This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Nan Reinhardt will be awarding a set of 6 handmade wineglass charms and a $10 Starbucks gift card. (USA only) to 5 randomly drawn winners via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
She wants a baby…he wants a family
Firefighter and paramedic Tierney Ashton has always been a bold adventurer, but at thirty-four she longs to embark on a new adventure—motherhood. But who will be the father? Although financially challenging, a sperm bank appears to be her best option. That is, until she shares her dream with her long-time pal, Brendan Flaherty.
Government analyst and world traveler Brendan Flaherty returns home to River’s Edge to help out at his family’s thriving winery and his brother’s new community theater. He also plans to finally achieve his lifelong goal of writing a novel. But when Tierney shares her wish, Bren offers to be her baby daddy—with one condition. Marriage.
It seems like a perfect contract, but will love get in the way?
Read an Excerpt
This could work.
She wasn’t involved with anyone and neither was he. Fact was, his job kept him so busy with late nights and travel and meetings all over the world, it had been hard to maintain much of a romantic relationship with anyone in DC. Since he’d been home, he’d dated a little, but that spark he’d waited for all his life had yet to materialize.
However, he truly meant what he’d said to Tierney. “Why?” he repeated with a bit more force. “Why is it any crazier than picking a father for your baby off a website?”
Tierney’s eyes narrowed. “You would do that? Go to Nell’s with me, collect a... a sample, and let her inseminate me? Just like that?”
Brendan nearly had to pick his jaw up off the table. That’s what she thinks I'm suggesting? How could she have known him for her whole life and believe for one moment that he’d simply give her his... his... Oh, good Lord. And then what? Walk away? He ran one hand over his face “Of course not!”
She sat up straighter. “Then what, Bren? Because, honestly, right now, that’s all I’m looking for.”
“Well, we... I... I-I can’t do that.” He was floundering, which frustrated him because he rarely floundered. He made presentations regularly to large groups of highly placed government officials all over the world. He could explain the intricacies of diplomacy, answer questions, and meet-and-greet in seven different languages. Now, he was stuttering in front of a woman he’d known since they were both kids. Who knew the most awkward moment of his life would be with Tee? Go figure.
Dammit.
About the Author:
Nan Reinhardt is a USA Today-bestselling author of romantic fiction for women in their prime. Yeah, women still fall in love and have sex, even after 45! Imagine! She is a wife, a mom, a mother-in-law, and a grandmother. Nan has been a copyeditor and proofreader for over 25 years, and currently works on romantic fiction titles for a variety of clients, including Avon Books, St. Martin’s Press, HarperCollins, Kensington Books, Tule Publishing, and Entangled Publishing, as well as for many indie authors.
Although she loves her life as an editor, writing is Nan’s first and most enduring passion. She can’t remember a time in her life when she wasn’t writing—she wrote her first romance novel at the age of ten, a love story between the most sophisticated person she knew at the time, her older sister (who was in high school and had a driver’s license!), and a member of Herman’s Hermits. If you remember who they are, you are Nan’s audience! Her latest series, the Four Irish Brothers Winery series is available from Tule Publishing and all book retailers. Books 1 through 3 are currently available; Book 4 releases July 16, 2020 and is available for preorder.
Visit Nan’s website at www.nanreinhardt.com, where you’ll find links to all her books as well as blogs about writing, being a Baby Boomer, and aging gracefully…mostly. Nan also blogs every third Tuesday at Word Wranglers, sharing the spotlight with five other romance authors, is a frequent contributor the RWA Contemporary Romance blog, and she contributes to the Romance University blog where she writes as Editor Nan.
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Kat Martin will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
To prove her father’s innocent of treason, she’ll have to face a killer--and risk everything ...
When journalist Jessie Kegan’s father is accused of espionage and treason, Jessie has no doubt the man she looked up to her entire life is innocent. Worse yet, before Colonel Kegan can stand trial, he’s found dead of a heart attack…but Jessie knows it was murder. Forcing down her grief, she’s determined to use her investigative skills and resources to clear her father’s name. But going after the truth means Jessie soon finds herself in the crosshairs of a killer who wants that truth to stay buried with her father.
Protecting Jessie Kegan is a job bodyguard Brandon Garrett can’t refuse. Jessie isn’t just a client at Maximum Security—she’s the sister of his best friend, Danny, killed in Afghanistan. With dangerous forces gunning for Jessie from every angle, keeping her safe will mean keeping her close and Bran finds their mutual attraction growing, though being Danny’s sister puts Jessie out of bounds.
With their backs against the wall, Jessie and Bran will have to risk everything to expose her father’s killer—before his legacy dies with his daughter.
Read an Excerpt
Bran leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on her face. “So...no husband. No serious boyfriend, either?”
“No. Listen, if you’re finished with the third degree, I’m going to bed. It’s been a rough day.”
His gaze sharpened. “Sorry,” he said, not looking sorry at all and even more curious than before--unfortunately. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“What time?” she managed to ask calmly.
“We leave at six.”
“I’ll be ready. Good night, Bran. And thanks again. I really appreciate your help.”
Bran casually nodded, but his beautiful blue eyes never strayed as she turned and walked away. She shouldn’t have let his questions get to her. It was a dead giveaway to a guy as smart as Brandon that there was more to the story than she was willing to tell.
Far more.
She thought of the man whose brutality had changed her life. Jordan Duran, Jordy, the man who was currently serving a ten-year prison sentence. She didn’t like to think about him. She refused to let him control any more of her life than he already had. As she had learned to do, she pushed his image from her mind and just thanked God she was still alive.
Yawning, she packed up the computer so she would be ready to travel in the morning and headed to bed. After the drama of the day--being followed from the airport, shot at, meeting Brandon Garrett and his friends, and escaping a possible tail, she should have been exhausted, and she was. Still, she couldn’t seem to fall asleep.
Every time she started to drift away, she saw Bran’s perceptive blue eyes and wondered what he thought of her. Wondered if he found her attractive. It had been months since she had been interested in a man. After Jordy, none of her attempts at a normal relationship had worked out and eventually she had just given up.
But Bran intrigued her. Both his physical beauty and his mind. She also knew that getting involved with Bran on a personal level was a terrible idea. He was exactly the heartbreaker Danny had warned her about. He was also ex-military, an adrenaline junkie who loved to be in the middle of the action. Guys like that never changed. Just as before, her judgment sucked.
About the Author:
New York Times bestselling author Kat Martin is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara where she majored in Anthropology and also studied History. Currently residing in Missoula, Montana with her Western-author husband, L. J. Martin, Kat has written sixty-five Historical and Contemporary Romantic Suspense novels. More than sixteen million copies of her books are in print and she has been published in twenty foreign countries. Kat is currently at work on her next Romantic Suspense.
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Matt Carter will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
Five Things You Might Not Know About Me
1 – In spite of how my final drafts look, I am something of a mess as a writer. Wordiness is one of my biggest problems, and my first drafts seriously suffer for it. Easily, between first and final draft I usually wind up cutting about 30% of what I’ve written, and while I’m still proud of most of the work I have put into any piece of fiction, I’m usually quite embarrassed with how things look at the beginning. Editing is really where my works come together.
2 – Though it’s no surprise that I’m a huge horror geek, with the depth of my knowledge on the subject I could probably teach a fairly in depth college class on the cultural impact of the past 60 years of horror, and how it is one of the best reflections on a changing American culture. I actually wrote my senior thesis on this in high school and managed to get a B+ on it from a fairly skeptical teacher. I probably would’ve gotten an A, but, I forgot to cite most of my sources. Whoops. Nobody’s nerfect?
3 – Despite my love for horror, I am very, very easily scared. The first time I watch any movie with a fair hint of intensity to it, I will very likely be hiding behind my fingers or turning my head away for anticipated jump scares, and I have been known to scream in a theatre once or twice. While my wife and I are huge fans of Halloween events and haunted houses, whenever an actor springs out upon us for a jump scare, I have very little shame about throwing her in front of me as a human shield and screaming my head off. We have an understanding about this, and so far it hasn’t hurt the marriage too much!
4 – I will take part in unusual activities I normally wouldn’t have beforehand just for the sake of being able to write about similar things better in fiction. This has pretty much informed my decision to have gone bungee jumping, growing an apocalypse beard, firing guns (despite being quite the opposite of a gun person) and throwing axes, among other odd experiences. Some of these things I’d do again, some of them I wouldn’t, but I’m glad to know for the sake of being able to write them better.
5 – I pretty much owe Bennytown happening to what I jokingly call “a sign from Jeff Goldblum”. Let me back up a second to explain before I sound completely insane. Bennytown was out for submission to publishers for a very long time, and if I’m going to be honest, after a while I’d started to give up hope, thinking it would be yet another project I loved that wouldn’t go anywhere. As I was about to lose faith in it and consider shelving it, my wife and I attended a celebration to Jurassic Park at Universal Studios Hollywood (a place I’d worked as a teenager, and that informed some of the background of Bennytown). At one point in the night there was a trivia contest that I managed to get picked for, and out of the nearly twenty people on stage, I managed to win thanks to a misspent youth obsessing over a movie about a dinosaur theme park. I was feeling good, but when I saw that the prize I got for winning was a poster for the original movie, signed by Jeff Goldblum (one of my all time favorite actors), I was over the moon. Since I won a prize about one of my favorite movies, signed by one of my favorite actors, at the theme park that partially inspired the book, I took it as a sign, made some changes to the manuscript for Bennytown, and not long after it was picked up by my publisher. This is likely my favorite weird Bennytown story.
For nearly sixty years, Bennytown has been America’s most exciting family theme park destination. Under the watchful eye of cultural icon Benny the Bunny, the park has entertained generations of children with its friendly atmosphere and technologically innovative rides, acting as a beacon of joy and wonder, where magic is real and dreams come true.
Bennytown once saved sixteen-year-old Noel Hallstrom’s life, and to repay it, Noel has applied for a summer job. Though the work is messy and the hours are bad, Noel is happy to be a part of the Bennytown family, until he sees the darkness beneath the surface. Strange, mechanized mascots walk the park perimeter. Elegantly dressed cultists in wooden Benny masks lurk in the darkness. Spirits of the many who’ve died in the park roam freely, and every night the park transforms into a dark dimension where madness reigns and monsters prowl.
Noel is about to find out more about Bennytown than he ever wanted to know, and that its darkness might have designs on him.
Read an Excerpt
Darkness is all I can see in any direction. I see shadowy, moving shapes I know to be buckets around me and maybe an outline of the escalators but nothing in complete detail.
I am abandoned.
No, no, no. I can NOT be abandoned. Somebody has to know I’m here. Somebody will look for me. Any second now. Any second…
I grip the railing and scream, “HEEEEEEEEEEEY! HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!”
My cries are pitiful against the wind and the rain. I doubt anyone can hear me from thirty feet away, let alone from the distance of the station. Despite that, I’m too scared to stop screaming.
Someone has to hear.
I scream again.
This time there’s a scream back.
Not a person. Not an animal.
I don’t know what.
It’s low, mechanical and almost organic. Only something large can make a sound like that.
Briefly, I hope that it’s the motors starting up, ready to pull me to safety.
I’m not that lucky.
And maybe it’s a good thing I’m stuck here. There’s something about that scream I don’t like, something that reaches into the furthest, most primitive recesses of my brain and tells me that whatever made that noise is hungry.
The wind picks up, and the steel cables above me creak and groan in protest.
A bolt of lightning flashes close enough to light up the sky. It’s so bright it burns my eyes, and the thunder sounds like the whole world is exploding around me. With spots and stars in my eyes, I wonder if I’m going blind, as the electricity in my bucket turns on again. The light is dull and yellow, flickering, and the speaker briefly comes to life. The voice whispers right into my ear.
About the Author:
Matt Carter has used his lifelong love for writing, history and the bizarre to bring to life novels like Almost Infamous: A Supervillain Novel, Pinnacle City: A Superhero Noir, and the Prospero Chronicles young adult horror series (all co-authored with Fiona J.R. Titchenell). Bennytown,is his first solo horror novel.
He is represented by Fran Black of Literary Counsel and lives in the usually sunny town of San Gabriel, CA with his wife, their pet king snake Mica, and the myriad of strange fictional characters and worlds that live in his head.
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Kimberley B. Jones 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.
Leah and Sasha are 17-year-old friends who had been close to one another since elementary school, but as the summer approaches they find their friendship tested in ways they never anticipated.
Following graduation, Sasha’s privileged life and perception of the world around her is suddenly altered when an old childhood friend persuades her to join in a campaign against an injustice after his best friend is killed by a cop.
But joining the protest has unforeseen consequences for Sasha, distancing her from Leah, who becomes jealous of Sasha’s new friends and finds herself on the opposing side, protesting alongside her group of new white friends.
As the tension mounts between the two bitterly opposed factions, a tragedy strikes and threatens to make Sasha and Leah enemies. Can they find a way to resolve their differences, putting them to the side and learn to accept each other’s viewpoints? Or is their long friendship finished for good?
Read an Excerpt
As I pulled up into Ricardo’s driveway, Victoria and two other girls who attended Eastview were standing there holding signs that said, “Justice for Mitchell.” I was sweating more than ever. Scared of both the police and the girls I didn’t even know who were going to be getting into my car.
“I didn’t know you were doing signs. I would’ve made me one.”
Ricardo and some guys were busy placing things in the car's trunk.
“Are you okay? The time is now,” said Ricardo.
“I’m ready but a little nervous, too.”
“You shouldn’t be nervous. All we are going to do is go downtown and making a statement that we want justice. Once we are done, we’ll come back home. I won’t let anything happen to you but, if something breaks out, I need you to look for Victoria and get in your car and go home. And if something happens to me, I need you to look for Victoria then go to my house and warn my peeps.”
As the girls got into my car, Victoria told me I could march, and chant the same thing they were planning on saying.
I was missing Leah. This could have been a positive moment that we could’ve shared together. I was still hoping she would come to her senses and realize that our fight from our disagreement was all crazy.
We arrived downtown, and I parked in the garage.
“Why didn’t you park on the streets?” Victoria said.
“My parents always told me to park in the garage so nothing would happen to my car.”
She laughed at me and said, “Well, you are driving a Mercedes. I would do the same if I had an expensive car.”
About the Author:
Kimberley is a professional early childhood educator. She was born in the small town of Saint George, South Carolina, on September 12, 1982. Graduated from Woodland High School in 2000, Benedict College in 2004 with B.S., Child & Family Development, and from Ashford University in 2013 with a Masters in Early Childhood Education.
After receiving her education and being a military spouse, she held several jobs as a preschool teacher and a preschool director, but she wanted to her education to use by writing children’s books. She wrote her first book in college for her children’s literature course. She has self-published several children books on Amazon.
Currently, she is branching off into writing fiction YA, NA, and A novels on issues in society. She loves writing and would not change it for nothing in this world She is now published by Rhetoric Askew. Kimberley is the author of Our Friendship Matters.
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Jeny Heckman will be awarding a $25 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.
Thank you “It’s Raining Books,” for hosting me today and to all of you for taking a few minutes out to share with me!
You are welcome! Why do you write in your genre? What draws you to it?
I love the paranormal and fantasy genre because it’s true escapism, right? Not only are you disappearing into a book for the hours you invest in it but you are also jumping into a new world, not possible in this one. I love the idea of that. And I love the romance genre because it’s inspiring, it’s hopeful and we need all of that, especially right now.
What research is required?
So, with the Heaven & Earth series, there’s really two worlds that are going on. The Greek god/Mt. Olympus/Tartarus world and modern-day. With each new book, there is more overlap between the two worlds and that is on purpose. In terms of research, there’s quite a bit because Greek mythology is followed, in some cases, religiously. You need to get the basics correct. In my world, we have the basics and then we have a few deviations to make my story, my story. There are so many conflicting stories depending on what version of Greek mythology you subscribe to, Homer or Hesiod. My goal is when I did change something up it still had a thread of truth. It was something that could be believed as something a particular god or goddess might do.
Name one thing you learned from your hero/heroine.
I have to tell you what I learned from each because they’re both important.
First, what I learned from Lilly is there’s devastation and then there’s life after devastation. I truly believe if someone loves you, they want you to be happy. If they should pass before you, no matter what their relationship is to you…spouse, parent, child, sibling, they want you moving on. Perhaps not forgetting but finding happiness and joy within your life.
With Colt, I learned that it doesn’t matter what your circumstances or age, it’s never too late to try something different, or to let go of a dream, to search for another dream. So, often you can fixate on a certain course of action for so long that you don’t realize you truly want something completely different. It takes courage to let things go.
Do you have any odd or interesting writing quirks, habits or superstitions?
I’m easily distracted. I’ve never had writer’s block and when I sit down to write, I can go for hours and hours, into days and days. However, you break me out of that trance and it’s hard for me to get back into it. So, when I write I need to shut everything off…email, cell phones, music with words, everything. I work in silence, with instrumentals or a sound machine and alone.
Are you a plotter or pantser?
I began as a pantser but have developed into a plotster. I create the whole plan, outline everything and then use it as a guideline to hit major plot points. Often, I get to the planned major plot points through pantsing. You get a character that decides he/she will be heard that day, no matter what and they go in the direction they go in, until we make our way to the point. Wonderful developments and sub-plots happen that way.
Look to your right – what’s sitting there?
My mouse, a candle, a bouquet of flowers from my daughter and my printer
Anything new coming up from you? What?
This has been a very busy year! February 14th, I came out with book one. It’s part of an anthology to benefit the Australia Wildfire victims and written from the perspective of a family at the Route 91 country music festival massacre. It’s my family’s story. The Warrior’s Progeny is book two of the Heaven & Earth series, at the end of the year Dee’s Cornucopia should be coming out. It’s a side novella of a fan favorite. Finally, I’m re-working the Catch, this first book I ever wrote, when I didn’t really know what I was doing. I love the story it just needs a little fine tuning. I’m hoping that will also come out this year or perhaps early next year.
Do you have a question for our readers?
I’m curious to know what your readers think of the paranormal/fantasy genre, in terms of topics. Do they like the vampires, werewolves and witches or do they like it when things are different and off the mainstream idea of paranormal like Greek gods, Leprechaun’s and ghosts?
Also, when you have a favorite author, how many books would you like to see them put out a year?
I’d like to thank you for taking time out and spending some of it with me today. I hope your lives are blessed and healthy. Cheers -Jeny
Colton Stone is a newly traded tight end whose reputation is as battered as his football helmet. When he receives a vacation invitation from his new teammates, he accepts. There he collides with Dr. Lillian Morgan, a pediatric cardiovascular surgeon, and doesn't know what to think.
A widow with two children, Lilly travels to Kauai to attend the wedding of a friend and witness the union she lost three years prior. When she meets Colt, she struggles between letting go of her perfect past for an uncertain future.
Strange events begin to occur, out of the realm of normal consciousness. Black energy touches their world and the couple become pawns of the immortal Greek gods. Is the love between them real, or part of a larger prophecy?
Read an Excerpt
“You couldn’t have known,” Colt said.
“I’m a doctor,” she retorted. “I’m trained to know.”
“Oh, bullshit.” She drew her brows together and looked at him with irritation. Undaunted, he continued. “You were his wife, not his doctor.” Glancing back at the picture, he drank from his glass. “He was a young guy...looked fit...father of two.” Colt turned to look at her again. “Young, fit, fathers of two don’t get stage four pancreatic cancer and die in ten months. He wasn’t your patient, Lillian, and you weren’t looking at him like a patient. He was your husband, and he died.”
“Colt.” She took a breath, placed a hand on his, and backed up a little. “Look, I know you want something, but we’re broken here, and I can’t give you what you...”
“Bullshit.”
“It’s not bullshit. It’s how I feel. I’ve got kids to think about and responsibilities. You want easy and I’m not that.”
“You don’t even know me, Lilly.”
“I know. That’s what I’ve been trying to say.”
“No, that’s what you’re trying to use as an excuse. Those kids aren’t damaged because of their dad, you are. Those kids have a mom who loves them and makes damn sure they aren’t damaged. You’re afraid to try, so you hide behind your dead husband.”
“How dare you be so callous?”
“How dare you use your husband to get out of trying again? You’re a beautiful, intelligent woman and your life isn’t over.”
About the Author:
Award-winning author, Jeny Heckman, was born in Bellingham, Washington, and was the youngest of two daughters. She met her husband, Jeff, in August 1992, and eloped three months later, at Magen’s Bay, on St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.
She wrote her first book, the Catch, in a few short months but took several years before she gained the courage to self-publish it at her son’s urging, and her love for writing began.
In 2018, Jeny knew her next project would be a series that showed adults could have adventures in the paranormal-fantasy genre too. So, she created the Heaven & Earth series, a story of doomed Greek gods and their only salvation, their modern-day descendants. Her first book of the series, the Sea Archer, was immediately picked up by the New York publishing house, the Wild Rose Press, and won, “Best in Category” from the 2018 Chanticleer International Book Awards.
In the year 2020, Jeny released, Dancing Through Tears, a short story from the anthology, Australia Burns: Volume Two, highlighting the Route 91 massacre from the perspective of one family at the concert, and at Mandalay Bay. She also intends to release, the Warrior’s Progeny, and Dee’s Cornucopia, in 2020, continuing the Heaven & Earth Series.
Jeny lives in Washington State with her husband of over twenty-eight years.
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Leslie Scott will be awarding a $20 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.
Breanna Casey has only ever wanted two things in life: to race and to get the hell out of Arkadia, Texas. Stifled beneath her family's turbo-charged reputation, she's got her thumb firmly on the self-destruct button. A night of hyper-driven racing and rebellion leads to a one night stand with the one guy who knows how to press all her buttons: Noah McKay.
Torn apart by the toll of his high-intensity enlistment in the Marines and guilt-ridden by what he's seen, Noah McKay left the military to find peace. A chance encounter sends him working for the parents of a raven-haired Amazon goddess with a tongue that cuts sharper than any knife. Quiet is the last thing he'll get.
Finally, she gets her chance. Calloway Racing wants her to drive for them. But that's not all they want. A good friend of her father's, Calloway insists she take Noah along for the ride. Suddenly, her dreams are feeling more like a nightmare. Will they be able to help each other, maybe even find love, when living life full tilt boogie?
Read an Excerpt
The tent was suddenly far too small and suffocating. Abruptly the song changed again. Silently I thanked the DJ for offering me a reprieve. To keep from smothering in Vic’s good intentions, I pulled away and sought refuge with what was left of my cake.
Let’s face it, going back to the table was an epic mistake.
With Vic and Cara on the dance floor and Isaac MIA, that left a surly Noah McKay as the only
occupant. And I’d walked straight to him, ready for a fight.
“What’s your deal?” I shot as I tucked my purple skirt beneath my ass and sat down—hard.
He opened his mouth and his tongue slipped out and across his bottom lip, then he took seduction a step further and pulled the shiny, succulent flesh between his teeth.
“Sweet baby Jesus.” I pushed the cake away and let my forehead drop to the table. I couldn’t live like this. I was vastly inexperienced in such things—no matter
how much swagger I put on.
He laughed. “My deal? I don’t know whether to throttle you or kiss you.”
About the Author:
Award nominated author of Two Hearts, One Stone and the Arkadia Fast Series, Leslie Scott has been writing stories for as long as she can remember. The happier the ending, the better. Currently, she lives and writes amidst her own happily ever after with her soul mate, son, and domestic zoo.
I am the author of nine books to date—four thrillers and five romances. My ninth book is Carnal Knowledge, fresh from me to you on July 11th. I’m a best seller, an award winner, mother of two, and a wife. I live in Houston, Texas and by God, it’s hot here this summer! So, here are a few things about me that you might not have known.
1. I lived at home until I was twenty-seven years old before moving in with my then fiancé (now husband of 16 years)
Yes, it’s true. I come from a hard-core southern Baptist home and was raised pretty strictly. My mother used get us up extra early and we would read the Bible daily before going to school. This happened through my high school years. As a result of this upbringing and living a pretty sheltered existence for the first half of my life, I did stay at home for an extra long time in order to keep my mother happy. Now, that’s not saying that I didn’t want to move out, because I did. But now that I can look back, knowing what I know, I might have done things a tad differently.
2. I am absolutely scared to death of flying roaches. Down here in Texas, they are knows as wood roaches, the huge ones that fly around outside at night. Spiders, meh. Snakes? Who cares? Roaches, OMG, I can’t deal. Not even a little bit. I can’t even step on them they are just so huge! And being here on the Texas Gulf Coast, the damn things are everywhere. They like the heat and moisture here (since they are also known as water roaches or tree roaches). I hate them!
3. I had three miscarriages and the doctors were unable to figure out why during the first nine years I was married.
I had PCOS- polycystic ovarian syndrome. However, when I turned thirty-five or so, it seems to have resolved itself. I spent nine years struggling to get pregnant naturally and on fertility medication, and when I did, I had a miscarriage all three times. I was tested from here to Jericho for everything under the sun and nothing was found until after my third loss. So not only did I struggle to get pregnant, when I finally did, I just lost it somewhere in the first trimester. That was when my doctor at the time tested me and I was found to have MTHFR. An unpronounceable genetic condition that prevents my body from taking on folate. So, long story short, she found out that the babies died due to lack of folic acid. I was unable to support a pregnancy until she told me to take specific vitamins and them wham-bam… now I have two healthy children. Now, even to this day, eight years later I tell people I have it and doctors don’t even know what it is. I thank God every day for my doctor!
4. I have a crazy sleep disorder known as Parasomnia—specifically sleep paralysis. Commonly called waking nightmares. Honestly this is just as awful as it sounds. It plagued me in my teens when I had no clue what it was, or that it was an honest to God sleep disorder. I had dreams of paralysis and they came so often that I learned to wake myself up. The paralysis comes with nightmares—because of course they can’t be happy dreams. Oh no, lets wake her body up and scare the living daylights out of her with dream like hallucinations!
So basically, what happens is your brain goes into REM sleep, but when you have this disorder, your body wakes up. You will find yourself awake but in a dreamlike state and feel the natural paralysis that overtakes someone when they are in REM sleep. You will have hallucination type dreams—because your mind is sleeping and dreaming—and it is scary as hell. It doesn’t bother me much anymore unless I’m very sleep deprived, or I’ve taken sleeping pills. It honestly sounds like the premise for a kick-ass thriller, but I just can’t do it, it scares me, LOL.
5. I was a dispatcher for one of the SWAT teams that responded to the Sante Fe school shooting here in Texas. I am a twelve year 911/police dispatch veteran and it was the last big call I took before I left. I have had my 911 calls played on TV and in Investigation Discovery movies too. I did not work for the Sante Fe police department; therefore I didn’t take any of those calls. I did, however, hear of the aftermath from officers who were on the scene and I cried all the way home that day. It was this call that pushed me to make the final decision to leave law enforcement.
And there you have it! Five things about me that I bet you didn’t know. Have any questions? Please hit me up on my website at http://www.RachaelTamayoWrites.com with the contact form. I’d love to hear from you.
Synopsis:
What do you do when you know you’re on a serial killer’s hit list?
Six women are dead, and Wren Addison is the next victim on the SMS Killer’s list—or so she’s been told after waking in a pool of blood with no memory of the events that have transpired.
Newly separated and struggling to start her life over after her husband’s infidelity, Wren tries to remember what happened to her, but nothing is adding up as more horrors unfold around her. With her life on a timer and the murderer taunting her, she realizes there is nothing typical about this serial killer.
Wren is pushed to the edge as she dances between knowing she's likely to die and fighting to be the first to survive. As the truth starts to emerge, she rises to the challenge and decides not to go down without a fight.
Someone is going to die, and she’s determined it won’t be her.
Book Details:
Genre: Psychological Thriller Published by: Tangled Tree Publishing Publication Date: July 11th 2020 Number of Pages: 301 ISBN: 9781922359124 Series: A Deadly Sins Novel, #2 || Stands Alone Purchase Links:Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
Read an excerpt:
You really don’t know how you feel about some things until they happen to you. You can guess. You can pretend you’d be strong, that you’d stand on the rooftops and shout your indignation as you shake your fist to the skies, but those are only guesses. Hopes. What we think we know about ourselves. They say no one ever really knows anyone. I think it’d be a safe bet to say that we don’t really know ourselves either. You think you do. The “Oh, I’d never do that! Look at how she’s acting. If I were in her shoes….” but you don’t. No one does.
I said the same things to myself when I walked out on my husband, Ricky, months ago. Those thoughts went through my head as I closed the door behind me for what I told myself was the last time. I wouldn’t let myself cry as I said goodbye to him, only feeling the first tears fall when I heard the click behind me, the locking of the door to what used to be our home together. When he didn’t chase me and beg me to stay.
I wept in that moment, wondering how much pain a person could take.
Over the days that followed, it faded into something more akin to numbness as I found an apartment and got a new checking account. As I arranged to find movers to get my things while he was at work, all while thanking God that we had no children.
Now I find myself in that place once more, though for an altogether different reason. Something has happened to me, something that leaves my body sore and my head feeling as if I have a hangover. These are the moments that tell you who you really are, leaving you exposed to your own darkness.
I found that out about myself. No one ever imagines themselves in this position. You’re not prepared. No amount of self-defense can prepare you for the shock that is the next morning, waking up in a bloody mess, knowing you’ve been sexually assaulted.
I can’t even say it out loud. I won’t. I refuse to do it. It makes it real, and I don’t want it to be real. I want it to be some horrible nightmare that I can wake up from.
But it’s not.
It’s the middle of the night. I’m sitting on the floor of my shower, the water finally not running pink anymore. My face feels puffy from crying as I carefully wash the wounds, the soap burning. I wince and then stand up before the water turns cold. Sitting here won’t accomplish anything.
I look down at the mark on my left breast, swollen and purple. The definite outline of teeth, broken skin, tender to touch. It’s not the only place I’m hurting, but it’s the only one I can easily see. The only one I can’t really hide from. It’s a slap in the face, a calling card from someone I can’t remember. A face that won’t ever haunt my dreams.
So, what do I do now? It’s about 4:00 a.m. Do I call someone? The police? My friend Lily? My husband? Maybe Alex? Surely she would believe me.
I blink away tears, dipping my head back into the hot spray to wash the blood out of my hair.
No, I won’t tell anyone. It’s too embarrassing. Too humiliating. This big foreboding thing happened to me. What they warned us all about. My drink was tampered with, and someone hurt me. I broke the rules, and I got this for it.
I should have listened, I suppose.
I feel sick knowing what someone did to me while I was asleep. Or was I? Maybe I did fight and just can’t remember. I’d fight, surely. I wouldn’t just lie there and take it, right? The thought gives me some minimal sliver of peace, like passing through the eye of the hurricane—you know it’s not real, not the end, but you relish it just the same.
By the time I get out of the shower, I realize I haven’t really slept. My alarm will go off at seven for work so I can catch the bus and be on time for the morning meeting. I could get three hours of sleep before that, maybe.
I shut off the water, suddenly a bit afraid. Knowing someone was here gives me the creeps. Makes me wish I’d gotten that gun Ricky tried so hard to get me to agree to, the one I refused. I wouldn’t give in, fearing some horrible accident. He kept his locked up, and I never bothered to learn to shoot. He begged to teach me, tried to get me to hold his Glock to “get the feel of it.” Nope. Now I regret it.
In the months I’ve lived here, I haven’t been afraid to be on my own until now. Someone got to me. I’m without defense in my own home.
***
Excerpt from Carnal Knowledge by Rachael Tamayo. Copyright 2020 by Rachael Tamayo. Reproduced with permission from Tangled Tree Publishing. All rights reserved.
Author Bio:
International Amazon bestselling author Rachael Tamayo is a former 911 emergency operator and police dispatcher. After twelve years in those dark depths, she’s gained a unique insight into mental illness, human behaviour, and the general darkness of humanity that she likes to weave into her books. A formerly exclusive romance author tried her hand at thrillers in her award-winning novel, “Crazy Love,” and loved it so much that she decided not to turn back. Born and raised in Texas, Rachael lives in the Houston area with her husband of almost fifteen years, and their two young children.
This is a rafflecopter giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Rachael Tamayo. There will be 1 winner of one (1) Amazon.com Gift Card. The giveaway begins on July 11, 2020 and runs through August 16, 2020. Void where prohibited.
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win either a $100 Amazon/BN gift card or a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
A Special Note from the Author
Hello Readers! Welcome to my 15-week book tour which starts on April 14th and concludes on July 30th.
This tour was planned before the onset of this terrible covid-19 virus which has invaded our world. I want to extend my deepest sympathy to everyone, especially those who have lost loved ones.
A donation from me will be going out immediately to the charity I have listed below and I will also be donating 25% of any royalties from the book which is featured on this tour, to the covid-19 Response Fund. This fund gives support to preparedness, containment, response and recovery activities. The 25% of royalties will be donated when I receive the final notification of number of books sold. I am also encouraging all authors to make some sort of donation to help with the recovery efforts. WE ARE ALL IN THIS FIGHT TOGETHER!
We all are wondering what the long-term impact this covid-19 virus will be to our communities and our livelihoods, Every American, as well as the companies that have worked very hard for every author have been affected, but I have faith that we will recover from this terrible pandemic if we all stick together and we all do our part – no matter how small.
I will also be donating, (over and above what Goddess/Fish is offering):
$100 Amazon Gift certificate to one randomly drawn commentator $100 Amazon gift certificate to one randomly drawn host.
These drawings will be done via Rafflecopter that will be created by Goddess/Fish Promotions at the end of the tour. To all of my fellow-authors – please don’t forget our marketing representatives, book agents, reviewers, commentators, hosts, etc..who are probably working from home and trying to help us.
I will be posting all pertinent information on my web site www.gapainter.com
once the tour is over. The Gift Certificates will be mailed immediately after the tour is completed and the 25% will be posted once I receive Royalties resulting in the sale of all electronic and print versions of WIRED By The FBI.
I wish that I could do more, however, with every-one’s support, WE WILL BEAT THIS TERRIBLE SETBACK.
Thank you, God bless all of you and the United States of America.
Glenn Painter
*****
A day in the life of Glenn
My day starts out at 5:15 am in the morning. I roll out of bed with my dog, a 10-pound mix Japanese Mi-ti/Shih-Tzu called Teddy who is my buddy. He goes out to ‘pee’ and then I feed him. First, I quietly close my 89-year-old Mother's door so as not to disturb her (yes, we share a lovely home in Florida and while she is alive, it will be that way). She is my strength and I will be by her side while she needs me.
I then get into the shower to get ready for work (yes, I work another full-time job to pay the bills while waiting for my book to take off) in fact. I am probably the ‘only’ full time Cadillac Consultant and author you will find in the US. I usually give a copy of my book (when they buy a new Cadillac) if they want it and they usually do.
My hours vary, sometimes I open at 8 am, sometimes I close at 8 pm. I am always on my phone or laptop with prospective customers and writing my books (yes, my plate is very full). I love people and I love my job. My boss is very understanding with regards to my book, if I need time off there is no problem, just lost sales (ha) as I am one of their top producers. I always attend the ‘Book Expo of America’ in NY City every year to promote.
Back to my daily schedule. I drive 15 miles each way to work and I usually come home and work on my book for a while.
I walk my Teddy when I get home so that he gets a little exercise. He is always looking out the window for me when I drive in.
Mom is usually in bed watching TV by 8 pm so I usually fix a bite to eat before going to bed around 10:30 pm.
Not a very exciting life, except Mom and I go out to eat occasionally and I try to take her to play Bingo now and then. We entertained about 22 people just before Christmas and that was a great evening. My older brother lives in Atlanta and we go visit him whenever we can; in fact he went to NY Book Expo one year.
Christian Romano lives his life as a con-artist, burglar, drug dealer, and a ladies' man, using his good looks to con wealthy women out of jewels and money. When he is arrested and jailed in one of the most violent jails in the U.S. (Cook County in Chicago), a steamy affair begins with a nympho female jail guard. When he loses control of the romance, Christian must end the affair by reporting her to Internal Affairs. It turns out that she is already under suspicion for supplying drugs to various gang members inside the jail. He has to decide if he is "rogue" enough to help set her up for arrest. Meanwhile, the FBI wants to recruit Christian to gather information against a sadist ex-cop, Scott Mason, who has been arrested for murder. The risk? Christian must wear a wire and testify. The reward? Witness protection for Christian and his girlfriend and a modification of his prison sentence. Will Christian risk his life for a chance at freedom? Will the female sheriff "get even" with him? Or will his life end at the hands of the jail's drug lords or a lunatic former cop?
Read an Excerpt
Once we were through that charade, Smith began to explain how it all worked.
“This is a Swiss-made Nagra recorder. It’s a little heavy, but it gets the clearest recording of any machine we have ever used. Once you turn the machine on, you must let it run until the two hours expire, then take the tape out and exchange it with another. We will come by every couple day to bring new tapes and pick up the ones you have recorded. Do you understand everything so far?”
I could feel my mouth go dry as I stared into the case and wondered, What the f*** have I gotten myself into?
Then, the sound of Smith’s voice snapped me back to attention, “Here, get a feel for it.”
I took the silver-cased recorder from him and thought to myself, It’s too heavy and clunky to ever be concealed. The recorder was the size as a Sony Walkman cassette player, but three times heavier. Two wires, four feet each, ran from the machine with white plastic heads attached to each end. I had a bad feeling about the size and shape of this thing. It would be a real concern later.
Then Rogers said, “Because the heads on this machine are so sensitive, we will tape the recorder to your upper thigh and run the wires around your leg until the heads sit directly under the waistband of your underwear.”
Out of frustration, I said, “Great, if I have to piss and someone saddles up next to me and happens to look over at my manhood, they’re gonna get an eyeful of recorder wiring. Chances are I will be beaten to death after that miscue.”
My mind kept going back to the obvious lack of insight these square, fed boys had toward the real life within a jail.
“I’m about to go back to a jail with zero airflow and 100-degree heat. We walk around in our boxers all day.”
It was crystal clear that neither of these agents gave a rat’s ass about my safety.
Smith said, “We’ll just have to tape it higher up your thigh.”
“No, how about we strap it up your ass and let you go up there face-to-face with your boy.”
That was all they wanted to hear of my sarcasm and all hell broke loose as we tried to figure out how this was ever gonna work. The real logistical nightmare hit when I finally dropped my jail uniform pants and pulled up my boxers to see how it would fit on my inner thigh. After several years of martial arts and weightlifting, my thighs were far too big to fit the recorder under my boxers. Two agents played with the leg of my underwear, as they slid the fabric up and down with no success in figuring out how to get the damn machine up under my nut sack. Finally, I had had enough.
I asked, “Does anyone here have a knife with them?” They all stared at me in stunned silence.
Rogers finally spoke up. “I have a pocketknife,” he said as he handed it to me.
I jerked my boxers off and stood there with my dick dangling in the wind for all to admire. I measured the boxers to see where this heavy sack of metal was going to be placed. I began cutting a crude square hole in the upper right leg of my underwear. I was pretty certain the recorder would fit snugly in the hole. I slid my boxers back on and held the recorder where I had just cut the hole. The fit was very good, but now there was a different problem.
The recorder showed, so I had to come up with another way to cover the hole. I decided that if I was gonna pull this off, I would have to wear a second pair of boxers over the first pair. The outer ones had to hang lower on my torso and loosely enough to cover the recorder where it stuck out of my underwear. The hope was that the inner pair would hold the recorder in place well enough so it wouldn’t slip around. If this worked, I might be able to get away with it.
In my mind, I was thinking, what a cluster f*** this operation is. This would soon prove to be the way the F.B.I. does everything. So long as they are getting what they want, all else be damned. But at the moment, I had to wear this heavy chunk of metal under my nuts and hope that it stayed put and didn’t fall from my boxers like the anchor of the U.S.S. Just Kill Me Now.
Rogers wrapped the recorder with the ACE bandage he had brought and stepped back long enough for me to give it a light tug. I tugged on it ever so gently and knew immediately that it was too heavy.
“This thing is not gonna stay on my leg while I spend several hours walking up and down the tier. Are you trying to get me killed?” I asked. “Did either of you think to bring duct tape?”
Barry Smith had the audacity to respond by saying, “I didn’t want to bring any because I did not want to take the chance of it being considered contraband here at the jail.”
“You thought to bring my suicide machine, but you thought duct tape would set off alarms?” I shot back.
By now, Williamson had heard enough and walked back to his office. He reappeared a few moments later with some heavy, clear packing tape. We used that over the ACE bandage that the feds had brought to hold the recorder up. I gave the new configuration another slightly harder tug and everything seemed better. We then moved on to the next logistical nightmare, the swapping out of the tapes. It was actually Walsh that brought it up.
“How can the tapes be retrieved from Christian without stirring up attention?”
I had seen a movie once where a thick book was carved out and contraband was kept in the hollowed-out hole inside.
“Hey, I have one of those super thick books by Michener. I think it is about ancient Israel. I could take a razor blade out when it is time to shave and cut a hole in the center pages of the book to make a cavity large enough for the tapes. What do you guys think?” I asked.
Everyone was nodding their heads in agreement.
“I can put the book in my bars on the rear side toward the catwalk where no one will notice anything different. I have about four or five books back there now. What I can do is reverse this book so that the title faces out. When Sergeant Walsh walks around the tier, that will be his cue to grab that particular book, take the tape out and replace it with a new one.” I suggested.
They all agreed with the plan, so with the tape swap seemingly figured out, I was feeling a little better. I stood up to see how the recorder looked under my pants; and to my surprise, I could not see it through the clothing. I felt ready to go back to the jail and put the second pair of shorts over the first.
Barry Smith handed me a piece of paper and said, “This is a private phone number to our office that we call the ‘Hello’ line.
“When it rings through, it will be at a central desk where all the agents can pick it up. They will only answer by saying ‘Hello.’ When the jail recording announces that it is a collect call, everyone knows to accept the charges. You will then be speaking to one of the agents in our office. If it is after hours, the answering machine will come on, so speak to it as if you were leaving a message for me or Agent Rogers.”
It both surprised and impressed me that he was willing to give me a direct line in case of an emergency. For the first time, I felt a little less like a disposable piece of trash to these people. I took a pen from Buchan and rewrote the number in code so that if it were ever found, no one could access the actual number. When I was done, I stuffed the paper in my sock for safekeeping.
I looked at the two F.B.I. agents and asked, “Am I supposed to steer the conversation toward any certain topics?”
Smith spoke for them. “Since the conversation seems to come out of Mason’s mouth so frequently, just let him go, and see what happens.”
Barry Smith then handed me a second tape to have as a backup for the one that was already in the machine. After stuffing it into my other sock, I walked out with the heavy recorder strapped under my balls.
When I arrived back to my tier, Scott was talking on the phone. I walked past him and headed to my cell to get out of the jail clothes. I stripped down to my boxers to beat the crazy heat that hung over the unit like napalm. I stuck my head out of my cell to make sure the hallway was clear and slipped the second pair of boxers over the first. After pulling the outer pair down a few inches, they seemed to cover the protruding recorder just enough. I looked down and couldn’t tell where the recorder was. Just to be on the safe side, I put on an oversized shirt and let it billow out as I walked; this looked natural for the surroundings. It wasn’t five minutes and Scott was at the bars of my cell.
“You go to the hospital?” he asked.
“Yeah, I had to wait for the MRI machine to empty before I could go in. The radiologist was taking a smoke break between every MRI.”
I walked out of my cell and turned left, away from the guard post and began the ritual of walking from one end of the long hallway to the other.
When I walked away from my cell, I could feel Scott place his hand on my back. I tried not to freeze out of panic, but he had never touched me like that before. I had to wonder, Is he cleverly checking for a recording device? I tried to push the paranoia out of my mind, but it was tough with the stakes this high.
About the Author
Glenn Painter is single and lives in Central Florida. He became interested in writing at an early age but did not make it his career until 2014 when he published his first book, Beyond the Sentence.
Glenn has written this story from the notes by the man who actually lived it. However, extensive research was also require in order to make the story factual.
Glenn has also founded a company, ‘Prisoner Civil Right Services.’ He is an advocate for incarcerated individuals who have had their rights violated. He is in constant contact with these individuals, their families and the council. Most of his stories are inspired by ‘factual events’ that have happened to these individuals. This makes his stories both fiction and non-fiction.
Glenn says that writing is very challenging, and you must love the trials and tribulations that come with it. He believes that patience, perseverance and determination are required essentials to see a book through to being published. The journey is just as important as the destination.
This post is part of a cover reveal organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Sydney Jamesson will award a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn host via Rafflecopter. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
On her death bed Emily Derbyshire’s mother made her promise to take good care of her little sister. Keeping her promise, twelve year old Emily did exactly that and became five year old Rita’s benefactor and bodyguard.
After eighteen years of sisterly devotion Emily receives some shocking news! Rita has committed suicide. When disturbing details start to surface, Emily puts her highflying career on hold to seek out those responsible. She hires an American private investigator Robert Blackmoor; a motorbike riding, no-frills, computer hacker who will use any means necessary to unearth the truth.
Not surprisingly, Robert uncovers secrets from Emily’s troubled childhood and chips away at the glossy veneer of deceit which masks the truth behind, not only Rita’s life, but Emily’s imperfect life too.
Together they assemble the pieces of a sinister puzzle, revealing a cruel and corrupt world of exploitation and murder: a Dark Web into which Rita has become entangled.
As dark forces encircling Emily tighten their grip, and with everything to lose, she must make a life and death decision that she may live to regret.
Emily Parsons is a product of a difficult childhood: self-reliant, fiercely protective and willing to do whatever it takes to safeguard the wellbeing of those in her care. She has even slayed a monster, or two … or three in the name of poetic justice, and yet she is haunted by the image of a beautiful blond girl.
Sixteen-year-old Louise Travis has been abducted.
Louise’ fate rested in Emily’s hands, but she let her slip through her fingers like gold dust, only to be swept away by a malevolent band of brothers.
By once again enlisting the help of computer hacker, Robert Blackmoor, Emily must find Louise before she is lost forever in a Dark Web of heinous crimes, cruelty and corruption. The clock is ticking, and Emily’s investigation is drawing the wrong kind of attention, but she will not back down. She is duty bound to protect those she loves.
With skeletons from her past being unearthed, who can she turn to, and who can she trust with her own sinister secrets?
About the Author:
Sydney Jamesson is a USA Today bestselling author by night and an English teacher by day. She is nocturnal by nature and loves nothing more than staying up late, listening to music and being inspired to write. She has always written creatively; in her home is one enormous wastepaper basket full of discarded phrases, opening lines and pieces of dialogue that have hit her like lightning in the middle of the night. Her USA Today bestselling trilogy, THE STORY OF US sold worldwide, and she has been thrilled to continue Ayden Stone's and Beth Parker's epic love story in The Story of Us Series: Into the Blue, featuring Blue Genes, Blue Hearts and Blue Moon.
More recently, Sydney has focused on psychological suspense. THE DARKEST CORNERS was her first venture into the new genre: a complex love story filled with lots of angst, emotional scenes and edge of your seat suspense as a single father and a troubled young woman confront their deepest, darkest fears together. The twists come think and fast and the ending is unforgettable!
In her latest novels, DUTY OF CARE and THE CARETAKERS - THE DUTY BOUND DUET -readers explore the seedier side of the Dark Web; witness abduction, human trafficking, and a devoted sister’s willingness to do whatever it takes to safeguard the wellbeing of those in her care. It’s a real page turner, filled with incidents which are heart-breaking and heart-stopping in equal measure!
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. A. Gavazzoni will be awarding $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.
Thanks for stopping by It's Raining Books. Why do you write in your genre? What draws you to it?
My novels usually don’t have a clear genre; they are a mix of genres and contain drama, mystery, suspense, a touch of erotica, and a bit of romance. When I write, I need to add what’s necessary to tell a good story, and I don’t worry about the genre or its components. I just let my heart do the talking.
What research is required?
I write novels that require a good amount of research. Every scene is calculated to have a true-to-life background; I usually do extensive research on the places I’m going to use and the people who inhabited those areas during the timeframe I’m writing about. I try to make certain every character behaves, dresses, and thinks in accordance with the novel’s timeframe and setting.
I also do a lot of research on my characters’ professions. I want them to be as real as possible, and I want my reader to trust my words.
I think when you write fantasy, paranormal, or sci-fi, you can leave more to your imagination. Although, there are many real topics and ideas an author can research in order to make these kinds of books seem more realistic.
Name one thing you learned from your hero/heroine.
Never quit, and adapt to what life presents for you.
Do you have any odd or interesting writing quirks, habits or superstitions?
I send messages to myself. I have two telephones, one for work and one for my private life, and when I have a good idea, I send messages from one phone to the other so I won’t forget.
Are you a plotter or pantser?
I’m a mix. I like to give my characters free rein, but I love to build a good plot, so I try to do both.
Look to your right – what’s sitting there?
My dog. She is always near me while I write.
Anything new coming up from you? What?
I’m writing the sequel to Sketches of Life, and I’m writing another novel inspired by life in Brazil.
Do you have a question for our readers?
Do you expect your favorite author to stick with writing the same genre?
In the middle of WWII, France has surrendered to Germany, and young Lily, half French and half American, has her life turned upside down. A careless girl full of dreams, Lily must leave France and go to her father’s homeland, taking her mother with her. Lily’s mother becomes completely dependent upon her teenage daughter, and Lily is forced to grow up quickly. Trying her best to support them both, balancing work and dreams of continuing her studies, Lily meets her first love and discovers passion and betrayal on her way. Ninon is a survivor. Alone in the world, she works as an exotic dancer in a French cabaret called Le Passioné, where she moves her hips to put food on her plate until a new and dangerous opportunity is presented to her. Although Ninon has lost faith in love and God, life will show her surprises can be found around every corner. France, the United States, Spain, Austria, and Argentina present the backdrops for an epic tale of people trying to adapt to a world in turmoil—one that’s filled with secrets and surprises.
Read an Excerpt
Having nobody else in the world and nothing to lose is terrifying, but it’s also liberating. No matter what I had to do, I would have the courage. I couldn´t disappoint anybody, nobody would cry over my actions, and I had nobody to please.
Things are as big as your proximity to them, and if you keep your distance, nothing can scare you or threaten you. Everything is just a matter of perspective, and the secret to surviving was to keep my heart safe and never expect anything from anyone. In the end, all feelings, good or bad, are only as powerful as you allow them to be.
I learned to live day by day, planning but not living for my plans, trying to solve just the problems I had in front of me and not worrying about things that hadn´t introduced themselves yet. As life had shown me, and Malena once told me, we had no control over the future, and it was as unpredictable as the ocean—it could drown a person if they thought they could tame it.
About the Author:
A. Gavazzoni is a Brazilian writer, a former professor of law and has been a practicing lawyer for 28 years. Her first series of self-published novels, Hidden Motives: Behind the Door, Lara´s Journal and The Brilliant Game, won several writing contests, gathered five gold medals, one bronze medal, five honorable mentions and was finalist of many great contests (B.R.A.G medallion (Gold Medal); Book Excellence Awards (Two Gold medals); e-lite awards (Gold medal), Golden Book Award (Gold Medal); IPPY AWARDS (Bronze Medal), Readers Favorite (three honorable mentions); Paris Book Festival (Three honorable mentions); Eric Hoffer Book Award (Finalist); American Fiction Awards (Finalist); Indie Excellence Awards (Finalist); Independent Author Network (Finalist); Indie Excellence (Finalist); The IAN book of the year awards (Finalist); The Kindle-book award (semi-finalist).
Adriana speaks Portuguese (her native language), English, French and Spanish and she loves to travel. Adriana loves to cook for her friends, to dance the tango, to work out, she is a voracious reader and a proud dog's mom of two girls, Juno and Charlotte.
