The interior of the house was a pressure cooker of heat, creeping through their flash hoods and along the rubber seals of their face masks.  The heat was one thing, but it was the captain's unfailing intuition, a grave uneasiness that cinched it--they retreated, following their hose line back through the blackness, up the stairs and out.
Out in the yard, the fire attack crew prepared for a quick ventilation, readied to break a window to remove some heat from the house.  As Captain Ormond decided on which windows to smash, he saw it.

A child's hand weakly clawing at a basement window.
Time froze as the image pulsed at his consciousness, throbbing like a kettle drum.  For the very first time in his career, in his life, he faced a moment of truth - a cold, stark reality of what his job required him to do.
When they pulled up on scene, a distraught babysitter told them she'd taken all the children out.  In the panic of evacuating the home, one of her charges forgot to tell her there was a friend over from across the street.  All the kids were bawling like distressed farm animals.
Thick bars gridding the window were lag-bolted solidly to the frame.  The rescue truck hadn't yet arrived with its forcible entry tools.  There was no time to weigh odds - theirs or the child's.
He ordered his men back in.

E.R. Yatscoff says, "Firefighters as protagonists are unique in the genre.  As far as I know, there aren't any Canadian pulp fiction firefighter heroes.  I think OLD FLAMES will be a refreshing change for readers.  I've sold a few short stories and articles, but I'm especially proud of writing a novel drawing on my fire rescue experience.  I have two more in the genre and want to build a following.  The explosive growth and benefits of eBooks are hard to ignore for writers.  If my book was a hard copy it would get little marketing support from publishers and quite likely would go out of print quickly.  Ebooks stay around a lot longer, giving them more exposure to the public."
Read a sample of OLD FLAMES at http://fiction-ebooks.com/sample/55991/old-flames or at the author's website.  The novel is available for $5.99 CDN through most eBook retailers such as Smashwords, Apple, Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Barnes &Noble, and Diesel.

About E.R. Yatscoff
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Originally from Welland, Ontario, E.R. Yatscoff has traveled the world and now resides with his wife in Beaumont, AB.  Now retired after a 30 year career as a firefighter and officer, he draws heavily on his experience for his stories.  His short stories and travel articles have appeared in several anthologies and eMags.


About Smashwords
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Founded in 2008, Smashwords operates the world's leading ebook publishing and distribution platform serving authors, publishers, readers and retailers. Smashwords makes it free and easy for the world's authors and publishers to instantly publish and distribute their books as multi-format ebooks. Smashwords puts authors and publishers in full control over the pricing, sampling and distribution of their works. Authors and publishers receive up to 85 percent of the net proceeds from sales of their works. Smashwords has distribution relationships with leading online retailers such as Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Sony and Diesel eBooks, and leading mobile e-reading apps including Aldiko, Stanza, Kobo, FBReader and Word-Player, spanning all major mobile platforms including Android, Blackberry and iPhone. Privately held Smashwords is based in Los Gatos, California, and can be reached on the web at http://www.smashwords.com

For further information:
yatscoffbooks.com
egyatscoff@shaw.ca