Katie Walsh by Colleen L Donnelly – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Enter to win a $15 Amazon/BN gift card. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Katie Walsh expects to write a love story someday. The hero resembles her father, and the heroine the deceased mother she never knew but imagines from the longing on her father’s face.

Katie doesn’t expect her father to be murdered, or his will to leave their farm to Guy Knowles, the man she hoped to marry, and order her to another state. Betrayed by the men she trusted, what should have become a love like no other withers and dies.

Until Ted Howard, who doesn’t fit the hole Guy left in her heart. Instead, he fits himself into what she needs—someone who will stay, protect her, and break his own heart for her if needed.

Enjoy an Excerpt

When our neighbor, Guy Knowles, began to drop by and take me for long but mostly silent walks across Papa’s pasture, I wondered if my parents had done the same thing and if my excitement mirrored what my mother’s might have been. Did she, like me, translate every quiet step into tender words? Did she see lifelong devotion on Papa’s face then, like I watched for it now on Guy’s?

I expected my love story—the one I would write and the one I would live—to be like theirs. What I didn’t expect was that both stories would begin the day a stranger came to my door and told me my father had just been killed. Killed, not died.

Nor did I expect this tale of “A Love Like No Other” to reach full bloom in a tiny jail cell far away.

About the Author:

Colleen L Donnelly was born and raised in the US Midwest but ventured to other parts of the country as an adult to experience life from other perspectives. Besides writing, she spends time outdoors, antique hunting, reading, or watching a good movie. Even though she retired from a career in laboratory science, she is never bored and always busy at something.

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Borderland by Ross Victory – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Borderland is not just a poetry collection—it’s an invitation to explore the most vulnerable corners of the human experience. Award-winning author Ross Victory takes readers on an emotional journey across the intersections of masculinity, race, bisexuality, and grief. In a fearless blend of narrative and free verse, Victory dismantles societal expectations, offering a space where identity can exist fluidly and unapologetically.

Through its evocative imagery and bold storytelling, Borderland tackles life’s most complex themes—love, loss, strength, and defiance. Each poem immerses readers in raw emotion, from tender vulnerability to fierce defiance. This collection is perfect for readers seeking honest, unfiltered reflections on what it means to exist at the crossroads of identity and experience.

With a voice that’s as unique as it is powerful, Ross Victory has created a collection that speaks to anyone searching for connection and understanding. Borderland isn’t just a book—it’s a movement, a conversation, and a space to find yourself reflected in its pages.

Step into the borderland, where identity knows no boundaries.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Bisexual Villain

An enigma, cloaked in reflective armor,
a man built in isolation,
made of light.

He walks a tightrope:
Each step a liberation,
Every word a defiance.

He is the man who returns the stolen fire, embodying a harmony of contradictions in a world demanding silence.

He is… Conformity’s antichrist; But only when he says his name.

Do they know that, beneath his armor,
there is a man searching for meaning?

Flesh and pulse under mirrored shield,
A Brother, a Son, a Guardian;

He was a Boy with bright eyes,
and he was Loved.

I stand before the jury, unmasked and true.
They are armed with judgments that explode like bombs, their hatred a mask of sincerity.

I wonder, “Am I on trial for spurning stale norms of monosexism, a banquet of bias, an indictment of my very being?”

Faceless facades wear hypocrisy like skin,
Bigotry in their blood. They thirst for dominance.
I see, society lives an illusory script, homes built in narrow alleys of convention, foundations hollow and empty.

We are neighbors, but we are strangers.

“You are the antagonist! You are the villain!” the jury shouts.

“No!” the bisexual villain proclaims.

“We are a legion, a chorus in the midst,
their heart akin to mine.”

“We are canaries whose wings you’ve clipped,
trapped in your rusting cage.
Some have become orphans bereft of connection, adrift in the gap—kin to the fluid.”

“You are an abomination! You are confusion!” they roar.

“Though we may be solitary stars, together we form a galaxy.
In me beats a heart; within you, the silent expanse where once echoed, now, the void of a million corpses.”

I am ink, you are eraser.

I am your projection.

About the Author:Ross Victory, (he/him), is an award-winning author, music artist, and entrepreneur from Los Angeles. Featured in LA Weekly, LA Blade, American Reporter, and Bi.org, Ross rediscovered the healing power of writing after losing his father and brother. A former English teacher, Ross creates immersive narrative experiences. He published “Views from the Cockpit,” a father-son memoir, in 2019, resulting in a portfolio of six original titles and a music catalog of 20 songs. His works explore self-discovery, adventure, bisexuality, and family. In 2023, he released the Pride anthem “Bisexual Daze” and Book 1 of the L.A.-based horror series “Grandpa’s Cabin.” Ross also publishes articles and reflections about grief, biphobia, and elder abuse on Medium.com and recently spoke at their Annual Writer’s Conference. This fall he will release his first poetry collection titled, “Borderland,” exploring the intersection of race, masculinity, and sexuality.

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Mature Couples and Romance by Tory Richards – Guest Post and free book

Mature Couples and Romance
…and a free ebook!

Do you ever think of mature couples and romance? Or wish there were more romance books out there that depicted older people? I’m talking about people over forty—people who didn’t find love when they were younger, or maybe they’re divorced now and find themselves single and starting over. Maybe they had a long-term illness they had to battle most of their lives or were waiting for a prisoner-of-war to return home who didn’t. When I divorced my first husband after 20 years of marriage, I didn’t want another partner. I couldn’t even imagine starting over with someone else. And I really didn’t want someone else in my life.

But it happened—and I wasn’t even looking for it. I eventually found myself going to dances on the weekends. I wasn’t looking for a husband, just someone to spend time with and have fun. That’s where I met husband #2 at a church dance. He was 30 years older than me but looked much younger, and I couldn’t keep up with him! He loved life and it kept him young. We traveled, went dancing on the weekends, and had 17 years together.

With the thought in mind that there are women out there who are my age and would like to read a romance they could relate to, I decided to write a steamy novella centered around a mature couple. Mia is in her forties and King is in his fifties. Both are divorced and living in a small town up north. Maine to be exact, is where I’m from.

King released today.

The story is different from what I’ve been writing the last few years. So, it may flop for my readers who expect filthy-talking bikers and motorcycle club drama. Hopefully in time I’ll find a new audience who likes the kind of story like King. Not a second chance romance but another chance at love story. By the way Maine Silver Foxes will be a series of novellas and Cody, book #2 will be out later next year.

In the meantime, I will continue with my Biker Next Door Series and Tank, book #3 will be out early-to-mid 2025.

Now…everyone is a winner! I’ve included a code below for a free copy of my romance Kiss Me on Smashwords. Kiss Me is a full-length contemporary, small-town romance and the very first book I had published in my writing career. It’s recently been revised, updated, and received a new cover.

Smashwords – https://www.smashwords.com/books/search?query=kiss+me+by+tory+richards
Promotional price: $0.00
Coupon Code: YY24L
Expires: December 5, 2024

I hope you enjoy Kiss Me and thank you in advance for leaving a review.

How to React When Woken at 3am by Drunk Argentinian Backpackers While Staying in a Youth Hostel and Other Lesser Known Travel Tips by Simon Yeats – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour of the LESSER KNOWN TRAVEL TRIPS series, How to React When Woken at 3am by Drunk Argentinian Backpackers While Staying in a Youth Hostel and Other Lesser Known Travel Tips by Simon Yeats. The author will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Book 4 of an original and hilarious book series of travel misadventures and dubious personal introspection by Australian author Simon Yeats, who from an early age learned that the best way to approach the misfortunes of this world is to laugh about them.

Simon shares his comedic insights into the unusual and uproarious elements of living life as an Aussie ex-pat and having a sense of Wanderlust as pervasive as COVID hysteria in the early part of this decade.

From how to negotiate traffic in Los Angeles when your car can only drive at 5 miles/hr, to what to do when locked out of your hotel room in your underwear, to the emotions of attempting the world’s second highest bungee when you have a pathological fear of heights, to how to deal with the trials and tribulations of staying in a youth hostel with travelers who have no respect for the other guests.

Simon Yeats has gone into the world and experienced all the out of the ordinary moments for you to sit back and enjoy the experience without the need to empty your bank account, get squeezed sitting in a middle airline seat, or deal with border security at the Ukraine/Russia boundary.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Big Wednesday was my first day at work as a liftie on the Burgess Creek lift at the Steamboat ski resort as a wide-eyed 20-year-old. I do not remember the exact date, but I am absolutely certain it was a Wednesday because everyone who was present at the resort that day referred to it as ‘big Wednesday.’

Overnight, between ‘ordinary Tuesday’ and ‘big Wednesday,’ the town and resort received a mammoth amount of snowfall. It absolutely dumped. A biblical amount of snow. Even though I do not recall snow being mentioned once in either the old testament or the new testament. But I could have missed the reference.

And Moses went up the mountain at God’s direction and there was fresh dump of powder snow, and he cried out, “ye verily, gonna cut me some wicked turns.”

To get to work on my first day, I take the shortcut straight down the hill to the main road and bus stop. I am decked out in my official Steamboat resort onesie ski suit. The snow level is over my belly button. It is like wading through waist high surf for a half mile.

I scramble onto the bus, and I am on my knees huffing and puffing while dripping with sweat.

An inauspicious start to the day.

About the Author:
Simon Yeats has lived nine lives, and by all estimations, is fast running out of the number he has left. His life of globetrotting the globe was not the one he expected to lead. He grew up a quiet, shy boy teased by other kids on the playgrounds for his red hair. But he developed a keen wit and sense of humor to always see the funnier side of life.

With an overwhelming love of travel, a propensity to find trouble where there was none, and being a passionate advocate of mental health, Simon’s stories will leave a reader either rolling on the floor in tears of laughter, or breathing deeply that the adventures he has led were survived.

No author has laughed longer or cried with less restraint at the travails of life.

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Why Should Readers Pick up Licensed to Rear? by Riya Aarini – Guest Blog and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding a book-themed T-shirt to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Why Should Readers Pick up Licensed to Rear?

An estimated 1-2 million kids run away each year in an attempt to escape the harsh realities of home. What if zero kids ran away? What if all kids felt loved and wanted?

I created this ideal world in Licensed to Rear. Children, who are often vulnerable and helpless, have a higher chance of growing up happy and loved in a nation with a law requiring that would-be parents earn a parental license. Given the time and energy it takes to earn a parenting license, it is less likely parents would act negligently toward their own children. In short, earning a parental license gives kids a greater chance of enjoying a good, happy, carefree childhood.

I encourage parents and would-be parents to pick up Licensed to Rear and give it a shot. The story explores a world unlike the one in which we live. It is an idealistic world that offers pointers for our real world that benefit all of society.

Granted, earning a license to parent is not the answer that solves all problems, just as earning a driver’s license does not prevent all bad drivers from hitting the road. However, the odds improve for children when the role of parenting is not taken for granted.

In the book, I explore how parenting is not a right but a privilege. Rights and privileges differ in that rights can be taken away when they are abused. The antagonist in the story, Peter Losor, challenges this concept in a very comical way.

Readers hungry for a stimulating, intellectual read will find as much satisfaction in reading both sides of the argument—being for or against the law requiring a parental license—as I had in writing them.

Mila Winston aspires to earn a professional license to practice parenthood. It’s all she needs to start her family in the happiest micronation on Earth. Newcomers flock to Coolbeensia to fulfill their dreams of raising children here, where kids are guaranteed loving—as opposed to horrible—parents.

But mighty obstacles test Mila’s grit. Peter Losor, a chap with an annoying air of bravado, questionable parenting skills, and a defiant personality, stirs up trouble, eventually challenging the very law that defines Coolbeensia—that licensure is mandatory to enjoy the privilege of raising children.

Will Mila survive her trying ordeal and achieve her ambitions of being a licensed parent in the quirky yet revolutionary micronation? Find out in this satirical, contemporary family fiction novel that will leave you second-guessing the ideals surrounding the prestigious job of parenthood!

Enjoy an Excerpt

Mila ran to the side of the bed and plucked a glossy brochure off the nightstand. It had been folded and curled to reveal a particular page, as if waiting to be pointed out. “See?” She set her slender index finger on a small ad at the bottom of page nineteen. “I think we should move here.”

“Coolbeensia? Huh, an odd name.” Jason looked off into the distance. “But I think I’ve heard of it before. Isn’t that the place where you need a license to have children?”

Mila smiled, nodding emphatically. He’d heard of it, which eliminated the first hurdle and pushed them one step closer in the right direction. “Yep, it’s perfect.”

“How’re we going to get a license to raise a family?” His shoulders inched up. “It’s unheard of.”

“But brilliant.” Mila patted her husband on the arm. Naturally, he showed concern, as they’d discussed having children long before they officially tied the knot. Having a full house was important to them both. Children would complete their family, plus a furry pet or two, besides the giant stuffed bear.

“It’s no biggie. It’s just like earning a license to drive. You’ve done it before, and so have I. We’ll be assured that we’re surrounded by qualified parents who know how to keep their kids safe. Isn’t that like what a driver’s license is for?” She gazed at him, hoping her brief but logical answer would convince him.

About the Author Riya Aarini entered her small part of the world one summer day in the Pacific Northwest. She writes in an eclectic mix of genres, including humor and contemporary fiction. If you enjoy quirkiness with a pinch of whimsy, you’ll have an appetite for her books.

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Licensed to Rear is available everywhere books are sold, including Amazon.

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Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge for November 13, 2024

Each Wednesday, Long and Short Reviews hosts a weekly “blog hop”. For more details on how to participate, please click here.

My Thoughts on the Mystery Genre

He. by Gregory Pakis – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner.

A sexually open-minded couple, Lester and Val, have recently moved into a stylish yet eerie apartment building.

Val’s curiosity is piqued when she starts to receive unusual messages and requests from an anonymous messenger.

Lester is also cautiously intrigued, as Val starts to fulfill the requests.

A suspected sex club soon becomes media headlines when a former member disappears, and the club is reported to have vacated its last premises.

As the messages persist, Lester and Val start to question whether the anonymous messenger is connected to the clandestine club mentioned in the media, and if there is any link between him or the club and the odd newcomers in the apartment next door.

Enjoy an Excerpt

She sat on the couch and stared across the room. Three men sitting opposite watched her closely. Seemingly daring each other to make the first move. None of them summoned the courage. It was understandable. Her beauty was unsettling.

The kind you’d see in a dream. She had a fixed distant stare. She held her space well. Her presence was elusive. Intimidating. You couldn’t quite describe it. Couldn’t be entirely sure about her. She had a nervousness that made her approachable, but then a look in her eye stopped you cold.

Seated nearby, a bespectacled man also watched the woman.

her husband

Couples and singles moved about the party – chatting, flirting, but this man just sat watching her, pretending not to. If you paid attention long enough, you realised the woman was completely aware he was watching.

maybe he is just her boyfriend

they did arrive at the party together, didn’t they

One of the men whispered to the others that he had seen them at a previous party. That they didn’t ‘play’ on that occasion either.

maybe they were just friends

If the man was her partner and approaching her led to some kind of confrontation, he looked easy enough to handle.

there’s three of us..

But the man watching had a fastidious, aggressive quality that was strangely unsettling. Had a striking face. Was well-groomed and gym fit.

About the Author: Gregory Pakis is an Australian author, film-maker, actor and wacky vlogger.

He has written the short story, The Lonely Australian of the Asian Night; the soon to be released horror-suspense novellas, The Regressor and He., and Memoir of a Suburban Hoe-Bo, which is partly an account of when he lived out of a van for ten years in Melbourne.

Gregory Pakis is also the writer / director of the feature films, The Garth Method (2005) and The Joe Manifesto (2013), which have won national and international awards and been distributed through Accent Entertainment, Label, Vanguard Cinema.

Gregory’s more informal video projects are the feature documentaries, Garth Goes Hitch-Hiking (2007) and Garth Lives in a Van (2011) which have screened at film festivals in Australia.

More recently, he has created the comedy series, suBURPieS and his Wacky Vlog which can found on his socials.

Gregory has been featured in articles in newspapers, The Age, The Herald Sun, Beat Magazine, Inpress, FILMINK, and the Neos Kosmos. He has been interviewed on radio by the ABC, 3RRR, SYN FM, 3CR.

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What Kind of Writer am I? by Frank S Joseph – Guest Blog and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

What Kind of Writer Am I?

Assignment: What kind of writer am I?

Answer: I’m a Pantser.

You ask: What the heck is a Pantser?

I respond: The opposite of a Plotter.

But not a mere Pantser. What I really am is a Reformed Pantser. Allow me to explain.

Hang around novelists for any length of time and you’ll hear the terms Plotter and Pantser.

A Plotter is one who Figures Everything Out Ahead of Time: Writes notes, draws decision trees, festoons walls with charts and graphs — timelines, connections, &c. &c.

That sure ain’t me. As one given to ADHD, I can’t sit still long enough to plot much of anything, let alone build turreted mind-castles for the stories I think up.

That makes me a Pantser: One who writes by the seat of his pants.

But I’m also one who gets stuck in the Dread Middle.

The Dread Middle is where Pantsing lets me down. The more I write, the worse it gets.

Desperate during one of those Dread Middle jams, I called on a sympathetic fellow writer named Linda to rescue me.

We sat down on Linda’s airy screened porch and began to mind-dump. Before I knew it, I was Plotting. Hooray!

Not sophisticated plotting. More like figuring out what comes between now and the end of the chapter. But it was enough; it got me unstuck. When next I sat down to write, I knew where I was going. The chapter poured out.

I took a lesson from this: When stuck in the Dread Middle, sit down with a friend and dialogue things out. Keep going until light glimmers at the end of the tunnel.

There’s a saying among writers that I treasure. It goes something like this:

Writing a novel is like driving across the country at night with only your headlights to guide you. You can’t see beyond the end of the beams … but you know you’ll get there eventually.

A perfect summation of Pantser, Reformed Variety.

It’s 1965, summer in Chicago, and it’s hot. Pinkie looks white but is being ‘raised Black’ by shiftless Jolene — who’s in it for Pinkie’s child support check and nothing more. But how did Jolene come to be raising Pinkie anyway? Join this daughter of the city’s meanest streets as she sets out on a quest to find the White woman who gave her birth, braving the inner-city riots of the turbulent ‘60s to discover who she really is. An IndieReader Best Book; finalist for Chicago Writers Assn. Book of the Year and First Prize, CWA novel contest; 5 Stars from Reedsy Reviews, Readers’ Favorite and Midwest Book Review.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Ever since I’m little I be wondering who my momma is.

It ain’t Jolene. Jolene’s been raising me but I ain’t her blood. Reminds me of it every chance she gets. Picked me out of a trash pile one day, that’s what Jolene says. Like a maggot out of a garbage can.

If I’m trash I say, why you done it? Just teasing she says, you be worth real money, check for $102.80 on the first of every month. Calls it her Pinkie check. …

Jolene just laughs when I ask about my real momma. One day I be finding her though. See does Jolene laugh when that day comes.

Jolene don’t treat Bettina no better than me even though Bettina be blood and flesh to her. Bettina asks who her poppa was but Jolene pretends she don’t hear. Poor little thing, Bettina, bumping into things like she does. Jolene says Bettina was born with a caul, that’s why she so clumsy. I know better though. Bettina can’t help it. Something wrong inside her head. She plenty smart all right, just something inside there don’t work how it’s supposed to, like a doorbell is busted or a toaster don’t pop.

All Jolene cares about is the money though, $102.80 a month for me and $94.73 for Bettina. And Bettina’ll be worth more soon Jolene says, worth as much as you gal, $102.80 a month when she turns nine. Then in September when you turn twelve, you’ll be worth $106.35, and Jolene grins.

About the Author: Frank S Joseph’s “Chicago Trilogy” novels — TO LOVE MERCY, TO WALK HUMBLY and TO DO JUSTICE — tell a story of lives forever changed by racial turmoil that marked and marred Chicago at mid century, a great city going up in flames.

Frank lived it. He came of age in the ’40s and ’50s as a sheltered White boy in comfortable South Side neighborhoods undergoing racial turnover and “white flight.” And in his 20s, as an Associated Press correspondent, he covered the ’60s riots that wracked Chicago’s inner city as well as the ’67 Detroit riot, where 37 died, and the notorious ’68 Democratic National Convention street disorders.

Frank left Chicago in 1969, landed at The Washington Post during Watergate, and went on to a career as an award-winning journalist, publisher and direct marketer. His Chicago Trilogy novels all have won award after award, most recently TO DO JUSTICE winning the Chicago Writers Assn. novel contest and being named an IndieReader Best Book

TO DO JUSTICE, Trilogy Book III, is out from Key Literary. TO LOVE MERCY, Trilogy Book I, and TO WALK HUMBLY, Trilogy Book II, are forthcoming from Key Literary. TO LOVE MERCY was previously published in 2006 by Mid Atlantic Highlands.

Frank and his wife Carol Jason, an artist and sculptor, live in Chevy Chase MD. They are the parents of Sam and Shawn.

An IndieReader Best Book
First Prize, Chicago Writers Assn. Novel Contest
Finalist, Chicago Writers Assn. Book of the Year
A Readers’ Favorite® Five Star Selection
Five Stars — Reedsy Reviews
Midwest Book Review – 5 Stars

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Free to read at Kindle Unlimited.

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Georgia’s Folly by Deborah Chase – Spotlight and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding a $50 Visa card to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

For fans of “Antiques Roadshow” and “American Pickers” – this is the one for you!

Beginning at a cluttered flea market and ending at a glittering art auction, Georgia’s Follytells the compelling story that blends past and present and the search for a valuable and illusive antique. Chloe Bishop grew up in foster care. She loves shopping at flea markets, picking up family heirlooms like old pottery or vintage furniture to fill in for the family and home she never had. As Chloe walks through the Brooklyn Flea Market, she stumbles upon the diary of Miss Georgia Potter, a young woman who had lived in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania during the Civil War. The yellowed pages reveal the impact of the war on daily life and spotlights the role of women including Harriet Tubman, Clara Barton and Louisa May Alcott. Like Chloe, Georgia Potter was a passionate collector and her diary lists her collection of valuable antiques—including the Holy Grail of 18th century furniture—a Chippendale settee. Well versed in antiques, Chloe is aware that There are only five known examples and a sixth settee would be worth more than $4 million.

Chloe immediately contacts Ben Thompson, the man who sold her the diary. Ben is a picker who drives his RV across America, searching for collectibles to sell to dealers. He is estranged from his wealthy, prominent family who cringe at his chosen career. Ben agrees to take her along to search for the valuable and iconic settee. As Ben and Chloe head to Gettysburg, they are unaware that Gregor Petrov, a shady antiques dealer and Harrison Kent, a respected but unscrupulous art expert are trailing them.

The search for the settee takes Chloe and Ben on fast paced journey from the Gettysburg battlefields to the 18th century street of artisans in Philadelphia to a historic mansion on the banks of the Hudson River. Traveling together in the small RV, Ben and Chloe draw closer. In the confines of the RV, embroiled in an unimaginable quest, Chloe confides that she is also in search for the father she never knew while Ben struggles to explain his complicated family to a woman who never had one.

In a thrilling ending, the rare Chippendale settee is not Chloe’s only valuable discovery.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Chole Bishop felt her pulse quicken as she walked to the jumbled tables at the Brooklyn Flea market. Under the soaring arches of the massive bridge, the piles of pottery, jewelry and tacks of vintage clothing sparkled with the promise of discovery. Every time she walked into a thrift shop or flea market, she remembered stories of the discovery of a long-lost Picasso or a rhinestone ring turned out to be a flawless diamond. But she really wasn’t treasure hunting—she just loved finding what she called “pieces of history.”

She never knew what she was going to find, but she knew it when she saw it. And there it was, as if it had been patiently waiting for her. Next to a vintage tin sign for motor oil and under a cracked ironstone pitcher, she could see the trim edges of a ladies lap desk. Chloe smiled to herself. I have always wanted ne and here it is under the arches of the Brooklyn Bridge. She walked over to the table, gently removed the pitcher and placed it on the table.

The lap desk was clearly not a family heirloom. It was a very basic lap desk with a faded, stained finish. She opened the lap desk and smiled to see the worn well-worn, blue felt padding. The top and bottom offlaps were intact- a great sign for a well-used laptop more than 150 years old. Two small partitions on the bottom were stained from the ink bottles they once held. The bottom section was empty except for two vintage ladies hair pins but the top lid was jammed. A lady often kept personal letters there and Chloe was instantly curious. What secret romances could the lap desk hold?

About the Author: I grew up in a family filled with art and antiques. On the high end, my uncle, William Lincer, lead violist at the New York Philharmonic, was an art lover whose collection was sold at Sotheby’s. On the low end, her father, writer Allen Chase took me to flea markets and estate sales. He sparked a lifelong fascination with tales of lost treasures that ranged from plundered Egyptian tombs to trainloads of art stolen by the Nazis. It was this love of history and antiques that inspired my first novel, Georgia’s Folly

I was a founding editor of the Berkeley Wellness Newsletter and the author of 12 books including The Medically Based No-Nonsense Beauty Book (Alfred Knopf), Extend Your Life Diet (Pocket Books), Fruit Acids for Fabulous Skin (St Martin’s Press), Every Bride is Beautiful ( Morrow), and with her husband Dr Neil Schachter co-author of Life and Breath (Doubleday) and The Good Doctor’s Guide to Colds and Flu (Harper). The books have been a selection of the Book of the Month Club and my articles have appeared in Ladies Home Journal, Self, Glamour, Redbook, Family Circle, Parents and Good Housekeeping.

I am a graduate of Bronx High School of Science and a winner of the Westinghouse Science Talent Search. A graduate of New York University I earned a degree with a dual major in journalism and history.

A native New Yorker, I like to spend my weekends at an upstate home where a big kitchen and an endless supply of estate sales indulge my dual passions for cooking and collecting.

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Where Do Ideas Come From? by Simon Yeats – Guest Blog and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. A randomly drawn winner will be awarded a $25 Amazon/BN gift card. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Where do ideas come from?
I grew up being quite boring and unimaginative, but one day read the phrase that ‘truth is stranger than fiction.’ This lead me to the discovery that as much as I enjoy the intrigue, drama, and action of a good James Bond movie, there is actually far more excitement, danger, and thrills in the regular world than most people have any idea there is. I am a normal person. I pay my taxes, shop for groceries, and support my local footy team, but even someone as nondescript as me has had two run-ins with the European Mafia. I have had a contract taken out on my life in South America, I have inadvertently smuggled things across international borders, I have been arrested by foreign police without charges, nearly killed twice in the same night in a plane crash on two different flights, I almost set fire to a mountain range, had a bullet miss my head by two feet, while also still having my heart pulled from my chest reveling in the indescribable beauty of Yosemite National Park, Mt. Everest, Victoria Falls, and the Grand Canyon. Who needs to come up with ideas when those are regular episodes in my life? So for my preferred writing genre of memoirs, all I needed to do was sit down with my mates over a beer and ask them, does anyone remember the date we almost capsized the sailboat in the severe storm off Catalina Island and we all nearly drowned?

The Lesser Known Travel Tips memoirs are a hilarious series of travel misadventures and dubious personal introspection by Australian author Simon Yeats, who from an early age learned that the best way to approach the misfortunes of this world is to laugh about them.

Simon shares his comedic insights into the unusual and uproarious elements of living life as an Aussie ex-pat and having a sense of Wanderlust as pervasive as the Spanish Flu in 1918 or hordes of Mongols in 12th Century.

From how to keep yourself entertained when unwittingly forced to watch 11 hours of live sumo wrestling in Japan, to surviving heartbreak in India at the hands of a French flight attendant, to 48 hours spent in Nepal that qualify as the funniest most gut wrenching travel experience since Captain Bligh was set adrift in the Pacific, to his unsuccessful attempts at avoiding going to a brothel in Thailand. From what to do when several people converge to rob you after midnight on a deserted Copacabana Beach, to how to save the Sierra Mountain Range from a wildfire outbreak due to a lack of quality toilet paper, to where not to go in Tijuana when trying to locate the origins to stories of the city’s mythical adult entertainment, to how to save yourself from drowning when caught in a storm while sailing off the California coast. From how to outwit the Italian police while trying to find parking in downtown Genoa, to how to negotiate exploring the Roman ruins of Plovdiv, Bulgaria while on crutches, to how to impress the German Mafia with 80s dance moves, to how to leave a lasting impression on a crowded bar in Gothenburg, Sweden after combining alcohol and antibiotics.

Simon Yeats has gone into the world and experienced all the out of the ordinary moments for you to sit back and enjoy the experience without the need to break a leg, contract Dengue fever, or rupture a pancreas.

Enjoy an Excerpt from How to Start a Riot in a Brothel in Thailand by Ordering a Beer and Other Lesser Known Travel Tips

My family’s most cherished vacation when we were all kids was a trip we took to the South Island of New Zealand in the southern hemisphere Autumn of 1980. All our relatives live on the north island where my mum and dad both grew up on dairy farms. So, we had already made a trip or two to Auckland in my young life. My parents had emigrated to live in the tropical heat and brutal humidity of the northeast of Australia before any of us kids were born and given a choice in the matter.

There are four of us in my family. An elder brother, an older sister, me, and a younger sister. Each of us is quite different in our personality and our interests. My older sister is the athlete. My younger sister is the diplomat. My brother is the brainiac. Me? Well, I tend to just sit back and let my siblings be in the limelight.

You can imagine me as being the little kid running around in the playground under a mop of red hair being extra polite with all the other kids and no one teasing me at all for having red hair. Something close to that.

But among me and my siblings, none of us ever stole a car and took off for a joy ride. None of us have ever been arrested by undercover police for trying to sell them synthetic crack cocaine we had cooked up in the basement. None of us ever got in trouble for mislabeling someone by using the wrong pronoun. I mean, sure, I once got in trouble for calling my headmaster the C-word, but, other than that small blemish on my record, I considered myself an exemplary student. Our mum and dad were amazing parents to raise us all so well.

We were a very content family growing up in the 70’s and 80’s while living in the sweltering pizza oven, otherwise known as North Queensland. What about central air conditioning? Oh, how entitled and twenty-first century of you to ask. Rubbing an ice cube across the forehead and asking my younger sister to blow against it. Does that count? Central air conditioning? No. There was none. Just like there was extraordinarily little to do in my hometown. Watching paint dry as a kid living in Townsville brought out the same level of unbridled fascination that I now see with adults viewing porn.

The reasoning behind there being nothing to do is obvious. It is not safe to do anything where I lived. Australian country towns are just holding pens for human beings surrounded by a natural species menagerie of death.

About the Author: Simon Yeats has lived nine lives, and by all estimations, is fast running out of the number he has left. His life of globetrotting the globe was not the one he expected to lead. He grew up a quiet, shy boy teased by other kids on the playgrounds for his red hair. But he developed a keen wit and sense of humor to always see the funnier side of life.

With an overwhelming love of travel, a propensity to find trouble where there was none, and being a passionate advocate of mental health, Simon’s stories will leave a reader either rolling on the floor in tears of laughter, or breathing deeply that the adventures he has led were survived.

No author has laughed longer or cried with less restraint at the travails of life.

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Buy Book One, Book Two, or Book Three on Amazon.

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