Dadgummit Wins Award!

I'm thrilled to announce that Dadgummit, Book 4 in my Dreamwalker Mystery Series, won the honor of finalist in the Detective/Mystery category on June 16, 2018, at the Georgia Author of the Year Awards.

The stiff competition had me sweating in my boots! Out of 19 category entries from the entire state of GA, Dadgummit came in second (finalist). A good friend, Roger Johns, took top honors in the category, and I highly recommend his book, Dark River Rising. Thank you, Georgia Writers Assn., for honoring Dadgummit. I am most appreciative!

Pictured above, the event emcee Michelle Khouri presents me with a certificate. GA Writers Assn also presented finalists (and winners) with cool stickers to place on our winning books.

I had a brief moment at the podium to thank my new publisher, Camel Press, for picking up this ongoing series. I did my best to sound rational and coherent but it wasn't easy. My heart was racing from excitement, and the room was crowded - somewhere between 150 and 200 people in attendance. Still, for an introvert, I did pretty good.

By now you must be wondering what the certificate looked like! I posted a photo holding the certificate above. All of these lovely photos are courtesy of my brother, Clifford Watson. He and sister Virginia Baisden accompanied me to the award banquet.

It was a great night of celebration, of making new friends, of finding a long-lost cousin, and of reminiscing with my brother and sister. Somehow Cliff managed to get these nice photos without a flash (something about bouncing the light off the wall) and I was impressed with his photography skills.

Now I just need to decide where on the book cover to place the Georgia Author of the Year finalist sticker. Decisions, decisions!

I hope you'll check out Dadgummit and all the Dreamwalker Mysteries at my website.

Maggie Toussaint
https://maggietoussaint.com

Some news from Maggie Toussaint!

I'VE GOT ARCS FOR DOGGONE IT. They just arrived yesterday. Some are already committed. Some are looking for 5 active reviewers who enjoy paranormal mysteries. Leave a comment here or contact me via email if you're interested. This book releases Oct 19. Here's a snip about Doggone It...

Dreamwalker Baxley Powell is worried when she’s summoned to a haunted house. A recent ghost dog encounter short-circuited her woo-woo powers. She bluffs her way through the double homicide where a boat captain and a movie crew member bled out from knife wounds.

Her extra senses return in fits and spurts as she consults with the sheriff. Suspects include the captain’s good-for-nothing brother, the movie guy’s replacement, and, of course, his stalker. The media circus jeopardizes the movie’s funding, the sheriff’s job, and Baxley’s senses.

Will Baxley’s powers recharge before the killer strikes again?

Haunted houses, lost pirate treasure, conniving in-laws, supernatural baddies, and a determined ghost dog test amateur sleuth Baxley Powell’s mettle in Book Three of Toussaint’s Dreamwalker Series.

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BUBBA DONE IT is a semi-finalist at Kindle Book Review. The finalists will be announced in October. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Enter this contest by going to bit.ly/cozysummer

This same title is also in a fantastic bundle where we're giving away a KINDLE FIRE and more than 40 cozy mysteries. Contest ends Aug 8, 2016.

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Some great bargains for you in July on my dystopian fiction books, set 50 years in Earth's future. Scientist Zeke Landry and his trusty android sidekick are having a great time saving the planet from secret societies, aliens, and shapeshifters. The series is written thriller style with a side of humor.

G-1 is on sale for the entire month of July for the bargain price of $1.99

G-3 will be on temporary markdown to $0.99 from July 25-29. It's my book about the meteor find in Rio. It's just the thing to get your dystopian brain tuned up for the Summer Olympics in Rio.

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My new novella series is being featured in the Happy Homicides Anthologies. There are 3 novellas in the Lindsey & Ike romantic mystery series. "Really, Truly Dead" is in Happy Homicides 2. "Turtle Tribbles is in Happy Homicides 3. And "Dead Men Tell Tales" will come out in August in Happy Homicides 4. Later in 2016 or early 2017, I will release these individually and bundle the Lindsey & Ike set into a print book. This series is set in coastal Georgia and features a cop and a newspaper editor who missed their chance at love first time around.

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Also, don't forget to check in at Booklover's Bench each month. We give away prizes, including a $25 gift card, books, and there are other promotions going on in our Let's Talk Posts.

I hope you will follow me on social media and if you haven't already signed up for newsletter, please do that at my newly revamped website MaggieToussaint.com

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Stay cool this summer and look for a newsletter when Happy Homicides 4 releases next month!

Happy Reading!

Maggie Toussaint

Guilty pleasures G!veaway

Do you need a break?

Life presses in on us, squeezing us, making us squirm. Yet, we hold out hope that it will subside, that we will get away and know relief.

I was blessed with a getaway recently. I took a trip to visit distant family. The relief from the daily grind was nearly instantaneous. Those knots in my shoulders, Sigfried and Roy, the ones that had been driving me crazy, stayed home.

The zany multi-tasking schedule that is my daily routine faded from view. The responsibilities of helping with caretaking of a person with a severe illness - those lessened too, though in their place came a wave of guilt that others were doing more to "cover" for me.

One of the guilty pleasures I rediscovered was reading. How did I get so busy that I don't have time to read? That is so wrong.

Other guilty pleasures hovered at the corners of my mind: walking at a strolling pace (instead of walking to burn calories), getting a massage, enjoying the company of others (real people, not the ones I'm inventing for books), yoga, watching the waves roll in, lunch with the girls, chick flicks, playing my guitar, and more.

These are things I used to do for leisure activities, before I got so busy. These are things I intend to do again.

Please comment with your guilty pleasure (keep it PG, please!). I will give away a copy of one of my books, your choice, to a lucky commenter. The winner will be announced on Saturday, July 7, so it isn't too late to comment. Don't forget to leave an address if you want to be considered for the drawing!

Maggie Toussaint
Mystery and Romance author
www.maggietoussaint.com