, author of To Look On Death No More and The Devil Takes Half (soon to be released by Coffetown Press, 2014) is seen here in Greece, in the very area where both books take place.

            To Look On Death No More is a historical fiction set in Greece during WWII, a story that will pull at your heartstrings.

Brendan O’Malley was an Irishman with heroic ideals who joined His Majesty’s army to rid the world of tyrannous rulers – specifically Hitler. His former dispatches were in Cairo, challenging Rommel in the desert; his last in Greece the autumn of 1943 with the stated objective ‘to make contact with partisan forces and build airstrips.’ Parachuting in, he is wounded and is found by Danae, a seventeen year old Greek girl, and her brother, Stefanos. Although they confiscate all he has upon his discovery, they hide him in a cave for weeks saving his life. He, in turn, helps Danae’s family and joins the rebel forces to fight the Germans.

A true love story, as well as an expose’ of what occurred in a remote part of Greece close to the end of the war, you feel as if you are there, so hungry your insides ache; so cold you shiver, bracing against the slicing winds of the mountains, yet so in love you are afraid to acknowledge your heart; knowing either of you may not exist tomorrow.

Thoroughly researched, Serafim’s documentation and pictures give breath to those who lived and those who were lost. Most WWII stories are written with Italy, Germany, Great Britain and the United States as the focal points, but who has read of the atrocities committed against the Greeks? Who has been satisfied with their meager atonements?

The Devil Takes Half is a murder mystery set on the Greek island of Chios, five kilometers off the coast of Turkey.

A severed hand is found at an archeological site at the monastery of Profitas Elias in the mountainous interior of the island. A close-knit community with only one homicide since WWII, the Chief Officer is inexperienced in such investigations, but with the help of the local priest who watches all the American crime shows and Marina, a woman he has loved all his life but was not allowed to marry, he pieces the puzzle together. An ancient Minoan city is the source of all the malice, murder and mayhem, but also the saving grace of a poor island.

Twists, turns and dead-ends combined with gasp-filled events keep you clueless as to who the villains are until the very end.

Serafim was a journalist at the Los Angeles Times Washington Bureau before moving to Greece, where she taught art and illustrated books. Upon her return to the United States, she wrote feature stories for the Boston Globe before trying her hand a fiction. She continues to spend her summers in Greece.

 

 

Five star review for Maddie’s Choice!

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“Look out Nora Roberts and Sandra Brown!  This author of a certain age, (Joyce Zeller), can hang with the best of them.  Her novel, “Maddies’s Choice” has it all; romance, intrigue, and suspense, all of which are delivered with a good dose of humor and insight.   The characters really come alive.  “Maddie’s Choice” of course, should be to continue writing romance novels since she has an extraordinary wealth of subjects in her own backyard.  There could be sequel after sequel written about the main characters.  I can just imagine their stories!  The only disappointment was finishing the book.  It leaves you wanting more, much more….  A thoroughly enjoyable read! 

–Barbara Collins, critiques and reviews

DELICIOUSLY SLEAZY by Buzz Bernard

DELICIOUSLY SLEAZY

By Buzz Bernard

www.buzzbernard.com

Supercell - print

As a way of raising the curtain on my new Website, I’d like to introduce you to Jerry Metcalf, a key character in Supercell.  Jerry isn’t necessarily a likable guy.  But he is, as one reviewer put it, “deliciously sleazy.”

Metcalf is a self-proclaimed “chief of staff” for Global-American Cinema.  “I make sure stuff gets done and things happen; I kick ass and take names,” he tells Chuck Rittenburg, whom he’s hired to find a violent tornado to film.

A big man with a broad face and full black beard, Metcalf stands out in a crowd.  Especially since he’s usually dressed in Timberland hiking boots, cargo shorts and a white Greek fisherman’s cap.

He’s impatient, goal-oriented and profane.  He detests being away from Hollywood chasing storms on the Great Plains, an area he views as a sort of purgatory.  “People don’t really choose to live here, do they?” he asks.

When he and his film crew are forced to spend some down time in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he reacts badly.

Metcalf mostly bitched, proclaiming Tulsa the tedium capital of the world.

After discovering the city was originally part of Indian Territory, he suggested giving it back to them and letting them turn the town into a giant casino. “At least there’d be something to do,” he groused, “and it might even attract some decent [hookers].”  

(He actually used a more pejorative term than hookers.)

Metcalf and Chuck lock horns almost immediately on their “great hunt.”  It’s a conflict that escalates throughout their 14-day odyssey and ends with Metcalf the object of Chuck’s deep-seated anger.

Chuck’s assessment of the the whole affair: “Thanks to that weasel, Metcalf, it turned out to be a classic example of finding defeat in victory.”

Meet Jerry Metcalf for yourself when Supercell swirls into book stores November 1st.

PLAGUE review!!

PLAGUE review

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I have to tell you, I am not a reader. I hate having to read anything; prefer audio books that take no effort. BUT, Jeanie Loiacono gave me this book, PLAGUE, to read last Christmas. Yes, last Christmas, nearly a year ago. She said it was “right up my alley” as I am a phlebotomist at the Medical Center of Central Georgia. Well, I can say that I have read four books since I graduated high school and this was #4. I have been reading it in bits and pieces for months and just finished. An absolutely fabulous book; ever so believable. I cannot thank Buzz enough for writing a book I am willing to read, and not just read, but enjoy. And, of course, Jeanie for giving it to me.

–David Deep

Great review for Maddie’s Choice by Joyce Zeller

MADDIE’S CHOICE by Joyce Zeller

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Posted on October 8, 2013 by Maryann Wakefield, author of A Gentle Sun Coming

Maddie’s Choice was recently suggested to me by my agent, Jeanie Loiacono.  I thought it wasn’t a good time for me to read for-fun books.  I was wrong.  It’s always a good time for reading a book that keeps me turning the pages.  This is the summary that caused me to buy the book.

Maddie’s Choice

By Joyce Zeller

Maddie’s Choice4.5 of 5 stars4.50 · rating details · 2 ratings · 2 reviews

Romance writer Maddie Taylor’s career is in trouble. Convinced that true love does not exist outside of her imagination, she can’t complete her current manuscript. When a friend, Jonah Spartman, dies and wills her half of his cattle ranch, she seizes the chance to leave New York City. There is one catch: in order to inherit, she must stay in Arkansas for three months. The other half of the ranch belongs to Gideon Spartman, Jonah’s grandson, a black-ops veteran whose humanity was torn from him in Afghanistan. Rugged and sexy, Gideon embodies the hero in Maddie’s current manuscript. He is far from happy to be sharing an inheritance that is rightfully his with a “gold-digging bimbo” and resents having to care for his two orphaned nephews. But Maddie senses the need behind Gideon’s rough and unwelcoming exterior. She must also contend with the two love-starved boys and an Angus bull who craves chocolate. The ranch is hardly the safe haven Maddie expected. It is operating in the red, and the area is plagued with drug dealers and cattle rustlers. Maddie can return to her barren New York existence or stay and fight to save the ranch and win Gideon’s love. The choice is hers.

This is a book about life and its content is very explicit at times.  It’s also about cattle rustling, drugs, and the way adults and kids go about getting what they want.  I thought it was very well written.  I give it a thumbs up.