Unspeakable Words by Sarah Madison Guest Post & Excerpt!

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Hi guys, we have Sarah Madison popping in today with her upcoming  expanded re-release Unspeakable Words, we have a fantastic guest post and a great new excerpt, so check out the post and enjoy! <3 ~Pixie~

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Unspeakable Words

(The Sixth Sense 01)
by

Sarah Madison

Special Agent John Flynn is everything that Jerry Parker is not: dangerously handsome, coolly charismatic, and respected by his peers. Special Agent Parker is dedicated and meticulous, but his abrasive personality has given him a reputation for being difficult. When new information on a cold case appears, Parker is assigned to work with Flynn, and sparks fly as their investigative styles clash. Contact with a strange artifact changes everything when it bestows unusual and unpredictable powers on Flynn…and the two men must learn to work together before a killer strikes again.

First Edition published by Dreamspinner Press, 2010.

Release date: 10th March 2017

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Sarah Madison

Why revisit an old story?

I know what you’re thinking.

“Wait. Wasn’t this story published a while back?”

You’re right. Almost six years ago, Unspeakable Words was the first major story I sold to a publisher. When I submitted it to Dreamspinner Press on a whim, I had no real expectation it would be accepted. Only it was! I was such a newbie to the game, I didn’t realize that a novel might have been a better choice for this story than a novella, or that I could potentially have negotiated to expand it to such at the time. And while I had thoughts about continuing it as a series, I hadn’t really thought that far in advance.

Sarah Madison - Unspeakable Words BookmarkMy rank inexperience showed. Afraid I might blow my only chance to see a story published by appearing ‘difficult’, I decided to accept my good fortune and push away any self-doubts. I left out scenes that rightly belonged—scenes that developed the characters more fully and set up the future installments more clearly. I just didn’t know any better.

To my utter astonishment, Unspeakable Words remained on Dreamspinner’s bestseller page for over a month. For a first effort, it did amazingly well. But then I made another newbie mistake. I let almost four years pass between the first story and the next in the series.

I know. I know. I cringe to think of it now. I was writing, just not in this series. I wrote about vampires and werewolves. Gargoyles. Fighter pilots. But I left the boys from Unspeakable Words sitting idle. In part, it was because I let some criticism derail me from my envisioned plan. In part because I’d never written a series before and really didn’t have a clue how to go about doing it. But when I finally did get around to the next installment in the Sixth Sense series (as I was calling it now), Walk a Mile was novel length. Because of the long time between installments, no one realized the imbalance, least of all me. I didn’t even realize it was an issue at first.

It wasn’t until I overheard a fan saying she preferred to buy stories all in the same format that I recognized there might be a problem. As a novella, Unspeakable Words was only available in a digital format. Well, that wasn’t so bad, right? People could buy the entire series to date in e-book form.

But it wasn’t until I went to a convention that I realized what a problem this was for some people. I attended Animazement in Raleigh, NC last year, sharing a dealer’s table with some other Dreamspinner authors, and I sold out on all the books I brought with me with one glaring exception: no one would buy print copies of Walk a Mile or Truth and Consequences because Unspeakable Words was only available in a digital format.

That was a real eye-opener for me. The rest of my print copies sold like hotcakes. My friend and fellow Dreamspinner author, Shira Anthony, suggested I contact Dreamspinner about revising and expanding the first story in the series so they would be available in both print and digital format. It hadn’t even occurred to me this was even an option, but when I approached Dreamspinner, they thought it was a great idea. As part of the relaunch plan, we decided to go with new covers as well, which was much like re-painting a beloved car: I’m excited all over again about the series.

The revised and expanded version of Unspeakable Words is available for pre-order now, and will be re-released on March 10th, 2017.

I’m currently working on the fourth and final installment in the series, tentatively titled Deal with the Devil. Current release date sometime in 2018. I hope you’ll join me in celebrating the relaunch of the series, or coming to the party for the first time. I think you’ll enjoy it.

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Excerpt!

“Jerry!”

Jerry abandoned his conversation with Flynn to look for the owner of the voice from his past. His heart squeezed painfully to a halt at the sight of Derek standing on the sidewalk behind him, only to restart at double-time.

Jesus. Talk about running into your ex.

Derek wore a brown blazer over a tan turtleneck, with a brightly colored scarf carelessly thrown around his neck. Jerry had a momentary spurt of irritation for the affectation and then felt his heart sink. There was no way he could avoid speaking to Derek without looking churlish, and he didn’t want to give him that satisfaction.

“What are you doing down here?” Derek’s voice was inappropriately coy as he raised an eyebrow in Flynn’s direction and gave him the once-over. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?”

His sun-bleached hair was overly long and curling at the collar, and Jerry was secretly amused that it appeared to be getting thin on top. Derek had creases at the corners of his eyes as well. Too much time in the tanning booth, no doubt.

He must be having a cow over that.

It must be harder now for Derek to catch the attention of some sweet young ass, unless the young thing was desperate for a sugar daddy.

“Derek Collins,” Jerry said smoothly, “my partner, John Flynn. We’re here on business, Derek.”

This is the guy that I thought I loved once. Boy, was I an idiot.

“Partner?” Derek glanced swiftly at Jerry’s left hand and then gave a little laugh. “Oh, partner,” he repeated without explanation, shooting a sly smirk at Flynn.

Jerry felt Flynn go rigid with tension, like a dog with his hackles up.

Relax. Gayness isn’t catching.

Flynn shot him a wounded look, and Jerry felt ashamed when he realized Flynn wasn’t embarrassed by Derek’s innuendos, he was pissed off on Jerry’s behalf. That was just…. Wow. Warmth suddenly flooded him, and he was both embarrassed and comforted at the same time.

Inexplicably, Flynn’s face relaxed, and a lazy smile appeared. “Yes, partner.” He practically purred as he placed a hand on Jerry’s arm. “Come on, Jer. We don’t want to be late for that interview.”

He guided Jerry away with a decidedly possessive hand on the small of his back.

“What was that about?” Jerry hissed as they left Derek openmouthed behind them.

“That asshole,” Flynn growled. “I can’t believe he cheated on you with a twinkie.”

Jerry stumbled and then laughed. When he quickly glanced over his shoulder, he saw Derek staring at the two of them speculatively. He laughed even harder and clapped Flynn on the back.

“It’s ‘twink’ if you really want to be cool,” Jerry corrected him.

“Asshole.” Flynn repeated the epithet for good measure, sounding pissed off again. “I wanted to punch him, but then I realized what would jerk his chain.” He appeared insufferably pleased with himself.

“You’re an idiot,” Jerry said with amusement. “A nice one, but an idiot all the same.” It’ll be all over town by this evening that I have a hot boyfriend. He fixed a sharp look on Flynn to check his reaction, but Flynn merely whistled innocently. “Come on,” Jerry sighed, not knowing what to make of the gesture. “We’ve got work to do.”

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About Sarah

Sarah Madison is a writer with a little dog, a big dog, an even bigger horse, too many cats, and a very patient boyfriend. An amateur photographer and a former competitor in the horse sport known as eventing, when she’s not out hiking with the dogs or down at the stables, she’s at the laptop working on her next story. When she’s in the middle of a chapter, she relies on the smoke detector to tell her dinner is ready. She writes because it’s cheaper than therapy.

Sarah Madison was a finalist in the 2013, 2015, and 2016 Rainbow Awards. The Boys of Summer won Best M/M Romance in the 2013 PRG Reviewer’s Choice Awards. The Sixth Sense series was voted 2nd place in the 2014 PRG Reviewer’s Choice Awards for Best M/M Mystery series, and 3rd place in the 2105 PGR Reviewer’s Choice Awards for Best M/M Paranormal/Urban Fantasy series.

If you want to make her day, e-mail her and tell you how much you like her stories.

Website | Amazon | Dreamspinner Author Page | Facebook | Twitter | E-mail: akasarahmadison@gmail.com

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