Virtual Book Tour: Blood Mug by W.F. Ranew

 Good morning! Please welcome author W.F. Ranew to Full Moon Dreaming. He is here to tell us about his new release, Blood Mug. He will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN GC to one randomly drawn commenter via Rafflecopter during the tour. The more you comment, the better your chances of winning. To find the other stops on his tour, go here. Don't forget to look for the Rafflecopter at the end of this post!

 

Blood Mug

by W.F. Ranew

 

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GENRE:   Mystery

 

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BLURB:

 

PI Red Farlow has a meeting with Wickham Art Center board chair in Atlanta, but when he arrives, he finds the chairman slumped over his potter's wheel with a medieval battle dagger protruding from his back.

During the investigation, other victims are discovered in the pottery studio, each meeting the same gruesome end as the chairman. Is the dagger a dramatic flourish of a twisted mind, or a more profound message?

Clues soon reveal a real estate scheme—wealthy Venezuelan investors plan to plow Wickham under and build condos on the site.

Red gets his hands muddy as he throws himself into finding the answers.

 

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EXCERPT:

 

 

Death preceded me.

 

That notion drifted into my mind like a ghost when I encountered the unknown, especially in the dark. Perhaps it was my spook, a lurking memory of all the bodies I’d seen.

 

Or maybe the heat of the August night—barely cooler than the day—had fried my brain like bacon grease crackling in a hot skillet.

 

Something conjured this foreboding as I walked toward the clay studio of the Wickham Art Center.

 

I went over to meet Kevin Densmore, businessman and Wickham board chair, to discuss a recent murder at the center. After two weeks, the police had turned up little in leads or suspects. Wickham’s leaders became worried about staff and student safety and the venerable institution’s reputation.

 

Densmore wanted to hire me, or so I’d been told by a friend on the center’s board. I’m Red Farlow, a private detective.

 

Down an alley through the darkness, the mansion’s back door light glowed. There, signs indicated the way to the pottery studio. I walked into a dimly lit chamber and looked back to the wheel room. I later learned potters had created mugs, bowls, and jugs on a wheel for thousands of years.

 

The whole place was a mess, with everything covered in a patina of gray clay. The dust layers reminded me of exploring a dry riverbed in my youth. The clay crumbled under my bare feet, leaving an imprint on the ground and a thin crusty layer on my skin.

 

I breathed the clay’s essence and looked around the room.

 

 

 

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

W.F. Ranew is the author of the Red Farlow Mysteries series of ebook s from Tirgearr Publishing. He’s launching Blood Mug (#4) on Feb. 24, 20210. Other Red Farlow stories are Rich and Gone (#1), Blue Magnolia (#2), and Eat Beach (#3).

 

Ranew is a former newspaper reporter, editor and communication executive. He started his journalism career covering sports, police, and city council meetings at his hometown newspaper, The Quitman Free Press. He also worked as a reporter and editor for The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, The Florida Times-Union and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In corporate communications, he has written speeches for President Jimmy Carter and leaders of public companies, including Bank of America, CitiGroup, Equifax, NCR, The Coca-Cola Company, and ING.

 

Early in his career, he worked as part-time radio dispatcher for a small-town police department.

 

Ranew has self-published two previous novels: Schoolhouse Man and Candyman’s Sorrow.

 

He lives in Atlanta and St. Simons Island, Ga.

 

Author Amazon Page: https://www.amazon.com/W-F-Ranew/e/B01F28VUFI

Tirgearr author page: http://tirpub.com/wfranew

Website: http://www.wfranew.com

Blog: http://www.wfranew.wordpress.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wfranew

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wfranew

 

 

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 Feb. 26, 2021

 

Full Moon Dreaming

Blood Mug by W.F. Ranew

 

The Questions – please choose at least 5

3) Take these three words and give me a 100 word or less scene using them: hammer, saucer, traffic lights

My wife handed me a saucer and cup and poured tea on the way to a funeral. Suddenly, a garbage truck blew two traffic lights and smashed into our car. The saucer shattered and cut me.

As the EMTS patched me up, friends came along and offered us a ride.

The minister described our late friend’s death. He climbed onto a ladder to get some paint cans from a  garage shelf. The ladder wobbled, and he grabbed the shelf, which crashed with him to the floor. The fall didn’t doom our friend. When the shelf gave way, a hammer hanging on the wall fell, slamming into his head. Killed him instantly.

4) What is your idea of how to spend romantic time with your significant other?
My wife and I went to Brail several years ago. I think one of the more romantic places in the world is Rio and Ipanema Beach. We visited a small island one day and arrived just as a rainstorm battered the small village. We decided to stay the night, and after the rain stopped we walked around the village. We had a very romantic evening, and we’d go back to relive the lovely experience.

5) When you start a new story, do you begin with a character, or a plot?

Usually, I’ve thought about both character and plot. After writing thirty or forty pages, the story takes shape, the character becomes human, and I’m off to the races. From then on, inspiration takes hold and brings other characters and scenes together.

7) Who’s your favorite horror villain and why?

Frankenstein’s monster is my favorite because of his empathy and human-like qualities.

9) Is there a story that you’d like to tell but you think the world isn’t ready to receive it?

Indeed, there is. In 1966, three members of a family were murdered in their home. Two teen daughters discovered the bodies. I knew the surviving sisters when they came to my hometown to visit their grandparents. They never brought up their tragedy, and I didn’t ask.

But the family deaths haunt me to this day, and the real story has never been told. The police never found the killer or killers, even though rumors swirled after the deaths. The local sheriff botched the investigation from the beginning.

I’d like to uncover the story and write it if I could find the surviving sisters to discuss the crime and if they’d talk about it.

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