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Kingdom Above the Cloud by Maggie Platt Book Tour & Giveaway! {Ends 5/6/20}

4/26/2020

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Kingdom Above the Cloud (Tales from Adia #1) By Maggie Platt
YA Fantasy, Christian, Allegory | Paperback & ebook, 239 Pages
April 17th 2020 by Ambassador International

SYNOPSIS:
     What if the nine Fruit of the Spirit and the Seven Deadly Sins were locked in a battle for control?
      Abandoned as infants, Tovi and her twin brother were raised by an eclectic tribe of warm, kind people in a tree-house village in the valley. After her brother's sudden disappearance Tovi questions her life and her faith in an invisible King. Ignoring her best friend Silas' advice, she decides to search for her brother in the kingdom on top of the mountain.
     Above the cloud, the Council of Masters receives their orders. Tovi and her brother are the objectives. King Damien has a plan and Tovi is the key. The Council of Masters want her, but will she remain unscathed?
    Amidst the glamour of the kingdom above the cloud Tovi is torn between her own dark desires and unanswered questions. It starts with a snake and a crown. When the ring is complete, will her life be over?
(Affiliate links included.)
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Christianbook

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Kingdom Above the Cloud - Maggie Platt 
I love all the imagination throughout this story. Adia sounds like a great place to live. It was fun to follow Tovi through all of her adventures. The fantastical places in the story were interesting and great to hold the attention of the reader.
The characters are all well-developed and were great to get to know. It is easy to feel their emotions.
The story flows well from chapter to chapter and is easy to follow along.
I highly recommend this story to other readers who enjoy a great adventure.
I give this story a literary rating of 5/5


written by vickie

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ABOUT the AUTHOR:
Maggie Platt is a writer, traveler, cancer survivor, and dreamer. Her greatest joys are being Auntie M to her amazing nieces and nephew and sitting with students and friends over cups of coffee and deep conversations. She works at her alma mater, Anderson University, and she lives in a cozy little cottage nearby where students come to sit on her couch just to laugh, cry, and talk about life.

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram
Follow the Publisher: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

One winner will receive a signed print copy of Kingdom Above the Cloud, map of Adian, bookmark, and sticker (US only)
Ends May 6, 2020 ​

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY BY CLICKING ON HERE!

TOUR SCHEDULE:
April 27th:
 -Launch
Bookworm Lisa - Review
Rockin' Book Reviews - Review 
April 28th:

Rincón de Joss - Guest Post
Tell Tale Book Reviews - Review 
Jorie Loves A Story - Review 
April 29th:

Wishful Endings - Guest Post
Paper Ink & Lizard - Review 
@momfluenster - Excerpt
April 30th:

Christy's Cozy Corners - Guest Post
A Baker's Perspective - Review
Locks, Hooks and Books - Excerpt
May 1st:

Teatime and Books - Review 
Library Lady's Kid Lit - Review 
May 2nd:
 -Grand Finale
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Mrs. Murray's Home by Emily-Jane Hills Orford - Excerpt & Review by Vickie!

4/24/2020

1 Comment

 
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Mrs. Murray's Home (The Piccadilly Street Series Book 3) Kindle Edition by Emily-Jane Hills Orford 
  • Publisher: Tell-Tale Publishing Group (February 21, 2020)
  • Publication Date: February 21, 2020  |  191 pages
  • ​SYNOPSIS:
  • Home is where the heart is, or so they say. It’s also been said that a home is a person’s castle. But home is also with family and friends. Mrs. Murray longs for home, the family home, a castle an ocean away. The Brownies also crave for home, the same castle Mrs. Murray considers home. And Granny? Mary’s Granny hasn’t been home since she was Mary’s age. It’s time to visit the homeland, Scotland. Mary’s excited to tag along with Granny, Mrs. Murray and the Brownies. And then there’s the witch. The one they thought they’d killed. And the treasure. The one they had found. And it all ties together, for better or for worse. Join the adventure in book 3 of the popular “Piccadilly Street Series”.
  • Buy Link: Amazon 

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Mrs. Murray's Home - Emily-Jane Hills Orford 
      ...Another fun adventure with Mrs. Murray and the brownies. It was great to follow them, Mary and Granny across the ocean to Scotland. I liked meting new characters there and getting to know more about the Murray's.
    The characters are all well-developed. It is easy to feel their emotions.
       The story flows well from chapter to chapter and is easy to follow along.
        The title and cover of the book are a great fit for the story.
      I highly recommend this story to young and old. It is an awesome read and adventure.

I give this book a literary rating of 5/5
written by vickie 

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EXCERPT #2
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         The Brownies were coming out of their daze. They glanced around, startled, taking in the situation. They noticed their queen, young and beautiful, the curse broken. A cheer erupted. “The witch is dead,” was the chant that rippled through the throngs of what once was Penelope’s Brownie army.
         A chanting began from the rear of the troop and quickly picked up in volume. “Hail Hail, the witch is dead. Cause for celebration. In the Brownie nation. Hail Hail, we’re free at last. Time to celebrate freedom.”
        “Sounds very much like, ‘Hail, hail, the gang’s all here. What the heck do we care? What the heck to we care?’” Granny laughed heartily, tapping her foot to the rhythmic chanting. The words were made up to suit the occasion, but everyone was catching on and soon there was dancing in the halls as the celebration escalated.
         “I think we’re having a party.” Cousin George clapped his hands and joined in the fun.
        Master Harry picked up the frozen remains of the witch and tucked it in his pocket. It was safer than leaving it untended on the floor where it could be trampled or, worse, stolen and restored to its original witchy form. He patted the pocket to assure himself that it was safe and then made his way over to where Mary and Granny still stood beside the staircase. “You’ll have to keep working on your spellcasting,” he spoke in a guarded voice. “I can only keep her like this for so long. Once you’re strong enough, once your power is fully controlled, we, you and I, can take care of Penelope for good.”
        “What will you do with her? With it?” she nodded toward his pocket where she watched him place the frozen witch-iness.
           “I’ll keep her safe and frozen until you’re ready. Nara will assist.” 
OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES:
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ABOUT the AUTHOR:
Emily-Jane Hills Orford is an award-winning author of several books, including Gerlinda (CFA 2016) which received an Honorable Mention in the 2016 Readers’ Favorite Book Awards, To Be a Duke (CFA 2014) which was named Finalist and Silver Medalist in the 2015 Next Generation Indie Book Awards and received an Honorable Mention in the 2015 Readers’ Favorite Book Awards.
She writes about the extra-ordinary in life and her books, short stories, and articles are receiving considerable attention. 
Author Social Media Links:
Website |  Facebook | Twitter | Blog | Goodreads | 

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An Outcast and An Ally by Caitlin Lochner book Tour, Guest Post & Giveaway! {Ends 4/30/20}

4/20/2020

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Book details:
An Outcast and an Ally (A Soldier and a Liar #2) by Caitlin Lochner
Published by: Swoon Reads | Publication date: April 21st 2020
Genres: Dystopian, Science Fiction, Young Adult

Synopsis:
      Dark secrets and conflicting loyalties abound as four superpowered teens are torn apart by war in Caitlin Lochner’s An Outcast and an Ally, the epic YA sequel to A Soldier and a Liar.
        Lai, Jay, Al, and Erik are on the run after the military accuses them of being traitors. Tensions between everyone are high, but they have to stick together if they want to survive. And somehow stop the war that’s now in full swing.
         But when Erik returns to the rebels to find answers about his past, Lai, Al, and Jay have no choice but to go to the Order―a peace coalition bent on stopping the rebels and dissolving the enmity between gifted and ungifted. However, the longer the war drags on, the more Lai’s long-kept secrets threaten to destroy everything she’s ever worked for. Sparks fly as the team constantly questions whether they can trust one another and everyone tries to navigate a war that will change everything.
Filled with the same high-stakes superpowered action and complex relationships as A Soldier and A Liar, Caitlin’s first book, An Outcast and an Ally brings this story to a dramatic and satisfying close.

Goodreads |~ Purchase: Amazon | B&N |  iBooks |  Kobo  | Google play |

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​GUEST POST 
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Q.: How do you get inspiration for your stories? What steps do you then formulate to cause it to “all come together”?

A.:    It really varies! Sometimes inspiration comes from media I’m consuming that does A Thing I really love and want to try writing with my own spin on it. A Soldier and a Liar’s conception was like that; I watched a superhero movie and wanted to write about people with powers, only, with a focus on them being more morally gray than heroic. Sometimes it’s a random phrase I read or hear that I think sounds like it could become an interesting concept. For example, I recently wrote down “fishing for ghosts” after a friend said it in conversation, thinking it’d be a cool story idea to have a character literally fishing for ghosts.
          But more often than not, I don’t really get inspiration. I get intense urges to write. And then I sit down in front of a blank document and don’t know what to write. So I make a list of tropes I love and if I still don’t have any ideas, I think of my favorite stories and just start writing random things that come to mind until I stumble on something I like. It’s an imprecise process that often takes a few stabs/sessions before I discover something worthwhile enough to write about.
​       This is actually what I did for my most recent project I’m working on. Once I have my general concept (for example, “A mismatched crew of outcasts goes on a quest to find a missing princess”), my next step will vary depending on how I’m feeling. Sometimes I’ll write snippets of conversations or interactions between characters, trying to flesh them out and figure out their dynamics. I’ll often make lists of scenes I want to happen, vague overall plot ideas, character motivations, world-building details, or anything in between that I’m thinking of incorporating in the story. This is all very messy and may or may not be used later. Sometimes this step doesn’t even happen and I have a good enough idea of what I want to do that I go straight to outlining.
          I didn’t use to outline, but now I can’t seem to write coherently without one! Again, this stage can vary. Sometimes I start with an overall plot summary. Sometimes I go straight into making my chapter-by-chapter outline, which is the final form I use throughout my drafting process. The outline changes a lot during the drafting process, so even once I have a completed version of it, I’m constantly updating and revising it as I write. But even if I know it’s going to be very different by the end of the first draft, it’s still an incredibly useful guide to have as I’m writing. I have a bad tendency of forgetting things I’ve already written, so it allows me to quickly glance back and remind myself of what’s happened. And it reminds me of all the things that still need to happen in order to get to the end of the story in a realistic way. Otherwise, my story starts to wander and feel directionless, losing tension and usually meaning I’ll have to go back and cut a ton of writing from the draft.
          That’s generally how my inspiration to complete first draft process goes! I think different things work for different writers, but I’ve found directing myself and making guides has really helped me out a lot over the years. Then there are always revisions to worry about, but that’s a whole other beast! 
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AUTHOR BIO:
I’m a nerd, traveler, and architecture enthusiast who worked as an assistant English teacher in Tokyo for three years before pursuing my MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Central Florida. I love reading and writing anything with magic, adventure, and complex found-family relationships. I can typically be found absorbed in books, games, or manga, or else obsessing over said books, games, and manga.

Author links: Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Instagram | 

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Giveaway Details:
Tour-wide giveaway (INT)
  • Print copy of An Outcast and An Ally
This grand prize giveaway - ends Apr 30th:

To ENTER, Click on HERE!

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You can find the schedule HERE! 
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Advanced Healing Spells by L.C. Mawson Book Blitz & Giveaway! {Ends 4/23/20}

4/14/2020

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Book & Author Details:

Advanced Healing Spells
by L.C. Mawson
(Ember Academy for Young Witches, #3)
Publication date: April 15th 2020
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

Synopsis:Keeping my head down shouldn’t be too hard… Right?
Unhappy with how everything with the Amazons went down, the Slayers are now investigating Ember Academy.
But not me. Not as long as I keep my head down.
Which would have been a hell of a lot easier if students hadn’t started dropping unconscious.
No one knows how to wake them, but I have ways to find answers that they don’t
The question is if I risk it with the Slayers watching me so closely…
Especially when it would mean reaching out to the very criminal the Slayers are trying to find.
ADVANCED HEALING SPELLS is the third book in the Ember Academy for Young Witches YA Urban Fantasy Academy series. If you love kick-ass heroines, Sapphic slow-burn romances, and magical boarding schools, you’ll love this latest fast-paced series in L.C. Mawson’s Snowverse.


Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53112218-advanced-healing-spells

Purchase:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2V2yLZz
​

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​AUTHOR BIO:
     Some say she's an ancient creature of nightmare that was unleashed from beneath the ocean, come to devour the souls of men. Others say that she's a cosmic being from the beyond the stars that has taken corporeal form to learn our ways for some unknown end...
     In truth, L.C. Mawson lives in a tower in the middle of a haunted forest, far from civilization and is definitely (probably?) not a witch who curses those who trespass upon her land. And she definitely cannot turn into a dragon that flies over cities in the dead of night and whose cries are often mistaken for an approaching storm. Where did you hear that? That's absurd...
    The only contact she has with humanity is publishing a book once a month, which is definitely just for fun and not part of an ancient contract with a trickster god.
Author links: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads |

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GIVEAWAY Details:
Blitz-wide giveaway (INT)
  • 3x ebook copies of Basics of Spellcraft + $25 Amazon gift card
This grand prize giveaway - ends Apr 23rd:
To ENTER, Click on HERE!


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Beast Heart by Kyle Richardson Book Tour, Guest Post & Giveaway! {Ends 4/13/20}

4/8/2020

0 Comments

 
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BEAST HEART by Kyle Richardson
RELEASE DATE: 3/31/20 ~ GENRE: YA / Paranormal / Steampunk
​SYNOPSIS:

When the girl with the clockwork hand meets the boy with the beast heart, sparks
fly in this poignant, adventure-filled debut.

Book 1 of the Steambound Trilogy. When Gabby’s hand turns to steam, her mom hires
an engineer to build her a clockwork glove. It’s the last thing Gabby wants—if only she
could be normal. But when her mom is attacked by something monstrous, normal is no
longer an option. Now the only person she can turn to is a grizzled detective, who
promises to help her become something … more.
Meanwhile, Kemple’s foster dad treats him like a slave. And the beatings are getting
worse. So when a rebellious girl named Josephyn arrives—with a plan to escape to the
city—he doesn’t hesitate. But there are creatures in Iron Bay whose slashes are worse
than skin-deep. And as Kemple evolves into something inhuman, his search for a cure
begins.
They are strangers in a city where carriages rattle, airships rumble, and where their own
dark pasts continue to haunt them. Soon their paths will collide, and the girl who slays
monsters will come face to face with the boy who is becoming a beast.
​Buy Links: Meerkat Press | Amazon | Barnes & Noble |

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REVIEW By LAWonder10:
    This is an intriguing, yet poignant, tale of a future time, when technology has greatly advanced. A young girl has a couple of maladies  which seriously cause her grief. when her mother is brutally murdered, a police detective takes her into his home and life, in order for them to help each other.
​     
 Simultaneously, in another scenario,  Kemple's abusive life, in a foster home, take on a new, more daring existence when an additional foster sister is added. Is Josephlyn a curse or a blessing? Both of their lives go down a new "path".
         Beat Heart adds a creative twist to paranormal and sci-fi tales. Thee author has combines the two genres into a trilogy which is sure to entertain.
        The book was a little difficult for me to get into because I felt I was reading two stories at the same time and the connection between the two felt slightly vague. However, each one was intriguingly bizarre, so they kept my interest.
         The characters are clearly defined and feel real, in spite of their bizarre situations. The background scenes are portrayed in a way the reader can easily fell he/she is there.
           "The jury is out" on whether or not the Title is a "good fit".  The Cover image is colorful, hints at the story content, and is eye-catching. It is a good choice.
           Over all, I offer a weak Four Stars rating.
          *This book was gifted me with no pressure for a positive review. This is my honest review.


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​EXCERPT  # 2
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​          Brielle has been trying to sleep for the past hour or so—trying being the key word. Mostly, her mind has been stuck in that foggy realm between asleep and awake, that space where pain
and pleasure blend, where sounds seem to warble from an unimaginable distance and the
tears welling in her eyes feel like they’ve been set on fire, as if at any moment one might slip
loose and scorch a trail down the side of her face, igniting her starchy sheets and her lumpy
mattress and her cramped little apartment, and even the garbage-strewn streets themselves,
until the whole city is nothing but a towering inferno and — I’m an “inside-out” kind of writer. By that I mean: I believe the best way to ground the reader is by working hard to establish the character’s internal state—because that’s the filter through which everything external will be colored.
      If one character is feeling brave and adventurous, a storm on the horizon might look beautiful and awe-inspiring. If that character is feeling worrisome and fearful, on the other hand, the same storm might look foreboding and ominous.
        For that reason, what’s going on inside the character is, to me, extremely important, as it impacts how everything else in the story is perceived, portrayed, and, ultimately: experienced by the reader.
        How is the character feeling, in this moment? What do they want to achieve? What are they hoping to avoid? What, if anything, could possibly change their mind? These are some of the questions that I ask myself before (and during) the writing of each scene, and it’s a habit that I don’t expect will go away anytime soon.
         Beyond that, I’d say that sensory details are also quite crucial. It’s easy to go with the most obvious of senses: sight and hearing. But our real-life experiences involve so much more than just that. We touch things roughly, or are touched intimately. We inhale scents, sometimes longingly. We revel in something that tastes great on the tongue. And sometimes we even react to a sort of “sixth” sense: that cautionary tingle of instinct that makes us hesitate in the dark, or that indescribable pull of intuition that makes us look a second time around the corner. These are the kinds of things that I try to include in my writing, because I feel that they’re not only valuable, but true to life.
      The world around us isn’t a static stage—it’s interactive. A mind-and-body experience. Shouldn’t our fiction at least attempt to feel much the same? The door thuds hard, once, twice, the sound echoing through her dusty apartment, and Brielle bolts upright with her hair matted over her face, her clockwork glove tangled in her sheets. She was dreaming about . . . something. Something involving . . . fire? She rubs at her face with her good hand and tries to pull the dream back into place, but it just slips away even more. Eventually it’s gone completely, leaving nothing but a faint quiver in her gut and a vague sense of regret.
        “Gone,” she whispers with a frown. It’s the story of her life—she’s become such an expert at
losing things.
         The door thuds again. This time, the knock comes with a voice. “Gabrielle,” says a man. His
tone is dry, impatient, and all-too familiar. “Get up. We got problems.”
         Brielle sighs, uses her wrist to rub the dampness from her eyes, and yanks her glove free
from the sheet. It’s too early for problems. Too early for anything, really. “Shaw,” she groans,
      “I’m trying to sleep.” She squints at the violet sky through her grimy living room window and says,
        “Come back later. You know, when the sun is up? When normal people interact?”
         Shaw grunts through the door. “You don’t sleep. Said so yourself. And since when do you
think of either of us as normal?”
        Brielle grits her teeth and brushes her hair behind her ears. As always, the man has a point.
“Just give me a minute, will you?”
        The door stays quiet for a brief, merciful moment, and Brielle lets the silence wash over her
until the tightness in her chest eases, the ripples in her mind going flat. Soon, she’s back in that clear and level place. Calm as a windless lake.
        “Still alive in there?” Shaw barks. “I’m dying of old age, standing here.”
         Brielle rolls her eyes behind her smudged lenses and swings her legs off the mattress.
Her bare feet scuff against the dusty wood floor. “I’m not dressed,” she calls out, looking
down at her pale nightshirt. She stands and tugs at her gray cotton pants. They’re fitting
loose today. All these years of climbing up rusted ladders and sprinting across crumbling
rooftops, and she still has sticks for legs.
         “So get dressed,” Shaw says through the door. “But make it quick. Like I said: we got
problems.”
          She listens for that telltale hitch in Shaw’s voice—that tiny warble between his words
whenever something has truly upset him. Today, it isn’t there. His voice is steady. His words are
flat. Whatever the problem is, it’s clearly something minor. “Why’re you rushing me?” she calls
out.
          Shaw says nothing back, so she trudges over to her doorless wardrobe and peers at the
stretched-out shirts hanging from the rod. The selection is dreary: all blacks and browns and
muted grays, the necklines tattered and thin. She plucks the nearest one off its hanger,
yanks it down over her nightshirt, and pulls the torn sleeve over her bulky glove. Then she
steps to the side and blinks at her reflection in the cracked wall mirror. Her goggled-eyed
gaze roams all over her dirt-colored top, as if she’s searching for . . . well, she doesn’t know
what she’s looking for, honestly. An answer, perhaps? A question? Something out of the
norm? Whatever it is, she doesn’t find it, so she gives herself a nod. Her shirt is a decent
choice. Today feels like a brown day, if there ever was such a thing.
          “Okay,” Shaw calls out, “now I’m definitely dead. Message the coroner. Tell him some poor
old man passed away while waiting for a girl to choose an outfit.”
          Brielle sighs, marches to the door, and wrenches the deadbolt loose. “You’re the one who
woke me up,” she says, dragging the door open. “I’m perfectly entitled to make you wait.”
         Shaw stands in the narrow hallway, looking even more haggard than usual. His hair juts up on one side of his head and lies ridiculously flat on the other. He hasn’t shaved in days. And
his outfit looks like it was slapped together in the dark—a wrinkled green coat atop a coffee-
stained pair of blue trousers. He’s even tried to knot himself a necktie. It looks more like a
narrow, lopsided scarf. To top it all off, the man is holding one arm mysteriously—no,
suspiciously—behind his back.
          Brielle narrows her eyes to slits. “What’s going on? You look like . . .” She tilts her head and
looks him up and down a little closer. It’s hard to tell what he looks like right now. Certainly not
like his usual self. “. . . like a carnival spat you out, I suppose.”
          Shaw smirks at his jacket and smooths a wrinkle from one of the lapels. “That’s the look I
was going for,” he says. He glances back at her and winks. “Carnival spit.” Before she even has
a chance to roll her eyes, he lifts his hidden arm, revealing a wrinkled paper bag. He gives it a
dramatic shake. “Didn’t have anything nice to wrap with,” he grumbles, “so you’ll just have to
tear through this.”
        Brielle blinks dumbly at the bag for a moment. Then she understands. Her face droops and
she turns her back to Shaw, as if she can somehow avoid what’s coming next by simply walking away. “Let’s not do this, okay?”
        Shaw clears his throat and shakes the bag harder. “If you don’t open it,” he says, “I will. Paid good money for this. I’m not letting it go to waste.”
          She’s tempted to say, Open it, then. See if I care. But that wouldn’t be fair at all. Shaw has
been nothing but kind to her. And if he really did pay good money for whatever’s inside that bag, then she practically has to open it. She lived with him long enough to know just how little the city pays him. Long enough to see just how much of a struggle it’s been for him to make ends meet.
         So she groans her way to her lumpy sofa, flops down onto it, and grudgingly says, “Okay. I’ll open it. But that’s all. No cake. No wishes. And absolutely no singing.”
          Shaw steps into her apartment and gently pulls the door shut behind him. Then he takes a moment to glance around with that detective stare of his. His eyes touch everything: the
windows that she never bothers to wipe, the grimy floorboards that have moved so far past dusty that they practically feel carpeted, the furniture that’s so battered it’s a wonder any of it is still standing at all. And of course, her. Finally he reaches for the lantern on the wall and twists it on. A dull yellow glow floods the room. “There,” he says, blinking in the light, “that’s . . .
slightly better.”
           Brielle clamps her jaw and braces for another one of his grating lectures on cleanliness.
Instead he merely says, “I’ve never met anyone who hates celebrating their birthday as much as you.”
          Birthday. The word puts a sour taste in her mouth and an even worse feeling in her gut.
Birthdays are for people who like remembering how far they’ve come. For those who don’t want
to forget. “It’s just a dumb tradition,” she says, waving her clockwork hand in the air. Dust
particles swirl around her brass knuckles and stick to the leather straps around her wrist.                  “Why would anyone be happy about getting older? It just means you’re one year closer to dying.”
          And one year farther away from Mom.
         Shaw barks out a laugh and turns to look at the window. His profile flickers from the lights
down in the harbor. “You’re sixteen, Gabrielle,” he says teasingly. “Not ninety.” He rests his
forehead against the glass and studies the view like he’s examining a crime scene. “Take a
break. Lighten up. Enjoy the scenery.”
          Brielle lets her glove plop down on the cushion beside her. More dust plumes into the air.
She’s been living here for years now, her sixth-floor apartment towering over the dark waters of
the bay, yet she can’t remember the last time she glanced out the window like that. Just to . . .
look. Perhaps this is proof that something truly is wrong with her.
         Maybe staring blankly through dingy panes of glass is the kind of thing that only normal
people do.
         “Have you ever known me to lighten up?” she asks.
         Shaw turns away from the window and shakes his head. “No,” he admits. “Can’t say that I
have.”
          She cracks a challenging smile. “So why should I start now?”
          The detective raises his arms defensively, as if she’s got him at gunpoint. “I can list over a
dozen reasons,” he says, “but then you’ll just kick me out.”
Her grin widens. “You know me best.”
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 GUEST POST
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Q.:  What creative process do you go through to give your audience the feeling that they are in the story?

A.:  I’m an “inside-out” kind of writer. By that I mean: I believe the best way to ground the reader is by working hard to establish the character’s internal state—because that’s the filter through which everything external will be colored.

If one character is feeling brave and adventurous, a storm on the horizon might look beautiful and awe-inspiring. If that character is feeling worrisome and fearful, on the other hand, the same storm might look foreboding and ominous.

For that reason, what’s going on inside the character is, to me, extremely important, as it impacts how everything else in the story is perceived, portrayed, and, ultimately: experienced by the reader.

How is the character feeling, in this moment? What do they want to achieve? What are they hoping to avoid? What, if anything, could possibly change their mind? These are some of the questions that I ask myself before (and during) the writing of each scene, and it’s a habit that I don’t expect will go away anytime soon.

Beyond that, I’d say that sensory details are also quite crucial. It’s easy to go with the most obvious of senses: sight and hearing. But our real-life experiences involve so much more than just that. We touch things roughly, or are touched intimately. We inhale scents, sometimes longingly. We revel in something that tastes great on the tongue. And sometimes we even react to a sort of “sixth” sense: that cautionary tingle of instinct that makes us hesitate in the dark, or that indescribable pull of intuition that makes us look a second time around the corner. These are the kinds of things that I try to include in my writing, because I feel that they’re not only valuable, but true to life.

The world around us isn’t a static stage—it’s interactive. A mind-and-body experience. Shouldn’t our fiction at least attempt to feel much the same? ​
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
      Kyle Richardson lives in the suburban wilds of Canada with his adorable wife, their rambunctious son, and their adventurous daughter. He writes about shapeshifters, superheroes, and the occasional clockwork beast, moonlights as an editor at Meerkat Press, and has a terrible habit of saying the wrong thing at the most inopportune moments. His short fiction has appeared in places such as Love Hurts: A Speculative Fiction Anthology and Daily Science Fiction.
AUTHOR LINKS: Website | Twitter

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GIVEAWAY: 
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$50 Book Shopping Spree!

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Reverend of Silence by Pamela Sparkman Book Blitz & Giveaway! {Ends 4/16/20}

4/7/2020

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    A coming of age story about faith, love, and overcoming society’s prejudices during the American Antebellum period.
Note: Inspired by real people and true historical accounts.
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Book Details:
Reverend of Silence by Pamela Sparkman
Publication date: January 14th 2020
Genres: Coming of Age, Historical, Young Adult

Synopsis:
      In 1810, Lucy Hallison suffered from a severe illness at the age of three, and later recovered, a deaf-mute. Unable to relate to the world in which she lives, she’s often ignored and sometimes treated with cruelty. Until a boy, Samuel Burke, steps into her life at the tender age of seven, coloring her world and showing her what it means to be seen, to not be invisible, to be understood.
The two become inseparable childhood friends, and as they grow and mature, there is the promise and hope of something more that also grows between them. But the hope of something more is put on hold so she can attend The American Asylum at Hartford for the Deaf and Dumb, the first of its kind, requiring her to leave the only home she’s ever known and the only boy she’s ever loved.
      But while she is away, tragedy strikes, and Samuel is now the one unable to relate to the world in which he lives, unable to find his own voice, and withdrawing from everyone and everything he’s ever known.
        When Lucy returns home from school, she has one goal in mind—to put color back into his world the way he had once put color into hers.
Because Samuel Burke had been her voice when she had needed him most.
Now, she is determined to be his.


Goodreads | Purchase: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Google Play 

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AUTHOR BIO:
     Pamela Sparkman grew up in Alabama. She became an avid reader at a young age. The written word has always fascinated her and she wrote her first short story while still in elementary school. Inspiration for her stories always begins with a song. She believes music is the pulse of life and books are the heart of it.
     When she isn't writing, however, she's spending time with her family and taking one day at a time.

Author links: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Goodreads | Newsletter 

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GIVEAWAY DETAILS
Blitz-wide giveaway (INT)
  • $25 Amazon gift card
This grand prize giveaway - ends Apr 16th:
​To ENTER, Click on HERE!

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Alien Minds by Christina Bauer Book Blitz + Giveaway! {Ends 4/22/20}

4/5/2020

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     DIVERGENT meets OCEAN’S EIGHT in this urban fantasy heist!
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Book Details:
Alien Minds (Dimension Drift #3) by Christina Bauer
Published by: Monster House Books
Publication date: June 5th 2019
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult

Synopsis: 
   On my seventeenth birthday, I wake up in the hospital to find I just survived a sketchy but terrible accident. My parents stand by my bedside—both are beautiful, wealthy, and super-nice. They tell me that once I leave the hospital, I’ll attend the prestigious ECHO Academy, where I’ll churn out equations for the government along with my mega-smart peers.
      So, I’m living the perfect life. 
      Then why does everything feel all wrong? 
     My parents, my house and even ECHO Academy…none of it fits. Plus, what’s up with Thorne, my brooding yet yummy classmate who keeps telling me I need to remember my true past, which seems to have included a lot of us kissing? That’s one thing I’d really like to remember, except for the fact that I’m pretty sure Thorne is hiding a ton of nasty secrets of his own, including the fact that he may not be from this world. But considering how my own past seems alien to me, it’s not like I can judge. Plus, Thorne has dimples. That’s a problem.
      And worst of all, why does it feel so yucky to work on these calculations for the government? It’s all supposed to be part of ECHO, but my heart tells me that I’m helping something truly terrible come to pass. Thorne seems to think that kissing him again will release my real memories. 
          Maybe it’s time to pucker up.
 Goodreads | Purchase: Amazon | B&N |  iBooks | Kobo | Google Play |

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PRAISE for the BOOK
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“Appealing and engaging. Love the strong female character!” – Arlene’s Book Reviews
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BOOKS in the SERIES:
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    Christina Bauer thinks that fantasy books are like bacon: they just make life better. All of which is why she writes romance novels that feature demons, dragons, wizards, witches, elves, elementals, and a bunch of random stuff that she brainstorms while riding the Boston T. Oh, and she includes lots of humor and kick-ass chicks, too. 
    Christina graduated from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School with BA’s in English along with Television, Radio, and Film Production. She lives in Newton, MA with her husband, son, and semi-insane golden retriever, Ruby.
Be the first to know about new releases from Christina by signing up for her newsletter: http://tinyurl.com/CBupdates

Stalk Christina On Social Media – She Loves It!
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn | Web site | 

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GIVEAWAY DETAILS:
Blitz-wide giveaway (INT)
  • Win a star bookmark to celebrate the ALIEN MINDS blitz!

The enter the Giveaway, Click on HERE!

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