Blood Ties: Under the title Blood Relations, a finalist in the Mystery Category of the Writers' League of Texas 2008 Manuscript Contest After a brutal rape and beating causes Taylor Walker Campbell to miscarry, the panhandle town of Walker, Fla., rallies around her. When her husband, Capt. Cameron Campbell, returns from Iraq, he shoots an intruder in their home, coincidentally one of Taylor's attackers. Struggling to regain control of her downwardly spiraling life, Taylor finds her retired judge father ordered the attack to "protect" her. When she recalls the day of the attack, Taylor...

Artists run amok at the 2006 Great Gulfcoast Arts Festival The idyllic setting of Seville Square provides a canvas for murder and mayhem. The trouble starts when an obnoxious artist, Manolo Friedman, proves to be a pain in the palette. From there, things go consistently-and literally-down the Port-a-let: Fishermen, environmentalists and developers wrangle over a proposed resort project in Pensacola Bay. Money turns up missing in the festival account. An artist "finds" 100 grand-and turns it over to the festival treasurer. Some people aren't who they say they are. A bumbling pair of petty...