Category Archives: Book Tour
VBT – MILLENNIAL MONEY QUEENS
Millennial Money Queens
by Maria Alcantara
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GENRE: Personal Finance for Women
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NOTE: The book is on sale for only $0.99.
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BLURB:
The ultimate personal finance guide for millennial ladies, finally live your dream life, banish debt, make more money and create true wealth.
Millennial Money Queens brings millennial women the crucial financial education and life-changing mindset training needed to succeed. Maria shares her decade-long experience along with top financial and psychology insights to empower you to live your dream life. Master your money mindset, start your dream business and invest like a pro.
In this book, Maria starts by giving your money mindset a makeover! We all operate according to belief blueprints we’ve inherited and developed, what she calls the money in our mind. Travel through time and learn how the blueprints for wealth and poverty were created and how they trickled through millennia all the way to our present society. During her career, Maria quickly noticed how some people could have astronomical sums of money and still feel poor, while others could create wealth time and time again while feeling like they were living their dream lives, sharing their fortunes, growing their riches and supporting the causes that mattered to them. They are vibrant, accomplished, healthy and wealthy individuals in every way. The first step to master money is to adopt their blueprint, which Maria has broken down into easy and clear steps, the cornerstones you need to finally have a solid foundation for financial freedom for the rest of your life.
Once your unshakable financial blueprint is in place, it’s time to get to work with the money in our world. The first step is to stop for most millennial women is to stop spending their well-earned money on debt, whether it is student loans or credit cards, the majority of millennial women spend extravagantly on interest payments. Maria shares the best proven strategy for millennial ladies to stop this money leak. Once your debt is in control, learn where else in your life there may be money leaks and how you can make the most of the current expenses we all have so you can live your desired lifestyle, this is the new way to budget. Whether it is in housing and moving to your dream home, transportation and driving your dream car or personal spending and funding your shopping sprees or trips to exotic destinations, learn about smart and conscious spending to truly live like a money queen. Spending is only a part of the money equation, to increase our wealth, we need to increase our income. We all have something unique to share with the world, Maria shares her secret process to help you find out what your superpower is that will allow you to build your million-dollar dream business. It’s time for millennial women to step into their power, to lead in entrepreneurship and create amazing organizations that will contribute to making our world a better place. With the access to technology and the education many of us have and can continue to gain, the sky’s the limit to what we can create! The final step is learning the money magic that will allow your wealth to grow exponentially. Investing has so far been kept out of reach for many millennial women who believed they weren’t ready to begin investing, who couldn’t afford the professional fees and who continuously postponed creating their portfolios, this ends now. Learn the best strategies to invest like a pro without the exorbitant fees and or the professional knowledge needed to succeed in the markets.
The truth is that many of us are actively keeping wealth away from us with limiting beliefs about ourselves and money and we are lacking the financial education and tools we need to create our wealth. This will no longer be your reality, once you read this book, you will be fully equipped with knowledge, secrets, tips and strategies you need to finally master money and live your dream life. With captivating stories of real millennial women, so you can learn from their journey and timeless wisdom from humanity’s greatest minds, you are in for a life-changing transformation. Maria believes that the true power in knowledge is in its application, so to help you embody the concepts and make the most of all the opportunities the knowledge in this book will give you, Every chapter includes a money queen move to help you put into action all the invaluable information that is being shared. It’s your time to shine and become a millennial money queen.
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EXCERPT
Social media has the magic of being able to connect people worldwide, but it also has created a very insidious culture of idolizing money. Especially for a generation who is so far going down in modern history as one of the worst with money, especially us ladies. This book’s mission is to change that and instead to empower our generation with the financial literacy it so urgently needs.
Financial wellness today has a lot less to do with where you were born or how smart you are and a lot more with what education you receive and how you behave with money. So far, the financial education you’ve received is slim to none, and so, your money life is in shambles. That changes now.
Any of these RKOI kids can blow their money just as any millennial woman who is given proper financial skills can understand money, make it work for them and become a zillionaire, self-made, amigas. Get ready for your money makeover.
If you want to become a millionaire but think it can’t happen for you unless you win the lottery or marry rich, think again. Making money, getting out of debt and growing a fortune is based on a few simple principles you are about to learn.
Applying these principles leads to stories like the secretaries Grace Groner and Sylvia Bloom who died with massive multi-million-dollar estates. Ignoring them leads to stories of boom and bust like Kim Basinger, who, despite living with crippling anxiety, won multiple academy awards and still had to file for bankruptcy.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Maria Alcantara is the founder of Millennial Money Queens, a leading financial empowerment movement for millennial women worldwide.
She is a chartered investment manager and money coach with over ten years of financial insights experience working with high-net-worth individuals to manage and grow their wealth. After a decade devoted to mastering money, she realized the gap existing between young women and financial education.
Deeply touched by the current state of millennial women’s finances, where many have fallen into debt, are unable to create inspiring opportunities for themselves and their communities, and are suffering financially, emotionally, mentally and spiritually, Maria created Millennial Money Queens to create a much needed shift. After working with millennial clients and friends, she expanded her method to impact a whole generation, our younger sisters and our descendants. She specializes in using behavioural economics and finance to help women achieve financial literacy, freedom and independence. The results are life-changing, with the right financial and psychological preparation, young women are finally able to create purpose, independence and the confidence to live fulfilled lives.
Born and raised in Brazil, Maria witnessed the polarity of money. She vowed at a young age to make a difference in the world. During her childhood, her family moved to Canada where she studied economics, psychology and finance. She started out with big dreams like saving the rainforests of the world and creating animal-assisted therapy programs. The defining moment happened when she was not able to get funding to make those projects come to life. Feeling discouraged and powerless was a huge catalyst. Sometimes in our lives, our temporary defeats hold our most precious gems, Maria decided to master money so that she could personally fund all the projects that were important to her and reflected her values of sustainability, health, welfare and abundance for all.
Thus she embarked on a journey to understand the financial world. She worked in banking, brokerages and wealth management, carefully observing how people handled money differently and the effect it had on their overall life satisfaction. While money can’t buy happiness, the lack of can certainly create chaos in one’s life. She found this to be true most clearly with millennial women. With promising futures and careers ahead, the women she spoke with, read about and worked with all shared tremendous baggage of feeling insecure when it came to money. While many millennial women are incredibly well educated, many are uncomfortable discussing money, including negotiating their hard-earned salary and requesting equal pay. Maria dove deeply into the history of women and money and found that outdated societal beliefs widely held by both men and women still influence our behaviour today. In order to create lasting change, millennial women need to be the rising tide. It is our time to rise to our potential and pave the way for the younger generations. Financial literacy including both the psychological and external world perspectives of money are key to empowering women worldwide. That is Maria’s mission in creating the Millennial Money Queen movement.
Links
www.millennialmoneyqueens.com
https://www.facebook.com/millennialmoneyqueens
https://www.instagram.com/millennialmoneyqueens/
Book link
https://www.millennialmoneyqueens.com/products
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RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY
Maria Alcantara will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
RAFFLECOPTER:
VBT – MOONSHINE, MAGIC, AND MURDER
Moonshine, Magic, and Murder
by January Bain
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GENRE: Witchy cozy mystery
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BLURB:
Charm McCall has a proven track record for solving small-town mysteries, but can she figure out how to deal with a life event that threatens to harm the McCall clan…
Charm McCall is once more on the hunt to figure out why her cat has been seeing a ghost, why she’s been shown a treasure map by, gulp, a dead guy and why her Auntie T.J. has suddenly disappeared, bagpipes and all. That would be more than enough, but with the upcoming Sadie Hawkins dance and its accompanying promise bags to create and spell, to help her fellow Goddesses get their dearest wishes fulfilled, she’s about run off her feet. Not to mention that now it’s legal to sell marijuana in Canada, orders for pot brownies are spilling in and threatening to crash her online store.
Charm discovers she needs all the help she can get to deal with the arrival of her mother and the beyond painful host of problems that creates for her family, find her Auntie T.J. to save her hiney and discover who the real murderer is. That is, if she wants her romance with Snowy Lake’s sexy Mountie, Ace Collins, to have any hope of deepening…
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EXCERPT
“Careful! That box is already spelled! Anything could happen if you mix them up,” I shouted at my triplet Star, who was paying me no mind, just moving things haphazardly around as she ‘dusted’ the shelves of the Tea & Tarot café.
Star twitched her whole body into a pretend robot, her blonde curls bouncing when she dime-stopped her limbs in an abrupt series of motions. It was a lightning change of mood that had become far too common of late. I gave a deep sigh of frustration I didn’t bother to hide. She’d been getting worse by the day, antsy no doubt for The Call. Darn movie people. Telling her she had a role, then delaying production.
“Oh, really.” Okay, she was good at the robot dance, I’d give her that, if a job ever asked for such a dubious ability. But that didn’t stop me from rushing forward to rescue the Promise Bags. They held the precious trinkets of all the females around town who were participating in the upcoming Sadie Hawkins dance. Each midnight blue velvet bag had been magically infused with a specific wish, ranging from a marriage proposal to a spa vacation. Mix up those babies and all Hades will break loose, because this year the items had been blessed under the decade’s most awesome supermoon.
Maybe that’s a bad idea? I chewed on a fingernail while I worried about going too far in my overwhelming urge to have my fellow goddesses receive their fair due from men who did not always appreciate them. Men could be so lame sometimes, not reading the signals right under their very noses, though that did not appear to be the case with our local Mountie, Ace Collins. He could be a little too astute at times. Goddess, give me the strength…
The emotive notes of a musical instrument native to Scotland, one that defied the noise ordinance of Snowy Lake, broke through my worry fog.
Auntie T.J.
I set the rescued box safely aside on a shelf and scurried toward the huge picture window of the Tea & Tarot café to where Tulip sat perched on a stool. The third triplet of our McCall clan, she was a matching bookend to Star, which made them both polar opposites to me with my Elizabeth Taylor-esque violet-colored eyes and dark hair. Or at least according to Granny Toogood, who loved her old movies.
Tulip was keyboarding as per usual on her computer, working either on her ongoing blog posts or selling our newly rolled out ‘potcakes’ to the Canadian masses. I sent a silent prayer to the goddess that the extra revenue the items were supposed to bring in happened. We’d invested in producing cannabutter to add to our spectacular line-up of bakery goods, and to think it might go to waste if the idea didn’t catch on induced serious heart palpitations. And that just isn’t right when a gal’s only twenty-one years old.
“Shoot! What’s Auntie T.J. up to now?”
“She only brings out the big guns when she feels threatened,” Tulip said. “See, Sergei McCausland.” She pointed at the business owner our auntie was serenading with her warmongering.
The town hound dog owned the Bowl-a-ram-a, the five-pin bowling alley tucked away at the outskirts of town, which was located a hop, skip and a jump from our café, Snowy Lake being so small with only twelve hundred and fifty-nine residents, that I could run across it quicker than I could be bothered to start up my Jeep, Thor.
Though that had been changing somewhat of late with the arrival of Constable Collins and his annoying active pursuit of law and order. Sheriff Winn Duffy was more beloved of course, having turned a blind eye for decades, but the new Mountie was gaining ground. Did I share that he’s a handsome devil?
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
January Bain has wished on every falling star, every blown-out birthday candle, and every coin thrown in a fountain to be a storyteller. To share the tales of high adventure, mysteries, and full-blown thrillers she has dreamed of all her life. The story you now have in your hands is the compilation of a lot of things manifesting itself for this special series. Hundreds of hours spent researching the unusual and the mundane have come together to create books that features strong women who live life to the fullest, wild adventures full of twists and unforeseen turns, and hot complicated men who aren’t afraid to take risks. She can only hope her stories will capture your imagination.
If you are looking for January Bain, you can find her hard at work every morning without fail in her office with her furry baby, Ling Ling. And, of course, she’s married to the most romantic man! Who once famously remarked to her inquiry about buying fresh flowers for their home every week, “Give me one good reason why not?” Leaving her speechless and knocking her head against the proverbial wall for being so darn foolish. She loves flowers.
If you wish to connect in the virtual world she is easily found on Facebook. Oh, and she loves to talk books…
Blog Address – http://januarybainjourney.blogspot.ca/
Twitter Name – https://twitter.com/JanuaryBain
Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/january.bain
Manitoba Tea & Tarot Mysteries page: https://www.facebook.com/CozyCharms
Any other social media –
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6437282.January_Bain
Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08Y91SN2B/
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RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY
January Bain will be awarding a $50 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
RAFFLECOPTER:
SHE’S THE ONE WHO CARES TOO MUCH
She’s the One Who Cares Too Much
(Book Two of the War Stories of the Seven Troublesome Sisters)
by S. R. Cronin
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GENRE: Historical Fantasy
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BLURB:
Coral, the second of seven sisters, has been hiding her affair with the perfect man until her older sister can get her life together. But the perfect man is getting impatient and now she’s gotten pregnant. Coral decides it’s time to consider her own happiness.
But what does she want? The perfect husband turns out to be less than ideal. She adores the small children she teaches but the idea of being a mother fills her with joy. Meanwhile, her homeland is gripped by fear of a Mongol invasion and she can’t stop crying about everything now that she’s with child.
Then a friend suggests the ever-caring Coral possesses a power well beyond what she or anyone else imagines. Does she? And why is the idea so appealing?
When Coral’s big sister loses faith in the army and decides to craft a way to use magic to save Ilari from the Mongols, she decides Coral’s formidable talent is what the realm needs. Can Coral raise a baby, placate an absent military husband who thinks he’s stopping the invasion, and help her sister save her homeland?
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EXCERPT:
The wedding was only four anks away, and I’d wondered where I’d live afterward. I could stay with my folks, though married women seldom did so. I hadn’t figured Davor would look for a solution but he arrived one morning to announce he’d found a house for me he liked.
We rode to it slowly, in consideration of my pregnancy and the morning sickness that now lasted all day. When ee reached the cottage in the late morning. I loved it as soon as I saw it. It was small, but with a big covered front porch and large trees well cared for by a previous owner. Davor had hired workers to fix it up, as it had been empty awhile, and he was having furniture made to go in it. Furniture for me.
“Best of all,” he said “it’s less than ten minutes ride to your school. Do you think some of the older students, or perhaps your youngest sisters, would watch the baby for you while you teach?”
“You don’t mind if I keep teaching after the baby is born?” This was far better news than I expected.
“Of course not. I won’t be around much; you won’t need to care for me. And I’ve heard you’re uncommonly good with the little ones. I’ll put in a word, let them know how strongly I feel about your getting to use your talents. I think if I twist a few arms…” he gave me that charming smile, “… they’ll let you teach until you near your time to have the baby. Then you can come back after he’s born, whenever you’re ready.”
Well. This made my decision easier. I’d once thought falling in love with a man would be the most important thing in my life, but it now appeared Davor and I didn’t have to love each other for me to get almost everything I wanted. My own house. My own baby. A husband almost everyone else adored. The rare chance to keep teaching after my child was born. And my time to spend as I pleased.
Did it matter that I already knew our marriage would be a sham? It didn’t, at least not nearly as much as I would have guessed.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Sherrie Cronin is the author of a collection of six speculative fiction novels known as 46. Ascending and is now in the process of publishing a historical fantasy series called The War Stories of the Seven Troublesome Sisters. A quick look at the synopses of her books makes it obvious she is fascinated by people achieving the astonishing by developing abilities they barely knew they had.
She’s made a lot of stops along the way to writing these novels. She’s lived in seven cities, visited forty-six countries, and worked as a waitress, technical writer, and geophysicist. Now she answers a hot-line. Along the way, she’s lost several cats but acquired a husband who still loves her and three kids who’ve grown up just fine, both despite how odd she is.
All her life she has wanted to either tell these kinds of stories or be Chief Science Officer on the Starship Enterprise. She now lives and writes in the mountains of Western North Carolina, where she admits to occasionally checking her phone for a message from Captain Picard, just in case.
Author Social Media Links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cinnabar01
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/46Ascending
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/5805814.Sherrie_Cronin
Amazon: www.amazon.com/Sherrie-Cronin/e/B007FRMO9Q
Author Blog: https://sherriecronin.xyz/
Book Series Blog: https://troublesome7sisters.xyz/
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RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY
S. R. Cronin will be awarding a $20 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
MIDNIGHT MASQUERADE
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.
Sophia is in trouble. Again.
Maybe it’s the masks. Maybe she needs to feel something other than regret. Whatever the reason, she is either daring… or foolish… when she trades places with another submissive, and ends up spending the night in her mysterious boss’s bed.
He doesn’t recognize her, but now she’s had him, she knows one taste of his dark love will never be enough.
Gabriel Ryan has one firm rule: don’t sleep with employees.
Even though he’s infuriated beyond measure to discover Sophia in his bed after a night of mind-blowing pleasure, she is now in his blood. He craves her. Needs her. Yearns for her surrender.
But she is forbidden. He will break her with his dark desires.
When Sophia’s dangerous past waltzes into his club, Gabriel must protect her. He must claim her. And break every single one of his rules to keep her safe.
Read an Excerpt
Son of a bitch!
She’d pulled it off again.
Gabriel Ryan surveyed the crowded scene at Eternal Eros, amazed by the transformation of his club. Tonight, it was decorated for the feast of May Day, with May Day poles stationed throughout the club. Great wreaths, and streamers bursting with colorful flowers were draped along balconies and overhead, transforming the black floors and walls into something bordering on ethereal. The patrons in attendance were fully invested, dressed in all manner of costumes from elegant to bawdy, with the added touch of masks, shielding their real personas, allowing them to transform themselves for the Masquerade Ball. In a few short months, his event coordinator, Sophia, had taken his club from great to the crème de la crème of nightclubs in Denver, catapulting it into the top hot spot in the city.
His bank account wept with joy.
There wasn’t much Gabe relished more than adding to his company’s sizable funds, the exception being finding a sub for the night, and losing himself in the pleasures of the flesh. Not that there had been much of that lately. There always seemed to be one task or another vying for his attention. Eternal Eros was one of many companies under the umbrella of RMD Industries, his family’s conglomerate enterprise that was the parent company for a plethora of businesses—including this club.
Thinking of his event coordinator, he smiled. The ballsy woman was half his size, smart as a whip, immensely creative, and didn’t back away from a fight, not to mention she was a stunning beauty, with one of the purest souls he had ever met.
It really was a shame she worked for him, because she stirred him with her direct gaze and take no prisoners attitude. But since she did, she was in the off-limits category. Gabe prided himself on his control. It was part and parcel of being a Master. In his opinion, a Dom who couldn’t manage his lust and baser instincts, was a piss poor excuse for a Dominant. It was why he followed a set of self-imposed rules he had established years ago.
Rule number one: he didn’t fuck his employees. Ever.
Mixing business with pleasure was simply bad business.
Rule number two: no falling in love. Gabe kept his heart to himself, no matter the scene or the submissive. Nothing good ever came from allowing your emotions to get in the way. It was why he kept his interactions with the opposite sex to the club or the private playroom in his penthouse, but he never allowed the women to spend the night, and didn’t permit them anywhere near his bedroom.
And rule number three: never lose control. A Master who couldn’t control himself and his responses in all things was a sad excuse for a Dom.
About the Author:
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Anya grew up listening to Cardinals baseball and reading anything she could get her hands on. She remembers her mother saying if only she would read the right type of books instead binging her way through the romance aisles at the bookstore, she’d have been a doctor. While Anya never did get that doctorate, she graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri-St. Louis with an M.A. in History.
Anya is a bestselling and award-winning author published in multiple fiction genres. She also writes urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and contemporary romance under the name Maggie Mae Gallagher. A total geek at her core, when she is not writing, she adores attending the latest comic con or spending time with her family. She currently lives in the Midwest with her two furry felines.
Website: http://www.anyasummers.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AnyaSummersAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/anyabsummers
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15183606.Anya_Summers
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Anya-Summers/e/B01EGTVRKC/
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/anya-summers
Instagram: Anya Summers Author
Newsletter: https://anyasummers.com/newsletter/
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2MSosG4
Nook: http://bit.ly/3e0yf8e
Kobo: http://bit.ly/389cG1p
Apple: http://apple.co/30bEOga
Universal: https://books2read.com/u/me7vDl
Anya Summers will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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BLOOD OF THE DRAGONFLY
Blood of the Dragonfly
by Hawk MacKinney
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GENRE: Fiction/Mystery/Suspense
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BLURB:
While dangling a fishing hook from his flat bottom skiff before dawn, former SEAL-turned-PI Craige Ingram spots grey-black smoke coiling above the treetops across the river in the direction of the Georgia bayous and Corpsewood Manor. Bayou or bogs, fire in the uncut cypress and pines bodes a sense that the river is no barrier to the fire that threatens his ancestral home, Moccasin Hollow. Neither are the bodies later found in the burned mansion of Corpsewood Manor. Craige wastes no time in helping his ex-SEAL buddy Lt. Graysen MacGerald who is now Head of Buckingham Homicide Investigations by unofficially investigating the bodies and an exquisite dragonfly brooch found in the mansion with a reputation for evil, hauntings, and mystery.
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EXCERPT
“How many times you got to be told to stay away from this place?” Clenched fist, a threatening stomp through the ashes and rubble of Corpsewood toward Kenyon, was no bluff.
Kenyon said, “Ain’t got no other place ‘cept them leaky sheds behind the garage. Least before the fire, I had a place to sleep. Got kicked out of my other place.”
“I’ll just bet they let your sweet cheeks sleepover. You’re just the kind of meat they liked to sucker in.”
“Now I got no place, an’ nights are gettin’ colder.”
“Get a job. Quit blowing your money, and you’d have a place of your own. They the ones that hooked you on crystal?”
Kenyon whined, “I told you. I don’t do drugs.”
Steady raven-black gaze, “Cut the crap. Ever’body’s heard all your stories. Out’a your mouth never been nothing but pity-me mewling.” Between a snarl and a chuckle, “I suppose you never done meth, push crank up your nose—whatever’s on the streets to stoke in your arms.” Glanced at the needle tracks on both arms, “Or running out’a veins in your arms and using the ones in your ankles. Wash your stringy, greasy hair; take a bath, stop acting like some mangy animal.”
“I don’t snort crystal or Nazi dope,” Kenyon griped. “You’re like ever’body else, judging someone by the way we live.”
“I don’t care what you’re on, but anyone fool enough to supply you is askin’ for trouble if that goddamn homicide Lieutenant MacGerald starts nosing around, asking questions. And his friggin’ PI SEAL mate Ingram helpin’ him is worse.”
Kenyon wiped his nose across the grimy grunge sleeve of his jacket. “If you hadn’t torched the house, I’d still have me a place.”
Knotted a fist in Kenyon’s jacket, “Buttin’ into stuff that don’t concern you ain’t good for your health. I ain’t telling you again. I didn’t start no fire. I don’t know who did, but if I find out, they won’t be startin’ no more fires.”
Kenyon squinched his face, “Ever’body always puts the blame on me.” Didn’t want no cops finding out he’d done a couple of torch-for-insurance.
Yanked Kenyon eyeball to eyeball closer, “Don’t give me shit, and don’t make trouble. Get your ass off from around Corpsewood Manor, and don’t let me catch you around here again.” Shoved Kenyon backwards against charred support beams.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Hawk MacKinney began writing mysteries for his school newspaper, served in the US Navy for over 20 years, earned two postgraduate degrees with studies in languages and history, taught postgraduate courses in the United States and Jerusalem, authored professional articles and chordate embryology texts on fetal and adult anatomy, and is well known for his works of fiction. Moccasin Trace, a historical novel, was nominated for the prestigious Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes Book Award. Both his CAIRNS OF SANCTUARIE science fiction series and the MOCCASIN HOLLOW MYSTERY series have received worldwide recognition.
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/698008.Hawk_MacKinney
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RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY
Hawk MacKinney will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Enter to win a $20 Amazon/BN GC – a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Thanks for being my guest. Tell us about you as a person.
Nothing earth-shaking. What makes this writer me is how fortunate I was to have lived a childhood and teen years west of the Mississippi on the sprawling unfenced domains of parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, in-laws and outlaws. I was alone but never lonely. There were horses which I rode bareback, a rope halter, no bridle or bit, the saddle left in the barn. One of my favorite memories is of me on my favorite quarter horse with the dogs, waiting for the late afternoon belching-steam engine ramming its long freight along the track, screaking as it highballed through the creek valley. Till my last days, there will remain a harkening in my train-foamer soul for the steam whistle undulating its greeting to me with a big wave from the engineer. It’s a liberty of the free spirit and a refreshing of the soul that no crowded city, credit card or possession can ever achieve.
If you could hang out with one famous person for one day, who would it be and why?
The program Director/Publisher of NOVA. It would be such a great opportunity to delve into the mind of this person and find out how they come up with their ideas.
What’s the story behind your latest book?
A blackened set of ruins, anonymous corpses, missing crime reports, designer jewelry mixed with plots and double twists. It is loosely based on a true crime.
What is your writing process?
I write best in my study. No windows, NO music. Editing is the opposite…the hammer-and-screwdriver of cleaning up/deleting junk can be done anywhere, but preferably in the study.
Tell us about your main character/fiction
Many of the characters in the Moccasin Hollow Mystery Series are serial characters. The main character, Craige Ingram, is a Navy Seal no longer on active duty, currently a parttime PI. Having inherited his Grannie’s ancestral Moccasin Hollow land and home on the South Carolina side of the Savanno River—the Isondiga River named for the Isondiga tribe—Craige is comfortable within his Moccasin Hollow home, and he picks and chooses cases that suit him.
If your book was to be turned into a movie, who would play the lead role and why.
Eric Christian Olsen – he can fill out the characters who are rough around edges, and know the rules but inch over the edge when necessary. But he can go tender with those he cares about.
What are you working on next?
Book 6 of the Moccasin Hollow Mystery Series is in final edit(s). This story is about the unpredictable world of the psychopath who knows the rules but lives by his or her own rules. Seemingly well-adjusted, this is one of the most dangerous personalities that lurks in the emotional crevasses of our killer-ape brains.
What advice do you have for other writers who want to get the word out about their book?
If you like to write, write. Hunt-and-seek good members for your marketing team. Follow honesty and trust. They’re golden. Ignored the sour apples of jealous…never take their numb-brained bitterness for genuineness – it’s not. Don’t be afraid to market outside of the box. Be innovative.
What is your favorite book on your shelf right now?
The Grammar and Vocabulary of Ancient Hieroglyphs…800 thin fine-print oversized pages. I have only managed the first 10pp. Still working at it –
Do you have any special/extraordinary talents?
Perhaps not taking myself too seriously. I don’t let being published be the glory of existence and let it go to my head from the wrong end of Mother Nature’s anatomy.
You are given the choice of one superpower. What superpower would you have and why?
An unending supply of inner patience – it can solve issues before they become problems.
List 5 things on your bucket list:
- Living long enough to put to write the books from all the notes across my cross-genre drafts
- Having a stable with a couple of mixed-blood quarter horses – along with the dogs
- Remodeling my fishing cabin and living (wild dream) with no phone
- Having time to edit the 2 working drafts in my sci-fi series
- Getting me a used pick’em-up truck
Where can readers find you on the web?
Any final thoughts?
None of them copyrighted…yet.
Hawk MacKinney
www.hawkmackinneyauthor.com
THE PLACE BEYOND HER DREAMS
The Place Beyond Her Dreams
by Oby Aligwekwe
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GENRE: YA, Fantasy (Black & African American Fantasy Fiction)
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BLURB:
“We are most courageous at our weakest; when we believe we have faced what we fear the most and have nothing more to lose.”
At the sudden death of her grandfather, Ona’s pain transports her to mystical Luenah—a place of infinite possibilities, free of turf wars and other ills that plague the earthly dimension she lives in. In Luenah, where her grandfather awaits her, Ona learns she is an Eri, one bestowed with unique intuitive and spiritual gifts passed down from generation-to-generation.
On her eighteenth birthday, she returns to Luenah and is handed a box to deposit her ‘exchange’ for love and happiness—her great desires.
Burdened by her quest, Ona crosses paths with danger and heartbreak as the two men that love her dearly are viciously pitted against each other. As evil looms, she learns that dreams carry a hefty price, and no one is who they seem. Now, she must unmask the villain and save the one she loves, even at the risk of losing everything she holds dear.
Set against the backdrop of two warring towns, Oby Aligwekwe’s Young Adult debut—told from the viewpoint of her main character—is inspired by her West African heritage, fables, and spiritual beliefs. Ona’s journey reveals the power of choice, the true source of happiness, and, most importantly, the transformation one must go through to realize and eventually occupy their purpose.
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EXCERPT
Amidst all that chaos, Okem lifted me with both hands and walked in the direction of the house. Everyone stared at us in amazement. Okem had grown from the scrawny child that came to live
with us a few years back to a strong teenager. I couldn’t believe it was the same person who had irritated me so much the first time I met him that sacrificed his own life to save me.
**************
Before long, Okem became my greatest friend, brother, and teacher. My grandmother sent Okem to the community secondary school in Ntebe, and I moved away from home to attend the private co-ed in Ajidi, the big city. Okem’s school wasn’t highly ranked, but it was relatively good. It had produced some high caliber individuals that went on to become successful leaders in the community. In contrast, my school was one of the highest-ranked schools in Ajidi. It was reserved for the brightest and the most privileged pupils—the children of the rich, and top government officials.
Despite the differences in our upbringing, Okem and I treated each other as equals. I wished I could see him every day I was in school. Unfortunately, that luxury was left for the holidays and once a term when he came along with my grandmother on visiting days. On those special occasions, Okem dressed in his Sunday best and wore his hair in a different hairstyle each time to impress me—whatever was in style that season. The haircuts always had a name —“pompadour” or “high top fade,” or “mohawk.” It was always something funny. I could sense his excitement whenever he showed them off. Those occasions were the most memorable of my stay in boarding school.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Oby Aligwekwe is the author of Nfudu and Hazel House. The Place Beyond Her Dreams is her Young Adult debut.
Oby’s first novel, Nfudu, a romance set in 1960’s Paris, received critical acclaim and was featured in publications such as Excellence Magazine and Mosaic Editions. Her second novel, Hazel House, paints a vivid portrait of how the needs of humans collide amidst intense desire and the quest for power. In her Young Adult debut, The Place Beyond Her Dreams, the protagonist Ona goes on a transformative journey to discover her purpose.
A talented writer, Oby is also an inspirational speaker and a chartered accountant. She lives in Oakville, Ontario, with her family and supports her community through her charity Éclat Beginnings.
When Oby is not working on her day job or whipping up stories, she enjoys traveling to exotic locations and bringing pieces of her travel with her. She lives in Oakville, Ontario, with her family and supports her community through her charity Éclat Beginnings.
Amazon author page URL – https://www.amazon.com/Oby-Aligwekwe/e/B076G1J4YC?ref_=dbs_p_ebk_r00_abau_000000
Barnes and Noble Author URL – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Oby%20Aligwekwe%22?Ntk=P_key_Contributor_List&Ns=P_Sales_Rank&Ntx=mode+matchall
BN Buy Link https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-place-beyond-her-dreams-oby-aligwekwe/1138601469
Amazon Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08SLPGCFP/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
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RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY
One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card.
NIGHT TO DAWN 39
Night to Dawn 39
by Barbara Custer
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GENRE: Dark Fantasy
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BLURB:
The apocalypse of the movie screen and the printed page has become a reality. A microbe threatens humanity, making Corona seem like the common cold. Innocents die to appease young and hungry gods. A doctor feeds the souls of his patients to a demon. Featuring Marge Simon, Lee Clark Zumpe, Margaret L. Carter, Rod Marsden, Matthew Wilson, and other authors.
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EXCERPT:
Excerpt from Kevin R. Doyle’s “Why is?”
She’s (notice I don’t address her by name, seeing as I have no clue where she came from, let alone her name) spending more and more time out on the enclosed patio these days, while I barely stir from my old rocking chair, all the way across the living room, which has two large doors that open out onto the patio.
In the more normal past, those doors usually stayed shut. With the shoreline only a hundred yards away, all manner of dirt and critters could have invaded the house. But then, as the news got progressively worse, and the lockdowns and quarantines which began in Europe started marching across the globe, Roger went to the trouble and expense of installing the large, transparent plexiglass shell that completely encloses the patio. We got into the habit of throwing open the doors, which gave the illusion of a wide-open space throughout the house.
Minus the invasion of critters.
It seemed a good idea at the time, and Roger installed the material even before the majority of government mandates on how best to combat the scourge. But we didn’t realize that things would stay so permanent, and shortly before he passed away, Roger grumbled at the fact that the once-clear barrier had begun to dull and darken.
Even when I stand right up against it, as I occasionally still do, my old eyes can’t see much besides murk. But if I listen as hard as I can, and there’s no other sound, I can sometimes hear the surf crashing against the shore.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Barbara lives near Phila., PA, retired from her job as a respiratory therapist. Nowadays, she chases Mylar balloons at the supermarket, enjoys a fright flick, or works on horror and science fiction tales. Many of her short stories have appeared in numerous small press magazines. She’s been editor of Night to Dawn Magazine since 2004.
Books by Barbara include When Blood Reigns, Twilight Healer, The Forgotten People, Steel Rose, City of Brotherly Death, Close Liaisons, and Life Raft: Earth. She enjoys bringing her medical background to the printed page and then blending it with supernatural horror. She maintains a presence on Facebook, Twitter, and The Writers Coffeehouse forum. Look for the photos with the Mylar balloons, and you’ll find Barbara.
Website: www.bloodredshadow.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/barbara.custer
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NighttoDawn1
Amazon Buy Link: – https://www.amazon.com/Night-Dawn-39-Barbara-Custer/dp/1937769674/ref=sr_1_1
BN Buy Link: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/night-to-dawn-39-barbara-custer/1138692108
Doylestown Bookshop: https://www.doylestownbookshop.com/book/9781937769673
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RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY
Barbara Custer will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
VBT – COMPANY ASSASSIN
Company Assassin
by Claudia Blood
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GENRE: Fantasy
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BLURB:
It’s Duff Roman’s eighteenth birthday, but no one is lighting candles.
Turning eighteen in the orphanage on Kalecca means starvation for those who aren’t hired into a Family. Outside the Family compounds lies the jungle. And in the jungle lies death. And Relics—the only real currency on Planet Kalecca.
The orphans are Duff’s family, and he’s sacrificed everything to keep the orphanage running, even his chance to move on. Now, at eighteen, he has no choice but to leave. Without him to bring in extra money, the orphans will starve under the Company’s control. Duff’s only chance to save them is to find a spot on an independent crew and hopefully find a Relic to sell.
A seemingly chance encounter with Z, leader of the most feared independent crew, offers Duff his opportunity to score a Relic. And offers Z a chance to relieve the guilt he feels over his past.
But a company assassin has plans to lay waste to Duff’s future, and the orphanage as well.
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EXCERPT
Matilda from Chapter 4
Matilda sat at the table and threaded the needle. The demon alarm still buzzed in the background. She’d given the kids their assignments and tried to act as normal as possible. She didn’t want them worried about Duff or the demons since even the orphanage had company supplied protections. As long as they stayed in the orphanage, they should be fine.
Miss CuddleBug, Sheila’s doll, needed some surgery. Usually this sort of activity would calm Matilda. She checked her nails and saw the distinctive purple at the base that meant her nanites were activated. She took a deep breath and used the mantras her father had taught her.
Peace is within my reach.
Breathe and breathe again.
“Will Miss CuddleBug be well?” Sheila stood on her tip-toes to see her dolly on the table.
“I’ll get her fixed up.” Matilda stroked Sheila’s hair. Sheila’s complexion grayed. Matilda snatched her hand back. She had to be careful with the little ones when she was this worked up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Claudia Blood’s early introduction to Dungeons and Dragons, combined with her training as a scientist and a side trip into the world of IT set her up to become an award-winning author of Science Fiction and Fantasy.
For her latest release, visit her at http://www.ClaudiaBlood.com
LINKS:
www.ClaudiaBlood.com
facebook.com/AuthorClaudiaBlood
http://bit.ly/ClaudiasAdventurersFB
twitter.com/AuthorClauBlood
instagram.com/authorclaudiablood
Short Story give away for newsletter sign up
https://dl.bookfunnel.com/knyz61msub
BUY links for Trilogy
https://books2read.com/CompanyAssassin
https://books2read.com/HorizonFound
https://books2read.com/TimeRift
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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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you ever wish you were someone else? Who?
I have always wanted to be a dragon. I know it sounds funny, but with that change you are almost guaranteed to be in a world with magic and possibilities.
The best part would be to camouflage myself and people watch. I bet I could make a great chai latte with my flame.
What did you do on your last birthday?
In my house, my hubby’s, my birthday, and our anniversary are a couple weeks apart. So we tend to have them all celebrated together. This last year was not a year that I woke up with a card from my hubby, but I had forgotten to get one for him. Awkward. (That was the year before)
What part of the writing process do you dread?
The part that is the hardest is the editing. When you start your story can be literally anything, but when you edit you have to pick THE story to tell.
For dread, It’s more a dread and hope mix and that’s when I’m sending a book to a beta reader. That inner critic comes out with a megaphone and sirens, but I want the reader to like it.
Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?
Yes. I have suffered writer’s block. It honestly took me a while to figure out I was blocked. I remember one time I had binge read eight books in a weekend. So – if dusting is done or my TBR is smaller in one go, I’m blocked.
I have writing buddies that I call and we talk. It helps to “what if” or even just try to vocalize why whatever I’m working on just isn’t working. If I’m lucky, I have an “ah ha” moment. If not, then I have to either walk the dog, or write a journal entry in a character’s POV.
Or I switch to one of the other projects I’m working on. I think sometimes my subconscious just needs some alone time with the problem.
Tell us about your latest release.
I’m in the middle of releasing a Trilogy. The first book came out on January, 15th. The next book will go live on Feb, 15.
The tagline is: Time is coming apart at the seams.
This series was inspired by a dream about the second book.
The scene opened with a team hacking through the jungle and uncovering this ancient ruin. They were desperately looking for Relics. (whatever that was)
Then inside was an alien machine. Rocks and dust fell down on them as they moved into the room. They put a silver pocket watch on a platform and turned the machine on.
Lights and electricity coalesced on a platform and the whole structure shook. But they stayed inside because they were desperate for one of these Relics.
What appeared on the platform? An ’80’s aerobic instructor who had been pulled forward in time. She was even wearing leg warmers!
I thought wow, I have to figure out what happened!
The first book is about Duff Roman and his desire to save the kids he had to leave behind in the orphanage.
There’s a jungle with monsters, ex-assassins, an obsessed CEO, and secrets.
