The Forty Watt Flowers by CM Subasic - Virtual Tour and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author 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.

The author has opted to share five things about her we might not guess ... she's a brave, brave person!

I have something to confess and you have to promise to keep it quiet.

(leans in close and whispers in your ear) I’m Canadian.

So, how did I end up writing a story about a band in the Deep South?

Love, of course! My man of the time went to Athens, GA to do research at UGA and I followed.

There I was, a Capital “C” Canadian playwright. I’d just finished serving as Chair of the Women’s Caucus for the Playwrights Union of Canada. I was working on a play about Marshall McLuhan (and it wasn’t going well).

At the time in Canada, writers wrote about “Canadian issues” whatever those are. We were convinced that we had to “protect our culture”! But in Athens, GA the concept of a Canadian playwright was… well… quaint. In other words, not very marketable.

I had served on the judging panel for the 3-day novel competition, and enjoyed it. So, when I learned about Hill Street Press (HSP), a publishing house that had recently opened in Athens, publishing stories about the New South, I approached the editor and offered my services as a reader of their slushpile.

What an adventure that was! I was given piles of manuscripts and would do the first read, write a brief synopsis and review. That is when I became an addict of reading diamonds in the rough.

Reading an unpolished masterpiece is a true privilege. I always feel like an audience of one, a midwife of sorts, responsible for this child of the imagination. I enjoyed the puzzle of how to make the story work. For one manuscript I recommended for publication, Kirby Gann’s Barbarian Parade I was also involved in the substantive editing. I recall sitting on the train from New Orleans puzzling over the first chapter, suggesting cuts and selecting the opening line, "The day the freight train hit my father . . ." (This book is great read for a soccer enthusiast, with writing that is sensual, characters that are vivid and surprising, and a story that feels so real.)

One of HSP’s publications was a reprint of Fatal Flowers: On Sin, Sex, and Suicide in the Deep South, by Rosemarie Daniell, which won the 1999 Palimpsest Prize. This book is a roadmap for Southern women, exploding stereotypes and exploring sensuality, it is about the power of women, their strengths and challenges. It was an important message for me to hear.

At the time I wasn’t a comfortable feminist. I’d always thought of myself as a human first, not a woman first. And yet, I couldn’t help but notice how the media would talk about a woman’s looks or style first, her ideas second. How a man with a goal wasn’t seen as messy person if he didn’t do the dishes.

Meanwhile, being in the South, all around us were those flowers. It is a place where people talk about the flowers the way we in the North talk about the weather. The pansies are a bit of “winter color.” Southern spring progresses through her cycle of cherry blossoms, tulip petal trees, lilacs, azaleas, wisteria, dogwoods and on until the summering air of June brings Kudzu and Magnolia blossoms as big as your head. It’s a heady mix.

So, when I came up with the idea of writing the story of a band in the funky, eclectic music town of Athens, GA, I knew I couldn’t write about just any band. I had to write about an all-girl band. The band also had to have the word “flowers” in their name. The book had to explore how being a woman with a creative goal is a challenging experience. How the world sets the hoops higher for women and sometimes we set them high for ourselves, too.

Do I feel guilty for not writing about an all-girl hockey team? (winks) What do you think?

Here’s four other brief confessions:

i. I have a girl cat named Henry and a boy cat named Cato (originally Kate) because I got their sex wrong. In my defense, they came from a feral colony and wouldn’t let me touch them for two years.

ii. I may write about music, but I’ve never been in a band.

iii. I was a cheerleader in high school because it was the activity that guaranteed more time off school than any other.

iv. In cheerleading I discovered my leadership and organizational ability, and soon became “head” cheerleader. My first stab at “writing” was developing new cheers.

All Trisha wants to do is create something meaningful. Since she's living in Athens, GA, she brings four other women together and the rock band The Forty Watt Flowers is formed. But making good music isn't as easy as it sounds. From the jock atmosphere of the garage where they rehearse to the beer-soaked bars when they gig, these five young women struggle to find beauty in the mess of notes they try to play and the chaos of their lives.

Now enjoy an excerpt:

Drums Oh, the feeling of pounding the drums. Juanita allowed herself to disappear into the rough-and-tumble consistency of arms and feet. Flam paradiddle with accent. A long double stroke roll. Drag paradiddle followed by a ratatat pattern with just her weak, right stick. She became those jungle rhythms: The gentle shimmering of cymbal. The soldier march of snare. The boom boom boom, coming up the back-end with bass. A concert of percussion, erasing an erratic world. Here, passion made sense.

Juanita completed an extra hard rolling tumble and pulled the sticks to her lap, the abrupt silence jarring. She became aware of the gap-toothed barn around her, the absolute blackness settled around it, red pines hunched close by, cicadas trilling in chorus.

With a quick move of her forearm she wiped the sweat from her brow, squinted at her arm as if measuring for volume. Not enough. Then she looked up and noticed Tommy's slouched form by the welding equipment.

Colleen is award-winning editor who started her writing life as a playwright. She has had 7 plays produced across Canada and worked with the likes of Samantha Bee (yes, from The Daily Show) and Leah Cherniak.

Her plays include Back Alley Boys about the hardcore punk scene in Toronto, Eye am Hear which tells the tale of a luddite teenage squatters at some undetermined punkish time in the future, A Brief Case of Crack Addicted Cockroaches about the relationship between the media and politics featuring a city councillor who smokes crack (which was never produced because it was too off the wall) and Interbastation about the beauty in ugliness and the ugliness in beauty. Her novel Public Image tied for second in the Anvil Press International 3-day Novel competition.

In addition to her work as a playwright, Colleen puts on the dramaturgy, editor and script doctor hats for a range of publishers, producers and writer clients. She has a Master in Creative Writing from the prestigious UBC Department of Theatre, Film and Creative Writing and has taught play writing at the university level. She's also done the Board of Directors thing with the Playwrights Guild of Canada, The Playwrights Theatre Centre in Vancouver and other arts organizations.

She was managing editor of Taking the Stage: Selections from plays by Canadian Women which was selected as the "most saleable dramatic publication of the year" by the Canadian Booksellers' Association. She has also been awarded Arts Council grants by the province of Ontario and Nova Scotia. She has served on the judging panel of several internationl novel awards. Her one-person play Interbastation was selected as one of the top-10 best shows by CBC Winnipeg in 1998.

She lived in Athens from 1999 to 2001 and, while there, reviewed and edited manuscripts for Hill Street Press.

Colleen currently resides in her birthplace, Toronto, with three grey cats and a drawer full of lint brushes.

LINKS:

Website: http://www.fortywattflowers.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8095397.C_M_Subasic
Smashwords Author Page: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/colleesu
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheFortyWattFlowers
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FortyWattFlower

Amazon buy link: http://www.amazon.com/The-Forty-Watt-Flowers-Subasic/dp/149937299X

BN buy link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-forty-watt-flowers-cm-subasic/1113036136

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Permanent Spring Showers by Scott D. Southard - Virtual Tour and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding a $10 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.

Professor Rebecca Stanley-Wilson is having a very bad season. The ramifications of one torrid evening with one of the great upcoming painters of his generation, will not only be felt across her life but over the entire art world. Sexy, funny, and very surprising, Permanent Spring Showers is the tale of one very memorable springtime and how it impacts a group of unique artists and dreamers. From the the hopeful Olympian with the failing marriage to the writer who is creating a new literary movement (through outright manipulation) to the romantic wondering what he did wrong to drive away the love of his life, each tale walks the line between reality and fantasy. And waiting at the end of the line is a very important painting... and possibly the revolver used in the Lincoln Assassination.

Enjoy an excerpt:

“What are you thinking? She’s an escort!”

“I’m in love, Steve. After sitting through the first twenty minutes of this lunch, it’s obvious you certainly still remember what that feeling is like.” He pushed his plate forward.

"But Clark…” I began.

He interrupted, “And it’s not like she wants to do that her entire life, Steve, if that is what is troubling you. She is doing it to pay for college.”

I stopped, the car of my mind shifting gears again. “Wait, did you say ‘is’? Do you mean she is still doing it?”

“Well, times are tough all over,” Clark replied far too calmly for my taste. “Have you seen college tuition rates this year?”

“And she’s really in college?” I asked, shocked. I began to wonder if I was on one of those TV shows and a camera was hidden in a bush nearby me.

My shock was perfectly mirrored by the opposite reflection of the casualness of my brother.

“You didn’t think I would marry an idiot did you, Steve? I need to be mentally challenged, you know that. She is studying education; her dream’s to teach third graders.”

“You’re engaged to a hooker…”

“Escort,” he corrected quickly for a third time.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said sarcastically. “You are engaged to an active escort who wants to be an elementary school teacher?”

“Yes,” Clark said with a dramatic point across the table at me. “And Steve, this is where you come in. You need to help me introduce her to mom and dad.”

Scott D. Southard is the author of A Jane Austen Daydream, Maximilian Standforth and the Case of the Dangerous Dare, My Problem With Doors, Megan, 3 Days in Rome and Me Stuff in addition to his latest release, Permanent Spring Showers. His eclectic writing has also found its way into radio, as Scott was the creator of the radio comedy series The Dante Experience. The production was honored with the Golden Headset Award for Best MultiCast Audio and the Silver Ogle Award for Best Fantasy Audio Production. Scott received his Master's in writing from the University of Southern California. Scott can be found on the internet via his writing blog “The Musings & Artful Blunders of Scott D. Southard" where he writes on topics ranging from writing, art, books, TV, writing, parenting, life, movies, and writing. He even shares original fiction on the site. His blog can be found at http://sdsouthard.com. Scott is also the fiction book reviewer for WKAR's daily radio show Current State.

http://www.amazon.com/Permanent-Spring-Showers-Scott-Southard-ebook/dp/B00T74HH0Q

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/permanent-spring-showers/id964243135?mt=11

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/512831

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/permanent-spring-showers-scott-d-southard/1121151697

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Blaze of Glory by M. Garzon - interview and giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding the entire trilogy on Kindle or Kobo (winner's choice) to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

The author was brave enough to share five things we might not know about her. Check it out and then comment to win her awesome books!

Five things I’ll bet you didn’t know about me:

1) When I wrote my first book, I was shocked that some people objected to the one sex scene. The passage in question involved a girl who’s almost eighteen, in a committed relationship, and using protection, and the description is short and non-graphic. Imagine my surprise when a few Amazon reviewers said they considered this wrong because the character wasn’t married. What?!

I did a quick (and very unscientific) survey, and found that my Canadian friends shared my shock, while my American friends were shocked at my shock. You see, I grew up in Quebec, which I’m told has a more European type of culture than the US does. Whether that’s at the root of it I don’t know, but not having sex outside of marriage is an idea I thought of as a quaint nineteenth-century ideal. To be clear, my extended family is very respectable and in no way considered permissive – quite the opposite. Of my friends, only one or two who were devoutly religious had ever been introduced to the idea of saving sex for marriage, but obviously there were readers out there who shared that view. That cultural differences affect a reader’s experience of my stories was my first big learning experience as an author. The bulk of my book sales are in the US, so I spent considerable time pondering the issue. In the end, though, I didn’t let it change my writing style. I want to write things that I genuinely feel, and if I start editing out of fear of people’s reactions, my writing won’t truly feel like mine anymore.

2) I used to kick butt at Trivial Pursuit (although I haven’t played it in years now). I valued my fact-hoarding brain beyond all reason. In retrospect I think, what good was it, really? Does storing a lot of information make you a better person? More compassionate, more diligent, more patient? In my case, the answer was ‘no’. It did make me, for a short time, feel like I was pretty smart, but life soon showed me the error of that thinking!

3) I attended four different elementary schools and two different high schools, and I finished high school in four years (it’s normally five years here in Quebec: grades 7 through 11). All that moving around meant that I could never form a long-term relationship with any of my peers, and let me tell you, that’s an important skill to acquire. I’ve struggled my entire adult life to figure out how to weather the normal ups and downs of relationships, because as a child I never got to experience them. I’m trying to provide a very stable childhood for my own two kids so that they won’t be faced with the same issue – though I’m sure they’ll come up with some of their own!

4) I love to dance. I’m not saying I’m good at it, and I will likely completely embarrass my kids when they get older, but it’s something I miss from my pre-children days.

5) My mother was raised by Catholic nuns, the biological father I never knew was Muslim, my wonderful adoptive father is Jewish, and, if pressed, I’d call myself a Buddhist. I’m like an entire multicultural nation in one body. I didn’t think much about this as I was growing up; it was just part of me. But as it turns out, a beautiful advantage I gained from it is that few people I meet seem ‘foreign’ to me. I can get to know people based on their personalities, with (I think) little in the way of preconceived notions. I feel lucky that way *G*

"The first book in the popular trilogy, soon to be a major new television series!

Some fires can consume you.

Last year, I had it all. Two jumpers on the show circuit, a lot of wins, and a lot of attention - the good kind. But now I have nothing. My life is circling the drain. The only spark of light that exists for me is my new, forbidden passion. If my stepfather finds out, he will kill me. My twin brother, my only blood relative in the world, has already begged me not to. But I can't help myself. If it can't be horses, it has to be this..."

Now enjoy an excerpt:

“What do you need, Tea?” he asked quietly.

The question caught me by surprise. I needed a lot of things, but what sprang to mind first was Jaden. The one thing I definitely could never have.

I gulped. “Just be my friend.”

“I will always be that.” He pulled into the lot where my car was parked. Julia and Teri were following behind us.

He turned to me. “Will you think about what I said? About telling Dec?”

Truthfully, I had filed away his request as soon as he’d made it, under the heading of ‘not in this lifetime’.

“Why is it so important to you?” I asked a question rather than lie to him.

“Because I think it will help to extirpate your feelings of guilt,” he said.

Only Jaden could use a word like ‘extirpate’ and not sound like a total geek, I thought with a smile. I turned toward him, still smiling, and found myself being pulled into a hug. I hugged him back fiercely, my heart breaking into a mad dash. His body was hard, but very warm. I pulled away first—I liked being in his arms far, far too much to stay there. This was something I’d have to get under control, and quickly.

M. Garzon rode horses professionally for ten years, until an injury prompted a career change. She returned to school and completed a BSc; then for good measure, an MBA. After several years of toiling as a business consultant, she turned to writing in a desperate bid to regain her sanity. A mom of two fabulous children, she lives in St Lazare, QC and considers herself extremely lucky to be a writer.

Links:

www.mgarzon.ca

https://www.facebook.com/pages/M-garzon/217322391615168

http://www.amazon.com/Blaze-Glory-M-Garzon-ebook/dp/B0081NXULY/

(also available on Kobo, NOOK, and iBooks)

Desert Rice by Angela Scott - Virtual Review tour and Giveaway

(Full length contemporary fiction)

This review is done in conjunction with the author's virtual tour with Goddess Fish Promotions.

Angela will award one commenter at every stop a Mobi or ePub copy of WANTED: Dead or Undead or Survivor Roundup from her backlist, and one randomly drawn commenter on the tour will receive a $15 gift card to Amazon, so comment today AND follow the tour (if you click on the tour banner above, it'll take you to a list of her tour stops) -- the more you read and comment, the better your odds of winning. You could be introduced to a great new author AND win an awesome prize!



Samantha Jean Haggert is a beautiful twelve-year-old girl, but no one knows it. All they see is an awkward boy in a baseball cap and baggy pants. Sam's not thrilled with the idea of hiding her identity, but it's all part of her brother's plan to keep Sam safe from male attention and hidden from the law. 15-year-old Jacob will stop at nothing to protect his sister, including concealing the death of the one person who should have protected them in the first place--their mother. Sam and Jacob try to outrun their past by stealing the family car and traveling from West Virginia to Arizona, but the adult world proves mighty difficult to navigate, especially for two kids on their own. Trusting adults has never been an option; no adult has ever given them a good reason. But when Sam meets "Jesus"--who smells an awful lot like a horse--in the park, life takes a different turn. He saved her once, and may be willing to save Sam and her brother again, if only they admit what took place that fateful day in West Virginia. The problem? Sam doesn't remember, and Jacob isn't talking.



Ms. Scott is a truly talented author.  Truth is, this isn't the type of book I'd normally read. I wasn't really sure what I was getting myself into with Desert Rice, but I was so completely caught up with the authentically written, realistic characters it didn't matter that the plot was one I wasn't hugely excited about.

That's not to say the plot is bad -- it isn't. It's just I'm really a fan of happier stories, and this one takes you to the very last page before you can feel that the characters might actually be, if not happy, then content and safe.

You see, Desert Rice follows the lives of two kids running from an abusive home.  What they go through is raw and emotional and frequently heart-wrenching.  It's a credit to the author that I cried for these kids more than once, and I wondered how they were when I wasn't reading (as if they were real people, still living their lives while I slept or worked).

This is a book that won't leave you unmoved.  It will make you think and do some soul-searching.   And, undoubtedly, you'll be surprisingly eager to dive into the next book and find out how Jacob and Sam (and the rest of their "family") are doing to heal and move past those events that scarred them here.  I absolutely recommend this book.

4.5 Flowers - This was a very good book! I'd recommend it to my friends

I hear voices. Tiny fictional people sit on my shoulders and whisper their stories in my ear. Instead of medicating myself, I decided to pick up a pen, write down everything those voices tell me, and turn it into a book. I’m not crazy. I’m an author. For the most part, I write contemporary Young Adult novels. However, through a writing exercise that spiraled out of control, I found myself writing about zombies terrorizing the Wild Wild West—and loving it. My zombies don’t sparkle, and they definitely don’t cuddle. At least, I wouldn’t suggest it.

I live on the benches of the beautiful Wasatch Mountains with two lovely children, one teenager, and a very patient husband. I graduated from Utah State University with a B.A. degree in English, not because of my love for the written word, but because it was the only major that didn’t require math. I can’t spell, and grammar is my arch nemesis. But they gave me the degree, and there are no take backs.

As a child, I never sucked on a pacifier; I chewed on a pencil. I’ve been writing that long. It has only been the past few years that I’ve pursued it professionally, forged relationships with other like-minded individuals, and determined to make a career out of it.

You can subscribe and follow me on my website, where I blog obsessively about my writing process and post updates on my current works. I’m also on Twitter and Facebook, but be forewarned, I tweet and post more than a normal person.

Website: www.angelascottauthor.com
http://www.whimsywritingandreading.weebly.com/
Twitter: @whimsywriting
http://twitter.com/#%21/whimsywriting
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AngelaScottWriter

LINKS:

Amazon:
DESERT RICE http://www.amazon.com/Desert-Rice-ebook/dp/B008U04YU4/ref=la_B007N3J0L2_1_3_title_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1358357000&sr=1-3

DESERT FLOWER http://www.amazon.com/Desert-Flower-ebook/dp/B00B0QNQF4/ref=la_B007N3J0L2_1_4_title_0_main?ie=UTF8&qid=1358357000&sr=1-4

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/angela-scott

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/angela-scott/id486086004?mt=11

Author Interview: Lianne Simon

Today I'd like to welcome author Lianne Simon here to talk about her novel, "Confessions of a Teenage Hermaphrodite".

Thanks for stopping by, Lianne, and for being brave enough to share five things about yourself that we might never guess. The floor is yours!

(1) ADHD and bad IQ scores

Back in the third grade, our class was given standardized intelligence tests. Our teacher gave us each a test booklet and a multiple-choice answer form for each section. For each question the answer form had a row of boxes. We were supposed to pencil in the box for the correct answer.

After answering the first three questions on one of the sections, I got bored. So I started playing with the answer form. It was made from multiple sheets of paper, connected at the top and bottom. When I spread the sheets apart, I discovered that inside there was only one box for each question. My first three answers were each in boxes on the inside page. I thought that was neat. So I marked the rest of my answers so they’d be in the boxes too.

In about ten minutes I was finished, so I played with my pencil until my teacher walked back to see what I was doing. “Are you finished already?” she asked, amazed.

“Yes, ma’am.”

She gave me a dubious shake of her head, but didn’t say anything until the test was over. She was rather surprised when my results came back—IQ 161. The put me in with the smart kids after that.

(2) Swapping twins

As a child, I was small and frail. I have this genetic thing going on, you know. At nine, I could share clothes with my six-year-old sister. People thought we were twins. We thought that was funny, because my six-year-old brother really was her twin.

(3) Aviatrix adventure

I learned to fly in a Piper J-5. It’s an old taildragger airplane with tandem seating. Most of my instruction was out of Sunset Strip, a small grass field in northern Ohio. My instructor was an ex-military pilot who was always pulling some emergency or other. Just so I’d be comfortable in any situation. After I got my license, I bought an Aeronca Champ, another tandem-seat taildragger. It didn’t have an electrical system, so someone had to hand prop it. No radio either, so I used this little hand-held unit.

Since I had to travel to Texas for graduate school, I decided to fly the Champ down to Waxahachie. That’s about 1200 miles in an airplane that cruises at about 55 miles an hour. I’d stop every few hours for fuel, or food, or whatever. Then ask someone to prop the plane for me. Everything went well until I was near Sulphur Springs, Texas. Then the engine lost oil pressure. The temperature climbed. The engine power faded. The airplane started losing altitude. I kept thinking there’d be a nice place to land just past the next clump of trees. But there wasn’t, so I landed in a small pasture. With cows. I’m not sure who was more frightened. See the photo up top!

(4) Motorcycles and young ladies

A bit of a wild child in college, I got stopped once for weaving through rush-hour traffic on a motorcycle. Probably riding side-saddle. Okay, so it wasn't the brightest way to stay alive. The officer screamed at me, face red, little flecks of foam at the corner of his mouth. When I started crying, I pulled off my helmet, shook my hair loose, and blubbered something like, “I’m sorry, sir.” He stopped swearing and just stared for a moment. Then he shook his head, got back in his car, and drove off.

(5) INFP—The Dreamer

Y’all know Myers-Briggs? INFP—Introvert, Intuitive, Feeling, Perceiving. I’m the same personality type as the protagonist in my book. The last time I went overseas, I arrived in Edinburgh at dusk. With no reservations. I like to just...go. Have an adventure. My husband doesn't consider adventures any fun. He likes to plan everything.

Endorsed by one of the leading researchers on Disorders of Sex Development, Confessions of a Teenage Hermaphrodite is a young adult novel, an authentic portrayal of the issues faced by an intersex teen.

Jamie was born with a testis, an ovary, and a pixie face. He can be a boy after minor surgery and a few years on testosterone. Well, that’s what his parents always say, but he sees an elfin princess in the mirror. To become the man his parents expect, Jamie must leave behind a little girl’s hopes and dreams.

At sixteen, the four-foot-eleven soprano leaves home school for a boys’ dorm at college. The elfin princess can live in the books Jameson reads and nobody has to find out he isn’t like other boys.

When a medical student tells Jamie that he should have been raised female, suppressed childhood memories stir. The elfin princess can thrive, but will she risk losing her family and her education for a boy who may desert her, or a toddler she may never be allowed to adopt?

Lianne Simon's father was a dairy farmer and an engineer, her mother a nurse. With two brothers and one sister, she grew up in a home filled with love and good books. Frail and tiny, Lianne shared toys and clothes with a sister three years her junior.

While seeking answers to her own genetic anomalies, Lianne met a family whose daughter was born with one testis and one ovary. As a result of that encounter she spent more than ten years answering inquiries on behalf of a support group for the parents of such children.

Lianne and her husband live in the suburbs outside Atlanta, where she writes, tutors, and performs volunteer work.

Author website: www.liannesimon.com

Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Teenage-Hermaphrodite-Lianne-Simon/dp/0985148209/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1337908838&sr=1-2

Publisher link (for ebook purchases): http://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=362&category_id=6&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

Watch Me Disappear by Diane Vanaskie Mulligan - Virtual book tour and giveaway

Today we're welcoming author Diane Vanaskie Mulligan to the blog on her tour with Goddess Fish Promotions for her YA novel, "Watch Me Disappear".

Diane will be awarding a $25 Amazon or BN GC to one randomly drawn commenter on her tour, so comment today AND follow her tour (if you click on the banner over there on the left, it'll take you to a list of her tour stops)! The more you read and comment, the better your odds of winning. You could be introduced to a great new author AND win prize!

Diane was kind enough to answer all my prying questions. Thanks!

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

I definitely believe in the motto, “Write with door closed, revise with the door open.” When I write a first draft, I don’t think about genre at all. My focus is on the story. If I am moved by the characters and the situations they are in, I’m doing my job. When I begin revising and refining my work, I think more about audience, so that’s when genre enters the picture. The result is that my first novel is YA, but my current project is for adults, and if it were categorized it would most likely be considered women’s literature. I write things I would like to read. I read YA novels, for fun and to find things my students might like (I’m a high school English teacher), and I read contemporary fiction with strong female characters. As a reader my tastes are diverse; I like realistic fiction, but I also have enjoyed some historical fiction, fantasy, and sci-fi, so who knows what my next project will be! Actually, I’d love to write historical fiction, but I don’t have time right now for the necessary research.

Name one thing you learned from your protagonist.

I learned a lot from Lizzie, the narrator and protagonist of Watch Me Disappear. Lizzie is a lot like me. Although the situation she’s in of starting over at a new school is nothing I ever experienced, a lot of the situations Lizzie and her friends encounter are loosely constructed from my own memories of high school. I think the biggest thing I learned from Lizzie is more of a reminder than a lesson. Adults often criticize teenagers for being self-centered or dramatic or lacking perspective, but writing from Lizzie’s point of view helped me remember what it felt like to be 17 and gave me a lot of empathy for teenagers today. Instead of trivializing teenagers’ concerns and experiences, adults, especially those (like me) working with kids, should be sensitive to them.

Any odd or interesting writing quirks, habits, or superstitions?

I’m woefully unquirky in my writing habits. I wish I had more quirks. They make for great storytelling. Recently, I have returned to pen and paper for first drafts. I used to do all my writing at the computer, but for the past year or so, I found myself more and more drawn to writing longhand. It started for the practical reason that I developed pretty bad carpal tunnel syndrome. I had no choice but to move away from my computer. Now, even though I have Dragon Dictation software and an ergonomically correct keyboard, I have found that I just prefer to write on paper. It’s freeing not to be tethered to a computer, not to have the lure of the internet one click away, not to have that annoying cursing blinking, blinking, blinking as I struggle to find the right word.

Plotter or pantser?

Both! First drafts, I wing it. I usually start with a character and a situation and just see what happens. Once I have a completed draft, I map it out, reshape it, and see if there are better ways to organize it. Before jumping into my second draft, I do a detailed outline. I don’t always follow that outline 100%, but I do like to have a guide.

Look to your right – what’s sitting there?

My bookshelf. How appropriate, right? I have a little office in my house. It’s just big enough for my child’s sized desk, an arm chair with my alma mater’s crest (Yay, Mount Holyoke!), two small bookshelves, and a filing cabinet. About two years ago, I got a Kindle and fell in love with it, so I don’t buy a lot of physical books these days, which is for the best, because my shelves are overflowing. The top shelf of my bookcase is devoted to signed copies, which I recently began collecting. My most prized signed titles are AFFLICTION by Russell Banks, BRIGHT’S PASSAGE by Josh Ritter, UNFAMILIAR FISHES by Sarah Vowell, and SOURCE by Mark Doty.

Anything new coming up from you? What?

I’m working on my next novel. Right now I’m on the third draft, which I hope is the last. For me, the process of drafting and revising is long and messy. My first book took 6 years to complete. I’m hoping this one will be faster. I started this one during National Novel Writing Month in 2009, and I think I’ll have it ready next summer. It’s much more complex than Watch Me Disappear, with three point-of-view characters who form a tension-filled love triangle. I still have not decided on a title, but right now I’m calling it WORK OF ART (IN PROGRESS).

Do you have a question for our readers?

I would love to know what your readers’ favorite literary love triangles are, and also what their favorite books set in high school are!

Thanks so much for hosting me!

Lizzie knows it isn’t right to eavesdrop, but is it really eavesdropping if her neighbor Maura makes all of her phone calls on her parents’ pool deck in easy earshot of Lizzie’s backyard? And of course it’s wrong to go snooping around on someone else’s computer, but is it Lizzie’s fault that Maura keeps her computer turned on (and logged in to Facebook) all the time?

Lizzie Richard’s father has moved the family around every few years to advance his career, so she has never had a chance to develop the kind of “BFF” relationships she thinks most kids have. She’s bracing herself for another lonely year at her third high school when her new neighbor Maura gets sick of watching her little brother when she could be partying. Thanks to Maura’s plotting, Lizzie becomes everyone’s new favorite babysitter. Seeing her opportunity, Lizzie breaks her strict parents’ rules and uses Maura’s computer to create a secret Email address and Facebook account. She is quickly friended by Missy, a fellow transfer student as eager for a friend as she is. Things are looking up for Lizzie until Maura’s ex-boyfriend Paul sets his eye on Missy. Caught between her new best friend and the neighbor whose friendship promises instant popularity, Lizzie doesn’t know what to do—because she’s fallen for Paul, too.

“He’s won the high average award the past three years, so unless someone can knock him down this year, he’ll be valedictorian.”

“Him?” I ask. The kid in question looks like some kind of wide-eyed farm boy, not like a valedictorian. He is tan and athletic-looking, but there is nothing cocky in his walk or his expression. If I had to guess just based on appearances, I would say he is probably of average intelligence at best but great with big animals like cows and horses. It is hard to picture him acing a calculus exam.

“Yep. His name is Hunter Groves. Valedictorian and star of the soccer team.”

“No kidding,” I say.

“He’s a nice kid,” Wes adds. “Usually the number one guy is a serious geek, but Hunter’s ok.”

I either hate Hunter Groves or love him. Maybe I am even madly in love with him. It may be shallow, but the guy of my dreams is both hot and smart, and he’s genuine enough to fall for me despite my mere average appearance. I know it’s a double standard to want a guy with looks and brains and maybe even athletic talent, and simultaneously to want people not to judge me by my looks and lack of athletic talent, but there it is. I guess I’m not a good person. And anyway, whatever dream guy I have in my mind, real boys intimidate me completely, and I steer clear of them. The good-looking jocks use their arrogance to compensate for their dull minds, and the really smart guys usually have the people skills of lab rats. There I go again, proving myself to be superficial and judgmental, but I’m just calling it like I see it. The point is, if Hunter Groves is the smart, athletic, nice guy Wes says he is, maybe dreams do come true.

Diane Vanaskie Mulligan began writing Watch Me Disappear during an after-school writing club she moderates for high school students. This is her first novel. She holds a BA in American Studies from Mount Holyoke College and a Master’s degree in teaching from Simmons College. When she isn’t teaching or writing, she’s the managing editor at The Worcester Review and the director of The Betty Curtis Worcester County Young Writers’ Conference. You can also find her occasionally strumming her guitar and singing at various bars in central Massachusetts, where she lives with her husband.

Connect with Diane:
Website: www.dvmulligan.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/dmvanask
Facebook: www.facebook.com/DianeVMulligan
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/dmvanask
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/pub/diane-mulligan/53/839/124

Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway: In Leah's Wake by Terri Giuliano Long

Today we're welcoming author Terri Giuliano Long to the blog on her tour with Goddess Fish Promotions for the award-winning contemporary fiction novel, In Leah's Wake.

The author is giving away three eBook copies of In Leah's Wake to randomly drawn commenters at every stop, plus a grand prize of a $25 Amazon GC and an autographed copy of In Leah's Wake to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour. So comment today AND follow her tour (if you click on the banner over there on the left, it'll take you to a list of her tour stops) -- the more you read and comment, the better your odds of winning. You could be introduced to a great new author AND win a GC!

A Story of Love, Loss, Connection, and Grace

The Tylers have a perfect life—beautiful home, established careers, two sweet and talented daughters. Their eldest, Leah, an exceptional soccer player, is on track for a prestigious scholarship. Their youngest, Justine—more responsible than seems possible for her 12 years—just wants her sister’s approval. With Leah nearing the end of high school and Justine a seemingly “together” kid, the parents are set to enjoy a peaceful life…until Leah meets Todd, a high school dropout and former roadie for a rock band.

As Leah's parents fight to save their daughter from a world of drugs, sex, wild parties, their divided approach drives their daughter out of their home and a wedge into their marriage. Meanwhile, 12-year-old Justine observes her sister's rebellion from the shadows of their fragmented family - leaving her to question whether anyone loves her and if God even knows she exists.

Can this family survive in Leah’s wake?

Tracy Riva, Midwest Reviews, calls In Leah's Wake "an astounding story of a family in transition.”

When happens when love just isn't enough?

Reviewer-Nominated for Global eBook Award, 2012
Recipient of the CTRR Award for excellence
2011 Book Bundlz Book Pick
Book Bundlz 2011 Favorites, First Place

An Excerpt from "In Leah's Wake":

Leah had totally lost track of time. She and Todd had been hanging out at the water tower for hours, perched on the hood of Todd’s jeep drinking vodka and OJ, admiring the beautiful night. This was the most perfect place in the universe, maybe. Big sky, lots of trees. From up here, they could see the whole town. In the valley, lights began to blink out. Leaning on her elbows, Leah gazed at the heavens.

“Look,” she said, mesmerized by the inky black sky, the billions and billions of stars. “The Big Dipper.” As she stared into space, time fell away, the past merging seamlessly with the future.

Todd set the flask on the hood of his truck and put his arm around her, drawing her close. So close she could smell the spicy deodorant under his armpits. Just being with Todd Corbett made her feel dizzy all over. Todd was, by far, the hottest boy she had ever laid eyes on. His hair was long on top, short on the sides. He had full lips, and the most fabulous blue eyes, like…like crystals or something. A Romanesque nose, the exact nose she’d once told Cissy she’d die for, only now that she’d seen it on Todd, she realized that particular nose was meant for a boy. Best of all, he had this incredible aura, all purple and blue, like James Dean or Kurt Cobain.

She curled her legs under her and laid her head on Todd’s chest.

Terri Giuliano Long has written guest posts for nearly 100 blogs. A contributing writer for IndieReader, she’s written for news and feature articles for numerous publications, including IndieReader, the Boston Globe and the Huffington Post. She lives with her family on the East Coast and teaches at Boston College. Her debut novel, In Leah's Wake, has been an Amazon Kindle bestseller since August 2011. For more information, please visit her website: www.tglong.com

Website: http://www.tglong.com 
Blog: http://terriglong.com/blog/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tglongwrites
Twitter: @tglong

Praise for In Leah’s Wake

“A very moving and, at times, heartbreaking story which will be loved by many, whether they are parents or not.” --A. Rose, Amazon UK, TOP 100 REVIEWER

“Pulled me right along as I continued to make comparisons to my own life.”
--Jennifer Donovan, 5 Minutes for Books, Top 50 Book Blog

“Easily the best read that I have enjoyed in 2011.”
--Bonnie Erina Wheeler, author of Fate Fixed: An Erris Coven Novel

“Multiple ripples of meaning contribute to the overall intensity of this deeply moving psychological drama.”
--Cynthia Harrison, author of Sister Issues

"Sometimes scary, sometimes sad, and always tender."
-- Susan Straight, National Book Award finalist, author of Take One Candle Light A Room

"In Leah's Wake is a beautifully written and absorbing novel."
-- Margot Livesey, Award-winning author of Banishing Verona

"This is a story that will stay with you for days and weeks."
--Radical Parenting, the award-winning parenting blog written by teens

"In Leah's Wake is an irresistible read."
-- Holly Robinson, author of Sleeping Tigers