Friday, April 22, 2016

Blog Tour: The Proving by @kenbrosky #interview



YA Sci-Fi
Date Published: 1/5/2016


It's been 133 years since the Specters invaded Earth. Like ghosts they haunt the planet, devouring anyone foolish enough to venture outside the last remaining protected cities. For some, venturing out isn't a choice--it's a necessary evil to prove yourself to your clan as you come of age.
But when a team of ambitious youth—New Adults—undertakes a mission deep in Specter territory, they discover a terrible secret. Everything they've learned may be wrong ... and Earth is in grave danger.



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Interview

Is There a Message in Your Novel That You Want Readers to Grasp?

 Change is natural. The natural world is beautiful and wonderful and worth preserving. But also: the truth is more complicated than you think. The world is more dangerous than you know. Sometimes, we’re most vulnerable when we feel safest …

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

 I’ve often found that I just can’t get bogged down in tons of details on the first draft. I need to let my writing flow and then I can go back in the second draft and really let the details fly. Then, on the third draft, I can spot the weird areas that make no sense and work on those. But seriously, I really, really, really cannot stop on the first draft. The moment I do, good ideas start to flitter away like butterflies.

How many books have you written and which is your favorite?

 I wrote an entire YA series, The Grimm Chronicles. I love that series, but I would say that Volume 2 of that series is my absolute favorite. It’s got everything: a monstrous pirate, an orphanage of doom, a wish-granting fish, magical powers, and a secretive cult that worships a golden dragon. What more can you WANT, people??!!


If You had the chance to cast your main character from Hollywood today, who would you pick and why?

 I just don’t know enough about Hollywood to make this call. Hollywood is very … uh, bland in terms of looks. Everyone follows an aesthetic script (mainly because a lot of them have to) and it ends up creating these very interchangeable human beings. Look at all the teen actors on the superpower and supernatural shows … the tropes are pretty obvious, right? Attractive, dangerous redhead. Token non-white guy. Smart Asian. Attractive white lead with rippling abs. It’s insulting. I can’t cast my characters in that environment because some of them are overweight! Some of them are ugly! One of them has a crossed eye! Imagine if a famous actor had a crossed eye. She’d be cast out of Hollywood!

When did you begin writing?

 Really, really young. When did I start writing good? I’m sorry … I mean well? That’s probably somewhere in my twenties. I did a lot of writing and failed a lot. But then I started to get good after I got my Master’s Degree. Now I can’t stop. I don’t know how to stop. I literally pass up the chance to watch new movies so I can create my own movies in my head and write them down in book form. I have an addiction, folks!!

How long did it take to complete your first book?

 I wrote it while in college. It was pretty awful, but it took a long time. I found a couple readers, who volunteered to read it for fifty bucks and they ended up being very nice. But they also thought it was pretty awful. But I persevered because I loved doing what I was doing. I still go back to that book from time to time and think about how to make it good. There’s something good in that book, and I think I can remake it. Mythical monsters, man. They’re just a fountain of inspiration.

Did you have an author who inspired you to become a writer?

Not really. I read a lot of Stephen King when I was younger. Some Beverley Cleary. Some David Eddings. They were all so fun to read.

What is your favorite part of the writing process?

Being done! No, seriously, it’s probably the last draft of a book. I love reading stuff that’s ALMOST done. It’s so refreshing, especially because my first drafts are always such disasters. But that final draft always feels so freaking good. I’ve accomplished something cool. And now it actually feels so cool that I enjoy reading it. That doesn’t happen in the first draft. 

Describe your latest book in 4 words.

ALIEN GHOSTS ARE DANGEROUS!!!! 

Can you share a little bit about your current work or what is in the future for your writing?

 Still working on book 2, almost done, getting ready to send it to the publisher. Should be out before the end of the year. Pretty darned excited. And if the publisher doesn’t like it? Well, then I’ll just put it out myself!





The Proving is Ken Brosky’s newest YA sci-fi adventure. His first series, The Grimm Chronicles, ran from 2012-2014 and is available on Kindle. Ken received his MFA in writing from the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

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Thursday, April 21, 2016

Blog Tour: An Affair With Danger by @RobinStorey1 #review



Romantic Suspense
Date Published: January 8, 2016


Two minutes.

That’s all it takes for corporate lawyer Will McPherson to be held up in an armed robbery and for his life to change in ways he’d never dreamed of.
When Will goes to court to give evidence, he meets the perpetrator’s girlfriend Frankie Slater and is instantly smitten.  But feisty, straight-talking Frankie has her own problems, not least of which is her violent boyfriend Eddie.
When Eddie finds out about their liaison, it puts both their lives in danger, and their love becomes a matter of life or death.


Purchase Links
Review
You will definitely want to have plenty of allotted reading time before starting this one. It was hard to put down. I was so engrossed in the story that I put off many of my important things to do. Robin Storey does a great job of creating a Romantic Suspense that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat. I was anticipating each thing, yet surprised the whole way through. 

The Romantic element helps lighten the mood. I think the Romance was believable and unfolded smoothly which is always important. I don't like when Romances seem forced, this one seemed natural. 




Robin Storey is an indie author who lives on the picturesque Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. Her three previous books are How Not To Commit Murder, Perfect Sex and Comedy Shorts. An Affair With Danger, a romantic suspense novella, is a departure from her usual comedy writing style, but the characters were creating a commotion in her head and refused to go away until she’d put them in a book.
Robin is a certified book nerd and also enjoys chilling out at the beach and hiking. She is preparing to undertake the Camino Frances pilgrimage in September this year – plenty of time for mulling over new plots. She is working on her next novel, a romantic comedy.




Monday, April 18, 2016

Release Day Blitz: When Lucifer Met Calamity read and #excerpt



Contemporary Romance/Comedy
Date Published: April 18, 2016

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Lucifer - At eighteen months out of law school, six months on the job, and four weeks before his BAR exam, Luce has arrived. He’d been playing by other people’s rules all his life and now, poised on the brink of success, he will not let anyone stand in his way…especially not the junior-partner jerk at the office giving him and his assistant a hard time. On his way to give the creep a piece of his mind, he bumps into the infamous ‘Calamity Jones’…

Calamity – is tired of enduring her boss’s unwanted sexual innuendos.  When his fingers start to roam, Calam decides she’s had enough. It’s time to fight fire with fire.  So she devises an ingenious, if risky plan, to get Perkins off her back, keep her Job, and strike a blow for his numerous other victims around the office…only, things don’t go exactly as planned.

All Hell Breaks ‘Luce’ – After finding the loopy ingénue jack-knifed atop the archival files, Lucifer knows something is up. Calamity knows the jig is up. So, she comes clean. Turns out, they both have the same problem…Perkins. But, sparks fly when they decide to team up to bring down the boss. The Hitch? He’s a straight arrow…She’s a loose cannon. Can they work together to achieve a common goal?  Or will they both lose in the end?



EXCERPT

Calam awoke with a headache and a confused void where her mind used to be.  Propping herself up on her elbows, she squinted in the morning light as she eyeballed her surroundings.  After a full minute and several pan-scans of the room Calam hunched her shoulders.  She had no clue where she was.  Geez, was it possible to be hung-over without actually getting drunk the night before?  The question was second only to her wild curiosity as to whose bed she occupied.  Good Lawd, had she been roofied or what?  A quick glance to her chest.  Nope.  She still had her clothes on…or someone’s clothes, anyway.  Something furry moved against her leg, and she jerked away and nearly screamed…until she heard an annoyed meow.  Sasha stretched in a deep yawn at the foot of the bed.

Sasha…Luce’s pervy pet.  Her mind cranked back up like a long-dead stalled car.  She was in Luce’s apartment, in his palatial king-sized bed, wearing his spice-scented t-shirt that dangled down around her knees when she eventually stumbled from the bed onto her feet.  Luce, ever the gentleman, slept on the convertible couch in the front room.  Had Calamity been in the exact same position but under different circumstances, she’d be ecstatic.  But, her impending arrest cast a wee pall over her euphoria.  Still, she preened with wicked satisfaction at having spent the night in his bedroom...Satan’s Lair, she dubbed, as an impish smile twitched at her lips.  Hmm, might as well have a quick lookie-loo…the chance may not arise again, she reasoned.

Luce’s private domain dripped with personality as compared to the more Spartan décor of the rest of his apartment.  Several framed family snapshots littered the nightstand along with a cordless telephone and touch sensitive lamp, which shockingly emitted a warm crimson glow when she brushed it with her fingertips.  Two impressionistic prints adorned the walls.  Each depicted vague anthropomorphic forms cavorting about against a pastel-blended background.  They reminded her of something naughty she once glimpsed when she’d accidentally flipped to the Spice Channel on her pay-per-view.

The corner off the edge of the bed housed a dark mahogany desk topped with a matching bookshelf that ran up the wall.  The books she discovered beneath one of the pillows and under the edge of the bed outed Luce as a late-night reader.  Hmm, The Count of Monte Cristo.  He likes the classics.  Her eyes bucked as she skimmed across Master: An Erotic Novel of the Count of Monte Cristo riding shotgun next to Dumas’ version.  Likewise, she spied Phantom of the Opera paired with its erotic twin.  Skimming further…Pride, Prejudice and Zombies?  The titles were endless.  Fascinated, she pulled Robin Hood: Unmasqued After Dark from the shelf and flipped through the pages.  Good night!  Is this what he reads?!  Classic literature corrupted as modern erotica and horror tales?  The thought curled her toes.  So, Lucifer wasn’t quite the choir boy he pretended.  There might be hope for them yet, she mused. 

         Shaking off her fantasies, Calamity put the book down and ran a hand through her hair and grimaced.  It had, of course, gone into kinky snarls during the night.  There wasn’t time for a wash and press even if she had a hot-comb or flat iron with her, which she didn’t.  She’d have to French braid it if she didn’t want to mirror Leo the Lion when she took her mug shot.  First things first, though.  She padded to the living room on bare feet to sneak a peek at the object of her affection.

         He lay atop the covers, one solid sinewy arm flung out over the empty side of the bed while the other was bent at the elbow and pillowed behind his head.  His torso was a study in Italian sculpture.  Smooth tawny-gold chest as broad as the Atlantic tapered downward into a rippling six-pack of muscles.  Her gaze wondered lower.  The suggestive spiral of coarse dark hairs disappeared beneath the drawstring pajama bottoms.  Oy!  Calam stepped closer so that she cast the sunlight from the window in a shadow over his face.  Lashes like paint-brush bristles fluttered open.  Curious inky slits regarded her…with groggy interest, she noted.

         “Yeah, I’m not a morning person either.”  She admitted.

         “Hmmm, come ‘ere.”

         Before she could respond, his hand shot out from behind his head and Calamity found herself sprawled torso to torso atop him, enveloped in a loose embrace.  She popped herself up on her elbows to spy two intense pools of ink impaling her…unable to resist, her gaze drifted downward to his mouth.

         “Did you sleep well?”  His voice reverberated deeper than his usual baritone.          

         Lusty thoughts a’jumble in her brain, Calamity could only nod.  Have mercy!  He might think her a presumptuous tart but at the moment, the sensual lure of his lips was too powerful to ignore.  Calam shimmed up to close the distance between them before she lost her nerve.  His bottomless-pit black orbs stalked her, seeming to guess her intent…but he made no move to help or to hinder.  So she brushed his mouth with a light, lingering kiss, giving him the choice to put an end to it if he wanted.

         A deep rumble in his chest vibrated through her, stoking the fires of her confidence.  She smiled against his mouth when she felt his lips part, inviting her in.  Encouraged, Calam deepened the kiss.  For the sake of balance, she flattened her palms on either side of his head.

         Meanwhile, Luce lost a hand in the kinky tufts of her hair.  The other roamed up and down her t-shirted back.  Heaven help him, but her small warm form felt sinful atop his body.  The knowledge that she wore his shirt, and judging by her simmering body heat, nothing underneath, intrigued him all the more.  The soft feminine feel of her ignited his lower regions and sent them into a slow burn.  He derived an almost perverse pleasure from letting her set the pace of their interlude.  That this woman, whom he out-weighed by at least a hundred pounds, could produce such a quicksilver reaction in him with a chaste little smooch amazed him, hooked him, cementing his fascination with her.

         She caught his lower lip between her teeth, teasing at first but then with purpose, she inched away…upward, pulling him along for the ride.  He knew what she wanted and complied, rising to follow her into a sitting position.  Her rear slid snugly into his lap.  Her bent knees rested on either side of his hips, while her hands crept around his neck.

         Unable to curb his appetite for her, Luce slid his hands down to her compact yet delectably curved bottom, tilting her closer, molding her against his body.  He wanted her to feel him…see her expression, gauge her reaction to the telltale––He felt her tense, and chuckled as she broke off their playful-turned-explosive kiss.  She squirmed against his blossoming ‘affection’.  Ah hell…he grimaced as a pleasurable pain ripped through him.

         “Shorty, uh...” He pulled back a ways.  Inky black eyes met her chocolate brown orbs… checking for approval or revulsion.  She broke off first.

         “I only meant to kiss you.”  She explained in a squeaky voice strangled with… embarrassment, he guessed.  “I’m…eh, sorry.”

         “Don’t be.  I’m not.”  Luce grinned despite himself.  Damn, did the woman know how adorable she was?  “Although, it’s probably better if you get up now.”

         “Oh!  Of course, my bad.”  She clumsily disentangled herself from him and got off the bed.  He watched her meander over to the kitchen, fidgety, with his t-shirt dangling teasingly off one shoulder.

         “I could fix us something to eat while you take a shower?  I mean, if you don’t mind my invading your kitchen.”

         Luce stood, heading toward the bedroom.  A cold shower, he thought.  “Yeah, sure, make yourself at home.”





About the Author


D. Alyce Domain. Is a long-time lover of creative fiction.  She learned to read with Dr. Seuss, grew up reading Sweet Valley High, James Howe, and Lois Duncan, and graduated to category romance with Harlequin and Silhouette in her teen years.  Ms. Domain started out writing fan-fiction after her favorite fictional characters met with death and cancellation on network television.  Inspired by the entertaining, multi-layered storylines created by so many female romance, young adult and television writers, she began to experiment with her own characters.  Coupled with her own unique brand of genre-bending romantic fiction, Ms. Domain was able to create a whole new world within the pages of her books.

Ms. Domain was born and raised in Houston, Texas, the youngest daughter of Charles and Eunice Domain.  She has one older sister.  She earned a BS in Biochemistry and a MS in Biomedical Sciences.  She worked in Patient-Based Biological Research before switching careers and opening her own fashion boutique, The Aesthetic Domain.  In addition to fashion apparel and accessories, she sells her own original jewelry creations and runs the Boutique & Blog website, which is based in Houston, Texas.  Ms. Domain also has avid interests in inspirational music, art/entertainment, and history.



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Thursday, April 14, 2016

Blog Tour: The Creepshow by Adria_in_Paris with a #review and a #giveaway


Women's Fiction
Date Published: April 11, 2016


Wanda Julienne was the perfect employee. Until she had a baby. 
Wanda, a thirtysomething single mother, returns to her job at an international financial services firm after maternity leave and finds her world turned upside down. The colleague who filled in for her made disastrous errors that should have cost him his position. Instead, management pressures Wanda to repair the damage overnight and take on new assignments that are a sure recipe for failure. Add in a dose of sexual harassment and Wanda, who can’t afford to lose her job, feels trapped. 
Slowly, she discovers that other colleagues have experienced similar treatment, but no one wants to talk about it.
At home, the situation isn’t much brighter. Wanda struggles to balance her baby’s needs and her tough work schedule. Her best friend, Galina, and the ex-boyfriend Wanda never thought would return try their best to offer support, but the attention only suffocates her.   
Wanda turns her back and isolates herself, submerged in a downward spiral, until Galina suggests a way out—but the exit won’t be without drastic consequences.



Purchase Links


Review 

I really enjoy the fact that this is a solid Women's Fiction/Contemporary that is not really dark. Adria J. Cimino does a great job of writing characters who seem real and relatable without making them have a barrage of issues to deal with. I enjoyed learning about both Wanda's work and home life. I think that the fact that we get to focus on her Work life and see how others around her also dealt with similar issues that we all deal with is nice. 






Adria J. Cimino is the author of Amazon Best-Selling novel Paris, Rue des Martyrs and Close to Destiny, as well as The Creepshow and A Perfumer’s Secret (out in Spring 2016). She also co-founded boutique publishing house Velvet Morning Press. Prior to jumping into the publishing world full time, she spent more than a decade as a journalist at news organizations including The AP and Bloomberg News. Adria is a member of Tall Poppy Writers, which unites bright authors with smart readers. Adria writes about her real-life adventures at AdriaJCimino.com and on Twitter @Adria_in_Paris. She lives in Paris with her husband Didier and daughter Phèdre. When she isn’t writing, you can find Adria at her neighborhood café watching the world go by.


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Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Blog Tour: Back in My Life by @Mariecrauthor #interview



Romance / Erotica
Date Published: February 27, 2016


Back in my Life is a story set in the beautiful cities of New York and Chicago. This story is not the typical and simple "boy meets girl, boy and girl get marry story." This story is a powerful story that shows how real and unselfish love truly looks like. The love between Ruby and Clyde is an amazing and genuine love that survived everything that came in between them—even the most painful experiences that destiny had planned for them.

During a college internship at a prestigious New York magazine, Ruby Sparks (a journalist graduate student from Chicago) meets Clyde Holt, (a fellow intern and a creative photography student from a London based college) whom from day one became Ruby's obsession and the new reason for her existence. After developing strong feelings for her emotionally unavailable friend, Ruby finds herself trapped in a whirlpool of emotions while trying to earn her friend's love. What Ruby doesn't know is that while she is looking for true love, Clyde's presence in her life came with a different purpose.

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Interview

Is There a Message in Your Novel That You Want Readers to Grasp?

Definitely! I think the main message is that no matter how difficult things are in love, if that love was meant to be, it will always find its way back. True love always finds its way back.


Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

I have to be honest and say that the main challenge I have in my writing is the fact that English is not my first language. I love to write and, as a romance addict, I have all these love scenes running through my mind, but when I try to put them in writing, I struggle a little to find the right words to use. But, with Back in my Life, I realized that I am getting to that stage where I want to be˗˗where I can put in paper all the ideas I have without having to struggle so much with the language barrier.


How many books have you written and which is your favorite?

As of today, I have written three novels. My first novel is called Pamela's Confessions. My second novel is a novel I wrote in Spanish called Confesiones del Alma. And the third novel, which is my newly published novel, called Back in my Life.

Out of all the novels I have written, the one that I love the most is definitely Back in my Life. This novel took me twice the time to get it published than the other ones, but is the one that gives me goose bumps every time I read it. I just love it! 


If You had the chance to cast your main characters from Hollywood today, who would you pick and why?

WOW! What a great question. I actually thought about this not too long ago when I received the first paperback copy of my last novel Back in my Life. While I was holding the book, I imagined Hollywood calling me because they wanted to make my novel into a movie and, in my mind, I immediately started the casting for my main characters. For Ruby, I chose Canadian actress Kristin Kreuk. When I saw a picture of Kristin in a magazine while I was still writing the novel, I immediately felt a connection between her and Ruby. Ruby is a simple girl with a breath-taking beauty, and there was no one who could fill that requirement better than Kristin. She is just stunning, and she could be the perfect Ruby. As far as Clyde goes, I didn't have to think too hard. For Clyde, I chose "Boy Next Door" Ryan Guzman. I know in the novel, Clyde is supposed to be a British gal, but I wouldn't mind twisting the story a little to make Clyde a Latin guy if I ever get Ryan to accept to play Clyde's part. Why did I pick Ryan? Well, that's obvious, guys; because he is freaking hot. hahaha!             
When did you begin writing?

When I started writing my first book, I had no idea of what I was doing. At that time, it never occurred to me that I was going to write a book. Seven years before that day, I had experienced one of the most heart-breaking experiences a person could face in life, and that experience, literally, made me hit rock bottom. That experienced, at the same time, helped me built an outline for the writing that I wanted to do-a writing that, at that time, was supposed to help me close that wound that seven years later, I still had open. Once I started writing, I didn't have a set time to finish the "writing" I was doing, but six months later, I had completed the novel that, today, is called Pamela's Confessions.


How long did it take to complete your first book?

As I mentioned on the question before this one, it took me six months to complete my first novel, but, knowing what I know now about novel writing, I realize that that was kind of fast and maybe not my best work so now-a-days, I take my time writing and try not to rush through the process, so that I can offer the best to my readers.

Did you have an author who inspired you to become a writer?

I have couple. To mention few, I love Colleen Hoover, Brooke Cumberland, Nicholas Sparks, and recently, Jamie McGuire. Each one of these authors has inspired me in a different way. But, if I have to choose the one I love the most, I will have to say that Colleen Hoover is my favorite. I totally love her novels.


What is your favorite part of the writing process?

The outline process is my favorite of all the processes involved in the writing of a book. Definitely that's my favorite part because it's basically the part where I gathered all my thoughts and put them together to create the base of the novel I want to write. Without that process, I probably wouldn't even know where to start.



Describe your latest book in 4 words.


Intense, heart-breaking, nerve-wracking, pure-passion



Can you share a little bit about your current work or what is in the future for your writing?


Of course! I am currently working on my fourth romance novel... Happiness, Interrupted. With this novel, I intend to reach out to a wider group of readers. This novel will still be a romance novel, but I am trying to move away from the Erotica genre a little bit so that my kids can actually read one of my books. With the first three novels, I experimented with the erotica genre, which I love, but with that came the issue of my kids not being able to read the novels. With this new novel, I want to be able to create a great story for my readers, but also giving my children the opportunity to read what mama writes. With the Erotica genre, I couldn't do that. 



I have been writing for pleasure for the past couple of years, but this is the first time I do a book tour so I am very excited for it. Writing is my passion, and I enjoy using real-life stories as the basis for my novels, but giving them a little twist to make them more melodramatic and breath-taking. I am also the author of Pamela's Confessions and Confesiones del Alma. I currently live in Florida with my husband and three children.

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Blog Tour: Harry Starke by Blair Howard with a #giveaway



Mystery
Date Published: September 7, 2015



Harry Starke is the first novel in the Harry Starke series of murder mysteries.
Why Did Tabitha Willard Throw Herself off the Walnut Street Bridge?
It's almost midnight, bitterly cold, snowing, when a beautiful young girl, Tabitha Willard, throws herself off the Walnut Street Bridge into the icy waters of the Tennessee. Harry Starke is there, on the bridge. Wrong time, wrong place? Maybe. He tries, but is unable to stop her. Thus begins a series of events and an investigation that involves a local United States congressman, a senior lady senator from Boston, a local crime boss, several very nasty individuals, sex, extortion, high finance, corruption, and three murders. Harry has to work his way through a web of deceit and corruption until finally.... Well, as always, there's a twist in the tale, several in fact....
Harry Starke is a hard-boiled private detective, an ex-cop, a tough guy from right side of the tracks with finely tuned senses, good instincts, and friends in high places. He’s single, successful, well educated, and yes, he will hurt you if he needs to.

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Interview





Author Bio

Blair Howard is from a small town in England, near Stratford-upon-Avon, on the edge of the English Cotswolds. He is Kentucky Colonel, an honor bestowed upon him in 2008 by the then Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Steven L. Beshear. Until 2015, he wrote sweeping historical epics, and is the author of five historical novels. In July of 2015 he decided to try his hand at writing mystery novels, thus we have Harry Starke. The first in the series, Harry Starke, was released in mid-September 2015. The second novel, Two for the Money, was released October 19 the same year, Hill House, in mid-December 2015, and Checkmate in February 2016, and there are more to come.
Blair is the author of more than 40 books, including the Harry Starke series and five novels of the American Civil War. More than 4,500 magazine, newspaper, and web articles. His work has appeared in many national and international publications, including Delta's Sky Magazine, PHOTOgraphic magazine, The Mail on Sunday, The Walking Magazine, Petersen's Hunting Magazine, The Boston Herald, The Detroit Free-Press, The Anchorage Times and many more.

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Twitter: @bcwhoward