Congratulations to Bette Lee Crosby on the release of the latest addition in the heartfelt Wyattsville Series. At the moment, I’m finishing Beyond the Carousel, and can tell you that Bette outdid herself with this novel. The characters leap right off the page. The story, which spans decades, will tug at your heartstrings.

Bette, thank you for joining us today:

I believe the best stories start with a memory and this is true of Beyond the Carousel, Book 5 in the award-winning Wyattsville Series.

A long, long time ago, when I was perhaps 8 or 10 my family lived in New York City. We lived in a brownstone with a front stoop where neighbors gathered to talk of their day and girls my age played hopscotch on the sidewalk. The building is no longer standing. The city tore it down and built Lincoln Center. But before Lincoln Center I lived there with my mama, daddy and two sisters.  Back then we could enjoy parts of the city that have since become overcrowded tourist attractions.

On Thanksgiving Day we walked a few blocks to stand and watch the Macy Day Parade. At Christmastime we visited Rockefeller Center to admire the tree, drink hot chocolate in the coffee shop then stroll along Fifth Avenue gawking at window displays in stores like Saks and Bergdorf Goodman.

In the summertime we went to Central Park; and on a good day we got to ride the carousel. I remember how my daddy stood at the edge of the platform and stretched his long arm out to catch a gold ring for me.  It was so thrilling that even today if I close my eyes I can see the image of him smiling as he handed me that gold ring.

In Beyond the Carousel there is a father-daughter scene much like the one I keep in my memory. There’s more of course—a story never stops at a single scene. This story is one of the stock market crash, a family tragedy and a stouthearted detective determined to set things right.

If you’ve read Spare Change you’ll remember Jack Mahoney, the detective with a big heart and a bad case of indigestion. If you’ve never read Spare Change now is a good time to do so. To celebrate the release of book 5 in the Wyattsville Series, Bent Pine Publishing is offering a free download of Spare Change, Book 1. You can find it at Amazon, iBooks, Nook, Kobo and GooglePlay.

If you read one of the Wyattsville Books and it brings back one of your favorite memories, I’d love to read from you. You can find me chatting with readers on Facebook in the wee hours of the morning, or you can stop by my blog for a visit.

Purchase Beyond the Carousel on Amazon or iBooks.

ABOUT BETTE LEE CROSBY

Award-winning novelist Bette Lee Crosby brings the wit and wisdom of her Southern Mama to works of fiction—the result is a delightful blend of humor, mystery and romance along with a cast of quirky charters who will steal your heart away.

“Storytelling is in my blood,” Crosby laughingly admits, “My mom was not a writer, but she was a captivating storyteller, so I find myself using bits and pieces of her voice in most everything I write.”

Crosby’s work was first recognized in 2006 when she received The National League of American Pen Women Award for a then unpublished manuscript. Since then, she has gone on to win numerous other awards, including The Reviewer’s Choice Award, The Reader’s Favorite Gold Medal, FPA President’s Book Award Gold Medal and The Royal Palm Literary Award.

Crosby originally studied art and began her career as a packaging designer. When asked to write a few lines of copy for the back of a pantyhose package, she discovered a love for words that was irrepressible. After years of writing for business, she turned to works of fiction and never looked back