Lady Hawkeye

Monday, April 19, 2021

Blog Tour & Giveaway ~ CURSES OF SCALE by S.D. Reeves

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the CURSES OF SCALE by S.D. Reeves Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

About The Book

Title: CURSES OF SCALE

Author: S.D. Reeves

Pub. Date: November 15, 2017

Publisher: Riversong Books

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Pages: 297

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org

Sixteen-year-old Niena wants nothing more than to attend an elite bardic college, but when the dragon that shattered the empire awakens again she finds herself on the run, through the fey realm of Fairhome, to the city where she was born. On her trail are her army veteran grandfather, thrown into a commander's role he doesn't want, the lord of the fairies, trying to steer her to his own ends, and the husband she won't meet for fifteen years. If she kills the dragon, she'll save everyone she holds dear. But if she kills the dragon, she's cursed instead to become it.

Curses of Scale is the 2018 First Place Winner of Red City Review's Young Adult Category, and an Official Selection of the 2018 New Apple Literary Awards. It also has the distinction of being a finalist in the following awards:

Chanticleer's Ozma Fantasy Award
Readers' Favorite General Fantasy
Wishing Shelf Young Adult

"★★★★ Curses of Scale is a coming of age tale with a lot to say about life and taking charge of one's destiny in the search for independence. " -Reader's Favorite

"★★★★★ Curses of Scale is a Pandora's box of world-building elements, and Reeves shows great skill at parceling out the pieces of lore and mystery thattoday's fantasy readers crave. Readers will be sure to enjoy this crafty, utterly transportive novel."

- Red City Review

Excerpt

Twin pinpricks of light blur into the marsh. Marny rubs his tired eyes, the fog always makes it hard to see anything. Though after ten years up in this tower, he didn’t need the long glass to recognise a carriage from Kimbesh.

“Look at my hands Cap, I can barely move em. S’like they’re covered in syrup.”

Ten years. Hardly how the old man thought he’d be spending his retirement; Captain of the the poorest militia in what was once the empire, and stuck in a crumbling tower listening to a new-horn whine.

“So damn cold, my mug is steaming, see that?”

“Not the only thing steaming up here, you pile of shit,” Marny growls.

The trim of his bluecoat dusts the stone where he spins. But there isn’t much room up on this side of the tower to pace. Two other soldiers huddle around the beacon light in the centre. Marny scowls at them, before turning back towards the countryside with a sigh. Gnarled hands work at the cold that needles his joints.

“Worthless bunch of cast offs,” he mumbles, and someone coughs behind him. This day has been a long one; born in the morning, and still not put to bed. And there is a creeping feeling of unease that has been with him almost all night.

Marny scratches his nose. Only the moon is out, its ample body becoming half-hidden by a porridge of clouds. The other lights have fully retreated - and everything else too. As if the stars might be children, caught red-handed past their bedtime. All of the toys, all of the games have been snatched away, leaving only that one forgotten lamp and the sheet they hid under.

The clop of boots from a heavy-set man tells him all he needs to know about who is approaching. “Gab,” he says.

“Don’t tell me you’re up here complaining again like an old woman?” Gabin says from the top of a ladder. Of the men here the quartermaster is the finest and most warmly dressed. His blue coat has been neatly ironed, and there are no stains on the grey wool shirt. Though the size of his girth emerging out of the trap door to the main room below, doesn’t flatter.

“I’ve been stuck up in this mud hole for a week shitting in my helmet,” the old man answers back, head cocked. “You can bugger it.”

About S.D. Reeves

Stephen Reeves was born in 1980 in Huntsville, Alabama. He currently resides in Switzerland with an undetermined number of cats greater than zero, and a propensity for nonsense. On those cold nights where the wind steams off snowbanks, he is known to write award-winning fantasy novels. And curse his wife's cold feet.

Giveaway Details

1 winner will win a $25 Amazon Gift Card and an eBook of CURSES OF SCALE, International.

2 winners will win an eBook of CURSES OF SCALE, International.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sunday, April 18, 2021

Book Tour & Giveaway ~ WOE IS US by D.K. Doulos

On Tour with Prism Book Tours

WoE Is Us

By D.K. Doulos

Christian Dystopian, YA, Sci-Fi

Paperback & ebook, 267 Pages

March 30, 2021 by Ambassador International

Lyrian Wallace was only ten years old when the Malevolence struck on October 10, 2056. She thought the next decade had numbed her to the grief, the death, the bots, and the daily struggle for survival. She lost her parents when they became Sleepers, but like everyone else, she had pieced together a new family. Lyrian was almost content when the Alliance began taking them . . .

The world always took things away from her. She could only live for today and never dared to hope for any heaven. But when her circumstances change, Lyrian must choose how she might live for both this life and the next.

(Affiliate links included.)

GUEST POST

5 Secret Things You Didn’t Know About “WoE Is Us”

My new Christian dystopian novel “WoE Is Us” has plenty of twists and turns for readers to enjoy, but some of its secrets are hidden outside of the pages. Here are a few extra tidbits that fans of the book might enjoy:

• Jacob was originally going to be the book’s main character. I was nearly halfway through when I realized that Lyrian’scharacter was the truly compelling story arc. Originally, she was simply intended to be a plot device to carry the action forward, but she drew me in and transformed the book’s story in the process.

• I once attended a live nativity at the church that inspired the opening scene’s setting. It overlooked downtown Austin to the northeast across the river. The entire event was outside, though, and I never went into the actual building.

• Two of the characters in the book had names inspired from the “Anne of Green Gables” series (Anne and Avonlea). That might be obvious. The secret is those are some of my wife’s favorite books.

• The scene at the dam early in the book was sparked from the many times I ate at a restaurant called Hula Hut along the river in Austin and looked at that dam.

• I drew several details for Jacob from my life and family. I own an old blue pickup that’s similar to the one driven by Jacob. It used to belong to my grandfather. My dad used to sometimes wear an old white straw cowboy hat like Jacob, too.

Now you know a few of the hidden secrets of “WoE Is Us.” You can read even more about “WoE Is Us” on the book’s website (woeisus.com)!

About the Author

D.K. Doulos has written stories most of his life and is thankful he can use his talent in service to God. When he's not writing, he enjoys going camping, impersonating a grill master, and watching college football. Between epic cross-country family road trips, he lives in Texas with his wife and four children. Find out more about D.K. on his website (www.dkdoulos.com).

Tour Schedule

Tour Giveaway

One winner will receive (US only):
- A leather satchel (sized to carry a tablet, iPad, or Kindle) thatâ€™s similar to the one carried by the bookâ€™s main character
- Bluebonnet scratch-made soap, inspired by the bookâ€™s Texas setting
- Fredericksburg Juicy Peach scented wax melts, inspired by the bookâ€™s Texas setting
- A $25 Amazon gift card

Ends April 21, 2021

ENTER HERE

Book Tour ~ What Did You Think Was Going to Happen by Clinton E. Galloway

Nonfiction / Civil Rights & Liberties

Date Published: January 5, 2021

Publisher: Phoenix Publishing Corporation

This book chronicles the effects of long term systemic and institutional racism. Using South-Central Los Angeles as an example, the book chronicles the forty-year process of attempting to provide technology and the effect of the lack of ability to access technology. The extensively documented case has shown that the denial of civil rights and technology would lead to the inevitable results that have occurred. This book deals with the cause and effect of the refusal by the City of Los Angeles to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling against the City. The ruling identified the City’s attempts to limit technology in the poorest areas of the City as a civil rights violation. The complicity of major Black politicians is also explored.

In the 1980’s and 1990’s, before the growth of the internet, cable television was the newest technology available throughout the United States and the world. It would dramatically change America’s use of the television and related industries. The denial would serve to provide long-term negative consequences within the community including education, poor health, crime and gangs that have run rampant over the last four decades within South-Cental Los Angeles.

THE BLIND WATCHMAN

A media that it does not control creates the issues and images of Black America. Since Black America does not control the issues we also do not control the solutions. Those that ultimately control the images that are displayed in all news, music and entertainment are responsible for the value systems that are established within the Black community. Black politicians have been responsible for assuring the lack of participation in the national media system of America. The failure of black leadership is at the core of the failings within the Black community.

In Black America there are no entities watching the elected officials that were elected by Black voters to local, state or federal positions. Our ability to access and control media, print or electronic, has never developed relative to our percentage of the general population in the United States. The willingness of the government, both local and federal, to prohibit the development of modern media resources, as guaranteed by the First Amendment, leaves Black America with little knowledge about the activities of elected officials and the political process. This is what it means to be powerless.

In our modern society the relationship between media and government threatens the public's belief in the independence of the media from the government. The billions of dollars that are spent in political campaigns in various media clearly have an influence over the information that is provided to the public. The media is blinded by profits.

How can we control the results if we do not control the resources that are necessary to make the results possible? Specifically the absence of control or involvement with major electronic media has destroyed any ability of Black America to establish values and trust within their own communities.

When someone other than yourself controls the view ofyourself then you must question that view. If the view, even though it is incorrect, is force-fed to you enough you will start to believe the view and react accordingly. Every white person who expresses some fear of a black person is not a racist. Their view and understanding of Black America is also obtained from a flawed media picture.

News media is no longer a public service as it was over the many years through newspapers and network television but rather has become a profit center for multinational corporations that have taken control over the media with the assistance of government. In exchange media offers protection from disclosure of the true activities of elected officials. This control is to the detriment of the common citizen.

The ability to access information regarding the activities of government and elected officials is one of the most important elements, historically, of the news media. The integrity of the media is paramount in its job as watchman over the activities of a government that may seek to exceed its authority. The First Amendment to the Constitution was created so that that media would not be in the limits and control of government. No constitutional rights can be preserved if the First Amendment is lost.

The US Supreme Court decided the case of Preferred Communications vs the City of Los Angeles in the spring of 1986. The Court, unanimously, decided that the city's method of awarding only one franchise in a given area was a violation of the First Amendment. Despite the ruling, the City, during the Bradley administration, refused to comply with the Court's decision and allow more than one franchise. The ability to defy the Supreme Court and deny the citizens of South Central their rights has served to assure the citizens of South Central that they will be forever a different class of citizen whose constitutional rights are only valid if allowed by the City of Los Angeles. The 14 year history of this case is detailed in the book "Anatomy of a Hustle: Cable Comes to South Central LA".

George Washington emphasized the importance of the First Amendment when he said, "If freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like a sheep to slaughter". We are all witnesses that extreme incarceration levels and the murder rate of Black youth are leading a defenseless Black America to slaughter.

Those who control the media and put information on the air determine what is news and what is merely throw away information that is not worthy of the minds of America. The lives of Black America are obviously part of the throw away.

About The Author

Clinton E. Galloway is a Certified Public Accountant with a practice in Marina del Rey, California. He is also a registered securities principal and runs a registered securities broker-dealer, which is licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

He was born in Birmingham, Alabama, but moved shortly thereafter with his family to New York City. He attended Northern Arizona University with the assistance of a baseball scholarship. In the late 1970s, after getting his CPA license, he relocated from a large international accounting firm in San Francisco to a major international investment banking firm in Beverly Hills.

His first book is titled “Anatomy of a Hustle: Cable Comes to South Central Los Angeles” (2012). This is his second book.

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Book Tour ~ Seven: The Rescue by A. A. Salter

Young Adult Sci-Fi

Date Published: September 30, 2020

Publisher: MindStir Media

A childhood in isolation is an awful childhood, what's worse? One in a test laboratory as a guinea pig. Thousands of years after humans left earth and relocated to a neighboring solar system this story follows the emotional and physical journey a small band of teenage brothers will take to set free the family they never knew they had. Escaping from a testing site they set in motion a journey that will use all of their brains, their brawn, and awakened powers they never knew they had.

Praise for Seven: The Rescue

"A. A. Salter's debut novel, Seven: The Rescue, is a fast-moving sci-fi adventure dropping the reader right in the middle of the action. You're front and center as a band of six teenaged brothers, each with unique powers and abilities, discover there's a seventh and resolve to rescue him from ruthless corporate controllers bent on exploiting his gifts. With hints of X-Men and Guardians of the Galaxy, Seven delivers it all with video-game-style intensity."

--J.J. Hebert, #1 Amazon Bestselling Author

I couldn’t see. The blindfold was cutting in tight on my face. Th e gag was so tight it choked me. I had to calm down, slow my breathing. I could feel the blood running thick down the front of my face. My head was spinning.

I wanted to throw up, but I knew I couldn’t. With this gag in my mouth, I could choke. I strained my ears, trying to hear anything familiar. Oh no, I was slipping out— come on, keep your eyes open.

I open my eyes, squinting in the bright sun. I feel the thick grassunder my back. “Come on, boy, these fish won’t catch themselves,”

I jump up and run after Teacher.

Being six years old, I walk fast to keep pace with Teacher’s longstride. Today is patience training, and Teacher loves going fi shing for patience training. It beats sitting by the big oak tree in the front yard, not moving or talking for hours.

We had only just cast our lines in the pond in front of our house when the first bite hit my line. Th is feels like a big fish, and it’srare for me to catch big fi sh. I rarely catch any fish at all, cometo think of it. Reeling it in, I can see it is a huge fish, bigger thananything I have seen even Teacher catch—and we fish a lot.

I see him running down the bank towards me, after noticing me fighting this monster fish in. I flung the fish to the bank just as Teacher ran up and grabbed it before it slid back into the pond. I haven’t seen Teacher this happy in a while. He is the closest thing to a father I have and he has been with my mom and me for as long as I can remember. His pale red skin and dark red hair look funny in contrast to my gray skin and black hair, but he is family.

He gives me a smile that I have become accustomed to receivingfrom him the last few years. It’s the smile that lets me know I made him proud. His smile is contagious, it’s hard not to smile when he does. I walk over to him, now holding the huge fi sh.

“Good job, kiddo,” he says, kneeling down to give me a hug.

An explosion in the distance shook me in my chair. My head had nodded down to my chest, and my neck started to ache.

What was going on? I could tell something was happening.

Weren’t they still running tests on me? However, with these explosions going off , something was going wrong. What ishappening? I could hear screaming in the distance—someone had made it inside the facility. I focused to see if there was a way to pick up signs of who was coming. No . . . no . . . no . . .

stay awake, please stay awake, stay alert—

“Stay alert!” Teacher yells at me as he kicks me in the chest,knocking me down to the sawdust in the training pit. I had seenhis hand ax coming towards me and I was able to block it with my sword but had not realized it was a diversion; the kick was the real attack. Teacher said I had picked up weapons training pretty fast for a ten year old, but he insisted I was not living up to my full potential with my training.

“You know what is coming. You just have to feel it, calm your nerves, and breathe. You are young, and your emotions aredeceiving you. Close your eyes,” he says, circling me in the fi ghting pit, walking so lightly it is hard to hear any footfalls at all.

“Now that your eyes are closed, sense the attack,” he says,followed by silence. Remaining quiet for what seemed too long, my mind starts racing. What is there to sense ? Am I supposed to hear him, smell him?

Just then, I see him coming as he attacks from behind. My power had kicked in just in time. I roll under his sword, popping up behind him, my blade stopping inches from his throat. “How didI do that?” I say, moving away while lowering my sword, stunned.

“I saw you coming from behind! Like I saw you…. behind me!”

Astonishment clings to my every word. “What does that mean?”

“It means training has just started.” He kneels down and hugs me.

I’m falling . . .

I came to as my chair dumped me onto the concrete floor, cold on my cheek. An explosion must have gone off near me and blew me backward. I could hear people talking clearly now.