Monthly Archives: September 2022
FOREVER ASKOLE
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
My name is Ella McAllister, I’m a psychic witch and a healer. My life is kinda nuts. Not only do I have the Coletti hunters chasing me, but now I also have a very determined Askole High Commander after me. Why? I shot his ship down and it crash landed, and it blew up. Yep, itty-bitty pieces everywhere. My bad, but his ship was a dead ringer for a Rodan Marauder, and it was my civic duty to blow the enemy spacecraft out of the sky. Wasn’t it? Any hoo, I healed his owies and boogied.
I thought that was the end of it, but oh no. For some unknown reason, Sariel, the Askole High Commander, decided I would make him the perfect mate. As if. I think the blow to his head made him completely bonkers.
Sariel informed me the mating dance had begun and there was nothing I could do to stop it. The idiot had obviously never dealt with a witch before. I didn’t have the time to play games with him, so I did a little abracadabra alakazam and ran.
Sigh. The persistent Askole found me. Now I have a decision to make. Keep running or surrender to the High Commander. He is a damn good kisser.
Would the mating dance bring two lonely souls together? Who knew?
Read an Excerpt:
“He was your lover?” Sariel queried in disbelief.
I cringed with embarrassment. “Briefly. I fell for his lies and didn’t see his true nature until he tried to sell me to the hunters.”
“I will never betray you or lie to you,” Sariel stated.
“So, you keep saying, but I’m not looking for a mate nor do I need one.”
Sariel’s tentacles stood out from his head. “A lie. Your loneliness drove you to bed a traitor.”
Ouch! “Okay, fine. I’m lonely, but…”
“I.”
“Am.”
“Not.”
“Mating with you,” I enunciated clearly.
“As a warrior, you can challenge me to combat to stop the mating dance.” Sariel’s rather toothy grin was alarming. “Do you dare duel with me?”
In hand-to-hand combat I wouldn’t last ten seconds. “How about I teach you a little-known fact?”
Sariel’s helmet formed over his head, and he asked warily, “What would that be?”
“Never mess with a witch. It doesn’t end well.” I shouted my power word, “Sufflamine!” A thunderous cracking boom rent the air. A second later, a shockwave of energy hit Sariel and flung him out into the ocean.
He hit with a big splash and sank beneath the surface. “Excellent tactical move.”
Seriously? He sounded almost proud of me. “Stay away from me or next time I won’t be so gentle.”
“There is no where you can run that I cannot find you,” Sariel replied.
About the Author:
I was a 9-1-1 dispatcher for the Glendale Police Department and to keep from going totally bonkers – I mean people have no idea what a real emergency is. Take this for example: I answered, “9-1-1 emergency, what’s your emergency?” And this hysterical woman yelled, “My bird is in a tree.” Sometimes I really couldn’t help myself, so I said, “Birds have a tendency to do that, ma’am.” The woman screeched, “No! You don’t understand. My pet parakeet is in the tree. I’ve just got to get him down.” Like I said, not a clue. “I’m sorry ma’am but we don’t get birds out of trees.” The woman then cried, “But… What about my husband? He’s up there, too.” See what I had to deal with? To keep from hitting myself repeatedly in the head with my phone I took up writing.
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BENTLEY
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
I call on the fates to bring my love to me. As I will it, so mote it be…
Natalie Harvey wants a guy who not only understands baseball, but supports her love of the game. When she meets bad-boy first baseman for the Cougars, Bentley Turner, she can’t help but fall for him. He’s sexy, strong, athletic and irresistible. He’s her perfect man, but what if he’s not interested? The spark is there, and she decides to invoke the spell. Why not?
She’s ready to summon her very own bad boy and try her luck with love.
Read an Excerpt
Of the many things she liked about having a minor league team so close was the ample parking. She never had to walk more than a few hundred yards, and the lot was well-lit. She locked her car and hustled up to the ticket window. Once she showed her credentials and ticket, she gained entrance to the facility.
Natalie strode over to the first-base side and located her seat. When she was on the clock, she liked to sit right at the edge of the field to better take in the action. Since she wasn’t working, she’d sit four rows up and simply enjoy the game.
She loved the atmosphere of a ballgame. The sounds of the crowd, the smell of the food, the excitement in the air. The Cougars scored quickly in the second inning, and she made a few notes on her phone. The sensation at second base, Dalton Cohn, had made three great catches and even managed two double plays with the first baseman, Bentley Turner.
Natalie watched Bentley Turner in action and couldn’t help but sigh. He had a temper at times, looked like he’d stepped out of a bar, and could swear a blue streak, but he moved with grace and had skills on the field. If he hadn’t injured his shoulder defending first base last season, he’d still be in the majors and probably racking up good stats. Instead, he’d been relegated to the minor leagues to rehab. She’d spoken to him a few times and loved the deep blue of his eyes and his easy smile. He could be cocky and pushy. Rumor had it he’d bedded women in every city and left a string of broken hearts in his wake. It could all be rumors, but…
About the Author:
Megan Slayer, aka Wendi Zwaduk, is a multi-published, award-winning author of more than one-hundred short stories and novels. She’s been writing since 2008 and published since 2009. Her stories range from the contemporary and paranormal to LGBTQ and white hot themes. No matter what the length, her works are always hot, but with a lot of heart. She enjoys giving her characters a second chance at love, no matter what the form. She’s been nominated at the LRC for Best Author, Best Contemporary, Best Ménage, Best BDSM and Best Anthology. Her books have made it to the bestseller lists on Amazon.com.
When she’s not writing, Megan spends time with her husband and son as well as three dogs and three cats. She enjoys art, music and racing, but football is her sport of choice. She’s an active member of the Friends of the Keystone-LaGrange Public library.
Find out more about Megan and Wendi at: http://wendizwaduk.com/indexMegan.htm
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Award winning film director is shooting new film
Short film from Bolton, The Manananggal, to hit screens in 2023.. Read the whole article here:
https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/22081512.award-winning-film-director-breightmet-shooting-new-film/
IMPROBABLE MD
This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.
In Improbable MD, Dr. Derek J. Robinson traces his unlikely journey from fishing on the bayous of Louisiana, to an ER and helicopter flight physician in Chicago, to leadership in some of the US’ largest health care organizations.
The grandson of a sharecropper and son of a single mother, Derek grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Shreveport, LA. A graduate of the city’s public schools, he saw first-hand the difference that access to quality education and health care made within his own family. He shares how his dream of being a doctor became a reality, despite the odds, and why he believes mentoring and investing in young people is vital to the health of our nation.
Robinson takes the reader inside the ER, where he has treated victims of gun violence and shares how spilt-second clinical decisions and the trust of his patients, shaped his appreciation for being a doctor, But, even with many years of training, he exposes how it feels to reach the limits of what he can offer patients and even shares the pain and lessons he has learned from the illness and loss of family members. Beyond the walls of the ER, Dr. Robinson explains how we became a business leader in health care and influential voice in boardrooms.
Through sharing his inspirations and tribulations, Dr. Robinson inspires readers to push beyond both self-doubt and external obstacles to pursue their dreams. In telling his story, he shares the roles that faith, friendship, love, and fatherhood have played in his life, and he hopes to motivate readers to chart their own journeys to successful and fulfilling lives.
About the Author:
Derek J. Robinson is a board-certified physician in Emergency Medicine. He is vice president and chief medical officer at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, a division of Health Care Service Corporation – the nation’s largest non-investor owned health insurance company. In this role, he leads the care management operations division and serves as the company’s primary health care expert.
Dr. Robinson continues to provide clinical care to patients in the ER at the University of Illinois Chicago where he is a clinical associate professor of emergency medicine. His unique perspective on the complexities of healthcare, including his past service as a health care federal regulator, have enabled him to influence the transformation of health care for Americans. He has been featured on WTTW, WMAQ, WLS-TV, BNC, and other news outlets discussing important health care issues and social topics.
A native of Shreveport, LA. Dr. Robinson resides in Chicago, IL with his wife and two sons. When he is not working, he enjoys swimming, cycling, fishing, and spending time outdoors. For more on Derek Robinson and his memoir Improbable MD visit: http://www.DrDerekRobinson.com
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JUCHE BOX SET
Juche 1-4 Box set
by Adria Carmichael
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GENRE: YA Dystopian
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BLURB:
Just when Areum – daughter of a privileged family in the totalitarian state of Choson (North Korea) – thought she was free from her personal prison, her world collapses around her as her family is taken away in the middle of the night to a hell-like camp in the mountains where people who have strayed from the righteous path are brutally re-educated through blood, sweat, tears, and starvation.
There she has to fight for survival together with the family she hates and is forced to re-evaluate every aspect of her life until then: her deep resentment toward her twin sister; her view of her father in the face of mounting evidence that he is a traitor with the blood of millions of fellow countrymen on his hands; and even her love and affection for the Great General – the eternal savior and protector of Choson, whom she had always considered her true father.
Note from the author:
Have you ever wondered what the world looks like when seen through an indoctrinated mind?
This is a topic that has intrigued me for as long as I can remember, so when I came up with the idea to write a book many years ago, I decided to create it from the viewpoint of a victim of indoctrination… which in the end became Areum (the protagonist of the story).
What I try to explore in this story is how deep the indoctrination of a 14-year old girl can run and how much “reality” it can be exposed to before breaking… if it will break at all. As a comparison, the defectors from North Korea who arrive in South Korea are isolated for three months in a de-programming facility called Hanawon before they are allowed to join society where they go through this process in a more controlled (and less brutal) way than Areum.
I hope you will enjoy this slightly different take on the dystopian genre!
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EXCERPT
Cranes sang songs of joy from the mountain tops.
Double rainbows appeared in the sky.
The aggressors from the west were defeated. The invaders from the east were expunged. The traitors from the south were put at bay.
The people of Choson were finally free to create their own destiny, and so a hermit kingdom of people’s rule rose from the ashes, and the doors to the enemies of the outside world were closed, never to be opened again.
The world around them moved on. Years passed. Decades passed. Peace and prosperity spread throughout the world, and nothing was heard from the secluded hermit paradise.
Then one day, people started emerging from its closed borders. The stories they brought with them were, however, not of a paradise on earth. Instead, what they depicted were horrors so vile and cruel that they almost exceeded human comprehension.
Little had the people of the kingdom known when they closed its doors to the outside world, that the vilest beast of all was still lurking among their midst, and as soon as the curtains had been drawn, the beast unleashed its reign of terror upon the people, not stopping until it had crushed and enslaved every soul within its reach.
The beast now rules the kingdom from a throne of human misery and agony.
No one alive has ever encountered this beast, but everybody knows its name.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Adria Carmichael is a writer of dystopian fiction with a twist. When she is not devouring dystopian and post-apocalyptic content in any format – books, movies, TV-series and PlayStation games – she is crafting the epic and highly-addictive Juche saga, her 2020 debut novel series that takes place in the brutal, totalitarian nation of Choson. When the limit of doom and gloom is reached, a 10K run on a sunny day or binging a silly sitcom on a rainy day is her go-to way to unwind.
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20581191.Adria_Carmichael
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Adria-Carmichael-591550164840779
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adria_carmichael_author/?hl=en
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AdriaCarmichael
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/adria-carmichael
Amazon Buy links:
Juche 1 – The Demon of Yodok: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08FQLHKYP/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
Juche 2 – The Weeping Masses: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08J42Y4Y5?notRedirectToSDP=1&ref_=dbs_mng_calw_1&storeType=ebooks
Juche 3 – The Storm of Storms: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B099BKWKKR?notRedirectToSDP=1&ref_=dbs_mng_calw_2&storeType=ebooks
Juche 4 – Freedom or Death: https://www.amazon.com/Freedom-Death-Young-Dystopian-Survival-ebook/dp/B09D9NBZ7S/ref=sr_1_1
Juche 1-4 Box Set on sale for $0.99: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B3F21BKV/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i4
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RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY
One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card.
Enter to win a $50 Amazon/BN GC – a Rafflecopter giveaway
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INTERVIEW With …
What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
• Licorice 🙂
Which mythological creature are you most like?
• Probably a centaur (at least the ones in Harry Potter, because they’re so pensive and philosophical)
First book you remember making an indelible impression on you.
• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I’m thinking of re-reading it, but at the same time, I’m afraid of ruining my childhood memory if I don’t like it as much as I did when I was a kid.
How do you develop your plot and characters?
• For the plot, I start by setting the beginning and the end, then go step by step, making sure every scene leads to the next. I don’t have a method for developing characters, I just make them the way the story needs them to be, then they grow by themselves.
Describe your writing space.
• Part writing corner, part exercise room, part guest bedroom. Not optimal, but I make it work 🙂
The Virus of Beauty Series
The Virus of Beauty Series
by C.B. Lyall
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GENRE: YA Fantasy
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BLURB:
The Virus of Beauty – Book 1
Ugliness is power, and the Virus of Beauty is spreading causing panic throughout the witch population.
Wilf Gilvary is a teenage wizard who is terrified of using magic. When his father dies under mysterious circumstances, the same day the Mages Crystal shatters, Wilf is plunged into the middle of a political struggle between the witches and wizards in the Magical Realm. He’d rather play soccer than practice magic, but he’s forced to make a choice between the life of a normal Hong Kong teen and one of wizardry after a powerful virus begins to decimate the witch community. The cure is spellbound in a journal Wilf inherited from his father and when his friend Katryna contracts the virus, Wilf understands that he must overcome his fear of magic to unlock the journal’s secrets – but will it be too late to save her?
The Veil of Corruption – The Virus of Beauty Book 2
Witches and magic are taking over Wilf’s life.
After being thrust into a long-standing conflict between the witches and wizards that has destabilized the Magical Realm and finding the antidote for the Virus of Beauty, Wilf would like to return to his normal soccer playing teenage life. But he can’t rest until his stepsister, Myra, is caught and brought to justice. It’s been three days since Myra took to the skies above Hong Kong and disappeared. Now Wilf is accused of corrupting the Veil, a defensive barrier between the witch and wizard cities. As the spell expands throughout the magical realm it is attacking witches and wizards. But Wilf would rather embrace his witch friend, Katryna, than his wizard powers. When evil forces have other plans and they kidnap Katryna, Wilf realizes that he’d do anything to save her and the Magical Realm, even if it means risking his own life by connecting to the primary source of all magic.
The Vassal of Magic – The Virus of Beauty Book 3
Wilf Gilvary is a slave to the magic he hates.
Yet his powers seem a solution for saving the Magical Realm and Katryna, the girl he loves. If only he could figure out how to tap his magic’s full potential.
As factions of witches and wizards vie for control of the Magical Realm, Wilf embarks on a harrowing journey that plunges him into the realm’s ancient secrets. At first, Wilf begins to doubt everything. His affection for Katryna might be the remnants of a broken love spell. And he still struggles to control his magic.
But Wilf risks his life to learn more about his powers and his destiny. It leaves him facing an impossible choice: forever abandon his dreams of life as a Normal in Hong Kong, or allow magic and the Magical Realm to perish from the world.
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EXCERPT
The Virus of Beauty – Book 1
“Wilf, is that you?” Reginald’s shout was followed by a creaking sound from the basement stairs.
Wilf bolted for the front door. His shoes crunched on the broken glass. He jerked open the door and the bell gave a traitorous jingle. He shot out of the store and back into their living quarters. He barged into the kitchen.
“What happened?” Myra asked, putting down the bread knife.
He threw himself onto a chair, poured cornflakes and milk into a bowl, and shoveled a spoonful into his mouth.
“Wilf,” Myra said, taking on the adult tone she’d started using two years ago, when she’d turned eighteen. “I take it you didn’t find your card in the store.”
“It wasn’t me,” he mumbled through his mouthful of cereal. “But I’ll be blamed. Tell him I was here, having breakfast.”
“Why am I covering for you again?” She folded her arms and tried to look more imposing than her five-foot, two-inch height would allow.
Wilf’s spoon leaped from his hand and splashed into the bowl with the first heavy footstep on the stairs. The faucet stopped dripping and the clock held its next tick. The small kitchen in the Gilvarys’ Hong Kong apartment held its breath.
The kitchen door flew open, and revealed his father, shaking with rage. After a moment, Reginald thrust his hands into his pants pockets.
“You’ve shattered the Mages Crystal.” His lips formed a thin line on his angular face. “It’s been in our family for generations.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Carolyn Lyall was born in Stockton-On-Tees, United Kingdom. As a child Carolyn growing up in Northern England in the sixties Carolyn loved sports, reading and amateur dramatics. She joined a renaissance group, practiced the broadsword and dreamed of visiting other worlds. Her
passion for what could be drove her forward when faced with everyday struggles. Her first memorable skirmish with gender inequality came at nine-years old when she was told that only boys were allowed to play soccer. In response, she simply refused to do any classwork until
they changed their old-fashioned policies. She won that battle.
At the age of 18, she took a role as typist for a nursing school in Middlesbrough. She then moved to London and enrolled in night school. She was quickly recognized for her ability to fit in anywhere and for not being afraid to push back on the predominantly male leadership. She
eventually became a project manager in software development and micro-computers, bridging the gap between computer programmers and management.
Her dream to travel was finally realized in 1990 when she moved to New York City, USA with her husband and the first of three sons. This was the steppingstone to a lifelong adventure that has taken her and her family to India, Belgium and Hong Kong.
Raising her family in multiple countries around the world, she saw that each move, while a shock, was an opportunity for her sons to redefine themselves against new challenges and different cultural norms. Now, that her sons have left home, Carolyn has used her passion for
the fantastic to create a world where every day gender inequalities are at the forefront of a world ending conflict. She shares this story through the eyes of a young man who is suddenly thrust into this new world along with all of his own woes and prejudices. The introduction to this world
is in Carolyn’s debut YA fantasy novel, “The Virus of Beauty,” due to be released July 31, 2019 under C B Lyall.
Carolyn has published two short stories in an annual anthology by 25 Servings of Soop. She wrote a number of articles for the American Women’s Associates Magazine. Fueled by her love of the works of Terry Pratchett, Sarah J Maas, Cassandra Clare, Brandon Sanderson and
others, Carolyn has completed a number of writing courses, which included a Master Fantasy/Science Fiction writers course with Gotham Writers’ Workshop, a YA Voice class and Advance Novel Writing course at Sarah Lawrence College’s Writing Institute.
Website: cblyall.com
Facebook: @CarolynBLyall
Twitter: @cblyall
Instagram: @carolynlyall
Amazon buy link:
Book 1: https://www.amazon.com/Virus-Beauty-Book-1-ebook/dp/B08NF1L94T/ref=sr_1_1
Book 2: https://www.amazon.com/Veil-Corruption-Virus-Beauty-Book-ebook/dp/B08LW57DXQ/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2QEJZOZM75KKV
Book 3: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09WZJ18R5?notRedirectToSDP=1&ref_=dbs_mng_calw_2&storeType=ebooks
Series Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08NGNYQL3?ref_=dbs_p_mng_rwt_ser_shvlr&storeType=ebooks
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RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY
One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card.
Enter to win a $50 Amazon/BN GC – a Rafflecopter giveaway
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C.A. Milson 