Straight Chatting from the Library: Janet Schader-Post

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The authors will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

READ THE INTERVIEW WITH JANET SCHRADER-POST

What inspired you to write this story?

HI, I’m Janet Schrader-Post. I write young adult fiction and have an award-winning YA Science Fiction book out, part of a series called The Vagrant Chronicles. The book is Vagrant, and it won two Best Book Awards, one for Science Fiction and one for New Adult, an International Book Award for SciFi and an Apple Award. After I received these awards, my publisher, Elizabeth Fortin-Hinds, suggested I write a How-to book for young adult fiction. She thought the time for it was right. I asked her to partner with me because I felt her knowledge and position in the publishing industry would make it a more complete work.

What was your favorite part to write?

I really enjoyed writing about the kids, the different types of teens in modern high schools. I covered the high-school beat when I was a reporter, sports and high-school events. I covered Middle School sports and events when I had the time. I was stunned at how amazing these kids are, how hard they try and against some pretty steep odds. Exploring the various cliques and groups with my 15-year old granddaughter was a plus.

What was the hardest part to write?

I found writing about the technical parts of book creation tedious. This is where Elizabeth was a lot of help.

How did you come up with your characters?

Elizabeth and I put our heads together and wrote about the teenagers we know. Since our book is nonfiction, we didn’t have to invent any.

Do you have anything coming up and can you tell us about it?

The second book of the Vagrant Chronicles just came out. Mutant is just as terrific as Vagrant. I’m proud of the series.

READ THE BLURB

Finally, an all-inclusive book on young adult fiction must-do, don’t do and how-to. If you want to write a young adult novel, you need to read this book first. Coauthored by an award-winning YA author and an acquisitions editor, both experts on kids and what they like to read, this encyclopedia contains all you need to start or improve a career as a YA fiction author.

From an examination of the market, genre and its sub-genres, to mechanics and the business, everything is at your fingertips. This amazing writer’s resource is written in a relaxed and interesting style, with plenty of contemporary references and examples for clear understanding and easier application.

READ AN EXCERPT

Joseph Campbell was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College, where he worked in comparative mythology and religious studies. He was strongly influenced by Carl Jung's view of myth. In his 1949 work The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell described the basic mythic structure as follows:

A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered, and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man. (Campbell, Joseph (1949). The Hero with a Thousand Faces.

Princeton: Princeton University Press. p. 23.)

His iconic classic deconstructs universal story patterns. In his study of the myth of the hero, Campbell posits the existence of a Monomyth (a word he borrowed from James Joyce), a universal pattern, structure, found in heroic tales in every culture. While outlining the basic stages of this mythic cycle, he also explores common variations in the hero’s journey, which, he argues, is an operative metaphor, not only for an individual, but for a culture as well. Although the stories may vary to suit the needs and beliefs of a specific culture, the underlying universal archetypes remain.

Christopher Vogler used this hero’s journey to write, The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. He simplified Campbell’s 17 steps into 12, handy in today’s 12-step minded society. What he did that was fantastic is make it more accessible for modern writers, who are not always scholars. There are several similar editions, including one for screenwriters. Women like Maureen Murdock have written books specifically about The Heroine’s Journey. Although the steps may vary, the universal pattern, used in a novel or screenplay, creates a story with themes that resonate across cultures. It is so powerful, creating hit after hit, that it was required reading for Disney executives, a company that knows the importance of creating a hero’s journey to appeal to mass audiences. Using this pattern to construct books in Young Adult novels provides the reader with a satisfying experience.

To illustrate the hero’s journey, it’s easier to understand in the context of a classic young adult book/movie, such as Harry Potter, already used to illustrate points throughout this book. It will be broken down for you according to the different stages in The Hero’s Journey, with particular attention to how the journey relates to a YA hero/heroine, the focus of this entire book. Following are some things you need to think of before you sit down to write your first scene.

MEET THE AUTHORS

Daughter of a Colonel, Janet Schrader-Post lived the military life until she got out of high school. She lived in Hawaii and worked as a polo groom for fifteen years, then moved to Florida where she became a reporter. For ten years she covered kids in high school and middle school. Kids as athletes, kids doing amazing things no matter how hard their circumstances. It impressed her, and it awed her. “How wonderful teens are. They have spirit and courage in the face of the roughest time of their lives. High school is a war zone. Between dodging bullies, school work and after school activities, teens nowadays have a lot on their plate. I wrote stories about them and I photographed them. My goal was to see every kid in their local newspaper before they graduated.”

Janet love kids and horses, and she paints and writes. Now she lives in the swampland of Florida with too many dogs and her fifteen-year-old granddaughter. She started to write young adult fiction with the help of her son, Gabe Thompson, who teaches middle school. Together they have written a number of award-winning YA novels in both science fiction and fantasy.

Elizabeth Fortin-Hinds knows kids well. She spent decades teaching teens and adults to write and improve their reading skills. As a literacy expert and certified coach, she helped both teachers from elementary to secondary and preservice graduate students learn to improve reading and writing instruction. She has taught at both the secondary and graduate level, everything from rhetoric, essays, and thesis statements, to poetry, short stories, and how to write a novel. She has learned to use both sides of her brain simultaneously, but enjoys the creative side the most, learning to play piano, draw and paint, and find time for her own writing since retiring from her “day” jobs.

A “true believer” in Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces, mythic structures, she uses that lens when considering manuscripts for Tell-Tale Publishing Group, a company she founded with some friends from her critique group a decade ago.

Wise Words Publishing, an Affiliate of Tell-Tale Publishing Group, LLC
,br> We are a small press, a traditional publishing company bringing you the best in E-books, print and audio books to feed your body, mind and spirit. Our cutting-edge fiction includes old favorites and edgy speculative fiction for today's eclectic readers. Our stories will grab your attention and take you on a fast, exciting ride that will leave you breathless. WW, our affiliate, publishes select literature under our Cosmos Imprint and nonfiction titles under our Ivy Tower Imprint.

www.wisewordspublshing.com

Founded in 2009, in Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Our company motto of "excellence in creative entertainment and learning, " informs our artwork, manuscript selection, editing and publishing.

www.tell-talepublishing.com

Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVcMaGh7cng

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Young-Adult-Writers-Journey-Encyclopedia-ebook/dp/B07K3VZ2ZK/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0

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Straight Browsing from the Library: The Other woman by Eve Rabi

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Eve Rabi will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

READ THE BLURB

Question: A seductress steals your husband, rips apart your family and shatters your dreams.

You:

a) Wish them luck, and walk away with your head held high (because that’s what society expects you to do)?

b) Quietly seethe, but accept that there is just nothing you can do about it (because it easier for everyone if you do nothing)?

c) Dig up dirt on the bitch (because someone like this would undoubtedly have dirt), use it to sabotage their relationship, then sit back with a glass of Pinot Grigio and watch them burn?

Answer: C. Oh, totally C.

.......................

Meet Scarlett Smyth. She’s drop-dead gorgeous, has a rocking body and has an above average IQ. She brags that she can ensnare any husband or taken male, and …she often does. She also is ambitious and has a penchant for anything expensive.

When the shrewd and ambitious temptress lays eyes on Bradley Murdoch, she believes she has found her dream man and a ticket to the high life she’s entitled to. There are just two problems:

1) Bradley is married to Rival. Happily at that.

2) They have children. Adorable little girls.

Do those facts deter Scarlett in any way? No, not at all. She is determined to steal Bradley, smoothly replace Rival in his life and show him how to really live life.

In a calculating move, the seductress (she is so good at seduction, she is even penning a book on it) befriends the quiet and unassuming Rival and worms her way into Bradley’s life.
There’s more: To expedite things, Scarlett the mistress, engineers a way to wipe Rival out of the picture - sends the clueless wife on a “vacation”.

But Scarlett may have underestimated her opponent. When Rival realizes the extent of the betrayal, she decides, even though she lacks Scarlett’s genius IQ, not to turn the other cheek. In fact, she is determined to win back her husband, believing that he is a good man who is simply mistaking lust for love. She believes that someone like Scarlett has to have skeletons in her cupboards and she begins to snoop around, anything she can use against the other woman, anything that can help her exact revenge.

What Rival doesn’t realize is: no one takes on Scarlett - no one dares. The betrayed wife and the other woman collide. The result is another gripping suspense thriller from best selling author Eve Rabi.

If you've enjoyed Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, Girl on a Train by Paula Hawkins, books by Marian Keyes and Liane Moriarty, you will enjoy this 'suspenseful, romantic and entertaining tale of love, lust and revenge.'

READ AN EXCERPT

Mistress: Just because he’s taken, doesn’t mean I’m going to pass on him. No friggin’ way! When I set my sights on a man, I do whatever I can to get him. This is one method I employ to get the taken male. Take note now. I orchestrate an encounter with the wife or girlfriend, cultivate a friendship with her, then surreptitiously extract vital information about my target from her. Women love to talk about their soul mates, bore you with details, overshare even. Within a matter of hours, I know everything I need to know about my target.

To loosen her tongue, I engineer a visit to her home and take along a muscle relaxant – a bottle of tequila. The tongue is a muscle, remember? Be generous with your shots, keep it flowing and it will pay off. Let them talk, listen without interruptions, then cunningly flatter and charm them until they lower their guard. When they eventually pass out from the tequila, feel free to snoop around their home, their purses and even their mobile phone to gather more information about your mark. Remember never to leave any signs of your snooping as word can spread.

To appear innocuous, it is wise to fake a boyfriend or a love interest. I do this to prevent the wife or girlfriend from seeing me as a threat and thwarting my plans. My added measure is a ton of photos of my phony boyfriend (borrowed from the internet) on my phone and on my fake Facebook account, which I readily flash at them.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Eve Rabi is a screenwriter and author of 33 romantic crime and suspense novels. 
Inspired by the likes of Sidney Sheldon and Gillian Flynn, her tales are bold, scandalous, controversial and often humorous. 
To quote an Amazon reviewer: “When you pick up an Eve Rabi book, forget sleep. She writes gripping page turners that will keep you reading till the very end.” 
If you’re bored of regular romance, if you like your romance with twists and turns, if you prefer your crime novels to have strong romantic themes, then you will enjoy Eve Rabi’s multi-genre books. 
In her spare time, Eve likes to dance like no one is watching. 
She also likes to eat like no one is watching. That's why she has to dance so often.

FOLLOW EVE RABI ONLINE

Amazon: U.K.: http://amzn.to/14vFE8r

Amazon U.S.: https://www.amazon.com/Eve-Rabi/e/B005HXX1C4

Website: http://everabi.wordpress.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/eve.rabi

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EveRabi1

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/everabiauthor/

Google +: https://plus.google.com/111560859015561071911

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/everabiauthor

Instagram: https://instagram.com/everabiauthor/

Blog: http://everabi.wordpress.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24490383-the-other-woman

Email:everabi2012@hotmail.com

The book is on sale for $0.99.

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1E3KGa7
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1BeLcB5
Amazon Aus: http://bit.ly/1IXc5up
Amazon Ca:
 http://a.co/d/gCRQZw5

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Straight Browsing from the Library: Picture Not Perfect by D.E. Haggerty

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

READ THE BLURB

A picture tells a story. But is it the truth?

When the police find pictures of Melanie hanging up at her murdered colleague’s house, they’re convinced he was stalking her. Maybe she even killed him. Melanie was not being stalked! And she certainly didn’t kill her supposed stalker – as if. But Mel – always up for a bit of drama – jumps at the chance to go search for the real killer. When Mel’s ex-boyfriend, Owen, discovers her plans, he pulls out all the stops to ensure she’s safe and to win her back. No matter what happens with the murder investigation, he’s not letting her go. With the police setting their sights on Mel, he may need to jeopardize his own career on the police force to protect her.

Will Mel find the real killer before the detectives arrest her for murder?

READ AN EXCERPT

Melanie opened the driver’s door and slipped into her car. She watched in the rearview mirror as Pru climbed into the back seat. The woman who was almost always wearing flowery clothes was now dressed from top to toe in black. Black tights, black long-sleeved t-shirt, and black knit cap.

“What’s with the knit cap? It’s like 60 degrees out. You’re not sick, are you?” Mel didn’t fancy sitting in a car with someone coughing the entire time.

Pru adjusted her cap to ensure her curly red locks were completely covered. “I thought we were doing a stakeout? I didn’t want my hair to give us away.” She held up the bags she’d brought. “I brought snacks and everything.”

“What kind of snacks?”

Before Pru could answer Mel’s question, Terri butted in. “We’re not doing a stakeout!”

Mel ignored Terri. Of course, they were doing a stakeout. She turned back to Pru. “Seriously, what did you bring? Anything good?”

Terri interrupted her again, “Why are we doing this?”

Mel grunted and turned around and started the car. They fell into silence as they drove the ten minutes to the address Ryder had provided.

Pru handed cups of coffee to Terri and Melanie. “Here. What do we do now?”

Mel took a sip of her coffee before answering, “We wait for something to happen.”

“Like what?”

Mel had no answer. She wasn’t exactly an expert on stakeouts. The previous and only other stakeout she’d been on ended quickly when the bad guys tried to ram their car into hers.

“How do you deal with potty breaks? I’ve got a bladder the size of a pea.”

Terri snickered next to her. “I’m sure we can find a bush for you to squat behind.”

“They never get into these details in books,” Pru grumbled before putting her coffee back into the drink tray without taking a sip.

MEET THE AUTHOR

I grew up reading everything I could get my grubby hands on, from my mom's Harlequin romances, to Nancy Drew, to Little Women. When I wasn't flipping pages in a library book, I was penning horrendous poems, writing songs no one should ever sing, or drafting stories which have thankfully been destroyed. College and a stint in the U.S. Army came along, robbing me of free time to write and read, although on the odd occasion I did manage to sneak a book into my rucksack between rolled up socks, MRIs, t-shirts, and cold weather gear. After surviving the army experience, I went back to school and got my law degree. I jumped ship and joined the hubby in the Netherlands before the graduation ceremony could even begin. A few years into my legal career, I was exhausted, fed up, and just plain done. I quit my job and sat down to write a manuscript, which I promptly hid in the attic before returning to the law. But practicing law really wasn’t my thing, so I quit (again!) and went off to Germany to start a B&B. Turns out running a B&B wasn’t my thing either. I polished off that manuscript languishing in the attic before following the husband to Istanbul where I decided to give the whole writer-thing a go. But ten years was too many to stay away from my adopted home. I packed up again and moved to The Hague where, in between tennis matches and failing to save the world, I’m currently working on my next book. I hope I’ll always be working on my next book.

Picture Not Perfect is my fourteenth novel.

Author links:

Website: http://dehaggerty.wordpress.com
Blog: https://dehaggerty.wordpress.com/category/mymusings/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dehaggerty
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dehaggerty
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dehaggerty/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7210211.D_E_Haggerty
Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/D.E.-Haggerty/e/B00ECQBURU/
Newsletter signup: http://eepurl.com/bbmdj9
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+DEHaggerty/posts
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/denahaggerty/
Bookbub author page: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/d-e-haggerty
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/d-e-haggerty-4b49a29/
Email: dena@dehaggerty.com

Buy Links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Picture-Perfect-Reluctant-Detectives-Book-ebook/dp/B07KG6ZH33/
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/907044
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/nl/en/ebook/picture-not-perfect
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/picture-not-perfect-de-haggerty/1129901203
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42767307-picture-not-perfect

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Straight Chatting from the Library: Peggy Jaeger

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Peggy Jaeger will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

READ THE INTERVIEW

What inspired you to write this story?

I’m a sucker for stories about big families. Make them loud, nosy, and loving and you’ve got me hooked from page one. I’d already written two other San Valentino Family books ( 3 WISHES and A KISS UNDER THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS) and many readers told me they wanted to know more about Uncle Sonny and his family. Sonny is a bit of a wise-guy wannabee, a wise cracking, uber-patriarch who loves his family to no end and will do anything for them – whether they want him to or not. I knew I had to give him a strong wife, one willing to put up with him for almost 50 years, and children who were devoted to their father and annoyed with him most of the time, too. CHRISTMAS AND CANNOLIS tells the story of Sonny’s youngest child and only daughter, bakery owner Regina. You can truthfully say this was the first book I ever wrote because people asked me to tell a particular character’s story.

What was your favorite part to write?

The scene around the Thanksgiving table. It truly could have been one directly taken from my past. I grew up an only child to divorced parents who each remarried, my mother to a man of Sicilian ancestry. Every holiday we would go to his mother’s house for a family dinner – a dinner that included almost 30 people on a average day, more on the holidays. The conversation I wrote at the San Valentino Thanksgiving table was something that could have happened around my own step-grandmother’s table, right down to the blessing.

What was the hardest part to write?

The scene where Regina is at Rockefeller Center watching the other families skating. The memories her panic attack caused in me pulled at me for days after the scene was finished. I wanted her pain to be real enough that it could be felt by the reader. Getting it just right without being over dramatic or too sad was difficult.

How did you come up with your characters?

Well, if I admit that some of them are actually composites of step-family members, do you think I’ll get in trouble? Heehee. Really, though, they’re not. Sonny came to me organically when I was writing 3 Wishes, and I didn’t base him on anyone in particular. I just imagined a later middle aged guy who was always trying to work some kind of angle and who wanted to appear to be the fixer, the go-getter, the one who everyone turned to for advice or anything else. That’s Sonny to a T.

What I do usually do, though, when I’m forming characters in my head is this: I’m a big people watcher, so I’ll spot someone at a mall or at the bank, and then devise a whole back story for them in my head. I’ll see someone on line at the grocery store and then remember something specific about them that I’ll use for a story. For instance, the other day I was in Panera and in front of me was a woman in her late 20’s who was snapping her fingers and checking her phone every few seconds. It was obvious she was either in a hurry and hated standing in line, or she was waiting for a text/call and was anxious it wasn’t coming in a timely fashion. The finger snapping increased along with the frequency she was checking her phone. I’ll remember that the next time I’m drawing a character I need to be nervous about something.

Do you have anything coming up and can you tell us about it?

Yes, and I’m so excited. Last month the first book in a new wedding series I’ve planned, A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN released. The first book is titled DEARLY BELOVED. The series is 3 small town romcoms about a trio of sisters who run a bridal business in their small home town of Heaven, NH. One is the wedding planner, one is if the JP or Officiant, and one owns the inn where many of the ceremonies/receptions occur. I love these 3 sisters and their 93 year old feisty, Irish grandmother and I am currently working on writing book 2 and plotting book 3. Each book will be a stand alone romance, but I think readers will love the family as much as I do, they’ll want to read each one when it’s released. Book 1, DEARLY BELOVED, is available now.

READ THE BLURB

With Christmas season in full swing, baker Regina San Valentino is up to her elbows in cake batter and cookie dough. Between running her own business, filling her bursting holiday order book, and managing her crazy Italian family, she’s got no time to relax, no room for more custom cake orders, and no desire to find love. A failed marriage and a personal tragedy have convinced her she’s better off alone. Then a handsome stranger enters her bakery begging for help. Regina can’t find it in her heart to refuse him.

Connor Gilhooly is in a bind. He needs a specialty cake for an upcoming fundraiser and puts himself—and his company’s reputation—in Regina’s capable hands. What he doesn’t plan on is falling for a woman with heartbreak in her eyes or dealing with a wise-guy father and a disapproving family.

Can Regina lay her past to rest and trust the man who’s awoken her heart?

READ AN EXCERPT

My father stood at the head of the table, my mother seated next to him. As was also tradition, my father never sat down to eat in his shirt. A bright white wife-beater I knew he got by the gross at a discount dollar store a friend of his owned was his usual table garb. And by got by the gross, I mean it in the literal way. Pop had crates of the shirts stacked in the garage. It didn’t matter that the rest of us were dressed appropriately. Ever since my memory could be counted on, my father sat at a family table sans his outer shirt. Of course if we were at a restaurant or a fancy function like a wedding, he submitted and left it on for decency’s sake. But with family, all thoughts of decency flew out the storm windows. Since packing on a few extra belly pounds over the past couple years, he’d started wearing suspenders to keep his pants up because he hated the confining feeling of a belt.

“Hold hands and bow ya heads,” Pop instructed. We all complied. Pop looked up at the dining room ceiling. As a kid I’d always wondered if he could see God somewhere floating around the crystal chandelier. “Lord,” he said, focusing on the ceiling stucco, “we want to thank you for this food, made by the wife and paid for by my hard work. We want to thank you for our health, the roofs over our heads, the fact we got no bills, ain’t no one doing time right now, and most of all for the love we share as a family. Bless this food, Lord. Amen.”

MEET THE AUTHOR

Peggy Jaeger is a contemporary romance writer who writes about strong women, the families who support them, and the men who can’t live without them.

Family and food play huge roles in Peggy’s stories because she believes there is nothing that holds a family structure together like sharing a meal…or two…or ten. Dotted with humor and characters that are as real as they are loving, Peggy brings all topics of daily life into her stories: life, death, sibling rivalry, illness and the desire for everyone to find their own happily ever after. Growing up the only child of divorced parents she longed for sisters, brothers and a family that vowed to stick together no matter what came their way. Through her books, she has created the families she wanted as that lonely child.

Tying into her love of families, her children's book, THE KINDNESS TALES, was illustrated by her artist mother-in-law.

Peggy holds a master's degree in Nursing Administration and first found publication with several articles she authored on Alzheimer's Disease during her time running an Alzheimer's in-patient care unit during the 1990s.

In 2013, she placed first in two categories in the Dixie Kane Memorial Contest: Single Title Contemporary Romance and Short/Long Contemporary Romance.

In 2017 she came in 3rd in the New England Reader's Choice contest for A KISS UNDER THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS and was a finalist in the 2017 STILETTO contest for the same title.

In 2018, Peggy was a finalist in the HOLT MEDALLION Award and once again in the 2018 Stiletto Contest.

A lifelong and avid romance reader and writer, she is a member of RWA and her local New Hampshire RWA Chapter.

Website/Blog: http://peggyjaeger.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/peggy_jaeger
Amazon Author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00T8E5LN0
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Peggy-Jaeger-Author/825914814095072
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/peggyjaeger/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13478796.Peggy_Jaeger
Instagram: https://instagram.com/mmj122687/
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/peggy-jaeger
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JF1WQKT/
The Wild Rose Press: https://catalog.thewildrosepress.com/all-titles/6235-christmas-and-cannolis.html

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Straight Chatting from the Library: Oasis by Bharat Krishnan

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Bharat Krishnan will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour. NOTE: Beginning today at 6 AM PST (9 AM Eastern), this book will be on sale for only $0.99 as part of a Kindle Countdown! Get it now, before the price starts going back up!

READ THE INTERVIEW

What is the favorite book you remember as a child?

S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders made me feel like it’s totally normal to feel different.

What is your favorite book today?

There are way too many to choose from, but the only book I’ve reread this year is Fonda Lee’s Jade City.

Tell us about your current book in 10 words.

Magical weapons. Diverse demons. Strange animals. A magical desert. Revenge.

One book at a time or multiples?

Multiple, but only one in each genre. I recently tackled The Half Has Never Been Told and Children of Blood and Bone.

Least favorite book you've read this year?

Oh my god, I could write paragraphs about how overrated Rebel of the Sands is. I didn’t want my review of that book to be unjustly mean, so I read a lot of interviews before posting on Amazon. Suffice to say, I think it’s an excellent example of diversity done wrong. There is such a jarring disconnect for me between the author and the experiences they’re writing about.

Favorite book you've read this year?

I do want to say that Children of Blood and Bone lives up to its enormous hype, but my favorite book I read this year is Hitler in Los Angeles. Thrilling true story about how a network of Jews in the 1930s prevented the Nazis from establishing a stronghold in LA prior to the war. I believe the author is currently in discussions for a movie.

Favorite book to recommend?

This is another genre-specific one for me. For fantasy, you can’t do better than Ken Liu’s The Grace of Kings. It’s steeped in the history of China’s unification, so it’s got that historical link, but there’s so much mysticism and mythology in it that makes for a wonderful reclaiming of the fantasy genre from the overly-Westernized space most SFF novels live in.

How do you keep your books organized?

I’m in love with the first-generation iPad hand-me-down I got for Christmas a couple years ago. I’d like to keep it forever. The buttons don’t even work; I’ve had to learn how to use my fingers to communicate with the device. But it does what I need it to do beautifully.

What would make you not finish a book?

If I can tell that the book isn’t intellectually honest, to go back to Rebel of the Sands. The main character said in the first couple chapters that their mother once washed their mouth out with sand. Like, come on.

Keep books or give them away?

You gotta pass that knowledge on! Every single book ever written has wisdom in it and our society flourishes when we pass wisdom on across generations and people. Reading and writing is so extraordinary because it’s about people willingly passing on knowledge, and since knowledge is power it’s one of the only instances I can think of where people are just giving away their power. That’s why a free press, libraries, schools, they’re all at the foundation of our democracy.

READ THE BLURB

Once, there was a truce. Desperaux controlled the west with magic, and Desire claimed the east with steel and science.

But now magic has disappeared, and the world has changed.

The kingdom of Desire will stop at nothing to maintain the new world order. On Juno’s wedding day, their Mengery soldiers came marching through the Nine desert to rip his world apart. Now he journeys east with his adopted brother, Trey, in search of revenge after the murder of his family. Along the way, the two face bandits and the magical creatures of the Nine. When they finally reach Desire, Juno and Trey will face something even deadlier – their own fears and ambitions.

This is a tale of brotherhood, a revenge story that will remind you that everything has a cost – a cost that will be paid to Desire and to the inner demons that govern us all.

READ AN EXCERPT

Sand and sun dirtied anything that wasn’t already stained by the Nine, but Trey still tried to keep his hair clean. It was one of the few things he could control in this life, and he’d be damned if anyone at the orphanage said he wasn’t an individual. Soon after the owners of the orphanage died, he broke the lock into their bedroom and found a cooling unit with enough power left to experience a different world for five minutes. He hadn’t told anyone it still had power, not even Drea. He just cranked it up to full power one morning before anyone else had woken up and pretended he was a king.

As clean as Trey was, Sora was dirty. He stood 5’5 with mangy black hair, and was pudgy despite the fact he’d lived his entire life in the orphanage with virtually no food. Trey knew he was stealing rations from the younger kids. The second evidence came to light, Trey would throw Sora out. He was a thief, Trey thought, and beyond that he had hurt Drea. But for now, the two were the only ones who could keep this place running.

And so Trey and Sora would continue to work together because Trey believed in such a thing as obligation. Power shouldn’t be limitless; just because he and Sora were in charge, didn’t mean they should get to live better than everyone else. And Sora had his uses. Where he was strict, Sora was relaxed. Where he was hard, Sora was soft.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Bharat Krishnan is a philanthropic consultant in Columbus, Ohio. After ten years in Democratic politics, he wrote a memoir about his life on the road as a political campaign manager and just released a fantasy novel called Oasis. He refers to himself as a professional storyteller and amateur cook.

https://www.amazon.com/Bharat-Krishnan/e/B01KSCZ1ZS/
https://twitter.com/bharatkrishnan9
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15640359.Bharat_Krishnan

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Straight Browsing from the Library: Vengeance by Gail Z. Martin

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Gail Z. Martin will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Read the Blurb

When undertaker brothers Corran and Rigan Valmonde became outlaw monster hunters and fled beyond the walls of Ravenwood, they thought they had defeated the source of the abominations that killed so many of their friends and loved ones. But the more successful they become at destroying the creatures, the more they realize a greater evil is at work – larger and more monstrous than they ever could imagine…

Read an Excerpt:

A powerfully built creature crouched in the middle of the workshop, muscles tensed to fight. The monster stood, revealing itself to be the height of a tall man, but more powerfully built. Leathery gray skin with patches of sparse brown hair covered its naked body. Its arms were muscled like a dockhand, with equally massive thighs. The feet looked like the paws of a big dog, while the hands had thick fingers that ended in claws. The wolf-like face and head and the four red eyes confirmed Rigan’s guess. Capcaun.

Training and practice had Rigan moving left while Corran went right. The capcaun tracked them both, showing no sign of fear. Rigan grounded his magic, calmed his thoughts, and raised one hand, focusing all his will on his intention.

A stream of fire lanced from his hand, striking the capcaun in the chest. Rigan set his jaw and narrowed his gaze, widening the flame jet, forcing it to burn hotter. The smell of burning hair filled the workshop, and the capcaun roared in anger, but though its skin blistered and charred, the fire did not destroy him.

Rigan’s heart pounded in his chest. They had agreed to lead with their strongest defense, seeing no reason to get hurt working up to a magical assault. He knew with certainty that the fire would have immolated a normal man, and more than one type of monster would have fallen to the flames as well. Yet the capcaun stood before them.

About the Author:

Gail Z. Martin writes epic fantasy, urban fantasy and steampunk for Solaris Books, Orbit Books, Falstaff Books, SOL Publishing and Darkwind Press. Vengeance is the second in the new Darkhurst epic fantasy series. Also new is The Dark Road, the second in the Jonmarc Vahanian Adventures series, and Assassin’s Honor (coming, October 2018), the first in the new Assassins of Landria series.

Her Deadly Curiosities urban fantasy series set in Charleston, SC has a new novel, Tangled Web, and two new collections, Trifles & Folly, and Trifles & Folly 2.

Other work includes the Chronicles Of The Necromancer series, the Fallen Kings Cycle, the Ascendant Kingdoms series, and the alternate history novel Iron & Blood and the Storm & Fury collection (co-authored with Larry N. Martin) She is also the co-author (with Larry) of the Mark Wojcik monster hunter series (Spells, Salt and Steel) and the upcoming Wasteland Marshals series and the Cauldron/Secret Council series from Falstaff Books.

As Morgan Brice, she writes urban fantasy MM paranormal romance. New and upcoming books include Witchbane, Burn, Dark Rivers, Badlands, and Lucky Town.

Website: http://www.GailZMartin.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/GailZMartin
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/WinterKingdoms
Blog: http://www.DisquietingVisions.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/GailZMartin
.

She is also the organizer of the #HoldOnToTheLight campaign: http://www.HoldOnToTheLight.com. Join her email update and never miss a new release—plus get great free stories just for signing up! http://eepurl.com/dd5XLj

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Straight Browsing from the Library: What a Widow Wants by Jenna Jaxon

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Jenna Jaxon will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn commenter.

READ THE BLURB

Widowed by the Battle of Waterloo, the ladies of Lyttlefield Park are returning to London society—with their futures in their own hands . . .

The widowed Lady Stephen Tarkington, Fanny to her friends, has finished mourning her cad of a husband and is ready to enjoy her freedom. The kind of freedom neither a gently bred miss nor a close-watched wife is permitted: dressing up as Aphrodite for a masquerade, drawing gentlemen away from the party, and hinting at late-night assignations with her dance partners. All is going pleasurably according to plan—until the Roman god Fanny kisses during a masquerade turns out to be Matthew, Lord Lathbury, whose proposal she refused years ago . . .

Lathbury is charming, passionate, inventive, everything Fanny wants in a lover—but unfortunately, he’s on the hunt for a wife. He’s more than willing to use all his wicked skills to persuade her back to the altar, but he can’t wait forever. And now Fanny’s position is more precarious than she once thought. If the tongues of the ton set to wagging, it’s possible no offer in the world will save her from ruin. But does she want to be saved? . . .

READ AN EXCERPT

Heart pounding, Fanny ran on tiptoes in an effort to keep up with him. This was madness. Wherever was he taking her? And what on earth did he have in mind? Oh, but she knew what that was. That deep desire in his eyes told her exactly where his intentions lay. Would she allow him to have his way with her? She didn’t quite recognize him; the mask hid just enough of his face. Still he reminded her of someone. Someone who had been most dear to her what seemed a lifetime ago. But that man had left London, swearing never to return to the ton years before. He’d retreated to his country estate and had not been seen in Town for seven years.

They raced down the corridor, Pollux still in the lead, Castor right behind her. That gave her some comfort. Pollux wouldn’t ravish her in front of his brother, or friend rather. Still, the urgency of his headlong flight, dodging wide-eyed guests left and right, persuaded her that this man would stop at nothing to get her alone.

He turned a corner into a deserted hall and slowed finally. Stopping at a door on the far end, he glanced around then put his hand on the latch. “Keep watch, Cas. No one enters.”

Castor grinned. “Not a soul, Pol. My word as a gentleman.”

Pollux pushed down the latch, opened the door into a shadowy room, and drew her inside.

The flickering fireplace across the room gave the only light. Fanny’s eyes took a moment to adjust to the dimness. A moment in which Pollux pulled her hard against him, crushing her breasts against his unyielding chest. He wrapped his arms around her, pinning her to him, and sank his mouth onto hers.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Jenna Jaxon is a multi-published author of historical romance in all time periods because, she says, “passion is timeless.” She has been reading and writing historical romance since she was a teenager. A romantic herself, Jenna has always loved a dark side to the genre, a twist, suspense, a surprise. She tries to incorporate all of these elements into her own stories. She’s a theatre director when she’s not writing and lives in Gloucester, Virginia with her family, including two very vocal cats and one silent one.

Jenna is a PAN member of Romance Writers of America as well as an active member of Chesapeake Romance Writers, her local chapter of RWA. She has four series currently available: The House of Pleasure, set in Georgian England, Handful of Hearts, set in Regency England, and Time Enough to Love, set in medieval England and France, and The Widows’ Club series, also set in Regency England and available from Kensington Publishing in both print and digital.

She currently writes to support her chocolate habit.

Find Jenna Jaxon online:

BLOG: https://jennajaxon.wordpress.com/
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/Jenna_Jaxon
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jenna-Jaxon/146857578723570
AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE: https://www.amazon.com/Jenna-Jaxon/e/B005CHPBD2/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1

Buy the book at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1516103297/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i6
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/what-a-widow-wants-jenna-jaxon/1128297334

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