Tag Archives: lesbian

I HIT BESTSELLER STATUS!

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Allison Bruning

Allison Bruning 4:36am Feb 23
Congratulations to Aya Walksfar!

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #85,432 Paid in Kindle Store
#48 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Crime Fiction >Kidnapping

What do the bodies of two young children have in common with the murders of two adult men?
Eleanor Hasting, a black bookstore owner and child advocate, knows these killings are linked. How can she convince Lieutenant Michael Williams, head of the Special Crimes Team? Someone is abducting street children and their bodies are showing up sexually abused and manually strangled.
Psychic and member of Missing Children’s Rescue, Jaimie Wolfwalker, is prepared to do whatever it takes to locate and rescue the missing street children. The law be damned. Jaimie’s attitude and methods place her on a collision course with Sergeant Nita Slowater, second-in-command of the Special Crimes Team.
Four dedicated people struggle to come to terms with each other in their desperate search for clues. Every day brings more missing children, more young bodies. Can they stop the monsters before another child disappears?

Street Harvest (Special Crimes Team)

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What do the bodies of two young children have in common with the murders of two adult men? Eleanor H…

STREET HARVEST, Book 2, Special #Crimes Team

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ayastreet harvest

What do the bodies of two young #children have in common with the #murders of two adult men?

Eleanor Hasting, a black bookstore owner and child advocate, knows these killings are linked. How can she convince Lieutenant Michael Williams, head of the Special Crimes Team? Someone is abducting street children and their bodies are showing up sexually abused and manually strangled.

#Psychic and member of Missing Children’s Rescue, Jaimie Wolfwalker, is prepared to do whatever it takes to locate and rescue the missing street children. The law be damned. Jaimie’s attitude and methods place her on a collision course with Sergeant Nita Slowater, second-in-command of the Special Crimes Team.

Four dedicated people struggle to come to terms with each other in their desperate search for clues. Every day brings more #missingchildren, more young bodies. Can they stop the monsters before another child disappears?

AVAILABLE FEBRUARY 22 ON AMAZON! http://www.amazon.com/author/ayawalksfar

 GET YOUR E-COPY NOW! AVAILABLE ON SMASHWORDS! http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/AWalksfar

4 INSIGHTS INTO LOVE

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“You are the light of my soul; the fire of my heart.”

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“Relationships are more like flowers than fairy-tales. They’re living, dynamic things. They need to be out in the open air and the sunshine to survive.”  Jesse Markham, Good Intentions

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“The ones you love are butterflies…don’t cage them up or they will die….Love can only live when it is free.” Rene Lawson, Good Intentions

“You have to hunt for what’s real then find the courage to keep it.” Rene Lawson, Good Intentions

“Showing emotion is what the strong can do. The weak can’t afford to.” Patricia Markham, Good Intentions

“Yes, I loved her. I loved all that she was and all that she couldn’t be. I loved her in her imperfections as much as I loved her perfections.” Maddy St. James, Good Intentions

Burning Heart Image: courtesy of Chrisroll/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Tulips and Butterflies Image: courtesy of Anekoho/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

To learn more about the characters quoted here, be sure to read Good Intentions, available at : http://amzn.to/1e4c0tF  or from Barnes and Noble at: http://bit.ly/1lOTv0m

Visit the link at the top of this Home page to learn more about the award winning novel, Good Intentions.

Be sure to click on the FOLLOW button so you won’t miss all the exciting posts to come!

Drop by facebook and say Hi! at  http://www.facebook.com/ayawalksfar   Or check out the latest book news at http://www.facebook.com/AyaWalksfarAuthor

 

THE REST OF THE STORY

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After you have watched this video, read below for the rest of the story.  @greatcaesarband (via @Upworthy) http://t.co/1N0E5hLV8r

THE REST OF THE #STORY

This heart breaking video celebrates love and hope in the face of violence and despair.

But a video can only tell so much; here is the rest of the story:

#Interracial couple: What you don’t see on the video is that the young black man was castrated then lynched. His girlfriend was forced to watch while this occurred then she was brutally gang-raped and beaten. She was found in time by a neighbor who rushed her to the hospital. When her parents came to the hospital she told them what happened. Her mother ran from the room crying, disgusted that her daughter had lain with a black boy; her father told her not to come home; that she deserved what had happened to her.

#Gay couple: During the attack on the boy in the locker room, someone shouted that the teacher had come in. The boys dispersed with a warning that should the gay boy report them, they would ‘finish what we started somewhere where we won’t be interrupted, fag!’

#Lesbian couple: Lisa finally got the courage to tell her parents that she is lesbian. Her girlfriend, Jackie, came with her for support. After Lisa was kicked out of her home for being lesbian, Jackie’s mom refused to let her stay even overnight as she didn’t want to get involved in a dispute between the girl and her parents. Jackie promised to meet Lisa the next day at the McDonald’s on Broadway. Lisa never showed. What Jackie didn’t realize was the night before Lisa had been beaten and raped. She huddled for the rest of the night in a cardboard box in an alley, shaking. Ashamed of being raped, Lisa couldn’t face Jackie so she hitchhiked to another city. On the streets without money or skills and being underage, Lisa was forced to become a prostitute in order to earn enough money to buy food and sometimes, for a place to sleep.

I don’t know if this video portrayed actual people, or if the couples were representations of what happens all too frequently. The scenarios I have shared have occurred again and again throughout the United States to many interracial, gay and lesbian couples. No one state has a monopoly on hate.

I wish I could say this type of thing no longer happens, but I would be lying. Every day violence driven by hate happens. Every day violence against women happens.

Every day dozens young girls like Lisa sell their bodies for food and shelter. This isn’t happening overseas in economically depressed countries or countries that are ruled by religious fanatics. It is happening here in the United States.

Will you be part of the solution, or part of the problem?

Leave a comment, or visit Aya’s facebook page and engage in conversation. http://www.facebook.com/ayawalksfar

COMING FEBRUARY 21, 2014, STREET HARVEST, Book 2, Special Crimes Team.

STREET HARVEST:

What do the bodies of two young children have in common with the murders of two adult men?

Eleanor Hasting, a black bookstore owner and child advocate, knows these killings are linked. How can she convince Lieutenant Michael Williams, head of the Special Crimes Team? Someone is abducting street children and their bodies are showing up manually strangled and sexually abused.

Psychic, and member of Missing Children’s Rescue, Jaimie Wolfwalker is prepared to do whatever it takes to locate and rescue the missing street children. The law be damned.  Jaimie’s attitude and methods place her on a collision course with Sergeant Nita Slowater, second-in-command of the Special Crimes Team.

Four dedicated people struggle to come to terms with each other in their desperate search for clues. Every day brings more missing children, more young bodies. Can they stop the monsters before more children disappear?

http://www.amazon.com/author/ayawalksfar

#RAFFLECOPTER #GIVEAWAY WINNERS ANNOUNCED!

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I am SO EXCITED! Our #Rafflecopter #Giveaway #Winners are:

Sandy Bartles of Georgia: Congratulations, Sandy! Sandy won an autographed paperback copy of Good Intentions by Aya Walksfar

Good Intentions Final cover

Renita McKinney of Texas: Congratulations, Renita! Renita won an autographed paperback copy of Sketch of a Murder by Aya Walksfar

Sketch of a Murder Final cover

Jeselle Grace of New York: Congratulations, Jeselle! Jeselle won an autographed paperback copy of Dead Men and Cats by Aya Walksfar

deadmenCover

THANK ALL OF YOU FOR PARTICIPATING IN “A Perfect Day” Rafflecopter!  To enhance your reading pleasure, please visit my blog where you can read character interviews, book reviews and so much more!

To get ALL the latest, FOLLOW my blog. It’s EASY! Just click on the Follow button.

Be sure to watch for the latest news on Book 2 of the Special Crimes Team series. Sergeant Slowater thought this last case was tough, but she ain’t seen nothing yet!

MEET OFFICER DRISCOLL MULDER, SPECIAL CRIMES TEAM

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MEET OFFICER DRISCOLL MULDER, SPECIAL CRIMES TEAM

Interviewer:  I am so glad you could make this #interview, Officer Mulder.

Officer Driscoll Mulder:  Yeah, well, the Lieutenant said we should play nice with you.  (Folds his arms over his chest)

Interviewer:  Well… (interviewer  gives a small frown) Does that mean you would prefer not to be here?

Officer Driscoll Mulder: (Gives a big shrug) It’s okay. So what do you want to ask me?

Interviewer:  What do you want me to ask you?

Officer Driscoll Mulder: (Purses lips) You’d make a good cop. Answer a question with a question. (Gives another shrug) It’s your show.

Interviewer:  Okay. Why did you join the #Special #Crimes #Team?

Officer Driscoll Mulder:  (Brows shoot up to his hairline) You go right to the meat, huh? All right. ( He sits up straight and locks his eyes on the interviewer) I joined them because I’m #gay. (He leans against the back of the chair, his eyes never leaving the interviewer’s face.)

(Interviewer raises a brow) Why would being #gay be the deciding factor on whether you joined the team, or not?

Officer Driscoll Mulder: (Purses lips and makes a sucking sound between teeth as he watches interviewer) There are still neanderthals who believe that being a cop means being a ‘man’s man’ (He makes air quote marks with his fingers) and to them being gay makes me less than a man. Oh, I could’ve hid in the closet, kept my mouth shut and blended, but that isn’t me. I march in the Pride Parade, I speak up in the locker room when someone thinks some of their heterosexist jokes are oh so funny. Doesn’t make me popular.

(Interviewer gives a small head shake) Being on the Special Crimes Team is better?

Officer Driscoll Mulder:  (He slouches in his chair, stretches his legs out in front of him) Don’t know yet. Just got there. Can’t be any worse than where I was.

Interviewer:  If being a #cop is so difficult, why do it? Why not go into some other line of work?

Officer Driscoll Mulder:  (A weariness settles on his young face) Being a cop is difficult, and dangerous. Between the bigots on the street who would love to shoot a gay cop for being gay, and the bigots in the force who wouldn’t mind turning a blind eye to that kind of shooting, being a gay cop is even more dangerous, but if not me, then who? If I don’t push forward, there will be no trail for any other LGBT person to follow.

And those queer kids out there, the ones who hate cops, well maybe they can relate a little better to a queer cop. At least, it lets them know there is someone who might understand. Do you have any idea how many of the street #kids are LGBT–lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender?  The last stat I read said that 50 percent of the street kids are there because they are #LGBT. Many of them are thrown out of their houses, or they run from parental violence. That’s one of the reasons why I’m an out, gay cop.

If that means I transfer into what other #cops see as the Siberia of law enforcement…. (He gives a one-shouldered shrug) then that’s where I’ll go.  No bigot is going to stop me from representing my people—LGBT people—and giving a voice to them from within law enforcement. Besides, (he gives a grim smile) if I keep shining a light, maybe others will see the kinks in the system, and maybe there will be a chance to effect a change.

Interviewer: That is quite a burden, but I admire your courage. If we don’t forge a trail and create changes, then who will?

My wife and I married as soon as it became legal for lesbians to marry in Washington State.  Not only does it protect our right to be with our loved one in a medical situation, and to make those important health calls, but the inheritance law won’t penalize us as it does when two people who build something together, but can’t marry are penalized. And that is just two of the rights that heterosexual couples have enjoyed all along, but were denied to lesbian couples, to all LGBT couples.

(Interviewer smiles) One of the things I appreciate about being able to marry is letting other people realize: my choice of who I love does not take anything away from you, and it brings to the world nearly 25 years of two people living a life of commitment and love. In this world, especially today, we need all the honest, healthy love we can get.

Well, Officer Mulder, I truly do thank you for coming. For those who would like to learn more about who LGBT people really are, I suggest you visit sites such as Have a Gay Day (FB) http://www.facebook.com/MyGayDay .

(Remember: that no single site, or any number of sites, can claim to speak for “all LGBT people” just as no site, or any number of sites, can claim to speak for “all heterosexual people”.

STAY TUNED TO THIS BLOG ( http://www.ayawalksfar.com ) for all the latest and greatest news!

Sketch of a Murderebook 7 30 2014 AVAILABLE ON AMAZON: http://www.amazon.com/Sketch-Murder-Special-Crimes-Team-ebook/dp/B00KU6AIPQ

Visit author, Aya Walksfar, on Facebook:   http://www.facebook.com/ayawalksfar

Visit Aya at   http://www.pinterest.com/ayawalksfar to see photos of places important to the members of the Special Crimes Team.

MOUNTAIN SPRINGS HOUSE BLOG TOUR!

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I am thrilled to announce that Mountain Springs House Publishing is doing a blog tour from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

This is the VERY FIRST blog tour I have ever been involved in and I am honored that my publisher, Allison Bruning, has asked me to participate. I will be getting to host some really fine authors on my blog, and I will be doing guest posts on other blogs. This is going to be so much fun! Even for a technosaur like me!

Check out Mountain Springs House on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/mountainsprings/
And “LIKE” us on http://www.facebook.com/MountainSpringsHouse?fret=ts

I have been asked to post a bio and photo so you can get to know me a bit better.

One dark night, just as the wolves howled…. Oh, wait! I’m supposed to do the true stuff, right? Okay, try again.

I was born. I grew up. I am now a big monster. Oh, okay, that’s not quite what I was supposed to do. Do I ever do what I am supposed to do? Not really. Probably why I like Sergeant Nita Slowater of the Special Crimes Team.

Sooo…here’s the real skinny:

Born in a rougher section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, (and there were several of those areas when I was growing up. I hear they’ve cleaned Pittsburgh up very nicely, now. Haven’t been back in many years.) I soon learned how to make myself invisible. If you tend to be on the smaller side, this is a very good talent. As a result, I got to observe people in their myriad of attitudes and emotions. They fascinated me.

In self-defense against loneliness, I learned to read very early, and to write. My first story was written in pencil on those tablets for little kids with huge spaces between lines. It was a story about a lost dog. Do you ever forget your first?

Ever since that day, I have been creating alternate realities.

Fortunately, my life has been anything except traditional, and therefore, I have never run out of stories to tell. I lived on the road for several years, have worked non-traditional jobs (and a very few traditional jobs), and have walked many dark roads and city streets.

Currently, I live on a 12 acre wildlife/wild bird/indigenous plant habitat that my wife of 25 years and I have created. During a single year, we host over 68 different species of birds, and many different animals.

When I am not either reading or writing, I love to hike, take photographs, work with my dogs, tend the land, horseback ride, travel, learn new things, and recently, I acquired a motorcycle, so I am having a great deal of fun learning to ride. Whenever I have the opportunity, I also search for the perfect chocolate. There are many good chocolates in the world, but I am convinced that there is a “perfect one”. Have to eat a lot of chocolates while I am researching!

Aya Walksfar

Aya Walksfar

Now that you know who I am, let me share what I write.

My novella, Dead Men and Cats, is a murder mystery set on an island in Puget Sound, Washington. Two women, Megan Albright and Janie Sampson, while walking on the beach, discover an old rowboat stuck in a driftwood tree. As they turn to continue their walk, a calico kitten leaps from inside the rowboat and onto the slick tree trunk. Nearly falling into Shallow Point Cove, the frightened animal leaps back into the boat.
Megan wades out to the rowboat to rescue the kitten, and encounters the body of a dead man lying in the bottom of the boat. A few days later, Dan Uley’s bookstore is firebombed. With a black cat.
Not long after his bookstore is firebombed, Dan is gruesomely murdered.
Fearing that Sheriff Johnson’s lack of progress may stem from his well-known anti-gay sentiments, Megan and Janie launch their own investigation. They never expected their search to lead to a young man that they both considered a friend.

In mid-July, my literary, coming-of-age novel, Good Intentions, will be re-released as a second edition, by Mountain Springs House.
In August, the first book in my three-book series about the Special Crimes Team, Sketch of a Murder, will be released by Mountain Springs House.

So, there you have it: who I am and what I’m up to!