LASR Anniversary Scavenger Hunt: Astraeus by Haley Cavanagh


Thanks for joining us on our 12th anniversary scavenger hunt! There are two ways to enter to win and it’s easy to play– first read the blurb below, then answer the question on the first Rafflecopter. You might win a $100 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC. Follow and visit authors social media pages on the second rafflecopter and you’re entered to win another $100 Amazon/BN GC!

One pre-apocalyptic Earth. One desperate space mission to find a solution. One unexpected alien.

When Dr. Sakota Thorell signed onto the mission to scout out a new, habitable planet, she knew discovering extraterrestrial life was always a possibility. But she never expected to find an alien adrift in space, nor for that alien to be so intriguing. Sakota feels an instant and undeniable attraction to Astraeus, but he represents a million possibilities, and just as many threats.

There are others hunting Astraeus, and his rescue may cost Earth its last hope.

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LASR Anniversary Scavenger Hunt: Soul Dark by E. L. Reedy and A. M. Wade


Thanks for joining us on our 12th anniversary scavenger hunt! There are two ways to enter to win and it’s easy to play– first read the blurb below, then answer the question on the first Rafflecopter. You might win a $100 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC. Follow and visit authors social media pages on the second rafflecopter and you’re entered to win another $100 Amazon/BN GC!

War is coming between Lukas’ Goddess and an ancient Demon Lord. But the death of his parents shakes his faith, and with the loss of his remaining family it is shattered. Blinded by rage, Lukas turns away from his friends and trains under a deceptive, yet formidable master to hone his magic and prevent the demon’s final objective–obliteration of all life on earth.

​​War begins! A forged weapon, Lukas rejoins his friends and sets after the Demon King. From a hidden crypt, where evil lies waiting, to the Iowa countryside, they battle to prevent the end of all they know. Lukas must overcome his doubts and allow the Light to work through him–to defeat both the foe of his Goddess and a new more familiar one.

​Soul Dark: Chosen is a coming of age tale in the modern-day world when a war between ancient deities and demons culminates in a winner-takes-all battle that could determine the fate of all mankind.

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LASR Anniversary Scavenger Hunt: A Damsel in Shiny Armor by Barbara Russell


Thanks for joining us on our 12th anniversary scavenger hunt! There are two ways to enter to win and it’s easy to play– first read the blurb below, then answer the question on the first Rafflecopter. You might win a $100 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC. Follow and visit authors social media pages on the second rafflecopter and you’re entered to win another $100 Amazon/BN GC!

After fighting dragons, wild Vikings, and clockwork monsters, Nathair is facing the biggest challenge of his life: proposing to Bryhannon. Apparently, flowers and a three-month salary worth ring aren’t enough because she doesn’t seem thrilled by the proposal. She has a devastating power to control, Reapers to face, and more importantly she has to find the courage to tell Nathair that she’s a Morrigan.

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One of Two by S.R. Cronin – Exclusive Excerpt and Giveaway


This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. S.R. Cronin will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC and a kindle copy of another book from the 46. Ascending collection (winner’s choice) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Telepathy creates as many problems as it solves, as everyone in the secret organization x0 would admit. When new member Lola discovers another group of telepaths with a totally different approach, those problems multiply at the speed of thought.

Soon, Lola’s family and friends are in danger. Lucky for her, she’s not your average budding psychic. Each person she is close to has a special gift of their own. That’s good, because it’s going to take every power they possess to stop these others from tearing apart x0.

Enjoy an Exclusive Excerpt

When the whimpering woke Lola a few hours later, she assumed someone was hurt. She scanned the household for anyone in trouble. Family and guests were all in deep sleep, but Lola could feel sorrow, fear, and rage, roiling around in an unintelligible mélange of agony. She sat up with a start.

“We have an intruder.” She shook Alex to wake him.

“It’s probably the cat.”

“The cat died a year ago. It better not be the cat!” She paused. “It’s coming from the front lawn, and it’s several people.”

She got out of bed, tiptoed into the hallway, and peaked around the dining room curtains. The first thing she saw was smoke. She rubbed her eyes awake and looked again. Either there had a been a freakish hail storm or there was dry ice laying on the front lawn. So it was mist she was seeing. Mist someone was creating. Why?

She squinted into it. A dozen people were on the lawn, dressed in grey cloaks, swaying and crouching in fear. Some were moaning in pain while others were grunting in anger. There was no obvious source of their troubles. Rather, it looked like an amateur acting workshop devoted to expressing negative emotions. Had this been staged to wake her and Maurice and make them afraid?

Alex came up behind her. As he looked out, a tall hooded man raised a dagger high above his own head and started to wail at the top of his lungs.

“What is this shit?”

“Maybe we should call 911,” Teddie’s voice was behind them.

“I wouldn’t, unless you think they’re going to hurt us,” Zane said. “This has got to be what Ariel saw. Something to make our family look eccentric.”

“Make us look eccentric? We’re not the ones dancing around on the lawn making strange noises.”

“How much do you want to bet that isn’t the way the story gets covered?”

“Maybe if we all go back to sleep they’ll get tired of this and go away,”

“The last thing we want is call more attention to them.”

They were all speaking at once. Lola looked through the window. “If they get loud enough, a neighbor will call the police. Then what?”

Zane nudged in beside his mother and studied the scene. The man with the dagger was waving it in the air, and his sounds were becoming shrieks. Several of the others began to screech too.

“I could go out and spray them with the garden hose,” Zane offered.

A lone, grey hooded figure emerged from the bushes carrying a tray holding a small, lifeless orange animal. The tray was laid in front of the dagger-holding shrieker as the four family members tried to get a good look at it through the mist.

“Please tell me that’s a dead chicken.”

“I wish. It looks more like the Nelson’s cat.” Lola said. “Hopefully only drugged.”

The groans and screeches began to coalesce into chanting. It was a little free form, but the gist seemed to involve begging the Zeitmans to come outside and accept their sacrifice.

“They want us to stop the murder of this pet, by appearing with them,” Zane said. “They’re trying to force us to engage in this nonsense.”

About the Author: Sherrie Roth grew up in Western Kansas thinking there was no place in the universe more fascinating than outer space. After her mother vetoed astronaut as a career ambition, she went on to study journalism and physics in hopes of becoming a science writer.

She published her first science fiction short story and then waited a lot of tables while she looked for inspiration for the next tale. When it finally came, it declared to her it had to be a whole book, nothing less. One night, while digesting this disturbing piece of news, she drank way too many shots of ouzo with her boyfriend. She woke up thirty-one years later demanding to know what was going on.

The boyfriend, who she had apparently long since married, asked her to calm down. He explained that, in a fit of practicality, she had gone back to school and gotten a degree in geophysics and had spent the last 28 years interpreting seismic data in the oil industry. The good news, according to Mr. Cronin, was she found it at least mildly entertaining and ridiculously well-paying. The bad news was the two of them had still managed to spend almost all of the money.

Apparently she was now Mrs. Cronin, and the further good news was they had produced three wonderful children whom they loved dearly, even though to be honest that is where a lot of the money had gone. Even better news was that Mr. Cronin turned out to be a warm-hearted, encouraging sort who was happy to see her awake and ready to write. “It’s about time,” were his exact words.

Sherrie Cronin discovered that over the ensuing decades Sally Ride had already managed to become the first woman in space and done a fine job of it. No one, however, had written the book that had been in Sherrie’s head for decades. The only problem was the book informed her it had grown into a six book collection. Sherrie decided she better start writing before it got any longer. She’s been wide awake ever since, and writing away.

Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon Author Page | 46 Ascending | Face Painting for World Peace | Fire Dancing for Fun and Profit | Treasure Hunting for a Good Time | Leaving the Nest to Touch the Sky | Touching the Sky to Save the World

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Why I’m Donating 100% of BENEVOLENT’s Proceeds to Random Acts by Erin A. Jensen – Guest Blog and Giveaway


This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Erin A. Jensen will be awarding $50 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Why I’m Donating 100% of BENEVOLENT’s Proceeds to Random Acts

In the three years it took me to write my first book, only a handful of people knew about it. When I finished, the thought of actually sharing it with the world was terrifying. What if it was garbage? Thankfully my husband convinced me to send it off to be professionally reviewed.

While most people in my life had no idea I’d written a book, I was quietly gaining a following on Twitter because that’s what the experts say you should do. When a follower asked when Book Two of my series would come out, I thought it was strange since Book One wasn’t out yet. I told her the first book would be out in the fall and I was still writing the second. She said she’d just finished reading Book One, to review it for the Manhattan Book Review, and she loved it so much she couldn’t wait for Book Two. That was the confidence boost I needed to share my first story with the world.

Full of self-doubt as I was back then, part of me couldn’t help fantasizing about my future success, and I always dreamed of donating a portion of what I earned to charity to help make this world a better place.

Three years later, Dream Waters had earned the bronze medal for fantasy fiction in the 2018 Readers’ Favorite Book Awards. It received Honorable Mention for fantasy fiction in the 2018 Writer’s Digest Self-published ebook Awards. My books had hit the top of Amazon’s Bestseller lists on multiple continents, and people came up to me all the time to ask when my next book would be out. But my earnings didn’t quite live up to the fantasy. I couldn’t even afford to quit my day job. So how could I use my gift to help make the world a better place?

I figured that out with the help of a socially awkward television angel. He inspired me to abandon the half-written fourth book in my series to write Benevolent. It all started when I sat down to write after watching an episode of Supernatural one night. I couldn’t get the show’s utterly endearing trench-coat-wearing angel out of my head. When something sticks in my brain like that, there’s usually a story there. Thinking maybe I’d write a future book about angels and demons, I pushed Book Four aside to search the internet and find out whether Castiel was an angel from the Bible. That online search took me down a winding path, to the Lost Books of the Bible and the story of the Watcher angels, then on to the actor who plays Castiel. I discovered Misha Collins is a real-life angel whose childhood experiences—with homelessness and the kindness of strangers—inspired him to become one of the most philanthropic individuals in Hollywood. Random Acts is the charity he co-founded.

My internet search eventually led to YouTube clips from Supernatural conventions. In one of them, Misha said fans often approach the actors at conventions to tell them Supernatural was the only thing that’d kept them going at a time when they thought about ending their life. In response to this, the Supernatural family Crisis Support Network was founded by Random Acts in partnership with other charities the show’s stars are involved with. Random Acts also funds many of the crisis responders’ training. In fact, Random Acts inspires and helps fund acts of kindness, both big and small, all over the world.

At first glance, my story about a Supernatural fan whose guardian angel appears to her in Castiel’s likeness—told from the main character’s deathbed perspective—weaves together lots of unrelated elements. So, let me connect the dots.

My angel research led to a website that said guardian angels are most active at the time of death, where they work to procure a peaceful death. This resonated with me because I’d sat at my grandfather’s bedside and held his hand while he took his last breath. That’s why I chose to tell the story from Abigail’s point-of-view at the end of her life, as she revisits the major moments. Those end-of-life scenes in Benevolent are heavily based on my experiences during my grandfather’s final days.

The fangirl element of the book was inspired by Misha’s story about Supernatural giving struggling souls something to hang onto. That resonated with me because television was my means of escape during a painful part of my young life.

Readers from all different stages of life have reached out to tell me how much they related to Benevolent’s main character. Younger readers see themselves in young Abigail, who felt isolated because she was bullied at school and took solace in watching Supernatural. Other readers saw themselves in Abigail as a young woman who made a few bad choices, because they’d taken a few questionable turns in their lives. Then there was the feedback I hadn’t expected from readers who’d lost a loved one. Two of them actually read Benevolent while a loved one was on hospice, and they said the story brought them a great deal of comfort. I can’t imagine any better compliment for my story to receive.

Although parts of Benevolent might bring readers to tears, the overall message is an uplifting celebration of life and kindness. Throughout the story, Abigail’s guardian angel assures her that she is precious and encourages her to seize every opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others.

As the idea for this story formed in my mind, I realized this book was my opportunity to make a difference in the world. So I took a year off from my Dream Waters series to write Benevolent, knowing I wanted to donate every penny of its proceeds to Random Acts. It seemed fitting, since the charity’s founder had inspired me to push everything aside and do my part to make this world a better place.

A story about the purpose of life, the healing power of fandom, and the resilience of the human spirit.

Tormented by the in-crowd at school on a daily basis, there were two things that gave fifteen-year-old Abigail Perkins the strength to keep going—her best friend, Danny Cobb; and her favorite television show, Supernatural. But the night Danny’s mother calls to say that his battle with cancer is nearing its end, and the doctors don’t expect him to live through the night, even Supernatural can’t dull the ache in her heart.

Devastated by her impending loss and crushed that Danny’s mother won’t allow her to visit him one last time, Abigail crawls into bed and cries herself to sleep that night; and she wakes to find Supernatural’s most endearing angel standing at the foot of her bed.

Told from Abigail’s perspective as she nears the end of her long life and revisits the moments that defined it, this story was inspired by the deep connection that Supernatural fans feel with the show’s beloved characters, and the show’s miraculous ability to help its fans through troubled times.

Enjoy an Excerpt

I shuffled across the room with a heavy heart, crawled into bed and cried myself to sleep, aching in the knowledge that I’d most likely wake in a world that my friend no longer inhabited.

That was the first night that he ever came to me in a dream.

“Would you like to say your goodbyes now, Abigail?” a male voice inquired from the foot of my bed.

A deep male voice—rousing me from sleep in the middle of the night—probably should’ve terrified me, but it didn’t because this man’s voice was a familiar comfort.

I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes, which was pointless since I was obviously still dreaming. There at the foot of my bed, stood my favorite television angel, dressed in a button-down shirt, crooked necktie, and that iconic trench coat of his. He was beautiful, flawless bone structure, stylishly mussed-up hair, and piercing blue eyes that looked far too wise to belong to this man at the peak of physical perfection.

I blinked my eyes a few times to reboot my senses, but he still stood there waiting for an answer. “Castiel?” I muttered in a groggy whisper, “Am I dreaming?”

He smiled at me with more compassion than I’d ever witnessed in any human set of eyes. “Yes. You are, but that doesn’t make this any less real.”

“I’ve lost my mind,” I muttered as my eyes filled with tears. “My best friend is dying and I’m sitting on my bed, talking to a fictional angel.”

His brilliant blue eyes brimmed with sorrow as he shook his head. “You are talking to a real angel. I chose this form because the fictional angel is a comfort to you.”

I blinked my eyes a few more times, expecting him to be gone each time my eyelids lifted. “What?”

His apologetic frown did nothing to detract from his beauty. “There isn’t much time to explain, Abigail. Danny is not long for this world, and I know how much he means to you. His mother is wrong to deny you the opportunity to say goodbye.”

“How would we get there?” I muttered, ignoring the way my heart ached at the angel’s words. If I focused on that pain, I would fall apart, this dream would morph into something nightmarish, and I’d lose this imaginary chance to see my friend one last time. “I’m pretty sure I’m not allowed to leave the house with strange men who slip into my bedroom in the middle of the night.”

“I’m not a man,” he whispered as he touched a hand to my foot.

The instant he touched me, my room melted away and I found myself sitting on Danny’s hospital bed.

My eyes filled with tears at the sight of all the tubes and wires connected to my friend’s brittle body. I looked up and felt comforted by the angel’s presence.

“He can hear you,” the angel standing beside the bed whispered.

“Danny,” I croaked as I slid closer to him, “it’s me, Abigail.”

About the Author: Erin Jensen is the Amazon International bestselling author of The Dream Waters Series. She was awarded the Bronze Medal for fantasy fiction in the 2018 Readers’ Favorite international book awards. She also received Honorable Mention for fantasy fiction in the 2018 Writer’s Digest self-published e-book awards. A part-time pharmacist and a full-time daydreamer, she resides in upstate New York with her ridiculously supportive husband, two teenage sons–who are both taller than her–and a Yorkshire terrier who thinks he’s the family bodyguard.

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Buy the book at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Random Acts.


Metrofloat New York by William Quincy Belle – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. William Quincy Belle will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC or PayPal cash to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

A Post-apocalyptic Sci-Fi thriller.

Several hundred years in the future, Earth is a different planet. Antigravity has been invented and “flying” has given way to “floating”: giant platforms with cities remain above the growing surface temperatures as enclaves of the privileged. A global pandemic has wiped out 80% of those on the ground, and a virulent, flesh-eating disease, necrofasc, has left most with artificial body parts. Insects are the main food staple. A utopia for some, a dystopia for others.

Metrofloat New York, a futuristic city of thirty million, is run by an oligarchy of five rich and powerful people. An unknown assassin, working from within the system, attempts to seize control and declare himself dictator by methodically removing all rivals. Detective Matthew Heart of the Metropolitan Police must deal with his partner, a cyborg policewoman, his unofficial family, a transgender woman and her one-legged daughter, and a mysterious assailant bent on taking over the world by killing anyone who stands in his way.

Enjoy an Excerpt:

A tiny noise came from his work area in the corner. Turning, he pointed the pistol in that direction, but it was difficult to see in the subdued light. He could feel his heart beating. Someone was here. Someone was waiting for the right moment.

As he stared into the corner, trying to discern any movement, something registered in his peripheral vision. But it was too late. A hand grabbed the gun and twisted forward while another grabbed his forearm and twisted backward. Willard had tensed his finger and the pistol fired at the couch, scorching the fabric.

The gun wrenched from his hand, Willard turned toward his attacker and swung the sword in an arc over his shoulder. The blade hit the attacker’s upper arm with a thud and buried itself deep in the limb. There was no blood. Willard’s eyes widened as he realized what he had cut into was not human flesh.

The assailant tossed the pistol to one side and seized the blade, pulling upward to remove it from his arm and back to yank the handle out of Willard’s hand. He tossed the sword aside, and it jangled against the floor. Willard leaped and kicked the intruder in the stomach, causing the assailant to lose his balance and fall backward. Willard dove for the pistol, twisted around, and took aim. There was no sign of his attacker.

About the Author:

William Quincy Belle is just a guy. Nobody famous; nobody rich; just some guy who likes to periodically add his two cents worth with the hope, accounting for inflation, that $0.02 is not over evaluating his contribution. He claims that at the heart of the writing process is some sort of (psychotic) urge to put it down on paper and likes to recite the following, which so far he hasn’t been able to attribute to anyone: “A writer is an egomaniac with low self-esteem.” You will find Mr. Belle’s unbridled stream of consciousness floating around in cyberspace.

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Of Sound Mind and Someone Else’s Body by William Quincy Belle – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. William Quincy Belle will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Science Fiction with (gasp) sex!

Alan Maitland is a successful businessman on his way up the corporate ladder. Life is good, but life is also full of the unexpected. A scientific experiment goes awry, and Alan’s mind is transferred to the body of Hana Toussaint, a high-class escort. Suddenly, he must not only contend with a new identity, but with the eye-opening experience of living as a female: how to walk in high heels without falling; how to put on a bra without dislocating a shoulder; how to deal with makeup without poking out an eye; and how to get along in a society which in many ways is still male-dominated.

When Alan discovers that Hana has taken over his body, the two of them must work together to find the scientist who can reverse the experiment and give them back their respective lives. Along the way, they must cope with living as each other and learn what it’s like to be a member of the opposite sex. And as their adventure goes on, Alan the woman must figure out his growing feelings for Hana the man.

Alan faces the biggest challenge of his life which Hana sums up with one decisive question:

“Are you man enough to be a woman?”

Enjoy an Excerpt

Alan stepped out of the hotel onto the still-busy street. The night air cooled his flushed skin. He took a deep breath and looked around. It was in a nondescript city neighborhood made up of multi-story buildings with commercial fronts. He didn’t recognize anything. Where am I?

He checked Hana’s phone for GPS or a map, but the display showed Enter your password. He had to find somebody to give him directions.

Spotting the illuminated sign of a convenience store, he headed down the street. In the light of the store window, he fished out the wallet and scanned the driver’s license again.

A man walked by, and Alan called out, “Hey, buddy!”

The man continued until he looked at him and stopped. “Hey, baby. What are you doing out so late? As if I need to ask.”

“Do you know where Charlton Street is?”

“If you invite me over, I may be able to help you.” The man grinned.

Alan frowned. What the hell had gotten into this guy? “Charlton Street. Tell me where Charlton Street is.”

The man ambled over and stood close. “Come on, sugar. How about being nice to a guy?” He reeked of alcohol.

“Oh, Christ,” Alan said. He stomped into the store. Behind the counter, a teenage boy flipped through a magazine. “Do you know where Charlton Street is?” Alan asked.

The boy raised his head and stared mesmerized. Alan snapped his fingers in front of the boy’s eyes. “Hey, you there. Where’s Charlton Street?”

The boy stammered, “This is Varick. Go out the door, turn right, and go down five blocks.” He stretched out his arm to point.

“Where’s East Seventy-Eighth Street?”

“That’s the Upper East Side. It’s miles from here.”

“Thanks.”

Alan started for the door, then stopped and gaped at the hand he had used to snap at the boy. He curled his fingers, then splayed them, looking at the long fingernails lacquered in bright red with little blue stars by the cuticles. He assumed the nails were fake, but he couldn’t tell. Then a surprising thought came to him: They were his fingernails.

He glanced up and saw a security mirror over the door. The teenage boy leaned over the counter to stare at his backside. He looked down. The skirt he wore was short, so he showed a lot of leg. No wonder the boy was checking him out. Checking him out? If he knew the truth, he would run for the hills. This was pushing cross-dressing to the limit.

About the Author:

William Quincy Belle is just a guy. Nobody famous; nobody rich; just some guy who likes to periodically add his two cents worth with the hope, accounting for inflation, that $0.02 is not over evaluating his contribution. He claims that at the heart of the writing process is some sort of (psychotic) urge to put it down on paper and likes to recite the following, which so far he hasn’t been able to attribute to anyone: “A writer is an egomaniac with low self-esteem.” You will find Mr. Belle’s unbridled stream of consciousness floating around in cyberspace.

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The Importance of Setting Choice by Warwick Gleeson – Guest Blog and Giveaway


This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

The Importance of Setting Choice
Whether your novel takes place on a distant magical planet in Andromeda or on the street behind your house, why not begin by creating the best overall setting and sub-settings for your story? The more intriguing or quirky, the more easily you’re able to maximize opportunities for interesting characters, circumstances, and complications.

Imagination is truly your best friend when it comes to writing competitive fiction, and nothing provides a stronger foundation than a great setting. One of the best-selling contemporary novels in recent memory, THE HUNGER GAMES, is driven by the circumstances of the setting, and the characters are a product of that unique environment, as well as the plot.

But even if you’re not writing SFF, the choice of setting is just as important, perhaps even more so. If you must place your upmarket story in a sleepy little town in Maine winter, then choose a setting within that town that maximizes opportunities for verve and conflict, for example, a bed and breakfast stocked to the ceiling with odd characters who combine to create comical, suspenseful, dangerous or difficult, or else subplot reversals that the bewildered and sympathetic protagonist must endure and resolve while he or she is perhaps engaged in a bigger plot line: restarting an old love affair, reuniting with a family member, starting a new business, etc.

And not only must you choose the overall best setting, but you need to consider sub-settings that come into play. For example, if your overall choice of setting is India, you might choose a sub-setting for a scene that includes a particular village wherein a large snake is sleeping in a tree and thus creating an absurd spectacle in the form of an ongoing conflict between Muslims and Hindus over the spiritual meaning of the snake’s behavior. Or let’s say your character is in Scotland on a cold and dull day, the place him or her in a scene during a “blackening of the bride” ceremony wherein the future bride is trashed and sloshed with everything from tar to Scotch whiskey. Will your character have any internal issues with this? Yes? Whatever creates inner or interpersonal conflict is a bonus too, don’t forget.

If nothing else, create a setting or sub-settings that assist with the development of conflict between characters. If your character is an office worker in an otherwise stereotypical setting, place her or him in a special surprise meeting with certain types of ambitious, reckless or sociopathic personalities who combine to ignite an unavoidable moral dilemma. Set it up so that the tension crackles. Setting fixtures don’t have to be inanimate!

WORLD WAR OZ from coast to coast.

An adult fantasy that takes one of America’s favorite tales and transforms it into a dark and epic landscape few can escape much less understand. Imagine Potter meets Avengers in Emerald city and you’re getting close.

After a homicidal alien from Orion arrives on Earth intent on annihilating human life, the 21st century’s greatest sorcerers create a network of seven Oz-like city worlds designed to harbor the human race in a newly formed utopia while also protecting it from the alien entity. But the alien is far more magically powerful than anyone suspected. Piper Robbin, ancient daughter of the Earth’s greatest sorcerer inventor, Edison Godfellow, must sacrifice all to defeat the implacable force that calls itself “The Witch Queen of Oz,” and quickly, before Earth becomes only a cold cinder floating among the stars.

Enjoy an Excerpt

THE FORGOTTEN CHILD IN PIPER ROBBIN, for the first time that day in the coffee shop, understood the meaning of true panic. Crushing a stone to powder or throwing a javelin half a mile wouldn’t fix anything (and neither would anyone in New York care) like in the old days of Ulysses. Muttering spells that made deserts bloom or oceans boil meant less than cooking a burger on the grill. Mortality for all, even the gods and greatest sorcerers, might be just around the corner. People think just because you’re a great magical being of some kind you have it made. Nothing could be more wrong. Your hopes and dreams are often spit on, your happiness ruined, your friends killed, and you lose sleep at night, worrying about shit just like everyone else. And besides obligations you really don’t want, you face mega-dangerous freaks way too often because you’re expected to, you know, cause you’re the official bad ass superwoman. By the gods! Really? You crawl in pain and heave up your insides for starters, die in lots of ways, and after all that trouble, sometimes you don’t come back.

About the Author: Warwick Gleeson is a dedicated writer of screenplays, short stories, novels, and poetry. He has lived in both LA and NYC and worked many different jobs in his life, everything from roofer to waiter to small business owner to government analyst. He was the major writer, creator, and senior story editor for another project published by Del Sol Press called “War of the World Makers” that debuted in 2017. The novel has since won four national novel awards (two first place and two place) for SFF. Warwick is a big fan of great SFF television writing, like the kind you find in Emerald City, Gotham, The Expanse, and Umbrella Academy. He now lives in Tuscon, AZ, with a fat lazy cat and his most wonderful wife who is also a writer.

Amazon Author Page | Goodreads
The book is on sale for $0.99 during the tour at Amazon.

Where Do Ideas Come From? by E. Curtis – Guest Blog and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Where do ideas come from?
The ether, visions, and transportations.

The imaginative visions stem from an over-active imagination. They overwhelm me and haunt me until I put them on paper. Though not divine, they are rather uplifting, seeming to take me outside of myself. There is a sense of delirium in these trancelike states, with my mind connected to and drifting about the ether. The visions seem imposed rather than some forced line of thinking. I don’t choose what I see, the visions just come to me.

From a haunted past that used to paralyze me as a child, the fear later settled, the experiences had become familiar, and the darkness of which I was aware became a fascination. Not that I gave myself up to it, but unavoidable, I grew enchanted, questioning what these dark adventures meant.

One night, a vision of England overtook me. A woman I did not know stood close, though she did not speak to me or look up to me, I heard her thoughts in my mind, expressing a sense of disappointment with my current state of goodness, or lack thereof, I thought you’d be better by now. As if there was some anticipation of our meeting, for we had never met before. She bid me follow her. We walked across a field of burnt brown grass, and from the air I sensed the place to be somewhere in England, probably a park just outside of London. She took me to a rise that met a tree line. Just before the rise, there was a wrought iron double swinger gate, tall than I, with a bluish tarnish in the metal work. From a distance the gate looked like oddly arrayed black antlers tied together, but up close the work was obviously man made, with hammered dimples in the crescent shapes of metal. One side was pulled slightly open, and though one could see the rest of the park through the bars, a golden light spilled from the opening, as if something substantial and of another world lay beyond. Something about it gave me pause, so I didn’t open it any further or enter. When I asked my visitor of the significance and who she was, no answers were given, and I was released from the vision, the message delivered. I still question what it meant, but, as yet, I have no answers.

 

In the fall of 1789, on the western edge of the Yorkshire Dales, a dense, persistent fog enshrouds the village of Ingleton. Shadowed spirits hide in the mist and bedevil the townsfolk, heralding a tragedy that has befallen one of their own.

Edmond continues to search for Alexandra, his fiancée, who disappeared the same night that the mist set upon their town. Presumed dead by all others, he visits Alexandra’s empty grave, desperate for any hint of what has become of her. Weary from the sleepless nights on his quest, no longer able to stay awake, Edmond falls into a dream before her headstone and there obtains clues from Alexandra as to her whereabouts.

Haunted all the while by a malevolent spirit, Edmond follows the trail that Alexandra left for him and enters the underworld, only to learn that he has been there before, and in fact, quite often. But more, he discovers how he is to blame for Alexandra’s disappearance.

A dark literary novel rich in imagery, Discussion of a Decent Dream unearths the consequences of a child’s decision to surrender his heart in exchange for unholy power and transcendent knowledge.

Discussion of a Decent Dream is a Finalist in Britain’s Wishing Self Book Awards in the Adult category.

Enjoy an Excerpt:

We ignored the portent that crept into the countryside the day she disappeared. But in the weeks that followed, with no answers as to what had befallen her, with no assurance that she still lived, we came to understand, and most saw the worst in the blanket of mist that stopped time and shut us out from the rest of the world.

I had just turned twenty-one the summer of 1789 when Alexandra went missing. And after all our fruitless searching, in need of some direction, I snuck, under the cover of night, into the yard where her parents had laid their sorrow to rest. Falling to my knees before the stone of her empty grave I spoke with reverence, not for the hallowed ground, but for the call that brought me, as though somehow she could hear me.

About the Author:

E. Curtis draws on personal experiences of the otherworldly for his writing. Through dreams, visions, and waking encounters, his exposure to darkness has motivated him to detail what he has come to know of the preternatural. While a few short pieces have been published on an online literary magazine, Discussion of a Decent Dream is his first novel.

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The book is on sale for $0.99 during the tour at Amazon.

What Kind of Writer Am I by Gardner Browning – Guest Blog and Giveaway


This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Gardner Browning will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

What Kind of Writer Am I

Immersive is the word that best describes what kind of writer I am. When I have an idea for a story, I make lots of notes for settings, characters, conflict and resolutions. I write down ideas for twists and pinch points. Then, I do research as needed. I read about the places, people, technology, history and cultures that will impact and shape my story. Once I feel fully immersed, I map out my plot to ensure that the story’s foundation and framework is as fully developed as possible.

I think long and hard about a cinematic opening hook for the story and soon I’m off writing in units of scenes, hitting the benchmarks of my plot outline. The process of writing a novel gets even more immersive for me the deeper I go. The story becomes an obsession. My mind becomes trapped in the world I’m writing about and my heart is fully attached to the characters and it’s as if they are friends of mine who I look forward to spending time with. As the writing goes on and the manuscript becomes fatter, I lose sleep, my imagination is relentless. My dreams are often of places in the story. As the characters—my friends—suffer the hardships of the rising conflict, I suffer with them. If they are sad, I am sad. If they are excited, so am I. Fully immersed and held captive by the world I’ve created. The story moves forward because I blew the wind into the sails, starting these events into motion. The characters do as I command but they speak at will and feel with their own hearts.

When the story is told and there’s no more left to write, I am freed, released back to the real world, where real people live, love, suffer and laugh. My mind is quiet for a while and my heart aches, almost yearning to go back to the places in the pages but there’s now a disconnect and I can’t become fully immersed again. It’s like I’ve been shut out. The story is told. My job is done. In the real world, without the characters I’ve spent so much time with, I feel lonely for a while. Sometimes a little lost. I feel like I can’t connect with real people or real places; like I can’t become immersed in reality.

When I finally find my way back to the real people and places I know and love, a new idea comes to me. A story curls up like a tiny sprout reaching for the sunlight and rain of my imagination.

It begins again.

A microscopic parasite has crippled humanity with night terrors and paralyzing anxiety. In this world of increasing dystopia, hope yet remains in Karma City. But when mercenary drifter, Jameson Shoals, learns that a famous scientist has created a stronger parasite to kill the original, it isn’t until the bodies litter the streets that he realizes the horrifying truth: the new parasite is a killer with a mind of its own, and upon dominating Patient Zero, this killer acquires legs, hands, and eyes. It falls upon Shoals and his partner, a deadly female mercenary, to stop PZ and his mob before they can overcome and supplant humankind.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Jameson Shoals crouched to keep his balance atop the speeding train. The wind beat against his leather jacket, scattering his collar length, brunet hair over his eyes like a frayed, muddy rag. The scalding steam and smoke puffing from the locomotive singed his nostrils. Raising his shotgun at the attacker standing only a few feet away, he shouted, “You’re in a real heap of shit, pal.”

The man glared at Jameson, with blond hair framing his gaunt face like tendrils of fire . His
spindly legs backed to the edge of the train car roof with unnatural balance. “You should consider your own life,” he hissed. Amber light burned in the man’s hollow, jack-o-lantern eyes. “Detonation is imminent.”

Before Jameson could shoot, the man leapt from the train, flipping backward and vanishing into the night.

About the Author: Gardner Michael Browning is an award-winning author and professional wrestler. In addition to receiving a New Hampshire Literary Award, two of his novels were part of an international English literacy program for middle grade readers. Browning enjoys classic literature, fishing, playing guitar and spending time with his family.

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The book is on sale for only $0.99 at Amazon.