New Release: That Darkest Place by Marica Meara plus eBook Sale!

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Sometimes insanity just prevails and you have to roll with the flow. I was offline most of the weekend, intending to do the bulk of catching up on Monday. Unfortunately, Monday arrived complete with a power outage. UGH! So now I’m playing catch up on top of catch up, which is why I missed some of my usual blog rounds yesterday. I’ve got my fingers crossed that I don’t get hit with any more unexpected glitches. One really nice plus to put things in perspective is my guest today, Marcia Meara.

Marcia and I have been friends for a while, but this is her first guest appearance on my blog. I hope you’ll give her a warm welcome!

I’ve read her entire Wake Robin Ridge series, which I can highly recommend, and I’ve also read Swamp Ghosts, the first book in her Riverbend series. Book two is on my Kindle and I just purchased her newest release, That Darkest Pace¸ book number 3.
I love Marcia’s writing and her effervescent personality, so of course, I wanted my readers to meet her too. I think she put together a great post about the characters who inhabit Riverbend. Take a look….

~ooOOoo~

Thank you so much for having me today, Mae. I’m very happy to be here, and to have a chance to introduce your followers to the sleepy Florida town of Riverbend.

Riverbend is exactly what it sounds like. A tiny town which sprang up in the early 1900s in a bend of the St. Johns River. One main drag with a few small shops and restaurants, and a dozen side streets with other small businesses. That’s about it. Well, that and all the colorful and eccentric characters who live there.

Swamp Ghosts, the first book in the Riverbend series, introduced readers to a whole slew of folk, like Maggie Devlin, the fiery eco-tour boat owner who hadn’t been interested in men since her bitter divorce, nearly 8 years earlier. And Gunnar Wolfe, originally from the Norwegian Bachelor Farmers territory of Minnesota, who’s been setting hearts a-flutter with his Vikingly good looks and his unassuming, generous spirit for the last ten years.

While Maggie and Gunn are fairly normal folks, with the usual allotment of human virtues and failings, slightly more off-the-wall are Gunn’s best friends, the three Painter brothers.

Jackson, the oldest, is a small-town high-school hero still reliving his glory days, while hanging out at the local bar and grill. Forrest, the middle brother, has always been the little town’s premiere ladies’ man, with a cavalier love ‘em and leave ‘em attitude. Then there’s Hunter, the youngest, a sensitive man completely out of step with the world around him. Hunter is a quiet, quirky sort no one understands, though Maggie’s best friend, the new-agey Willow Greene, has always had her eye on him.

And then there’s the rest of Riverbend. Cue the peripheral oddballs found in most small towns, plus a few one-of-a-kind folks, hanging out in the shadows. Or in the case of Lester Purvis, in the dark of night. Lester is a small, quiet man, with his own secrets. He’s also an albino struggling to survive in a state with way too much potentially deadly sunlight, and who has a penchant for collecting dangerous albino reptiles. Creepy? Perhaps. But not the worst thing happening in the little town. Or didn’t I mention there’s a serial killer stalking the streets?

The second book in the Riverbend series is Finding Hunter. After introducing Hunter Painter in book one, I fell so in love with his sweet nature and fragile soul, I felt he deserved a book to himself. Full of romance, gentle humor, and the nearly unbearable pain of loss, Finding Hunter deals with PTSD, agoraphobia, and the healing power of a woman’s unshakable love.

And now, the third book in the series is here at last! That Darkest Place moves on to the stories of the other two Painter brothers. Forrest has given up his womanizing, but he’s lovelorn and miserable. And Jackson? A car crash on New Year’s Eve has left him seriously injured, and his fiancée dead.

The title of the book is Hunter’s name for the abyss that can swallow a man whole, leaving him an empty shell. It’s a place Hunter is intimately familiar with, and neither he nor Forrest will ever abandon Jackson to that terrible darkness. Jackson’s long journey to overcome devastating physical injuries and the emotional trauma of survivor’s guilt—not to mention an unknown stalker’s grief-driven attempts at revenge—will prove that nothing is more powerful than the bonds between brothers.

If you’ve been waiting for this third Riverbend book, now’s your chance to get it at the one-week only introductory price of $2.99. And if you haven’t read any of the previous books, all of them will be on sale for $.99 this week. I hope you’ll take advantage of these prices while they last, and that you will enjoy meeting the people—and critters—that call Riverbend home.

Book cover for That Darkest Place by Marcia MearaThat Darkest Place Blurb
“There are dark places in every heart, in every head. Some you turn away from. Some you light a candle within. But there is one place so black, it consumes all light. It will pull you in and swallow you whole. You don’t leave your brother stranded in that darkest place.”  ~Hunter Painter~

The new year is a chance for new beginnings—usually hopeful, positive ones. But when Jackson Painter plows his car into a tree shortly after midnight on January 1, his new beginnings are tragic. His brothers, Forrest and Hunter, take up a grim bedside vigil at the hospital, waiting for Jackson to regain consciousness and anxious over how he’ll take the news that he’s lost a leg and his fiancée is dead. After all, the accident was all his fault.

As the shocking truth emerges, one thing becomes obvious—Jackson will need unconditional love and support from both of his brothers if he is to survive.

Just as he begins the long road to recovery, danger, in the form of a sinister, unsigned note, plunges him back into bleak despair. Scrawled in blood red letters, the accusation—and the threat—is clear. “MURDERER!”

Will the long, harrowing ordeal that lies ahead draw the Painter brothers closer together, or drive them apart forever?

Suspenseful and often heartbreaking, this small-town tale is a testimonial to the redemptive power of love and paints a story filled with humor, romance, and fierce family loyalty.

Promo Pricing:

ONE WEEK ONLY, Monday 5/15 through Sunday, 5/21:

That Darkest Place: Riverbend Book 1 – $2.99
Finding Hunter: Riverbend Book 2 – $.99
Swamp Ghosts: Riverbend Book 1 –  $.99

ALSO ON SALE 5/15 through 5/21:

Wake-Robin Ridge: Book 1 – $.99
A Boy Named Rabbit: Wake-Robin Ridge Book 2 – $.99
Harbinger: Wake-Robin Ridge Book 3- $.99

Author Marcia MearaAbout the Author:
Marcia Meara lives in central Florida, just north of Orlando, with her husband of over thirty years, two big cats, and two small dachshunds. When not writing or blogging, she spends her time gardening, and enjoying the surprising amount of wildlife that manages to make a home in her suburban yard. At the age of five, Marcia declared she wanted to be an author, and is ecstatic that at age 69, she finally began pursuing that dream. Three and a half years and six novels later, she’s still going strong, and plans to keep on writing until she falls face down on the keyboard, which she figures would be a pretty good way to go!

Marcia has published seven books to date, all of which are available on Amazon in both print and Kindle format. Visit Marcia’s Amazon Author Page for the complete list.

You can reach Marcia via email at marciameara16@gmail.com or on the following social media sites:
The Write Stuff
Bookin’ It
Twitter @marciameara
Facebook
Pinterest 

To keep up with the latest news and giveaways, sign up for Marcia’s Mail List  

78 thoughts on “New Release: That Darkest Place by Marica Meara plus eBook Sale!”

  1. Sorry to hear of all your difficulties, Mae. We lose power here in Tucson if more than two clouds appear at the same time! 😉

    Thanks for spotlighting Marcia’s books. They sound like great reads for rainy days… or air conditioned days when it’s 115 degrees outside! 😉 I 1-clicked!

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    • Hi, Felicia. I do most of my reading on air-conditioned days, too. Central Florida is hot and muggy almost all year, so without the a/c, I’d be in real trouble. And I know what you mean about power outage. We have fearsome storms here from time to time, and it’s awful when the power goes down. 😯

      Thanks for your kind words about my books. Hope you have a chance to read them someday, and that you’ll enjoy them, if you do. 🙂

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    • Hi, Felicia! It’s great to have you drop by and visit. Marcia’s stuff is always enjoyable reading regardless of weather….er, as long as the power doesn’t go out and you can see. Of course, even the trusty Kindle Paperwhites take care of that problem, LOL.

      I know she’ll be happy for that 1-click. As for 115 degrees? EESH! I’ve visited Sedona and Phoenix during April one year but methinks summer would be a bit too much for this northern bird. I wanted to make it to Tucson but we ran out of time. Still hope to make it there someday!

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      • I spent a total of twenty-five years in Michigan and loved winter. However, it stopped loving me. Hello, Arizona! 😄

        Skip July, August, and September and you might be able to spend quality time outside. Maybe. 😁

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      • Confession time…when I was a kid I always wanted to move to Arizona. The desert, the painted skies, red rock and warm weather without humidity. I was so thrilled to be able to visit and experience the state first hand when I had to attend a business conference there. I fell in love with Sedona (wish I could afford the real estate values). Knowing you were a northern bird too makes me thing I could still retire there 🙂

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  3. I’ve been reading Wake Robin Ridge and looking forward to venturing into the swamp. Reading this blog it occurred to me that whatever the country, small towns always have some strange characters, great scope for authors. But I’m looking forward to meeting Gunnar Woolfe.

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    • OH, Gunnar Wolfe is “the kind of guy every man wanted to be, and every woman just, plain wanted.” 😀 He was fun to write, but then again, so were all the characters in Riverbend, especially weirdy-weird Hunter Painter. Hope you are enjoying Wake-Robin Ridge, and will also enjoy Swamp Ghosts, when you get there. Thanks for reading. 🙂

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      • Just to clarify, the Painter brothers are Gunn’s friends, no relation. 🙂 I can’t wait to see what you think of them, Mae. And I’m glad to know you loved Gunn. I thought it would be fun (for a change) to write a man who was just as unassuming and genuinely nice as he was good-looking. And then throw a really angry woman at him, and see what he’d do. 😀 😀 😀

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      • Ooops! I know that. Just thinking too fast for my fingers to keep up….or maybe I’m typing too fast for my mind to keep up, LOL.
        Thanks for clarifying that for everyone else Marcia!

        P.S….I like those unassuming quiet types too. I wrote one in an early novel and still love him. Love those alpha guys, but beta heroes work for me too!

        And, hmmm….so Willow is angry? Now you have me itching to bump Finding Hunter higher on the TBR!

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    • Oh, the dreaded TBR pile (or list). No matter how fast I read, mine keeps getting bigger and bigger! Happy to be added to yours, Julie, and hope when you get to my books, you’ll enjoy them. 🙂

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    • I’m glad to inflate your TRB even more, Julie 🙂
      In my experience writers make up some of the most avid readers but the downside of that is we can’t kick back and read any time we want because of writing demands. A blessing and a curse that I couldn’t imagine living without!

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  6. Thank you so much for having me today, Mae. I’m so happy to be here, and I hope some of your readers will wend their way towards Riverbend for a day on the river with Maggie, and some perhaps unexpected adventures with the characters who call that little town home.

    Thank you, too, for your kind words about my Wake-Robin Ridge books, and I hope you’ll enjoy Finding Hunter and That Darkest Place when you reach them in your TBR pile. 🙂

    Sharing this post with all my friends at The Write Stuff, and sending you a big hug, too!

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    • I’m glad to have you here at long last, especially given you have a book birthday to celebrate. I loved Rabbit and all the characters of Wake Robin Ridge, and from what I’ve seen in Swamp Ghosts you’ve got another town populated with intriguing people. I know I’ll love Finding Hunter and That Darkest Place. I just need to throttle the TBR, LOL!

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  7. Reblogged this on The Write Stuff and commented:
    Mae Clair invited me to do a guest post on her blog, today. Needless to say, I was very happy to obliged, and hope you guys will check it out, and pass it along. THANKS!! (And thanks again to Mae, for having me stop by.)

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Aw, thanks, Mary. I’m so glad you enjoyed the Wake-Robin Ridge books, and I hope you’ll enjoy the Riverbend ones, too. Though, of course, Little Rabbit is a hard act to follow. I’ll be glad to get back to him for the next WRR book, but I have something I want to do first. A Riverbend novella, featuring a secondary character from Finding Hunter, Gabe Angelino. He doesn’t live in Riverbend, but I think he has a story to tell that would work well has a novella. SO many stories, so LITTLE time!!!!! Arrrgghhh. Must write! Must write like the wind!!! 😀

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      • What’s this I hear? *Mae listens intently*
        Rabbit will be back in another WRR book? And the whole gang, I hope too. Exciting news indeed!

        In the meantime it sounds like I need to meet Gabe Angelino and what role he plays in Hunter’s story.

        SO many stories, so LITTLE time!!!!! Arrrgghhh. Must read! Must read like the wind!!! 😀

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    • Thanks so much for such kind words, Dandelion! If you do add my books to your reading list, I hope you’ll enjoy them. The Wake-Robin Ridge series is mildly paranormal (Appalachian legends, ESP, etc), but the Riverbend series is not, because the people of Riverbend are weird enough all by themselves. 😀 Thanks for stopping by today!

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    • I think you’ll really enjoy her stuff. The Wake Robin Ridge series (and its characters, one in particular) are very unique. I also love the folklore elements.

      And Riverbend is proving to be highly entertaining as well. Glad you were able to “meet” her today! 🙂

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    • Great to meet you, too, Sherry. I live just north of Orlando, in the Sanford area. I’m actually a Florida native. (Yeah, there’s me and some guy up in the panhandle! 😀 ) My first series is set in the North Carolina mountains, because that’s my favorite place in the world, but I set my second one here in central Florida, because I could indulge my love of our rivers and wildlife. I’ve spent many years canoeing and hiking here, and really wanted to bring some of that to this series, especially in the first book. So if you read it, you’ll have to let me know how I did with that. Hope you’ll enjoy feeling “at home” during the story. Thanks for stopping by today!

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    • Glad to have you give them a look-see, Sherry. Marcia brought small-town Florida (and its rivers and swamps) alive for me in Swamp Ghosts. Living in the Sunshine State you’re sure to love the settings in her Riverbend series.

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  11. So nice to meet Marcia. Her book sounds fascinating! We are so dependent on our technology and it is frustrating when it fails us. Good luck catching up, Mae. I’m still trying to get caught up from being gone for ten days to RT! 🙂

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    • Thanks for stopping by today, rijanjks. Hope someday you’ll get a chance to read some of my books, and that you’ll enjoy them. In the meantime, nice to meet you, and hope you get caught up soon. (I know the feeling of being far behind, believe me.) 🙂

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    • Jan, I was only out of commission for a few days. Going to the convention probably has you really behind the 8-ball. Of course, look at all that fun you had (not to mention how enlightening the experience must have been).

      Marcia’s books are great. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed each of those I’ve read. Thanks for visiting today and checking out her post!

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    • Thanks, stanalei15! When you start writing as late in life as I have, you try pretty hard to learn a lot, very fast. I’m having the time of my life knowing that my stories have touched a lot of folks, and I hope (should you have a chance to read them) that you’ll enjoy them, too. My goal is to get better with each book, and I’m in it for the long haul . . . or at least as long as I can remember what words are! 😀 😀 😀

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    • LOL! It’s amazing how dependent we are on computers. The entire world screeched to a grinding halt with that power failure. At least I was able to muddle through a few things on my phone.

      Glad you had a chance to check out Marcia’s books. She tells a great tale with memorable characters!

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    • Hi, Teri. Yep, there’s always something happening in small towns, and Riverbend has more than its share of quirky, eccentric–and sometimes deadly–folks. And then there are the critters. Birds, and alligators, and snakes, oh my! 😀 Thanks for stopping by today! 🙂

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  14. Mae, I haven’t wrapped up the WRR series yet. Or the Riverbend one. My goal was 5 books in each, but I realized I’d better make sure the endings wouldn’t leave people hanging, just in case I wake up one day and realize I’m too tired to keep going. (I’m older’n dirt, you know.) So, be assured, if the bridge don’t go, an’ the creek don’t rise, Rabbit and Mac will be hard at work on a new adventure as soon as I finish Gabe’s story. (It MIGHT even involve the Brownsville Lights, though I haven’t made up my mind on that. But there will be an Appalachian legend or ghost in there somewhere, you can bet.) 😀

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    • You know how much I love legends and folklore, and the Brownsville Lights is one of my favorites. Whatever you decide on, I know it will be great. Good to know there are more books coming in both series!

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      • Yep, that’s the plan. And as for your comment above (which won’t let me reply), no, Willow isn’t angry. I was still talking about Gunn and Maggie. Gunn’s super nice, and Maggie’s pretty angry. 😀

        Hunter, on the other hand, is nice, too, but afraid of family trouble he sees coming. Especially when everyone else is in denial. And Willow is, without a doubt, the strongest female I’ve written. My daughter said she wants to BE her. 😀 Hope you find that intriguing, too. 😀

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    • Hi, Robbie! Thanks for stopping by. I’d like to think your assessment is right. Of course, liking to think that, and it actually being the case, are two different things. 😀 I aim to introduce readers to characters they can be fully invested in, and I hope I’m giving that to them, because for me, that’s the most important part of any book. And I’ve tried to give Riverbend an authentic feel, making it the kind of small Florida town I grew up amidst.

      So nice to “meet” you today! 🙂

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    • Yes, they’re wonderful books, and Marcia captures her settings well, whether in the world of Wake Robin Ridge or Riverbend. Thanks for visiting, Robbie!

      P.S….was watching a game show last night and one of the prizes was a vacation in South Africa. It made me think of you! 🙂

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  18. Sorry to hear about your power outage, Mae…never any fun. I almost went crazy when we lost power for a week…only happened once, though!

    Your books sound like a really good read Marcia. I added Swamp Ghosts to my Kindle! Congrats on your new release!

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    • That’s great news, dlfinn! Thanks so much for giving the series a try. I hope you enjoy Swamp Ghosts, and all the eccentric folks and wild critters contained therein. And I appreciate your stopping by today, as well. Nice to “meet” you! 🙂

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    • A week?!?! That’s awful. I think the longest we ever went without power was two days and I thought the world had ended, LOL! Glad you only experienced that long of an outage once. That would be more than enough.

      And, how exciting, you picked up Swamp Ghosts! You’re going to love the characters and critters. Both groups are intriguing 🙂

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      • In Florida, during hurricane season, all bets are off concerning power supply. Last direct hit we had in this area, many people had no power for two to three weeks. We were incredibly luck to only be without 24 hours, but we bought a generator afterward. It’s our insurance that it will never happen again, now that we are prepared. 😀 But even an afternoon thunderstorm can interrupt service for an hour or two, especially if a transformer takes a lightning hit. Oh, the challenges of living in the Sunshine State. Skin cancer, power outages, and oh, yeah, alligators . . . oh, my!

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      • My brother used to live in Marathon, but after weathering several hurricanes, hurricane threats and evacuations returned north. Now, after years of our PA winters, he’s eyeing Florida again. 2-3 weeks without power would put me over the edge. I mean, think about it….I’d have to write longhand. HORRORS! 🙂

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      • Ha! Longhand? Well, Mae, all I can say is, my writing career would come to a dead halt. My longhand hasn’t been legible, even to me, in 30 years! 😀 Seriously, a $500 generator is good insurance. If you have one, you’ll likely never need it. 😀 BTW, central Florida where I am seldom takes a direct hit, like the panhandle area, or the Atlantic coastline.

        The good thing about hurricanes, as opposed to tornadoes, for instance, is that you know well in advance if you are in danger of being hit. Those who ignore evacuation orders do so at their peril. Honestly, I prefer living in hurricane country to living in mudslide, tornado, wildfire country. (Those are on you before you know they’re coming.) You just have to be smart. But then again, I’m the first to say that if I had my ‘druthers, I’d be living in the stunningly beautiful mountains of North Carolina. I feel about them exactly as Ruthie Carter did when she ran to them to start a new life.

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      • Generator’s are definitely good insurance. We have one for the winter months and snow storms and ice storms. I have a friend in Alabama and she always said she’d rather deal with a hurricane than tornadoes too.

        I’m going to have to visit those mountains. I’ve been to North Carolina beaches, but not the mountains!

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      • Mae, you would love the Chimney Rock/Lake Lure area, I’m sure. And Asheville is a wonderful little town. But just driving along the parkway is a treat beyond belief! Especially in the fall. Every curve reveals a new vista. *sigh* I’m making myself wish I were there! 😀

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  19. BTW, speaking of Chimney Rock Park, Mae . . . did you know it has its own ghost stories? Legendary sightings of a battle in the sky!! Yep. I’ve been looking at that as possible fodder for a book, too, but haven’t quite decided how I’d approach it. Chimney Rock is just a few miles away from Wake-Robin Ridge, though, so with Rabbit’s extraordinary gifts, who knows? He just might see/sense something otherworldly there. 😀

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    • Oooh, never heard of this legend, Marcia. It sounds absolutely fascinating. I’m going to have to visit the fount of all knowledge–Google. And yes, Rabbit would definitely be able to hone in on anything you thrw in front of him (even if it involves looking up the sky) 🙂

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      • I knew it would intrigue you. There were at least 2 different aerial battles with beings or people on horseback, and supposedly seen by groups of people. I haven’t looked up all the info on it, but I thought it was interesting. And then there’s Boojum and Annie. Just wait until you read about THEM. Hahahaha.

        Liked by 1 person

    • Hi, Flossie! I hope you enjoy the books! I had such a good time writing them, as I loved being able to add a lot of Florida ambience and critters. The little town of Riverbend is the kind of place I grew up surrounded by, so it was a labor of love, in so many ways. And along the way, the characters have become very real to me, and rattle around in my head, shouting orders about this or that thing they want me to write about. 😯

      If you hurry, you can probably still take advantage of the sale price. It ends tonight, but it usually takes Amazon a while to put the changes into effect. Thanks for your kind comments! 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

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  21. Pingback: Reading Links 5/23/17 – Where Genres Collide

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