QuickJAB, The Latest Twist

Author at Work

authorwriting      Chickens with grass Jan 2023 clipped

My New Author Bio?

Judith A. Barrett: The Georgia-based, award-snatching author who’s convinced her chickens might be plotting the next big mystery, or are they burying the evidence? 

With her loyal husband as her alibi, two dogs who are terrible at keeping secrets, and a penchant for spinning yarns ranging from mysterious thrillers to cuddle-worthy cozies, Judith has a story for every kind of reader. She’s taken on the challenge of combining mystery and crime with just a sprinkle of sweet romance to all her stories to keep them mildly spicy like sugar and cinnamon – not like jalapeno and ghost peppers!

Her motto? “You keep reading, or the chickens get it! Just kidding… I’ll keep writing!

Bitter-barn-smaller-1 Chickens who go broody and won’t leave the nest go into the Bitter Barn to cool off. She’s crying fowl on the charges. If she begs you to open the barn door with a promise of eggs, she’s scamming you. Broody hens don’t lay eggs. There’s a story…

Buy Judith a cup of coffee!

Did you enjoy the new bio? Consider buying me a cup of coffee! Coffee is magical writer’s fuel and keeps me writing, researching, and sharing stories with you. Thank you for your continued support!

$2.00

QuickJAB

Not Your Typical Holiday Stories

There are two types of books that I could never write: the first is a horror book because scary stories scare me. I suppose some people enjoy being too terrified to go to sleep, but I’m not one of them. No horror or Halloween stories for me.

You may already know that in 2021, a publisher asked for cozy mystery stories to be included in a Halloween collection of stories, so I wrote a Halloween story, Sweet Scary Deal, with a crime or two for Donut Lady to solve while the zombies sold donuts. Not at all your typical horror story.

The second type of book that I could never write is any type of romance; I apologize to all romance readers and authors in advance, but I don’t understand romance because I keep waiting for a body to show up: you know, one of those dead ones; not a person who needs to put their shirt back on. If you’re looking for a December holiday or Christmas story to read, you’re almost guaranteed a romance book or as a twist, a horror book, but not a book that I would write.

You know where this is going, don’t you? Yep, I have a Christmas story in preorder for you, Book 6 of the Grid Down Survival series. I decided that even after the grid, economy, and everything else in the world as we know it ends with an abrupt collapse, we would still have Christmas, but my story wouldn’t have to be romancey or terrifying because we’d still have our usual killers, conspiracies, and gangs and cartels trying to take over.

Season of Danger, Grid Down Survival, Book 6

Season of Danger Cover (6 × 9 in) beveled 

Release Date: December 15 2022

Spirits are high in the anticipation of Christmas and snow at the four Georgia farms until the head of a cartel targets one of their own.

Tap HERE to PreOrder Now to be among the first to receive your copy!

QuickJAB

Spies Blend In

The best spies blend in with the herd.  

You know the Cow Rule, right? When you’re driving in the countryside, it’s obligatory for all passengers to say, “Cows,” when they see cows in a field. I may not always follow all the rules, but I definitely would never break the Cow Rule. 

The Spy in the field is banking on the Cow Rule, so when cars and trucks pass by, the passengers say, “Cow,” and everybody’s happy.  

Except for that one time we were driving on a familiar road near our small farm, and I startled FarmerMan when I shouted, “DEER!” He slammed on the brakes and pulled to the side of the road, fully expecting to see a doe with a fawn or two behind her as they darted across the road in front of us. He was even more startled when I hopped out of the truck and stepped near the ditch and snapped a photo then climbed back in. “I got it!”   

This deer with her tribe is exactly what Maggie Sloan had in mind when she decided she needed to blend in, like a Gray Man. If you haven’t read any of the Maggie Sloan Thriller Series, I suggest you start with Book 1, I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A SPY.

UNLESS you’d like to read a New Unpublished Short Story that isn’t included in any of the Maggie Sloan Thriller Series, THE LIBRARIAN WHO WANTED TO BE A SPY, that is available when you sign up for a Giveaway that includes the books and stories of 70+ authors through July 31. Of course, if you love the short story, you’ll love the Maggie Sloan Thriller Series. 

Here are the covers, so you’ll have a visual when you look for the MAGGIE SPY books.

   

If you’ve already read THE LIBRARIAN short story, you might enjoy I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A SPY!

QuickJAB

A New Mystery Series

A new series means we’ll be introduced to a story about a new person with a problem to solve. 

Meet RILEY MALLOY, a talented veterinary technician who understands her patients. When her employer abruptly closes the veterinary clinic where she has always worked, she adopts an abandoned dog at the worst possible time – no job and no animals allowed in her apartment building.

After she moves to her family’s hometown for a new job, death follows her.

TAGGED BY DEATH

Riley Malloy has a remarkable talent for understanding her veterinary patients. Unknowingly, she’s also the only one who can identify a serial killer. 

As one murder follows another, the evidence she discovers may lead her to expose the murderer’s scheme. When she gets too close, Riley finds herself in the crosshairs of the desperate killer as he escalates to a final murder. Can Riley escape his deadly intentions?

QuickJAB

And the Award Winner is . . .

Danger in the Clouds!

 

The Independent Author Network announced the Winners for the International 2020 Book of the Year Awards!

DANGER IN THE CLOUDS was selected as a finalist in the category of Science Fiction where the TOP NINE Science Fiction novels for 2020 were recognized out of thousands of nominations.

What? You haven’t read Danger in the Clouds?

Don’t miss out! TAP or CLICK the button for DANGER IN THE CLOUDS

GRID DOWN SURVIVAL SERIES

DANGER IN THE CLOUDS, BOOK 1

DANGER IN THE WIND, BOOK 2

WATCH FOR THE NEW RELEASE! BOOK 3

QuickJAB

An Award for Maggie Sloan

SPY 3D with NewApple2019

I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A SPY  has been awarded the 2019 EBook New Apple Award for Excellence in Independent Publishing by New Apple Literary Services.

New Apple’s Annual Book Awards for Excellence in Independent Publishing were established to honor the creative achievements within the world of indie and self-publishing that so often go unnoticed among the multitude of book releases.

happydance We tried to get a photo of Spike doing his wacky dance, but he was too busy pestering Larry. Here are his fill-ins.

Not sure who Spike and Larry are? Time to read I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A SPY.

SPY 3D with NewApple2019

 

QuickJAB

International SPY DAY

OCTOBER 10 is International SPY DAY. From the first Tuxedo worn to a dinner party held in Tuxedo, NY in 1886 to the Premier release of From Russia with Love in London in 1963, OCTOBER 10 has had special significance in the World of Spies.

OCTOBER 10, 2019 ~ Best day ever to read I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A SPY Celebrate your spy-ness as you join Maggie Sloan in Maggie Sloan Mystery Series, Book 1.

 

QuickJAB

A Review from the UK ~ I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A SPY

An Unexpectedly Unique Heroine

30 July 2019

Maggie Sloan always knew that she wanted to be a spy. She is unusual, almost emotionless. More than just a loner, she separates herself from the world, looking in at it, observing everything, making copious notes and filing them away, but not truly engaging with other people. This in an adult would be odd enough, but Maggie has been this way since a child. But do not pity her, because Maggie has grown up happily enough. We see snapshots of her early life – an absent father and over-protective mother – which seem to be filled with trivial episodes, yet like an expert quilt-maker, Judith A. Barrett creates an image of this character which is so strong, that she is far more flesh and blood in this, her first book, than many others become through a whole series. And I truly hope that this is the beginning of a series, because I want to spend a lot more time with Maggie. There is death and betrayal along the way to Maggie connecting with other people, but the delight she finds as she learns to live: to cook, colour-coordinate (she was always in first black, then grey shades), open up to love, learn fighting and weapon skills and ultimately put everything she ever learned into practice, is truly affecting. Oh, and she sees imaginary people – a side-effect of a medical procedure – which is presented so matter-of-factly that no one can question their existence. Maggie will haunt you long after you put the book down.

*  *  *  *  *

Have you read I ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A SPY? Maggie Sloan Thriller, Book 2 is in the works!

QuickJAB

Danger In the Clouds Award Winner

DANGER IN THE CLOUDS is a FAPA President’s Book Award Winner!

MAJOR DAVE ELLIOTT’s quiet farm life with his dog and granddaughter abruptly changes when a cyber-attack collapses the grid and the economy.  After his granddaughter’s uncanny ability to see danger thwarts attacks on the farm, will Major succeed in exposing the conspiracy where others have so tragically failed and died?

A riveting story of conspiracy and survival.

DANGER IN THE CLOUDS: A MAJOR ELLIOTT NOVEL (GRID DOWN SURVIVAL SERIES, BOOK 1)