Wednesday, January 29, 2014

BookBlast Giveaway ~ Mooncalf by Linda Zern

Mooncalf cover
Mooncalf by Linda Zern


Over Olympia and Leah's heads, Americans race the Russians to the moon; on their television sets young men fight and struggle in the mud of Viet Nam; and America holds its breath between heartbreaking tragedies.


But on Miss Brinker's school bus, in the seat with the rip in the green plastic, Olympia and Leah fall in love, the way children do: immediately, completely, and without knowing or caring why they shouldn't. Olympia Crooms, with her happy hair, and Leah Breck, with her silly red dog, are two smart girls.


Olympia's father works other men's orange groves in rural Central Florida and tells his daughter that school is the best way to reach for the stars. Leah's father moves his family from the Space Coast to the country where she and her brother can climb orange trees, imagine lions in the tall grass, and learn to feed baby cows milk from a bottle.


At Evegan Elementary, two smart girls find each other and have to decide if they will learn the hardest lessons of all: the false traditions of their fathers.



Praise for Mooncalf

"One of the most admirable things about Mooncalf is that it's difficult to find a single wasted word in the entire book. Granted the book is short; yet, it is very rare to find a book which treats with such delicacy the choosing of each word--each adjective, verb, and noun. Themes, motifs, and symbols are everywhere throughout Mooncalf, and most impressive of all none of it is discarded. Motifs and themes exist in big and small circles in Mooncalf, circling back in on themselves as well as intertwining themselves with the plot and the characters that inhabit it. And those motifs and themes, those messages and those symbols, don't go away once you've finished the book. They stick with you. It's hard to forget Mooncalf."" ~ The Thousander Club

"I never expected to be moved to tears by a book meant for adolescents. Buy it, read it, share it, and let yourself be changed by it." ~Lacey Smith

Excerpt

Olympia’s voice was a whisper in Leah’s ear. “I don’t have those things, those cooties.” “I know. I don’t even care what those things are.” “Cootie bugs. Miss Rhodes is saying I have bugs crawling and living in my hair and at my house.” “Miss Rhodes didn’t mean you.” Leah felt icky. “She couldn’t mean you.” “It’s because I’m one of the poor kids, you know. She said it: sharecroppers.” Without looking, Olympia pulled her hand out of Leah’s and started trying to flatten the wrinkles out of the crushed paper doily on the valentine. Leah put her hand over Olympia’s, the valentine a ruined mess under their fingers. “But Miss Rhodes has hair just like yours.” “No,” Olympia said, shaking her head. “No, Miss Rhodes doesn’t want hair like mine, like she had when she was a little girl. She wants white folk’s hair. That’s what Granny Mac says. ‘Cuz some colored folks like her don’t know who they want to be any more.’” Leah looked at the neat part in her friend’s black braids, and loved the way Olympia’s barrettes danced when she dropped her head. She saw only the complicated, clever patterns in her friend’s clean black hair. Leah saw only Olympia.

mooncalf tour


Linda
Author Linda Zern


Linda Zern is a native of Florida where she learned to be moonstruck. She wrote her first children's chapter book, The Pocket Fairies of Middleburg, in 2005.


Writer's Digest called "the perspective of these tiny beings [the pocket fairies] refreshing, enchanting, and intriguing." Florida Publisher's Association was kind enough to award her little book the President's Book Award for best children's book of 2005. Mrs. Zern has since published an inspirational book, The Long-Promised Song, serving as both writer and illustrator. Three collections of her humorous essays (ZippityZern’s Uncommon Nonsense) can be found at Smashwords.com, and her award winning essays have been recognized and published at HumorPress.com. Her current project, Mooncalf, is her first work of historical fiction for Middle School readers. Set in rural Central Florida, the author tells the story of two misfit girls and the hard lessons they must learn about friendship and love from their friends, their families, and their world.


The mystical state of Florida remains an enchanted and delightsome place for both Mrs. Zern and her husband of thirty plus years, and so they continue to make their home among the palmettos and armadillos in the historic town of Saint Cloud.





BookBlast Giveaway
$50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash


Ends 2/28/14


Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
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Giveaway & Interview with Sesame Swallow by D. Scott Meek

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Book Info-
Title- Sesame Swallow, Private Investigator
By- D. Scott Meek
Publication Date- November 13, 2013
Genre- Romance/ Mystery/Comedy

Blurb

Looking for a chance to make a name for herself, Sesame Swallow, wanna-be Baltimore private eye, finds herself in the midst of her first real case and on a slipperier slope than usual to danger.

If Nancy Drew had come of age in the modern world, worn eye-popping short skirts and stilettos and drank Johnny Walker Black with the best of them, she would have been Sesame Swallow, a late-twenties party girl with an oral fetish straight from the not-so-hallowed halls of a local college and looking to make a splash in the shady world of private investigation. After months of questioning her career move, Sesame finally lands her first case: find a missing person, the web-famous wife of a local entrepreneur and wealthy businessman, but she’ll need to get her hands and her knees dirty to do the deed. A raunchy, laugh-out-loud adventure, this first in a series of seductive mysteries finds our sexy heroine doing what she does best: whatever must be done to whomever she must do it.

"I really enjoyed reading Sesame Swallow, there was a dark twist in the story line that just drew you in. The sex scenes were hot, and the connection to the characters was pretty deep. This story also brings to light a global crime that some may not even be aware of—human trafficking. I think it takes talent, like D. Scott Meek's, to bring a very real problem into a fictional story and make it work."

- Thom Cahir, author of "911 Avenged"

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Excerpt

Sesame is in her favorite place doing her first research into the missing person, one Goldie Rains, an almost-famous internet porn star on her own website MakingItRain.com.  Looking at porn in a public place can result in all kinds of interesting conversations.

*****

Sitting in Starbutts with my tall, skinny, extra whip, white chocolate mocha and blueberry muffin was always enjoyable, and today was or was not an exception – the jury was still out.  I had my favorite jeans on, the ones that hugged my ass just right, my white Towson Tigers Soccer hoodie – the tiger was pink and black like a little stuffed animal – and my hair in a ponytail, except for that one little bit that kept falling in my eyes.  Comfortable and presentable, maybe even hot by the way I’d caught a few boys giving me the eye.  I even had my tortoise shell-rimmed glasses on, my “academic look”, and I’d found the perfect kicks to go with my hoodie – black with pink swoosh.  I gazed down at them and smiled, silently thanking Nike yet again for their outlet up in Lancaster.  It was never too early in the day to look cute, and besides, my watch looked vaguely like noon, or was it more like one – I couldn’t quite tell because my vision was a little hazy still.  Of course, there were a few downers.  My head was on the very edge of exploding – probably accounted for the vision thing, and I’d taken as much extra-strength whatever as was possible without sending me into a coma.  The pain was fading entirely too slowly, but there was some progress, and the stomach was not so much growling anymore, most of the muffin having disappeared down some dark hole recently reserved for other tasty snacks.  Now, with a little caffeine, I was feeling content, if not fully alive.  The patient was going to make it.

I was not raring to go, as my father would say.  In fact, I was sure that I was supposed to be still sleeping.  Wasn’t there a queen-sized bed with my name on it somewhere?  I vaguely remembered being in it, and suddenly I was sure Bea still was.  Bitch.  I frowned, but the thought of her lying there naked in my bed reminded me of the other part of my body – besides my head – that was throbbing, and I squeezed my legs together.  She’d expressly told me not to touch until I had gotten a move on in this case, and I didn’t want to disappoint her.  To some degree she was right.  I needed to get going on this thing and at least put some effort into earning the money I was looking at:  ten grand.  Otherwise, without a little forceful hand from a friend, I’d be spending most of my day in my yellow Towson Soccer baby doll t-shirt with my hands on my pussy, wasting the day away in an orgasmic frenzy – if she let me.  I thought of the big yellow over-stuffed chair sitting in the sun next to bedroom window, my legs open and feet pressed against the warm glass – a window-washer’s dream come true – and I crossed my legs.  Not now.  As Bea said, if I was a “good girl” and made some progress, there would be something in it for me later.  Double bitch.  I was hoping it would be something large and hard, so I was going to be a good girl.

Back to work.

I focused on the muffin and stuffed the rest of it into my mouth, following it up with another swig of the mocha – what a combination! – and glanced down at my iPad again.  I’d scrawled a few notes on it with my stylus using a very cool new note-taking app that I’d only downloaded a few days before.  I stared at my handwriting, felt my eyes struggle to focus, and read off the notes I must have jotted down when I’d come in and was still operating in semi-sleep mode.

Lindsay Rains, aka, Goldie Showers.  23.  MakingItRain.com.  I tapped the icon next to the url and pulled up the site.  It might give me something; it might not.  It certainly gave me an eyeful.  After the entrance page and typing in my year of birth – getting carded on the web was at least the stupidest thing ever invented – I was brought to the guest/intro page, and there was Lindsay, her torso anyway – from the top of her head to what looked to be just above her nipples, and her eyes shut as a clear liquid came squirting down onto her, splashing first in her hair and then onto her face.  She made a little cooing sound and opened her mouth, where the stream was then directed.  Then the clip restarted, and she was smiling at me, great big grey eyes, long eyelashes (piss-proof mascara?), and the tops of her massive jugs.  The piss started again, and she took it with a smile.

I took a deep breath.  Damn, the bitch really went for it.  She figuratively, and literally, I guess, drank it down.  I stared at it bewildered, not sure how I felt about it – I hated anything on my hair or face, which is why I always swallowed.  But this was piss.  Or maybe it was water and looked like piss – there was no way to tell now, but maybe it would be clearer as I went deeper into the site.  Still, she smiled and she swallowed, and suddenly I wondered if that’s what I’d look like, and if I’d go for the hot steaming stream like she did.

I shuddered, and I squeezed my legs together.  Not sure.  Didn’t want to think about it.

Suddenly, from behind me, I heard a chuckle.  I spun – too quickly, and my head screamed out in pain; I’m not sure if I screamed or not.  Behind me, when my vision cleared, were two stupid boys, staring at my iPad.  Jesus!  Just what I needed – caught in a Starbutts watching a girl get pissed on and trying to decide if it was hot or not!

“Kinky,” said the douche on the left.  He had his hat on backwards – clear douche sign.  The other giggled and sipped his iced coffee through a straw.  He was cute, but that made no difference to me at the moment; he could be the Crown Prince of CasholaStan, and I’d have kicked him in the balls.  After all, they’d both nearly killed me by making me wrench around so quickly.  And they both needed to – .

“Fuck off,” I grumbled through a polite-ish smile, keeping my voice low but forceful enough that they’d know what they were getting into.  I hoped they could see the murder in my eyes.

“Say, sweetness,” said the one with the hat as he leaned down on the back of the chair, entirely too close for my comfort, making me wish I had a taser, “if you are looking for a little wet work, Bobby and I can probably oblige.  Right, Bob?”  Bob nodded, and I could see the sudden hope light up his face like a firework display on a dark night.  Yeah, it’s early on a Saturday, and we are out sipping coffee and hoping to run into a girl who likes to be pissed on – what the fuck?  Was this the real world?  And then I realized it was the B, and in the B, stupid assholes were everywhere.  They didn’t call it “Charm City” for nothing, right?

I squinched up my face as if I was contemplating it and then set them straight.  “I tell you what, boys.  If you are down, maybe later I’ll come by and show you what a hot shower is all about, huh?”  They seemed to both brighten at the prospect, and if I’d looked, I’m sure I would have seen the hint of a boner in both, but I kept my eyes locked on theirs for the moment.  “I have a thing for golden showers, as you can see, so if you boys are game, I can stop by and piss on you both.  Is that cool?”  The smiles faded away quickly, and I almost wanted to laugh.  “Just both of you be naked and laying together, say in the tub, and I’ll pull my panties to the side and make it rain.  What do you say?  I love pissing on cute little boys like you.  And afterward, maybe you can make out or jerk each other off.  That shit makes me hot.”

They didn’t hang around.  “Fuck you, freak,” said Douche Number One, and he walked off.  Bob, the cute one, gave me the once over as they headed out the door, and he looked back again when they got to the door.  Maybe he thought that was hot.  Maybe he didn’t mind grabbing on his boy’s junk for a hot chick – hell, boys weren’t that bright around here from what I’d seen.  As for me, well, I certainly would have enjoyed it – not gone through with it, of course, but the idea of pissing on those two dickheads suddenly made my head feel better.  So did the idea of getting a taser.  I giggled to myself as I watched them disappear and turned back to my business.  Douches defeated; it was time to get serious.

Links-





About the Author
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What's a mid-40's divorced man to do after wrapping up twenty years in the US Navy?  Why, start a career in teaching and writing, of course.  Oh, and explore the world some more.  And read everything possible.  And go back to school.  And enjoy every moment to its fullest.

A teacher for the government by day, I ply my wares at night on my laptop, where I'm cranking out silly blog posts, socio-political commentary, poetry, short stories and novels at an excessive rate.  If I was driving, I'd have been pulled over by now.  Meanwhile, I have kids to raise, a girlfriend to love, and a spunky wiener dog named Sloppy Joe to goof around with.

Beyond that, I'm busy with life, having fun, working out, going to parties, traveling, etc.  When I burn out and die, I want to be able to say that I did everything that was possible for me to do.  I want to die like I live:  with a smile on my face.

Interview

How long did it take you to write Sesame Swallow, Private Investigator?
Well, it was a spur-of-the-moment National Novel Writing Month deal, so I pretty much slammed out the entire thing in those 30 days of November 2012.  Then I stepped away from it for a bit, not really sure what to do next and having a number of other writing projects clamoring for attention.  Finally I sat down in the spring of last year and worked through a flurry of edits, getting help from a few friends and my girlfriend.  But really, it was 85% done in 30 days.

What is your favorite genre to read/write?
Science Fiction is my favorite without a doubt.  This was my first foray into writing mystery, but I’m usually found in the Sci Fi aisle at bookstores, and my own bookshelves and writing files are full of science fiction books or works-in-progress.  Why?  SciFi opens up so many new worlds, although I don’t go “off-world”, if you know what I mean, when I write.  I keep all my writing here on Earth dealing with real issues in a proposed future.  My reading habits though do often take me off-world to strange new galaxies and new peoples.

If you could sum your main character into five words, what would they be?
Adventurous.  Resourceful.  Daring.  Drunk.  Sexy.

What is your favorite Quote?
Well, the entire book is based on the first few lines: “He wasn’t tall.  He wasn’t dark.  He wasn’t handsome.  But he had a big cock.”  It just came to me one day, and that’s how I usually write - a picture in my head or on the internet, or a few lines that pop into my head, usually a play off of something, a warping of some standard line or cliche.  Those lines popped into my head, and I knew I had something that was going to be fun.  There are so many moments, especially in the beginning of the book, that had me laughing out loud every time I read them, even as I wrote the lines, but this first bit set the tone.

Who is your favorite author and why?
It’s probably a tie between Alexander Dumas and Robert A. Heinlein, although there are many others whose books have made an impression on me over the years.  Both of these authors tell complex stories with complex characters, and neither of them worry about the “feel good” aspect.  They show you the brutality of life, something that I’ve always gravitated to in my own writing.  The Count of Monte Cristo (Dumas) is my favorite book, and Stranger in a Strange Land (Heinlein) is second.  Both books are essentially tragedies, which I also love and gravitate to in writing, and both are stories that don’t stand up as black and white moral narratives; it’s the responsibility of the reader to roll with the choices the protagonists make because those choices aren’t always going to be popular with society or even the reader.  It might be a turn-off to some people who like this nicely worked out in the end, but I like playing with and reading endings that aren’t all rainbows and living happily ever after.

Do you have a favorite comment or question from a reader?
You can imagine the questions, considering there’s a lot of sex in the book, and the comments are few and far between because I’m just getting this going and getting my name out there, but my friend Thom said something in his review that I really appreciated and thought it summed everything up quite nicely:

Once her investigations begin, Sesame seems to get more sexual enjoyment from her work than anything else. The deeper she digs, the kinkier the sex, the more the trail seems to grow cold and the more the reader gets the sense no resolution is forthcoming…until the final twist that leaves readers thinking, “I never saw that coming.”

What is the best book that you've read recently?
I’d have to say it was Megan (Breadcrumbs for the Nasties) by a friend of mine, Steven Novak.  It was something new for him, and he asked me if I’d read it prepub and give him some feedback.  I thought it was excellent, a tale of a young girl (about 12, I think) in a post-apocalyptic United States, who loses her parents and begins to find her way in life, learning a lot of hard lessons along the way.  It’s creepy, a bit scary, has a solid bit of action, and it’s also very different than what we are used to in the post-apocalypse genres out there, what with late teen YA heroes and heroines, a la Katniss Everdeen, taking over the planet.  Megan is still very much a little girl, and she’s got a very nasty road ahead of her.  She’s not a hero; she’s just surviving.  I really liked it, and I think a lot of other people will, too.

Use no more than two sentences. Why should we read your book?
Because you’re looking for something that’s fun and new and sinfully sexy, and something that has a lot more meaning and grounding in reality than you thought at first.

When you were little, what did you want to be when you “grew up”?
I wanted to be a wide receiver for the Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys.  I wanted to be Michael Jordan’s teammate.  I wanted to be James Bond and Captain Kirk.  I still want to be those things, but more than that now, I want to be Shel Silverstein and George Carlin.

Any other books in the works? Goals for future projects?
The list is endless!  Okay, not really, but really I do have ideas that come out of nowhere constantly, and I have numerous ongoing and future projects just waiting for me to be cloned and write them all right now.  I’m currently writing the sequel to this book called Sesame Swallow and the Case of the Missing Heart, and I foresee a new Swallow novel every year.  I’m half-way done with a sci-fi thriller called Falling Snow that takes place in Kazakhstan.  I’m smoothing my sci-fi vampire thriller Dying Light for either a self-pub in the summer or some shopping to an agent.  I’m currently running and writing my second multi-author online serial novel called Just Right, A Cautionary Fairy Tale, and looking into publishing the first one, Dorothy: Locked & Loaded.  I’m having a friend read over the novella In Case of Alice, Break Glass, a retelling of Alice in Wonderland, so I can get that smoothed and published.  I’m writing the “sequel” to SyFy’s Sharknado called Crabquake on my blog.  I’m working on a series of interviews of different friends (race car driver, porn star, DJ) for my blog (readingwritingrevolution.net).  And I’m jotting down notes for 2-3 other novels I’ve ideas for or already started every time something comes to me.  See what I mean?  I might be crazy, or I might just be a writer - sometimes I’m not sure.

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Giveaway
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Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Blog Tour Giveaway ~ Unusual Awakening by S.M. Knowles

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Book Info-
Title- Unusual Awakening
By- S.M. Knowles
Publication Date- December 1, 2013
Genre -YA

Blurb-

With tears and a tight hug, Rylee Everley’s dad left for Afghanistan with the Army Reserve. Since his deployment, her mom has been distant, her sisters are constantly fighting, and Rylee, at only thirteen years old, has to be the glue to keep them together. While her mother stays locked in her room, Rylee has been forced into the role of parent.
 
Now, two years later, a freak accident involving a bus at school promises to restore some normality to her family. In spite of not knowing how their father is, her mother is happy and her sisters don’t seem to fight as much as they used to. Rylee herself is seeing more of her friends and is even trying to sort out her own feelings about Brock Parker. However, something dark threatens to disrupt that normality for personal gain, and that darkness is willing to break every rule to get what it wants.

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Excerpt

Getting up, I walk over to the tree line. I don’t see anything around, so I grab a rock and throw it to scare off any animals. Walking in further, I call out, “Hello?” Everything is quiet. I wait a few more seconds. Something feels off. Walking in a little further, I hear a branch break. I know I didn’t step on anything, so something’s unquestionably out there. “Who’s out here?” I yell. A big oak tree stands directly in front of me, right next to him. “No, no, no, no,” I beg.

Links-


 
About the Author

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S.M. Knowles was born in Elmira, New York where she was swept away in a whirlwind to the Land of Oz—Independence, Kansas. Her parents were relocating for working opportunities and decided that this would be the perfect place to start new roots. Little did she know that this place would contribute to the inspiration for the first book she wrote in her Rylee Everley Series.

While growing up, S.M. would travel the roads around her house while imagining she was somewhere else. Her imagination would take her everywhere, making the long hot summer days seem shorter throughout her fantasies.

At the age of twelve, she decided to write her first book. Filled mostly with dialog, she filled up one-hundred pages, front and back. After taking the book downstairs to show her mom, and persuading her to buy her more paper, she excitedly ran back to her room. As she barreled through the door, S.M. tripped over items left on her floor, and her papers came raining down in her room. Discouraged, she stood there in tears, picking up her papers and throwing them in the trash. Her work had no organization, no numbers on her pages, just a child fulfilling a joy that she would put down and not pick up again.

When she became older, she joined the military for something different. In that time, she was able to explore many places and even met her husband in Iraq. After coming home, she started her family in Arizona and went back to school, earning a Master’s degree in Adult Education and Training.

Links-



Giveaway

Release Day Blitz ~ Forsaken by Kristen Day


Forsaken
Daughters of the Sea-Book #1
By Kristen Day 

Once you’ve been touched by darkness, it never leaves you…
Abandoned by her parents as an infant; seventeen year old Hannah spent her childhood wading through countless foster families until being adopted by the Whitmans three years ago.
Unfortunately, Atlanta’s high society wasn’t quite ready for Hannah…or the strange events that plague her.
Chilling visions of murder, unexplained hallucinations, and  dark, mysterious guy who haunts her nightmares all culminate to set in motion a journey of self-discovery that will challenge everything she’s ever believed; not to mention her sanity.
Sent to live at The House of Lorelei on Bald Head Island, NC for ‘kids like her’, Hannah quickly realizes things are not what they seem. Her fellow ‘disturbed’ teens are actually the descendants of mythical Sea Gods and Goddesses. And so is she.
But when Finn, the ghost from her dreams, appears in the flesh; her nightmares become reality and her dark visions begin coming true. Inexplicably drawn to him, she can’t deny the dangerous hold he has on her heart. The deadly secrets he harbors will ultimately test her courage and push the boundaries of her love.

She must decide if she is ready to embrace the ancient legend she is prophesied to be a part of. The fate of all the descendants will forever depend upon it.

 

Book Blitz ~ UP YOURS! by Howard Rosenberg



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Ted Milo, until recently the Charles Dickens of obit writers, is dislodged from his carefree new life by a bizarre collision of homicides and hemorrhoids in the fancy Los Angeles suburb of Friendly Lake. Actually…not so friendly, Ted and his wife, Liv, soon discover.

Ted has ditched his long newspaper career to embrace the nouveau riche life he’d always ridiculed after inheriting a fortune from a distant relative. He is floating blissfully, contemplating the fruits of wealth, little on his fiftyish mind beyond bladder control, when a visit to a physician turns him into a sleuth with cold-blooded murders to solve.

 “You’re doing this why, because the Navy SEALS aren’t hiring?” chides Liv when learning she’s now married to Sam Spade. “And your dream of playing center field for the Dodgers—dashed?”

Every gumshoe requires a “tomato,” though, and Liv is Ted’s when bodies hit the slab in this twisty mystery that exposes the warty underside of seemingly tranquil suburbia.

Book Details
Up Yours on Closed the Cover

Author: Howard Rosenberg
Edition: First Edition
Format: eBook and Paperback
Publication Date: November 15, 2013
ISBN: 1490550968
ISBN13: 9781490550961


About the Author
Howard Rosenberg on Closed the Cover
Howard Rosenberg earned a Pulitzer Prize and numerous other honors during 25 years as TV critic for the Los Angeles Times. He teaches news ethics, critical writing and a TV symposium at the University of Southern California and resides in a far-off Los Angeles suburb with his wife, two cats and a bird, all of whom tend to ignore him.

His favorite pastime is slam dunking and working out with the Los Angeles Lakers. In his dreams.

Giveaway & Spotlight for Warrior’s Moon by Jaclyn M. Hawkes

  Warriors Moon
Warrior's Moon


Medieval Historical Romance by Jaclyn M. Hawkes


Never in all the kingdom has there been a more brave and protective champion. Nor such a loyal and capable maiden. And they loved each other desperately.


But is their love strong enough to withstand all their dark age holds—danger, feudalism, disease, and unfair oppression?


Yes, they truly loved each other desperately. They loved their kingdom more.



Praise for Warrior's Moon

"This book has adventure, memorable characters, and tons of action. There is even romance! I absolutely loved it!!!" ~Laura (Goodreads)

"I loved this book! Great characters, I love a strong female lead. I really enjoy all of Jaclyn Hawkes books, but I must say this in one of my favorites!" ~ KMon (Amazon)

Warriors Moon Tour


jaclyn
Author Jaclyn M. Hawkes

Jaclyn M. Hawkes grew up in Utah with 6 sisters, 4 brothers and any number of pets. (It was never boring!) She got a bachelor’s degree, had a career and traveled extensively before settling down to her life’s work of being the mother of four magnificent and sometimes challenging children. She loves shellfish, the out of doors, the youth and hearing her children laugh. She and her fine husband, their family, and their sometimes very large pets, now live in a mountain valley in northern Utah, where it smells like heaven and kids still move sprinkler pipe.




BookBlast Giveaway


$50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash


Ends 2/10/14


Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.
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Tour Stop | Specialty ~ Playlist Cora to Echo... @EdnahWalters @AsYouWishTours


Book Title: Grimnirs
Series: A Runes Novel #2.5
Author: Ednah Walters
Release Date: December 2nd 2013
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Firetrail Publishing
Presented by: As You Wish Tours
Banner Made by: Jamie Turner-Norton
BLURB

One lost love.
One lost best friend.
One hot soul reaper.

Straight out of the psyche ward, Cora just wants her life to be normal. She doesn’t want to see souls or the reapers collecting them. The love of her life, the guy she’s loved from a distance for years, has moved away without saying goodbye. So yes, she’s nursing a serious heartbreak. It’s no wonder love is the last thing on her mind when Echo storms into her life.

The chemistry between them is mind-blowing. The connection defies logic. It doesn’t help that Echo is the poster boy for everything she hates in a guy—hot, beautiful, and cocky. A general pain-in-the-butt. Being around him makes her feel more alive than she’s ever felt before. But more important, the souls leave her alone when he is around.

Echo is perfect for her. Echo might even be her soul-mate. There is only one problem. Echo is a freaking soul reaper. A Grimnir. The very beings she wants out of her life. Maybe normal is overrated because Cora wants it all. Answers. Love. A life. You see, once you fall for a Grimnir, your life will never be the same again.

AUTHOR BIO
EDNAH WALTERS grew up reading Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys and dreaming of one day writing her own stories. She is a stay-at-home mother of five humans and two American short-hair cats (one of which has ADHD) and a husband. When she is not writing, she’s at the gym doing Zumba or doing things with her family, reading, traveling or online chatting with fans.

Ednah is the author of The Guardian Legacy series, a YA fantasy series about children of the fallen angels, who fight demons and protect mankind. AWAKENED, the prequel was released by Pill Hill Press in September 2010 with rave reviews. BETRAYED, book one in the series was released by her new publisher Spencer Hill Press in June 2012 and HUNTED, the third installment, will be released April 2013. She’s working on the next book in the series, FORGOTTEN. Visit her at www.ednahwalters.com

Ednah also writes YA paranormal romance. RUNES is the first book in her new series. IMMORTALS is book 2. She is presently working on book 3, GRIMNIRS (Release date TBA). Read more about this series and the world she's created here www.runestheseries.com

Under the pseudonym E. B. Walters, Ednah writes contemporary romance. SLOW BURN, the first contemporary romance with suspense, was released in April 2011. It is the first book in the Fitzgerald family series. Since then she has published four more books in this series. She's presently working on book six. You can visit her online at or www.ebwalters.com.



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Monday, January 27, 2014

The Fantastical Tour Launch


The Tour:

January 26 @ Blogs everywhere: Launching the Tour
January 27 @ Mythical Books: Shadowskin by Bethany Cassel
January 28 @  Wonderings of One Person: Beyond the Hollow by Kristy Tate
January 29 @ I Am a Reader, Not a Writer: Enchanted Fairytales by Cindy C Bennett
January 30 @ A Backwards Story: Enchanted & Hero by Alethea Kontis
January 31 @ Bookworm Lisa: The Fairytale Keeper: Avenging the Queen by Andrea Cefalo
February 1 @ Blogs everywhere: The Grand Finale



January 27 @ Mythical Books


Shadowskin 

Cursed with a deadly touch, Pomona never thought she would leave the royal gardens of Norarchland, where she uses her magic over plant life to make the gardens flourish. But when she discovers a magic mirror beneath the roots of an apple tree, she learns a horrifying truth: the life of the beautiful Princess Nevea is in danger, and Pomona is the only one who can save her. Pomona flees with the princess into the dark forest, where she is taken in by the mysterious Selene Magna and her huntress companion, Callisto. They claim that the Tenebrari-short, magical beings responsible for Pomona's curse-are trying to conquer all of the kingdoms of Archland. Even more, Pomona is destined to play an important role in their defeat. The cursed gardener must now embark on a journey far beyond her imagination to stop the Tenebrari, or else she and all those she cares about will be cursed forever.



Bethany Cassel lives in a land surrounded by forests and cornfields, and she was lucky enough to grow up in the same house all her life. Falling asleep to the sound of waterfalls and seldom-disturbed quiet provided the perfect environment for her to develop her passion for writing. Inspired by the beautiful landscape around her, Bethany created Archland, a world with deep forests, rolling hills, and fierce winters, home to dozens of fairy tale characters.

When she is not writing, Bethany is a voracious reader, known to finish the likes of "Seraphina" by Rachel Hartman in two sittings (it was a great book)! Her favorite writers are, in no particular order, Sir Thomas Malory, J.K. Rowling, John Keats, Victor Hugo, Kendare Blake, Jay Asher, Toni Morrison, and Marissa Meyer. This list is by no means complete. She is about to earn her Bachelor's of Arts in English from SUNY Geneseo and plans to continue her education in literature in graduate school. Besides all things literary, Bethany enjoys archery and bow hunting, drawing, playing piano, and volunteering with ministries in her community. She currently lives in Western New York with four dogs, twenty-ish chickens (she lost count), a lizard, and a couple of frogs.



January 28 @  Wonderings of One Person


Beyond the Fortuneteller's Tent (Beyond #1)



When Petra Baron goes into the fortuneteller’s tent at a Renaissance fair, she expects to leave with a date to prom. Instead, she walks out into Elizabethan England, where she meets gypsies, a demon dog and a kindred spirit in Emory Ravenswood.

Emory must thwart the plans of religious zealots. His mission is dangerous, his enemies are fanatical, and Petra Baron is a complication that Heaven only knows he does not need. Or does he? Although Emory is on Heaven’s errand, he learned long ago that Heaven does not always play fair.

As Petra slowly falls for Emory, she wonders if he really is who he seems, or if he is just as lost as she is. How can they have a future while trapped in the past? Or is anything possible Beyond the Fortuneteller’s Tent?

Beyond the Hollow (Beyond #2)

Petra Baron and her immortal boyfriend, Emory Ravenswood, are living their happily in modern day Orange County, California, until Dane shows up: a heart-stoppingly handsome man from Petra's past. Petra can't remember Dane, or anything else about her time in Tarrytown, New York two hundred years ago. But Emory does remember, and he knows she's lucky to have forgotten all about Dane and the nightmarish episode in 1810.

After Emory disappears, Petra is determined to find him again. Yet she doesn’t know whether Dane can lead her to Emory, or to the nightmare she can’t remember. The one thing she does know is that once upon a time really means two hundred years ago, and that if she wants to find Emory the first place to look is Sleepy Hollow, 1810.

With a collection of Washington Irving's writings in her hand, and a prayer that some nine-pin-playing ghosts will give her a drink of the same magic ale they gave Rip Van Winkle, Petra heads into another time-defying adventure.


Kristy Tate

Kristy studied English literature at Brigham Young University and at BYU's International Center in London. Although a long time resident of Orange County California where she lives with her family, Kristy's heart belongs in her hometown of Arlington, Washington, AKA Rose Arbor--the fictional setting of her popular Rose Arbor series.

For updates on Kristy's upcoming novels, please visit her blog at kristystories.blogspot.com and sign up for her newsletter, where discounts and freebies are sure to happen.


Other books by Kristy:
The Rhyme's Library (2013 Kindle Book Review Awards semi-finalist)
Hailey's Comments (an Amazon Breakout Novel quarter-finalist)
Stealing Mercy
Rescuing Rita
A Light in the Christmas Café
Losing Penny

Enchanted Fairytales

Enchanted Fairytales is a series of short stories based on beloved fairytales. The stories are written as if the fairytales never existed. are contemporary, some are paranormal, some have elements of fantasy or magic. 

Beautiful Beast: After a cruel prank, Calli is forced to move into “Monster House” to befriend the beast. Alex is determined to hate Calli, who he believes is there to get a peek at the beast. Calli must convince Alex that she isn’t there to harm him, and that her feelings for him are very real.

Red and the Wolf: A sudden increase in the violence and frequency of wolf attacks in the forest surrounding Piera has all of the residents on edge. Ruby, contending with the news that Rafe has come home after leaving her three years earlier, and staving off the advances of his brother Lowell, doesn’t have time to deal with wolves - until she finds herself fighting against a wolf for her life.

Snow White: Snow White, sent into the forest to be killed, escapes. She stumbles upon a tiny, magical kingdom called Fableton, where time stands still for its trapped residents. Phillip, blinded centuries ago by a vengeful love, believes Snow is the key to breaking the curse and freeing them all.

The Unmasking of Cinderella: Forced into servitude by her wicked stepmother, Amella longs for the simple freedoms her stepsister takes for granted. When she bumps into Char - literally - her world is suddenly turned upside down. Amella begins to believe that she can have a life she previously thought nothing more than a dream with Char by her side.

The White Swan: Cursed to live as a swan by day by the jealous Benno von Rothbart, Odette desires nothing more than to tell Victor what’s happened, but can’t out of fear for what Benno might do to him. Victor discovers her secret and together they try to break the curse. But the cost of doing so might just be too much.

Goodreads * Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Smashwords * Createspace


Cindy C Bennett is the YA author of several books. She lives in Utah with her two daughters. Both of her sons have married, giving her two more daughters (in-law). She loves gooey cookies, dark chocolate, and cheese popcorn. She hates housework and cooking, and has no plans to become a domestic goddess. She occasionally co-hosts a geek podcast with her son, called Geek Revolution Radio. Her favorite pastime—other than writing—is riding her Harley.


Other books by Cindy: 
Rapunzel Untangled, 
Heart on a Chain, Geek Girl, 
The Experiment, 
Whispers of Razari, 
Immortal Mine, 
In the Beginning, 
Reluctance, 
Watched


January 30 @ A Backwards Story


Enchanted

It isn't easy being the rather overlooked and unhappy youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week. Sunday’s only comfort is writing stories, although what she writes has a terrible tendency to come true.

When Sunday meets an enchanted frog who asks about her stories, the two become friends. Soon that friendship deepens into something magical. One night Sunday kisses her frog goodbye and leaves, not realizing that her love has transformed him back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland—and a man Sunday’s family despises.

The prince returns to his castle, intent on making Sunday fall in love with him as the man he is, not the frog he was. But Sunday is not so easy to woo. How can she feel such a strange, strong attraction for this prince she barely knows? And what twisted secrets lie hidden in his past - and hers?

Hero

Rough and tumble Saturday Woodcutter thinks she's the only one of her sisters without any magic—until the day she accidentally conjures an ocean in the backyard. With her sword in tow, Saturday sets sail on a pirate ship, only to find herself kidnapped and whisked off to the top of the world. Is Saturday powerful enough to kill the mountain witch who holds her captive and save the world from sure destruction? And, as she wonders grumpily, "Did romance have to be part of the adventure?" As in Enchanted, readers will revel in the fragments of fairy tales that embellish this action-packed story of adventure and, yes, romance.

New York Times bestselling author Alethea Kontis is a princess, a goddess, a force of nature, and a mess. She’s known for screwing up the alphabet, scolding vampire hunters, turning garden gnomes into mad scientists, and making sense out of fairy tales.

Alethea is the co-author of Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark-Hunter Companion, and penned the AlphaOops series of picture books. Her short fiction, essays, and poetry have appeared in a myriad of anthologies and magazines. She has done multiple collaborations with Eisner winning artist J.K. Lee, includingThe Wonderland Alphabet and Diary of a Mad Scientist Garden Gnome. Her debut YA fairy tale novel, Enchanted, won the Gelett Burgess Children’s Book Award in 2012 and was nominated for both the Andre Norton Award and the Audie Award in 2013.

Born in Burlington, Vermont, Alethea now lives in Northern Virginia with her Fairy Godfamily. She makes the best baklava you’ve ever tasted and sleeps with a teddy bear named Charlie.




January 31 @ Bookworm Lisa


The Fairytale Keeper: Avenging the Queen

Anonymous, nameless, Adelaide Schumacher should have been lost to history. Medieval girls do not make legends. If they are lucky to live long enough, they make babies.

Adelaide’s mother, Katrina was the finest storyteller in Cologne, but she left one story untold, that of her daughter, Snow White. A rampant fever claimed Adelaide’s mother just like a thousand others in Cologne where the dead are dumped in a vast pit outside the city walls. In an effort to save Katrina’s soul, Adelaide’s family obtains a secret funeral by bribing the parish priest, Father Soren.

Soren commits an unforgivable atrocity, pushing Adelaide toward vengeance, but the corruption in Cologne reaches far beyond Soren, and the cost of settling scores quickly escalates. Avenging the mother she lost may cost Adelaide everything she has left: her father, her friends, her first love, and maybe even her life.

The Fairytale Keeper casts the famous villains, heroes, and damsels of Grimm’s fairytales into Medieval lives. Seamlessly weaving historical events and Grimm’s fairytales into a tale of corruption and devotion, The Fairytale Keeper, leaves the reader wondering where fact ends, and fiction begins.


Read the first part of the novel for FREE:
Andrea Cefalo is the award-winning author of The Fairytale Keeper series. The Fairytale Keeper series is a Medieval tale of corruption, devotion, and the origins of Grimm’s fairytales. It was a quarter-finalist in Amazon’s 2013 Breakthrough Novel Contest and has been recommended by Riffle, Copperfield Review, and other various independent reviewers. The second novel in the series, The Fairest of All, will debut in 2014. When Andrea isn’t writing, she enjoys blogging and tweeting about the Middle Ages, teaching authors how to effectively use social media, and presenting in schools. She resides in Greenville, South Carolina with her husband and their two border collies.


February 1  – Grand Finale

Tour-Wide Giveaway!!

January 26 - February 10
There are FIVE chances to WIN!!
Winners will be drawn randomly, entries will be validated and the IP Addresses checked for shipping qualifications to award winnings in order of preference, if indicated. See Rafflecopter entry. Additional restrictions on Rafflecopter apply.

1 - Signed print copy of Shadowskin by Bethany Cassel plus a signed sketch of the Main Character by the author! (US Only)

2 - eCopies of both books in the Beyond series by Kristy Tate: Beyond the Fortune Teller's Tent & Beyond the Hollow!  (International)

3 - eCopy of Enchanted Fairytales by Cindy C Bennett! (International)

4 - FIVE Signed paperbacks of Enchanted by Alethea Kontis plus swag! (US Only) (That's five winners. Woop!)

5 - eCopy of The Fairytale Keeper: Avenging the Queen by Andrea Cefalo! (International)

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