Tailwinds Past Florence by Doug Walsh

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Doug Walsh 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.

After getting blacklisted from the venture capital industry, twenty-nine-year-old Edward Vaughan will do anything to avoid telling his wife what happened. Even if it means agreeing to her dream of bicycling around the world. Kara, tired of being married to a workaholic, was readying for a divorce. Now, she’s packing bags of a different kind. Together, they pedal away from Seattle, headed east on the open road across America, Europe, and beyond.

Theirs is a decision that reverberates across centuries, shattering a continuum that bound their souls throughout time, and traps Edward in a battle with a past life over an eternal love.

As the miles roll by, and the couple's sordid secrets begin to surface, the couple encounters several men plucked from history, each one a vessel of Edward’s soul in a prior life. Of them, a 19th century art dealer proves dangerous, believing Kara is his ticket back to the past.

Tailwinds Past Florence is a contemporary love story with a magical twist, landing readers in the saddle of a global bicycle adventure.

Read an Excerpt:

Kara woke to warm breath on her face and the sense that the tent had shrunk in the night. It was Edward leaning over her, smiling brightly. She blinked the sleep away and tried remembering where they were as he brushed the hair from her brow and kissed her forehead. His lips glanced her nose then landed tenderly on her mouth, lingering, his eyes closed.

“Happy anniversary, my love.” His face hovered an inch from hers, his breath minty.

Eight days had passed since the incident at the American Legion, six since Kara had ceased giving him the silent treatment. She hadn’t forgiven him, not completely. Rather, she ran out of the energy required to ignore a husband with whom she spent every moment of every day. Unlike at home, where she could retreat to her studio, slamming the door behind her, bicycle touring forced compromise, or at least a ceasefire. A tent was too small a battlefield for open hostilities.

She fought to stifle a yawn as a cowbell clanged in the distance. Closer, the sound of flags snapping in the morning breeze. The fairgrounds, she realized, recalling the colorful pennants atop the wash house. “Happy anniversary to you, too.” She reached between them, tugged at the zipper on her sleeping bag, and peeled the top flap back, an open invitation.

His eyes flickered with flirtatious excitement as he rolled onto his side, his hand on her belly. “I’ve got a surprise. Hurry up and get dressed.”

“Can’t it wait?” Kara grabbed his wrist and pulled him near. It had been too long.

He let out a faint groan, as if the temptation was a test of will against which he had taken an oath. “I’m already dressed. I got up early. But tonight …”

About the Author:

Doug Walsh made his fiction debut with Tailwinds Past Florence, a road-tripping love story with a magical twist, inspired by the two years he spent cycling the world. The novel was a prizewinner in the PNWA Literary Contest. He's also authored One Lousy Pirate, a travel memoir, and over one hundred officially-licensed video game strategy guides. Travel guides to fictitious places, as he likes to call them. Originally from New Jersey, he now lives and plays in the mountains of western Washington.

Web/Social Links

Web: http://www.dougwalsh.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DougWalsh.Author
Twitter: https://twitter.com/doug_walsh75
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dougwalshwrites/

Purchase Links

Tailwinds Past Florence is available at the following locations:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JNKK79N
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tailwinds-past-florence-doug-walsh/1129769707
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/tailwinds-past-florence-1

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I Am More Than My Hair by Alyscia Cunningham

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Alyscia Cunningham will be awarding a limited edition 2019 calendar for "I Am More Than My Hair" (US only) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

How did this project begin?

I cut my hair in support of a Big Chop for a non-profit organization and was shocked at the negative responses. In turn I created a project that would capture portraits of women who've experienced hair loss accompanied by their essays about their personal experiences. Then "I Am More Than My Hair" was born.

What do you hope you'll achieve with this project?

There is not a single standard of beauty regardless of our hair, race, size or condition. My goal is to show society that despite the pressure placed on women about hair, without it, we're still beautiful.

Do you think that the book will make people uncomfortable?

Unfortunately, it will and has done so already. The discomfort stems from the fact that the topic of female hair loss is still somewhat taboo. Once we can see a female news reporter, an actress, celebrity or even a teacher who is not only bald but unapologetically bald, then the level of discomfort may decrease. Until then, I will do my part to continue creating platforms to discuss issues that hold dear to us as women. Female hair loss is one of the issues.

Do you *want* to make people uncomfortable?

I believe in the saying "If you're not uncomfortable, you're not growing". If my work makes people feel uncomfortable, I know I'm headed in the right direction.

How did you recruit the women whose portraits are in the book?

I contacted quite a few organizations, related to women's health and alopecia. I shared details about my project and my call for participants. The orgs posted my call on their social media pages and everyone reached out to me to participate.

Please tell us a bit about the film that is the other component of this project.

I Am More Than My Hair, is a two-part project, documentary film and photography book. The soon to be released documentary film features interviews of females, their experience with alopecia and the connection of their emotions to the media's standards of beauty.

I'm raising funds to help complete my documentary film via my fiscal sponsor, Docs In Progress. Anyone interested in supporting can make a tax-deductible donation via my fiscal sponsor - www.docsinprogress.org/hair

From the time we are young, girls are pressured into a set belief of beauty standards. Hair is certainly high on the list and is often labeled as our "crown and glory." Where does this notion fit for a girl with alopecia (the partial or complete absence of hair from areas of the body where it normally grows; baldness)? This new coffee table book should bring light to the issue.

I Am More Than My Hair: My Outward Appearance Does Not Define Me, is a two-part project, documentary film and coffee table book. The newly published book features 138 portraits of 46 women and the stories of their experience with hair loss, as well as women who cut their hair in solidarity of a loved one.

Read an Excerpt:

Debbie, 31

Pull-Quote:

My friends and family supported me>br>
Story:

On May 24, 2011, I discovered a large mass in my left breast while I was doing my self-check. Later that day, I went to the National Cancer Prevention Institute in Lagos for a breast screening. A nurse screened both my breasts and my cervix and referred me for sonography, which was done at a local scanning center. On June 3, 2011, I had a Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology procedure at Me Cure Health Care Limited to diagnose my condition. I was told that the breast lump was benign and that the left auxiliary lymph node was negative for malignant cells. On June 11, 2011, I had my first lumpectomy at a local medical center.

Barely four months later, I discovered another lump slightly above the previous operation site and had surgery at the same hospital. But this time, I insisted on further medical investigation to know why the cancer recurred. That’s when I was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma. By April 2012, I was diagnosed with Stage IV carcinoma.

I had withheld the news from my dad because he was hospitalized for paralysis, but with the latest diagnosis, I couldn’t hold the news any longer. I told my dad about it on July 31, 2012 hoping he had gained enough strength to handle the news but, unfortunately for me, he passed on to glory the following day, which was my birthday, August 1, 2012.

My friends and family supported me and, before I knew what was happening, all my friends joined a campaign for me on Twitter tagged “walk against cancer, #savedebbie.” I got the exact amount of money I needed for my treatment in the United States ($55,000), but I had to start chemotherapy right away in Nigeria.

I arrived in the United States in October 2012 and started treatment at Howard University Hospital. I had chemotherapy for 10 months followed by a bilateral mastectomy in October 2013. To the glory of God, I survived Stage IV breast cancer, but I am still fighting bone and liver cancer.

Rest in peace, Debbie: August 1, 1984 – April 1, 2016.

About the Author:

Alyscia Cunningham is an entrepreneur, author, filmmaker and photographer who has contributed to the Smithsonian, National Geographic, Discovery Channel and AOL. In September 2013 Alyscia self-published Feminine Transitions, a photography book encompassed with portraits of raw feminine beauty. Her recently published photography book and upcoming documentary film, I Am More Than My Hair, features 138 portraits of 46 females and the stories of their experience with hair loss as well as females who cut their hair in solidarity of a loved one. Alyscia creates these, and future projects, with the consideration of art for social-change.


Alyscia specializes in promoting our natural beauty because she believes the media does a good job of focusing on our insecurities by bombarding us with ads proclaiming that their appearance without enhancements is inadequate or faulty. Her portraits are unaltered by Photoshop and reveal women as they are naturally, without the façade they put on for others.


Her work has been featured on Fox5 News, The Huffington Post, Cosmopolitan, The Washington Post, APlus, and Proud2BMe. To learn more about Alyscia and her work, visit Alyscia.com.


Alyscia also invites you to view her video introductions to Feminine Transitions, and I Am More Than My Hair.

I Am More Than My Hair book is now available on Amazon and at these retailers: 
Bluestockings Bookstore (New York, NY)
BookWoman (Austin, TX)
East City Bookshop (Washington, DC)
Politics and Prose (Washington, DC)
Sandy Spring Museum (Ashton, MD)
Vroman's Bookstores (Pasadena, CA)
Women's Museum of California (San Diego, CA)

Social media pages:

Twitter - http:www.twitter.com/alyscia_c
Instagram - http://www.instagraom.com/Alyscia Cunningham
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AlysciaCunninghamImages/

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For Her Honor by Holly Bush

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Holly Bush will be awarding a $25 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.

1873 –

Adam Gentry, heir to the celebrated Paradise Stables in Virginia, is haunted by the visions of his lost love. Feeling cursed by fate, he slips deeper into grief, shrouded in a cloud of liquor and depression, and neglects his duties and responsibilities. But when Adam is forced to accept that there’s nothing he can do to change his past, he knows he must move on.

And he accepts his own destiny: that he will never love again.

Emmaline Somerset finds herself in the worst possible position any unmarried woman can be in. She will have to abandon all of her plans, hopes, and dreams for an independence using her own talents. The only viable solution is to move to a distant relative’s home and reinvent herself as a widow with an infant. No one will ever be the wiser.

Adam, now determined to secure the Gentry legacy, plans to save longtime family friend Emmaline from her embarrassment with an offer of marriage. But what Adam didn’t plan on was how his unexpected attraction to her would stir something inside of him, something he's kept locked deep within.

Can love finds its way between two troubled souls, one driven by duty, the other by honor, both determined to find their way home?

Read an Excerpt:

Adam thought that she really did need some rest as it seemed to him she was holding herself upright by sheer will alone. He stood at his place. Everyone turned their heads to him as if he would be giving another toast like Matt had done, making everyone chuckle, and then Jim, whose wishes for them had everyone in the room misty-eyed, including him. But his mother and Mrs. Somerset, his mother-in-law, strange as that sounded, both looked at Emmaline and stood.

“Come along now,” Louise said to Jane and Phillip and Betsy and motioning to Edwin to help her from her chair. “This has been a long day and I am exhausted.”

“Yes. I am as well,” Eleanor said. “And these children have near worn themselves out.”

Everyone drifted to the front hallway, gathering wraps and kissing children. Jim had Nettie’s two in his arms, carrying them outside to their carriage. Adam helped Louise into her seat and kissed her cheek as Edwin gathered the reins and nodded at him.

“See that Emmaline lies down, won’t you, Adam? I’m so worried for her,” Louise said.

“Of course. It’s been a trying week, but I think it was a beautiful and memorable day.”

She nodded and looked at him with watery eyes. “It has. Thank you.”

Matt and Annie were walking home, and he waved at them after kissing the children and thanking them. He went back inside and found Emmaline hurrying to the door.

“Tell mother to wait,” she began and then looked at him, her face going scarlet. “I don’t live there anymore, do I?”

About the Author:

Holly Bush writes historical romance set in the U.S.in the late 1800’s, in Victorian England, and an occasional Women’s Fiction title. Her books are described as emotional, with heartfelt, sexy romance. She makes her home with her husband in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

http://www.hollybushbooks.com http://www.twitter.com/hollybushbooks
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Holly-Bush/247399131941435
http://www.amazon.com/Holly-Bush/e/B006ZDTQ1A/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

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Buzz: The Ultimate Guide to Book Marketing by Dara Beevas and Roseanne Cheng

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The authors will be awarding a 30 minute book marketing consultation to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Congratulations, indie author!

You’ve finished your book—now all that’s left is to get it out into the world. Unfortunately, for many authors, it’s that step of the process that’s the hardest. Marketing is seen as something to be feared, dreaded, and outsourced as much as possible—a daunting task that will leave you drained.

But fear not! The team at Wise Ink knows a thing or two about how to sell your book. And they’re here to tell you everything.

Buzz is the indie author’s ultimate guide to marketing effectively, inexpensively, and excitingly. Within its pages, you’ll find answers to the questions on every writer’s mind:

• What does it really mean to “market” my book?

• How do I best reach my specific audience?

• What are effective ways to promote my book via social media?

• Do I really need to be a public speaker?

In addition to this, the Wise Ink marketing team has provided sample content calendars, email promotions, a marketing starter kit, and more to ensure you’re prepared to get out there and sell your book.

Marketing doesn’t have to be a horror story! Let Buzz teach you how to take your book to its maximum potential.

Read an Excerpt:

I want to make an impact with my book. Where do I start?

First of all, you rock. Impact is our favorite word at Wise Ink. We have found that authors who see their work as something that can positively impact lives are the ones who find the most success, both personally and professionally. The work you did with setting your goals was the first step in this.

Of course, the word impact carries different meanings, which is why we think it’s wise to first define what impact means for you. Use this space to come up with one or two sentences or bullet points that specifically address the impact you’re hoping to make with your book(s). For example:

I want schools around the country to use my series as a teaching tool in their classrooms.

or

I want recent college graduates to have a tool that will help them navigate finding a job.

or

I want my book to redefine how people view fantasy fiction and give them a completely new reading experience.

As you can probably imagine, the definition of impact is personal and broad, and it is not easily measured. That shouldn’t stop you from thinking about it, however. The impact you want to make will go hand in hand with your marketing efforts, and if you think about your marketing work in terms of impact instead of sales, you are bound to have a more fulfilling publishing experience.

Use this area to think about events, articles, or other ideas that will help you achieve your impact goals (and hopefully sell some books in the process!).

For example:

Create content for Teachers Pay Teachers based on the material in my book.

or

Create a YouTube video highlighting one or two tips from my book about landing a job after college.

or

Host a Reddit AMA.

About the Authors: Roseanne Cheng is a former high school English teacher and author of two young adult books, The Take Back of Lincoln Junior High and Edge the Bare Garden, which won the gold medal for young adult fiction at the Writer’s Digest Self Published Book Awards and the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards. She now works as Marketing Director at Wise Ink Creative Publishing where she holds the secondary title of “Author Therapist” and has the pleasure of helping authors create plans to get their work into the world. When she’s not reading a book or practicing yoga, you can probably find her hanging out with her hilarious husband of ten years and their two ridiculously awesome kids. Follow her on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/teachablelit.

Dara Beevas believes that books can save lives, open doors, and build bridges. As co-founder of Wise Ink, she encourages authors to share powerful stories that ignite change, tolerance, and growth. She has been involved in the publishing community for fifteen years, acquiring manuscripts, managing projects, and creating marketing and sales strategies for authors and publishers. She’s helped more than four hundred authors publish their books. She is the author of The Indie Author Revolution and co-author of Social Media Secrets for Authors. When she’s not busy pushing the envelope in this crazy world of publishing and networking with inspiring entrepreneurs, she’s traveling and enjoying her husband Tomme’s delicious Jamaican meals with her daughter Genesis. Follow her on http://www.twitter.com/darairene or http://www.instagram.com/darairene.

Website: http://www.wiseink.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WiseInkPub
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Wiseink
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/wise_ink
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/wiseink/pins/

Buy Link: https://wiseink.com/store/buzz-the-ultimate-guide-to-book-marketing

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D'Zia's Dilemma by Keri Kruspe

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn commenter via Rafflecopter. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Guardians of the Galaxy meets The Princess Bride.

The second book in the trilogy, D’zia’s Dilemma features a disembodied galactic gangster, a snarky spybot, and a sentient, lovesick spaceship. If you like non-stop action, powerful emotions, and sensual aliens, you’ll love the next installment of An Alien Exchange.

A woman betrayed. An alien duke faced with an impossible decision. Can two lovers who long to be together overcome those determined to keep them apart?

Lora Dharma Callahan excitedly agrees to leave Earth to attend “The Exchange” and meet the alien mate of her dreams. Instead of finding true love, she’s forcibly kidnapped and held captive by an alien lunatic who plans to take over the galaxy. He’s going to use her to create a serum that will ultimately enslave every human female on Earth. But no emperor wannabe is going to keep this girl down. Lora will find a way to save not only herself, but her planet as well.

Duke D’zia Yaq E’etu, cousin to the crown prince of Zerin, suspects a malicious plot to overthrow the galactic government. When the opportunity arises to insinuate himself in the suspected traitor’s stronghold, he doesn’t hesitate to use his infiltration skills. While there, he encounters Lora, whom he soon recognizes as his TrueBond. The only problem…she’s imprisoned and scheduled for experiments that will destroy her.

Now D’zia has a hard choice to make. Should he stay and get the proof he needs to prevent a narcissistic megalomaniac from taking over the galactic government…or escape with the only female he can claim as his own?

Read an Excerpt

An eternity passed before Lora’s brain cells decided to come back online. Which wasn’t easy since D’zia had pulled her hips into his hard groin. Holy shamoka, was all of that for her? Wait, what did he say? Something about a JR10?

“D’zia.” She pulled her mouth away from his while her inner nasty girl screamed to keep going. “Don’t, I can’t think when you kiss me.” Her heartbeat was going crazy and it was hard to breathe.

Okay, take in a few deep gulps of air…yeah, now she was calm. Right. She put her hands on the sides of his face to place him farther back from her so she could gaze into his eyes. Feminine pride warmed her as she took in the dazed, unfocused stare he gave back. Lordy, those dual-colored orbs were beyond beautiful, especially dilated in passion. His wet, full lips were tempting, and she’d love to spend eternity bathing in the weight of his intense focus.

His three-fingered hands burrowed under her loose tunic to wrap around her naked waist, his palms massaged her eager skin in heavy strokes.

She jumped when warm oils under his hands caused a path of lightning to cover her skin wherever he caressed. A fleeting scent of spiced licorice teased her nose. She drew in a shuddering breath as she cleared her throat. “D’zia, please, let’s stop and think about this.”

About the Author:

“Author of otherworldly romantic adventures”

Keri Kruspe has been an author since the age of twelve and has always been fascinated with otherworldly stories that end in Happily Ever After. Her current works, An Alien Exchange trilogy had its first release Winter 2018. The trilogy continues with D’zia’s Dilemma and concludes with Ki’s Redemption — to be released by the first quarter of 2019.

A native Nevadan, Keri resides with her family in the wilds of Northwest Michigan where she enjoys the stark change in seasons and the pleasures each one brings. An avid reader, Keri loves an enjoyable bottle of red wine, a variety of delicious foods and watching action/adventure movies…usually at the same time. You can find her most days immersed in her fantasy world on her latest novel while foot tappin’ to classic rock. When not absorbed in her writing, Keri works alongside her husband in building their dream home or discovering intelligent life in America in their RV.

Website: https://www.kerikruspe.com
FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/klkruspe15
Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorkkruspe
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kerikruspe/
Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MTGNR7D/ref=x_gr_w_glide_bb

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The Young Adult Writer's Journey by Elizabeth Fortin-Hinds and Janet Schrader-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.

Five Things You’d Never Guess About Me
By Elizabeth Fortin-Hinds

There are a lot of things most folks don’t know about me. Some are more interesting than others, but you’ll have to be the judge of that. Narrowing it down to five I’m willing to admit is a bit trickier. Here goes:

1. I used to run crazy marathon and ½ marathon races, but the craziest races I ever ran were Dances with Dirt, a 100 k (yes that’s over 62 miles!) 5 person relay race through hilly, through-the-backwoods trails and just plain off trail (called looking in tree branches for orange flag ‘trail’ markers) and all in Hell, MI. Have you run through Hell recently? I actually handed off a baton in the middle of a river! What a blast, despite the poison ivy! I also ran the Bigfoot 6k Snowshoe race in Traverse City, MI. Oh yeah, fun times. This cold weather runner has slowed down a LOT since moving to the Sonoran desert where it can get up to 117 degrees.

2. I backpacked the West Highland Way, near 100 miles of mountain trekking in under a week through the beautiful highlands of Scotland, from one B&B to the next. Best vacation EVER! Can you say shaggy, ginormous highland cattle, just lazing around the mountainside beside ancient ruins, along ancient Roman roads, or one-stepping sideways on a narrow ledge above a roaring river, or rain and winds so hard they threaten to whip you off the trail to the ravine below, or…yup, best vacation ever!

3. Years ago when my kids were in 4-H, I was the president of a rabbit and cavy club, and we owned over 120 ‘show’ rabbits, chinchillas, peacocks, chickens, ornamental pheasants, pygmy goats, hamsters, dogs, and roller pigeons. Yes, we composted and my garden had great fertilizer. I am now owned by only 1 little Maltese.

4. I used to own a bakery and spent my days decorating wedding and other special occasion cakes. Now I do oil painting and sculpt clay.

5. And the last thing I am willing to tell you about me that you may not know is that I read tarot cards. I have done so for around 35 years and used to spend a lot of time helping fellow writers brainstorm plots and character development, often in our hotel room (aka the bar) in the evenings at writing conferences or retreats, or girls weekend sleepovers with my critique club, pals from our RWA group.

So there you have it. Did you already know any of those things?

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.

About 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.

The book will be $0.99 during the tour.

Wise Words Publishing, an Affiliate of Tell-Tale Publishing Group, LLC

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.

http://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.

http://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
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-young-adult-writers-journey-janet-schrader-post/1129903135

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Immortal Girl5 by Griffin Stark

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Griffin Stark will be awarding a copy of the book (US ONLY) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

The year is 1095, Normandy, France. Five year old Skylar runs away into the woods to escape nuns who are convinced her inexplicable seizures are the work of satan. She survives after being adopted by wolves, when two mysterious strangers appear and reveal Skylar’s destiny to her. Skylar is the first of the Immortal Girls, destined to save humanity from itself.

Immortal Girl5 (January 22, 2019) follows Skylar, Rachel, Caitlin, Beth, and Bethany, five immortal sisters who, over the course of a thousand years, attempt to learn the purpose of their own existence while hunting down the worst criminals this world has ever seen. They’ve faced the likes of Jack the Ripper and the Nazis, but as a new enemy arises to threaten the sisters’ survival they’ll soon learn that immortality doesn’t mean forever.

Read an Excerpt

Caitlin maintained her position. Her hair was cut short and a cap hung low on her face. Her trousers were dirty and rode up on her thin legs. The boy moved slowly toward her, his hands out in front of him to show he had neither sword nor bow and arrow. His face was friendly and welcoming.

“Come on now, no need to point your weapon at me; I mean no harm,” he tried to assure her, knowing that one wrong move would needlessly be the end of him. “Um, that was incredible how you sprang up so quickly and loaded your bow and arrow at the same time,” he said.

About the Author:

GRIFFIN STARK is an American author who proudly lives in Nashville, Tennessee. Even as a young child, Griffin had an active imagination. As an author of young adult fiction, he has harnessed his creativity to tell memorable stories filled with important life lessons.

Griffin served as a combat medic in The United States Air Force and later founded THE SHEEPDOG MOVEMENT to join in the fight against bullying of teens worldwide.

Visit http://immortalgirl5.com/ to learn more about Griffin and his YA fantasy novel, Immortal Girl5.

Watch the Immortal Girl5 book trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C184CfqO380

And purchase a copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Immortal-Girl5-Griffin-Stark-ebook/dp/B07JZ52226/ref=sr_1_1

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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.

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:

“Look, there’s no other way to say this. I’m leaving you, okay? I’m sorry.”

“Whaaaat? Why?”

“I’ve…met someone, Rival and I want…to…to move on, build a life with her.”

“Bradley, I don’t understand; we’re married, we have kids … what…what…?” I look at Nurse Eden and follow her eyes to Scarlett’s face.

As I stare at Scarlett, things crystalize before me. “You? You’re that someone?!” I look at Bradley, “She’s my friend, Bradley?”

He looks at the floor.

“Look, Rival,” Scarlett says, shifting to the edge of her seat, “you and Bradley, you were having problems, you went away, and Bradley, he…didn’t know when you were coming back, and –”

“No, no, no –”

“— things just happened and…and we’re now together,” Bradley finishes. “It’s nobody’s fault, Rival. Things just unfolded this way and now –”

“Bradley, I didn’t go away’ I’ve been in hospital, and for just sixty days,” I finally say in a voice that sounds strange to me.

“Yes, but…” Scarlett shrugs.

“This is not happening, Bradley,” I mutter. “This can’t –” I stop talking when I see my husband holding my friend’s hand with both of his. It feels like I’ve been Tasered.

“Rival,” Scarlett says, “Bradley’s had enough of –”

“Don’t speak,” I say in a cold voice, my index finger raised in the air.

“– you and –”

“Don’t SPEAK! This is between me and my husband!”

When she continues speaking, I grab hold of the heavy-duty stapler from the doctor’s room and slam it against her head. 


“Told you not to speak, didn’t I?”

About 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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Flawed by Vivian Kohlman

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Vivian Kohlman will be awarding $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.

Why do you write in your genre? What draws you to it?

I love to write. Right now, I love the romance novel genre. My first story came to me after a conversation with a friend, during which, we discussed some stories from the past. Since that conversation, other romance stories keep entering my mind. I’ve written five romance novels now, and there are more planned.

I would LOVE to write in other genres, I just don’t…yet. I’ve a couple of ideas for non-fiction, but I’m just not motivated in those genres right now.

What research is required?

None, really. All of my books are based in Washington, DC (with locations that I’ve been to), are stories that pop in my head, and are contemporary. There’s really not much need to research. I may Google a brand name here and there, but don’t dedicate time to research at all.

That’s not to say I won’t need to do research some day, or I that I don’t consider brunch out, a vacation, or shopping “research”. Every part of daily life adds to my stories.

Name one thing you learned from your hero/heroine.

The heroine in Flawed is Kara. Her story ends with book two, and by the time I’m done reading that, I realized that I could never ignore a glaring fact, just because emotion is stronger. That’s sort of what she does, in the end.

Do you have any odd or interesting writing quirks, habits or superstitions?

No superstitions, but one thing I always do is throw the story on paper, then refine it on my computer, then on my iPhone, and last on paper. Each way makes me view the story different…I have no idea why.

Writing books is not my job; it’s my hobby that I greatly enjoy. So many rounds of varied editing are fun for me…and watching the story change is exciting.

Are you a plotter or pantser?

I’m definitely a pantser. With the exception of the first book, Flawed, all of the stories I write come out of a small detail—a dream about one of the scenes in the book, a song, a TV show, etc. The rest of the novel gets written off the cuff as the cause for the story is developed.

Look to your right – what’s sitting there?

My husband’s laptop. I’ve claimed the recliner chair as mine, and my husband’s hangout spot is the sofa. He always has his laptop open, and it’s on the coffee table in front of him. When I turn my head to the right, that’s my usual view.

Anything new coming up from you? What?

Yes…I’m working on book 6 of the Young and Privileged of Washington, DC series. It’ll be a long way off—I ran into a bit of writer’s block and only write when the mood hits me.

Do you have a question for our readers?

Yes. I’d love to know what kind of romance novel draws them in? For me, it’s contemporary romance with an overly masculine guy who’s rough around the edges. Those get my attention every time.

That guy—the one that most girls would run away from—captured Kara’s attention and wouldn’t let it go. As expected, he turned out to be a player. So she cut him off.

But he wasn’t done with her yet. He waited until the memory of their start would have been forgotten—at least, softened a bit. Then he returned to her life, and captured her heart.

Finally blissfully happy, they fall in love and decide to make it official…until his past catches up with him and he destroys her again. But this is it…this is the last time she’ll fall for him.

And she keeps telling herself that until she almost believes it.

This book is for mature audiences.

Read an Excerpt:

“Let’s do a round of shots,” I suggest while sitting down. I don’t do shots, like ever, which could explain Anna’s jaw dropping to the floor. The waitress was approaching so I took it upon myself to order us a round of lemon drops and another round of drinks, even though our first was only half empty.

I did my best to have a good time, but I had this underlying feeling of stupidity. My worst fears are actually coming true. How could I have trusted this guy? After we finished the shots and well into the second drink, I checked my phone and have a text from Naheed, along with a picture of Nik and me laughing together (surely sent to him by Lauren).

Who the heck is this guy?

Of course, I couldn't resist responding.

Your replacement. I hope you and your wife find a great condo in Beirut. Say hi to her for me, as soon as she arrives.

My phone started ringing so I turned it off. I apologized to the group about texting, saying I just had to take care of something. Nik, who's sitting in a chair right next to me, touches my arm and asks if everything's OK. I pulled my arm away—pretending to re-adjust in the seat—and say everything's fine. I guess I’m just not comfortable with another guy touching me quite yet.

About the Author:

Vivian Kohlman writes romance novels based on stories of love and loss under the backdrop of Washington, DC. She grew up in Maryland just outside DC, but lived in Los Angeles on and off in her 20's before returning to the Washington, DC area to live out her adult life.

Vivian attended a private university in Washington, DC for undergraduate and graduate school, and lived a very active social life. During her teens and twenties she and her friends lived through a lot of ups and downs—these experiences have fed the stories of this series.

Currently, she loves to travel with her husband and reads or writes romance novels as often as she can. When she’s not writing, she works a fulltime job and enjoys all of the bars, restaurants, and other hot spots of the nation’s capital. Born and raised in the DC metro area, she adores the culture of the city and is passionate about highlighting the city's attributes, lifestyles, and norms—not including politics.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013M8PJDE Flawed, Book 1 of the Y&P series (Kara’s story, part 1)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01801MRO2 Found, Book 2 of the Y&P series (Kara’s story, part 2)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GUDGQGW Let Go, Book 3 of the Y&P series (Billi’s story)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074ZN48CD Girls Like Me, Book 4 of the Y&P series (Ava’s story, part 1)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C1C5WSX Guys Like You, Book 5 of the Y&P series (Ava’s story, part 2)

http://www.viviankohlman.com
http://www.instagram.com/viviankohlman
http://www.facebook.com/viviankohlman
http://www.twitter.com/viviankohlman

Note from Author:

The book, Flawed, is not erotica, but does include some steamy scenes, and contains adult situations (curse words, drinking alcohol, etc).

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Gray Horizon by CB Samet

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. CB Samet will be awarding a $20 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.

Welcome to It's Raining Books. Why do you write in your genre? What draws you to it?

I write in several genres, but I write one theme: “She needed a hero, so she became one” (Robin Reed). I write strong female characters who overcome life’s obstacles whether that is stopping biomedical warfare (Whyte Knight), tracking a nuclear weapon (Gray Horizon), taking on a dubious private security titan (The Rider Files), or battling an ancient evil (The Avant Champion).

I’m drawn to stories where characters face daunting conflict and emerge better for it. I want action, adventure, conflict, and suspense. When all of that is done, I want a happy ending.

What research is required?

For my latest thriller, Gray Horizon, a great deal of research revolved around a nuclear theat. What key government (US and international) figures would be involved in the event of a stolen nuclear weapon? How small is the smallest nuke and what would the blast radius and damage be? How does satellite surveillance work?

Name one thing you learned from your hero/heroine.

I learned that redemption is possible, no matter how bleak the outlook.

Do you have any odd or interesting writing quirks, habits or superstitions?

I handwrite my books first. I’m not sure if this is a right-brain quirk, but I generate more ideas as I write hand-to-paper rather than fingers-to-keyboard.

Are you a plotter or pantser?

Oh, bit-o-both. I plot but it is mostly a general outline, and then I begin filling in the scenes. I may stop to plot more in between scenes as I better visualize the story arc.

Look to your right – what’s sitting there?

Energy aromatherapy orange ginger hand lotion.

Anything new coming up from you? What?

Book 4 of The Rider Files is in the works. Book 2 of the series won honorable mention in romantic suspense in the Readers’ Favorite Award this year. Each novel in the series is a standalone, but the four book series also has a story arc. I’m already thinking about Book 5 which will start a whole new story arc.

Do you have a question for our readers?

What are your reading New Year’s resolutions?

Sworn enemies. A stolen nuclear weapon. And the clock's ticking.

When Dr. Lillian Whyte learns a nuclear weapon is on the loose in Europe, she collides with a ruthless mercenary from her past. Isolated from her husband, a former CIA operative, Lillian tries to covertly help track the weapon. As she he joins the race to stop the bomb, she is drawn into a deadly game of chase. Despite her efforts, those intent on global catastrophe remain one step ahead of her.

As Lillian faces the fears of her past and deadliness of the present, can she secure the future of the world?

Read the Excerpt:

“Dr. Whyte,” a guttural voice greeted her.

Her blood turned frigid and her stomach lurched as her heart thudded against her ribcage. As long as she lived, she would never forget that deep German accent—the voice of one of her captors nine years ago in Kenya.

The one that got away.

She was fairly certain Ivan Kleist would have only one reason for tracking her down: revenge.

Springing from the bench seat, she lashed a leg out into his gut. She saw a brief look of surprise on his pale face before she took off in a sprint.

Why now? Nine years he had waited.

The calculating killer had waited until she was out of the United States and away from Sean to corner her. She dashed in the direction of her hotel. Would she be safe in the lobby? In her room?

She slung her purse over her shoulder. Her phone was in the outer pocket, but she would have to slow down to make a call. Not happening. She would not slow until she reached the hotel.

Could she beat him to the hotel? His legs were longer, but she was ten years younger. But he probably hadn’t already logged twenty-six thousand steps for the day, as she had.

From her peripheral vision, Lillian saw an enormous object barreling toward her like a freight train. She barely had time to brace herself before Ivan plowed into her. She felt like she had been tackled by a linebacker. His large arms encircled her as she sailed to the ground. They rolled through the grass, her body encased by his.

He was so large he could probably crush the life out of her with his arms. She gasped for air. He wasn’t crushing her, but his grip was immobilizing.

Grunting, he hauled her to her feet. “Settle down, hase. Little white rabbit.”

Lillian, still dazed and sucking wind after her sprint, hardly put up a fight as he dragged her into an alley. Looking around frantically, her eyes couldn’t focus long enough to see anyone within shouting distance. She clawed at his large hand blocking her mouth from screaming.

About the Author:

Christina is a practicing physician, mother of two boys and a terrier, and wife to a caring and supportive husband.


“I grew up reading Tom Clancy, Michael Crichton, and the Bourne books. I write seeking to create that level of action and intrigue but with female heroines. I love the quote, ‘She needed a hero. So she became one.’ My novels have empowered women overcoming powerful obstacles and the strong men who support them.”

Author Website: http://www.cbsamet.com
Amazon Author Link: http://www.amazon.com/author/cbsamet
Facebook Link: https://www.facebook.com/authorcbsamet

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FNYTMNZ

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Christmas and Cannolis by 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.

10 Things I wish I knew about being an author I didn’t know before I was published

I found out my first book, Skater’s Waltz, had been contracted for publication while I was attending the 2014 RWA conference in San Antonio, TX. Shocked, thrilled, and terrified, I thought the hard part – finding someone willing to publish my novel – was over.

Yeah…not so much.

Those months after learning my book was going to be published were a severe and steep learning curve for me. I thought I knew what was entailed in being a published author. I was sososo wrong.

#1: it’s not over when you type THE END. It’s just the beginning…

After I signed on the dotted line, the real work began. I’d been published for years in literary fiction anthologies and in non-fiction magazines and periodicals. The literary magazines accepted the work as is, the non-fiction articles were sometimes reworked and refined by editors to allow for spacing considerations. My point is that it was someone else’s job to get the piece publishing-presentable.

Not anymore. Welcome to the world of book fiction.

#2: the hard work starts after you contract for publication…

My first book went through 3 rounds of edits between my editor and myself before it was sent to galleys for actual publication. And even after it went out to the copy editor, there were still some changes that needed to be made. I was ready to rip my hair out at one point. All I kept thinking as more and more edit suggestions came my way was, “Why the heck did they want this if it needs so much work??”

#3: Editors are the most underrated and undervalued people on the publishing food chain…

All editors are good at their job – they have to be. But the ones who are truly great make a good book even better. They find the little twists and turns of a phrase, or a word change, or a sentence deletion that is key to making the reader want to read more. A good Editor can make – or break – your publishing career.

My editors have been some of the great ones, and thank you, Jesus for that!

#4: you should have taken marketing classes in college…

I will admit this freely – I was unbelievably naïve when I signed that first contract. I thought the publisher was going to do all the marketing necessary to promote my book, get it on a best-seller list, and generally skyrocket me to fame.

Yeah, AGAIN, not so much!

The minute your book is contracted and the editing begins, you need to start promoting it. Often and everywhere. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google, your website, blog tours, newspaper press releases, your Aunt Maimie’s bridge club. Anywhere, everywhere, and as often as you can, so that when you finally have a release date, the buzz about the book will have started, grown to fever pitch and resulted in so many pre-orders your head spins.

That’s the dream, peeps. #5: before the first book hits the shelves you’d better be working on, or done with, book #2…

As a writer you can never – NEVER – rest on your laurels. It is a true axiom of publishing: you are only as good as your next book. So while you are doing all that dreaded marketing, take time each day and write…write…write. I had book two on my editor’s desk before book one was released. Same for book 3. Keep ‘em coming.

#6: don’t think everyone is just going to love your book to bits. Here is the realest statement you will ever hear from me: reviews suck the life out of you. For every 6 people that give you a 4 or 5 rating and a great review on Amazon, 2-3 will give it a 3, 2, or the dreaded 1 and tell you all the horrible reasons why they hated your work. You can’t please everyone, so don’t try. The best advice I heard at that 2014 RWA conference was to write the book of your heart, write it for you, no one else. I still do that to this day.

#7: writing is a lonely, solitary career Writing, editing, revising, plotting are all – for the most part – done alone in the privacy of your office or wherever you plant your butt and laptop to work. Days will go by where I will not talk to anyone except my husband before he leaves for work in the morning, and then when he comes home at night. If I am under an editing deadline, I may not leave the house for days or weeks until I am done. I am a very sociable person and like being around my friends and chatting away. The only one I chat to nowadays is my Dragon speech-to-text program.

#8: you will not be an overnight success and publishing wunderkind

I’m gonna chalk this up to naivete again when I tell you that I really thought once my book was published I would have USA bestselling authors call me to “do lunch,” or that every book club in my state would be vying for me to speak at their meetings. The days following my first release I received one phone call from my daughter, asking if I could send her something from the dresser in her childhood bedroom. The TODAY show didn’t come knocking on my front door requesting an interview; the NYTimes didn’t reach out to me.

#9: you will not make $1,000.000 off your first book.

Factoring all the money I spent on book promotion, book tours, and for author copies, it took me until my sixth book was released before I started to break even with each subsequent book release. At this rate, by the time I release book 312 I will start to show a profit.

#10: you need to take time to breathe and enjoy…

Yes, I was overwhelmed, naïve, frustrated and generally anxious with the release of my first book. But I was also thrilled at having my dream – finally - come true. It was a long road for me to book publication. I was 54 years old when the first one came out, a time when most people are starting to look toward the end of their working life. Not me. Mine was just beginning and I wanted to savor every moment of how it felt to hold my first book in my hands; see my name in print on the cover of a book I’d penned; sign my first autograph on a copy someone had actually paid cash-money for! Don’t let anything ever take away or overwhelm you from that sense of wonderful, soul-soaring achievement you’ve accomplished. Take a picture – take several! Keep a diary of everything you’ve accomplished. Be proud of yourself. You deserve to be.

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 free hand slid up his jacket, basking in the rich texture of the fabric, to skim across the column of his throat and settle against his cheek. His skin was smooth and clean-shaven, warm and velvety soft against my palm. Connor let go of my arm and slipped his hand down my back. With his fingers pressed against the dip in my spine, he pressed me in even closer. His tongue nipped and sipped at my own as his fingers fanned across my back and kneaded.

Mio Dio.

Who knew the small of your back was such an erogenous zone? He must have first-hand knowledge about a particularly sensitive nerve bundle in that region because my thighs started to tremble and a deep-seated liquid warmth, like warm butter melting over hot morning ciabatta rolls, spread throughout my system. A restlessness for more shunted through me from top to bottom, making me fidget and writhe for release. I think I moaned. Or maybe that was Connor. I wasn’t sure, but one thing I was sure of was that in all the time I’d been married, I’d never felt so turned on by a simple kiss before.

Okay, well, it really wasn’t a simple kiss. More a life-changing event.

About 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: ttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JF1WQKT/
The Wild Rose Press: https://catalog.thewildrosepress.com/all-titles/6235-christmas-and-cannolis.html

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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.

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.

About 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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