Showing posts with label Guest Post. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Guest Post. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 27, 2022

God's Intervention : A Second Chance for Humankind by Kenneth B. Little and Helen Davies - Book Tour and Giveaway


This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Kenneth B. Little and Helen Davies will be awarding a $15 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Humans are on the brink of disaster...
In the United States, President Samuel Cummings has taken the reins of a deeply divided country at a time when nuclear, chemical, biological and cyberthreats loom.
Things look bleak until God's emissary Sarah, a composite of 40 million female souls from Heaven, arrives on Earth with the message that God is intervening in human affairs to save the human race from itself. God, she explains, is the life force of the universe, the only intelligent form of energy. People who help others grow their own life force will join God in Heaven. However, many humans are more inclined toward hatred, intolerance and greed and so God is intervening to course-correct them.
The first thing Sarah does is to announce God's edict of 'thou shalt not kill' to the world. Anyone who tries to kill another person—or who enables someone to do so—will die instead. As commander-in-chief, Cummings must call back his military troops or risk his life. He must then deal with both the fallout and benefits of the dissolution of America's military-industrial complex.
Sarah's mission is to establish a new world order that is kinder, better and united. As she guides the world through this evolution, President Cummings begins to notice a depth in his own soul that makes him both a better man and a better leader.
Sarah remains on Earth for one year to help the world come together, and
leaves behind a legacy of hope—a second chance for humankind.

Read an Excerpt

Immediately on alert, and with as much bravado as he could muster, he stuttered, “What in the hell are you doing here . . . ?” He punched a button on his desk and yelped, “Security!” as loudly as he could, expecting his personal bodyguard, Don Taylor, to rush into the room and usher this intruder out posthaste . . . but Don didn’t come.

Instead, the woman continued to stand in front of him as bright as a satellite in space. Glowing, it seemed.

“You must leave immediately!” he shouted at her, but she appeared unperturbed by his anxiety and did not move. “Now!” he yelled again, this time with more fervor as he pointed toward the door.

When she did not react, he slowly glanced around the room and noted an unnatural stillness. The usual electronic sounds that were part and parcel of day-to-day life—like lights buzzing and clocks ticking—were absent. It was like he was in a vacuum of some sort. He started to realize that he was alone with this woman and that no one was going to save him.

Don’t panic, he told himself, and he calmed down a little. He glanced quickly at her and had the uncomfortable sensation that she was flitting around the room. He looked away, at the door behind her, still hoping Taylor would bust through and usher her out, but nothing happened.

Finally, he managed to muster the words, “Where did you come from . . . ?” and then his tongue tied itself into a knot, and further speech failed him as he felt the full power of her presence.

This was no ordinary woman. She seemed to suck the oxygen from the room, leaving him light-headed, and oddly light-hearted as well. As he felt himself being somehow drawn to her, he could hear his heart beating as if in anticipation of something delightful, though his rational mind told him it was probably just due to surprise and shock. He fought to hide his odd mix of feelings from her by reminding himself that she was an intruder. The truth of the matter, he told himself sternly, is that this woman breached White House security in order to threaten me in the Oval Office.

Guest Post

I am a 72 year-old man who is not happy with how my generation is leaving the world for future generations. I am too old to fix any of humankind’s major problems so I decided to write a book that would put us on a new course that would enable us to solve them all.

To move forward, we have to learn to become at one with our species and, eventually, with all living things on Earth.

Course-correcting humankind will take generations because hatred, intolerance and greed have become deeply ingrained in us over hundreds of thousands of years of evolution. 

We formed tribes to help us accumulate and defend resources. Gangs are tribes. Villages are tribes. Countries are tribes. Religions are tribes. Companies are tribes.

Tribes differentiate people. Tribes also cause people to commit atrocities that individuals in those tribes would never commit on their own.

All the while, technologies have grown exponentially while the evolution of human societies proceeds at a snail’s pace, with much backsliding along the way. Weapons of mass destruction proliferate among rogue governments and radical groups.

These are weighty matters and a book that describes what humans would have to do to course correct themselves would be really boring and/or distastefully dystopian.

I decided that the only way to save humankind quickly and in a way that makes for good reading would be to have divine intervention.

This solution posed a few problems for me because I am not particularly religious. I have tried to become religious over the years but I keep stumbling over the fact that the world’s leading religious tribes seem to constantly be warring among themselves.

I decided that this time around God would not send another male prophet to straighten things out because that historically led to the formation another new religious tribe and more conflict.

Rather, God sent Sarah, the embodiment of 40 million female souls that collectively had lived every life and died every death throughout human history.

With god-like powers and an impish persona, Sarah communicates directly to every human being on the planet and soon gets world leaders on track to create a united world at peace.

My co-author, Helen Davies, did a critical edit of the first version of the book and was enthralled by the plot line. We have never met each other but the first time we talked on the phone we went on for 2 ½ hours. Thus began our collaboration.

Over an 18 month period Helen worked to bring life to the manuscript and its characters. After every chapter she would sigh off by saying “I hope you like it”.

Helen and I hope you read our book and we hope you like it.

Kenneth B. Little

About the Author:

Kenneth B. Little is a 72-year-old retired business executive who is unhappy about how the state of the world has deteriorated during his lifetime.

The human population has ballooned from one billion to nearly eight billion, and people have moved off the land into massive cities where they have no ability to survive on their own. Instead, we rely on massive electrical grids energized by power plants largely burning fossil fuel; we’ve developed industrial complexes and global transportation systems that also rely on fossil fuel; we’ve created corporate farms that promote animal cruelty and destroy the soil by overusing chemicals; we’ve decimated our ocean marine life by dragging the ocean floor; we’ve created plastics that pollute land, rivers, lakes and oceans; and, of course, we’ve created nuclear, chemical, biological and cyber weapons that are now in the hands of unstable countries and terrorist organizations.

In short, we are racing headlong into a series of mass extinction events.

At seventy-two, Ken felt motivated to try to create a better world for his grandchildren by writing a fiction book full of non-fiction ideas that could potentially correct many of the world’s problems. Realizing that the only two avenues toward this were themes of divine intervention or mass extinction, he chose divine intervention as the solution, creating a scenario where God could step in to save humankind.

Ken wrote his initial manuscript during the Covid-19 lockdown, a 70,000-word overview that his wife told him read like a textbook. Deciding to see professional help, he engaged Tellwell Publishing to do a critical edit, which was performed by Tellwell editor Helen Davies.
Helen was intrigued by the storyline but, like Ken’s wife, felt it needed a lot of work to develop the characters and make it more engaging. With Tellwell’s blessing, Ken then contracted Helen to do just that. Thus began a most unusual and successful collaboration!

Says Ken:

Helen and I are completely different people. She is a writer, musician, and farmer. I am the grumpy old man who watches European business news when I get up at 3:00 a.m. We live as far apart as possible in Canada. She lives in Victoria on the West Coast, and I live in Fredericton on the East Coast. We have never met, yet we talked for nearly two hours on our first phone conversation. Usually, I never talk for more than five minutes with anybody on the phone. What unites us is that we share a passion for this story, and for the idea of a better, more united world.

During the writing process, Helen routinely sent me edited chapters, one at a time, always with the tagline, “I hope you like it.” I like it very much; the story I wrote that sounded like a textbook now brings tears to my eyes.

God’s Intervention: A Second Chance for Humankind is a story of hope.
We hope you like it.
Kenneth B. Little and Helen Davies

Connect with the Authors



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Thursday, March 12, 2020

Learning to Bend by Michelle Davis - Book Tour and Giveaway



Jenna Moore's flawlessly orchestrated life and engagement to Ben Kelly, “the perfect man,” vanish when she discovers a controlling side of her fiancé. Confused and unsure of who she is without Ben, Jenna decides to uproot from her safe, predictable life in Boston and move to Bend, Oregon, hoping to find her answers there. It’s when she meets Jackson, a former Navy SEAL who battles demons of his own, that Jenna finds the courage to let go of being perfect and embrace uncomfortable risks, transforming her life through forgiveness, compassion, surrender and acceptance. Yet the rewards from discovering her true self exceed Jenna’s expectations – not only does she find the greatest love of her life, but she also understands what’s kept her from learning to bend.

Excerpt

I’m drawn to a solitary man with shoulder length thick brown hair sitting alone at a café table. I try not to stare, but I can’t help myself. When I get closer, I see a faint scar on his cheek. It intrigues me. He intrigues me. Yet it’s his captivating green eyes that truly catch my attention. I look in the opposite direction and make it appear as if I’m about to walk away. But I can’t, he pulls me toward him. I pause, actually freeze in my tracks before I find my body shifting in his direction. He’s drinking coffee and gazing at me. Who is he and why am I feeling this way? Doing my best to regain some composure, I try to avert my eyes, but they won’t stop staring at him. What is it? He’s not traditionally handsome – he’s more of a sensual “bad boy” type – nothing like Ben. Suddenly, I feel my throat tighten and butterflies appear inside my stomach. I become conscious about my hair. I’ve had a helmet on all day. It must look awful. 
Stop it. He’s just some stranger. 

Although he’s sitting, I quickly assess his height and notice his chiseled muscular build. I’m guessing that he’s older than me, by at least five or more years. Something deep inside of me begins to stir as I pass by his table. That’s when I hear, “Place the weight on your inside toe when you turn. You’re using your knees too much.”   

Guest Post

Invisible Tattoos by Michelle Davis – December 2019

Tattoos have always intrigued me. I think that’s because there’s often an interesting story behind people’s body art. Perhaps it’s someone’s way to remember a loved one. Or, maybe it’s symbolic of a life triumph. Regardless, I suspect that many of these permanently inked designs tell a significant tale.

Then I read about the invisible tattoo in Light Watkin’s “Daily Dose of Inspiration.” Invisible tattoos are not located in private areas nor are they covered by clothing. In fact, they can be even more permanent than ink embedded into the top layer of our skin. The difference is that invisible tattoos are the result of others' hurtful comments and reside deep in our psyche, frequently inflicting self-doubt or pain. Whether a deliberate dig or an off handed remark, people’s words can wound and traumatize our emotional bodies. And unless we are willing to identify then recognize the hurt, we cannot begin to heal the damage.

Being a sensitive person, Light Watkins’ blog resonated with me. No doubt I have invisible tattoos which have affected my self-esteem. And, I’m guessing that I’m not alone in this. Don’t we all have at least one symbol of hidden suffering?
So, if invisible tattoos are real, then how can we remove them? After all, we can’t laser the emotional body. Perhaps RAIN, a technique taught by Tara Brock, may be helpful in lifting these hidden scars. Here is how RAIN works:

Recognize what is happening; 
Allow the experience to be there, just as it is; 
Investigate with interest and care; 
Nurture with self-compassion.

Let’s say that you have an invisible tattoo from a high school teacher who sarcastically ridiculed you for asking a question during his history class. This man’s action may have impacted you to the point where you are uncomfortable speaking in groups or are hesitant to ask questions. Employing RAIN could help erase this invisible tattoo:

Recognize - Now I know why I rarely ask questions or speak in group settings. I remember how that fear started. I simply don’t want to be embarrassed for asking a stupid question or not saying the right thing.

Allow – Wow – thinking back to that incident, I was mortified. It was my sophomore year in high school, and half of the football team was in that class! And, what made it really painful is that Mr. Smith was one of my favorite teachers. (Then sit with that feeling – try to see where in your body the sensation resides.)

Investigate – I wonder if this has affected other areas of my life – like my career and relationships? Maybe that’s why I’m always quiet during team meetings or why I avoid large groups, especially if I don’t know the individuals well. How would my life change if I became more comfortable speaking up when I am unsure of something?

Nurture – Like everyone else, I have a right to use my voice and ask questions without fear of being ridiculed or thought of as stupid. No one can know everything. And my questions are usually valid. No wonder I’ve been hesitant to share my thoughts for all of these years. Maybe I can start small – with trusted friends and colleagues – and slowly build to speaking up in larger settings.

If you can identify with the concept of invisible tattoos, play around with RAIN and see if this technique helps to soften the impact of another’s unkind words. Remember, just because someone said something, it does not mean that it’s true.

While we cannot prevent what others say or do – we can only monitor our own words and actions – perhaps there is a way to help counter the invisible tattoos in our lives. Consider the impact if we truly focused on building up one another. It’s been said that ten positives are necessary to erase one negative. So maybe one of our intentions for the upcoming year could be to use our words to empower one another, eventually overriding the self-doubts that so many of us have embedded deep within. What if each day of this new year we complimented one person? I bet that in less than two weeks, we’d notice a difference in how we see ourselves as well as those around us. By searching for the good, instead of focusing on the “less than,” we can help lift our family, friends, acquaintances, and even those we do not know. And in the process of elevating others, we rise as well. 

About the Author

Michelle Davis, whose career path includes banking, teaching, and college admissions consulting, holds a B.S. in Finance from Lehigh University and a M.S. in Education from St. Joseph’s University. Through her blog, elevate, Michelle’s goal is to inspire others to shift their perspectives and welcome change as they realize their life purpose. A Pennsylvania native, Michelle and her husband enjoy visiting their sons in Boston and spending time in Bend, Oregon, the settings of her debut novel, Learning to Bend. To learn more about Michelle and how to elevate your life, visit

www.michellemdavis.net

https://www.learningtobend.com










Giveaway
The author will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to one randomly drawn commenter via Rafflecopter during the tour.
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Thursday, January 23, 2020

Death in the Family by Lanny Larcinese - Book Tour and Giveaway



Donny Lentini is a talented young man hungry for his mother's love. To please her, he becomes guardian angel to his mob-wannabe father. When the father is murdered and found with his hands hacked off, Donny is dealt a set of cards in a game called vengeance. The pot is stacked high with chips; the ante, his soul and the lives of loved-ones. With the help of friends—ex-con, defrocked Jesuit Bill Conlon along with former high-school nemesis, Antwyne Claxton—he digs for whether the murder had anything to do with the mob's lust for a real estate parcel owned by the family of Donny's lover. He's new at this game. He doesn't cheat, but plays his cards well. And he gets what he wants.

Excerpt

I slid my foot over to touch Dad’s. I had promised Mother I’d look after him.

“Is this about the money you lost at the table?” I said. “Should we play a few more hands?”

German pounded his fist on the desk. “Don’t try to second-guess me, you punk! You’ll talk when I say, got it?”

I kept my eyes fixed on German’s. Six…seven…eight…

Dad reached over and put his hand on mine. “I didn’t lose the cleaners,” he said. A bead of sweat meandered toward his jaw. “The union was working on ’em going back three years now. It was already a done deal by the time I got there.”

“Whatever,” German said. “Just don’t let it happen anymore. And tell Donny here to mind his manners or you’ll be back driving a truck.”

The baseball bat leaning in a corner near German’s desk was an exclamation point that punctuated his directives. If it ever came down to that, I’d slash his throat with a rusty knife. Yet I still had to walk a tightrope. Dad would have preferred the bat to the demotion. Dad was a climber and German his future.

German picked up a couple of coded folders and put them into a filing cabinet, slamming the drawer down its rails like a runaway train.

“Oh, and Joojy wants to see you. I don’t know about what.”     

“What about?” Dad said.

“You don’t hear? I said I don’t know! Maybe that thing. Now get outta here, both yiz. I got to take my daughter to ballet.”

Guest Post

My Writing Process

Unlike many writers who conceive a circumstance that makes for an interesting plot, then populate it with characters to service it, I do the opposite. My stories always begin with a character.

He may live a normal life but will have a need of some kind, unfulfilled—the more burning the better. My protagonist in Death in the Family, Donny Lentini, is such a person. He is talented, an MBA who missed out on an athletic scholarship to an Ivy League school because his low-level wannabe mob father was an ex-con. But it’s Donny’s mother who’s the cause of his problem: She is so into her husband that Donny feels shut out. When the old man’s ship comes in as a drug distributor for the local capo, but who is later found murdered with his hands chopped off, it is Mother who pushes Donny to find out who did it, why, and to get even.

Having established a character’s motivation for his actions, I then create a mystery. In Death in the Family, the first mystery is: who killed Donny’s father and why? As he tries to solve it, a second mystery arises: the mob is making attacks against the diner run by his girlfriend, Pepper, and owned by her family. What’s up with that? The two mysteries run concurrently but later converge when it becomes clear the same mob guys are associated with both incidents. (If you expect me to give away the ending, forgetaboutit!) But I’ll reveal this much, by book’s end Donny says, “She should always have known I was the better man.”

In my novel, I Detest All My Sins, the protagonist, Bill O’Dwyer, is a defrocked Jesuit who did time for the statutory rape of one of his students. The story opens as he comes out of prison laden with guilt. His stretch and ignominy led to the suicide of a beloved younger brother headed to the Naval Academy. The brother’s appointment was by the congressman-uncle of the girl Bill defiled. So, early on, Bill has a serious agenda.

So I always begin with a character, an important need, a bit of back story, and I usually know how it’s going to end. In between, I mull plot events designed to squeeze the character’s need, then squeeze some more, and more yet. I consider my work “character driven,” but not like “literary writing,” in which not much happens but a lot goes on; I am a genre writer, a crime writer to whom noir is not a literary convention but a state of mind, something like the blues. Like the blues, my characters need to be done wrong by somebody, sometimes themselves, and result in a struggle. 

No matter, I still love them. Even struggle is holy.

About the Author

 Lanny Larcinese ‘s short work has appeared in magazines and has won a handful of local prizes. He lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He’s a native mid-westerner transplanted to the City of Brotherly Love where he has been writing fiction for seven years. When not writing, he lets his daughter, Amanda, charm him out of his socks, and works at impressing Jackie, his long-time companion who keeps him honest and laughing—in addition to being his first-line writing critic. He also spends more time than he should on Facebook but feels suitably guilty for it.

https://www.facebook.com/lanny.larcinese


https://www.amazon.com/Death-Family-Lanny-Larcinese-ebook/dp/B07XSLCCL1/





Giveaway
Lanny Larcinese will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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Wednesday, March 27, 2019

The Girl from the Lighthouse by Willard Thompson - Book Tour and Giveaway



The Girl From the Lighthouse tells the compelling story of Emma Dobbins. 

Abandoned by her mother at an early age, she was raised by her father, a lighthouse keeper at Point Conception in California, where early on she discovers her artistic talent.  At the age of 17, Emma travels to Paris with a chaperone, to attend art school but is separated from the chaperone when the woman becomes ill. Emma arrives alone in Paris with no money, no language skills, and no friends. A chance meeting with a young working girl in the train station becomes her first Parisian friend.

The setting is Paris in the 1860s-70s, the start of the Belle Èpoque. France soon is involved in the Franco/Prussian War and the Commune Uprising; difficult times for Emma and all Frenchmen. Initially rejected by art schools, her determination keeps her moving toward her goal in the art world, where the Impressionists are starting to change the world. Frenchmen fall in love with her beautiful face and lustrous dark hair. Some wanted to paint her, others to court her, but either way, she does not abide by the rules they try to impose on her because she never learned them. She grows into an accomplished artist but never gives up her own principles... even when someone steals something precious to her and she fights to get it back. 

The story is told in the first person, present tense, allowing the reader to enter the story and feel a part of it as it unfolds, sharing with Emma her highs and lows, loves and rejections, all focused in the art world of Paris.  The novel is filled with vivid characters, both fictional and real people, and the story unfolds gracefully from the 1870s until 1912, just prior to the start of WWI.



Excerpt

The next morning, I go to the orchard with my easel and a canvas to capture the early light and the dew on the leaves of the apple trees. I set up the easel midway between two rows and concentrate on getting the perspective just right, as the trees appear to merge in the distance. It is delicate, tedious work, but the charcoal pencil I sketch with comes alive in my fingers, eagerly welcoming the challenge. In my mind's eye, I see myself in solitude on the bluff looking out at the headlands of the rugged California coastline merging into the mist.

"That is a very brilliant thing you have done to capture the complexity of the apple orchard fading into the distance," the voice over my shoulder says around mid-day. 

When I look up, I see Lamar scrutinizing my morning's work. "The flowers are so delicate," I tell him, "So hard to get right. Tomorrow my challenge will be to reproduce in oil what I've sketched." I pause then ask, "How has your morning been, mon cher?" I wait for his reaction.

"Well enough, I suppose. I've read my mail and a couple of newspapers that came with it. What do you say we drive into the village for lunch? I'm ready."

"Can you wait just a few more minutes?"

"Ah, but Emma, I am hungry now."

Guest Post

What would you like to tell readers about yourself?

I'm a writer of historical fiction. I wrote my first historical novel when I was in seventh grade; I imagined myself as a midshipman on Old Ironsides, USS Constitution. Sadly, that novel was never finished. It came to an end when a note came home from my teacher to my mother suggesting I spend more time improving my grammar and punctuation.

 After graduating from college with a degree in English literature, I worked for several advertising agencies in New York City, and my success was always due to my creative writing ability. But the business world and I were not meant for each other. I left the corporate world and became a freelance journalist barely eking out a living for my family, but doing what I enjoy doing most. During that time I wrote several short stories and adventure-oriented novels, but none of them ever saw the light of day.

When I moved to California with my family, naturally I wanted to learn more about California history, and that led to writing Dream Helper, my first serious historical novel. I worked on it in several writers' groups, and received encouragement to try to market it. After receiving something over 100 rejection slips from eastern publishers, I traveled across the country to attend a historical fiction writers' conference. There I met with a New York editor, and pitched my book to her only to have her tell me her company was not interested in publishing western historical fiction. 

On the flight home, I pondered whether to put the manuscript away in my bottom desk drawer or do something else. Ultimately the book received a gold medal for the best western historical fiction from the Independent Book Publishers Association. In fact, Dream Helper has sold more copies than it would have as a traditional first novel from a major publisher. Since then, two other California historical novels, Delfina's Gold and Their Golden Dreams, have followed Dream Helper to form my Chronicles of California trilogy. 

My newest novel, The Girl from the Lighthouse, is a historically based novel set in Paris, France in the 1870s. It traces the life of a young American woman who travels to Paris to study art. Naively, she encounters the social restrictions women of that time faced. They included the rituals of courtship. She lives through the Franco Prussian war, the Paris Commune, and  starts a career of painting with the artists that became known as the Impressionists. 

One of my great pleasures in writing historical fiction has been the bringing together of my fictional characters with real personalities of the time. So in The Girl from the Lighthouse my protagonist, Emma Dobbins, meets Impressionist artists Renoir, Monet, and Degas, and other famous people of the time like Sarah Bernhardt, the actress, and Charles Frederick Worth, the high fashion designer of lady's gowns.

I hope the take away from this for young or just-beginning writers, is to never give up, to listen to the advice of others but to follow their own instincts, while never stopping writing and learning their craft.

About the Author

 Willard Thompson is an award-winning historical fiction and romance writer living in Montecito, California with his wife Jo. His newest historical romance, THE GIRL FROM THE LIGHTHOUSE was published in early 2019. His previously published three novels of historical fiction DREAM HELPER DELFINA'S GOLD, and THEIR GOLDEN DREAMS are part of his CHRONICLES OF CALIFORNIA trilogy. The Independent Publishers 2009 Book Awards selected DREAM HELPER for a gold medal as the best fiction in the Western/Pacific Region.

Thompson is a past president of the board of directors of the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum. He is a native of Manhasset, New York and a graduate of Colgate University in Hamilton, New York


Giveaway
Willard Thompson will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
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Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Derrick by Russell - Book Tour and Giveaway



In Hyde Park, a movie theater erupts in flames on a bitterly cold November evening. 

It seems like a job for the fire department, but under Captain Creighton’s direct orders, Detective Gavin Nolan and his partner, Derrick Williamson, must investigate. Arriving on the chaotic scene, they find multiple fatalities —but one of the victims is most peculiar… 

Gavin soon discovers that this fire wasn’t the first of its kind. The arsonist has set ablaze other buildings around Chicago, and more female victims left in the same gruesome state have been discovered. 

Gavin and Derrick determine that the arsonist is not an arsonist at all—but a sinister serial killer with an agenda.

Juggling the unexpected events in his personal life, Gavin digs into the locations of the explosions. At the same time, Derrick probes into the victims’ lives, searching for any possible connection.  

However, when the next explosion occurs, the killer leaves behind a significant object, and Derrick becomes noticeably reserved. Gavin soon uncovers an enigmatic link, one that points to Derrick’s military past. A time that his partner had wished to forget. Yet, to catch the vicious maniac, Derrick must tell Gavin everything. 

In a suspenseful, gripping ride to the end, it is up to Gavin to rescue his partner from the clutches of a  killer. But will he make it in time?

WARNING: This book contains graphic scenes, explicit language, and violent sexual situations.



Excerpt

“Look at that.” Derrick pointed over to the front rows.

At the fifth and fourth rows in the dead center, several more CSI members were photographing two burnt corpses. The explosion blew back the bodies into a crumpled position on the chairs.

Hopefully they had a quick death. Gavin stayed silent.

Moving on, they reached the exit door near the front of the theater. Another warning from Delanie informed them of the rubble and potential structural damage in the next section. Briefly looking back, Gavin heard the crackling of radios, like eerie ghostly crickets fluttering in the distance. In the opposite direction, three firemen were still containing some smoldering chairs.

“Shit,” Derrick muttered, tapping Gavin’s shoulder. He nodded up.

The once ornate ceiling now had entire sections missing. Squinting slightly, Gavin could see the dark night sky.

Once they passed the doorway, a series of portable lights cascaded over the area. Gavin was unable to decipher the debris, the contents of which were haphazardly pushed away from the clear epicenter near the opposite end of the room. Up above, about a third of the ceiling had disintegrated, leaving a huge hole. The cold wind invaded the space, dissipating the soot scent slightly. More CSI team members shifted diligently, gathering debris in clear evidence bags and marking each spot with photographs and red markers. Near the apparent epicenter of the blast, several firemen were discussing the area, pointing at spots.

“Have to get back to my captain,” the young fireman said. “Need anything else, just let me know.”

“Thanks,” Gavin replied.

“Where the fuck do we begin?” Derrick grumbled.

“You can begin by bringing back that hottie,” Susan said behind them.

Gavin turned to find the doctor kneeling near a shriveled, burnt corpse. Her scalpel gingerly poked and prodded the body’s seared skull.

“Isn’t he too young for you?” Derrick returned with a snarky grin.

Gavin stated, “I didn’t see your van.”

“Came through the back.” She looked up at him and then at Derrick. She added, “As long he’s eighteen-plus, no laws broken, baby.”

Shaking his head, Derrick snickered. One of the CSI team, an annoyed-looking woman whose gray hair probably came directly from her stressful job, shot him a glance.

Standing up and ripping off her plastic gloves, Susan said, “No offense, love you guys, but what the hell are you doing here?”

“Creighton’s orders,” Derrick answered first. His midnight eyes darted over the scene.

Guest Post

What would you like to tell the readers about yourself?

Since I had been young, I always intended to be a writer. Yet, life somehow turned me in another direction. 
For nearly two decades, my real job was as an Executive Chef in the Restaurant Industry. For me, college was both exhilarating and overwhelming. As the semesters wore on, my scholastic path did not have a clear direction. Working as a waiter, I had paid my own way through endless semesters. When my mother had passed away before I turned twenty-one, the shock made me reassess my future and discovered my passion for cooking. Leaving the university life for good, I attended a local community college and received my degree in Culinary Arts. After that point, I became a Sous Chef in a private club, and created high end dishes for the members. When an opportunity arose in Chicago, my wife and I headed down to the Windy City. Once there, I became an Executive Chef for a corporate dining company, which I ran kitchens up to twenty-five people, produced meals for up to a thousand people daily and prepared classic fine dining for CEOs and Presidents of companies. 
Over time, the stress, long hours and demanding general managers took a toll on me, and the taste to cook for the masses slowly lost my appetite. Eventually, my position had been eliminated due to labor cuts and found myself unemployed. I quickly realized having an Associate’s Degree and experience was not enough to qualify for most jobs. I decided then to return to college and finish my Bachelor’s degree. Despite this, I still loved cooking and changed my career path to teach Culinary Arts. (Currently, I teach Culinary skills to a new hungry young chefs.) No matter, the extended time away from the academic realm ignited my juices for knowledge. Thus, I entered Graduate School to earn my Master’s Degree in Sociology. 
However, back in my mind, the longing to be writer gnawed at me. While I read a plethora of books, I imagined myself to be the one to be on the cover and produce a book myself. Despite my busy life as a chef (albeit having children on top of that), I always wrote in the spare small moments of my hectic life. In my twenties, I worked on a story from start to finish which gave me sense of accomplishment. Was it the great novel? Absolutely not! What it did though, the buried manuscript pushed me forward to write The Tale of Old Man Fischer. Unbeknownst to my family, I never shared the fact I was a writer. Consequently, I decided to publish Old Man Fischer. Quite frankly, my family was rather flabbergasted.  While the lessons learned from publishing a book would deter many newbies (such as promoting, always need an editor, ins and outs of social media), this new world opened a fresh start for me. Zenning my inner Chef, I took my own experience in opening cafes and shifted it into the publishing world. Most of all, like creating a new meal, creativity is always first and foremost, but criticism is a necessary evil to create a better dish.  I listened, took notes and moved forward.
Thus, it gave way into GAVIN, which is part of The Gavin Nolan Trilogy. On a side note, I wrote my sophomore novel during Graduate School between the dense dry reading, writing short essays and grinding out my thesis. Even as I wrote GAVIN, I realized the story could not be contained just in one book. (I highly recommend you to read GAVIN before you tackle DERRICK because you will see the natural progression of the story.) About a month after my second draft of GAVIN, DERRICK was conceived. DERRICK is a darker version of Book 1, where I explore the friendship between Gavin and his partner Derrick even more, testing it to the very end. Currently, I’m on the next draft of QUINN--the final part of the Gavin Nolan Trilogy. While the process can be time consuming, I have to comb through GAVIN and DERRICK in order to answer all the outlining questions…or will they all be answered? Hmmm…QUINN will be out Spring 2020. In fact, a preview of QUINN is in DERRICK. 
In meantime, I had written something completely different, a standalone piece, titled The Eradication Initiative. Here’s the premise: A group of seemingly random strangers are being hunted down, captured and brought to an underground facility. Soon the experiments begin. I hoping to have Initiative out late 2020. Currently while editing QUINN, I’ve been plugging away at another piece that is untitled. While I’m about a third into it, the piece is about a ghost story located somewhere in Up State New York. Seriously, I’ve been scaring myself even while writing in the full daylight…yeesh!

Thank you so much for spending some time with me. I do hope you checkout my books GAVIN and now DERRICK. This series is not for the light hearted mystery reader, it contains strong sexual situations, graphic violence and explicative language. If you enjoy that, you will be in a ride for your life.

Read to Escape!

Russell

About the Author
Russell has been writing for the majority of his life. Slipping into alternative universes allows him to enjoy the process of creativity from the novel’s conception to its final draft. Currently, he lives in South Texas with his wife, two kids and several cats.

DERRICK is a 2018 Winner in the New Apple Literary Awards, receiving Official Selection in Psychological Suspense.





Giveaway
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Thursday, November 29, 2018

Tar by Taylor Hohulin - Book Tour and Giveaway



Brendan Cobb calls it tar, but there might be as many names for it as cities left standing.

To some, it’s known as filth, or blight. Others call it the Black God in reverential whispers. Whatever name it takes, the effects are the same. Cities left in ruins. People turned into monsters. Living infections with no known cure. The best anyone can do is avoid it, but even that gets harder the more it spreads.

Brendan survives this waking nightmare by trading salvage for shelter and for repairs to his cybernetic arm, until a newcomer arrives, convinced Brendan is the key to ridding the world of tar once and for all. Reluctantly, Brendan and his mechanic join the newcomer on a journey across the desolate highways of a ruined world, where he learns the true history of the tar…and of the dark power inside him, which grows stronger every day.



Excerpt

Tiger Stripe barked something harsh and insistent, but Brendan barely heard it. He’d descended into a place ruled by impulse and instinct. Coldness enveloped him as his legs pumped, pulling the tunnel in the debris ever closer.

Tile exploded a few inches from Brendan’s feet, an errant shot from Tiger Stripe’s blaster. He did not fire again—a wise decision, considering Brendan was running toward the only way out. The last thing anyone needed was a collapsed tunnel.

Just as Brendan wondered if he would escape, a sound roared behind him, speeding closer at an alarming rate. Metal joints pistoned over and over, faster than any human could move on his own.

Brendan glanced back. The kid with two mods in place of his legs was sprinting after Brendan. The slender prosthetics looked more like they belonged on an insect than a human. As the thought crossed his mind, a single word cut through the coldness that surrounded him. The salvagers were chanting.

“Grasshopper! GRASS! HA! PER! Grasshopper! GRASS! HA! PER!”

Grasshopper leaned forward as he ran, with an expression equal parts grin and grimace. Brendan didn’t want to fight him here, not with four other salvagers waiting to join. It would be cleaner if he could separate them and take them one by one.

None of these things occurred to Brendan as thoughts. They were instincts, like don’t touch a fire, or don’t breathe underwater. They passed through his mind in an instant, registering deep within his very core.

Guest Post

What is your writing process?

My writing process could best be described as “one step at a time.” There’s a lot of problems you need to solve when writing a book, and trying to knock them all out in one go is just overwhelming to me. The good news is books aren’t written as live performances—you have the luxury of working on them for a long time and tweaking things here and there until you have something beautiful that you love.
So I start by hammering out the basic framework of my plot. Who wants what, and what’s in their way? From there, I start building in my story beats and fleshing things out bit by bit until I have a full scene-by-scene outline of the book. That doesn’t mean scenes won’t get added or deleted along the way, but at least I have a roadmap of where I’m going and what I need to foreshadow, as well as a bird’s eye view of things so I know each act is paced properly.
From there, I start writing the story. This is where I start playing with things like voice and tone, and where I start to get a feel for each of the characters. Anymore, I’ve kind of accepted that I’ll need to edit the first 15,000 or so words more heavily, because those are the ones where I’m trying different things and seeing what feels right. It’s usually somewhere in the second half of this rough draft that I get an idea of what themes the book might explore. I usually make a mental note of it and look for opportunities to sprinkle it in with word choices, lines of dialog, or even extra scenes when it comes time to edit. 
Once I’ve finished my rough draft, I like to take a break to start outlining the next book. The big thing this does for me is to allow me to create some emotional distance between myself and the book I just finished. Once I finish a draft, I’m usually completely in love with it, so it’s hard to edit with any objectivity. But when I’m outlining something new, it gives me some time to let the draft cool down, while also allowing me to get excited about something else. Plus, when I finish the main project, I have a full outline to work with so I’m ready to start the next project immediately.
When I do come back to edit, I focus each pass of edits on something different: Story continuity for one, clean prose for another, typos on another still. Rather than sitting down at an especially rough draft and saying “Okay, what are all the bad things in this book and how can I fix them?” I say, “Okay, let’s make sure all the characters are tonally consistent throughout the book.”
Then comes the tricky part: Deciding when I’m done. As an indie author, I don’t have an editor or publisher giving me a hard release date or telling me, “Yes, this book is ready,” or, “No, let’s tweak this.” Those decisions are all up to me. The best standard I heard is actually from an indie musician. He said he could keep tweaking every song he’s ever recorded forever, but he knows he’s done when he reaches a point that he can’t think of anything he could do that would make him love the song any more. There are always things I can think of to tweak in my books, but if those tweaks don’t lead me to loving what I’ve done any more, it’s probably time to get the publishing wheels turning.
And then I start the whole process over again.

About the Author
Taylor Hohulin is a radio personality by morning, a science fiction author by afternoon, and asleep by 9:30. He is the author of The Marian Trilogy, Tar, and other genre-blending works. He lives in West Des Moines, Iowa, with his wife, where they are owned by a dog and a cat.









The book will be on sale for $0.99.

Giveaway
Taylor Hohulin will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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Tuesday, October 2, 2018

Reckless Beginnings by Tina Hogan Grant - Book Tour and Giveaway


Tammy Mellows, a fourteen-year-old native of England, was shocked when her father and troubled older sister, Donna, moved to the States.

With her family now separated by divorce and divided by an ocean, Tammy felt helpless when she learned Donna had run away and couldn’t be found.

Thanks to her father insisting she stay behind in England to finish school, Tammy could do nothing for the next three years but pray that Donna would be found safe.

When Tammy’s lifelong dream of moving to the States was finally fulfilled, she had high hopes of looking for Donna. But with no leads and faced with turmoil in her own life, there wasn’t much Tammy could do.

After a forbidden secret love affair and a catastrophic dispute with her father, Tammy eventually meets Steven, settles down and has his child, only to discover he is a heroin addict. Thrown into a life of drugs and violence. Shadowed by his addiction, she becomes the silent and forgotten one. Living in fear of what Steven might be capable of and struggling alone to provide for her young son.

What consequences might she face if she leaves Steven? Is she ever going to find her sister alive? Will she have enough courage to conquer the impossible challenges of her twisted world and still come out on top?


Excerpt

When she opened the door, she froze. Time stood still. Subconsciously, her jaw dropped. Before her stood an extremely handsome man holding a bottle of red wine. This was Raymond? Dad’s friend? Was her first thought. He was tall with short brown hair, a broad, dark moustache, and high cheekbones that looked chiseled into his somewhat chubby cheeks, which had a slight distinction of redness to them—in an attractive way. Tammy wasn’t sure if he was cold or just blushing, but as she stood in the doorway staring at him, Tom Selleck came to mind.
She lost herself in his deep blue eyes, framed by long, thick black eyelashes. When he flashed a heart-warming smile, she found herself being drawn in even more. He wore blue jeans, blue loafers, and a blue and white checked shirt with the top buttons undone, revealing a few dark chest hairs. 

Joanne had told her that he was just a few years younger than her father, but he seemed a lot younger. She could feel her heart rate increasing and soon realized she’d been staring at him in silence with her mouth drooped open like a puppy dog. She’d been staring at him in silence with her mouth drooped open like a puppy dog. 

He spoke softly, albeit with a hint of nervousness, in a manly, alluring voice. “Er, hi. Is John home? You must be his daughter. Tammy, right?” 

Guest Post

Balancing Life & Writing

With a full time job, two dogs, 5 chickens, 6 falcons and 150 pigeons, finding quality time to write can sometimes be a challenge. 
Fortunately my son is grown with a family of his own and I don’t have the distraction of raising a child. I live in the country so I’m surrounded by nature and tranquility. A great asset when it comes to writing.

I have tried many ways to discipline myself when it comes to actual writing time. My goal is to write at least an hour a day during the week and I’ll take whatever I can on weekends. I tried getting up at 5am. Figuring after a few cups of coffee, I’d be ready to write by 5:30am, write for an hour and have the rest of the day for myself. The problem is, I’m a night owl. I normally don’t go to bed until midnight or 1:00am. When I tried this method I also tried to adjust my sleeping habits and went to bed at 10:00pm. Well that didn’t work. I just tossed and turned for three hours. So after a week I ditched that idea and figured because I’m a night owl and my husband is in bed by 10:00pm, why not write late in the evenings. I’m happy to say, it works beautifully. 

Once hubby has gone off to bed, the TV is turned off and I sit down to write. Writing late at night truly works for me for many reasons. It doesn’t interfere with my day job or my everyday activities. My husband and I still are able to spend quality time together. If I have the grandkids for the weekend, I can still write after they have gone to bed. 

Another bonus is that I  am able to write for more than just hour. Normally I get at least two hours of writing in and sometimes more if I’m on a roll. And I have the whole day to plan in my head what I will be writing about.

This is an easy schedule for me to keep because it fits in with my lifestyle perfectly. For me it’s a win, win situation. I am able to write five days a week and anything I am able to squeeze in on weekends is an added bonus but I tend to keep those open for family gatherings and socializing.

About the Author

Tina Hogan Grant was born in England and grew up in a small town on the Yorkshire Moors. She is the youngest daughter of science fiction author, James P. Hogan. After moving to California, she became a commercial lobster fisherwoman, fishing off the coast of Southern California for ten years with her husband Gordon.

For fourteen years, she’d had a notion of writing her debut novel “Reckless Beginnings”. But it wasn’t until the sudden death of her father in 2010 and a battle with breast cancer a year later that she made the decision to get it done. Seven years later, she finally completed it. She is now working on a sequel titled,  “Better Endings.” 

She currently resides with her husband in the small mountain community of Frazier Park in Southern California. Together they enjoy anything that involves the outdoors, fishing, hiking, kayaking and riding quads.

Website: www.tinahogangrant.com
Buy Links may be found here: https://tinahogangrant.com/tina-hogan-grant-press-kit-book-reckless-beginnings/

Social Media Accounts

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Tina.Hogan.Grant.Author/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TinaHoganGrant
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tina_hogan_grant/
Pinterest:  https://www.pinterest.com/tinahogangrant/
Book Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1BilNEwsCI&t=5s

Giveaway
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Monday, October 1, 2018

Based on Principal by Marie Johnston - Book Tour and Giveaway


By day, Natalia is the strict principal of a private school with a staid, troubled legacy. By night, she’s a lithe, agile assassin with a penchant for latex. Or at least her cosplay character is. The two identities don’t mingle until she meets a handsome comic book shop owner at the local comic con. Now there’s a guy she’d be willing to peel her mask off for. 

Too bad he’s the father of one of her students. 

Single father Chris has no time to date, thanks to his business, his daughter, and his ex’s meddling family. But how can he resist a comic lover in a business skirt? She’s his perfect woman. Or she would be, if she didn’t keep the professional and play parts of her life so separate. And he swore he’d never date a woman ashamed of him again.

Too bad she’s obsessed with what the wrong people think of her. 

Together, they could be an unstoppable duo, but when Chris’s daughter acts out at school, Natalia will be put in an impossible position: break all her school’s rules, or pack away her cape forever.




Excerpt

The man she had twined herself around not two days ago at the comic con had just entered her office. 

Chris was Mr. Halliwell? He was dressed nearly identically to when she’d met him. There was no denying he was the same person.  

She’d made out with a student’s parent?

Mortification swept through her. The one time she lowered her guard, and she committed professional suicide. She’d come here as the ballbuster to knock the place back into shape. If those who resisted her efforts found out she had a personal relationship with a student’s father, they would double down to undermine her efforts. 

He smiled, that easy grin she’d dreamt about each night since the convention, but it was filled with tension. “Hello, Ms. Shaw.”

He didn’t recognize her. 

Guest Post

What would you like to tell readers about yourself?

My husband I joke all the time about how I used to say “I’d never.” Here’s my list: I’d never have a long distance relationship, date a soldier, marry a cop, have more than two kids, leave my career to stay home with the kids, or drive a minivan. 

Never, ever, ever. 

Fate laughed. 

The career I left was wicked cool, if I do say so myself. I was a public health microbiologist and my little state is small enough that I performed the most old school tests and in the same day, worked with advanced molecular technology. I got to play with so many kids of bacteria: ones  that caused debilitating diarrhea, STDs, meningitis, and several of the organisms that are considered bioterrorism agents. My desk was right by the tuberculosis labs and rabies testing was the next door down. 

It was cool. But it didn’t allow a lot of professional growth and the work environment stifled me enough that I chose to stay home and raise my more than two kids (I have four).

If I hadn’t quit, I would never written the book I always said I’d write. I kept telling my hubs I couldn’t write a book like my favorite author. That’s close to an “I never…” statement. He said I wasn’t my favorite author and she still had to start somewhere. 

So, here I am. Science geek turned romance nut. I love, love, love science, and bacteria always hold a special place in my heart, but writing is me. I’ve plotted stories longer than I’ve plotted what I wanted to be when I grew up. 

And romance! Except for magazines, and how-to books, I only read romance books. They make my world go around. Reading them helped me navigate all the things I said I’d never do, and writing them is building the foundation of the future I hope to have.

About the Author
Marie Johnston lives in the upper-Midwest with her husband, four kids, an old cat, and a young dog. After trading in her lab coat for a laptop, she’s writing down all the tales she’s been making up in her head for years. An avid reader of paranormal romance, these are the stories hanging out and waiting to be told, between the demands of work, home, and the endless chauffeuring that comes with children.






Author web links:

Giveaway
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