Thursday, December 27, 2018

Blog Tour: The Crucible's Fire by Matt Parker @cruciblesfire #interview #nonfiction #christian @RABTBookTours


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Christian, Inspirational
Date Published: Nov. 30, 2018
Publisher: Lucid Books

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After having several children, parents often feel well-equipped to take on the challenges of another child. When Matt and Tammy Parker decided to add a child to their family, they had little idea of the blessings and struggles God had in store for them. The Crucible's Fire paints a picture of God's steadfast love through trials as he holds one family in the loving and protective crucible of his faithfulness. Readers will learn:

·         The raw emotion of unexpected hardship

·         How to rely on God for strength

·         The beauty of God's faithfulness when it seems all hope is lost

·         How to trust in God through their own dark night of the soul

·         The sanctification that comes only through the refining fire of trials

·        Strengthen your own trust in God's refining faithfulness as you join this family through the joys and pains of raising a special needs child.



Interview

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

Yes. I want the reader to understand that trial and hardship is not only a ubiquitous part of human experience, but it is also uniquely a tool used by God to refine and transform us into a clearer reflection of the Son. It isn’t to be feared, but as Paul instructs us, to be met with joy and praise, even in the darkest nights of the soul.  

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Finishing! I always think of more details, more events, more stories, more something. I have to force myself to stop working on the piece sometimes and work for completion. I constantly rewrite and rewrite, which can impede progress sometimes.


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

 Just the one, so far. So, I guess this is my favorite, but I have a couple more in the works, so I’ll revisit this when they are finished.


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

 That’s a tough one. Since Brynna is the main character, I really am not sure. Probably Sophia Lillis. She looks alot like my daughter. If I could cast my wife and I, I would choose Sean Penn and Sandra Bullock.

When did you begin writing?

 I started writing as a young boy. I remember writing a story about three boys, like me and my brothers, on a scary adventure in the dark forest. I friend of the family titled it “Three Dog Night.” I had no idea what that meant at the time. :)

How long did it take to complete your first book?

The book was a complilation of ten years of journal entries, emails, and blog posts, but once I started putting it all together, I was ready for print in about 3 months. 

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

Yes. I love reading CS Lewis. His command of the English language inspires me.





About the Author

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Matt Parker serves as a high school teacher in rural East Texas and has served as a bi-vocational minister for almost 25 years. He has recently retired from pastoral ministry to develop discipleship materials to encourage the saints and help deepen their walk with the Lord. He is married to Tammy, his high school sweetheart, and together they have four biological children, three adopted children, one granddaughter, and serve as foster parents.


Their youngest daughter, Brynna, was born with severe physical and developmental delays. Over the past decade, Matt has kept friends and family updated on her condition, progress, and their sanctification through email and his ministry blog at The Crucible's Fire.


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Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Blog Tour: Lizzy's Kiss by @KTjebbenAuthor #giveaway #psychological #romanticsuspense #blogtour @RABTBookTours


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Psychological Romantic Suspense
Date Published: November 21, 2018

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Lizzy Adams spent the summer pining for Tyson Smith, the sexy security agent whose instruction at a safety seminar saved her life. Now, every man she meets is measured against the absolute awesomeness of the brawny black man with the soulful eyes, the baritone voice that whispers over her like a velvet caress, and a smile that turns her knees to jelly. Now she just had to get him to notice her.



Tyson Smith had a lot of respect for Lizzy Adams, the spunky teacher who freed herself from the clutches of a deranged miscreant who’d wanted to take her hostage. But his concept of her wholesome ‘girl-next-door’ image was challenged the night she showed up at a company barbeque dressed as a flirty cowgirl. Always the gentleman, he managed to keep his eyes off her assets as she strolled around the farm. His mother had raised him better, but there was no denying that she was every man’s ‘American Beauty’ fantasy. But the night he’d shown up at her doorstep to help her out altered their relationship forever. Between the fear in her eyes and the baseball bat perched on her shoulder, his protective side surfaced, and he handed her a piece of his heart.



Their whirlwind romance is threatened when a man from Lizzy’s past attacks her. Sam Clark wants vengeance for his son. He blames the jurors from Jason’s trial for Jason’s death and crafts a hit list. But killing Lizzy, the scrappy survivor, is harder than he thought. After Sam fails at his first attempt on Lizzy’s life, he resolves to kill her before he’s forced into hiding. He just has to get past the big, black man who appointed himself Lizzy’s protector.



About the Author


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Karen Tjebben lives in central North Carolina with her wonderful husband, twin daughters, and two hamsters. When her girls left for kindergarten, Karen discovered that she needed to fill her days with something, and that was the beginning of her new career in writing. She loves to create worlds filled with unique characters that she hopes will delight and raise goose bumps on her readers. In her free time, she enjoys traveling with her husband and seeing the world through her daughters' eyes.


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Thursday, December 20, 2018

PROMO Blitz: Retrieve - Sarah Adison Fox @saddisonfox #giveaway


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YA action adventure
Date Published: 26 December 2018
Publisher: Double Edged Sword Publishing

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What if the job you took to stay alive might be what kills you?

Kade knows what it is to suffer. He knows what it's like to lose everything and everyone around him.

His job in a Stormer Unit guarantees not just his survival in the decimated country of Azetaria, but his sister Meg's. Even if it means facing the Numachi warriors baying for his blood, he'll do what it takes to keep her safe.

Hadley is alone and surviving the only way she knows how. By hiding where predators won't find her and scavenging enough just to keep her alive.

When desperation drives Hadley to search for her missing brother, she mistakenly accepts the offer of recruitment into the Stormer's camp, only to be partnered with Kade and sent as a scout into Numachi territory.

The intimidating young Stormer may just know where her brother has gone. But can they stay alive long enough to find him?



Excerpt



Kade’s footsteps were heavy as he approached and stared down at her. “This isn’t going to work. You need to be wearing something lighter, or we’ll never make it to Lazen.”

Hadley tried for a weak shrug but could barely muster the energy. “What do you suggest?”

Kade raised an eyebrow, and a deep frown appeared on his face as he considered her.  He continued to stare at her as she sat, legs sprawled out on the ground. “The best I can come up with is cutting your clothing.”

His eyes narrowed as he searched the length of her. A bolt of alarm jostled her into thinking. “How much are you cutting off?”

Kade dipped his chin, his voice low as he spoke. “Enough, so you don’t keep fainting, enough, so you still pass for a boy.”

He reached for a knife and wore the slightest of smiles as he unsheathed it. “Let’s hope you have hairy legs then eh?”

Hadley’s lips split into a smile before she remembered she was annoyed with him for being so smug.




About the Author

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Sarah Addison-Fox is a New Zealand-born misfit who writes action-packed fantasy with a smattering of punch-ups, mega amounts of romance and a dash of family values. She has an astonishing amount of nail polish, has all her creative writing credentials shoved in a drawer somewhere, and has a husband who, after 28 years, can still make her blush. When she’s not working on her multiple YA fantasy romance series' she can be found binge watching Mission Impossible movies, drinking lager and eating curry.


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Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Blog Tour: Death By Payback by Gary Evans @GaryEvansBooks #interview #giveaway #thriller


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Thriller
Date Published: November 2018
Publisher: AuthorSource

Free With Kindle Unlimited!

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After confessing to killing fourteen young men in La Crosse, Wisconsin, sultry serial killer Genevieve Wangen escapes custody for the second time. Aided by her Mafia contacts, she settles in at a remote cabin in the Bitterroot Mountains of Montana. Now, safely hidden behind her new identity as Samantha Walters, she happily continues her deadly work for the Carbones. But Detective Al Rouse and Deputy Charlie Berzinski are bent on locking her away for good. When they finally catch up to her, as she is about to wed her latest debonair lover, Genevieve finds that she must escape more than just the law!



Other Books in the Series



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Thriller
Date Published: July 2017

When Shawn Sorenson drowned in 1987, no one in La Crosse, Wisconsin, took much notice. They thought it was simply another drunken accident. When another student, Tad Schwartz, drowned a year later, the residents began to suspect foul play. Why else would a healthy young man drown? Even so, the police had no leads or clues to suggest anything other than a tragic accident. Were these truly accidental deaths? Suspicion became reality one fateful morning in 2011 when Police Detective Allan Rouse, Sheriff's Deputy Charlie Berzinski, and pathologist Rick Olson pulled the 15th victim from the river. The body had a tale to tell.

Dr. Olson, physician Patricia Grebin, and researcher Sarah Giles discover an obscure piece of evidence. It leads Berzinski and Rouse down a tangled trail of clues before reaching a mind-boggling conclusion. Will Berzinski and Rouse catch the killer before it's too late? Filled with intrigue, betrayal, and gut-twisting suspense, Death by Drowning will draw readers into a Midwestern town full of secrets and clues as breathtaking as the Mississippi River.




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Thriller
Date Published: Spring 2018


Beautiful assassin Genevieve Wangen continues to work on her deadly concoctions from her secret lab in the woods, far from the prying eyes of the law. But just as soon as she has love and a new life in her sights, Genevieve is pulled into a far more dangerous high-stakes game of cat and mouse. She already upended her life and identity once. How far will she need to go this time to stay alive?

Publisher


Interview

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Not a message so much as a thought. Eleven very similar drowning deaths occurred over the same number of years in La Crosse, Wisconsin, each of them labeled accidental as the result of a young adult male over-imbibing. I just think the deaths were worthy of another look. Just seemed like too big a coincidence.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
When you are contemplating a new book and developing the idea, it seems a process that will be never-ending. But when you get at it and get the first chapter written, things begin to fall into place. I love developing a mystery.

How many books have you written and which is your favorite?
I have written four books. Three of them have been published and the fourth, Death by Explosion, is ready to be edited. The period between books two and three was a rather breathless time, and it seems prudent to be a bit more relaxed about the pace of the fourth.

If you had the chance to cast your main character from Hollywood today, who would you pick and why?
It’s great fun to dream, and if I dreamed about any of my books being turned into a movie, if I had actor approval, I would hope that Meryl Streep might play Genevieve Wangen, even if it is a bit out of character for her. I like George Clooney for Alan Rouse and maybe someone like John Candy for Charlie Berzinski.

When did you begin writing?
I can remember writing sports stories for my hometown weekly newspaper when I was a junior in high school. I wrote several sports stories for the daily that circulated in our area when I was a senior in high school. I was writing for that daily as an employee when I started college.

How long did it take to complete your first book?
I started in August of 2013 and finished it in time to give computer generated copies to my family (wife and two children) for Christmas that year.
Did you have an author who inspired you to become a writer?
No, I just always thought writing was a magical way to make a living. No one told me that reporters, editors, and writers are not likely to get rich without a whole lot of luck coming into focus.

What is your favorite part of the writing process?
Developing the plot. I love to see how improbably plausible I can make things . . . you know the kind of plot that has everyone saying when it ended, “Gosh, I never saw that coming.”

Describe your latest book in 4 words.
Interesting life, sad ending.

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

Book number 4 is written. Titled Death by Explosion, it uses stories told by my father and father-in-law as the basis for a mystery that features cattle rustlers and moonshiners. 


About the Author

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Gary Evans has turned his passion for novel writing into a post-retirement career, with book four soon to be released, and book five already in the works. Evans spent 30 years in Midwest newsrooms as an award-winning writer, editor, and publisher. He spent 12 years as vice president at Winona State University. He ended his career as the president and CEO of Hiawatha Broadband Communication, one of the nation’s first alternative entrant telecommunications firms, after 15 years. Married to Ellen, they have two grown children, Gregory and Natalie.


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Monday, December 10, 2018

PROMO Blitz: The Mindset Accountability Journal by @livinglifebeyo1 #excerpt #nonfiction


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Self-help, inspirational, motivational
Date Published: December 10, 2018
Publisher: Lucid Books

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Are you stuck in a life you want to be different, but have no idea where to start?

The Mindset Accountability Journal will jump-start you to a life you can enjoy living every day. By establishing incremental daily habits, you will embark on a path to gratitude, self-growth, and fulfillment. This journal will help you:

·        Discover who you were meant to be

·        Shift your focus to what is good and wonderful in your life

·        Create an attitude of mindset growth

You will never regret taking charge of your life and living with gratitude. The journey is rewarding and challenging. It takes only 30 minutes each day to make progress with your future, one day at a time.

A portion of the book's proceeds will support BridgeHope, whose efforts enable survivors of exploitation and trafficking to THRIVE!



Excerpt


I have always been fascinated by the butterfly and how, through its metamorphosis, it changes from an ugly worm into a beautiful insect. It flies free and brings so much beauty to our lives. This journal is the beginning of your metamorphosis. It may not seem like this small change, spending 30 minutes a day working on your inner self, can change your life so much, but it will.


About the Author

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Allie Hudson grew up in LaGrange, Ohio, and attended Moody Bible Institute, studying education. In 1991, she married Larry Sellers, who passed away of a heart attack in May 2009. In 2010, she married Michael Hudson who passed away of cancer just three years later. In January 2012, Allie lost her corporate job of 20 years because of downsizing in the newspaper business. Throughout this five-year period of three major losses, the only way she survived was to focus on God and trust that He had a plan for her life. After struggling to maintain a daily consistent practice of growth and gratitude, she began a 40-day challenge to practice gratitude and personal growth. That journey taught her the need to help other people develop a daily practice of thankfulness and inspired her to share 'The Mindset Accountability Journal' with the world.


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Sunday, December 9, 2018

PROMO & Giveaway: Christmas in Prague @rickpryll #psychological #romance #giveaway



Psychological Romance
Date Published: November 24, 2018
Publisher: Foolishness Press

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Christmas in Prague is the story of Joseph, a divorced American twenty-something living as an expat in Prague. He's obsessed with Karina, a Czech waitress-turned-supermodel. She's freshly back from a trip to Italy with her English teacher, and she's ready to give Joseph the attention for which he's been longing. Will his Christmas wish come true?



Excerpt

After soup, we have Buck’s vánočka, sweet bread with apricots and raisins that have been soaked in hot brandy for days. I am not a huge fan, but I have a taste to prove that I am game. Next comes the fried carp with bramborovy salat. As the dishes are being served, Avi tells a story, an earlier expat Christmas at Beth’s apartment, the one that Kamil took after she left.

“I walk in and there she is, Beth, on her knees. Dressed in a white plastic apron, dishwashing gloves and lab goggles. The dish washing gloves were purple. On the floor were a rubber mallet, various rusting knives with wooden handles, and a pair of yellow gardening shears laid out on newspaper. There was blood all over. She was digging out guts, clipping off fins and the tail. Bits of guts and fish and blood were everywhere. Splattered all over the white tile. It looks like a massacre. She stuffed the offal in a plastic bag. It said Kotva on it. She stood up - bag in one hand, carp head in the other. She slipped in the blood on the floor and caught herself. The head kept mouthing, looking down. Beth looked at me, my mouth hanging open. She said, ‘What?’ I told her I would help her clean up. It was hilarious.” The potato salad is very tasty, but the carp is pungent. It is cooked to perfection, there’s nothing that could have been done better, but it is just a dark and smelly fish. No getting around it. I eat a couple of bites, wash it down with beer and move on. Whew.

Brad speaks up. “Barbora, can you ask your babička why carp for Christmas? I know it is a tradition, but why?” Barbora smiles and leans toward her grandmother, translating.

Barbora answers, “She says it is for good luck. You know in Slovakia and Poland they have the same tradition. Buy a carp at the Christmas Market, and it becomes a family pet for a few days, living in the bathtub. Some people ask the fish monger to cut the filets right there on Old Town Square, but the real way to do it is to bring it home and butcher it yourself.”


About the Author


Rick Pryll is an award-winning author and poet. His book, "The Chimera of Prague" was selected as the winner of the 2018 New York Book Festival for Romance. A graduate of MIT, Rick wrote a novella as the thesis for his Mechanical Engineering degree. Having grown up in Western New York State, Rick and his wife, ArtPop Charlotte 2018 artist Holly Spruck, live in Charlotte.  They have two children, two cats and a dog.

First published to the web in 1994, his hyperfiction short story “LIES” has garnered praise from the Wall Street Journal, SHIFT magazine, and several other publications in print and online.  It is cited in more than seven books, has been translated into Spanish and Chinese.

From 1996 to 2002 Rick lived in Prague, in the Czech Republic.  While there he published two books including Displaced (Foolishness Press, 1998) and Wallow (Foolishness Press, 1999).  His stories and poems have been featured on the pages of THINK and OPTIMISM.


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Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Release Blitz: Conduits by @JRyanSommers #magical #realism #excerpt #releaseday


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Magical Realism
Date Published: December 3, 2018
Publisher: Transmudane Press, LLC

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It exists in a long-forgotten corner of the American dream.

Green Valley County is home to murders and heroes, ghosts and jinxes, gods, devils, and even a pygmy Big Foot.

But the biggest menace is Jinx Jenkins and the string of bad luck he bestows upon the townsfolk.

Can the good people of Green Valley overcome this one man’s curse?

If you love the classic comic and magical realism, you’ll lose yourself in this piece of Americana.

Become a citizen of the City by the Shore and see how seemingly random occurrences come to shape an entire civilization.





Excerpt

MILLENNIAL

Once, a poor, old woman lived in the foothills of Green Valley. Made old by the circumstances of her life. Mary Foster was known the county over as The Human Incubator, as she had been pregnant for the last 257 months.

Her pregnancy went as any pregnancy might. She received regular ultrasounds, took vitamins, and kept away from cigarettes and alcohol—save the occasional glass of wine.

Everything appeared to be right on schedule until her due date. Yet the baby never came. The doctors told her to be patient because these things sometimes happen.

So, she waited.

But the baby never came. When seven days passed without any change, the doctors decided to induce. To their surprise, the child held tight. The only course of action was to retrieve the child through C-section. The doctors put Mary under and sliced her open. The lead surgeon put his hands inside and was shocked to feel a bite.

A tiny hand came out and extended a middle finger.

The doctors had a single option: sew Mary back up. The child did not wish to be born. And so, the baby never came.

Holidays passed, children grew tall and strong, and Mary remained pregnant. Her life was thrown out of whack. And as the months and years ticked by and the child inside her grew, she found herself incapacitated. Soon, the burden grew too large for her to walk, and she needed to be wheeled around. Her diet changed, as did her bathroom schedule. She sold all of her normal clothes and spent a fortune on muumuus—the only thing that fit her belly. But worst of all, consumed with pain, she hardly attained a few hours of broken sleep each night. Mary was forced to move in to a nursing home where they tended to her needs.

The father was a one-night stand, a passing traveler on his way out west. She’d never got his name, let alone a number to reach him, but he might as well have not existed at all. Nonetheless, Mary habitually pictured and cursed his face. After a while, though, even his face faded, and she was left with a melting pot of emotions. Hatred and fear and anxiety and discomfort and frustration and happiness and love and lots and lots of pain.

At first, she referred to the baby as It. But after a while, Mary saw fit to give the child a name, so she called him Junior.

Junior aged within Mary, siphoning away her youth. Middle age brought her liver spots and wrinkles. Her skin grew thin and her eyes weary.

Hope had left her.

When the last drop of life was suckled and nothing was left for Junior to reap, the baby finally came. Fully grown with teeth and hair and a beard, Mary awoke one morning to find Junior at the foot of her bed. Despite his appearance, he had the mental capacity of an infant.

Mary spoon-fed him, scooping up the spittle and shoveling it back into his man-sized mouth. She changed his diapers and clothes and even gave him baths. And in spite of all her newfound hardship, Mary had never been so happy.

At last, she was able to stand and walk on her own—a thing she’d dreamt of whenever she did sleep. She could drink alcohol again. And although she never smoked cigarettes before, she started up, just because she could.

She had her body back.

Junior relied on his mother for everything. She cooked and cleaned and earned the money despite his fully capable body. For he was naïve to the ways of the world and, like any child, assumed all the world to be his juvenile right.

One day, old and withered and drained, Mary grew ill. She needed Junior to take care of her.

The man pouted and kicked and cried and cursed.

Dishes piled high, and clothes grew in heaps, soiled and stained. An odor fell about the place so foul, not even Junior could deny it.

At last, he realized the weight he must bear, so Junior picked up a spoon and fed his mother the way she once did for him.

He ventured out into the world and discovered, ever so harshly, that the world was not immediately his. Rather, it was up to him to earn his way and stake his claim. He found work, and in time, an appreciation for his mother took hold. Resentment gone, he realized Mary, with all her hardship, always did the best she could. And wasn’t that all anyone could ever ask?

The day came when Mary finally died, old and gray with a smile on her face and Junior at her side.


About the Author

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J. Ryan Sommers has an MFA in creative writing from Columbia College Chicago. He and his wife recently left the windy city and relocated to Houston where Sommers teaches and continues to write. Sommers has been writing stories since he was a kid. He found it to be an escape at one of the most difficult times of his life, his childhood.


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